After the statues were lured away, the Captain ran pell-mell toward the entrance of the huge palace. This time, he didn’t waste time trying to open the door. Instead, he rushed to the roof with the countless holes. Upon arriving, he madly threw himself toward the holes. Bizarrely, his flesh split apart, forming into countless finger-width strips that shot right through the holes.

Of course, those holes weren’t just simple ventilation shafts. They had terrifying warding spells within them that instantly erupted, destroying many of the strips of flesh.

Those left over wriggled like worms. As they struggled, faces appeared on them that resembled the Captain, and they gnashed their teeth as they tried to break through the warding spells. Unfortunately, the warding spells were very strong, and before long, about ninety percent of the Captain’s strips of flesh were gone, and there were only about thirty left.

Within the mouth of each worm was an ancient and damaged command medallion. Those medallions were none other than Ancient Dao Righteous Bestowal Edicts. As they glowed with amber light, the wriggling worms began to transform. They glittered with crystalline light, and though more than half crumbled, in the end, four managed to wriggle to the end.

After popping out of the ventilation hole and dropping into the hall beyond, they looked around.

There was only one thing in the hall, and it was right in the middle. Emptiness surrounded it. It was a severed hand with a bit of the forearm attached, fully 300 meters in size. The spot where it had been severed featured a large fleshy growth that ended with countless swaying tentacles. The five fingers were outstretched, and in the palm was a huge mouth filled with countless razor-sharp teeth.

“What’s this thing?”

The Captain’s voice emanated from the mouths of the four crystalline worms as they clumped together and then transformed into a tiny crystalline imp. The imp was, of course, the Captain. However, his face didn’t resemble the Captain’s, as he was wearing a vicious and greedy mask. Without any hesitation, he opened his mouth and unleashed the heavenly dog immortal skill.

A massive dog appeared in the middle of the palace hall. Pulsing with greed, it lunged toward the severed hand and gobbled it up. 𝘪𝑎.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The crystalline imp then broke back up into four wriggling worms, which shot back through the ventilation holes. Of course, this entire process took a lot longer than thirty breaths of time, so the four statues had already returned from chasing Xu Qing. As a result, the warding spells in the ventilation holes were even stronger.

The Captain struggled to fight his way through them, but eventually ended up stuck. As the destructive power of the warding spells surged, he started getting very nervous. However, right then, the mutagen in the area suddenly started flowing away rapidly, causing the statues to burst into motion again. The Captain took advantage of that moment to burst free. The four crystalline worms turned into an imp again, and the imp fled at top speed. .

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the palace area returned to normal, and the four statues returned to take up their guard positions.

Xu Qing was already at the rendezvous spot. He squatted there, spitting blood out of his mouth and looking frightened. When he’d realized the Captain wasn’t coming back, he’d assumed something unexpected happened. Gritting his teeth, he’d once again drawn away the statues. Though he’d managed to hide successfully, the statues were enraged from being repeatedly fooled, and had unleashed random attacks.

Xu Qing’s hiding spot was never revealed, but he still suffered the effects of the attacks. As his heart pounded with lingering fear, he turned his head to see a crystalline imp running toward him that bore the face of the Captain.

Before Xu Qing could ask any questions, the Captain shivered and started to grow larger. Moments later, he was back to normal size, although his face was pale and he looked very weak. Dropping onto the ground, he gasped for breath, all the while looking very excited.

“Thankfully I had that Righteous Bestowal Edict. Otherwise, I would have been done for. In the end… it was worth it!”

Seeing that the Captain was fine, Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. “What was inside?”

“I have no idea. But I think it’s a precious treasure.” Looking very pleased with himself, the Captain took out the skin mask and put it on to summon the heavenly dog. The heavenly dog’s throat wriggled as it coughed up a 300-meter severed hand onto the ground along with a shower of saliva.

Before Xu Qing could even take time to examine it, the huge mouth on the hand lunged toward the Captain. In the blink of an eye, the Captain was gobbled up.

