Super Soldier in the City-Chapter 2083 - 2146: The Palace Doors Open
The pit continued expanding, quickly becoming just large enough to fit the stone slab.
In that moment, a flash of insight struck Li Yifei’s mind. He finally understood why this door seemed somewhat familiar both in his dream and in reality. The material of the stone slab appeared to be the same as the door of the Hall of All Beings, only the outer layer of the hall door was covered with something, and the material of the sunken area in front of the door was identical to the stone slab map in Li Yifei’s hand.
The person drawing the symbols staggered back and sat heavily on the ground, eyes full of fervor, almost ready to shout, but unfortunately, he was too exhausted to utter a sound.
The others ignored him; seeing the keyhole of the door emerge, they all displayed expressions of fanaticism. If the door weren’t closed, these people would have rushed in immediately.
What exactly lies behind the door? Holding the stone slab map, Li Yifei proceeded forward without needing any prompting. Xu Shanshan did not move, standing still, blocking the space between Shen Tianfang and Li Yifei.
Li Yifei walked step by step. Fortunately, the great force of the hall door was only present in that instant; it was now slowly weakening, allowing Li Yifei to pass with ease. Otherwise, it would have required a considerable amount of effort.
"Place it face up?" Li Yifei asked without turning back.
"That’s right, face up." Shen Tianfang replied.
Holding the key, Li Yifei bent over slowly, hesitating for a moment. They didn’t know what lay behind the door—what if there was a more powerful monster inside? He hadn’t considered there might be people inside, as this place could have been devoid of life for hundreds or even thousands of years. If a person emerged after opening the door, they’d be either a monster or a god.
However, a monster was highly possible. Considering the nature of this place, perhaps an old monster resided within.
Wait a moment; Li Yifei truly had thought of something. He straightened up, turned to look at Shen Tianfang and the others, and asked, "Seventh Brother, Ninth Brother, have you encountered any monsters on this island?"
They had all been eagerly waiting for the door to open when Li Yifei threw them off with this question. Their faces instantly showed annoyance. Hearing Li Yifei’s question, Shen Tianfang replied, "No."
"Hurry up and set it down!" Zheng Feihu urged impatiently.
"I’ve seen a monster. I couldn’t clearly see its features, but I remember its eyes, floating in the air like a ghost, staring at me, making me feel extreme danger." Li Yifei ignored Zheng Feihu’s urging, continuing to speak as if he hadn’t heard him. "Given my level of cultivation, I felt the danger, even wanted to steer clear, so if we open this door and encounter such a monster again, what will we do? Or worse, if that monster pursues us here..."
Xu Shanshan also felt a chill upon hearing this; she too found those eyes terrifying. However, while fearing them, she also paid attention to the expressions and demeanor of the six people across from them.
"You’d better hurry up." Shen Tianfang said, enunciating every word as if he was already quite impatient.
Li Yifei chuckled, pretending he hadn’t just asked that question, shook his head, aligned the stone slab properly, and slowly set it down.
The stone slab fit into place, and Li Yifei stepped back. Initially, nothing happened; the slab settled into the indentation without a sound, no noise of collision, no change occurred.
Li Yifei retreated a few more steps, looking up at the hall door, which remained unmoving.
No one made a sound. Li Yifei’s eyes flickered as he was about to speak when suddenly he sensed something was amiss.
A rumbling sound erupted, akin to a thunderclap descending from the sky, causing everyone’s eardrums to ache, a buzzing in their ears. With the thunder’s fall, the hall door moved. The door was so massive and towering that Li Yifei had to tilt his head back significantly to see it in its entirety, with the plaque reading "Hall of All Beings" even higher.
The door was slowly opening. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was profoundly impact, the mechanism behind this self-opening door unknown, yet it opened without human assistance.
As the door opened, Li Yifei saw the scene inside, matching his dream. It was not an open space, but a passage, dimly lit, visible for dozens of meters before fading into obscurity.
Not only Li Yifei but others also displayed the same action, craning their necks to peer inside. Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan managed their reactions well, while Shen Tianfang and his group could no longer restrain themselves, wanting to dash inside.
Li Yifei quickly suppressed his curiosity, opting to observe Shen Tianfang and his group. Now that the door was open, they’d eventually enter, but their reactions were crucial and deserving of attention.
The hall door opened by itself, its pace slow, taking three to four minutes to open fully. Shen Tianfang and Zheng Feihu’s group began to move. They climbed the steps and walked to the door, not even inviting Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan as they stepped inside.
"Be careful," Li Yifei cautioned Xu Shanshan, drawing their swords as they too stepped into the Hall of All Beings.
