The moment Zou Feng finished speaking, Zhao Feixiong was the first to jump into action. It was obvious that the man was now thoroughly addicted to dancing. After all, within the Hundred Skills of Cultivation, who was to say that dancing skills weren’t a related art? As he danced, he looked up and pointed at Zou Feng with a solemn expression, clearly issuing a challenge for another Dance Battle.
Since Zou Feng’s primary goal was to turn the entire palace into a Xuanwu Poison Domain as quickly as possible, he naturally wouldn’t refuse. He immediately shook his Flower Hands and joined the awkward dance. Soon, Zou Feng and Zhao Feixiong were dancing with unbridled joy, executing an endless stream of highly difficult moves.
However, the others chose not to join in. It wasn’t because they found it cringe-worthy or didn’t want to dance, but rather because the atmosphere inside the palace gave them the creeps. Having just trespassed into such a secretive domain—one that emanated the aura of an Ancient Holy Beast—was it really appropriate to start dancing the moment they arrived? Was it possible that they could have been perfectly safe, but their raucous singing and dancing might disturb some terrifying entity lurking within, bringing disastrous consequences down upon their heads?
Zou Feng naturally understood their hesitations. While continuing his routine, he reassured them, "Don’t worry, just keep dancing! Even if this palace is a bit strange, it’s nothing for us to worry about!"
His plan was simple: stick to dancing in the plaza for now and avoid entering the main hall. Once the Xuanwu Poison Domain took shape and its power continued to grow, whatever was hiding deep inside the palace wouldn’t even dare to show its face. Frankly speaking, the level of danger in exploring such unknown places depended entirely on the strength of the intruders.
If Cultivators in the Spiritual Energy Realm or the Dao Foundation Realm were the ones exploring, they would naturally have to proceed with extreme caution; a single misstep would lead to eternal damnation. However, aside from his disciple Yue Ya, who was a complete novice in Cultivation, none of the people Zou Feng had brought along were weak. In particular, the group included himself and Zhao Feixiong, two Immortal Sect True Inheritors; Zhu Caiwei, a Nascent Soul Elder Demon; and a whole host of Golden Core Great Demons. With such a formidable lineup, the ones trembling in fear should be whatever inhabited this mysterious palace.
As for the possibility that this mysterious palace could trap and kill even Nascent Soul Realm Great Cultivators... Zou Feng considered it practically impossible. If such a terrifying place truly existed at the border between the Eastern Earth Immortal Realm and the Northern Domain, there was no way it could have remained undiscovered for so long. In short, all they needed to do was dance.
Hearing Zou Feng’s words, the others no longer hesitated. They began clapping to the beat and joined the fray, while Lu Wu started to sing. Since most of those present were Poison Cultivators, the toxic energies flying from their swirling Flower Hands and stomping feet quickly filled the air, turning the entire plaza into a foul, chaotic miasma. Yet, it was the presence of these toxic gases that marked the true beginning of this frenzied dance. The more venomous the atmosphere became, the more euphoric their dancing grew.
This literal plaza dance lasted for a full night. No matter what this place had been called in the past, it was now unequivocally the Xuanwu Palace. The Arrays originally meant to conceal the palace had completely collapsed, and the entire Xuanwu Palace was now blanketed in a dense, toxic fog. With ample preparation time, the power of the Xuanwu Poison Domain naturally soared.
Zou Feng was even preparing to pull off something massive! One of his current trump cards was the Queen Mother Dharma Aspect. However, this ability was clearly a single-use consumable, and its duration was incredibly short. It could only be used in critical moments—suddenly unleashing the Queen Mother Dharma Aspect to catch the enemy off guard, subjecting them to terrifying mental corruption, and thereby turning defeat into victory.
The problem, however, was that the timing for unleashing the Queen Mother Dharma Aspect was very difficult to gauge. Furthermore, if the opponent had impeccable intuition and sensed the danger beforehand, dodging in time, he would just end up blowing his ultimate attack for nothing. On top of that, there was also the necessary concern of whether the Queen Mother Dharma Aspect might take advantage of a critical moment to backstab him instead.
Even though the Queen Mother seemingly needed him to go to the Ninefold Celestial Court to help her escape, one could never fully trust entities whose names were already on the list; he had to remain vigilant. After taking everything into consideration, Zou Feng ultimately decided that he needed to experiment and see if the Queen Mother Dharma Aspect could be deployed differently. He had to figure out a way to surprise formidable enemies with the skill while ensuring his own relative safety during its execution.
Watching Zhao Feixiong, who was still dancing furiously, an idea gradually formed in Zou Feng’s mind. But whether it was actually feasible or not would require a test...
As for the situation inside the palace, with the Poison Domain fully established, Zou Feng naturally strode straight in without the slightest bit of fear. However, apart from some average-quality Magical Treasures that were completely useless to him, he found absolutely nothing else within.
Yet, according to Yue Ya’s senses, there was indeed still a Holy Beast bloodline present; it was just that even she couldn’t pinpoint its exact location anymore.
Had they hidden themselves? Zou Feng wasn’t surprised in the slightest. It went back to what he had thought earlier: with their formidable lineup and the fact that they had turned the palace into a Poison Domain, whatever was originally hiding here wouldn’t dare to show its face. The reason they couldn’t find it was likely because the entity had retreated into a deeper Alternate Space.
For the time being, Zou Feng couldn’t be bothered to tear the place apart looking for it. With a major crisis imminent, he had to focus all his efforts on preparing for the approaching trap. Given how anxious Li Chengxin had acted, there was no way the man would just let him escape so far away. Whatever schemes Li Chengxin had up his sleeve would likely arrive very soon...
Exactly as Zou Feng had predicted, somewhere near the Xuanwu Palace that evening, a bare-chested, hulking man standing three meters tall strode confidently toward the Xuanwu Palace. This man wasn’t just exceptionally tall; he was burly and heavily built, with bulging muscles that looked as though they had been forged from cast iron and steel.