"You? If you don't work hard, you'll be the Fourth in the future and Xu Qing will be the eldest senior brother!"
Old Master Seventh snorted coldly.
As soon as he said this, it was like millions of lightning bolts exploded in the captain's mind. The rumbling sound caused his eyes to widen and his breathing to become hurried. His mind was incomparably chaotic.
He thought that if such a day really came…
The captain shuddered and his expression turned solemn.
"Master, don't worry. I'll definitely work hard. What romantic relationship? In the future, I, Chen Erniu, will cut off all ties. I have to focus on cultivation and work hard to do great things!"
Old Master Seventh nodded in satisfaction. After that, he looked at Xu Qing but didn't speak.
Xu Qing blinked and immediately put on a shocked expression as he looked at the golden energy in his master's palm.
Although it was a little late, Xu Qing felt that even if he was late, it was better than nothing.
As expected, after seeing Xu Qing's attitude, Old Master Seventh was even more satisfied.
"Fourth, this is the divine essence. I studied Saintly Star's body and comprehended it from the large number of bizarre plants in the Yinghuang Province and the Nanhuang Continent before transferring it into my body."
"I have to say that the technique Illuminate grasped is indeed amazing."
"The so-called gods are just existences that are different from us cultivators. It's just that they are of a higher level and stronger!"
"It's not that they can't be replaced. I even have a bold guess, but I'm still searching for those lost ancient books to verify it."
"Unfortunately, after so many eras, most of the ancient books have been lost. Only the wish boxes that are scattered in the world have sporadic records of what I want."
"When I find the evidence, I'll tell you."
Old Master Seventh calmly spoke with an unfathomable expression.
Xu Qing's expression changed. He had always admired his master. This was even more so at this moment. He bowed respectfully.
The captain hurriedly did the same.
Seeing that these two disciples were obedient, Old Master Seventh felt incomparably comfortable.
"Let's continue forward. Master will bring you to a good place. I've been to a Mystic Nether Palace before and know that every palace has a special place."
As Old Master Seventh spoke, he walked forward.
An hour later, the three of them continued forward and slowly entered the cluster of palaces.
However, the range of this cluster of palaces was too large. Even though they had walked so far, they were still in the eastern region. There was still quite a bit of distance between them and the center of the eastern region.
However, they had already arrived at the destination Old Master Seventh had mentioned earlier.
This was a somewhat special palace.
Although it was also filled with flesh, the appearance of this flesh was a face filled with pain.
It was impossible to tell if this face was of a male or a female. It also had no hair. It was purple-red and its blood vessels were diffused. While it emitted dense anomalous substances, it also revealed the power to affect emotions.
All living beings who saw it couldn't help but feel distorted emotions.
This would affect their mind and make them go crazy.
Even though the captain was extraordinary, he was still affected a little at this moment. His breathing was hurried and a large number of mouths appeared on his body, continuously swimming around. It was incomparably bizarre.
Xu Qing was fine.
The god's finger was one of the clones of the sleeping god here. The body it had specially forged for itself could allow Xu Qing to absorb the anomalous substances here to give birth to divine essence. In that case, it could naturally ignore the power of this place.
"It's here." Outside the flesh-faced palace, Old Master Seventh's eyes gleamed.
"This is a place of fortune. You'll know when you enter later."
As Old Master Seventh spoke, his entire body emitted a golden light. At this moment, he actually gave off a holy feeling. However, he didn't emit any aura, as though he had hidden himself to the extreme.
Even with the naked eye, he was blurry and couldn't even be remembered.
This scene caused waves to surge in the captain and Xu Qing's hearts again.
Xu Qing had seen a few gods before, so he was very clear that this was already a portion of an ability similar to gods. They couldn't be remembered and it could be considered extreme concealment.
"Master, you…" Xu Qing couldn't help but speak. The impact this scene brought him was even greater than the death of the first stage Nihility mutated beast earlier.
"The divine essence I stole contains the power of time and concealment."
Old Master Seventh walked in front and a calm voice rang out.
As he got closer to the palace in front of him, the face became increasingly distorted, as though it was about to come to life. The pain was even more obvious and it was aging at a visible speed.
In the blink of an eye, wrinkles filled it.
However, it was obvious that the face was different from the mutated beasts and bizarre entities Xu Qing's group had encountered previously. It was stronger, so it tried to resist.
However, as Old Master Seventh moved forward, this resistance became extremely fragile and the face continued to age even faster. In fact, its edges even began to dissipate.
The captain rubbed his eyes forcefully and transmitted his voice to Xu Qing.
'Little Qing, Master is so strong. Why are we still working hard? How good would it be to stay in the Seven Blood Eyes and be fed? Junior Brother, I feel so safe at this moment…'
Before Xu Qing could answer, Old Master Seventh's cold snort rang out from ahead.
"Safe my ass. If it was really safe, would I need to sneak in? This Seventh Prince isn't simple. Any one of his generals is extraordinary. Moreover, that Blood Nightmare seemed to have sensed me from the start!"
"Also, I can sense other foreign auras here. Your group isn't the only one who came this time."
