Chapter 399: Matching the Key (First Update)

With this loud bang, the ground surrounding the throne suddenly cracked violently!

Cracks spread out in all directions, using the throne as the center!

Then, from within those cracks, something actually surged out!

As Chu Liuyue focused her gaze, she discovered that it was... golden sand!

Countless grains of sand, shimmering with a faint golden light, poured out from underground like a continuous spring!

However, these sands did not scatter to the surroundings; instead, they—gradually accumulated upwards!

Only then did Chu Liuyue realize that those were not actually true sand, but—fragmented crystals!

Those tiny crystal fragments gradually gathered and condensed together, forming strange, pentagonal, nail-sized thin crystals.

And these pentagonal thin crystals connected to one another, accumulating in layers upon layers.

The thin crystals on top were not all tightly connected; on the contrary, most of them had gaps in between, as if they were being combined according to some peculiar pattern.

Soon, a crystal wall resembling a golden fence appeared before Chu Liuyue's eyes!

And it wasn't just this one!

The same scene was playing out in the cracks nearby!

Chu Liuyue knew she couldn't afford to sit idly by and wait for death; otherwise, once these walls of golden thin crystals accumulated, it would be several times harder for her to get out!

She immediately stood up, intending to leave the throne.

However, the moment she stood, all the movement around her suddenly stopped!

It was as if someone had pressed a pause button on time, freezing everything in place.

Chu Liuyue paused, her expression tightening slightly.

Then, she cautiously took a step forward.

*Buzz!*

A thin, humming sound suddenly drifted in!

Ripples suddenly surged within the void in front of her!

Golden patterns, like water ripples, drifted outward lightly before vanishing.

But Chu Liuyue was greatly alarmed—a barrier had suddenly appeared here!?

Moreover, judging from that brief test just now, this barrier was absolutely not something her current self could break through!

She looked to the side and tried a few more times.

Sure enough, the entire throne area was enclosed within a sealed barrier!

Chu Liuyue sat back down upon the throne.

Everything around her immediately resumed!

The rustling sound of flowing fine sand returned, and the bright golden light illuminated the entire space as if it were high noon.

But Chu Liuyue's heart gradually sank to the bottom.

Looking around, the walls formed by the accumulating golden thin crystals were already over a person's height; looking at them as a whole, they had almost formed a winding labyrinth!

And she—was trapped right in the middle of this labyrinth!

*Thud!*

Tuanzi suddenly leaped out, charging straight toward the barrier.

With a muffled sound, Tuanzi was bounced back.

Chu Liuyue caught it with quick reflexes.

Tuanzi rubbed its head.

It hurt!

"Tuanzi, are you okay?" Chu Liuyue asked with concern.

Unwilling to give up, Tuanzi stood up and flew toward the barrier again! At the same time, it opened its mouth and bit down hard!

*Crack!*

Chu Liuyue's eye twitched.

That sound... why did it sound a bit wrong...

Seeing Tuanzi stuck to the barrier as if it were glued there, unable to move, Chu Liuyue couldn't help but call out, "Tuanzi?"

Tuanzi still showed no reaction, but Chu Liuyue saw its tail tremble slightly.

Her worry grew; she reached out and grabbed Tuanzi down.

Tuanzi immediately covered its face with its paws.

Chu Liuyue pushed its paws aside

"What's wrong with you—"

Her words stopped abruptly.

One human and one beast stared at each other.

To ease the awkwardness, Tuanzi bared its teeth in a grin.

Looking at Tuanzi's small white teeth, which were stained red, Chu Liuyue fell silent for a moment.

"Did you chip a tooth?"

Tuanzi hurriedly covered its mouth and shook its head violently.

No, no!

It just bit too hard, so the teeth were a bit loose and bled a little!

Chu Liuyue: "..."

She sighed helplessly, gently patted Tuanzi's head, and then looked back at the faintly golden barrier before her.

She knew how powerful Tuanzi's bite was, but now, even Tuanzi was helpless against this barrier...

With her current strength, how was she supposed to get out?

Chu Liuyue frowned in deep thought for a long time, unconsciously leaning back.

Her back suddenly felt a bit hard.

Right, she had almost forgotten, there were words on this backrest!

Wait!

Chu Liuyue's eyes suddenly lit up.

What was written there just now?

"East of the Weak Water—Gold!"

Gold...

When heaven and earth were in chaos, the Five Elements were born.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth!

Could this "Gold" refer to the Five Elements!?

The Five Elements generate and overcome one another; among them—Fire can overcome Metal!

She placed Tuanzi on her shoulder, then took out the Heavenly Square Sacred Cauldron once more!

Transparent Karmic Fire burned quietly within it.

Then, Chu Liuyue held her breath and concentrated, pouring all her mind and strength into the Heavenly Square Sacred Cauldron!

The fire moved with her will. With a loud *boom*, the transparent Karmic Fire instantly surged upward! It lunged toward the barrier!

*Sizzle!*

When the two met, they produced a piercing sound!

The faintly golden barrier actually began to burn!

While Chu Liuyue was dealing with various situations within the Imperial Mausoleum, it was peaceful outside Sijin Peak.

Zhong Qi and the others stood at the mountain peak, staring at the still slowly rotating disc, their faces extremely grim.

Since those two had disappeared from here, there had been no further movement.

They could not enter the Imperial Mausoleum through this disc; they could only watch it rotate from the side, unable to do anything.

No one knew what the actual situation inside the Imperial Mausoleum was.

The more peaceful it was, the more uneasy they became.

Suddenly, a sound of something breaking through the air arrived!

Zhong Qi immediately looked up. Seeing the newcomer, he stepped forward joyfully

"Elder Ye!"

The newcomer was indeed Ye Zhiting.

He had originally been repairing the Nine Nether Tower at the academy when he suddenly saw the warning fireworks. Knowing something had happened at the Imperial Mausoleum, he had rushed here in haste.

Just as Ye Zhiting was about to speak, he saw the disc on the mountain peak rotating slowly, and his face filled with shock.

"The Imperial Mausoleum has been opened!?"

Zhong Qi's lips moved, and he lowered his head.

"Please forgive us, Elder Ye. It is our incompetence that allowed those two to find a loophole!"

Ye Zhiting's expression turned serious

"Two people? Have their identities been confirmed?"

Zhong Qi looked ashamed: "...We failed. They moved too fast. By the time we discovered them, they had already reached the mountain peak and opened the Imperial Mausoleum directly. We didn't have time to—"

Ye Zhiting became even more puzzled

"How is that possible? Without the matching key, the barrier of Sijin Peak cannot be opened. How did they enter so silently?"

Zhong Qi and the others fell silent.

Ye Zhiting suddenly paused.

Could it be that the two who came possessed the matching key to the Sijin Peak barrier!?

But there was only one such thing, and it had always been in His Majesty's hands!

"Someone stole His Majesty's matching key!"