Chapter 509: The Hand That Can Create All Things

Watching the Captain's eyes light up, Xu Qing was just about to nod, but at that moment, a cold snort came from beside them.

"What good treasure? And since when did I become an old man?"

Xu Qing drew a breath, the Captain's expression also shifted, and both instinctively looked toward the place where this familiar voice had come from.

The void there twisted, and the figure of their Master appeared.

"This is the second lesson I am teaching you. Sometimes, what the eyes see is not necessarily the truth. In the future, you must always move a certain distance away before discussing matters."

The Seventh Master spoke calmly.

Xu Qing lowered his head and said nothing; the Captain wore a mournful face, as he had not expected that his Master, having clearly left, was actually hiding nearby.

"Enough, I remembered that Fourth's cultivation base is about to break through, so I came back to give a reminder."

"Fourth, breaking through from Core Formation to the Nascent Soul realm is not difficult for you, but in the process of cultivating the Heaven's Mandate Nascent Soul realm, you must summon the Heaven's Mandate Tribulation five times. Each time you experience it, you will become much stronger."

Xu Qing nodded; he had some understanding of this point previously.

Before Xu Qing could look closely, the small mouth within the severed hand suddenly opened and lunged at the Captain, who was closest, swallowing him in one gulp.

According to the plan, the Immortal Forbidden Land was to be excavated over several months, until it was eventually eroded on all sides, step by step pushing toward the Imperial Palace at the very center.

The Captain's breathing was rapid, his eyes glowing.

These four crystals were brought by that Blood Demon commander; they were not originally that small, but over these eight days, they had become increasingly astonishing.

This object was a severed hand, cut off from the forearm.

"Master... according to the palace intrigue novels I've read, those living in the Eastern Palace are usually the Empress Dowager, the Crown Prince, or the Princess..." "Didn't I fail to open the door last time?"

The human legion here opened a channel for evacuation; it was not mandatory, everything was voluntary.

"Besides, this is the East District. I haven't read much, so I'm not entirely sure, but I feel that the little sister living in the Eastern Palace shouldn't be simple!"

These seven-colored lights flowed along the fingers to the arm, gathering at the proliferating flesh ball, causing it to be filled with radiance, before flowing back to the seven fingers.

Xu Qing was lost in thought.

This peach suddenly shuddered, its luster dimming, and under the Captain's bite, it collapsed, turning into a puddle of white water that emitted a foul, rotting smell, filling the Captain's mouth.

In the entire small palace, there was only one object, placed right in the center.

The Captain licked his lips, madness appearing in his eyes.

Xu Qing's gaze also sharpened upon hearing this, but at that moment, the dry cough of the Vajra Sect Ancestor echoed in his mind.

"Female cultivators are all very fond of cleanliness and love to bathe. If this really is a harem palace, do you think there might be something like an immortal pool here? Might there also be items like clothing, jewelry, and the like...?"

Everything happened too fast; Xu Qing's expression changed, a dagger appeared in his right hand, and he slashed instantly toward the severed hand.

Xu Qing's expression was strange as he looked at the white water all over the floor, then at the palm, and finally, his gaze landed on the dejected Captain.

"Although compared to a sleeping god, it doesn't count for much, since you've come, you must at least get some good things for yourselves."

"There are more people exploring at this time; even if you get it, you won't be able to keep it. Furthermore, the palaces here are mostly rotting away; I'm afraid you won't be able to wait. Besides, little Ah Qing, based on my intuition, the treasure here is incredible!"

The Captain's expression changed, and he immediately began to retch, his face filled with disbelief and confusion.

A moment later, the seven fingers of the palm shone again, and seven-colored light ribbons flew out, weaving themselves, and soon a mirror appeared in mid-air.

Xu Qing nodded and spoke loudly.

However, after Xu Qing put on the mask, as long as he didn't move, he could maintain a high-intensity state of concealment, so in the perception of these seven statues, which only had instincts left, Xu Qing did not exist.

He did not know the final intended use of those four mountain-like crystals, but judging by the knowledge Xu Qing had expanded for him, this object might also be prepared for the frontline war.

This point was not much different from the statues encountered in the several palaces they had visited before, which further illustrated the ordinariness of this white square palace.

