"It's Senior Zachary Zhai!" Someone sharp-eyed on the Celestia defensive wall had already called out, and now most people could see him. In front of these frenzied fiend beasts, a lone figure was sprinting toward the Celestia Plaza. That person was none other than Zachary Zhai, the fourth-ranked among Celestia's top ten Innate Stage experts, who had previously gone missing.
A woman suddenly realized, "I get it now, it's Zachary Zhai. It must be that Zachary Zhai touched something inside Celestia that shouldn't have been touched, which provoked these fiend beasts into madness. And now Zachary Zhai dares to lead this rampaging horde straight to the Celestia Plaza, this..."
"Zachary Zhai, change your direction immediately! Do you even know what you're doing?" Master Thomas Zeng shouted sternly.
Everyone glared angrily at Zachary Zhai; he was simply too selfish. Just to escape the fiend beasts' pursuit, he had resorted to such shameless actions.
"Fine, I'll move aside..." Zachary Zhai said a few words, then suddenly pulled something out and threw it toward the Celestia Plaza's defensive wall, before leaping into the air. He quickly departed from the edge of the rampaging beast tide.
The fiend beasts did not continue chasing Zachary Zhai; instead, they charged madly toward the defensive wall of Celestia Plaza.
"He's flying..." Everyone on Celestia Plaza was stunned.
Rumor had it that Celestia possessed immortal Dao techniques, and those who mastered them to the extreme could fly. Now, right before their eyes, Zachary Zhai was soaring through the air—it felt like a dream.
If not for the beast tide Zachary Zhai had brought, he would now be regarded as a godlike figure in everyone's heart.
"There seems to be a flying sword beneath his feet..."
Someone else murmured, but nobody paid attention to what he said. The beast tide surged relentlessly, crashing into the defensive wall of Celestia Plaza.
Master Thomas Zeng shouted hoarsely, "Everyone, give it your all to fight these fiend beasts! General Segal, you must protect those Quantum Spaceplanes. If anything happens, destroy the planes immediately!"
If the Quantum Spaceplanes aren't destroyed in time, it means that after the fiend beasts devastate Celestia Plaza, they might use the planes to reach Earth.
Master Thomas Zeng's voice was drowned out by the beast tide. The laser wall's radiant net shot out in all directions, but not every fiend beast was slain by the lasers. Some powerful beasts already lunged at the defensive wall, even climbing onto the top of the wall.
A bloody battle erupted at that moment; death became commonplace. The gruesome scene made some who had never witnessed such carnage vomit uncontrollably, but no one cared anymore. Even students from the martial academy had to climb the defensive wall and join the fight against the fiend beasts, defending Celestia Plaza together.
......
After the last wave of fiend beasts passed, Joe Di rushed in the opposite direction, deep into Celestia.
With the beast tide raging like this, his current cultivation was far too weak—going back to help would be suicide. Besides, once the laser wall was activated, returning to help would only make him a target for its defenses.
Joe Di was not the kind who would knowingly sacrifice himself when death was certain. What he sought now was the mysterious Cloudspire Sanctuary mentioned at the auction.
Perhaps when his cultivation was stronger, he could stop the fiend beasts from invading Earth. For now, he was powerless.
The map was divided into two parts: one was a route guide, drawn in later and very intuitive; the other was the original, looking rather aged.
Joe Di easily found a landmark described on the map—a Hooked Stone. Beneath the Hooked Stone lay a river, its bed long since dried up.
Following the dried-up river ahead, Joe Di walked for about half a day before spotting the second landmark—three ancient trees intertwined together.
According to the map's instructions, Joe Di stood in the gap among the three intertwined trees and looked out. Sure enough, he could see a distant, towering peak reaching into the clouds.
The cave mansion marked on the map was located beneath that peak.
Perhaps most of the fiend beasts nearby had gone to Celestia Plaza, so Joe Di easily reached the foot of the towering Cloudspire Peak.
Once he arrived, Joe Di finally understood why no one had ever entered the cave mansion—though news had spread that a cave mansion existed here.
The cave mansion was simply too conspicuous. Before him stretched a broad, flat stone path, three or four zhang wide and a kilometer long. Because it had been deserted for so long, the path was overgrown with weeds and brambles.
At the end of the path stood a grand and luxurious cave mansion entrance. Two massive stone pillars flanked the doorway, each carved with a myriad of totemic symbols.
On either side of the stone path lay countless bones. Joe Di could clearly see a vine entwined around a skeleton—its body still clad in camouflage gear.
