Strange Restriction

The moment the Qianjin Pavilion cultivators entered, Yan Yun and her companions immediately sensed them.

“Be careful, the competition has arrived.”

Yan Yun, still ascending the steps, immediately quickened her pace upon hearing Yan Lingyun’s warning.

As Jin Mei and her group descended, they spotted Yan Yun climbing the staircase.

“Pavilion Master, how did someone get in ahead of us?”

“What’s going on?” a Divine Venerable asked, his face a mask of astonishment.

‘This is certainly not good news for them.’

“This is impossible!”

“Our people sealed the entrance immediately.”

“How could someone have gotten in before us?”

Jin Mei was utterly perplexed.

But this was not the time to dwell on such questions.

What they needed to do now was to quickly break the protective array of the ancient ruins and plunder the treasures within.

“Venerable Feng, break the array,” Jin Mei gestured to the old man beside her.

The old man nodded, a compass-like magic treasure appearing in his hand.

He activated it, and the compass immediately shot out streams of light that merged into the array formation.

The compass then began to spin rapidly, as if analyzing the formation.

Soon, the compass stopped, then began to rotate in reverse.

As it spun backward, the threads of light connecting the compass to the array began to draw energy from the formation.

In a short while, the protective array of the ancient ruins started to dim.

But at the same time, the entire ruin began to tremble violently, looking as if it was on the verge of collapse.

“This is bad, Pavilion Master!”

“These ancient ruins have a self-destruct restriction.”

“If I forcefully break the outer array, the restriction will activate immediately, turning this entire place to dust,” the old man said, quickly halting his efforts.

This caused Jin Mei’s brow to furrow.

“Then what should we do?”

The old man pondered for a moment, then once again operated the compass.

The pointer immediately swung towards the main gate of the ancient ruins.

“Our only option is to enter through the main gate first, then break the self-destruct restriction from the inside.”

They were here to seize treasures, not to destroy these ancient ruins.

After weighing the pros and cons, Jin Mei chose to follow the old man’s advice.

After all, only one person had entered before them.

With their lineup of cultivators, they had more than enough power to deal with her, and they weren’t afraid of her competing with them for treasures.

“Alright, we’ll follow Venerable Feng’s lead for now.”

Thus, Jin Mei and her group descended to the main gate of Tianwu Gate.

Everyone looked up at the plaque.

“Tianwu Gate?”

Jin Mei immediately took out a booklet and began to flip through it rapidly.

Soon, she found information about Tianwu Gate.

“It’s actually a self-sealed ancient ruin from three thousand years ago.”

“No one has set foot in this place, so its legacy and various treasures must be complete.”

“It seems we’re in for a great harvest this time.”

Jin Mei closed the booklet.

This Qianjin Pavilion was truly terrifying; they could find information on Tianwu Gate based on its name alone.

‘Of course, the information they held on anything older than two thousand years was not particularly complete. For sects within the last millennium, they could probably dig up the history of their ancestors eight generations back.’

“Pavilion Master, I will break the restriction on this gate,” the old man said, beginning to attempt to break the gate’s restriction.

However, he was shocked to find that the moment the power from his compass touched the restriction, it dissipated into nothingness.

This left the old man, surnamed Feng, stunned.

“This?”

“What kind of restriction is on this gate that even the power of the Star Compass cannot touch it?” Venerable Feng exclaimed in astonishment.

“Old Man Feng, step aside.”

“This restriction will likely require brute force,” another Great Accomplishment Divine Venerable said, gesturing for everyone to move.
Jin Mei and the others quickly stepped back.

The Great Accomplishment Divine Venerable immediately gathered power in his finger, then struck out.

“Annihilation Finger.”

A fiery red stream of light shot from his fingertip, striking the gate’s restriction heavily.

But to everyone’s astonishment, the magical art unleashed by the Great Accomplishment Divine Venerable also vanished into nothing.

“How is this possible?” The Divine Venerable expert was dumbfounded.

It was important to note that the power of these ancient ruins had already dissipated significantly, yet it still couldn’t be broken by brute force.

“Venerable Feng, quickly find out what this restriction is!” Jin Mei urged, growing anxious.

This old man, surnamed Feng, was likely an expert in breaking arrays and restrictions.

He immediately took out a booklet that recorded all known array formations and restrictions, a true contemporary encyclopedia on the subject.

Venerable Feng flipped through it quickly, while signaling to the Great Accomplishment Divine Venerable, “Fellow Daoist Sun, attack the restriction with your full power.”

“Alright.”

The Divine Venerable surnamed Sun immediately took a step back, then unleashed his formidable power.

A suppressive aura radiated from him, spreading in all directions.

Finally, he struck out with his finger once more, this time using his full strength.

The violent energy slammed into the light barrier, not dissipating immediately but clashing with the barrier’s energy for a moment.

Yet, the final result was still useless.

“What in the world is this restriction?”

“If even I can’t break it, how did that woman on the stairs get in?” The Divine Venerable surnamed Sun was confused.

As Venerable Feng continued to search, he soon found a rare type of formation restriction.

“I’ve found it.”

“This should be a Virtual-Real Conversion Restriction.”

“No matter how strong the power is, when it lands on the restriction, it will be turned into nothingness.”

“It cannot be broken by force.”

As soon as Venerable Feng finished speaking, Jin Mei was left speechless.

“How is that possible?”

“How can such a restriction exist in this world?”

“Does this mean we can’t get in?”