It was the figure of the Captain.

"Therefore, in this Immortal Forbidden Land, if you have good fortune, do not be in a hurry to summon the heavenly tribulation. I will tell you the specifics later."

"Little Ah Qing, you've been deceived!" The Captain gritted his teeth.

A strong sense of heart-palpitation rose continuously within Xu Qing's mind.

Fortunately, the concealment provided by the Seventh Master had a decent effect, allowing the seven of them to avoid it with pounding hearts.

"That's right, little Junior Brother, we should take this as our goal!" The Captain's face was radiant as he spoke while walking with Xu Qing.

After speaking, the seven of them left at high speed.

"This sturdiness has reached the level of Void Return!"

Xu Qing sensed it, his heart trembling. He took out the mask given by the Seventh Master, and while speeding away and absorbing energy, he silently calculated the time. It had not even been ten breaths before a sense of impending disaster descended from the sky.

His physical body decomposed in a bizarre manner, turning into thousands of tiny flesh strips the size of fingers, which drilled into the ventilation holes.

When the Captain's words were spoken, Xu Qing was staring at the area opened up by the human army in the distance.

"Captain, what is the situation?"

Compared to the entire Immortal Forbidden Land, this area was like a drop in the ocean, completely inconspicuous; even within the East District, it occupied less than one percent.

Heterogeneous energy was drawn in, merged within, and then dissipated.

Looking at the mirror now, Xu Qing reached out to grab it, and the mirror arrived, but the moment he touched it, it turned into white water and spilled all over the floor.

In these eight days, the first batch of hundreds of thousands of human cultivators had already opened up a safe area with a radius of a thousand miles.

The more the Captain spoke, the happier he became. He went up and kicked the severed hand, but still unsatisfied, he simply opened his small mouth and bit down hard.

Inside the small palace, the Captain's exclamation came from the mouths of those seven crystal worms, and then the seven crystal worms quickly merged together, turning into a small crystal figure.

At this moment of heart-palpitation, Xu Qing turned his head abruptly and saw a rapidly approaching small crystal figure, noticing the Captain's face beneath it.

And because a god slept here, it had never been broken or developed from ancient times to the present; it contained countless rare treasures, numerous ancient classics, and perhaps even some of the heritage of the former human race.

At the same time, on this night, the sky of the Immortal Forbidden Land appeared a strange pale red.

"Actually, after the Red Moon wakes up and the sleeping god here is devoured, it will be much simpler to enter. Must we go now?" Xu Qing looked at the Captain.

"Swindler, this time I've lost money!"

"Haha, this object will serve as a shield for us brothers, and Ning Yan will be the meteor hammer—perfect!"

Eight days had passed since the opening of the Immortal Forbidden Land.

It was the Dao Ancient Sealing Decree.

Xu Qing rushed out quickly, the suppressed absorption power in his body dispersing slightly, and immediately the heterogeneous energy around him rushed toward him, pouring into his body through every pore.

All of this, and Xu Qing, who was nearly seven hundred miles away from the human safe zone, did not see it.

Of course, the premise for all this was that there were no gods here.

But after all, they were not too far away; although they could not be seen with the naked eye, the signal towers built within the safe zone would occasionally transmit some announcements to their command swords within a certain range.

The rest of these, as the front end wriggled, transformed into the Captain's face, like human-faced worms, opening their mouths to bite continuously, attempting to break through the restriction.

It was a Blood Child Forbidden Magic Treasure.

With concealment fully active, after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a white square palace appeared in their sight.

Just like that, time passed, and in the subsequent exploration by the seven, the seventh day arrived.

Xu Qing also tried a few times, and it was the same.

Just like that, time passed quickly.

This feeling of extreme comfort was addictive, as if the soul were about to float away, and the constant comfort from the physical body made one instinctively not want to reject it.

At the same time, the statues in this white square palace all raised their heads; on their flesh-covered faces, their features were all distorted, and red light ignited in their eyes.

As for the four fingers of the severed hand, they were currently in an extended state, and one could see a ferocious small mouth within the palm, with countless sharp thorns visible.

These small holes were very strange; they were not wrapped in flesh and were clearly avoided.

