Although they didn't know what made him reach his grim conclusion, no one thought Shui was bluffing. Fighting against Mater's faction was already bound to be dangerous, but the palace added a new element of danger that none of them had accounted for. Unknown to them, even the elders were in a frenzy. At first, they were interested in witnessing the disciples explore the mysterious palace that had been subject to rumours since they were disciples themselves, but everything changed once the concealment array of the palace was removed.
The portal to the Spirit Nest closed and all footage from the Spirit Nest cut off. One portion of the elders frantically sought to open the portal, but although the manor held ownership of the Spirit Nest, they were little more than leeches on its fortunes. Even the so-called locks that were on it were decorations made ages ago to hide the fact that they actually had no control over the opening of the Spirit Nest. Though they had a way to take out disciples at a set time, that mechanism was worthless if the Spirit Nest remained closed.
"Guest elder! Where are you?!"
The other portion of elders went to Guest elder Kerr, but all they found was an empty room. He might have been weaker than them, but sneaking past them into the Spirit Nest wasn't a challenge for him. As for whether being locked in the Spirit Nest would work to his advantage, that was yet to be seen.
Back inside the Spirit Nest, upon learning that the Mater faction had entered the mysterious palace, Kate's group decided to follow them. The suppression put them at a disadvantage, but they couldn't allow Mater to profit from the palace. Once they were near the palace, everyone slowed down for a moment to admire it. It had a faded gold colour and was several times bigger than the core section's collective administration headquarters. There were obvious signs of disrepair, but they only added gravitas to the structure.
From where they stood to the palace entrance, there was a paved path, but twelve members of Mater's faction were at the entrance. Kate's group had yet to be noticed, but it was only a matter of time.
"What should we do?"
"I suggest we quickly subdue them before continuing. We can't afford to risk getting surrounded inside the palace in our current states."
With their true cultivations restricted, they had far fewer means of overcoming a disadvantage in numbers, so Reinhart wanted to close the gap as much as possible.
"Sounds good to me."
"Then let's go."
Spells were no longer a viable means of attack, so they charged at the group blocking the entrance.
"Enemy attack!"
"It's Kate and Pon!"
Neither side had any archers, so everyone assumed that the battle would begin once both sides were in close range, but Pon shattered that assumption once he noticed someone on the enemy side attempting to run into the palace.
"Don't leave so soon!"
Pon threw his fan, and it accurately hit the back of his target's head before flying back to him like a boomerang.
"So artifacts aren't affected by the suppression. How did you know?"
"Just a lucky guess. Regardless, it would take too much power to activate it, so it's nothing but a little trick in the current situation."
Not everyone believed Pon was being honest, but at the very least his words didn't seem completely false.
"It won't make much of a difference. Our bare fists will be enough here. Don't you think, Shui?"
"That's right, Kate."
"Don't leave me out, you two."
Kate, Shui and Luke were all proficient in martial arts, so they were confident in beating the people left by Mater. The rest weren't scared either, but their suppressed cultivations made them more concerned about future battles. Mater should be under the same effects, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't find a way to avoid the suppression inside the palace. Even Shui would have to consider retreating in that case, but he believed allowing Mater to roam free would lead to a worse result.
"I'll go first."
To ensure that there were no more runaways, Shui stepped on the heads of those facing them and leapt over to their backs so that he could block their path.
"Get him!"
Naturally, they wouldn't let themselves be trapped here, so four of them charged at him with weapons while the rest faced the rest of Kate's group. With everyone's cultivations being roughly equal, they were confident that they held the advantage. However, they were mistaken.
The four that went to attack Shui tried to strike together, but they had poor coordination, which Shui didn't miss. With slippery footwork, Shui dodged an incoming halberd and delivered a firm punch to the left side of the wielder. He then shook them off balance before throwing them at one of their comrades. A sword swung down from his right, but Shui narrowly evaded and countered with a jab that broke the wielder's nose and then spun behind him to avoid a hammer being swung down. After kicking the swordsman from behind into the hammer wielder, Shui tripped both of them with a sweeping kick and knocked them out with one kick each to the head.
The remaining two got up and attacked from both sides, but they were so focused on attacking that once he jumped and landed on their intersecting weapons, it was easy to kick their faces. By the time Shui had defeated the four, only three were left facing Kate's group, so he waited for them to finish.
"That was easier than I thought. Why don't these guys know how to fight?"
"It's not that they don't know how to fight, they're just too used to fighting with spells and arts. Even some elders have the same problem."
Kate's genuine but seemingly ridiculing question was answered by Pon. Though they were trained in martial arts as children, once they reached the Earth Realm, many willingly forgot the basics that had been drilled into them.
"However, the ones that aren't here, including Mater, have much more experience, so it would be best to assume they won't have the same weakness."
Everyone nodded at Pon's comment before looking deeper into the palace.
"Well, let's keep going."
The group walked down the passage with the same dull gold colour as the outside of the palace. The structure seemed fitting, but there were no fancy artworks or decorations that were normally featured in palaces. It wasn't as if they were moved later on, but that this hallway was never intended to have any. If Shui's ominous thoughts were right, then this palace was never meant to store any treasures, instead it was supposed to-
"Stop right there."
Suddenly, someone appeared in the middle of their path, seemingly out of nowhere. It was a middle-aged man with streaks of gray hair dressed in a luxurious golden robe. Only Pon, Dean and Reinhart recognized him, but before they could say something, the man made his next move.
"Trap them in a fantasy!"
Before they knew it, several low-rank spirits appeared and showered them with colourful specks of light. One moment they were in the hallway and in the next they found themselves in an expansive field of flowers hardly distinguishable from reality.