"Following Emperor Yu's command, guarding here?" Many Xiantian experts couldn't believe it. "Just how many years has this old Dragon Turtle lived?" Human life has its limits; Xiantian experts live up to two hundred years, and Void Realm experts up to five hundred!

Even figures like the legendary Emperor Yu and the Qinling Celestial Emperor, though records don't specify their lifespans, clearly did not survive to this day. No matter how powerful, they have all vanished into the long river of time.

As 'Emperor Yu,' one of the Four Supreme Beings, this Dragon Turtle dates back to the same era. The land of Jiuzhou has already experienced the era of Emperor Yu and the other three Supreme Beings, and for nearly two millennia since, not a single Supreme Being has emerged.

Yet, this Dragon Turtle is still alive! At the very least, it has lived longer than the combined ages of the four Supreme Beings.

"Though no beast can reach the level of Emperor Yu, their lifespan... is something we humans cannot match," lamented the human experts one by one.

"Heaven is fair after all." Teng Qingshan sighed inwardly. While beasts might not rule Jiuzhou like humans do, their longevity is enough to make many humans envious.

"Everyone, let's focus on how to enter this Heavenly Flood Palace," stated 'Gu Yong,' the Island Master of Qinghu Island. "This old Dragon Turtle is blocking the palace entrance; how do we get in?" "To enter, there are two paths," spoke 'Beast King' Wu Hou.

The Xiantian experts all turned to Wu Hou. Teng Qingshan was also surprised; did Wu Hou have a solution?

"As far as I know," Wu Hou said with a faint smile, "a Dragon Turtle's weakness is its speed." "Brother Wu Hou, this isn't the tens of feet long Azure Dragon Turtle. This is a Golden Dragon Turtle, comparable to a Void Realm expert.

It’s much smaller, so its speed must be faster," interjected 'Wuma' from Hongtian City. Wu Hou smiled confidently, "I know its speed is much faster than the Azure Dragon Turtle's!

But the Azure Dragon Turtle is too slow; even with an increase, its speed wouldn't be astonishing. Furthermore...

no matter what kind of beast it is, it cannot excel flawlessly in every aspect." "This Golden Dragon Turtle possesses boundless strength and invincible defense. This dictates that even if its speed is improved, it won't be astonishing," Wu Hou sounded very sure of himself.

Everyone present nodded secretly. Indeed, no beast is perfect in every area.

"The first path is to enter the Heavenly Flood Palace with a speed surpassing the Golden Dragon Turtle! As long as your speed is faster than it, no matter how formidable it is, it simply cannot catch you," Wu Hou explained with a smile.

"Of course... the Golden Dragon Turtle's speed, while not the absolute limit, won't be too slow either.

I estimate it can match an average Xiantian Golden Core expert." The crowd was astonished. The first path was relying on sheer speed to force entry.

"The gate of the Heavenly Flood Palace is a full thirty feet wide! The Dragon Turtle is only three feet long.

With such a massive gate, speed is all that matters to get through," Wu Hou chuckled. "However, forcing entry has its risks.

Nobody knows what lies inside the Heavenly Flood Palace!" "What about the second path?" Everyone looked at Wu Hou, as the vast majority of experts present likely couldn't manage the 'first path.' Wu Hou pointed towards the Heavenly Flood Palace: "Look at the palace walls and the roof! A palace spanning several square miles—I refuse to believe that even its walls and roof could be impenetrable.

The second path is to choose a spot on a wall or the roof, blast a hole straight through, and enter the Heavenly Flood Palace that way!" The people present frowned. Teng Qingshan also hesitated.

He had seen the material of the Heavenly Flood Palace walls before and mused, "The palace walls and roof are probably not easy to breach. The lake bottom is full of fierce beasts; their battles could easily affect the palace.

Yet, the Heavenly Flood Palace walls show no scratches whatsoever." "Alright, everyone, choose your path," 'Beast King' Wu Hou smiled and walked back toward the palace entrance. "Roar~~" Wu Hou let out another roar towards the Golden Dragon Turtle.

The Golden Dragon Turtle stared at Wu Hou. Whoosh!

As he neared the palace gate, Wu Hou’s speed suddenly surged, streaking in like a black torrent of light, darting into the gate. After entering the Heavenly Flood Palace, his speed actually increased again!

"Roar~~~" The Golden Dragon Turtle roared furiously and lunged toward Wu Hou. "Hahaha, there's no water inside this Heavenly Flood Palace!" Laughter echoed from within, but Wu Hou himself had vanished from everyone's sight.

"Such incredible speed," Teng Qingshan sighed. "The number one on the 'Heavenly Ranking' is truly formidable." To hold the top spot on the 'Heavenly Ranking' for over thirty years meant achieving the pinnacle of Xiantian Golden Core in aspects like speed, attack methods, and defense.

Teng Qingshan judged immediately: "Wu Hou's speed is far greater than mine. The Golden Dragon Turtle is significantly slower than him." "Wu Hou is in!" Many members of the major sects present began to grow anxious.

Immediately, discussions broke out within their respective groups, while Teng Qingshan’s attention remained fixed on Qinghu Island. "Island Master, Qinghu Island cannot afford to lose too many men inside this Heavenly Flood Palace," Zhao Danchen whispered.

