"Well, it's now obvious that using Divine energy or techniques will be useless against this barrier." Yama muttered with bated breaths, as his brothers began to seek other ways with which they could break through or slip past the heaven-defying barrier.
But whilst they were all thinking of several solutions to their current predicament, Daniel on the other hand suddenly began to feel a sense of attraction or pull coming from somewhere deep and past the barrier.
"Do you guys mind if I give it a try?" He asked, as the trio who were busy brainstorming a solution looked towards him with confused expressions.
"I can feel a pulling sensation coming from beyond the barrier." He explained with a thoughtful expression.
"Are you sure?" Valpak asked with a serious expression, and when he saw Daniel nod in confirmation, he turned toward Yama and asked.
"Is that possible?"
"Well, he is the reason why we are here; thus, if something is truly pulling him from beyond the barrier, then I suppose he has gained the recognition of something within the Hall of All Beginnings." Yama gave his view on the situation.
"Well, there's no harm in giving it a try; the least we can do is get ready to pull him away if anything dangerous happens." Sun added as he grabbed his golden staff.
Valpak nodded and gestured to Daniel to give the barrier a go. The trio surrounded Daniel as they prepared to save him from any possible threat, as Daniel approached the barrier.
Daniel also didn't know what to do exactly, so he simply trusted the feeling he was getting and placed his bare hand on the barrier without the use of any form of protection, and just like that, he passed through the barrier like a curtain at the entrance of a room.
Valpak and his fellow demigods looked at each other in shock, and just before they began to speculate their thoughts on how the scenario was possible, Daniel once again appeared before their sights.
"It seems the barrier repels any form of energy applied onto it." He said as the trio thought of the feasibility of Daniel's theory.
"Well, if we think about it; trying to use any form of ability or energy in the presence of something as unmatched and peerless as the Hall of All Beginnings would seem like some sort of insult." Yama voiced his thoughts.
"Well, if that is the case, then using abilities or any form of energy does sound insulting." Sun concurred while Valpak also nodded in admission.
"On the bright side, I can bet the elder gods are also oblivious to the situation; thus, the barrier might buy us some much-needed time." Valpak added as the trio agreed and gathered every form of energy into their bodies, preventing even the smallest amount from leaking out.
Once they were ready, Valpak entered first, and once he passed through the barrier, Yama and Sun immediately followed after him.
Once they appeared on the other side of the barrier, they were greeted by a giant jade-green gate that gave off a potent sense of tyrannic power and loftiness that subconsciously compelled a sense of veneration out of anyone who stood before it.
This jade-green gate had the image of five primordial beasts etched onto its surface; there was an azure dragon to the right, a white tiger to the left, a black tortoise at the top, a vermillion phoenix below, and finally a golden Qilin at the center.
Daniel stood rooted to the spot, captivated by the majesty of the gate in front of him and the imposing authority of the beasts engraved on its surface.
"Hmm!" Yama was the first to notice that Daniel seemed to be in a trance.
"Wake up!" Yama spoke in a mysterious but soft tone that jolted Daniel out of his reverie.
Daniel's train of thought was instantly cut off as he regained clarity, and only then did he remember that the three demigods seemed to be waiting for him to open the gates; after all, since he was the only one who was getting a pulling sensation from the Hall, then he might as well make their journey into the throne hall much easier.
Daniel stepped forward and pressed his hands on the gate, but nothing happened, thus he decided to push harder; but the moment he did so, he realized that his current spirit body began to dim whilst he began to feel groggy.
The harder he pushed, the fainter his soul body became and the groggier he felt until the gate creaked open.
Whilst Daniel was busy trying his best to open the gate, the three demigods who were observing the situation saw the eyes of the four beasts begin to glow one after the other with a light that had the same color as their bodies.
Then the moment the eyes of the Qilin at the center glowed, a little gap appeared between the two doors of the gate, and bursting through it was a more potent version of the tyrannic energy that was wafting off the beasts engraved on the gate.
The energy washed over Daniel's soul body, restoring it to its peak and even strengthening it a little further whilst the three demigods standing behind Daniel also felt their vitality and energy restore themselves to their peak.
A few seconds later, the gate opened up and the group nodded towards each other before stepping past it, and the moment they did, the gate gradually began to shut itself and the group found themselves staring at a majestic mountain that was at least ten thousand meters tall.
Furthermore, a mysterious pressure seemed to fall upon them causing them to stay rooted to the ground.
"It seems we have to ascend by foot." Sun noted as they began their pilgrimage to the top of the mountain which seemed to stretch into the clouds.
Whilst ascending the mountain, Yama began to give a detailed explanation about their mission within the Hall of All Beginnings; from the ritual they were to perform and the roles each of them had to play in the ritual proceedings.
Daniel on the other hand, simply left the discussion of the ritual to the demigods as he decided to focus on the pulling sensation that was coming from the top of the mountain; a sensation that seemed to grow stronger the higher they ascended, and just like that, three days passed.
On the third day, Daniel's group finally had their target in sight; a gigantic jade-white palace arraigned with several intimidating statues of beasts and other otherworldly beings whose presence was emitting an aura that was not inferior to that of the five beasts engraved on the jade-white gate.
They looked towards the stairs that led to the jade-white palace up ahead, and from a glance, Yama estimated that there were about a thousand of them.
But, after having just ascended ten thousand meters in three days, the group opted to take a brief rest before they began their new journey.
The three demigods could sense the energies within them being tamed and negated by the mysterious aura that was constantly washing over them, rendering them just as weak and powerless as any mortal being.
An hour later, the group began their journey towards the palace, but the moment their feet landed on the first stair, they felt their weight double instantly; it felt like they were carrying an illusory version of themselves on their shoulders.
As for Daniel, he felt like he was trying to force his way through an elastic bubble which increased its repulsive resistance the higher he climbed; until he became sure that if he lost his footing at any point along the way, he would get catapulted back to the foot of the mountain.
'This was probably what Yama ran into when he tried to teleport us directly into the palace?' He thought to himself whilst trying his best to firmly plant his foot on one stair before climbing the next one.
Gradually, the group kept inching closer to their destination, taking brief rests every time they felt they couldn't keep up; and just like that, time flowed past like water streaming down a rock.
It was on the third day that the group finally arrived at the entrance of the jade-white palace, and the moment they did, the quartet collapsed in exhaustion.
The weight they were made to carry whilst climbing those stairs seemed to increase by half after every hundred steps or so; and this made their ascent extremely burdensome to their mind and body, to the extent that it even caused them to lose consciousness almost instantly.
It was only about three hours later that someone within the group woke up; strangely, it was Daniel; he had been awoken by the familiar tug he had been feeling for the last six days.