Chapter 156: Dangerous Thoughts
"Strange restrictions."
"Danbaro" looked at these ferocious little figures, his heart skipping a beat. Each little figure seemed to be refined from the soul of a powerful being, extremely formidable, knowing only slaughter.
These strange cubic blocks formed an incredibly complex lock, with runes reflected upon them. Only when the runes took the correct form could the lock be undone; otherwise, these little figures would be released!
These semi-transparent cubic blocks were countless in number, an immense quantity. When a rune projected by the talisman treasure illuminated a cubic block, that block would retreat backward and vanish.
"The steps to unlock this are so complicated. Without this talisman treasure, it would be impossible!"
The talisman treasure spun continuously, the runes reflected from its fourteen faces shifting and changing endlessly, causing the cubic blocks before them to keep retreating.
The talisman treasure floated forward. The tortoise-shell guard strode ahead, and "Danbaro" quickly followed closely behind. After walking through a long passage, the space suddenly opened up before them.
The interior of the golden hall was a world unto itself. From the outside, this golden hall did not seem large, but from the inside, it appeared at least ten times bigger. Rows of pillars stood in formation, followed by golden altars of various sizes. On each golden altar rested treasures of strange and peculiar forms.
The tortoise-shell guard carried the Young Protector Sword forward, smiling as he said, "Such a heavy treasure must be placed in the deepest, most honored position. My magical power is insufficient to seal it; I can only wait for the Sorcerer Venerable to come and seal it personally. Danbaro, you have rendered great merit! Even I am envious!"
"Danbaro" quickly smiled and replied, "I obtained more than one treasure from that Yankang man. I also got a small jade bottle, likely containing a sacred medicine. I sniffed its scent—it was wonderful, as if I were about to become an immortal..."
He took a small jade bottle from his sleeve. When the tortoise-shell guard saw it, his eyes lit up. He snatched it from his hand, laughing, "Danbaro, you have rendered great merit. The Sorcerer Venerable will surely reward you handsomely. I brought you here ahead of time to choose treasures—surely you have something to offer me as tribute! This sacred medicine in the jade bottle is mine!"
"Danbaro" showed a pained expression on his face.
The tortoise-shell guard saw his reluctant look and laughed, "Stingy." With that, he unscrewed the jade bottle and put it under his nose, taking a sniff.
"What a—hmm—ah—fragrant..."
The tortoise-shell guard's face still wore a satisfied smile as he collapsed stiffly to the ground.
"Danbaro" held his breath, quickly snatched the jade bottle from his hand, and stoppered it, not daring to take even a single breath. After thinking for a moment, he took out another jade bottle, collected the surrounding air into it, then pried open the tortoise-shell guard's mouth and placed the open bottle inside, letting him hold it between his lips.
"This way, he won't wake up for a while. Phew—"
"Danbaro" exhaled a mouthful of stale air and then began to shed his skin, crawling out of Danbaro's hide to reveal another person—Qin Mu.
"I suppose I've resorted to demonic methods now."
Qin Mu looked at the skin on the ground and shook his head. Granny Si could wear another person's skin and transform in countless ways, but he still had some psychological shadows about it.
Qin Mu retrieved the Young Protector Sword, then searched the tortoise-shell guard's body. He found the talisman treasure and tucked it into his own bosom, then fished out some odds and ends.
After searching thoroughly without finding anything else useful, he had to give up.
"Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye, open! Azure Firmament Heavenly Eye, open!"
In Qin Mu's pupils, the Divine Firmament Heaven and the Azure Firmament Heaven opened. Dense runes formed two layers of heaven within his eyes as he looked around. Everything here became clearly layered in his vision.
Every single golden altar here was densely covered with seals, similar to the cubic blocks he had seen earlier. Each cubic block contained a ferocious-looking little figure. These little figures had twisted facial features, messy hair, and sharp claws and teeth, but without using the Heavenly Eye, they were completely invisible.
Qin Mu picked up the talisman treasure and carefully examined the runes on its fourteen faces. He compared them and shook his head. This talisman treasure was not the key to unlocking the seals on the golden altars; it was likely only used to open the golden hall.
He walked forward, looking at each golden altar one by one. He had to hurry. Outside, Ling Yuxiu should still be blocking the door. Ling Yuxiu's skills were a notch below his, and although she had learned Banshan's Sacrificial Wine's combined combat techniques, she probably couldn't hold out much longer.
The treasures on the golden altars were all different. Many were unique treasures of the Loulan Golden Palace, refined in strange ways. There were paintings made from peeled human skin inscribed with runes, bowls made from human skulls, drums made from human skin, as well as bone banners, thousand-poison soul-devouring banners, and bone shrines—all demonic and heretical artifacts.
But besides these, there were also many good things, gleaming with golden light, seemingly treasures refined by beings at the level of the Sorcerer King.
Qin Mu also saw some treasures that did not belong to the Sorcerer Sect, also placed here. There was a Thousand-Story Pagoda and a Relic, likely Buddhist heavy treasures, as well as a grape-sized sword pellet, an ancient zither with one end burned, and a broken sword.
Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped in his tracks, unable to move. On this golden altar stood a stone slab, on which was carved a fragmentary cultivation diagram. He only needed one glance to know it was a cultivation diagram for the Overlord Body Three Dan Art, but it was not for the Six Harmonies realm. In his haste, he couldn't tell which realm it was for.
