Imperial God Emperor

Chapter 976 – Strange Changes and a Map

The million-year-old soul apparently knew something but did not want to talk about it under these circumstances, and so Ye Qingyu felt it inappropriate to question further.

He called for Hu Bugui and the silly dog, saying, “Let’s go. There’s nothing else here, we have to keep moving.”

A dispirited-looking Hu Bugui and the silly dog both nodded their heads.

“That’s right, this pile of caskets holds no treasure. We’ve lost time and have to hurry.”

The latter was already getting jumpy, “I’d said that we should’ve came in a little earlier. Now, others have reached here before us and have taken away everything in the palace, leaving only a pile of corpses...”

This was one very indignant brat.

Hu Bugui was also feeling a little anxious. Having been successively beaten to it by others, his bandit chief heart was blazing.

The party prepared to leave.

Just then, however, Hu Bugui turned his body and cried out in alarm, “Huh? Where’s little Nan Tieyi?”

He was completely stupefied.

In order to see what was inside the caskets, he had placed Nan Tieyi against a stone pillar on the side, and because there was no one else in the entire palace, he did not pay much attention subsequently. Who would have thought that, only a short moment later when the party was about to leave, it would be discovered that Nan Tieyi had disappeared into thin air.

What’s going on?

Hu Bugui carefully looked up and down and confirmed which pillar it was that he had placed Nan Tieyi against.

Where is he? Did he somehow flee on his own?

“What? Elder brother Nan Tieyi has gone missing?!” Ye Qingyu was abruptly taken aback when he heard about it. This is bad. He thought inwardly before releasing his consciousness power outward. However, he discovered nothing in the main hall and did not detect Nan Tieyi’s aura at all. As he stared disbelievingly at the empty stone pillar, he asked himself where he might possibly be able to find half a shadow of Nan Tieyi.

How… is this possible!

Turning his gaze toward Hu Bugui, who was already somewhat befuddled, he did not dare to believe that this incident had actually taken place. It must be known that, given his present strength, he could detect anyone, even a Great Saint, who was within a kilometer. It was because he had adequate confidence in himself that he did not set up formations in the palace earlier. He thus could not believe the turn of events. He was certain that he would have detected the sound of elder brother Nan Tieyi waking up and walking about, or the aura changes of any other expert approaching, at the earliest possible time.

Why have things turned out this way?

“Little Nan Tieyi… please… come out quick, don’t scare your elder brother.” When Hu Bugui regained his senses, he immediately began searching through the entire palace like a madman.

He could not be any more remorseful.

“How did this happen? Impossible, I clearly...” He pulled his own hair forcefully. In such a dangerous environment, a comatose Nan Tieyi was akin to a sheep which had fallen into a pack of wolves.

“Chief bandit, you’re truly unreliable…,” the silly dog Little Nine said as it went around the palace sniffing. “To think that you actually managed to lose a large and living person.”

Hu Bugui had no words and no way to refute this.

Ye Qingyu hurriedly held him back and said, “Don’t worry for now, elder brother Hu Bugui. You aren’t solely to blame for this. We all have to share responsibility. Calm down now. It’s very strange that brother Nan Tieyi has gone missing, for he couldn’t have woken up and walked off on his own, nor could he have been taken away by someone… Only a Quasi-emperor level being could have escaped our detection, but then again, such a being wouldn’t have any need to bring brother Nan Tieyi away. This doesn’t make sense.”

While speaking these words, countless ideas and possibilities flashed in his mind.

Certainly, his words were meant to comfort Hu Bugui.

He immediately remembered the giant palm print abyss beside the Divine Emperor Peak after he finished speaking. If it was confirmed to have been left behind by the exertion of a Quasi-emperor level being, this being would evidently be an enemy of the Immortal God Emperor Sect. It was possible that this being had taken Nan Tieyi away, but, reasonably speaking, a dignified Quasi-emperor would not be furtively taking people away, for such a being could not have been stopped by Ye Qingyu and Hu Bugui even if he had acted openly. And if he truly intended to kill Nan Tieyi, he most definitely would have wanted to kill Ye Qingyu and Hu Bugui too. Ultimately, however, Ye Qingyu had no idea where Nan Tieyi could be.

Hu Bugui gradually calmed down as he listened to Ye Qingyu’s words.

That’s right. It doesn’t make sense for such a large and living person to disappear all of a sudden.

What exactly happened earlier?

Ye Qingyu secretly contacted the million-year-old soul. “Senior, did you spot anything just now?”

At this time, he could only place his hopes on this being who was infused with a Chaos Demon Heart. It was with this being’s secret guidance that his journey so far had been smooth, and it certainly knew about the Reincarnation Hall like the back of its hand. It probably had noticed something while Ye Qingyu and Hu Bugui were focusing completely on the Big Dipper caskets earlier.

However, it did not respond promptly and instead remained silent.

