Shen Qian looked around and saw that he and Tantai Qin were on a stone staircase leading up a mountain.
Following the direction Tantai Qin pointed, the view pierced through the gaps in the mountain peaks, reaching straight to the distant horizon.
Shen Qian stared at the black weight that stood high between heaven and earth, even larger than a mountain peak, and was deeply shocked.
"What is that?" Shen Qian felt a strange sense of oppression and couldn't help but ask.
"The Scales of Heaven are an ancient artifact that is said to suppress the Heavenly Court and can alter the laws of heaven and earth within a certain range."
Tantai Qinrou said softly.
"What rules of heaven and earth?" Shen Qian's eyes narrowed.
“Mountains and seas are off-limits.” Tantai Qin said softly, “I think this must be the rule of the scales of heaven that are being suppressed here. It may be the guard mechanism of this place in the past. Look at the other side of the scales of heaven, that should be the core area here.”
Looking ahead, Chen Qian saw that the location of the Scales seemed to be a dividing line. Although the area further inside was also fragmented, it was not as dark as the area where they were located.
"In other words, the scales of heaven form a ring-shaped area, and any mountains or seas that intrude into the outer area will be suppressed... If this is combined with the seemingly endless heavenly soldiers, wouldn't it be an impregnable fortress?"
After a moment's thought, Chen Qian understood the underlying principles.
"But if that's the case, how did this place, which is supposedly the Heavenly Court, perish? The Scales of Heaven weren't destroyed..."
He murmured before sinking in.
Those heavenly soldiers and generals were no different from walking corpses.
But no one knows what kind of past this place has gone through.
wrong……
Suddenly, another thought occurred to Shen Qian.
"You knew what it was like inside all along?" Shen Qian looked up at Tantai Qin. "Or rather, you already knew about the existence of the Scales of Heaven before you came in, otherwise how could you have just managed to create a fake body that was only half a step into the Mountain and Sea Realm?"
Tantai Qin was taken aback. She lowered her head and thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Perhaps my original self knows more, but... she didn't tell me."
There was no need for Tantai Qin to lie to him. Although he couldn't quite understand it, Shen Qian was too lazy to care.
He looked around at the vast expanse, and each time a cloud drifted by, it made him tense.
"Those heavenly soldiers and generals have temporarily disappeared, but they probably won't let us go easily. What should we do now?"
Shen Qian frowned.
"Go up."
Tantai Qin turned her head to look at the top of the mountain, the summit shrouded in mist.
"If it is the Heavenly Court, although the Heavenly Gate is only for entering and not for exiting, there are still exits to the outside world in some places... Judging from the location, this mountain with stone steps should not be an ordinary place."
Shen Qian nodded slightly and said no more. He let the now "crippled" Tantai Qin lean on him, picked up the long sword from the ground, and quickly went upstairs.
The white jade stone steps are very long, but they are broken from time to time due to damage.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, climbing at least several thousand more stone steps, the two arrived at a huge plaza.
The white square, several kilometers long and wide, was desolate, with piles of dead leaves and puddles everywhere, and many broken statues had been overturned on the square.
But even amidst the ruins, one can still vaguely glimpse the former glory of this place.
Chen stopped in his tracks and stared at the stone tablet standing in front of the main hall.
Above are three elegant and graceful ancient-style characters, still shimmering with a faint light, as if no matter how time washes away everything else, these three characters will never lose their color.
"Yaochi Palace." Shen Qian, who had recently studied many ancient characters, murmured those two words.
Tantai Qin, who was resting in Shen Qian's arms, heard Shen Qian's whisper and opened her eyes, which had been tightly closed.
"The Heavenly Court has thirty-six palaces, and Yaochi is one of them. There should be an exit here."
"Tantai Qin said softly."
Seeing that they hadn't gone the wrong way, Shen Qian perked up and immediately pulled Tantai Qin into the main hall, whose doors had long since disappeared.
"If we find the water of Yaochi, the exit should be there."
Tantai Qin added another reminder.
Yaochi Palace is extremely large. Although many buildings have collapsed, Shen Qian jumped onto the roof and looked around. It still felt like there was no end in sight.
Before sinking, I thought that since it was a legendary sacred place, what if there were any lost treasures?
However, after circling around more than a dozen halls, Shen Qian realized that he had been overthinking things.
Forget about treasures, you can't even see a hair!
The main theme here is ruin and desolation. If there is anything different, it is that before sinking, he found a piece of cloth-like thing under a pile of rubble. It was trapezoidal in shape and had some dirt on it.
At first, Shen Qian thought it might be some kind of treasure map or secret martial arts manual, until Tantai Qin, with a blush on her face, whispered something, and Shen Qian, as if waking from a dream, quickly threw away the piece of cloth.
Come to think of it, if this place didn't perish naturally, but was invaded by foreign enemies, how could they possibly have left behind any treasures?
As for those worthless household items, they have probably long since been lost to the passage of time.
Having abandoned the idea of treasure hunting, Chen Qian released a little bit of his restored divine sense and began to focus on finding his way.
When he sensed a faint dampness, his eyes lit up, and he quickly led Tantai Qin to find it.
After passing through countless palace complexes and gardens, they stopped before sinking.
If he hadn't known he was on a mountaintop, Chen Qian would have almost thought he was at the seaside.
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