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So that was it....

The moment Chen Qing entered, he instantly understood what was going on.

Shen Qi, however, was shocked by the scene before his eyes...

Was this the Imperial Palace?

No... It should be said that this was the real Imperial Palace!

In the culture of the Central Plains, the phrase "glittering with gold" is just a hyperbolic description, but here... it was literally true... it could even be considered an understatement.

How could this place merely be described as "glittering with gold"?

The floor was completely paved with gold, and countless towering pillars supported the vast palace.

Each column was as thick as a thousand-year-old banyan tree; it would take three or four adults wrapped around to embrace it.

Yet, these columns were clearly forged from pure gold, and they were almost entirely inlaid with colorful gemstones.

Shen Qi had spent the past few years studying formations and had become an expert in identifying jade and precious stones, and he could tell at a glance that the gemstones embedded in these pillars were top-tier, with energy reserves nearly matching that of the Bai Yu that their lord had desperately seized from the Dragon Palace.

And such top-tier gemstones were not only embedded in the pillars, but if one looked up, the entire ceiling of the palace was also studded with such jewels, shining like stars in the darkness, so brilliant that one could not see the end of the palace.

What kind of extravagance was this?

It was beyond the power of words to describe!

"Does my lord know... where this is?" Shen Qi asked telepathically.

This certainly couldn’t be a place that should exist in the Northern Wasteland, not even the corresponding Path of Yin and Yang should have something like this. Such a luxurious palace was completely unrelated to the barren Northern Wasteland.

"King Xiang Palace..." Chen Qing said, looking at the palace with a complex expression in his eyes.

"King... King Xiang?" Shen Qi asked, astounded, looking at Chen Qing.

This title was recorded in the ancient texts of all the major noble families, a chaotic era when a Ghost King rose, overturning Yin and Yang, creating a world without death, war, or disease. To this day, in many hidden corners, there are still followers of King Xiang.

Chen Qing looked at the immense palace, rapidly analyzing the situation in his mind.

It was only now that he fully understood how Zi Yue managed it.

With the opening of the King Xiang Palace, all evil spirits were attracted, which was why... in the Northern Sea region, not a single evil spirit had invaded—not even one—because all the evil spirits from around that region must have been drawn to the opening of the King Xiang Palace.

And the key to opening the King Xiang Palace... was the Ghost Doll!

The Ghost Doll, being half-human and half-ghost, was a beacon for evil spirits and an embryo for humans. Others might not know the origin of the Ghost Doll, including the Ghost Doll itself not knowing where it came from, but Chen Qing did.

The Ghost Doll... was the seed of King Xiang!

King Xiang was the only one of the four Ghost Kings to rise from humble beginnings, his foundation far weaker than the other Ghost Kings, but he had managed to nearly unify the world during the cycle of reincarnations.

The resources and wealth he seized during that period were enough to make the other Ghost Kings envious.

Ultimately, due to various betrayals and targeting, King Xiang fell, and he made numerous arrangements for his resurrection on his deathbed.

Amongst these, the two most mysterious places were: King Xiang Tomb, which was a barrier jointly set up by the three great Ghost Kings to seal an unyielding spirit that would not submit even after tens of thousands of years.

The second was the King Xiang Palace, carrying vast amounts of King Xiang’s fortune and resources.

The King Xiang Palace was said to have been concealed by King Xiang’s most famous Ghost Sorcerer: Jia Qing, using a peculiar Formation technique.

Since then, it had been hidden in different places in the Path of Yin and Yang, appearing once every hundred years for only a few hours at a time, with no Ghost King yet able to calculate its position logically.

The King Xiang Palace was designed with the purpose of cultivating outstanding Ghost Generals for the future resurrection of King Xiang!

Every time the King Xiang Palace opened, it would grant a batch of low-level evil spirits the chance for a fortuitous encounter, and also ensure their loyalty to King Xiang.

Tens of thousands of years of continuous openings have actually filled the various places of the Path of Yin and Yang with Ghost Generals secretly loyal to King Xiang already.

In the plan, once the time was ripe, the King Xiang Palace would appear in the mortal world, thereby opening the gateway between the two realms. Upon King Xiang’s resurrection, those Ghost Generals who were secretly loyal along the Path of Yin and Yang would rapidly convene!