Immediately following, several light ribbons scattered from those fingers, floating in mid-air and rapidly circling each other, outlining a heart shape.

Then the small crystal figure separated again, turning into seven worms that rushed toward the small holes above, crazily drilling outward from within, but by this time, eighty breaths had already passed.

"So hard!!"

This statue had actually come to life when the seven of them approached.

At this moment, the Captain and Xu Qing were standing a hundred miles outside this safe area, on the roof of a tall, small palace, resting.

To be precise, it was not absorption, but filtration.

However, after many experiments, the seven of them figured out another way to use this severed hand: after parasitizing inside, if one did not create items, it could be used as a shelter.

A full hundred feet in size.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, everything here returned to normal, and the seven statues returned, standing tall in the distance, motionless.

"However, outside the Nascent Soul realm, the increase in combat power is only incidental; the point is to rely on the heavenly tribulation to accumulate enough Heaven's Mandate, which will concern the future Spirit Treasury."

Thus, after many failed attempts, the seven of them were now resting on a relatively safe roof ten miles away from this palace.

The Seventh Master gave some instructions, glared at the Captain, and turned to disappear.

Xu Qing pondered, and seeing that the Captain was extremely persistent, he nodded.

"I hope the Captain can succeed."

"Should be gone, right?"

After this incident, the Captain sighed repeatedly; this feeling of seeing fat meat but being unable to take it made the Captain's eyes grow redder and redder.

Actually, I had tried with the Captain before, and discovered that if one moved while wearing the mask, it was fine at a distance, but at close range, these seven statues still could not clearly sense it.

"Little Senior Brother, you said that severed hand—could it be that it was placed in this small palace because, in the era of Master Sister Xuan You, it could really create all things?"

The Captain's eyes were blood-red as he gritted his teeth and spoke.

The next instant, a giant dog head manifested within this small palace, filled with endless greed, and lunged at the severed hand, swallowing it directly into its mouth.

As for what was inside this square palace, Xu Qing did not know, and the shadow could not approach here; Xu Qing had tried, but this palace blocked all probing.

But the face was not the Captain's, but rather an extra human-skin mask that revealed ferocity and greed.

Its degree of sturdiness was incredibly astonishing; after the seven of them explored it for a while, they finally reached a judgment.

Some left, some chose to stay and continue exploring, and on the night of this seventh day, the seventh batch of the human legion descended here.

Thus, the Ancient Emperor created this mirror, and at the same time discovered that his own life force was not being drained, as if this severed hand had already been damaged and lost its ability to absorb.

Light reappeared in the Captain's eyes; he finally felt a bit more balanced in his heart, feeling that this time was not a loss.

The truth was that this Immortal Forbidden land, formerly the eighty-eight palaces of Master Emperor Xuanyou, was simply too small.

The next instant, they moved simultaneously.

Seeing this scene, the Captain's eyes revealed anticipation, and at this moment, the severed hand's small mouth opened, and the Ancient Emperor's body was spat out; the moment he appeared, he immediately looked up at the mirror in mid-air.

Previously, seeing that the Captain had not returned, he knew an accident had occurred, so he gritted his teeth and attracted the statues again; although he hid in time, he had continuously drawn the statues, making them go mad and bombard the surroundings.

"So we must work harder, striving to be able to protect Xu Qing in the future!" the Ancient Emperor said solemnly.

And at the place agreed upon by the Ancient Emperor and the Captain, Bao Xin crouched there, covered in disarray, spitting blood, his heart still lingering in fear.

Seeing that the Captain was unharmed, the Ancient Emperor also breathed a sigh of relief.

And compared to these, the most astonishing thing was the four floating in the sky, each a full ten thousand

zhang in size, white crystals like mountains.

Under this bite, he let out a miserable scream; Bao Xin's eyes narrowed, and he gasped as he saw the scene of the Captain's teeth shattering and flying off.

The Captain's figure was swallowed up in an instant.

This was understandable; after all, every one of Master Emperor Xuanyou's palaces was actually a small world.

"How could it be like this? Damn it, this thing is a scam. It asked me what I wanted, and I said I wanted a peach that could nourish the spirit after eating it."

