"Why exactly are we being stopped from climbing the mountain?"
Only after the elder of the Ancient Serpent Clan drew near did Elder Xingyi speak up.
"This is the decision made by our Clan Patriarch and the Supreme Elders," the elder of the Ancient Serpent Clan replied.
"What decision?" Elder Xingyi asked.
"Well…" The elder's face was filled with hesitation.
"Speak." Elder Xingyi's gaze turned sharp.
"It is a choice — a choice."
The elder of the Ancient Serpent Clan looked increasingly fearful and dared not delay, quickly continuing.
He truly was terrified of Elder Xingyi.
"What kind of choice? Spit it out clearly," Elder Xingyi said impatiently.
"This time, our Clan Patriarch and the Supreme Elders worked together to set up these arrays."
"Atop the Heaven-reaching Mountains, they have laid out a grand maze array. If you enter the mountains, you enter the maze, and only by finding your way out can you reach the Spirit Burial Pool."
"Otherwise… you will be trapped inside the maze array until it dissipates on its own, and only then can you escape," the elder of the Ancient Serpent Clan said.
"What kind of nonsense reasoning is this? Isn't this just making things difficult for people?"
"Exactly! We traveled thousands of miles to get here — for what?"
"We all came here for the Spirit Burial Pool! Now they won't let us in and tell us we have to go through some maze? They're clearly bullying us!"
At that moment, many people in the crowd were upset, voicing their displeasure.
"Entering the Spirit Burial Pool also requires comprehension. If you fail to comprehend anything, you will gain nothing."
"Although the Spirit Burial Pool is still the most precious place within the Barrier Immortal Domain…"
"The power within the Spirit Burial Pool has been growing weaker, and the difficulty of comprehension has been increasing. If your insight is insufficient, you will gain absolutely nothing even after entering."
"I believe many of you here have been to our Barrier Immortal Domain more than once and have entered the Spirit Burial Pool before. I imagine quite a few of you returned empty-handed, correct?"
As the elder of the Ancient Serpent Clan spoke, he looked out over the crowd.
At that moment, quite a few people lowered their heads. Just as the elder had said, the power of the Spirit Burial Pool had been growing weaker, and those whose insight was lacking — even if they entered the pool and encountered the erupting power — simply could not comprehend anything from it.
So indeed, many had returned with nothing.
"Therefore, this time, our Clan Patriarch has given you all a choice," the elder of the Ancient Serpent Clan said.
"A choice? What choice?" the crowd asked.
"In addition to setting up a maze array within the Heaven-reaching Mountains, our Clan Patriarch and the Supreme Elders have also set up a grand array outside the mountains."
"This grand array was constructed using the unique power of the Barrier Immortal Domain. Entering it will definitely yield some gains — though how much depends on your own comprehension."
"However, when the power of the Spirit Burial Pool erupts, the power inside that array becomes even stronger. Compared to entering the Spirit Burial Pool, the gains from this array may in fact be greater," the elder said.
"So you are saying — if we choose to climb the mountain, we cannot enter the array to cultivate, and if we enter the array, we cannot climb the mountain?" someone asked.
"Precisely," the elder replied.
"Then why not just tell us straight away? Why leave us standing here?"
"Exactly," the crowd said, clearly displeased.
"Actually, I was not supposed to say any of this. According to the Clan Patriarch's orders, you are all meant to enter the array shortly. Once inside, there will be two paths to choose from — one leading to the cultivation array, the other to the maze array."
"But whichever path you choose, there is no turning back."
The elder paused here and glanced at Elder Xingyi.
At that moment, everyone present understood.
This was a game set up by the Ancient Serpent Clan, and how to play it was entirely up to each person.
And the elder's earlier words had already revealed the most critical secret of this game.
That the crowd had the good fortune of learning this critical secret was entirely thanks to Elder Xingyi.
So at that moment, everyone cast grateful looks in his direction.