This was the main plan for King Xiang’s return in the King Xiang archival files.

But now, with King Xiang under the control of the Dragon Mother, the appearance of the King Xiang Palace here was obviously unreasonable.

Chen Qing looked at the palace, guessing curiously how Zi Yue managed to do this.

Zi Yue had someone summon Ghost Doll in advance, apparently anticipating that King Xiang Palace would certainly make an appearance here. How did she know? Or is it possible that... Zi Yue collaborated with certain people?

Chen Qing narrowed his eyes, thinking first of Capital City.

That power was bound to King Xiang. Among the three major sects of Celestial Serpent Palace, the only one missing was the guild power behind Dragon Mother...

With such a significant resource at stake, how could the guild power behind Dragon Mother merely watch?

Chen Qing also guessed that the other party would definitely make a move, but he hadn’t expected them to collaborate with Zi Yue... What exactly had the situation been at that time?

What were the chips of cooperation between the two parties?

And what is the situation now?

All in all, Chen Qing had no clue at the moment and could only try to remain hidden until he found Zi Yue.

"I never realized before, but you, this little doll, have quite the nerve."

In front of the group, there were two figures wearing black robes, but the arms revealed from underneath the robes made Beiyu Yan’s skin crawl.

The arms had snake-like scales and exuded a fishy, sticky slime, and the eyes of the two black-robed figures had also turned snake-like, with inverted triangular pupils that gleamed an eerie orange-yellow!

"Uncle Murong?" Beiyu Yan asked cautiously, because from the voice, it appeared that the person was indeed the Family Head of the Murong Family.

"Interesting..." The Family Head of the Murong Family glanced at Shen Qi, who was dressed as a woman and had intentionally changed her appearance, making her unrecognizable at the moment. Despite this, he still sensed something extraordinary about the two people behind Beiyu Yan.

The instinct of a master told him that these two were formidable, especially the androgynous man on the left, whose level of danger seemed even greater than that of the berserk Weichi Feihong...

"When did the Beiyu Family acquire such two exalted experts?" the raspy voice of the black-robed woman turned to Chen Qing.

Shen Qi gave a slight smile, curtseying like a palace maid, and laughingly said, "Senior is joking. In front of you, how could I dare to call myself an exalted expert?"

Chen Qing shivered at the side, staring at Shen Qi with some astonishment. This fellow’s female seductiveness was to the bone; he definitely wasn’t in women’s attire for the first time.

"Senior..." The black-robed woman, whose only discernible features were those eerie eyes, had a mockery in her gaze, "If a descendant could enjoy such drama, they truly would be blessed."

"What’s the matter? Are you here looking for someone?"

"Many from the junior’s family have gone missing, and now even the Family Head and Elder of the Beiyu Family have vanished. The main purpose of my visit is to investigate."

"Hmm... it seems you came after that day."

That day?

A glint flickered in both Chen Qing and Shen Qi’s eyes.

From the other person’s words, it was clear that the incident on that day must have affected all the cultivators in the city.

Everyone should be aware of what happened, otherwise the other party wouldn’t have been so certain that they had arrived after that day.

"Indeed... we haven’t been here long."

"Not long after arriving, you managed to find Beiyu Tai Fei to bring you here, quite a clever tactic," the other party laughed. "May I have your distinguished names?"

Chen Qing frowned. It wasn’t easy to give just any name. Mention an unknown one, and they certainly wouldn’t believe it, but if he gave a known one, and they were familiar with them...

"My name is Zhang Zhiwei!"

"Zhang Family?" The two figures opposite them brightened, "So that’s it... So it’s the head family of Yundu’s Zhang Family that has arrived. No wonder, no wonder. We have indeed failed to show proper hospitality!"

Chen Qing glanced at Shen Qi subtly. Was this an impromptu claim or was he genuinely familiar with the Zhang Family? He hoped it wouldn’t give them away.

Just as he was contemplating, a tumultuous disturbance of elements suddenly came from afar...

The commotion was immense, and almost immediately drew the attention of the four individuals. Both Chen Qing and Shen Qi felt their hearts skip a beat at the sensation of that fluctuation.

Divine Wind Technique...

It was Murong Yunji!