Chapter 546 - 53: The Allure of Treasure

The group looked in the direction Xu Yunhe was pointing and, sure enough, could faintly make out the outlines of several buildings. There even seemed to be a faint glimmer of light.

"Let’s go down and have a look."

The group landed on the ground. After carefully sizing up their surroundings and finding no threats, they slowly advanced toward the area emitting the light.

It hadn’t been very clear from the air, but after landing on the ground, the group discovered more unusual things about this Small World.

Several ancient hours had passed since they entered. Aside from those bizarre insects, they hadn’t found a single trace of any other life. Forget other creatures—they hadn’t even seen a single weed. It was more desolate than a desert.

And yet, the concentration of Spiritual Qi in this world wasn’t low, reaching about half the level of the Daqi Cultivation World. With such a density of Spiritual Qi, a place like this shouldn’t have been so barren.

Faced with this situation, Song Changsheng and the others became extremely vigilant and slowly pushed forward.

Suddenly, Song Changsheng stopped in his tracks.

"What’s wrong?" Zhuang Yuechan asked softly.

"Do you guys smell something strange?"

Hearing this, the other four looked confused. Unlike Song Changsheng, they hadn’t cultivated the scent-based tracking Secret Technique, Ten Thousand Miles Tracking, so they hadn’t noticed anything amiss.

"I smell a rotten stench. It’s very faint, but there’s no mistaking it."

A rotten stench was usually the smell given off by a decaying corpse.

In a world without a single weed, the presence of so many disgusting insects was already surprising enough. ’Could there be other living creatures?’

"Finding the treasure the Blood Demon Sect hid is what matters. Nothing else concerns us," Zhu Yiqun said with his arms crossed.

"Little Fatty is right," Xu Yunhe agreed.

"Alright, we’re almost there. Stay close." Hearing this, Song Changsheng nodded, pushed the thought aside, and focused on their journey.

Soon, several palaces of a peculiar style appeared before them.

Strangely, two oil lamps were lit in front of each palace gate, emitting a faint glow in the darkness.

"This godforsaken place hasn’t had any visitors for at least a few hundred years, right? How are there still lamps lit? Don’t tell me there are still living people here?"

The thought alone made Little Fatty jump in fright. ’Something that could live in a place like this for hundreds of years... could it really be human?’

"I don’t sense the presence of any living creatures, but everyone should still be as careful as possible," Song Changsheng quietly reminded them, then strode toward the central palace.

When he reached the entrance, he deliberately paused before one of the oil lamps. He saw that the oil inside was a milky-white, viscous liquid that gave off a peculiar fragrance.

"Master, the oil in this lamp before you is refined from Merfolk. A single small cup of it can keep a wick burning for several hundred years."

Little Ninth’s voice echoed in Song Changsheng’s mind, revealing the origin of the lamp oil.

"Merfolk... oil?" Song Changsheng couldn’t help but shudder at the words and hastily took several steps back.

Unlike in his previous life, where they existed only in fiction, the Merfolk were a real species in this world. They were not transformations of Water Race Demon Beasts but a sapient race, just like the Human Race.

They had human torsos and fish tails and were stunningly beautiful. They were few in number, scattered throughout the great waterways of the Purple Imperial Realm. They were the kings among the Water Race, rulers of all the world’s rivers and lakes.

’For such powerful beings to be used for refining lamp oil... it’s simply insane. If the Merfolk Race were to find out, the entire Daqi Cultivation World would be submerged.’

’The Blood Demon Sect truly is lawless.’ Song Changsheng’s expression darkened, and he quickly moved farther away from the oil lamps. He didn’t want to get any of the oil’s scent on him.

"Changsheng, what’s wrong?" Zhuang Yuechan asked, worried by his strange behavior.

Song Changsheng looked at them with a grave expression. "I’m fine. All of you, remember this: do not, under any circumstances, touch these oil lamps. This is Merfolk oil. Once it gets on you, the scent won’t fade for a thousand years, and it’s sure to bring you nothing but trouble."

As soon as he said this, everyone’s expression changed, and they all tacitly took several steps back. Although it was the first time they had ever seen it, they were all too familiar with its infamous reputation.

The Merfolk Race was notoriously vengeful. Historically, anyone who dared to refine Merfolk oil had been wiped out so completely that not even their graves remained.

If you got mixed up with this stuff, you’d best stay away from water for the rest of your life. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even know how you died.

It was likely one of the few treasures in the world that people actively shunned.

It was precious, to be sure, but aside from being used for lighting, it was completely useless. It was the definition of an impractical treasure; the reward was nowhere near worth the risk.

From ancient times to the present, there had always been a few eccentrics who dedicated themselves to finding other uses for Merfolk oil, but every attempt had ended in failure.

To this day, its only use remained as lamp oil.

Therefore, fewer and fewer people dared to make the stuff, causing it to become exceptionally rare. If one could find the right buyer, it was actually quite valuable.

But no matter how valuable it was, Song Changsheng didn’t dare feel the slightest greed. ’I’m still young and want to live a good while longer.’

After warning the group, Song Changsheng walked up the steps and came to the tightly shut doors of the palace.

The marks of time’s passage were clearly visible on the large doors. Many sections had rotted away, and Song Changsheng even suspected the palace might collapse at any moment.