After a few steps, Li Yifei felt a jolt of warning and immediately turned around to look, just in time to see, opposite the plaza, where Li Yifei and the others had climbed up, a pair of eyes suddenly appeared, glowing ghostly green, shimmering with a captivating, daunting light.
"It’s those eyes!" Li Yifei immediately said.
Xu Shanshan hurriedly turned around as well, and she too saw those eyes—the same ones that had previously tracked them back at the red ants. Li Yifei wanted to alert Shen Tianfang and the others, but when he turned back, he found that Shen Tianfang and the others had suddenly vanished.
Within the passageway of dozens of meters, the five of them were nowhere to be seen. Yes, that’s right, just five people—the one who had been drawing with their own blood never stood up, lying still on the ground, seemingly unconscious or perhaps... dead.
"Where did they go?" Xu Shanshan also noticed the sudden disappearance of Shen Tianfang and the others, and instinctively asked.
Li Yifei furrowed his brow, shook his head, and said, "This place is even weirder. Let’s be cautious and not worry about them for now, nor about those eyes!"
"I’ll watch the back, hubby, you watch the front. Hmm, and also the sides. I have a feeling this passage isn’t very reliable." Xu Shanshan nodded, gripping the Blue Glow, ready to strike at any moment.
The two stood there for a minute or two, and those eerie green eyes remained unmoving, then suddenly vanished. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
Li Yifei gritted his teeth and continued walking inside with Xu Shanshan.
Since he was holding Xu Shanshan’s hand, as they walked about ten meters, the space before them suddenly transformed.
Indeed, Li Yifei wasn’t surprised. Those people disappeared suddenly, likely transferred elsewhere. Now, the scenery before them changed as if the stars were shifting, and suddenly Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan found themselves in a courtyard, which looked like a courtyard. The hall seemed to house another world entirely, with presumably vast space.
The courtyard where Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan stood was of a size similar to a basketball court, but it was just a courtyard enclosed by walls taller than a person, made of stone. The key point was those four walls had no doors, meaning the walls were impenetrable, and above them lay something blue, resembling the sky, though it was impossible to tell what it truly was.
Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan held hands, fortunate in doing so; otherwise, they might have been transported separately.
"Phew, at least we’re inside." Li Yifei opened his eyes, exhaled, and said, "I just tried to sense the walls, but my perception was blocked and couldn’t detect what’s outside. How about you?"
Xu Shanshan also opened her eyes, shook her head, looking slightly bewildered. Her perception skills weren’t as sharp as Li Yifei’s, so if he couldn’t feel anything, neither could she.
"It’s quite strange," Li Yifei wasn’t overly tense. This couldn’t be a prison. Although Shen Tianfang and the others might not have been transported here, with this thought, Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan examined the surrounding walls.
He reached out and knocked—the material of these walls was different from that of the previous large door; it was stone.
Could stone be forcibly broken? With this thought, Li Yifei raised his sword, infusing it with True Qi, sending a streak of Sword Aura towards the wall.
With a swish, the sword energy pierced out, but upon hitting the wall, it suddenly dispersed into smaller sword energies, scattering in all directions.
"Huh?" What kind of wall could deflect sword energy? To Li Yifei’s knowledge, he had never encountered such a thing before.
"Shanshan, you give it a try," Li Yifei said, pointing to the wall in front of them.
Xu Shanshan walked over, looking at the wall and thrust her sword—her Blue Glow was sharper than Li Yifei’s—but it was still useless, also deflected. Li Yifei reached out and touched the wall, feeling only the coolness of an ordinary wall, with no special sensation.
"Something’s not right," Li Yifei muttered, taking the Blue Glow from Xu Shanshan and stabbing again, still deflected.
Could Sword Energy turn around? Li Yifei first thought it was impossible; sword energy moves straight, unstoppable. How could it turn?
But the mysterious force on the wall altered the direction of his sword energy, like a mirror... Hmm? Could it be a mirror? Li Yifei’s curiosity was piqued, and he shared his thoughts with Xu Shanshan, who also became intrigued.
Perhaps ten minutes, perhaps twenty, or even longer, passed before the two finally stopped. Li Yifei exhaled, watching Xu Shanshan still earnestly conducting experiments. Unable to help himself, he smiled and tidied Xu Shanshan’s bangs. Li Yifei said, "This formation method is truly magical; it can deflect attacks."
They tried not only with their swords, but also with various punches and kicks, discovering that the wall could dissipate their attacks.
It was as if a drop of water fell on a mirror—it wasn’t absorbed but couldn’t pass through the mirror, instead splitting on its surface.
Interesting, Li Yifei chuckled and walked back with Xu Shanshan to their original spot.
