421: Chapter 421 The Holy Art of Rejuvenation

Time passed.

Under the ancient tree, Yaoguang kept her eyes closed. After an unknown amount of time, the azure light on her finger finally transformed from a thin thread into a complete line. One end of the line was connected to her palm, while the other end dangled to the ground like a thread on a sewing needle. She drew the line back into her palm and took a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes, the dew condensed on the leaves of the ancient tree was dripping down.

Yaoguang looked down at her hand, where the azure thread glowed faintly in her palm. Drawing it into her body, she looked up at her teammates in the distance. Chu Lan was crouching under the tree gathering branches, Lin Yue was handing a bottle of medicine to Tianxin, and Luo Li had stopped playing, cradling her flowing sound zither as she watched her. Su Ning nodded to her, while Lin Jingyu and Situ Lan stood a bit further away, their shadows stretched long by the moonlight.

Yaoguang stood up. During her comprehension of the Dao, her cultivation had broken through from the Middle Stage of the fifth level of Foundation Establishment to the Early Stage of the sixth level of Foundation Establishment, and the spiritual energy in her body was several times more robust than before. Her healing efficacy also far surpassed the past; what previously required ten percent of her spiritual energy could now be accomplished with less than seventy percent.

Fairy Qingmu looked at Yaoguang, her eyes filled with gratification. "The Rejuvenation Holy Art in your hands will not bring shame to its name. You have a pure healing heart, which is the most important Foundation for cultivating this technique."

Yaoguang lowered her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Fairy Qingmu turned to the group, her gaze sweeping across everyone's face, her tone filled with emotion. "Your team has its own strengths and cooperates seamlessly. Your experiences in the Heavenly Sword Sect, Wanfa Sect, Lingbao Sect, and Changsheng Valley tell the world that a Legacy is not the affair of a single person, but of a group of people. The road ahead is still very long; I wish you all the best."

She paused, as if remembering something. "The final stop is the Taixu Palace. Master Void there has an eccentric temperament, and his trials are often unexpected. But since you have Su Ning, it should be easier."

Su Ning nodded slightly. The Dao of Space was her most proficient Domain.

The nine returned to the guest house. Yaoguang carefully put away the Jade Slip of the Rejuvenation Holy Art and stayed in the alchemy room for a bit longer, trying the newly learned "Pulse Continuation Technique" a few times, with results better than expected.

Chu Lan placed the branch of the azure wood holy seed on the windowsill, its leaves shimmering under the moonlight.

Lin Yue wiped down his Formation Plate, replacing the one that had shattered during today's battle, and checked his protective jade pendant once more.

Luo Li replaced her zither strings, playing a brief, pleasant melody while tuning.

Situ Lan drew her frost sword from its scabbard, revealing a very shallow scratch on the blade. She said it was scratched by a dry branch in the Dead Wood Forest and was of no concern.

Lin Jingyu's flowing cloud sword was completely undamaged.

Tianxin laid out all her remaining Talismans, inspecting them one by one. The purification talismans were completely used up, there were three Isolation Talismans left, five Explosive Talismans, and one Seal-Breaking Talisman. She frowned; it wasn't enough. Gao Feng split his share of Talismans and gave half to her, and Tianxin did not refuse.

Su Ning recalibrated the spatial teleportation coordinates to the Taixu Palace, and after confirming they were correct, she closed her eyes to rest her mind.

As the night grew deep, the lights in the guest house went out one by one.

Gao Feng stood by the window, gazing at the silhouette of the ancient tree in the distance. The moonlight spilled through the clouds onto the canopy like a silver hat. He touched the several Jade Slips in his bosom—the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sword Intent Spirit-Guiding Technique, the Wanfa Sect's Myriad Laws Return to Origin Art, the Lingbao Sect's Core Array Technique, and the Changsheng Valley's Green Wood Pulse Continuation Technique. They had already visited four of the five sects, with only the final stop remaining.

He withdrew his gaze from the ancient tree and blew out the lamp on the table.

In the early morning of Changsheng Valley, a thin mist drifted through the forest.

The nine were fully packed and ready to go in front of the guest house. Su Ning's spatial teleportation formation had already been set up, its silver formation lines glowing faintly on the bluestone floor. Fairy Qingmu came in person to see them off, handing a jade-green bamboo slip to Gao Feng. "These are the coordinates to the Taixu Palace. Master Void has an eccentric temperament, but he keeps his word. If you go with this, he will not make things difficult for you."

Gao Feng took the bamboo slip and cupped his fists in thanks.

The teleportation formation activated, enveloping the nine in a silver light. As the light flashed, the bamboo forests, ancient trees, and Spirit Plant Garden of Changsheng Valley gradually shrank in their field of vision, turning into a blurry green patch before finally vanishing into the Void Realm.

The Taixu Palace was not located on any mountain peak, nor was it on a floating island or in an underground cavern; instead, it was hidden within the Void Realm.

Following the coordinates given by Fairy Qingmu, Su Ning set the teleportation landing point in a void space. When the silver light dissipated, the nine found themselves standing on a massive stone platform. The platform floated in the Void Realm, surrounded by endless darkness—there was no sky, no earth, only a few dimly visible stone platforms in the distance and the stone bridges connecting them.

"You have arrived at the Taixu Palace," an old voice echoed from the darkness.

In front of the stone platform, a figure slowly emerged. It was an elderly man with white hair and beard, a lean face, and deep eyes, dressed in a silver-white robe with star patterns embroidered on the hem.

