Chapter 152: Loulan Golden Palace
He didn't give Qin Mu a chance to speak, muttering to himself, "I'm just afraid that Witch Venerable will play tricks, wear me down in a series of battles, and keep me tied up... This is getting troublesome..."
Before long, the Loulan Golden Palace finally appeared before everyone's eyes.
Qin Mu looked into the distance and saw a vast, endless prairie suddenly give way to a lake, its blue waves rippling, as wide as an ocean within the grassland.
Qin Mu gazed into the distance, vaguely seeing that on the other side of the lake were endless, rolling mountains, the high mountains clad in silver, piled high with snow.
Among the towering mountains was a peak shining with golden light. Qin Mu opened his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye and saw that it wasn't a golden mountain, but a magnificent palace complex made of gold.
These palaces were so numerous that they completely covered the entire mountain, making it look from afar like a golden mountain formed of pure gold.
There was no fixed currency on the grasslands; only gold circulated. Throughout their journey, they had used the gold ingots gifted by General Bian Zhenyun to pay for meals.
For the common people of the grasslands, gold was a rare and highly valuable commodity. Yet the palace here was built entirely of pure gold, a testament to its extravagance.
Ba Shan Jijiu arrived at the lakeside. Qin Mu looked around and saw a wooden boat moored there. On the boat stood a man with horns on his head, dressed in black, leaning on a bamboo pole at the bow.
In the shallow waters of the lake, wooden poles were stuck haphazardly, each one bearing a rotting human head.
"The Great Witch uses souls to cultivate their techniques, even more like a demon sect than our Heavenly Saint Cult."
Qin Mu looked at the man. His face was somewhat like a goat's, a brown goat face, different in color from ordinary white goats, and with little hair on it.
"A Goat-Faced Great Witch?" Qin Mu was slightly startled.
When he was in the capital treating several border soldiers poisoned by witch toxins, he heard them say they had encountered a barbarian with horns on his head who had shone a mirror on them, causing them to fall unconscious.
Qin Mu had originally thought the barbarian Great Witches wore masks, but now seeing this Great Witch on the wooden boat, he realized there really were barbarians with horns.
The Goat-Faced Great Witch glanced at them and said in a sharp voice, "Martial Khan, the Witch Venerable has been waiting for a long time! Please board the boat!"
Ba Shan Jijiu stepped onto the boat and said with a smile, "This lake is made of Ruo Shui, which has no buoyancy. Even a feather would sink to the bottom. You must use the Loulan Golden Palace's boat to cross. Let's get on board."
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu boarded the wooden boat. The Green Ox and Fox Ling'er also came aboard. The Great Witch's gaze fell on Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu, and he sneered as he poled the boat towards the opposite shore.
Ling Yuxiu laughed and said, "Can't we just walk across the Ruo Shui, or go around it? We could even fly over."
The barbarian Great Witch sneered, "Fly over? Try the air here and see if you can fly. The air here is dead."
"Dead air?" Ling Yuxiu was puzzled.
The Green Ox beside her said in a deep voice, "The air here is indeed dead. You can't fly."
He was skilled in controlling wind and thunder and could sense that the air here didn't flow at all. Normally, when a person breathes, air flows in and out. If the air doesn't flow, when you inhale, the air under your nostrils is sucked away, creating a vacuum. The surrounding air can't replenish it, and you would naturally suffocate.
This Ruo Shui Lake was like that. The air above the lake was held still by some unknown force, completely immobile. Only when the boat slid forward, and the people on it moved with it, did they not feel the abnormality while breathing. But if the boat stopped, the air under their noses would be sucked away, and they would inevitably suffocate over time.
Even if one tried to fly, it was impossible. Flying requires vibrating the air to create upward lift. But vibrating the air here would only create a vacuum, making flight utterly impossible.
Fox Ling'er also tried and found that her spells for summoning wind and rain were useless here.
The barbarian Great Witch chuckled darkly, "Going around is possible, but the Ruo Shui Lake is too wide. It would take two days to go around, and once you're in the snowy mountains, well, not many who enter come out."
