Chapter 547 - 53: Treasure Stirs the Heart (2)

He reached out and pushed open the great door, which had been sealed for who knows how many years. The palace itself didn’t collapse, but the scene inside left Song Changsheng utterly astonished.

A massive, circular pit had been dug in the center of the main hall, and on its surface, he could faintly make out mottled bloodstains of an unknown age.

Arranged along the edge of this great pit were rows of grotesque, mummified corpses. Their hands were bound as if they were criminals, and they were all kneeling, facing the pit.

They formed one concentric circle after another, radiating outward, all of them kneeling mummified corpses.

Beneath each body was a carved groove, and without exception, these grooves all led to the circular pit in the hall’s center. Inside the channels, dried blood was clearly visible.

The scene before him stirred a memory from several years ago. Back in the Griffin Mountain Range, Dongtian Xie had used this very method to conduct a blood sacrifice and raise his Cultivation.

But the ritual had been thwarted by Song Changsheng, Yinn Shang, and the others, which was how they had managed to rescue Yuann Tianshu and Jiang Shuming.

This scene was eerily similar to that one.

"Beasts!" Song Changsheng cursed, clenching his fists tightly. ’These Blood Demon Remnants... every last one of them deserves to be hunted down and killed!’

Just then, Zhu Yiqun and the others followed him inside. They too were struck speechless by the sight before them.

After a moment, Song Changsheng said softly, "Let’s look around. See if we can find out which clan these Cultivators belonged to. We’ll take them with us when we leave and give them a proper burial."

The others nodded in silence and spread out, searching for anything that might identify the dead.

Soon, Zhu Yiqun made a discovery. He held up a plaque in his pale, chubby hand and called out, "Found something! Take a look."

Song Changsheng took it and saw that it was a gilt bronze plaque. The word "Elder" was inscribed on the front, and on the back were the words "Demon Suppression Hall."

Meanwhile, Xu Yunhe, Chi Huo Old Ghost, and the others had found several identical plaques belonging to "Elders" or "Guardians" of the Demon Suppression Hall.

"People from the Demon Suppression Hall?"

At that moment, it dawned on Song Changsheng. ’These must be the experts from the Demon Suppression Hall who ventured deep into the demon’s lair all those years ago.’

The outside world only knew that their entire force had been annihilated. No one could have imagined they’d been brought to this Small World to become sacrifices for a Blood Demon.

For these Defenders of the Dao, who had Demon Slaying carved into their very bones, to meet such a humiliating and tragic end... it was truly heartbreaking.

"You died for Daqi; you never should have met such a fate. I am Song Changsheng, of a later generation. I will take your remains home. Please forgive me for any offense I may cause."

Song Changsheng bowed deeply, then carefully collected the mummified bodies from the hall. Once they left this place, he would hand them over to the Demon Suppression Hall for burial.

After finishing this somber task, the five of them split up and searched the main hall, but they found no trace of any treasure.

"Let’s check the two side halls."

The group exited the main hall and entered the one on the left. The moment the door opened, they were in for a shock.

The side hall was filled with fist-sized Spirit Stones, piled up like small mountains.

Zhu Yiqun’s eyes gleamed, and he immediately made to rush inside, but Song Changsheng grabbed him. "Not so fast," he said in a low voice. "There’s a problem."

"A trap?" Song Changsheng’s words sent a shiver down Zhu Yiqun’s spine, and he hastily pulled his foot back.

Song Changsheng said nothing, simply activating his [Eye of Truth]. A great web woven from innumerable golden threads instantly appeared before him.

’An Array,’ Song Changsheng realized.

’Something felt wrong the moment the door opened. With this many Spirit Stones piled up, the Spiritual Qi leaking from them daily should have been enough to raise the ambient concentration here by a whole level. But I didn’t sense a thing. That’s not normal. And now I see why. There really is a problem.’

"It’s a Tier Two Top Grade Defense Array. It won’t be too difficult to break. Stand guard for me."

With the help of his [Eye of Truth], Song Changsheng quickly figured out the array’s workings, and he managed to break it in less than an hour.

The Spiritual Qi that had been sealed by the Array burst forth in a single rush, like a gust of wind that extinguished all the oil lamps outside.