Joe Di sighed inwardly; it seemed this flat stone path was truly a death passage. Even with the fiend beasts gone, deadly carnivorous plants still lurked here.
After observing for a full hour, Joe Di finally drew his kitchen knife, preparing to move forward. Just then, a ripple passed through his divine sense.
Joe Di instantly shifted, landing in a nearby clump of grass. At the same time, he cast a simple concealment restriction on himself.
This place was inherently dangerous, so Joe Di kept his divine sense extended. Now that his divine sense had detected a ripple, it meant a cultivator was rapidly approaching.
In just a minute or two, a tall man landed exactly where Joe Di had been standing—right at the entrance to the stone path.
What surprised Joe Di was that this guy arrived on a flying sword. Even without using his divine sense to scan him, Joe Di could tell that this was a cultivator at least at the fourth level of Qi Refinement—and he possessed a magical artifact, a flying sword.
The man's face was fierce, with a deep scar running across his chin. As soon as he landed, he grabbed his flying sword and swept his divine sense outward.
Clearly, this guy didn't understand arraycraft or restriction techniques. His divine sense swept right past Joe Di's simple concealment restriction, failing to notice him at all.
Joe Di thought to himself that he would need to work even harder at learning arraycraft and restriction techniques in the future. After checking the area and finding no one, the man cautiously approached the cave mansion entrance.
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Joe Di's gaze fell upon a small gray pouch at the man's waist—he suspected it was a storage pouch.
The man advanced with utmost caution, placing each step firmly before taking the next. He had barely walked ten meters when seven or eight vines swept toward him, their movements tinged with a foul stench.
Joe Di had anticipated this outcome. Just as he wondered how the man would respond, the flying sword in his hand split into more than a dozen sword rays.
"Puff, puff!" Wherever the sword rays passed, every vine that swept toward him was severed. Grayish-green liquid splattered everywhere, thickening the stench in the air.
After effortlessly cutting down the attacking vines, the man snorted coldly, "I lured away the more dangerous beasts—how dare a few wild vines try to block Zachary Zhai's path."
Joe Di frowned, but quickly realized the truth. At that moment, a surge of killing intent rose within him.
He finally understood the cause of the beast tide that had flooded Celestia Plaza—it was this man who had lured them away. So this man was Zachary Zhai...
Joe Di recalled that at the auction, the woman hosting the event had introduced Zachary Zhai as one of Celestia's top ten Innate Stage experts, ranked fourth. It was said he went missing while searching for this cave mansion. Who could have guessed he not only survived, but turned out to be so vicious—truly living up to his name. No one knew what method he used to lure the fiend beasts to Celestia Plaza.
The purpose of luring the fiend beasts to Celestia Plaza was clearly for this cave mansion.
A cave mansion might be extraordinary, but to do something so utterly despicable for its sake—ignoring all moral boundaries—was beyond belief. If the beast tide destroyed Celestia Plaza, it might even discover the location of Earth.
All along the broad stone path, various carnivorous plants kept trying to block Zachary Zhai, but he clearly mastered a sword technique—every plant was cut down by his flying sword.
After more than half an hour, Joe Di saw Zachary Zhai enter the cave mansion between the two totem pillars.
Joe Di stood up and followed. Although he knew some basic arraycraft, he still couldn't refine array flags or set up trapping arrays. He could only lay a few simple restrictions along the way, just in case Zachary Zhai tried to escape.
Zachary Zhai walked ahead, cutting down many blocking carnivorous plants. With him clearing the way, Joe Di had a much easier time. In just a few minutes, Joe Di reached the two stone pillars at the cave mansion entrance. He set several restrictions between the pillars before stepping into the massive cave mansion.
Standing outside the pillars, Joe Di's divine sense couldn't penetrate the interior. But once he crossed through, he was greeted by a scene he had never imagined.
Rather than a cave mansion, it was more like a grand hall. The hall was vast, surrounded by towering stone pillars, and at its center stood a Jade Coffin.
No one knew how many years had passed, yet the Jade Coffin remained spotless, without a speck of dust. Even from afar, Joe Di could clearly see a stunning woman lying inside.
Her hands were crossed over her chest, bare feet exposed, and she wore very little—a pink ribbon wound from her lower leg and abdomen, trailing to the pillow beside her.
Her eyes were tightly closed, long lashes casting shadows as if she were merely asleep. The woman looked familiar... In a flash, Joe Di realized why—she was the very image of the fallen Statue of the Fairy at Celestia Plaza.
Zachary Zhai was already standing beside the Jade Coffin, his face full of astonishment. Like Joe Di, he hadn't expected to find a Jade Coffin here.