Ling Yuxiu clicked her tongue in amazement.
Qin Mu quietly activated his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye, the Blue Firmament Heavenly Eye, and looked into the sky. He vaguely saw a barely perceptible, misty veil covering the entire sky above the lake. His heart stirred: "The thing that stops the air from flowing must be this veil, right?"
This veil couldn't be touched, but it was real, presumably what Ba Shan Jijiu called a restriction.
He casually glanced into the water and was shocked. The bottom of the lake was covered in white bones, sunk to the depths. Ling Yuxiu also looked down and gasped.
Ba Shan Jijiu said, "Those are the slaves used up in the Great Witches' training methods."
Qin Mu was horrified.
The Goat-Faced Great Witch poled the boat very fast. He had a unique secret technique that allowed him to move across the lake like the wind, and the Ruo Shui couldn't sink the boat.
Soon, the wooden boat docked at the foot of the snowy mountains. The Goat-Faced Great Witch chuckled, "Martial Khan, please!"
Ba Shan Jijiu smiled faintly and walked towards the golden, shining peak.
Doo-doo—
A long, deep horn sound came from the mountain, its tone thick, causing people's eardrums and chest cavities to resonate in sympathy. In the distance, avalanches suddenly occurred on several snowy mountains, rumbling loudly, adding to the solemn atmosphere.
Ba Shan Jijiu laughed heartily, his laughter overpowering the horn sound and the roar of the avalanches. Qin Mu and the others didn't feel any abnormality, but the people on the mountain were shaken by his laughter, their blood boiling. A surge of blood rushed to their heads, making their skulls swell as if about to explode, uncontrollable.
At that moment, a deep voice came from the mountain, clearly audible even amidst Ba Shan Jijiu's laughter: "Martial Khan's cultivation is profound, even stronger than in the past. Why must you give such a show of force right from the start? Martial Khan, please come up the mountain for a meeting!"
This voice was old but full of power, clearly belonging to a supreme expert.
"Since the Witch Venerable has spoken, I naturally must obey. But I, Ba, have come to block your mountain gate, not to reminisce about old times."
Ba Shan Jijiu spoke from a distance to the old voice, saying leisurely, "I will ascend the mountain now!"
Qin Mu looked up and saw a staircase paved with gold leading all the way up the mountain. But not far ahead, a huge golden gate stood across the path, without any doors.
This gate was made entirely of gold, over ten zhang high and more than twenty zhang wide, inlaid with jade and precious gems, truly extravagant.
It was here that the Butcher had once brought Ba Shan Jijiu, blocking the mountain gate for three months, defeating the young talents of the Loulan Golden Palace and fighting all the various experts who had rushed over from all corners of the grasslands.
Because of this, Ba Shan Jijiu was honored as the Martial Emperor of the grasslands.
And the Butcher himself had gone through hundreds of battles, large and small, defeating all the older generation of the Loulan Golden Palace, earning the title of Heavenly Khan and Heavenly Emperor.
Ba Shan Jijiu led them to the mountain gate, where many Great Witches were already waiting. There were also some strong warriors from the grasslands, not disciples of the Golden Palace, also standing guard there. They were presumably famous figures from the grasslands who had come upon hearing the news.
"Ox!" Ba Shan Jijiu shouted.
The Green Ox let out a low moo, and his body suddenly expanded with a bang. His muscles bulged, his body growing taller and taller, transforming into a terrifying, muscular ox-headed monster. He strode to the golden mountain gate, shrugged his shoulders, and lifted the incredibly heavy gate right out of the ground!
The surrounding barbarian Great Witches and strong warriors were all stunned.
Ba Shan Jijiu said calmly, "Carry the gate up the mountain!"
Qin Mu's heart trembled. He understood Ba Shan Jijiu's intention. Blocking the gate at the mountain's foot made it difficult to enter the heart of the Loulan Golden Palace. But carrying the gate up the mountain and blocking it in front of the main hall would make it easier to steal the Butcher's lower body.