Bao Xin glanced at the Captain and deeply agreed.

"I see that yours are still relatively intact, the same as what we encountered before; some have also begun to dissipate and decay. Although covered in flesh and blood, the palaces look somewhat like phoenixes. Could it be a palace where one of Master Emperor Xuanyou's concubines once resided?"

Under the descent of the pressure, the restrictions of this white palace seemed to have been reduced somewhat.

"Little Ah Qing, it's too small here, and your intelligence is too sparse, but I feel there must be treasure in this palace; otherwise, it wouldn't be guarded by seven statues parasitized by flesh and blood."

It was slowly spreading.

The seven fingers of the severed hand, having been pushed to bend by the full strength of the Ancient Emperor and the Captain, and even lifted to smash against the ground, were finally bent into a shape of a hollow grip.

For example, the good thing the Captain mentioned earlier was actually a giant statue that had been invaded by the heterogenous matter of this place, dissipating until only its head remained.

Afterwards, along the way, they tossed and turned several times, advancing and retreating, until finally, they saw an ordinary palace, but were unable to enter.

Just like that, the two of them quickly left the roof and sped away.

Even if invaded by heterogenous matter, it was not without usable items.

"Xu Qing is too good to us. Little Ah Qing, I feel I have gained more enlightenment from this lesson."

"A supreme treasure! Little Ah Qing, come and eat!"

The Captain was still gritting his teeth, various thoughts spinning in his mind.

The Captain took another bite, incomparably certain.

"The material of this thing doesn't look like flesh and blood; it looks more like an artifact crafted by ordinary means. It's very suitable as a shield."

"There are also some ornaments, especially in places where female cultivators lived; these little things must be numerous. I see that the Youjing is one; these are all treasures."

It looked like a giant magic array.

The Ancient Emperor hesitated and did not move.

Previously, after being swallowed, he appeared in a blood-colored space, and a fierce voice reached his ears, telling him he could use life force to create all things.

One could see a small team entering and exiting from time to time; these were teams like the Ancient Emperor and the Captain who had taken on scouting missions.

As the Heavenly Dog's throat continuously writhed, a large amount of saliva dripped down, and a hundred-zhang severed hand was spat out directly, falling to the ground.

This time, the Captain did not try to open the door, but instead approached and headed straight for the top of the small palace. Once there, he did not hesitate at all, his eyes filled with madness, and his body shook violently.

He did not hesitate at all, violently opening his small mouth and unfolding the Heavenly Dog immortal technique.

Incomparably dangerous, a life-and-death situation.

"Little Junior Brother, look here. I didn't pay much attention before, but I just discovered that there is actually such a place here."

While the Ancient Emperor murmured in his heart, the Captain was speeding frantically. Taking advantage of the statues being lured away, he moved with astonishing speed, heading straight for the white small palace.

"This time is different. I have a way. At worst, I'll risk it once!"

Those whose will is not hesitant can easily immerse themselves within it in an instant, ignoring everything.

Looking at the flesh-and-blood statues standing at the four corners of the palace, and feeling the terrifying fluctuations emanating from them, the Ancient Emperor and the Captain both breathed much lighter. After looking at each other, they split up to act.

The Ancient Emperor's mind recalled the ordinary palace the Captain was fixated on. At its four corners, there was a statue parasitized by flesh and blood; they were all alive, and only a small portion had dissipated, with most of their bodies still existing.

The Ancient Emperor remembered that on the roof, there were countless ventilation holes the size of fingers.

"What is inside?"

"And according to Master's experience, during every heavenly tribulation, if multiple Nascent Souls are unfolded together,"

"although the power of the heavenly tribulation will be incomparably great, once successful, the Heavenly Mandate obtained is extremely abundant."

"Of course, the few palaces we've seen these past few days that had no guards were trash. One statue is fine, but seven statues guarding it—this is the only one!"

"I don't know what it is either, but I feel it's a little treasure." The Captain panted, took out the human-skin mask with a proud expression, put it on his face, transformed into a greedy Heavenly Dog, and spat outward.

It floated in mid-air, like four white holes, absorbing heterogenous matter.