"Island Master, you are still young, with much greater potential than me. Wait outside for news." "What Senior Brother Zhao says makes sense," added the white-haired Yuwen Liufeng.

"Among the eleven of us, five are Xiantian Golden Core experts. For those entering the Heavenly Flood Palace...

let the older ones go." If Qinghu Island suffered heavy casualties, it would be detrimental to its future. Gu Yong pondered for a moment and nodded: "Very well!" Soon, the selection was made.

Among the eleven, Island Master Gu Yong, his junior sister, two Xiantian Golden Core experts, one Xiantian Solid Core expert, and the sole Xiantian Void Core expert remained outside. The others—Zhao Danchen, Yuwen Liufeng, Elder Hu, three Xiantian Golden Core experts—prepared to enter, leading four Xiantian Solid Core experts.

After all, among the five Xiantian Golden Core experts, Zhao Danchen and Yuwen Liufeng were the oldest, and while Elder Hu was younger, he was already over a hundred. Gu Yong was only in his fifties, and his junior sister was two years younger.

These two were already Xiantian Golden Core experts—arguably the most promising talents in Qinghu Island to reach the Void Realm. "Junior Brother Yuwen, you lead the others using the second path.

With my speed, I can charge in alone," Zhao Danchen stated. ...

At that moment, many strong experts from the major sects present had made their choices. Three experts charged directly into the Heavenly Flood Palace: Beast King 'Wu Hou,' Zhao Danchen, and the long-browed old monk from Mani Temple.

The others did not choose this path, as surpassing the Golden Dragon Turtle's speed was indeed difficult. "The Golden Dragon Turtle can't catch Wu Hou, Zhao Danchen, and the other two, yet it stops chasing and continues to block the entrance?" Teng Qingshan noticed the Dragon Turtle showed no signs of urgency and speculated, "It's highly likely that besides the Golden Dragon Turtle, there are other dangers within the Heavenly Flood Palace!" At this time— A large number of Xiantian experts began moving away from the palace entrance.

"The Qinghu Island contingent has split up," Teng Qingshan observed. Gu Yong and his three companions remained, Zhao Danchen charged in alone, while Yuwen Liufeng and the other five Xiantian masters headed toward other areas of the Heavenly Flood Palace with the main group.

"It seems they dare not send everyone inside. What a pity...

if they don't go in, it will be difficult for me to kill Gu Yong with my current strength." Teng Qingshan did not hesitate and followed the main body of people. "The six led by Yuwen Liufeng are all elites: two Xiantian Golden Core experts and four Xiantian Solid Core experts.

If I can ensure they all perish, it will be a blow to Qinghu Island." Excluding Gu Yong's group of four, the other fifty-plus people proceeded via the second method. After all, everyone who came to the Great Yan Mountain had prepared for contingencies.

In the dim lake bed, over fifty lanterns drifted along, moving to a spot about two li from the palace gate. "Everyone, the walls should be harder than the roof.

Let's break through the top and enter." The others concurred. Everyone arrived above the seemingly endless roof of the Heavenly Flood Palace, chose a spot, and stopped.

"Chi!" Ying Haojiang waved his hand, sending an ice-blue Xiantian True Essence blasting onto the roof. The mud and weeds on the surface were blown away, revealing the greenish-blue material of the roof.

"Xiantian True Essence left not even a scratch." The fifty-plus Xiantian experts marveled. "This greenish-blue material is something we've never seen," one noted, realizing that breaking through the roof would not be easy.

"I'll do it," came a low shout. A lean Venerable from Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain, clad in scale armor, took the divine bow from his back and pulled it back taut into a full moon.

Azure-blue Xiantian True Essence enveloped his left hand, spreading along the bow, then condensing along the string towards the center, gathering into an azure sphere on his right index finger. "Hmm?" Teng Qingshan was surprised; this expert from Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain was shooting without an arrow.

He released the string! The spherical halo shot diagonally downward towards the roof of the Heavenly Flood Palace.

"Boom!" The roof shook violently. Everyone standing on top felt a fierce tremor under their feet.

All watched closely and saw that the greenish-blue material of the roof had developed a crater the size of a human head, and worse, it had pierced through to the bottom. "Hmm?" The Venerable from Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain frowned, and his raspy voice sounded, "The hardness of this Heavenly Flood Palace roof is comparable to profound iron, but the thickness of the roof is only about one foot." "Everyone, look, the hole is shrinking." Everyone was shocked to see the crater, which was once the size of a human head, rapidly diminishing, reducing to only the size of a fist in just two breaths.

"Self-restoring?" Teng Qingshan finally understood why the Heavenly Flood Palace showed no scars over such a long period. "Based on that single arrow, to blast a hole large enough for one person to enter, it would likely require three Xiantian Golden Core experts attacking that spot simultaneously," the lean man continued.

"Of course, if all our Xiantian Golden Core experts struck the roof together, we could instantly blast an opening large enough for four or five people to pass through." The others had witnessed the toughness of the roof earlier. "Good," Ying Haojiang of the Ying Clan said coldly.

"Centered around that hole, within a one-zhang radius, all Xiantian Golden Core experts will attack that area together shortly!" With that, he raised the black long spear in his hand. Instantly— Xiantian Golden Core experts, and even three monks from Mani Temple, a total of twelve people, gathered together.

"Attack!" Ying Haojiang gave the order.