A few moments of stillness and silence passed. With the gathering of consciousness near, Bai Qi, at last, managed to discern its essence.

He had not misperceived its nature earlier. Even so, Bai Qi had no idea how a separated consciousness, even if it was a fusion of several of them, could affect the surroundings. Or release an aura. After all, consciousness was just the mind of a being, with no physical embodiment.

A Divine Realm cultivator's thought was enough to affect even the Dao Laws. But the one in front wasn't one, so how could it break the cultivation laws and use aura without having a soul?

Without being aware, or just not caring about it, the gathering of consciousness now had allowed Bai Qi to find out.

Based on this conclusion and his senses, Bai Qi concentrated on the aura suppressing him. And he soon confirmed his thoughts. It wasn't the aura of the being but a mix of all the beasts' souls and spirits.

These observations allowed Bai Qi to understand two things. First, the reasons why the Demon Beasts' presence disappeared. And second, that the power that the consciousness commanded was not its own. Which meant it was something that would vanish at some point.

Still, gaining time and trying to negotiate weren't opposites. They could be said to be nearly close. If they reached some agreement, even if Bai Qi had no idea what to offer, then there would be no need to fight. And if they did not, then at least, Bai Qi would have gained time.

Having no thoughts for the being to read would be strange, so Bai Qi allowed some of his desire for leaving safely to emerge. He also let some of the thoughts about the nature of the being's power appear as well, in an attempt to confirm them.

{Human, are you done with your appraisal? If you think that my power will vanish, you are not mistaken. Still, before it does, you will disappear as well.} And the consciousness gathering confirmed them indeed, even if it was along with a threat.

Bai Qi thought to himself while releasing a question.

{I am not sure how to address a gathering of several consciousnesses. In any case, I do desire to leave here safely. And I do want to keep the beastmen safe. Is it possible?}

{The Beastmen's safety? Indeed it is. But leave yourself? No} The human-like consciousness responded.

{I see, so the price for their safety would be my body? A vessel for the seniors until they manage to separate?} Bai Qi saw no need to play dumb and so simply asked in confirmation.

It wasn't something unexpected. Since it decided to speak and keep Bai Qi here, the latter had guessed the reason.

{You are knowledgeable, and judging from what you know and your mind, you are not a human from this plane. Or should we say that you are not who you appear to be?} In place of affirming anything, it asked as its form warped into the one of a half-transparent eight-legged creature with no distinguishable features.

{Seniors would be mistaken. I am who I am, but I have awakened the memories and consciousness of someone else. Someone that is also me, at least now.} As Bai Qi allowed the thought to be read, he tensed. From what it looked like, the being had no idea of anything except Bai Qi's mind and consciousness level. If Bai Qi was right, then he had a chance to escape this predicament, and if he was not, then he had just provoked the being.

{We see, then you are not far from being like us}

{What do the seniors mean?} Bai Qi instantly asked while inwardly calming himself and preparing for what he would have to do.

{You still try to win time, but we will allow it. After all, no one will come to save you, and the reasons for our presence aren't something to hide. Especially from you}

Bai Qi ignored the implicated [No need to hide from a dead man] and simply slightly turned his head as if indicating that he did want to listen.

{A plane that isn't a plane. A palace that isn't a palace. The place where we died, met, died again, and then combined our forces to escape. It all starts with a legend, and the trials that we were destined to take...}

___________________________________________________________________

The [Astral Palace] was a separated space created by a Divine Realm cultivator named Xing Jie, the [Astral Plunderer].

Although the Divine's title could make one thing of him as an evildoer, it wasn't so. Xing Jie had been a kind and benevolent man, one that spent most of his time traveling the Astral Road in a quest for knowledge.

Differing from other Divine Realm cultivators, he never had considered himself a god. Thus, he had not claimed a single plane of the ones he had visited. But he did pass hundreds of them, each time appearing as a simple traveler and limiting his power to beneath the plane limit.

At some point, either because he felt the approach of an unavoidable conclusion of his journey or because he wanted to share his knowledge, he revealed his identity on several planes. Neither to claim them as his own, nor to subjugate the cultivators and beings of them, but to teach. Still, he found the insights and knowledge he shared with others be lacking closure.

From his own words, passed as legends on dozens of different planes, Xing Jie did not want to take a disciple, but to allow anyone who wanted to obtain his knowledge and continue his search. And so, just a few Astral years before his disappearance, he created the [Astral Palace] and distributed 88 thousand keys all around the Astral Road.

Unsurprisingly, all the planes where he had revealed himself got some of them, and once a hundred Astral Years, any worthy individual could use one of them to be transported into the [Astral Palace]. Where after several trials, one would gain either power, knowledge, or treasures, all of them from the inheritance left by the Xing Jie, the [Astral Plunderer]. Or at least so was the legend.

