After fifteen years of cultivation, he finally reached the pinnacle of the first rank!

Chapter 365 The Stone Chamber
"Can't get in? What should we do?"

The Black Moon Elder's expression was grim. After a moment's thought, he immediately channeled his martial arts true energy and fiercely attacked the entrance to the tunnel that had appeared earlier.

However, he blasted a deep pit, about ten feet deep, into the floor of the room, but there was no sign of the tunnel that had been there before.

"Don't waste your time. The mechanisms in this palace are not as simple as you think."

The Second Palace Master, Yazuki, casually tossed the white-haired Taoist nun aside and began to look around, carefully examining the entire room before him.

However, Yazuki quickly frowned and remained silent, clearly indicating that she had not found a way to break the mechanism.

Black Moon Old Man paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, looking restless and anxious.

He still needed Li Musheng to escape the Great Xuan Imperial Palace. If something happened to Li Musheng, he could easily imagine his own fate.

"The Emperor of Da Xuan is far more unfathomable than you imagine. I advise you to flee for your lives now, and perhaps there is still a sliver of a chance to escape this palace."

The white-haired Taoist nun, abandoned in the room, suddenly spoke, while the Black Moon Elder glanced at her sharply, his aged face displaying a complex expression, and said:

"Do you think she might also have those 'roundworms' in her head?"

Upon hearing this, the white-haired Taoist nun was startled and was about to speak.

Just then, two dark figures leaped into the room in the blink of an eye, attacking Yazuki and Kurozuki Yinsou with lightning speed and without warning.

"That Emperor of the Great Xuan is truly extremely treacherous!"

Black Moon Old Man reacted in a rage and attacked to defend against the sneak attack.

The current situation has undoubtedly proven his previous guess.

Everything was clearly under the control of the Great Xuan Emperor, and these people looked like a bunch of clowns.

The Second Palace Master, Yazuki, now wore a solemn expression on her beautiful face as she fought with the newcomer while retreating out of the palace.

Given the current situation, it is clearly not advisable to stay here any longer; leaving immediately is the top priority.
.
……

Meanwhile, after entering the tunnel, Li Musheng, Zhao Muning, and others, led by Zhao Kuang, broke through the various mechanisms in the tunnel and continued to go deeper.

"Where exactly is the secret place where the Great Xuan Emperor is in seclusion? How much longer will it take us to get there?"

The fiery cloud evil god, his disheveled hair obscuring his cold eyes, stared at Zhao Kuang's retreating figure.

Having experienced the events at the Earthly Vault Palace, he clearly didn't trust the Crown Prince of Da Xuan in front of him.

Zhao Kuang didn't seem to care about the Fire Cloud Evil God's attitude; he simply continued to persistently explore the mechanisms along the way, explaining:
"This is my first time here, but with such elaborate mechanisms guarding it, my father must be in seclusion here."

Upon hearing this, Fire Cloud Evil God snorted coldly, but simply continued to follow along with the head manager of the Treasure Gathering Merchant Guild, without saying anything more.

Meanwhile, the head manager of the Jubao Chamber of Commerce had a strange look in his eyes. He remained silent throughout, giving Zhao Kuang a deep look, as if he were watching a good show.

"I feel like something's not right. I can't quite put my finger on why, but things probably won't go smoothly from here on out."

Zhao Muning suddenly frowned and secretly transmitted her voice to Li Musheng using her inner energy.

However, she did not advise Li Musheng to back down, because she knew in her heart that he would not listen to her.

Upon hearing this, Li Musheng remained silent, only glancing calmly at Zhao Muning.

The other person kept turning their head, looking around at the surrounding situation, their beautiful, fair face full of vigilance.

Just then, Zhao Kuang, who was leading the way, opened another mechanism, revealing a dark and cold stone chamber.

There were no wall lamps in the stone chamber, and it was pitch black. A cold, dark wind swept in. Zhao Kuang stood at the entrance of the stone chamber and suddenly stopped, motionless.

The Fire Cloud Evil God behind him noticed something was wrong and immediately moved to Zhao Kuang's side.

Looking down, he saw a dark figure lying on Zhao Kuang's chest.

The dark figure was covered in hair and emitted a foul, fishy stench. A viscous liquid dripped slowly from its hair onto the ground, breaking the silence outside the stone chamber.

Fire Cloud Evil God reacted immediately, and immediately activated his martial arts true energy, striking the black shadow with a palm strike.