"Go, go—find the legs!"
Qin Mu urged himself and dashed like lightning toward the depths of this treasure vault. After a moment, he quickly traversed the entire area once, then stopped before a golden altar. He had already looked at this altar once, but in the end, he returned here.
On the golden altar rested the lower half of a person—only the part below the waist—but it still stood upright, steady and firm.
However, Qin Mu was certain this was not the Butcher's lower half.
This half-body was gleaming with golden light. Even the blood seemed to be golden liquid, and the bones were also gold.
This body exuded a terrifying aura, even more powerful than the Sorcerer King.
"The Sorcerer Venerable's body?"
Qin Mu blinked, measuring it against his own waist, then carefully recalled the Butcher's body. The Butcher's body seemed like it could fit perfectly onto this half-body.
"The Sorcerer Venerable destroyed the sect that stole Grandpa Butcher's lower half, took his lower half, then cut off his own lower half and placed it here. But Grandpa Butcher's lower half, which should have been here, is missing..."
Qin Mu's eyelids twitched as he thought of a terrifying possibility.
The Sorcerer Venerable had cut off his own lower half and attached the Butcher's lower half to himself!
"With my medical skills, I could easily accomplish this. The Sorcerer Venerable should be able to as well!"
His scalp went numb. Cutting off one's own lower half and attaching someone else's—what was the Sorcerer Venerable after?
"Perhaps he believed that Grandpa Butcher's physical body was far superior to his own golden body, something he could never achieve in his lifetime, so he replaced his lower half. But there's another possibility: that the Sorcerer Venerable refined Grandpa Butcher's lower half into a spirit weapon in the form of two legs..."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. The latter possibility was small, but not impossible. He showed a troubled look. The half-body on the golden altar was also surrounded by seals and restrictions. If he reached out, he would definitely be devoured by the little figures in those cubic blocks, leaving not even a scrap of bone.
If Banshan Sacrificial Wine were here, he could directly destroy these seals and restrictions with brute force, but Qin Mu did not have that ability.
"The Heaven-Stealing Hand that Grandpa Cripple taught me—I've never used it once. Can it pass through the restrictions and retrieve that half-body?"
His heart was uneasy. Suddenly, he began sprinting wildly through this treasure vault, activating the Heaven-Stealing Divine Leg technique that Cripple had taught him. His speed was like a fleeting shadow, too fast for the naked eye to catch!
As Qin Mu ran at full speed, he simultaneously executed the Heaven-Stealing Hand. His hands moved faster and faster, like light and lightning. Cripple's entire skill set lay in his legs and hands. His legs ran fast so he could escape when caught stealing, and his hands moved fast to snatch things.
Qin Mu had been diligently practicing the Heaven-Stealing Leg Technique, but he had practiced the Heaven-Stealing Hand less often. Now, cramming at the last moment, he hoped to comprehend more of its mysteries.
While executing the Heaven-Stealing Divine Leg and the Heaven-Stealing Hand simultaneously, Qin Mu suddenly sensed a subtle wonder. He let out a surprised sound and quickly stopped.
When he used both techniques at the same time, he felt as if these two methods were one, but Cripple had split the unified technique into two halves when teaching him.
Originally, practicing the Heaven-Stealing Divine Leg had already felt very smooth to him. But now, with the Heaven-Stealing Divine Leg and the Heaven-Stealing Hand used together, the speed of his primal energy circulation suddenly increased several times over!
An increase in primal energy circulation speed by several times meant that his leg speed and hand speed could also increase several times!
Qin Mu steadied his mind and looked ahead. The interior of the golden hall's treasure vault was extremely spacious, with plenty of room for him to run. He suddenly exerted force, his feet flying forward as he sprinted!
The air in the hall let out a tearing roar. Suddenly, with a loud bang, Qin Mu slammed hard into the golden wall of the hall, about a hundred zhang from where he had started, and then fell stiffly backward.
Around his body, a ring-shaped white mist slowly dissipated.
After a moment, Qin Mu stood up, shook his head, and exerted force to sprint again. Another loud bang, and white mist scattered around him. But this time, he didn't hit the wall. Instead, he ran across the wall, then onto the ceiling, whooshing across the top of the hall.
The tearing roar continued without end. Qin Mu ran through the air of this treasure vault, whooshing away and then whooshing back in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, in the midst of his sprint, he reached out and snatched something. A golden altar was left empty, while in Qin Mu's hand appeared a bowl refined from a human skull.
Clang.
The bowl fell to the ground. Qin Mu laughed heartily. As he ran wildly like a frolicking child, he reached out toward the golden altars flashing past him like flowing light. One by one, the altars were emptied, and the treasures were thrown everywhere on the ground.
After a moment, all the golden altars had been swept clean by him. Then Qin Mu, carrying two thighs, sped past another golden altar.
His figure suddenly halted, and he set down this gleaming golden half-body.
"No wonder Grandpa Cripple always loved stealing. So this is how satisfying stealing feels!"
The youth from the Village of Broken Elders exhaled a mouthful of stale air, looked back at the treasures scattered all over the ground, felt refreshed, and praised, "Even losing a leg would be worth it!"
—Chapter Four. Chapter Five will be updated in two hours!