“You? If you don’t work harder, then you’ll become Fourth Sib and Xu Qing will become Eldest Brother!” Master Seventh snorted coldly. The sound of it resounded like millions upon millions of bolts of heavenly lightning, crashing into the Captain’s mind and causing his eyes to go wide. The mere thought of something like that happening….

The Captain shivered, and his countenance became very serious. “Don’t worry, Master. I’ll definitely work very hard. Henceforth, I, Chen Erniu, will forget all about girls. I will focus solely on cultivation, and on working hard to accomplish big things!”

Pleased, Master Seventh nodded. Then he turned to look at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing blinked a few times, then plastered a look of surprise on his face as he looked at the golden power in his Master’s hand. Although his reaction came a bit too slowly, it was always better to be late than never.

Seeing Xu Qing’s attitude caused Master Seventh to look even more pleased.

“This is god vitality, Fourth Sib. I managed to extract it after studying Master Shengyun’s body, and also after gaining enlightenment from numerous gruish plants from both Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and South Phoenix. Needless to say, the techniques Torchlight have gained mastery of are shocking.

“So-called gods are really nothing more than beings who exist on the same cultivation paradigm as us. Thēy’re just on a vastly higher level, and are much stronger. What’s more, thēy’re not invincible. In fact, I have a very daring speculation that I will confirm later when I track down certain long-lost ancient records.

“What a pity that most ancient records have disappeared over the countless years that have passed. In some cases, our only hope of getting such information is finding it in the random and varied wish boxes that have been scattered through heaven and earth. In any case, once I find evidence confirming my theory, I’ll let the two of you know.”

In that moment, Master Seventh looked truly mysterious and enigmatic.

Xu Qing, moved with admiration for his Master, quickly bowed.

The Captain rushed to do the same.

Seeing his apprentices act so obediently filled Master Seventh’s heart with incomparable contentment.

“Let’s go,” he said. “We need to keep moving. I’m planning to take you to a very amazing place. You see, I had a chance to explore another of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity’s operations palaces one time, and I happen to know that they all have this very unique place in them.”

Master Seventh led the way.

After about an hour of constant travel, they were deep within the palace complex. The palace complex was so huge that they were still within its east district. In fact, they were still in the central part of the east district. Thankfully, the place Master Seventh was leading them to was just ahead.

It was a very special palace. Although it was covered with flesh, the shape of that flesh was unique. It looked like a huge face. The face seemed neither male nor female. It had no hair, and it was magenta in color, as if it were filled with blood vessels. It pulsed with a very strong mutagen that had the power to influence emotions. Any living being who saw this face would be unable to control the emotions that rose within them. They would influence the mind and drive a person mad.

Even the Captain, who had such an extraordinary body, felt the influence. He started breathing heavily as mouths appeared all over his body, shifting position constantly in a very gruish display.

Xu Qing had it a bit better off. The god’s finger inside of him was part of the clone of the god that dwelt in this place. And since that finger had remolded Xu Qing’s body, not only could he absorb the local mutagen and turn it into god vitality, but also, he had the ability to disregard some of the powers present in this place.

“This is the place,” Master Seventh said, stopping outside the hall with the face of flesh. “This is the location of great good fortune. In a moment, you’ll understand why.”

Master Seventh’s entire person suddenly flared with golden light, making him seem extremely holy. However, not a scrap of aura emerged from him. It remained completely hidden. In fact, just looking at him with the naked eye, it seemed impossible to commit his features to memory. That caused waves of shock to rise in the hearts of the Captain and Xu Qing.

Xu Qing had seen a few gods, and knew full well that gods had such a power. Being able to make people forget about you was one of the best ways to stay hidden.

This was actually more shocking to Xu Qing than when his Master had casually destroyed a first-stage Void Returning beast. “Master, you—”

“The god vitality I extracted in my research has the power of ancient time in it,” Master Seventh said calmly as he walked forward. “As well as concealment functions.”

As he neared the palace hall, the face undulated as if it were alive. Its expression of pain became more pronounced, and the flesh almost looked like it was aging. In the blink of an eye, wrinkles appeared on it and began spreading out. This face seemed to be acting differently than the mutant beasts and grues Xu Qing had encountered so far. It seemed to be struggling to resist.

But as Master Seventh advanced, it grew weaker and weaker, until it began to collapse, starting at the edges. .𝒎

Xu Qing was completely astonished, and the Captain even rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“Little Ah Qing,” the Captain whispered, “how can our Master be so strong? In fact, given this, why are we working so hard? Why not just stay in Seven Blood Eyes and have everything handed to us? Little Junior Brother, as of this moment, I have such a sense of safety….”

Before Xu Qing could say anything in response, Master Seventh snorted coldly.

“Sense of safety my ass! If this place was safe, I wouldn’t have been forced to sneak in here. This Seventh Prince is no simple person. And all of his subordinates are exceptional. I even suspect Generalissimo Bloodhorror might have even realized who I really am! By the way, I sense the auras of other interlopers here. We’re not the only group who came to this place.