It happened too quickly.

Face falling, Xu Qing took out a dagger and slashed it toward the severed hand. The dagger had absolutely no effect on the hand. What was more, the backlash attack from it caused Xu Qing to shiver and stagger backward. Eyes grim, he unleashed his poison to try to invade the hand. However, before he could actually send the poison into the hand, its five fingers glittered with multicolored light accompanied by loud cracking sounds. It was a five-colored light that flowed out of the fingers and back to the severed part of the arm. The light gathered at the fleshy growth there, grew stronger, and then went back to the fingers. From there, the light floated into the air and began to converge into the shape of a heart.

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

Things weren’t over yet, though. As the five-colored light stitched together, Xu Qing’s eyes went wide as he realized it was taking the shape of a peach.

The light then faded, and a moment later, the Captain was vomited out of the mouth.

“Precious treasure! Eat, little Ah Qing!”

Looking very excited, the Captain lunged toward the peach with his mouth wide open.

Xu Qing hesitated.

When the Captain bit into the peach, it collapsed, turning into a noxious black sludge that splashed into the Captain’s mouth.

The Captain immediately started retching. Dazed, he said, “How could this be happening? Dammit. I got scammed by that thing! It asked what I wanted, and I said I wanted to eat a peach that would turn me into a Smoldering God!”

Xu Qing looked quizzically at the black sludge, and then the hand. Finally, he looked at the bedraggled Captain.

“Captain, what’s going on?”

“I got scammed, little Ah Qing!” The Captain ground his teeth. “After that thing ate me, I heard a voice asking me what I wanted it to create. It said it could use life force power to create anything. But after I told it what I wanted, it created nothing but a lump of trash.”

Looking angry, the Captain walked over and kicked the hand. That wasn’t enough though, as next, he leaned over and bit into it.

He instantly let out a shriek. Pupils constricting, Xu Qing looked over and saw that the Captain’s teeth had shattered.

“How could it be so hard??” The Captain’s eyes were wide as he looked at the hand, which had a faint bite mark on it. However, the bite didn’t come close to penetrating the skin. “It actually broke my teeth! This thing is incredible. Maybe I didn’t use it right. Little Ah Qing, you try it out.”

After some thought, Xu Qing walked over toward the huge hand’s mouth. The mouth opened, and a powerful gravitational force latched onto Xu Qing. He didn’t resist, but rather, allowed it to suck him inside. Afterward, the same five-colored light started to swirl, and eventually it took the shape of a mirror. It was the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure. Whether in the appearance or the aura, it seemed completely genuine.

The Captain looked on, his eyes shining with anticipation.

Shortly after, the hand’s mouth opened and spat Xu Qing out. The instant he appeared, he looked up at the mirror. Moments ago, he had found himself in a blood-colored world, with a calm voice speaking into his ear. It had said that it could use the power of life force to create anything. Xu Qing had then created the mirror. At the same time, he noticed that his life force hadn’t been absorbed. Perhaps it was because the severed hand had been hurt too badly, and didn’t have all of its powers.

Xu Qing reached out to grab the mirror, but the moment he touched it, it turned into black sludge that splashed onto the ground.

Xu Qing frowned and the Captain sighed.

“A scam,” the Captain said. “I really lost out this time!”

“Eldest Brother, maybe the hand has just been in that palace hall for too long. Maybe back in the days of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity it… really could create anything.”

The Captain pondered that for a moment, then nodded. “I guess too much time has passed. The mutagen invasion probably broke it. But if that were the case, could this thing really be called a precious treasure? No. No! I’m going to give it one more try.”

He walked toward the hand and let himself be swallowed up again. And he did that again. And again. He created a wide assortment of things, even things from the mortal world. But all of them collapsed into black sludge.

Xu Qing also tried a few more times, with the same result.

