His eyes snapped open and he looked around cautiously, searching for the guard. But there was no sense of life or movement around him. It was just him and the stone statues. And maybe the wyverns that occasionally flew overhead.

Over all, the aura of the Hall of stones gave off a very powerful melancholic and evil aura, filled with bloodlust and unwillingness, bearing the resentment of thousands of powerful soldiers who died untimely, despite their special abilities. There was a thick aura of darkness which seemed to surround the entire place despite the fact that the sun was high up in the sky. Unlike the other parts of the perilous lands, this place has bright light, instead of being gloomy. However, despite the bright sunlight, the moment Anthony entered deep inside of it, the aura became gloomy, and there was an invisible chill, as if someone was blowing an evil wind around.

At first, Anthony had thought that the thick aura of darkness, evil and resentment he felt at first, when he just arrived was as a result of the aura of darkness flowing in from the ghost realm through the portal. But right now, he realized that it might not be the case anymore. The surrounding was inherently evil, as if something terrible was hiding somewhere, waiting to erupt. The item waiting could be the hidden guard whom Anthony was warned about. Or maybe not. It could be Hades himself for all he knew.

Anthony sighed, forced himself to shut his eyes, and continue to read the texts. The texts seem to be a kind of guide left by a kind senior ages ago to aid juniors coming in, so that they won't suffer the difficulties he suffered. However, he probably didn't expect that his language had gone extinct after a thousand years, and no one could read it. It was engraved with magic, letting the stone speak to the person's mind, as long as they didn't get so frightened that they pissed their pants.

"The machine should be fired up with the strongest source of energy, a spirit stone maybe. The stones should be placed at the entrance of the time machine, and the feed to fire up the formation plates. A total of six spirit stones should be used since getting a higher quality spirit stone is impossible for young friends. Also, you should keep silent no matter what you see in space, avoid frontal confrontations as much as possible to avoid setting off a space turbulence which will attract you into a place of doom, or call the attention of wandering space beasts or souls. Trust your instinct, there's no definite route. It always changes after a few hundred years. The road to departure is fraught with dangers, but the way home is even more difficult. More advice for young friends. Hold a spirit stone in your palm, it will lead you to a place that is less desolate if you ever get lost in space till you're strong enough to find another route." Anthony muttered and opened his eyes.

"A spirit stone? What is it? Ah, the stone full of energy which Lan Xuanyu packed for me. But he said there was only three. Where will I get six from? No, I can't return to ask for more spirit stones. Even if I don't meet him, I will still find a way. I can just study the spirit stones and see if I can find something similar." He whispered and called out the bag containing the spirit stones.

His eyes widened in shock, and a smile lit up his face.

"This perverted god, you really know how to do it."

Anthony rummaged through the bag and realized that there were not just three spirit stones inside the bag. There were way more than that in it. It should be upto twenty at the least. He nodded and returned it to his storage ring.

"Now, let's see what else the stone slab has to tell me." He whispered and returned his fingers to the stone statue.

"This space portal, Hell's gate, leads to three places, the ghost realm also known as Hell's city. The portal is called Hell's gate because ninety percent of people who go through it will end up in hell, or the ghost realm. It doesn't mean that surviving in the ghost realm is impossible. No. If you're strong enough, you can survive well. However, the only exit to the ghost realm is known to Hades. Once you cross into the ghost realm, the laws guiding it attach to one's body, binding to them, and preventing them from leaving, or finding the exit successfully. However, rumors suggest that the exit is located at the valley of bones citadel, the palace where Hades resides."

Anthony sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not interested in the ghost realm. That's not my destination, please."

"As for the second place it leads to, that would be the cultivation world's first realm, also known as first heaven. It's a place where weaker cultivators from the main realm settled ages ago to start their own families and sects. However, one should bear in mind that it's not an easy place to live in. Just like every other place that follows the rule of power, danger is inevitable. There's a third destination which leads to the unknown, no one knows where it is or if people reside in it. The fourth one is called the arrival point. However, few people are qualified to know what it was actually meant for. Even god realm masters would get smothered to death the moment the aura from the arrival point, which is equal to the harshest of heavenly tribulations, brushes past them. In all, life and death depends on not just skills and power, but also fate."

Anthony sighed heavily and called out the bag of spirit stones. He placed one each on the bowls, and waited for a while. But there was no movement. After a while, the spirit stone began to emit an energy wave. Anthony didn't wait to find out what will happen and quickly took off because it was rapidly melting and merging to the bowl. With a spirit stone in hand, he rushed to the portal. However, the moment the energy glow from the spirit stone hit the giant sculpture, its fingers moved.

'Oh my goodness. This statue with the door between its legs is the guard. It's alive.'

Anthony followed his instinct and took a detour, arriving behind the statue. Sure enough, it stopped moving the moment it stopped feeling Anthony's energy.

Anthony looked up and saw another hole. This time, the hole was circular and a grey windy whirlpool was swirling around in it.

"This is the right entrance."

The moment Anthony said it, a light glow from the jade Lan Xuanyu gave him appeared on his wrist, forming a diagram of a compass on his skin. He placed three more stones according to the instructions from the stone slab, and held one in his hand. He took a deep breath, made sure his clothes were alright, and looked straight at the portal for a while.

Anthony then shut his eyes and walked into the circular whirlpool, delving into the unknown to continue his journey.

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