“We need to get this job done quickly, then I’ll find a place for us to lie low until the fuss dies down. You two are mere Gold Core cultivators, yet you’re plotting against a god. That’s pushing things almost too far. Once we’re finished, you two need to think of a way to get out of the county capital for a while. Then you can go back to Seven Blood Eyes and wait for me.”

Xu Qing looked very serious. Meanwhile, the Captain obviously wanted to take advantage of the moment to curry some favor, so he said, “You’re so mighty, Master! It’s only because we have you, oh venerable Master, that we dared to hatch a plot like this!”

“All you know how to do is brown nose!” Master Seventh said coolly.

The Captain didn’t take that as a rebuke, and in fact, looked very pleased with himself.

As Master Seventh walked onward, the face struggled with even more intensity. A moment later, Master Seventh was right in front of it. A wave of frigid energy swept across the face, which howled begrudgingly. Then, as the three of them looked on, it collapsed into ashes, revealing that it had been covering a bright red temple. The temple exuded an ancient aura, and its main gates were tightly closed. No noise came from within. There was something gloomy and sinister about the place, but at the same time, it almost seemed alive. The red color didn’t look like fresh blood, but rather, like high-quality wine.

It was somewhat contradictory. However, it somehow created a sense of hunger in Xu Qing, and he even felt his stomach rumbling. The Captain’s eyes went wide, and he started salivating.

“Back up, both of you,” Master Seventh said.

Xu Qing flew backward. Then, seeing that the Captain was hesitating a bit, Xu Qing grabbed him and dragged him 300 meters back. Master Seventh approached the main door of the red temple, his expression very serious. Extending his right hand, he pushed on the door.

Rumbling echoed out as the door opened. Red light erupted from within, transforming into a huge illusory face that lunged toward Master Seventh to devour him.

Master Seventh snorted coldly, and golden light surged out from him. Pushing forward with his right hand, he hit the illusory face, which shattered into countless blood-colored butterflies. Wherever the butterflies flew, they caused corrosion to spread. The aura that reached Xu Qing and the Captain filled them with shock.

“Okay, come on over,” Master Seventh said coolly as he stepped into the temple.

Xu Qing and the Captain hurried over and entered. It was magnificent. There was an amazing statue inside. It didn’t depict Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, but rather, some unfamiliar person, apparently someone whose name hadn’t been recorded in the annals of human history. He wore a blood-colored daoist robe, and stood with both hands raised high as if to embrace the entire temple.

Filling the rest of the temple were hundreds and hundreds of masks. There were large masks and small masks, and they depicted a wide variety of people. Old and young, men and women were all represented. And their expressions included happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy. They were affixed to the walls everywhere, and if you looked closely, you would find that they were all made from human skin.

The fact that so much skin had been used to make the masks filled the area with a very gruish atmosphere. When Master Seventh, Xu Qing, and the Captain entered, the faces all looked at them, their vacant eyes glowing with faint light.

Xu Qing’s expression flickered, and the Captain inhaled sharply.

“This place is called the Immortal Skills Hall,” Master Seventh said. “Every one of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity’s palaces had a place like this. Stored here are large numbers of very unusual immortal skills. Immortal skills are not as wonderful as you might imagine them to be. In fact, they’re not beautiful at all. Instead, they’re terrifying.

“Each of these skin masks is an immortal skill. You don’t need to gain enlightenment or cultivate them. You just put on the mask to use it.

“Magic like this naturally comes with a price. Whenever you use an immortal skill, it absorbs some of your life force. And every time you put one of the masks on, it sticks on tighter than before, until eventually you can’t take it off. And after it’s sucked out all of your blood and life force… it turns you into a new skin mask.”

Master Seventh spoke calmly, but his words filled Xu Qing’s heart with waves of shock.

Apparently, the Captain already knew a bit about immortal skills, as he wasn’t very surprised. However, a complex look appeared briefly on his face before he suppressed it.

“There’s no need to feel nervous,” Master Seventh continued. “Generally speaking, immortal skills are all very impressive. They contain mysterious daos, so as long as you use them carefully, they can be beneficial. Any given person can only take one immortal skill. Try to take more, and you’ll be cursed. What’s more, after you take one, you can’t go to other Immortal Skill Halls to get more.” Master Seventh looked at the statue in the hall, and he seemed to sigh inwardly. “This statue is one of the human emperors who has been forgotten in the histories, who created many immortal skills in his life.

“Based on some of the clues I dug up in various ancient records, it seems that this person was stricken from the histories by Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity in an attempt to make humankind, and immortal skills, seem more palatable.

“The immortal skills were gathered and stored in his thirty-six operations palaces, where they were branded as forbidden magics. That said, the ancient records indicate that, even then, the immortal skills created by this emperor were considered a boon to humankind, and they saved countless human nations from destruction. Any species that rises to prominence will have bright aspects and dark aspects. It’s only natural.”

With that, Master Seventh turned to look meaningfully at his two apprentices, especially Xu Qing.

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