However, their repeated tests revealed another function of the hand: if you entered the hand but didn’t use it to create anything, you had a very secure location to stay safe. After some specific tests, they were even able to determine how tough the exterior of the hand was.

“It’s as strong as the Void Returning level!” the Captain said through gritted teeth.

Xu Qing nodded. “It almost doesn’t seem like it’s made from flesh. It’s more like some special tool, crafted to be like a shield.”

After that, the Captain’s eyes glittered brightly, and he felt a bit better.

“Hahaha! The two of us can use it like a shield, and Ning Yan like a meteor hammer! Perfect! Let’s go, little Junior Brother. We can use this hand to check out some other locations.” 1

Xu Qing figured using the hand as a shield would be a perfect complement to their concealment abilities.

Before long, it was possible to see a 300-meter hand flying through the mists in Forbidden by the Immortal. By lifting the hand up and smashing it down into the ground, Xu Qing and the Captain had managed to curl the five fingers until it formed a fist. Once inside, they felt a lot safer.

Time passed. As the two of them continued their exploration, the fourth day arrived. The passage to the outside had been opened, and everyone was free to leave if they wanted. Some did, while others stayed behind to explore.

On the evening of the fourth day, the second wave of cultivators arrived. Most of them were made up of imperial troops. Many of them wore black robes, and the moment they arrived, they flew off into the depths of Forbidden by the Immortal.

Xu Qing, who was already about 250 kilometers away from the safe zone, didn’t see any of that. Though they weren’t incredibly far away, it was too far to see things back at the safe zone with the naked eye. However, a transmissions tower had been erected in the safe zone, which meant that their command swords could again be used to send messages.

Both Xu Qing and the Captain felt their command swords vibrate, and checked them to find that in three days, the third wave of cultivators would arrive.

That evening, a gruish red color appeared in the sky, spreading rapidly.

A strange sense of fear rose up in Xu Qing’s heart. What was more, he could tell that his heavenly dao was sending him a warning.

“We need to hurry up, Eldest Brother. I have the feeling that the red moon… is about to wake up. I think it will probably happen in three days, when that third wave arrives.” Xu Qing squatted in the severed hand, and the Captain squatted next to him. Nodding, he pointed to the path ahead.

“Look over there, little Junior Brother. I wasn’t paying close attention before, so I didn’t realize this forbidden ground had a palace complex like that.”

Xu Qing turned to look in the direction he was pointing and saw a flesh-covered palace complex surrounded by a high wall.

“Look at how intact the outer wall is. That’s different from anything we’ve encountered before. It hasn’t even started to crumble yet. And even with the flesh covering the buildings, you can see that the complex generally resembles the shape of a phoenix. I wonder if one of the concubines from Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity’s harem used to live there.

“Female cultivators generally love cleanliness. You know, taking baths and stuff. If that’s a harem palace, then do you think there might be something like an immortal hot spring there? And if so, I wonder if there might be some clothes like Nethersprite had? Maybe even jewelry and ornaments…. Female cultivators always have lots of fun stuff where they live. I mean, that’s what it was like with Nethersprite, right? She had all sorts of treasures.”

The Captain’s eyes were shining brightly. “By the way, we’re in the east district. You know, I’ve read a lot of books that make it very clear the girls in the East Palace are extra special!”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed with interest. But then, he heard Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior clearing his throat.

“Milord, um… based on the palace intrigue novels I’ve read, the East Palace is usually occupied by the empress dowager, the crown prince, and the young princesses….” 2

1. Presumably most of you know that a meteor hammer is a weapon in traditional Chinese martial arts that features some sort of weighted object at the end of a rope. Here’s a short YouTube video demonstrating its use. ?

2. The patriarch is right. Historically, the “East Palace” of the imperial palace complex would be where the empress dowager and

/or the crown prince lived (in some ancient dynasties). There were even some readers who commented about this in Chinese. There are some more complexities, but I won’t get into them because they’re not relevant. ?

This content is taken from 𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