The dark figure seemed to sense the danger, letting out a piercing scream like a baby crying, before disappearing in an instant as a blur.

At this moment, Fire Cloud Evil God immediately went to check on Zhao Kuang's condition.

Suddenly, Zhao Kuang seemed to be rescued from drowning, and gasped for breath a few times.

Then, as if he had come to his senses, he hurriedly looked down at his chest and frantically touched it.

However, apart from getting his hands covered in an extremely foul-smelling slime, Zhao Kuang found that he seemed to be fine.

"What it is?"

Although he escaped unharmed, Zhao Kuang still couldn't hide his lingering fear and hurriedly took a few steps back, moving away from the stone chamber in front of him.

Fire Cloud Evil God frowned slightly, glanced at Zhao Kuang who was unharmed, and then subconsciously looked at Li Musheng behind him.

Li Musheng remained calm throughout, showing no reaction to what had just happened.

Fire Cloud Evil God's heart stirred, knowing that such a trivial matter did not require the person in front of him to take action.

He immediately turned his head, the firelight reflecting off his palm, and suddenly unleashed a Fiery Cloud Palm, the terrifying palm force instantly covering the entire large stone chamber.

Clearly, he was too lazy to investigate further and planned to annihilate all the demons and monsters in the stone chamber with a single blow.

However, when the Fire Cloud Evil God struck, it was as if he had triggered some mechanism, and the entire stone chamber suddenly trembled violently.

Almost simultaneously, hundreds and thousands of piercing baby cries rang out, their sharp sounds being ten or even a hundred times louder than the sounds made by the dark figure, almost piercing one's eardrums.

Illuminated by the crimson light of the Fiery Cloud Palm, Zhao Kuang and the others finally saw the entire stone chamber before them.

There was no path leading through the stone chamber, only a huge pool of blood, filled with a reddish-brown, viscous liquid, which appeared to be semi-dried up.
The walls surrounding the stone chamber are riddled with tiny holes, each about the size of a dog hole.

At this moment, shriveled heads covered in red hair emerged from the caves, and those heads screamed urgently at the Fire Cloud Evil God and others outside the stone chamber.

The piercing screams emitted by these things, though capable of shattering gold and splitting rocks, could not harm the Fire Cloud Evil God and his companions.

However, even though the people outside the stone chamber were well-traveled and knowledgeable, they were still stunned by what they saw.

"Are these... all real babies?"

Zhao Muning, standing next to Li Musheng, spoke up instinctively, a look of shock appearing in her eyes.

The Fire Cloud Evil God and Zhao Kuang were noticeably calmer, though their brows were furrowed. Before them lay a hairy infant, roughly one to three years old, in the stone chamber. Its skin was withered, its body contorted, and it emitted piercing screams; however, it did not appear to be alive.

Fire Cloud Evil God has killed countless people in the martial arts world, but most of those he killed were martial arts masters. He would never do something like attacking an infant who is powerless to even kill a chicken, and then turning him into a grotesque, inhuman creature.

He suddenly turned to look at Zhao Kuang beside him, a look of disgust and disdain flashing in his eyes, and said:
"I've seen it all today. I never imagined that the Great Xuan Imperial Palace was actually a den of demons."

An ordinary baby would naturally not have that kind of speed, nor could it emit attacking sonic waves.

Clearly, all of this is man-made, and such actions are undoubtedly demonic methods.

Faced with the words of the Fire Cloud Evil God, Zhao Kuang glanced at the caves in the stone chamber before him, remaining silent, but his expression clearly shifted.

"What happens here is none of my business."

Zhao Kuang turned to look at Li Musheng behind him and explained.

As soon as he finished speaking, the shriveled babies who had been sticking their heads out of the caves and screaming suddenly rushed out of the caves.

In the blink of an eye, they transformed into streaks of black afterimages, carrying with them a pungent, fishy stench, sweeping towards the group outside the stone chamber.

Upon seeing this, the Fiery Cloud Evil God's eyes flashed with a sinister light. He immediately thrust out a palm, and in an instant, the entire stone chamber was ablaze with flames and raging crimson waves.

He clearly had no intention of holding back on these things in front of him.

The black afterimages that rushed in collided with the Fiery Cloud Palm and were blocked inside the stone chamber. Then, they all exploded one after another, turning into clouds of brown blood mist.

"I've done this to help you find peace."

Fire Cloud Evil God stared at the scene before him and spoke expressionlessly.

