People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Compared to the shouts and battle cries emanating from around the walls of Snowcloth Fortress, the main hall was eerily quiet and deserted.

The silence was eerily quiet.

Chapter 323 Kneading and Whipping the Marquis

The palaces of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods lacked the exquisite beauty of later dynasties; their only prominent feature was their size.

From the outside, this unnamed palace stretches for over forty zhang (approximately 33 meters) from east to west, with flying eaves and bracket sets, exuding a magnificent aura.

The surrounding towering pillars were all painted a clean white, and there were also dragon and phoenix patterns on the pillars.

Cao Ze and Jing Ni stepped into the eerily silent hall, both becoming alert.

For an old noble family like the Bai family, having numerous servants is almost commonplace, so it's impossible that they couldn't afford to employ people.

"There seems to be no one here," Jing Ni said uncertainly after sensing for a long time.

Cao Ze nodded slightly. Although it was strange that no one was in the hall, he did not think that there was any old monster hiding inside. Jing Ni was already a Grandmaster, and anyone who could hide from her must be at least a Grandmaster.

Two grandmasters from one family—that's rather unbelievable.

Cao Ze and Jing Ni walked slowly through the hall to avoid stepping into any traps.

Inside the palace, which was over three zhang high and supported by thirty-six giant pillars, Cao Ze and Jing Ni looked like two ants.

The quiet hall was not dark. On both sides of the hall were lamp stands that were more than ten feet long. At a glance, they looked like a tree of fire and silver flowers, with stars shining. The light was reflected on the pearls and agates on the ceiling, and the hall was brightly lit.

How corrupt... Cao Ze witnessed everything in the main hall. At this time, this one hall alone would have cost tens of thousands of gold coins to build.

It is likely that only an old noble family like the Bai family, after hundreds of years of development, could have created such a thing.

Compared to this, even the Han royal palace seemed rather shabby.

"There's nothing here?" Cao Ze and Jing Ni walked to the end of the hall and looked around. Apart from the usual furnishings and utensils, there was nothing special. It seemed to be just a luxurious hall.

Jingni frowned and remained silent, tapping and banging around.

Cao Ze stood on a display shelf filled with rare and precious antiques, swinging back and forth.

He had seen many secret rooms, all of which contained mechanisms. For example, the secret room in Liu Yi's mansion was opened and closed by swinging a scroll.

Just as Cao Ze mistakenly thought the switch wasn't on the shelf, he suddenly touched a delicate three-legged bronze cauldron, which he couldn't lift no matter what he did.

Cao Ze's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't expected the mechanism to actually be here.

He tried turning it around and around, and suddenly a section of the floor behind the shelf opened up, letting out a chilling aura.

Jingni arrived in the blink of an eye upon hearing the commotion. The two exchanged a glance and went down the underground stairs together.

Upon reaching the bottom, a passageway paved with bluestone came into Cao Ze's view.

At the same time, the cold air became even more biting.

This reminded Cao Ze of the icy cave beneath Bai Yifei's mansion that Lin'er had mentioned to him.

It's true what they say, birds of a feather flock together.

Cao Ze and Jing Ni stepped into the passageway, where bronze oil lamps on both sides were already lit, illuminating the entire passageway.

He calculated the time. Although the Marquis's strength was comparable to that of a middle-aged man, with Nightfall Sands and Baiyue's top experts all out, the difference in strength between the two sides was not that great. At least, the outcome would not be decided within an incense stick's time.

"We need to hurry."

After he finished speaking, black Yin Five Thunder appeared around Cao Ze and spread forward.

Jing Ni and Cao Ze moved forward quickly until they reached the end, but there were still no traps or mechanisms.

What came into view was an extremely cold room.

Inside, there was a screen inlaid with gold and jade, and curtains hung on the four walls. In front of the couch, two bronze incense burners, each half a meter tall, were burning on their own.

Cao Ze glanced at the window, slightly surprised that he could see the night sky.

He walked forward and saw a deep, bottomless cliff, a lake reflecting the moonlight in the distance, and a marquis fighting a great battle with the crowd.

"I see……"

Cao Ze muttered to himself, when suddenly a gust of wind swept past him.

Before Cao Ze could turn around to block, the sharp sword light shattered the ice puppet behind him.

Cao Ze looked at the half-person-high ice puppet at his feet, which seemed to be a combination of mechanical arts and ice.

Before he could investigate further, a mechanism door opened in the air above the room, and more than a dozen ice balls fell to the ground, transforming into ice puppets more than half the height of a person in a few breaths.

These ice puppets seem to be modeled after young girls, naked and each one is delicate and charming.

Unfortunately, it lacks bright eyes, white teeth, and red lips, making it appear stiff and unnatural; at best, it can only be kept as a collectible figurine.

Cao Ze and Jing Ni attacked together, and in just a dozen breaths, they shattered all the ice puppet girls.

"Anything else you've discovered?" Cao Ze picked up a leather scroll from the three-foot-wide jade bed and casually asked Jing Ni.

Jingni squatted on the ground, picking up unusual jade-like objects from the broken ice puppets.

"There is a bit of Frost Marrow Jade inside these ice puppets."

Cao Ze had already opened the animal skin scroll, which was covered with unknown runes. They were very similar to those on the "Azure Dragon" and "Seven Mansions" scrolls he had obtained, but they were clearly different and should be runes of a different form.

"Frosty Marrow Jade? What's it used for?" Cao Ze put the scroll away and looked at the jade stone, about the size of a glass bead, in Jing Nisu's hand.