However, this would also completely offend the Loulan Golden Palace, making this a fight to the death!
If they went deep into the Loulan Golden Palace, the strong warriors could block the path down the mountain, trapping them. That would be very disadvantageous.
Ba Shan Jijiu snorted coldly and walked forward, transmitting his voice into Qin Mu's ear: "Once we're up the mountain, it won't be you two blocking the gate anymore. They'll be coming for me. This is different from what I expected..."
Qin Mu comforted him, "The man who taught me to steal was a cripple, and he was really formidable."
"How did he become crippled?" Ba Shan Jijiu asked.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then answered honestly, "It seems he was caught while stealing, and they cut off one of his legs."
Ba Shan Jijiu sneered: "The moment you said he was a cripple, I knew he was caught stealing and had his leg chopped off. Have you ever stolen anything?"
Qin Mu hesitated again, then shook his head: "I haven't tried yet."
Ba Shan Jijiu's last hope vanished. His expression darkened, but he suddenly shoved a piece of paper into Qin Mu's hand, saying, "This is a map of the Golden Palace. Keep it... Hopefully, you won't need it. For now, we'll take it one step at a time. Once we're in the Golden Palace, we'll adapt to the situation. Maybe I can find an opportunity to steal my master's lower body!"
The steps of the Loulan Golden Palace were extremely long, stretching all the way to the summit. Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu followed Ba Shan Jijiu up the mountain, looking around. On both sides of the path stood many golden statues, each one extremely bizarre—neither fully human, nor fully demon, nor fully god, possessing features of humans, gods, and demons in strange combinations.
Walking on such a path was oppressive. Even Fox Ling'er, who usually liked to bicker with the Green Ox, was unusually quiet. Only the heavy footsteps of the Green Ox could be heard.
Qin Mu looked back. The strong warriors from the grasslands and the barbarian Great Witches glared at them with fiery eyes but followed in silence.
Ahead, many glittering golden palaces gradually appeared. Under these palaces stood some strangely shaped people. Some had horns on their heads, some had wings on their backs, some had beast heads, and some had snake tails.
But they were not demons. Demons have demonic aura. Fox Ling'er, for example, had demonic aura, and the Green Ox, though faint, also had it.
These strange people had no demonic aura.
Fox Ling'er and the Green Ox were transforming towards human form. The strong warriors of the Loulan Golden Palace, however, seemed to be transforming away from humanity.
This was a different cultivation philosophy from that of the outside world. Transforming away from humanity, moving closer to gods and demons, was the path of the Great Witch.
However, there were still some people in normal human form. These people should be able to control their bodies freely, transforming at will, their divine abilities unhindered.
In front of these palaces were many cages, filled with ragged people. They were presumably the "materials" for the witch cultivators of the Loulan Golden Palace to practice their skills.
Ling Yuxiu's face changed slightly, and she felt anger rising: "They are my subjects of the Yan Kingdom!"
Qin Mu said woodenly, "The Yan Kingdom also kidnaps my subjects from the Great Ruins and treats them as slaves."
Ling Yuxiu's body trembled slightly, and she fell silent.
"Master, they don't just use humans to practice. They've also captured demons."
Fox Ling'er pouted her lips. Qin Mu looked and saw that some cages indeed held monsters.
Ba Shan Jijiu said, "The Witch Cult has unique techniques that use souls to cultivate, used to change the body's structure. For example, absorbing the soul of a bird can make wings grow, or a bird's head grow on the head. Absorbing the soul of a sheep can cause the body to transform towards a sheep. Those who master divine abilities are called Great Witches. Those who haven't mastered divine abilities are called Witch Practitioners. Those who reach the Heavenly Being realm are called Witch Kings. The Loulan Golden Palace is the holy land of the Witch Cult. Its technique is called the Witch Venerable Loura Sutra, and it's quite extraordinary."
— Six chapters today. The update spree continues tomorrow. Two chapters in a row at noon, two more at eight in the evening, and another at ten! Please, brothers, give us your support.