The bronze gate of the underground palace creaked open. A few of Zhu Jing's subordinates were about to charge inside when they were stopped by Fang Chang.
"Pavilion Master Zhu, it's far too dangerous in there. There may be entities beyond human comprehension, as well as traps even you can't withstand. Please, keep your people in check," Fang Chang warned her solemnly, enunciating every word.
Zhu Jing nodded firmly. Just from the bronze gate alone, she could tell that whatever lay beyond was not something she could meddle with. Wisely, she withdrew without complaint.
"One more thing," Fang Chang added as he saw her turning to leave. "Please help guard the temple outside. No matter what happens, don't let anyone come near."
"Mhm. Leave this small matter to me," Zhu Jing agreed readily. Taking Zhu Zhu by the hand, she turned to leave the area and head back outside the temple.
Zhu Zhu, however, seemed a little unwilling. She glanced at Fang Chang, then at Gu Yue beside him, and whispered to Zhu Jing, "Why isn't she leaving?"
"Well… she and Fang Chang are both stronger than me," Zhu Jing replied, unsure how to explain further. She simply shut down Zhu Zhu's complaints with that blunt statement.
From the moment Gu Yue and Fang Chang had joined forces, Zhu Jing had clearly felt the gap between them and herself.
Once, she had thought that becoming an Ultimate Douluo meant standing at the peak of the world. But now, she realized just how utterly mistaken she had been.
After Zhu Jing led the others away, Fang Chang finally pulled Gu Yue along and stepped into the underground palace.
The interior of the palace was made of the same luminous material as the outer walls. Though buried dozens of meters underground, it wasn't dark at all—on the contrary, the brightness was somewhat blinding.
The two of them wandered the passageways, feeling as if they'd lost all sense of direction, simply following the tunnel deeper.
No one would have imagined that beneath the imperial capital of the Sun-Moon Empire lay such a grand subterranean palace.
"Gu Yue, can you sense the aura of the Goddess of Life or the others?" Fang Chang turned his head and asked again as they walked.
Gu Yue paused, closed her eyes, and carefully sensed the surrounding auras. At last, she shook her head helplessly.
"No. Her aura is too well hidden. Unless we can find traces of her magic recently cast, it'll be difficult to locate her."
Logically, their divine powers came from the same origin—it shouldn't be so hard to sense each other.
But the Goddess of Life was an ancient god-king who had been laying low here for countless years. Her methods of concealing herself were bound to be numerous.
Even earlier, with the Lake of Life, Gu Yue had only been able to deduce a general direction. Now that they were closer, she still couldn't detect much.
"Let's keep going. Even if they're not here, I'm sure we'll find something." Fang Chang tugged her sleeve and led her onward.
This corridor alone stretched for thousands of meters. It took them five or six minutes to reach its end, where a vast underground hall came into view.
Here, the glow from the walls dimmed, replaced by a massive luminous pearl suspended from the ceiling.
The entire hall was remarkably spacious. The light from the pearl made it as bright as daylight, yet the ground was completely bare—a circular, empty chamber.
At first glance, the hall seemed devoid of life. Only twelve stone coffins rested at the four corners of the room, immediately catching Fang Chang's attention.
He told Gu Yue to wait at the tunnel entrance while he approached the nearest coffin directly ahead.
As he reached the center of the hall, the luminous pearl above suddenly flickered—then went completely dark.
Darkness consumed the chamber. Only a faint glow from the corridor wall behind them offered the slightest light.
Clack—clack—clack! Mechanical noises echoed from all directions. The twelve stone coffins burst open simultaneously, and several shadowy figures sprang forth.
Fang Chang reacted instinctively, striking backward with a palm. It collided with a fierce punch, sending a shockwave booming through the hall.
At the tunnel entrance, Gu Yue's eyes sharpened. She fired a beam of divine power at the pearl above, reigniting its light and revealing the current scene.
Surrounding Fang Chang were twelve figures clad in tattered, decaying black cloaks, each in a combat stance, eyes locked on him.
Clearly, these were the ones who had emerged from the coffins—or rather, they weren't people at all, but once were gods!
Back when the Goddess of Life fled, she had taken hundreds of second- and third-tier deities with her.
Over the ages, half of them had already fallen. But a significant number had remained in hiding—twelve of them here, it seemed.
Having been away from the Divine Realm for so long and cut off from divine power, their faces were emaciated and pale. Their movements were sluggish, a far cry from their former glory. At most, they were only marginally stronger than ordinary demigods now.
"Long time no see, everyone." Fang Chang swept his gaze over them, face cold. He had little memory of these minor gods, having only met them once or twice.
But they remembered him vividly. For nearly ten thousand years, they had dreamed of the day they could defeat this man and return to the Divine Realm.
Yet they also feared—feared that he would appear one day and cut off their hopes forever.
Words were meaningless now. The fallen gods knew this encounter would not end peacefully. They launched another assault.
Fang Chang wasn't about to be overwhelmed. He immediately revealed his true form and activated Night Walker, splitting into three clones. Four of him now faced the twelve enemies—one to three.
But this "one" was at full power, far beyond an ordinary god-king. And the "three" were decrepit, fallen deities whose strength had long since waned. The disparity was obvious.
Gu Yue had considered helping him at first, but when she saw how swiftly he dispatched the enemies—barely breaking a sweat—she stayed back.
In just five or six minutes, Fang Chang had finished the fight. Of the twelve fallen gods, ten had been slain outright, and two were captured alive.
"Speak. Where are the others who came with you?" Fang Chang's eyes gleamed with menace as he glared at the two barely surviving gods and barked the question.
"Hmph." The two glanced at each other, seemingly resigned to death. They closed their eyes, waiting to be killed.
"Not talking, huh?" Fang Chang had anticipated this. He stepped toward one of them and drove a spider-leg blade into his collarbone.
The god's agonized screams echoed through the hall. His companion flinched visibly. Death he did not fear—but the torment before death…
The screams grew weaker until they faded entirely.
The second god opened one eye to glimpse his fallen comrade—only to see another spider-leg blade coming his way.
"I'll talk! Don't torture me!" At last, he gave in and revealed the whereabouts of the other gods.