Soon, everything came to a stop. The "infants" in the caves were all "saved" and turned into blood mist by the Fire Cloud Evil God's palm strike.

Fire Cloud Evil God only stopped when there was no further movement in the stone chamber.

"You demonic prince, what's next?"

The Fiery Cloud Evil God gave Zhao Kuang a cold look, while Zhao Kuang shook his head and said:
"I have already said that this matter has nothing to do with me; it must be the work of my father, the emperor."

"To be honest, I didn't know that such a thing existed in the palace, but without my father's permission, such demonic methods could never exist."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Muning looked at Zhao Kuang with a complex expression and said:

"How could my father, the emperor of a nation, be involved with the demonic path? Is there some other hidden reason behind this?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuang turned around and glanced back, then suddenly sneered and said:

"Seventh Princess, you've been away from the palace for a long time. How much do you really know about this palace? And how much do you really know about Father Emperor?"

As he spoke, a sharp glint appeared in Zhao Kuang's eyes, and he said:
“I remember my father once told me that as an emperor, anything that can be used for one’s own purposes, whether good or bad, can be used for one’s own purposes.”

"What are mere demonic methods compared to this? Aren't the affairs between the imperial court and the three major demonic sects well-known in the martial arts world?"

Zhao Mu Ning's face immediately turned extremely ugly. She was naturally aware of the entanglement between the Great Xuan Dynasty and the Demonic Path.

But the sight of those caves filled with countless babies was something she hadn't expected. It seemed that even the Great Xuan Imperial Palace had become a den of demons.

Moreover, it was so heinous and shocking.

Thinking of this, Zhao Muning subconsciously looked at Li Musheng beside her.

However, she did not see the slightest ripple on Li Musheng's face; he seemed utterly indifferent to everything before him.

"A martial arts master of your caliber, young master, must already regard ordinary people like us as ants, and not care about our lives?"

For some reason, Zhao Muning suddenly looked at Li Musheng and asked a question.

But as soon as she said it, she immediately regretted it.

All of this was happening in the Great Xuan Imperial Palace, and it was very likely related to her father, the Emperor.

Although her relationship with her father was distant, she was, after all, a member of the Great Xuan royal family, and blood was thicker than water.

From both a moral and logical standpoint, she had no right to ask Li Musheng such a question.

At this moment, Li Musheng glanced at Zhao Muning and said:
"Although there is no one in this world that I cannot kill so far, I actually do not like killing people."

As he spoke, Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said:

"However, you are right about one thing, young lady. In terms of martial arts strength, I really do see you as no different from an ant."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Muning was visibly taken aback, while Li Musheng continued:
"Don't worry, you're not like your father, I won't kill you."

Zhao Muning stared at Li Musheng, her eyes shifting, but she didn't say anything more, and it was unclear what she was thinking.
"It is highly likely that Father has already practiced demonic arts, and the fact that we have arrived here means that we are not far from where Father is in seclusion."

Zhao Kuang, who was in front, spoke to himself, ignoring Zhao Mu Ning, who seemed indecisive.

The fact that the group of dead infants could affect his state of mind so much must mean that the other party was a girl. If it were a prince, he would have just sneered at him.

Then, Zhao Kuang immediately began searching around, preparing to find the next passageway and get to the secluded place of the Great Xuan Emperor as soon as possible.

With the evidence that his father practiced demonic arts, Zhao Kuang had already figured out how to force the emperor to abdicate so that he could take the throne himself.

But after searching for a while, Zhao Kuang's gaze finally settled on the stone chamber.

"There don't seem to be any mechanisms outside. We still need to go inside to perhaps reach the next location."

Upon hearing this, the Fire Cloud Evil God frowned slightly, but still struck out with a palm, shattering the blood mist floating in the stone chamber.

But at that moment, the blood pool in the stone chamber suddenly parted on its own, revealing a dark staircase leading straight underground.

At the same time, a majestic and ancient voice slowly echoed from the depths of the earth:
"Is that Kuang'er? I think I just heard Kuang'er's voice."

Upon hearing the voice, Zhao Kuang instinctively tensed up and looked down the stairs.

"It's Father."

Zhao Muning immediately realized what was happening and abruptly turned to look at the underground of the stone chamber.

Seeing this, a look of joy immediately appeared in the eyes of the Fire Cloud Evil God. He then turned to look at Li Musheng and said:
"Young hero, perseverance pays off, we've finally found that scoundrel emperor."

However, as soon as Huo Yunxie finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked down at his hands.

(End of this chapter)