"It is of great benefit to those who cultivate ice-attribute techniques. Even if it cannot be used for cultivation, wearing this jade can calm the mind and weaken inner demons, which is of great benefit to breakthroughs."

Cao Ze was surprised.

It's important to understand that once you reach the first-rate level, you'll face the problem of inner demons if you want to break through to the Grandmaster level.

Everyone encounters inner demons to some extent; some are ego-attachment, and some are desires, only differing in degree.

Generally speaking, the stronger one is, the stronger one's inner demons become. Only by overcoming these inner demons can one control one's own power, rather than becoming a slave to it.

Therefore, anything that can weaken inner demons is a treasure.

As if he had thought of something, Cao Ze suddenly looked at the hole where the ice puppet had fallen from the roof.

He leaped up in one bound.

The cavern was incredibly cold. When Cao Ze saw the ice layer inside, which was of unknown thickness, he immediately understood that the Marquis had frozen herself in this place for over a decade. Not only had her injuries been fully healed, but her strength had also advanced further, reaching the peak of the Grandmaster realm.

Without a doubt, this must be the place where the Frost Marrow Jade was formed. The remaining scraps were turned into ice puppets by the Marquis.

"What a waste..." Cao Ze muttered, then jumped down from the ice cave.

Just as he was about to tell Jingni to leave, Jingni said with a serious expression, "She's coming."

"Who?" Cao Ze realized what was happening and looked out the window.

A white figure suddenly appeared and rushed towards them at incredible speed, followed by Wei Zhuangtianze and a group of others.

Cao Ze said speechlessly, "You could even detect that?"

The Marquis looked sharply at Cao Ze at the window; the cliff, tens of feet high, seemed like flat ground to her.

Cao Ze paused for a moment, then said, "Jing Ni, you should go into hiding for now."

Seeing no response, he turned his head and saw that Jingni had already disappeared.

She truly is a good wife; she understands him so well and has learned to anticipate his moves.

"You little thief, don't you dare run away!"

The Marquis let out a long cry that shook the surrounding area.

Cao Ze jumped out of the window and landed directly on the cliff edge more than ten feet away.

This action was witnessed by Ji Wuye and the others.

Ji Wuye was filled with doubt and uncertainty. He knew that Cao Ze was skilled in martial arts, but he did not know the specifics of his strength, assuming that he was at most a third-rate fighter.

But judging from his skills just now, he is no weaker than Mo Ya and Bai Feng.

Facing the beautiful but cold-faced Marquis alone, Cao Ze felt immense pressure.

In other words, he is now the Xiao Yan'er of later years, facing the lonely and snow-like wooden sword Gai Nie alone.

Except for the absence of Uncle Wei Er's wicked smile and the phrase "That's brilliant!", everything else was terrifying.

The Marquis narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly. "You took the scroll?"

Cao Ze tried to stall for time, asking, "What is Your Excellency talking about?"

The Marquis snorted coldly: "I despise traitors more than anything in my life. You have some nerve, daring to steal my valuables while afflicted with a blood curse!"

Cao Ze asked suspiciously, "Is that scroll very important?"

A dozen thick ice spears appeared around the Marquis. "It is indeed very important to me, but you will never know about it. Die!"

Cao Ze had no choice but to go all out, his golden light concealed to protect his body and internal organs, while black lightning swirled around him.

Hidden beneath the cliff face, Jing Ni gripped her longsword tightly. If Cao Ze couldn't hold on any longer, she would intervene even if it meant being exposed.

The Marquis sneered, "I thought you were something special. You're not even a half-step Grandmaster, yet you dare to show off in front of me."

Cao Ze used lightning magic to activate his entire body, dodging one ice spear after another, and said in a calm tone.

"Bai Luan, you think you're so strong? Even the dignified Grandmaster of the Yin-Yang School, Donghuang Taiyi, who is the sect leader, was surrounded and seriously injured by the disciples of the Mohist School. You're just a Grandmaster, yet you dare to spout such nonsense?"

The Marquis frowned slightly, not expecting Cao Ze to suddenly become as swift as lightning, unpredictable and elusive, his speed in a small area not much slower than hers.

"As one of the most prominent schools of thought in the world, the Mohists have a rigid and unconventional formation. If Donghuang Taiyi were trapped, it would not be surprising if he were seriously injured or killed."

The Marquis paused for a moment and said, "I consider your strength to be considerable. If you can return the scroll and help me eliminate the enemies behind me, I can forgive and forget your past actions and even help you remove the blood curse."

Cao Ze couldn't help but smile: "Is the Marquis afraid?"

The fact that a usually assertive marquis would say she would forgive past transgressions clearly indicates something is amiss.

Cao Ze exposed her thoughts, and the Marquis's pretty face turned cold: "Bai Yifei asked you to do this, didn't he? Only he could know my secret room in the palace."

Cao Ze paused slightly, then smiled and said, "Since you've been discovered, I won't hide it from you, Marquis. It was indeed the young Marquis who ordered me to do all this. He also said that you, Marquis, are cold-hearted, have no family ties, and only have interests in your eyes. He said that scheming against you was not his choice, and that you can't blame him for anything."

Surprisingly, the Marquis did not refute Cao Ze. "He certainly sees things clearly. However, the Bai family is still under my control. Bai Yifei either obeys and becomes my dog, or... Hmph!"

Cao Ze couldn't help but say, "He's your son, you know."

He was just trying to smear the Marquis and make her lose her composure, but he never expected that the Marquis would actually be that kind of person.