Venerable Feng gave an embarrassed smile.

“Well, Pavilion Master, why don’t we wait?”

“The power of this place is constantly dissipating.”

“In a week at most, this restriction will completely disappear.”

Jin Mei’s face darkened.

“A week?”

“Venerable Feng, are you joking?”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“If this place cannot be broken by force, how did the person on the stairs get in just now?”

“Think again, could you be wrong?”

The man surnamed Feng had no choice but to continue searching through his booklet.

Meanwhile, Yan Yun and her two companions had already passed the first trial and arrived at the sect’s main square.

“Phew! That was exhausting.”

Yan Yun sat down on the ground without a care for her image, then looked down towards the main gate.

When she saw the people who came after her being blocked at the gate, she immediately started laughing.

“Old Ancestor, you… no, it’s not just me who’s the clown, is it?”

“Aren’t all those people clowns too?”

Yan Lingyun let out a long sigh.

“Alas! In this world, there are too few people like me, who are fearless and simple-minded.”

“Bullshit!”

“With a restriction like that on the gate, anyone with a bit of common sense wouldn’t just charge in,” Yan Yun retorted.

That was the truth.

A restriction that even a Great Accomplishment Divine Venerable couldn’t shake with their full power, who would dare to touch it directly?

After resting for a moment, Yan Yun stood up again, preparing to face the second trial, a test of willpower.

She took heavy steps towards the platform ahead, and a terrifying pressure descended upon her.

This pressure was different from the one on the stairs; this pressure primarily targeted the soul, while also oppressing the physical body.

This could no longer be endured by physical strength alone.

Someone with weak willpower facing such pressure would likely be scared senseless.

“Damn! This is too intense, isn’t it? For goodness sake.”

Yan Yun felt dizzy, as if she could fall at any moment.

But Yan Yun had experience with this kind of trial.

It was a similar feeling to when she cultivated her poison art, except the poison art was mainly pain-based, while this pressure was mainly a spiritual attack.

A voice in her mind kept telling her to give up if she couldn’t take it.

Yan Yun gritted her teeth and moved forward slowly, her speed likely slower than a snail’s.

Xiao Leng and Heiyue couldn’t help Yan Yun, so they could only stay by her side, cheering her on.

Meanwhile, Jin Mei and the others were at their wit’s end.

“Useless fool!”

“How did our Qianjin Pavilion end up with a useless fool like you?”

“You can’t even break this kind of restriction.”

“I refuse to believe it!”

“Go, have all the treasure hunters above come down.”

“Let’s figure out a way to break this restriction together,” Jin Mei commanded.

Thus, a branch manager immediately flew up.

“Open the array and let our fellow Daoists in.”

The six people maintaining the array were stunned, but they still dispelled it.

Then they followed the branch manager down.

“It’s finally over.”

“Let’s go.”

The experts from the outside world rushed in.

When they saw the magnificent ancient sect ruins, their faces filled with anticipation.

But at the same time, they were also very puzzled.

They noticed that Jin Mei’s people were still at the main gate of the ruins, unable to enter.

Instead, inside the ruins, there was an unfamiliar woman.

“Pavilion Master Jin Mei, what is going on here?”

Some of the Divine Venerables who knew Jin Mei quickly asked.

Jin Mei’s face was as dark as could be.

“The restriction here is extremely powerful, even a Great Accomplishment Divine Venerable cannot shake it.”

“So, I could only ask all of you fellow Daoists to come down and help us find a way to break it together.”

This statement caused everyone’s expressions to shift.

“But, hasn’t someone already gone in?” someone asked doubtfully.

Jin Mei couldn’t answer this question either.

“Perhaps she knows some other entrance.”

“Let’s not talk about that.”

“Please, everyone, find a way.”

“As long as we can break this restriction, the fellow Daoist who does so will be allowed to choose three treasures first.”

“Of course, there are some things our Qianjin Pavilion is determined to have,” Jin Mei stated.

This statement excited the Divine Venerable experts.

“I’ll give it a try.”

A burly Divine Venerable stepped forward, gathering power in his fist, and smashed it against the light barrier with destructive force.

But in the next moment, streams of light shot out from the barrier, sending everyone present flying, not even sparing the Great Accomplishment Divine Venerables.

Cries of alarm rang out continuously.

The Divine Venerable who had attacked fared even worse, being directly repelled and slammed into the rock wall.

“This, this, this, could this be the legendary Absolute Defense Restriction?”

After the old man surnamed Feng climbed up from the ground, he mentioned another type of array restriction.

“Shut up, you!”

“Damn it, fellow Daoists, let’s attack together,” Jin Mei scrambled up from the ground in a rage, calling on everyone.

The Divine Venerables all got up, summoning their magic treasures or using their most powerful techniques.

A series of colorful energy blasts slammed heavily into the light barrier, causing it to cave in.

“The restriction is about to break!”

“Quick, everyone, more power!” Jin Mei said excitedly.

The cultivators all roared, pouring in more power once again.

However, the light barrier, which seemed on the verge of breaking, suddenly acted like a spring, flinging everyone’s power back at them.

In that instant, everyone’s vision was engulfed in white light, followed by a powerful force slamming into them.

This time, everyone was sent flying into the mountain wall opposite them.

The entire Wuyin Mountain Range trembled violently, startling the cultivators who were still on their way.

“What a terrifying energy fluctuation!”

“What in the world is happening up ahead?”