Chapter Twenty-One: The Enigmatic Temple

After leaving the Maple Moon Star, Qiankun made his way directly toward the region where the Maze God Palace was located.

In the area surrounding the Maze God Palace, the vast expanse of space was shuddering violently. Even in the endless void, from a distance of millions of miles, one could clearly see enormous spatial rifts. It was hard to imagine just how vast those rifts were—at least several thousand, if not tens of thousands of miles wide. From afar, they resembled winding rivers stretching across the cosmos.

The source of these “rivers” of spatial fissures was none other than the Maze God Palace itself. Extending outward from the palace, some of these rifts reached lengths nearly the size of an entire star system—a terrifying thought in itself.

The spatial rifts were repeatedly being mended by the laws of the universe, only to be torn open again in the blink of an eye.

From the outside, the Maze God Palace didn’t resemble a palace at all. Instead, it looked like a colossal sphere, hundreds or even thousands of times larger than a star. Half its surface gleamed gold, the other half was pitch black. The golden substance was the infamous Cosmic Fragmented Gold Stream, feared even by Immortal Emperors, while the black, gravel-like material was an equally fearsome substance, its power rivaling that of the gold stream.

With these two materials forming a barrier, even the most powerful beings of the Immortal, Demon, and Monster Realms could not force their way through; they could only enter via the palace’s two designated passages.

Using his mastery of space, Qiankun entered the Maze God Palace with ease, arriving at the misty outer domain. This outer domain was a divine restriction—more precisely, a type of illusionary barrier belonging to the God Realm. The barrier covered a vast area, which diluted its power. Most importantly, it was not lethal, serving only to entrap, not to kill.

Ordinary intruders would find themselves at the periphery of this illusion, as the coverage was immense and its strength not overwhelming. As long as one stayed near the edges, using soul force to probe, it was possible to find a way out.

However, with Qiankun’s powerful spirit, his divine sense easily penetrated the entirety of the Maze God Palace’s outer domain—even reaching into the palace itself.

Thus, Qiankun passed through the outer illusion unimpeded and arrived at the palace gates. As for the countless divine artifacts scattered throughout the illusion, they held little attraction for him.

The Maze God Palace itself was a floating violet structure, consisting of four halls at the cardinal points—east, west, south, and north—joined by walls to form a courtyard-like complex. The palace was not particularly large; each hall measured only a few hundred meters in length.

Gazing at the deep blue, granite-like gates swung open before him, Qiankun narrowed his eyes and stepped inside.

Though the palace had seemed small from outside, Qiankun found it surprisingly spacious within.

“The use of spatial laws here is truly ingenious,” he murmured, closing his eyes to survey the place with his divine sense.

Qiankun quickly detected the presence of the palace’s steward, Fu Bo, who was hiding nearby, but he paid him no mind and walked straight to the entrance of the Hall of Artifacts.

With his formidable spirit, Qiankun easily discovered the mechanism on the hall’s door. Drawing on his immense physical strength and mastery of spatial energy, he opened the door directly.

“So, you finally couldn’t resist coming out, could you?” The instant the door swung open, a surge of unusual energy struck him—the mingled aura of countless treasures. At the same time, Qiankun sensed Fu Bo hurrying his way.

Turning, Qiankun saw Fu Bo appear abruptly, his expression grave as he demanded, “Who are you, really?”

“Rest assured, I’m not from the God Realm, and I have little interest in your master’s treasures. I’ve only come to examine the scrolls your master collected—those that record various techniques, secrets, and knowledge, especially the nine hundred volumes on formations,” Qiankun replied calmly.

Fu Bo was momentarily stunned, then frowned. “You came here just to read my master’s scrolls?”

“That’s right! Steward of the Maze God Palace, you should know you cannot stop me,” Qiankun said with a smile.

“Very well. I’ll let you read the scrolls my master collected. But you must promise not to touch anything else in the palace,” Fu Bo said, after a brief, helpless hesitation. After all, letting this mysterious figure read the scrolls would cause no real loss to the palace.

Under Fu Bo’s personal guidance, Qiankun entered a chamber in the Hall of Artifacts, where thousands of scrolls were stored. Each scroll contained an ocean of information.

Qiankun then devoted himself wholeheartedly to absorbing the vast knowledge preserved in those thousands of scrolls, selecting and memorizing what was most useful to him. Though his spirit was strong, the sheer volume of information required more than a thousand years to review, even skimming over much of it and focusing on what would serve him best, planning to absorb it more thoroughly later.

Though Che Houyuan excelled in formation and artifact forging, the information he had gathered was truly encyclopedic, including even the art of alchemy—an endless variety, encompassing all things. It would not be an exaggeration to call it the library of all Linmeng World. Knowledge is power, and this was as true for Qiankun as for anyone else.

After finishing the scrolls, Qiankun grew weary of Fu Bo’s constant, watchful gaze. He left the palace to study the bewildering formation array that shrouded it. Such a vast array could not be a single formation; rather, it was a complex combination of many fundamental divine formations.

Qiankun spent several centuries analyzing and unraveling these intricate formations. As his understanding of the nine hundred formation scrolls deepened, so too did his mastery of the formation arts.

After several more centuries, much to Fu Bo’s anxious relief, Qiankun finally decided to leave. He had no intention of returning to the Immortal, Demon, or Monster Realms, for they now held nothing of interest for him. Instead, he journeyed directly to the God Realm.

Upon arrival, Qiankun did not enter any city. He chose, rather, to cultivate in the wilderness.

The wilds of the God Realm were filled with violent divine energy, but for Qiankun, this was perfect for tempering his body. As he cultivated the Ninth Cycle Primordial Art, he focused mainly on studying the nine hundred formation scrolls and further attuning himself to the Dao of Space. Gradually, he discovered that the deeper his understanding of formations grew, the easier it became to comprehend the Dao of Space. After all, formations harnessed the power of heaven and earth, and were deeply interconnected with space itself.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten thousand years passed. Qiankun succeeded in advancing his Primordial Art to the ninth cycle; his body was now comparable to that of a Grand Golden Immortal, his attack power rivaling that of a Divine King. His insight into the Dao of Space had reached a critical bottleneck—he was but a step away from complete understanding.

Qiankun’s achievements in formation were equally profound. Ten thousand years of devoted study had yielded rich rewards.

“My disciple should have ascended to the God Realm by now,” Qiankun mused to himself. “With the Treasure of Jiang Lan Realm, which alters the flow of time, he’s had even longer to cultivate than I have. His mastery of formations is likely no less than my own.”

Convinced that further solitary cultivation would yield diminishing returns, Qiankun decided it was time to wander the God Realm and see what else it had to offer.