Chapter 2544

He Lingchuan looked up and saw that Wang Guan's figure had indeed appeared on the forest path, heading uphill in a hurry.

"He's walking fast, which means he still has a task to complete; after finishing it, he'll have to go out again." He Lingchuan could tell at a glance, "We need to take him down now, or we'll have to wait a long time again."

But the overseer in the terraced fields was still watching everyone work; if they suddenly disappeared, it would inevitably alarm others.

What should we do?

Not far away, three mechanical puppets were digging furiously. He Lingchuan glanced at them and said to the Blood Demon, "Make them stop working."

"No problem." The Blood Demon turned into a wisp of red smoke and floated halfway up the slope, "Three big, dumb oafs!"

It is not an independent life form; probably judged by the small world's laws as a magical artifact, so it is unaffected by gravity and can move freely.

This huge construction site is filled with flying dust, which is its best cover.

After entering the Spirit Essence Palace, He Lingchuan did not feel any prickling on his back or the sensation of being spied on. With his current spiritual sense, he could basically determine that the Spirit Essence Palace was not like Yujing City, constantly monitored by an omniscient ruler.

Among the three puppets, the two digging slowed down more and more, and after a few breaths they stopped one after another, remaining motionless thereafter.

The reason not all three were destroyed was that the Blood Demon did not want the accident to look man-made.

Was it because the profound crystals were exhausted? A few overseers went to the half-slope storehouse on their own to fetch profound crystals and load them, but the puppets still did not move.

"Damn toy, broken again!" The overseer kicked them in anger.

But this ground was so hard that only the mechanical puppets could dig it; manual excavation was so inefficient it was infuriating. The baton-wielding overseer glanced at the laborers slumped on the ground, gasping for air, and said impatiently:

"Forget it, let's stop here for today. Find someone to come repair the puppets. We'll start early tomorrow."

Mortal strength is weak; even if they kept working, they couldn't last an hour, and the puppets were broken anyway—better to knock off early.

Finally, the copper gong sounded on the slope, signaling the end of work.

The laborers cheered weakly, but most remained seated, motionless, recovering their strength. Most here had already worked continuously for thirteen hours; if they didn't rest now, they would work themselves to death. The overseer then swung his whip, driving the laborers back to the houses in the half-slope, and himself headed without looking back toward the low buildings in the half-slope.

He also needed to hurry and catch up on sleep.

There were no beds in the house; everyone slept on the ground, clearly visible to each other. However, the laborers were so exhausted they collapsed as soon as they lay down, and snoring soon rose and fell around them.

Nobody paid attention to the fact that this group was mysteriously missing two people. He Lingchuan and Xiao An were newcomers, so no one noticed them.

At this moment, they once again sneaked into the small grove below the slope and waited there in silence.

Wang Guan did not disappoint them; he appeared on the path about two quarters of an hour later.

He walked with his head down, burdened with worries, when suddenly someone leapt out from the side and startled him.

Then came a fawning voice: "Wang Guan!"

Wang Guan focused his eyes and saw, "Isn't this the whip-wielding overseer from just now?"

He said impatiently, "Why are you sneaking around here? Why did the terraced fields stop work?"

"The digging puppets broke down and are being urgently reported for repair." The whip-wielding overseer leaned in and said, "I have a request."

After speaking, he produced a large chunk of profound crystal from his sleeve, flashing a faint red light.

Nothing shines more alluring than profound crystal; Wang Guan's eyes were drawn to it, and he didn't notice the man getting too close: "What is it?"

"Trouble Wang Guan to reassign my post." The whip-wielding overseer pushed the profound crystal forward, "Transfer me to an existing terraced field. This work is too deadly to do."

That's not too difficult. Wang Guan picked up the profound crystal: "This... well, it's not impossible..."

Before he could finish thinking of what to say after "but," the whip-wielding overseer flipped his hand and suddenly grabbed his arm.

The move was so fast that Wang Guan didn't even react before his vision went black.

He himself had cultivation, but since the Great Emperor of the Nine Abyss acted personally, he had no chance at all.

"No one around, no one nearby." The Blood Demon was keeping watch for them.

Wang Guan unconscious, He Lingchuan and Xiao An hurriedly searched him.

Not searching, one wouldn't know; but upon searching, they were startled—this man really had a lot of possessions: profound crystals, magical artifacts, jewelry... and even several women's hairpins and ornaments.

Xiao An took a liking to one hairpin and happily pocketed it.

He Lingchuan also found a toy and a book.

The Nine Linked Rings, and the Book of Ancient Knowledge.

Earlier, Wang Guan had ordered the convoy leader to obtain these two items, saying the Spirit Essence Palace urgently needed them. It seems the convoy leader's efficiency was still good—he managed to deliver them in such a short time. Only Wang Guan hadn't yet had a chance to take them into the Lotus Valley when the two intercepted him.

Afterward, they finally found that seal.

Don't look at this small thing—only as long as a fingertip—but it actually contains profound secrets. Its craftsmanship is extremely fine; twisting the tail can produce different runes.

He Lingchuan counted them; it can print several kinds of runes.

Could it correspond to the various small worlds? If we imprint them on our hands, we might be able to pass freely through all the small worlds?

He Lingchuan then shoved Wang Guan into the Lotus Garden: "Interrogate him, find out the seal's use and information about other small worlds."

This Lotus Garden treasure is truly becoming more and more useful the more it's used; He Lingchuan discovered it can not only smuggle people but also imprison captives taken in battle.

Previously, after capturing a prisoner and questioning him, the person was troublesome to handle unless killed and thrown into a storage ring.

Now it's fine—we have the Lotus Garden to hold them, and Zhu Xiuer and Dong Rui inside can help extract information without delaying his actions.

"Leave it to me." The Spider Empress readily agreed, "Just wait a moment."

Ling Jinbao, however, volunteered: "Since he's still unconscious, let me do it. A person half-asleep, half-awake is least likely to lie."

"Fine, you do it." Zhu Xiuer didn't object, "It'll also save time."

This questioning actually took quite a while.

Fortunately, there were few people on this road, so He Lingchuan and the other used the Mirage Horn to conceal their forms.

Ling Jinbao could then take advantage of the person's drowsy state to extract the truth.

Although everyone had been mentally prepared, the content of Wang Guan's confession still made the crowd listen with growing dread.

It turned out that the secret base the Heavenly Palace built in Smoke Mist Bay consisted of four parts, namely four small worlds.

The outermost was Yingkou Town, a place for exchanging internal and external supplies, serving as both a warehouse and residence for outsiders like the Night Demons.

The other three small worlds were collectively called the Spirit Essence Palace, accessible only through the Cloud Terrace.

This small world where the many terraced fields are located is called "Million Mountains," a realm of mountains. The number of peaks isn't as exaggerated as a million, but there are still two or three hundred of them.

As for what exactly the sea waterwheels in the terraced fields are, Steward Wang doesn't fully understand either; he only knows they are the most important experimental subjects of the Spirit Repository Palace, and no mishaps are allowed regarding them.