Chapter 1720. Exploration and Discoveries.

The other groups, like the Divines, were all suffering from the traps within. Only Yasenia's group walked around the massive palace in wonder.

"This place is gigantic."

Hearing a junior's exclamation, some of the seniors chuckled. "Our Emperor's place is grander, but this one doesn't fall back at all. There are space-expanding formations inside, which is surprising."

Zhuo Lianyu nodded, stroking his beard. "Indeed. They are good quality ones at that. Only… What are the materials for these formations?"

Yasenia was also wondering about that. Formation Ink, Formation Cores, and their supplementary materials were all part of large formations like these, and you could often sense their essence.

Tatyana noticed the curiosity in Yasenia's eyes and smiled. "Do you want to know, Little Treasure?"

Yasenia blinked her golden, dragon eyes and nodded. "Yeah."

Tatyana answered with a smile. "Corpses."

Everyone stiffened for a moment, looking at Tatyana with wide eyes. Tatyana glanced around and pointed at certain decorations. "Those… are not statues. They are people refined into Formation Flags. You can also see those small bodies around the tables. Spread your Spiritual Sense inside, and you'll see their skeletal structure."

The faces of many who were in awe of the grandeur suddenly scrunch up. Xinlin's eyebrows furrowed. "This… Can't we destroy this place?"

"No." Tatyana shook her head. "Our pendants are to avoid detection, not retaliation. If we attack the formation, we will be in trouble."

Cecile, who had been silent, asked lightly. "Is this part of the [Evil Heart Cult] remains?"

Yasenia chuckled. "It's [Evil Source Sect], love. Evil Heart is their trump card."

Cecile blinked and nodded. Her words, though, caused quite a stir. Jian Xinlin asked, startled. "What do you mean, Madam Cecile? The [Evil Source Sect] was defeated a long time ago."

Xinlin didn't participate since it happened quite a long time ago, but it wasn't true for everyone here. Old Man Zhuo Lianyu had, in fact, taken part back then. His relaxed mood tightened up, his eyes turning sharp. "May I ask for the details as well, Madam Dravory?"

Yasenia didn't hide it. "We encountered an Evil Heart in our nest a while ago and almost defeated it. Sadly, it managed to escape. We didn't know exactly what it was, and without Shang Qinqin, we might've been in trouble. Thankfully, we had ample preparation. So, we are guessing that they are about to make a comeback."

"Ridiculous!"

Someone shouted, and they turned to look, only to see an elegant woman glaring at Yasenia. "Do you know what you are talking about, girl? I can accept you acting somewhat arrogant after what you've shown. But you dare to say such dangerous things, and worse, you call it a guess? I might as well guess that tomorrow the skies will fall and tell people to be careful about it!"

Yasenia knew her family, but it wasn't particularly high-ranking. If Yasenia had to place her somewhere, it would be slightly above her own, but far below Xinlin and the others.

Therefore, she answered herself instead of letting Xinlin take the lead. "Madam, I've spoken with the Emperor himself. I wouldn't dare speak as I have without His Majesty's consent."

The Madam looked slightly flustered, but she insisted. "Even then, you should be careful with your words, Madam Dravory. Spreading such information will only cause chaos."

Yasenia didn't argue. "I will keep it in mind. Still, this place is worth the warning. A formation created from corpse refining and living sacrifice is something that we can't ignore."

Jian Xinlin backed her up. "Madam Yasenia's words are correct. Let's focus on our surroundings."

Tatyana nodded. "That would be for the best. What we have is a pendant that avoids the auto-defense formations. Not the ones that need codes and specific patterns."

Everyone nodded, and then Xinlin spoke. "Alright. You can all spread out and look around by yourselves. If we are gathered together, it will only lead to trouble."

Jian Xinlin patted Yasenia's side and asked. "You'll be okay alone?"

Yasenia nodded and lowered her head to look at her. "Yes. Thank you. I hope we can meet outside often."

Xinlin chuckled and rubbed Yasenia between her eyes. "Good." Her face turned serious, and she waved her long sleeves. "Let's move."

Everyone flew in different directions. This palace was truly massive, so a few thousand people scattered quickly behind corners and doors. Yasenia's group waited for a bit, and when everyone else left, Angel spoke up. "I don't like that woman."

Yasenia's pupils thinned for a second. Angel was rarely vocal about who she disliked unless Yasenia asked. For her to speak up without any input about another individual…

Looking at the girl riding her back, Yasenia whispered gently. "Did you feel something odd, Baby?"

Angel leaned her face against Yasenia's dragon neck and hummed. "Many lies. Her words hidden truths. Her aura felt too frantic when you mentioned the Evil Heart."

Yasenia hummed with a cold smile. After giving her baby a long lick on the cheek, she spoke to Anna. "Tell the spy maids to keep an eye on her Raon Family. Be careful, though. If they are involved, they might have someone powerful guarding them."

Evelyn asked. "Should we warn Sect Master Jian?"