Ye Qingyu grew a little anxious “Senior?”

“Don’t worry, little Ye Qingyu. I do know of your friend’s whereabouts, but… I cannot tell you. This is his own good fortune and opportunity, and also the path he chose for himself. Don’t worry, he’s completely fine.” The million-year-old soul spoke in a serious tone after a momentary silence.

Ye Qingyu could not understand.

The path he chose for himself?

Opportunity?

But, clearly, nothing had happened earlier.

Nevertheless, he believed the spirit’s words.

“Senior… are you sure that my friend is safe?” He could not help adding another question.

The spirit replied, “Don’t worry, I promise… But you two won’t get to see him for a period of time. He’ll naturally show up when the Reincarnation Hall has departed.”

Hearing this, Ye Qingyu heaved a sigh of relief.

If that’s the case, I don’t have to be too worried.

I hope everything is as the soul claims.

There’s nothing else I can do for now.

“Let’s go. Time to leave this place,” Ye Qingyu said after briefly pondering.

Hu Bugui was startled when he heard this, “What? Leave? But little Nan Tieyi...” He did not expect Ye Qingyu to make such a decision after remaining silent for a long while.

Without explaining things too clearly, the latter said, “Don’t worry, I know where he is, and he’s not in any danger for now.”

The former remained dazed for a bit and could only nod his head eventually.

He believed Ye Qingyu and so he didn’t ask more.

Conversely, the silly dog looked suspiciously at Ye Qingyu as if it wanted to ask something yet was afraid of wasting time. Its thoughts were mostly occupied by the scramble for precious treasures in the palaces and thus it was not too concerned about Nan Tieyi’s fate.

The two humans and one dog slowly arrived in the final section of the [Seven Elements Relief Palace].

It was a small fork with three tunnels.

Ye Qingyu swiftly chose the middle tunnel and walked in first.

Approximately half an hour after Ye Qingyu and the others had departed, footsteps were heard from outside the doors of the [Seven Elements Relief Palace]. Dozens of Wind Wolf Race experts pushed the doors open and charged in, thereafter revealing expressions of pleasant surprise and cheering loudly. However, they became terribly disappointed when they found out that there was not a single treasure in the entire palace.

“How could there be just a few corpses?”

“Someone got here earlier than us.”

“Huh? Look at these caskets… there are signs that they’ve been moved.”

“Let’s open them and take a look...”

A while later.

“Pooh, what luck, these caskets contain corpses.”

“I figure that they were killed while scrambling for the treasures in the caskets and their bodies were later stuffed inside. We came late...”

“Huh? Why can’t this casket be opened?”

“Really… Let me try…. No, it can’t be opened still.”

“These are coffins in the formation of the Big Dipper, and the handle is pointed toward the southeast… Hmm, this unopenable casket is the [Dubhe] one, strange… Let’s try again, there might be precious treasures inside. Let’s work together, everyone.”

A while later.

“What… what material is this casket made of? To think that my Saint weapon cannot leave as much as a mark on it.”

“What should we do? It simply can’t be opened.”

“We can’t waste time here. Let’s proceed forward and find other opportunities.”

The group of Wind Wolf Race experts was unable to open the casket of the central star despite exhausting all their methods, and could only give up despondently in the end.

They arrived in a small fork at the back of the [Seven Elements Relief Palace], and, after a brief hesitation, chose the tunnel on the right, which they quickly disappeared down.

The entire [Seven Elements Relief Palace] fell into silence once more.

Darkness shrouded over it.

After about thirty breaths’ worth of time, an extremely strange and heavy noise of slab friction rang out.

A strange scene appeared.

As the caskets which lids had been pried open by the Wind Wolf Race experts vibrated slightly, a pair of invisible hands picked up the lids which had been left on one side and slowly shifted them until the six caskets had been covered back up.

Subsequently, everything became peaceful again.

Outside the Reincarnation Hall of the Chaos Demon Emperor.

On the west side of the Immortal God Emperor Sect.

A splendor flashed in the Void.

The figure of the Greater One Spiritual Master appeared.

“Huh? Has the Reincarnation Hall already descended? Dammit, I’m late...” When he saw the giant black palace complex on Divine Emperor Peak, he immediately realized that he had wasted too much time pursuing Liu Shaji. To his surprise, the Reincarnation Hall had descended before the time which he had forecast.

He looked at the wide-open giant stone door with some hesitation.

A moment later, he decided to charge in.

“Looks like it has been opened for some time and many beings have entered already. If I’m not wrong, Ye Qingyu is also in there. Hmm, I guess he’s got luck on his side. I shall let him stay alive for a little longer. Hehe, with the map provided by that elder in hand, I essentially have a complete grasp of everything in the Reincarnation Hall. Let’s grab a few opportunities first.”

Laughing grimly, he lowered his head to look at a jade pendant. After observing it for a long time, he eventually charged into the stone door and entered the Reincarnation Hall.