Meanwhile, Yun Lintian and his group had already walked a fair distance away.
Zhou Xuan glanced back nervously. "Senior, that True God is staying behind. What if—"
"Not our problem," Yun Lintian said calmly.
Feng Yang hesitated before asking, "Senior, where are we going now?"
Yun Lintian didn't answer immediately. His mismatched eyes scanned the horizon before settling on a distant mountain range.
"The Mirror Lake." he said at last.
Zhou Xuan and Feng Yang exchanged uneasy glances.
"But… isn't that place even more dangerous than the Garden?" Bai Xue whispered.
Yun Lintian said indifferently "Dangerous for them. Not for me."
The group fell silent, not daring to question further.
As they walked, Yun Lintian's mind replayed the words of the silver-robed woman—the guardian of the first Fragment.
"Some of them might already be by your side."
No matter how hard Yun Lintian tried to figure out, he couldn't think of anyone except Ning Yue who had a close relationship with the World Tree. He decided to take a look at her later.
The surface of Mirror Lake lay perfectly still, its crystalline waters reflecting the pale sky like polished glass. Three figures stood frozen at its shore—Nie Tong, Xiong Yu, and Qian Jinglei, their faces drained of color.
Moments ago, an azure draconic eye had stared up at them from the depths.
Nie Tong was the first to break the silence. "Was that... a dragon?" Her voice, usually cold and composed, carried a faint tremor. "Why would it be here?"
Xiong Yu didn't answer. His hands clenched into fists, his mind racing with one thought—Xiong Ba. His nephew had entered the lake days ago. Was he still alive? Had that thing devoured him?
"We need to break through," Xiong Yu growled, his crimson axe flaring with bloody light. "Now!"
Qian Jinglei immediately stepped in front of him, her silver sword blocking his path. "Are you trying to die? That thing just looked at us, and our souls nearly shattered!"
Xiong Yu's eyes burned with fury. "Move. Or I'll cut you down."
Nie Tong's frost energy coiled around her like a blizzard. "Fool! Attacking blindly will only—"
Xiong Yu didn't wait. With a roar, he swung his Bloodfiend Axe toward the lake.
A crescent of crimson energy tore across the water—
And Mirror Lake reacted.
A colossal pillar of water erupted, moving faster than thought. It struck Xiong Yu head-on, hurling him backward like a leaf in a storm. His body crashed through three ancient trees before embedding itself in a cliffside.
Nie Tong and Qian Jinglei didn't hesitate. They fled, their divine energy flaring as they retreated to the shore.
The lake's surface rippled once... then stilled.
Nie Tong's chest heaved as she watched the water. "That wasn't just a dragon. That was something older."
Qian Jinglei's grip on her sword was white-knuckled. "We need to leave first."
Xiong Yu coughed blood as he pulled himself from the shattered rock. His armor was cracked, his ribs broken—but his eyes still burned with stubborn rage. "I'm not leaving without Xiong Ba!"
Nie Tong scoffed. "Then stay and die. I won't waste my life on your stupidity."
Qian Jinglei frowned deeply. She naturally didn't want to leave her disciple Long Chen behind but she had no other ways to save him at the moment.
Deep in the Mirror Lake, Long Chen floated weightlessly, his body suspended in an azure void. Before him, the stone tablet's runes glowed brighter than ever.
"Senior Tang," he called out. "The runes—they're changing!"
Tang Wei's liquid form rippled with excitement. "The Seed has awakened! Quickly, read them!"
Long Chen's fingers traced the shifting symbols.
"When the Seed awakens... the World shall tremble..." His voice grew stronger. "The First Key lies in the heart of time. To claim it, one must face the past."
Xiong Ba, forgotten in the corner, suddenly perked up. "Key? What key?"
Ling Xuan ignored him and quickly asked. "What else does it say?"
Long Chen's eyes widened. "There's a map… What is this map?"
He stared at the map that seemed to represent… a place. It was clearly an interior of a building… Could it be the map of the Temporal Palace?
All of a sudden, the chamber trembled.
Above them, the inverted waterfall reversed, its flow now surging upward. One of the massive chains holding the woman in the abyss groaned—
"This is not good," Tang Wei's form flickered wildly.
"This might be the map of the Temporal Palace." Long Chen spoke up.
"Really?" Ling Xuan was surprised.
"What's the use of it? We can't get out anyway." Xiong Ba curled his lips.
Long Chen tried to read further but there was nothing to see.
He took a deep breath and looked at Tang Wei. "Senior, what exactly is this place?… I mean the entire ruins."
"Oh? You seem to figure out something?" Tang Wei looked at Long Chen in surprise.
Long Chen nodded slowly. "You said that you were the protector of the Celestial Pavilion in the Sacred City of Origin and you ended up here… If I guess correctly, this place should be… the Sacred City of Origin?"
Tang Wei nodded approvingly and said. "Yes. The entire so-called Ruins of the Forgotten Time is a part of the Sacred City. This Mirror Lake used to be the biggest lake in the city. It's also served as a prison."
Ling Xuan and Xiong Ba were surprised upon hearing this. Meanwhile, Long Chen seemed to have expected the answer.
Long Chen pointed at the map on the tablet and said. "This should be the map of the Temporal Palace."
"Temporal Palace?" Tang Wei frowned slightly. "I've never heard of it."
"You don't know?" Long Chen furrowed his brow. "At the center of the ruins, there is a silver palace that we called it the Temporal Palace. The rumor said that there are countless treasures inside. It seems to be the center of this place."
"Oh?" Tang Wei seemed to think of something. "Don't tell me…"
"What is it, Senior?" Long Chen quickly asked.
"I'm not sure," Tang Wei shook his head. "But from the words you described, I believe it must be the Grand Palace of Origin. However, it shouldn't exist as I saw it crumble with my own eyes."
"Perhaps someone has restored it." Ling Xuan spoke up.
"Or it's not the grand palace but something new." Xiong Ba added.
"If that's the case, the problem is," Long Chen frowned. "Why would there be a map here?"