"After this job is done, even I have to lie low. The two of you mere Golden Cores actually schemed to snatch from the gods. You're too bold. After this matter is done, find an opportunity to leave the county capital and return to the Seven Blood Eyes, and wait for me."
Xu Qing's expression froze. When the captain heard this, he seized the opportunity and spoke fawningly.
"Master is mighty. We only dared to plan because we have you, Master."
"You only know how to flatter!" Old Master Seventh said calmly as he moved forward.
When the captain heard this, he didn't feel reprimanded at all. Instead, he was incomparably smug.
As Old Master Seventh walked over, the struggle and distortion of the face would become even more intense.
A moment later, when Old Master Seventh arrived before the face, fog rolled over. This huge face let out an unwilling roar and turned into ashes in front of the three of them, revealing a red temple buried inside.
This temple exuded an ancient aura. The gate was closed and it was silent inside.
The color of the temple emanated a sinister undertone, yet it also carried a sense of ethereality.
It seemed as if the blood-red hue was not blood itself, but rather an exquisite elixir or nectar.
The contradiction in the atmosphere stirred up primal instincts, causing rumbling sounds from within Xu Qing's stomach, a manifestation of hunger. The captain's eyes widened, and drool began to trickle down his chin.
"You guys, step back a little," Old Master Seventh slowly said.
Xu Qing quickly retreated. Seeing that the captain was retreating a little too slowly, Xu Qing grabbed him and pulled him back until he was 1000 feet away. Old Master Seventh walked to the entrance of the red temple with a solemn expression. He then lifted his right hand and gently pressed down.
With a boom, the red temple's gate opened.
Red light flowed out, transforming into a huge illusory face that devoured Old Master Seventh.
Old Master Seventh let out a cold snort and his entire body flickered with golden light. He lifted his right hand and pressed forward. Immediately, the illusory face paused in front of him and finally transformed into countless blood-colored butterflies that spread out.
Wherever these blood-colored butterflies passed through, they corroded the void, emanating an aura that left both Xu Qing and the captain startled.
"It's okay now," Old Master Seventh calmly said and walked into the temple.
Xu Qing and the captain hurriedly ran over. After they stepped into the temple, they saw a shocking hall.
The interior of the temple was filled with majesty.
In the center was a vast statue. It wasn't of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether but an unfamiliar existence. It didn't seem to have been recorded in the history of the human race.
He wore a blood-colored Daoist robe and stood there with his hands raised, as though he wanted to hug the entire temple.
Around him, there were hundreds and thousands of mask-like faces on the inner walls of the temple.
These faces were of similar size, varying in age and gender, displaying a range of emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness.
They were all stuck to the walls, and upon closer inspection, these faces were actually human skins.
The atmosphere created by a large number of faces was naturally extremely bizarre. At that moment, as Xu Qing and the other two arrived, these human skin masks looked at them in unison. The holes in their eyes emitted a dark light.
Xu Qing's expression changed and the captain gasped.
"This place is called the Immortal Arts Hall. Every palace of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether has such an Immortal Arts Hall. It contains a large number of special immortal arts of that time."
Old Master Seventh's expression was calm as he calmly spoke.
"Immortal Arts are actually different from the beauty you imagine. They aren't elegant and gorgeous but contain terror."
"Every face here is an immortal art. There's no need to comprehend or cultivate. You can use it as long as you stick it on your face."
"Such a method naturally requires a certain price. Any immortal art requires the absorption of life force. When wearing this human skin as a mask, each time it is used, it tightens more and more until it can no longer be removed. The entire body's flesh and life force are absorbed into it, and then… the user transforms into a new human skin mask."
Old Master Seventh's tone was calm but the words he said shocked Xu Qing. He now had a better understanding of immortal arts.
As for the captain, he seemed to know a little about this and wasn't surprised. Only his expression revealed a hint of complication but it quickly disappeared.
"You don't need to be overly worried. Overall, immortal arts are quite powerful, containing various unfathomable mysteries. So, if used wisely, they can be advantageous to you. Additionally, each person can only take one immortal art mask in the Temple of Immortal Arts. Taking more than one will result in a curse. Once you have taken a mask here, you won't be able to obtain another one from the Temples of Immortal Arts in other palaces."
After Old Master Seventh finished speaking, he lifted his head and looked at the statue in the temple. There was a hint of emotion in his calm tone.
"As for this statue, it's a Human Emperor that history has chosen to forget. He created many immortal arts in his life."
"Based on some scattered clues from ancient texts, I came to know of the existence of this figure. Perhaps it was done to glorify the human race and immortal arts, but after the reign of the Ancient Sovereign Mystic Nether, this figure was hidden away in history."
"And the immortal arts were also stored in the thirty-six palaces, turned into forbidden arts, no longer passed down. However, ancient records state that during that era, the immortal arts created by this emperor made great contributions to the human race, saving numerous human countries."
"The rise of any race has light and darkness. This is normal."
After Old Master Seventh finished speaking, he looked at his two disciples, particularly focusing on Xu Qing, implying a deeper meaning.
