Chapter 2824: Old Friend

Zu An was perplexed. Were these Divine Palaces not constructed by the universal deities?

He quickly rejected that notion. Other beings couldn’t hope to replicate the grandeur of these Divine Palaces. Putting all things aside, he was extremely familiar with the aura in the Chaos and Enigma Divine Palace.

The auras coming from Memory, Chaos and Enigma, and Annihilation—powers he had come into contact with—were on the dot. There was no faking them.

“Did something happen to Mi Li?” Zu An halted that train of thought right away. It was blasphemous to harbor such thoughts in her Divine Palace. How could danger possibly befall a lofty universal deity?

He called the person who appeared to be the pope. The latter bowed to him respectfully. “May I know who you are?”

Someone had already recognized Zu An as the regent, but now that universal deities had descended upon this world, such secular power meant nothing. The regent was still the number one powerhouse in the Cultivation World, but he was nothing compared to the universal deities.

The pope was only showing respect to Zu An because of the pure Chaos and Enigma power flowing from him. He even wondered if Zu An was the universal deity himself.

Zu An saw through his thoughts. He revealed his Time Annal and replied, “I am an envoy chosen by the great Deity of Chaos and Enigma.”

After feeling the vast power radiating from the Time Annal, no one dared to doubt Zu An. They zealously fell to their knees and greeted, “Paying respect to the esteemed Lord Envoy!”

They were thrilled. This was the first time any envoy had emerged from the Divine Palaces. Doesn’t this signify that Chaos and Enigma is the strongest path of all, and that we have made the right decision?

Zu An sighed. No wonder everyone wants to become a god. I didn’t receive such earnest respect even when I was the almighty regent. He reined in his thoughts and asked about the situation. Soon, he got a good grasp of what was going on.

The Divine Palaces chose their own worshipers. Being able to enter the Divine Palace meant receiving the recognition of the respective universal deity.

The path Zu An had walked earlier was a test. It would have been an ordeal for mortals to take even a single step forward. The closer a worshiper could approach the universal deity’s idol, the more devoted and aligned they were to their respective path. That signified greater blessings and more divine power bestowed.

These people had become the de facto leaders of the Divine Palace because they came closest to the Deity of Chaos and Enigma’s divine idol. Even so, they had only been able to greet the divine idol from afar. None of them had been able to walk right up to the divine idol as Zu An did.

They had a deep impression of Qi Yaoguang and Tang Tian’er. Both had walked closer to the divine idol than the rest of them, but they'd showed no interest in managing the Divine Palace and had instead taken on a trial to obtain greater power.

They led Zu An toward an altar beside the divine idol. There was a spatial vortex on the altar. Most worshipers would choose to enter and undergo a trial in hopes of obtaining greater power.

This was the greatest benefit the ten Divine Palaces offered to their worshipers. Anyone who survived the trial would obtain world-changing power, though more often than not, they didn’t.

Those who returned said that the trials were so dangerous that one could die at any moment. Furthermore, each individual was transported to a different trial world, so it was impossible to tap into the experience of predecessors.

The survival rate was only 10%, but the allure of greater power still prompted many cultivators to dive in, especially the older ones who had reached a bottleneck. Those people were already on the verge of death anyway, so it was worthwhile to take this chance. If they succeeded, they could potentially extend their lifespan significantly.

Besides that, there were also ambitious ones like Qi Yaoguang and Tang Tian’er.

Zu An stepped into the spatial vortex without warning. None of the Divine Palace’s upper echelons had time to stop him at all. They exchanged shocked looks, knowing how dangerous the trial was. What if Lord Envoy dies in there...

Before they could begin worrying, the spatial vortex flickered, and Zu An returned from within. That awed all of them. “No wonder he’s the envoy...”

Zu An ignored the bootlicking and fell into deep thought. He had just inspected the spatial vortex in person—it was a mysterious portal that randomly teleported one into different dungeons. That explained why those who entered had different experiences.

Were it not for his deep comprehension of spatial transformation laws, he wouldn’t have been able to return that easily. Universal deities sure are amazing. They can link a single spatial vortex to countless dungeons. That makes it nigh impossible to find an individual in there.

Seeing that he wouldn’t be able to get more news here, Zu An took a step forward and appeared before the Memory Divine Palace next.

Tapping on his prior experience, he marched straight up to the Deity of Memory’s divine idol.

The Memory Divine Palace’s layout and murals were different from that of the Chaos and Enigma Divine Palace. It resembled the starry sky, and Meng’s divine idol held a book and a brush while observing the sky.

Just like before, Meng’s divine idol had no facial features, though her outline was on the feminine side. Zu An wasn't surprised by that, as he had accidentally caught a glimpse of her with the Eye of Insight. She was likely a female deity.

“O great Deity of Memory, your most faithful envoy has come to pay respects to you...” Zu An formulaically greeted the divine idol. He harbored no hope that Meng would respond, since that had been the case with Mi Li earlier.

A cold voice replied from the void, “Most faithful? I doubt that.”

Zu An was both surprised and overjoyed. He could tell it was Meng. He hurriedly bowed and said, “O great Deity of Memory, you have finally responded to me!”

“You came to look for me because Mi Li ignored you?” The starry sky in the ceiling flickered as if a supreme entity was gazing upon mortal beings.

Cold sweat gushed down Zu An’s back. “I went there to investigate my friends’ whereabouts. I seek the Deity of Memory’s pardon.”

The Deity of Memory seemed to accept that reason. “Speak. Why did you summon me?”

“I’d like to ask about the sudden appearance of the Divine Palaces in this world,” Zu An carefully asked.

“Are you dissatisfied that your territory has been invaded?”

“I dare not to harbor such thoughts. It’s my greatest honor to have the universal deities shower my homeland with their miracles.”

“Insincere words.”

“...”

“We currently require more power from worshipers. We have already scattered our radiance upon discovered worlds across the universes. Your world is a little unique, so there are more Divine Palaces than usual.”

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. The universal deities are already at the top of the Myriad Worlds. Why would they require more power? He knew that the other party wouldn’t explain this matter to him, so he asked, “May I know what’s special about my world?”

“A world born at the fringes of a universe should have never developed into such a rare Wonderpoint World. On top of that, I sense traces of an old friend in this world. The other fellows might have sensed it, too.”

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. Who could that ‘old friend’ of the universal deities be?

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