"No need to." Yasenia shook her head. "While she was a bit arrogant, what she said had some sense. If I threw my suspicion on them and found nothing, my credibility would plummet to a point that it's hard to recover. Without definitive proof, we just keep an eye on them. Stay away from all businesses linked to them as well."

The girls understood her logic and nodded. They were, by no means, invincible in their current environment. So, they had to tread carefully. Involving themselves in this mess headfirst was the fastest way to be decapitated.

Their surroundings were grand even when walking inside. Golden galls, reddish accents, white walls, furniture with complex and intricate shapes, formation lines created through brickwork, massive columns supporting the incredibly massive structure…

As a human, this place made you feel as if you had shrunk to an ant's size and were thrown into a palace. If the furniture on the ground hadn't been human-sized, they would've believed it was a palace for giants.

As they turned a corner, they noticed twenty massive statues holding swords and shields flanking the corridor. The girls raised their eyebrows. "Hm… They are similar to the ones from the Death Dunes Empire. Are they also alive?"

Tatyana took out her formation pen and began painting in front of her. The elegant pen looked as if it were writing into reality itself, its tip sinking into the space before it. As her hand moved like flowing water and tapped the middle, a pulse of energy spread out.

"This is a slightly stronger version of the formation Angel used." Her lips arched faintly. "Let's see your guts, shall we?"

Their surroundings were immediately illuminated, and the walls and everything else that was part of the profound formation sprang out, projecting into the empty space.

The girls looked at the twenty giant statues and chuckled. "As they say, experience is king. They are indeed connected."

The twenty soldiers stood in formation, their glowing eyes behind their solemn helmets turned toward them. Clearly, if they dared to step through this path, they would be attacked.

Yasenia saw that and shook her head. "Let's take a detour. This place is dangerous. If the twenty statues have the strength of a Half-Step, we will be in incredibly deep trouble."

Tatyana chuckled. "Indeed. They are quite dangerous…" Her words trailed as her lips arched and she tapped the ground a few times.

Angel glanced down and burst into laughter. "Tatyana, you are so mischievous."

Tatyana whistled and moved away with her hands behind her head. "I don't know what you are talking about."

The girls didn't even need to ask to know she'd probably set something up to completely screw anyone who came this way. Yasenia shook her head. "Is it necessary?"

Tatyana raised her eyebrow. "We chose a direction no one else chose. If they oh so coincidentally follow our tracks, it's their bad luck."

The dragoness bonked her head. "What if it is Big Sister Xinlin or Old Man Zhuo?"

Tatyana rolled her eyes. "As if I would do something that could hurt you. Love, the pendants are a bit more complex than what that Zhuo guy explained. I sneaked in a few tracking and detection formations. Don't worry. If I want, they can even explode with the strength of a Level Nine Transcendence Realm blow."

Yasenia looked at Tatyana, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Let's… Let's just move on. How about that room?"

Everyone turned to look at the massive doors and shrugged, entering the room. The room was circular, with thirteen columns and interesting paintings in the dome-like ceiling.

"Wow. Artistic beauty is something that's not lacking here."

Everyone else shared the emotions in Kali's exclamation of awe. Evelyn, though, pointed at a certain area with a strange look. "Over there… It's quite disturbing. No?"

The mural Evelyn pointed at illustrated several men and women dismembering others with pious smiles. Following the mural's story was disturbing.

With the scattered corpses, they built different structures. Then, using blood and gold, formations rushed toward a central zone. In there, a massive, sacred-looking sphere floated and absorbed everything.

"...Evil Heart."

Even when the one they saw looked the polar opposite, the girls didn't doubt that, even if it was the most grotesque creature, the Evil Source Cult members would see them as gorgeous heavenly maidens descending onto the earth.

"Is this a place where they taught something?"

Tatyana glanced around and shook her head. "No. This is a ritual location…"

Mirrory manifested and pointed toward the corner. "There is a hidden storage over there."

Yasenia trotted over, but when she extended her claw, she blinked. "Hm… Human hands are truly magical. So flexible, unlike most other races."

The girls agreed. Human hands were a true biological marvel. The complexity of movement was sublime.

In front of her stood a large cupboard with several floors of drawers and side compartments. The place Mirrory pointed was a middle cupboard, and Yasenia couldn't really pull the handle with her clawed hand.

Andrea stepped forward with a smile. "Do I help, love?"

"No need. Thank you, Darling."

Yasenia's dragon hand changed. First, she retracted her claws, then shifted her wrist bones slightly, along with tendon movements. After just two seconds, Yasenia still had a dragon hand, but it was much more humanoid now.

"Good~."

Evelyn blinked. "You could do that?"

Yasenia raised her eyebrow. "Of course. Claws can hurt soft flesh, after all."

Evelyn blinked a few times, and then blushed. "I—I see."

Pulling open the drawer, the entire room darkened, an ominous atmosphere enveloping everything. Everyone turned to look at Mirrory, and the treasure blinked twice.

With a polite smile, she pointed at Angel. "I will go rest. Have fun~."

As the woman disappeared into Angel's mirror pendant, everyone's eyebrows twitched.