As those young masters stood there in a daze, what they didn't know was that they had given up their opportunity to their followers just like this.
The portal was designed to only take a certain number of people and it was based on a first come first serve basis.
The palace was the next step in this trial and a place that was filled with treasures, so naturally it was a great opportunity for them if they had gone. It was just too bad that they had thought only of themselves and failed to take a risk, giving this chance to their followers in the end.
As the saying went, there's no reward without taking risks.
It would be hard to imagine the pain they would feel in their hearts if they knew the truth.
But seeing that there was nothing else for them here, the young masters decided not to waste any time and began exploring the city. After all, they had just arrived in this city, so they didn't know what was in it.
They were still hoping that there would be treasures lying all around the city, but they were destined to be disappointed in the end.
In the end, it was their caution that had cost them the chance of a lifetime.
…
Back underground, Lin Fan had been anxiously waiting for more people to come down when there was a sudden flux of people that fell down into a pile on the ground.
These were the followers that the young masters had all thrown down at once. Since they had all fallen down at once, they had knocked into each other which created this large pile of bodies on the ground.
Of course, they were all Fragmented Soul Realm Experts, so they were much tougher than normal people. It didn't take them long before they recovered, but once they did and saw who was in front of them, they revealed bitter looks again.
The people in front of them were the mysterious Lin Fan and Wang Jian who was recognized as the strongest among the Decagram, they wouldn't stand a chance if there was a fight that started here.
However, Lin Fan didn't have time to give them any attention as the gates that were now behind him since he had turned around started making noise. The moment it did, Lin Fan immediately turned back to see the palace gates slowly opening.
Those gates only held his attention for a few seconds because there was something else that drew his attention right away, it was something that had a golden glow right in front of him.
Lin Fan looked down at the podium that had suddenly filled with words and saw that there was a simple message on it.
"Come and find me to gain my inheritance."
It was just these simple eight words, there weren't any other golden glowing words that were on this podium.
This all seemed a little too straightforward which made Lin Fan think that it was a trap, so he wasn't in a rush to head into the palace. Instead, he released a few rat puppets and let them go in first while he turned back to look at the people who had pulled themselves out of the human pile.
After seeing that they had organized themselves, Lin Fan took a step towards them which they immediately noticed. All of the followers couldn't help taking a single step back when they saw Lin Fan approach them. After all, they had no idea if Lin Fan had any hostility towards them and they knew that they couldn't match him since he could even dominate Wang Jian.
Lin Fan saw this and he almost wanted to laugh. He hadn't even done anything yet and they were already this scared.
Seeing how scared they looked, Lin Fan almost wanted to suddenly take a step forward and say "boo", but he held back this urge.
After a pause, Lin Fan said with a smile, "I just want to ask you all a few questions, nothing more."
None of the followers let down their guards when they heard this, it was clear that not a single one of them believed what he said.
Lin Fan gave a shrug and said, "It's up to you to believe me or not." But then his eyes turned sharp as he looked at them and said, "But you think that I would wait if I wanted to make a move on you?"
All of the followers felt a chill run down their backs, but they couldn't refute what Lin Fan had just said.
With the power that Lin Fan had, it would be easy for him to clean them up, so there was no need to wait.
So they all looked at each other until one of them came out.
This person was in the peak Fragmented Soul Realm and could be considered the strongest one among them, so he had been chosen as their leader.
That person took a step forward and looked at Lin Fan with a vigilant look as he asked, "What do you want to ask?"
Lin Fan didn't care who he was talking to, he just asked, "How did you get in here?"
That person revealed a confused look as he answered, "We came in the same way as you, we fell into the fountain and were brought here."
Lin Fan narrowed his eyes slightly as he said, "I don't mean that."
That person revealed an even more confused look as he asked, "What do you mean then?"
Lin Fan looked at him with a sharp look and said in a cold voice, "How did you come into this tree and find this city?"
That person felt another chill run down his back when he heard this, but then he said, "Didn't you come the same way?"
Lin Fan's gaze turned even sharper and that person felt like he had fallen into ice. At the same time, Lin Fan said, "This isn't a place for you to ask questions."
That person's legs turned soft when he was exposed to Lin Fan's aura. It was like being thrown into a blizzard without any underwear, it was so cold that he almost felt like he was trapped in ten thousand year old ice.
That person immediately said, "The young master that I was following defeated one of the ghosts and it dropped a compass for us that led us here."
Lin Fan didn't bother looking at him any longer and turned to the rest of the followers standing behind him.
All of the other followers started nodding along and saying the same thing the first person had said.
Lin Fan knitted his brows when he heard this though.
It seemed like this was the proper way to get into the tree and the way that he had taken was a shortcut that only came from being a transmigrator.
Since that was the case, it seemed like these people didn't know Chinese like he had suspected which was a bit disappointing, but also a bit relieving. If these people knew Chinese, then this conspiracy might be even bigger than he thought.
Since they didn't know a single thing, there was no need for him to continue threatening them after all, he had already received reports from the puppets that he had sent in.
Now that this question that was in the back of his mind had been answered, he could finally focus on the task in front of him. However, before he went in, there was something that he had to say first.
Lin Fan looked at the group of followers in front of him and said, "You're not the unlucky ones, the ones that are unlucky are the ones who threw you in here as a test. This place is the final stage of this trial and if you can make it to the end, you'll receive the inheritance of a long dead expert."
The group of followers looked at Lin Fan cautiously as they didn't understand why he would tell them this at first, but they quickly figured it out.
To put it plain and simple, Lin Fan didn't know what kind of danger was hidden in this place even after he had searched through it with his puppets, so of course he would want other people to go in along with him to take some of the traps for him.
But for these people, this was a chance since this was indeed the resting place of an expert that had fallen, they could tell from the aura of the palace. This place was a land of opportunity for them and the fact that Lin Fan was willing to let them in was already enough for them to feel grateful.
After all, Lin Fan could have just captured them all and used them as guinea pigs, but instead he respected them and gave them this opportunity to explore on their own. That was already enough for them to understand what kind of personality he had and it also filled them with admiration for him.
After a slight pause, the group of followers cupped their hands to Lin Fan and said, "Thank you young master."
Then without wasting another second, they all ran into the open gates of the palace, looking for their opportunity. That was, all of them except for Wang Jian and that one Myriad Sword Hall junior guarding him, but Lin Fan didn't care about him.
Lin Fan moved to the side for this group to go past him before casually walking forward to the gate with Mo Ze Chen following him.