***

The gathering of consciousness was a fusion of seven different individuals who had been born on five different planes, but all had obtained the right to touch the [Astral Palace Key].

But when they arrived at the Palace after being teleported from their original planes, they found that it wasn't the expected land of trials and rewards. But an actual hell.

The entire space was filled with chaos qi and the more dangerous chaos miasma, something deathly for cultivators. Several Sky realm beings claimed the Palace as their own. No way to escape except by obtaining proof of clearance.

They found themselves in a race against death, either they cleared enough trials in time to leave the place, or they died.

___________________________________________________________________

{And we all failed. Still, we did not die, at least not entirely. The Chaos Qi took over our bodies and absorbed our souls, but our consciousnesses remained. Surprisingly, the Blood-drinking tribe that claimed the place as their own helped us, at least in a way. They stored our consciousnesses in a few puppets and allowed us to do whatever we wanted. Leaving the place was impossible anyway.}

It stopped for some time, and Bai Qi half-asked {But you did escape somehow}

{We did, although it wasn't something painless. Without a body and no soul, we could neither activate the trials nor the teleportation formation. But the puppets gave us freedom of movement, and we could ignore the Chaos Qi. And at some point, we decided to use it to create a vessel for ourselves.}

Bai Qi kept his thoughts concealed this time, making another confirmation that it could not read them.

{But Chaos Qi is next to impossible to control, and even between the seven, we only managed to create a single body. One that we inhabited altogether and then used to activate the teleportation by force. We chose the closest of our original planes and traveled there. Only to find there was another missing point in the Palace legend, its time is far different from the Astral one.}

{Slower?} Bai Qi asked, but he was sure that the answer would be affirmative. Chaos Qi prevalence meant that the space was practically separated from the [Astral Road], and the smaller the connection, the slower the time passage.

{Indeed, over eleven hundred years had passed. And without anyone to contact, we were hunted as the aberration we looked like. But true Demon Beasts, and we weren't anything but one, are very resilient, so we did escape. Losing our body and the fake soul, we arrived here, and then we began attempting the process again.}

At this moment the connection between the being and Bai Qi suddenly cut down, only to be restored a few moments later as the being assumed the form of a tiger. {But we don't have to do it anymore, as we have you. Now, open your mind and allow us to take over. Otherwise, every one of the Beastmen you want to protect will die!}

"Heh" Bai Qi chuckled in response while combining the part of the consciousness he had shielded with the open one. This talk had been enough to prepare countermeasures, especially now that he knew that the strongest consciousness was just a 1st Heavenly Beast.

{You think that shielding your consciousness will help you if you are dead?!} As any Beast, the tiger grew enraged, but as it sent a wave of mindpower, it was repulsed by an equally powerful barrier.

"Your story made me recall the legend of Lan Ke. And even if I do feel pity for you, it doesn't mean that I will simply give you my body!" Bai Qi's aura began agitating, and he infused more and more, going for the maximum soul power he could manage.

During the talk, Lan Ke's, as Bai Qi decided to name the cluster of consciousnesses, aura had slightly diminished, to a level comparable to a 4th level Saint Beast. Or in its cultivation equivalent, to a Warrior King between the 1st and 3rd level.

Bai Qi's eyes blazed as he destroyed all the barriers he had set up to avoid injuring himself.

{You can free yourself and escape, but everyone you want to protect will die!}

"Just why does everyone who I cross paths with try to scare me with such a thing? Go ahead, try to do it. And I guarantee that your seven consciousnesses will be separated and snuffed out individually!" Bai Qi defiantly roared while infusing more and more soul power into his aura.

{It pains us to lose such living vessel...}

{But a dead one is more useful than none...}

{You will not leave here alive!}

Lan Ke's appearance changed thrice, going from the four-armed creature to something that resembled a bird and then back again to the tiger. And as the words were sent to Bai Qi's mind, this time more akin to a qi transmission, Bai Qi felt how the being's aura gathered around its half-transparent form.

Bai Qi did not understand the reasons for what was happening. But he had no intention to stay and wait for something to happen either.

"It pains me to part so suddenly, but I recalled that I have a few things to do" Bai Qi slightly provoked the being and flared his aura to the max.

*Swoosh*

And as soon as he felt he could, Bai Qi started running away at his full speed.

{When you reach the Beastmen camp, if you do, then be prepared to burn incense}

Bai Qi ignored the parting words, or at least he tried to. Until he suddenly felt that something was wrong, why the being was letting him go so easily? A 4th level Saint Beast aura could not suppress him now, but it could be still used to slow him down. And they should have at least something else prepared, or they would not be so sure when speaking.