Leng Jin Yu slowly walked up to the gates of the palace. He only took one step at a time and continued to observe their surroundings. He had entered quite a few secret realms before he ascended and in all of them he had encountered trouble even before reaching the gates.
Now that nothing happened at all he felt it to be quite odd. Was this a ploy by the secret realm's master? Did he want to have his visitors raise their vigilance first before completely stopping to be careful? Would he strike then when they weren't expecting it anymore? Or was he just so sure that nobody would be able to live after his first attack?
Leng Jin Yu stopped right in front of the gate. This was a spot that was highly likely to be installed with some kind of spell that would activate as soon as someone unauthorized touched it or tried to open it. He had seen countless cultivators die because they weren't careful enough.
Leng Jin Yu looked back at the boy in his arms. He definitely couldn't take any risk. An explosion of spiritual energy was able to injure even a soul. And there were some nasty spells around that could entrap a defenseless soul forever.
As long as the crown prince's soul didn't merge with his old body again it wouldn't regain its past memories on its own. If it was trapped, it wouldn't be able to fight back even if the crown prince himself could do so. The soul would only be able to rely on the bit of experience Zhong Jing Yi had gained in his short life. That naturally wouldn't be enough to escape the spell of an expert.
No, he couldn't risk it.
Leng Jin Yu closed his eyes and mentally searched through his spatial ring. He should have some kind of mythical artifact or at least a high-grade defensive treasure somewhere in there. Where was it? He rummaged around and finally found an inconspicuous necklace that was tucked into the lapel of a robe.
He smiled gently and willed it out of the spatial ring before slipping it over Jing Yi's head. He imbued it with a bit of his own spiritual energy and finally turned back to the gate. With Jing Yi being taken care of, he didn't need to worry about traps anymore. It really would have been ridiculous if he as an ascended deity was done in by the things someone from the human realm could do.
He walked forward, reached out and just pushed the door open. As soon as his skin touched the surface it crackled and lightning pulsed around the door leaf. Leng Jin Yu only continued to smile and pushed the gate completely open. The lightning struck his body but what could this bit do to someone who had faced the tribulation lightning of ascension?
The gate opened completely and the lightning abruptly stopped. Leng Jin Yu stepped into the palace and found himself in a wide hall that was more or less bare of anything. There was only an old incense burner next to this door and the one on the other side and a few statues lining the walls. Other than that the hall was empty.
Leng Jin Yu sighed. This arrangement was so obvious that he really wondered how any cultivator could step into this trap. He could feel some of the residual energy of those who had passed on in this room though.
Leng Jin Yu once again circulated his spiritual energy and a breeze blew the incense in the other direction. Unperturbed, Leng Jin Yu carried Jing Yi to the other side and just opened the door there. He stepped through it and hurriedly closed it again. After all, it was too obvious that this so-called incense was highly toxic. Why else would it be so obviously displayed in the front hall?
He had to give the secret realm's owner some recognition though. Even after all this time that the realm was probably empty already the incense was still burning. He really had looked ahead and planned meticulously.
All his planning was null and void in front of someone like Leng Jin Yu though. Having experienced countless secret realms with all their traps and dangers he could accurately predict nine out of ten things this expert had prepared. And even the last thing that could surprise him wasn't enough to deal with an ascended deity.
In fact, the longer Leng Jin Yu walked through the palace and the more he experienced the more he felt that the master of this realm hadn't had reached the peak when he created it. It had probably still been a lot of years until he ascended. If he ever managed to do so in the first place.
Finally, after walking for more than two hours, Leng Jin Yu reached the heart of the palace. He could feel the array from which it was controlled somewhere in front of him. If he went there and took control of it, then this would become his realm. The traps wouldn't be a problem any longer and he could come and go as he liked.
He didn't go there though. Instead, he entered one of the rooms close by and dismantled the spell that had been prepared inside. After that, he put Jing Yi down on the bed and sat down himself.
Most likely, it was time for the boy to wake up. He couldn't let him see how easily he was able to get past the traps. Furthermore, he might still need them to have the boy stay in the secret realm as long as possible.
Leng Jin Yu didn't have to wait for long. Just a few heartbeats after he had sat down Jing Yi's eyelids fluttered until he finally cracked his eyes open. He didn't sit up though. Instead, he just looked at the ceiling as if in a trance. A moment later, he lifted his hand, turned it in front of his face and sighed.
It seemed as if he was immensely relieved to see this hand.