His cultivation was at the ninth level of the Golden Core Realm, and his aura was restrained—completely different from the violent nature of the King of Ten Thousand Races. Instead, he gave off an ethereal, void-like feeling, as if his entire being could dissolve into the Void Realm at any moment.

The Palace Master of Taixu Palace, Master Void.

"Jian Wuwei of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Xuanqing of the Wanfa Sect, Sect Leader Qilingzi of the Lingbao Sect, and Qingmu of Changsheng Valley have all sent word to me." His gaze swept across the faces of the nine, neither warm nor cold. "The fact that you could pass the first four sects and reach the Taixu Palace shows you have some ability. But the trial of the Taixu Palace is different from the previous four."

With a wave of his hand, a massive silver light gate emerged in the Void Realm before the stone platform. Behind the gate, one could faintly see countless twisted corridors, intersecting staircases, and floating silver specks of light.

"The Space-Time Labyrinth," Master Void's voice was devoid of emotion. "Within the labyrinth, the flow of time is chaotic, and space is warped. You need to find the exit. There are no maps, no guidance; you can only rely on yourselves. There is only one exit, and its location changes randomly. Finding it counts as passing. You may enter together, but once inside, you will be randomly scattered to different locations in the labyrinth."

"Is there any danger to our lives?" Lin Yue asked.

"Yes," Master Void answered bluntly. "Those who get lost in the Space-Time Labyrinth will be trapped in chaotic temporal nodes, never to escape. In the history of the Taixu Palace, three Disciples have gone missing during this trial. It is not too late for you to back out now."

No one backed out.

Master Void glanced at everyone and did not urge them further. He turned and walked toward the light gate, leaving behind a final word: "Once inside, remember one thing—do not believe what your eyes see, and do not trust your intuition. In the Space-Time Labyrinth, your only reliance is your companions." He stepped into the light gate, his figure vanishing into the silver glow.

Gao Feng turned to look at his teammates. "Once we go in, no matter where we are scattered, do not panic. Su Ning's Spatial Magic can locate us, Luo Li's melodies can identify temporal nodes, and Tianxin's Talismans can mark the path. As long as we are still in the labyrinth, we will definitely find each other."

Chu Lan gripped the branch of the azure wood holy seed in her bosom, Lin Yue touched the Formation Plate in his sleeve, Tianxin counted her Talismans, Luo Li held her flowing sound zither firmly, Su Ning closed her eyes to sense the spatial fluctuations behind the light gate, Yaoguang held the jade bottle of rejuvenation pills in her hand, and Lin Jingyu and Situ Lan exchanged a look, each tightening their grip on their sword hilts.

Gao Feng was the first to step into the light gate. The silver light swallowed his figure. The others followed closely behind.

The moment he stepped into the labyrinth, Gao Feng's vision shifted abruptly. He stood in a narrow stone corridor; the walls on both sides were silver-white, seamless and textureless, looking as if they were cast from a single piece of metal. Endless corridors stretched out both ahead and behind, with no end in sight. He looked back—there was no door. The path he came from had vanished.

He took a step forward. His own reflection suddenly appeared on the walls of the corridor, but it did not move in synchronization with his actions; instead, it was a split second faster at one moment, and a split second slower the next.

The flow of time was chaotic.

Gao Feng stopped, closed his eyes, and extended his spiritual sense out of his body. His Time Insight had been comprehended on the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Races, and it could only perceive changes in the flow of time within a small range. At this moment, he divided his spiritual sense into dozens of strands, extending them in different directions to perceive the flow of time in each passage.

In the eastern passage, time flowed thirty percent faster than normal. In the western passage, it was twenty percent slower. Directly ahead, it was sometimes fast and sometimes slow, with no pattern.

He chose to walk straight ahead. Every so often, he would stop to re-sense the flow of time around him. The consumption of Time Insight was not small, but his cultivation at the fourth level of the Golden Core Realm was enough to sustain it.

On the other side, Su Ning's situation was even more complex than Gao Feng's. She had been teleported into a spacious hall with a ceiling so high its top was invisible. The floor was paved with black and white checkered tiles, each of which was slowly moving. There were dozens of exits around the hall, each leading to a different passage. She did not rush to choose an exit, but sat cross-legged and closed her eyes.

The locating function of Spatial Magic was greatly compromised in the labyrinth because the space itself was warping. She could not perceive the exact locations of her distant teammates, but she could sense abnormal spatial nodes—these nodes were the "joints" of the labyrinth. Finding them would allow her to find the pattern of the exits.

She stood up and walked toward the nearest node.

Luo Li was teleported into a circular ring passage. The passage had no beginning and no end; after walking for a long time, she found herself back at the starting point.

Instead of continuing to walk, she sat down cross-legged, placed the flowing sound zither across her knees, and plucked the strings with her fingers. The zither music echoed in the passage. She did not play any existing piece, but improvised a slow melody, each note testing the resonance of the passage. Finally, at a certain frequency, the walls of the passage lit up slightly. That was an anomaly in the temporal nodes; she had found it using melody.

Guided by the melody, Luo Li walked out of the circular passage and ran straight into Su Ning. The two exchanged a glance without any pleasantries. Luo Li continued to play, while Su Ning used Spatial Magic to sense the temporal nodes marked by Luo Li's melody, heading toward the next direction.

The third one to be found was Tianxin.

She pasted Talismans at every intersection she passed, and the ashes left after the Talismans burned left a unique spiritual energy mark, forming a clear path in the labyrinth.