As the Captain spoke, he immediately approached the severed hand. Having been swallowed many times and trying again and again, the items produced were varied, even including mundane objects, but none could be truly used; they all turned into white water.

There was even a Heavenly Dao warning, strongly transmitted within his sea of consciousness.

The surroundings were vast and empty.

Although the edges were shrouded in heterogenous matter, constantly invading, and the shield could not last too long, it was still possible for a short time.

A dim yellow light emanated from it, causing the bodies of these eighty-plus human-faced worms to change structure, appearing with a crystal luster. While they were still collapsing by a small half, seven of them successfully drilled in.

"You are still fixated on this small palace?"

Besides this, the items in the palaces within a thousand miles had been moved away, and their exteriors had been modified, turning them into part of an array.

Through the light shield, one could see many buildings constructed inside, with a somewhat strange appearance, octagonal in shape, entirely made of spirit stones, like tall towers, emanating waves of astonishing fluctuations while having invisible connections to each other.

"We can never repay Xu Qing's love in this lifetime."

The Ancient Emperor turned his head to look; this was a group of palaces surrounded by flesh-and-blood city walls.

Bao Xin asked a question; in fact, they had used this method before. The Ancient Emperor took a huge risk here, but the Captain was not effective and could not open the door.

But his invincible dagger had no effect this time. Not only could it not cut open the hand, but the counter-shock force emanating from it made the Ancient Emperor's body tremble, forcing him to retreat.

"Go, go, go, let's go to the place you mentioned before; there must be good things there!"

The Captain's eyes also widened as he looked at the severed hand; there was only a tooth mark on it, and the skin wasn't even broken.

In eight days, they had searched many places outside and had some gains. At the same time, they saw many palaces in the midst of dissipating, seemingly because the closed environment here had been broken.

Before the Ancient Emperor could ask, the Captain's body shook and he grew rapidly, soon returning to normal size, but his face was pale, his whole person was listless, and he lay directly on the ground, panting, yet his eyes were filled with excitement.

The seven statues, having failed to find the Ancient Emperor, returned shortly after.

The Captain crouched to the side, nodded upon hearing this, then pointed forward and spoke in a low voice.

In this way, covering their bodies gave the Ancient Emperor and the Captain a sense of security.

Especially since the current Eastern Wanggu Continent does not have a very deep study of heterogenous matter, though it does possess some methods to dispel it, such as various techniques for dispelling the heterogenous matter of forbidden magic treasures.

Those ventilation holes were obviously not that simple; they contained terrifying restriction power. Under an instantaneous eruption, a large amount of flesh strips collapsed directly.

"This old man is elusive!" The Captain smiled bitterly, then spoke in a low voice.

The more the Captain crawled, the more difficult it became. Finally, he was stuck in the restriction inside the small hole, unable to move up or down, and as the restriction erupted, the power of destruction shrouded him, and he became anxious.

"After this thing swallowed me, there was a voice inside asking me what I wanted to make, saying it could use life force to create all things. After I said it, it made this pile of trash."

"It must be that too much time has passed and it has been severely invaded, so it broke. However, if that's really the case, this thing is indeed a supreme treasure. No, I have to try again."

"Little Ah Qing, my plan is very simple. Later we will go again, just like last time. You absorb the heterogenous matter in the surroundings here to attract the statues' attention, and after the seven statues leave, I will go in and get the things!"

The Ancient Emperor was thoughtful; these contents were things he had not known before.

of.

But the restrictions here were too strong. Soon, four-tenths of the Captain's flesh strips collapsed again. Until fewer than eighty remained, each worm spat out a broken token filled with an ancient aura.

Encountering bad luck.

"Let's go, Little Junior Brother, we'll use this hand as a shield and go look elsewhere."

And at the severed position, it was as if flesh and blood had proliferated, piling up into a giant tumor, with countless tentacles swaying in the surroundings.

The Ancient Emperor also felt that using this object as a shield, combined with their concealment, was very suitable for this place.

After falling through the small hole of the small palace, they saw everything here.

"Little Senior Brother, we must be quick. I have a feeling... it is about to wake up. It should be the time period when the eighth batch of arrivals comes in eight days." The Ancient Emperor crouched inside the severed hand and spoke solemnly.