But all five of them were so captivated by the piles of Spirit Stones inside the hall that they paid no mind to this insignificant detail.

"There have to be millions of Spirit Stones here." Zhu Yiqun’s eyes were shining, and he was practically drooling. He had never seen so many Spirit Stones in one place.

Song Changsheng’s breathing grew a little ragged, but he kept a clear head. Although in principle, this treasure should be divided equally among the five of them, in practice, it couldn’t be done like that.

Luoxia City had sent three Purple Mansion Cultivators to accompany them on this treasure hunt, and they had taken care of their biggest problems.

Although they hadn’t said anything, Song Changsheng knew he couldn’t be thoughtless. Luoxia City would have to take the lion’s share of the spoils from this trip. After they did, there wouldn’t be much left for the rest of them to divide.

"Let’s gather them up for now. We still have one more side hall to check," Zhuang Yuechan said softly, suppressing her excitement.

Everyone nodded and quickly gathered up every last Spirit Stone in the hall, handing them all to Song Changsheng for safekeeping.

They then headed straight for the other side hall.

Just then, the more observant Zhuang Yuechan noticed the change outside. "Why did the oil lamps go out?" she couldn’t help but ask.

Zhu Yiqun glanced over and said nonchalantly, "The wind probably blew them out. Never mind that. Let’s hurry and check the other side hall."

With that, he eagerly pushed open the door to the other side hall.

"Fuck! What the hell was the Blood Demon Sect planning to do, hoarding all these supplies?" Zhu Yiqun swore after a single glance.

The others drew closer for a look and found this side hall was piled high with cultivation resources: Magical Artifacts, Spirit Medicines, Ore Ingots, Jade, beast hides... The dazzling variety had everything they could imagine, leaving them breathless.

On the only shelf in the room sat rows of assorted Jade Boxes, which were clearly no ordinary treasures.

No wonder Zhu Yiqun had cursed out loud. The sheer quantity of supplies hoarded in these two side halls was beyond their wildest imagination.

To put it bluntly, even if you sold off the entire Song Clan, lock, stock, and barrel, it wouldn’t match the value of the goods in this one Blood Demon Sect "warehouse."

Even a Golden Core Sect would have to grit its teeth to produce such a massive hoard of resources. No wonder the Blood Demon Sect had been frantically searching for the key all these years. How could they not be anxious, staring at so much wealth they couldn’t touch?

"Changsheng, hurry up and break the array!" Zhu Yiqun said, rubbing his hands together, his face alight with anticipation.

Song Changsheng nodded and repeated the process from before, quickly breaking the Defensive Array.

Watching Zhu Yiqun rummaging through the piles, Song Changsheng said with a sigh, "Find the [Celestial Purity Demon-Extinguishing Mirror] first. We’ll collect everything else and split it up after we get back."

’This Small World gave Song Changsheng a very uncomfortable feeling; he didn’t want to linger here any longer than necessary.’

At these words, the once-excited Little Fatty looked as deflated as a frost-bitten eggplant.

"Alright, let’s get searching. Business first," Xu Yunhe said, patting his shoulder before he started rummaging through the pile of Magical Artifacts.

Song Changsheng and the others joined in as well.

Zhu Yiqun grumbled something under his breath but ultimately joined the search.

Before long, they dug an oval, long-handled brass mirror out of the mountain-like pile of Magical Artifacts. The object was exceptionally heavy; Zhuang Yuechan could barely lift it.

After taking out the slip of paper Soulless had left him and comparing it, Song Changsheng confirmed that this was indeed the [Celestial Purity Demon-Extinguishing Mirror].

They just couldn’t see how this thing was supposed to be a legendary treasure meant to guard a hall. Aside from its unusual weight, it looked no different from an ordinary bronze mirror.

"As long as we’re sure this is the item, that’s all that matters. Whether or not it works is not our problem. Gather everything in the hall. We’re getting ready to leave."

’Song Changsheng’s deal with Soulless was simply to bring this item out and hand it over. Anything beyond that was not his concern.’

The group moved quickly, cleaning out all the resources in the hall in less than a quarter of an hour.

But the moment they stepped out of the side hall, they all frowned.

The air was thick with a nauseating, putrid stench.

...