At this moment, while he was deep in thought, the Captain blinked, pulled the Ancient Emperor to leave quickly, and only breathed a sigh of relief after going quite far.

"Almost..." The Ancient Emperor looked around.

The Ancient Emperor frowned, and the Captain sighed.

"To be able to shatter my teeth, this thing is not simple. Could it be that I used it wrong? Little Ah Qing, you go try."

Bao Xin withdrew his gaze from the distant heaven and earth and turned to look at the Captain.

This seventh batch of arrivals was led by the Imperial Capital army, and within it were more white-robed people. After arriving, they quickly dispersed and went deep into the unknown areas of the Immortal Forbidden.

At this moment, as he absorbed, the golden threads in his body were trembling, emanating a strong desire, constantly stretching, and the Ancient Emperor even felt his body seemed to have grown a little.

The next instant, a roar echoed, and seven terrifying fluctuations spread out in this place, as if searching by instinct.

As the life-and-death crisis erupted strongly at this moment, the Ancient Emperor did not hesitate, immediately put on the mask given by Xu Qing, and drilled into the flesh-and-blood-paved ground, not moving at all.

After the Captain climbed up, he looked at the peach floating in mid-air, his expression excited to the extreme. After letting out an exclamation, he rushed forward and took a bite of the peach.

As for the palaces they guarded, the shape was also the same; it was not the appearance of an ordinary palace, but square.

The Captain thought for a moment and nodded.

His eyes were firm, and he immediately unfolded the poison Dao within his body, about to invade the severed hand, but just at this moment, the five fingers of the severed hand suddenly flashed with different colored lights, and as they circulated among each other, a clicking sound echoed from within.

Gu Huang seemed thoughtful; he walked down to take a look, then raised his hand and pressed it against the small opening in the center of the severed hand's palm. The next instant, the small opening widened, and a massive suction force erupted. Gu Huang did not dodge; he let the suction envelop him and was swallowed inside.

Although Gu Huang tried to hide, he was still affected.

"Is it absorbing the divine essence drifting within the foreign substances?"

The fluctuations radiating from within were truly astonishing.

"Fortunately, I have the Consecration Decree, otherwise I would have been finished this time, but... it was worth it."

The seven crystal worms finally crawled out completely, converging into a small figure, and sped away into the distance.

Whether in appearance or aura, it was incredibly realistic.

It did not end there; the seven ribbons of light seemed to be weaving, and to Gu Huang's utter astonishment, in just a short while, a seven-colored peach actually appeared before him.

Gu Huang's eyes narrowed.

And so, very quickly, within the mist of this Immortal Forbidden Land, one could see a hundred-foot severed hand moving rapidly across the ground.

His face tightened; all traces of him were covered up.

"I have that same feeling."

The foreign substances in this area had been driven away, isolated by a dome formed by an array. Looking out, amidst the dim world, a single brilliant light shone in the distance.

Therefore, the Imperial Capital naturally placed great importance on this Immortal Forbidden Land, and it could not be fully opened up in a short period of time.

As this process repeated, some golden threads faintly began to form within the white crystals.

"What is this thing!"

Gu Huang also had to use great willpower to maintain his composure.

"Forget about that; what does it have to do with us? Little Ah Qing, I have an idea!" The Captain sat up abruptly, grabbed Gu Huang, and spoke loudly.

Immediately following, the light on the finger dissipated, the small opening in the palm opened to spit outward, and the Captain's body was ejected.

"No problem!" The Captain was invigorated and pulled Xu Qing to hurry over. Gu Huang took a deep breath and decided not to rest anymore; he was also very curious about what existed inside this ordinary palace.

The Captain licked his lips.

Until several hours had passed, they looked at each other.

But just at this moment, a fluctuation of absorbing foreign substances suddenly came from nearby again. These seven statues shook violently and flew back rapidly. Amidst the echoing booms, the Captain seized the opportunity to make a sudden dash.

"Eighty breaths at most."

At this moment, as the command sword vibrated, Gu Huang and the Captain learned of the arrival of the seventh batch of arrivals, and also knew that eight days later, an eighth batch of arrivals would descend.