The finger seemed to be filled with power that could harm even the Heavens; as soon as it appeared, the sky dimmed and an incredible pressure weighed down on the area. It shot toward the crack, slamming into it, and causing everything to tremble. Cracking sounds echoed out as the floor tile filled with cracks. One of the cracks spread out in just the way Meng Hao had described. More intense roaring sounds filled the air.
The shaking was so intense that the other floor tiles of this palace building filled with three more gigantic cracks.
A moment later, the shaking stopped. As of this moment, all of the restrictive spells outside of the palace building were gone. Zhixiang’s face was pale, and she was breathing heavily.
“You need to go faster,” she urged Meng Hao. “My technique to suppress the shield won’t last for much longer. We need to get into the main hall as quickly as possible.”
Meng Hao’s eyes glittered. Feeling somewhat anxious, he quickly produced a flying sword and began prying up the floor tiles. Without the restrictive spells in place, there was nothing protecting the floor tiles. With Meng Hao’s professional technique, the floor tiles quickly began to disappear into his bag of holding. However, it was at this moment that his eyes suddenly narrowed.
The earth beneath the floor tiles was not smooth. Instead, complex magical symbols became visible as he collected up the tiles. The symbols bore the appearance of a sealing mark, a seal that looked like a butterfly.
Zhixiang looked down at the butterfly seal and then casually remarked: “That seal is the restrictive spell covering this area. However, I’ve disabled it; it doesn’t function anymore.”
Meng Hao nodded, then pried up the final floor tile. Suddenly, he looked up and then performed a Bloodburst Flash and then a minor teleportation. In the blink of an eye, he was far off in the distance.
Once he was away from the main hall, he blinked his left eye several times in succession, pouring the Qi of Immortal Shows the Way into his left eye. Immediately, his view of the world changed.
The majestic palace hall was now a mass of black mist, the source of which was the butterfly seal in the hall’s square. An enormous black butterfly was visible, struggling against the silver strands which were wrapped around its body. It looked like the strands were on the verge of collapsing.
It seemed that the floor tiles in this place had been suppressing the butterfly’s true form. Now that the tiles were gone and the restrictive spell broken, it was in the process of freeing itself.
At the same time, countless roaring black dragons were flying toward the butterfly, intent on consuming it. However, as they neared, the bizarre butterfly sucked them in, using them as power to assist in freeing itself.
Standing next to the butterfly was Zhao Youlan, who for some reason had a bitter smile on her face, and grief in her eyes. A despair existed therein that was no longer possible to cover up.
Shockingly, with his Celestial vision, Meng Hao could see that Zhixiang, perched on Zhao Youlan’s shoulder, had a red thread coming out of her to wrap around the butterfly, as if she were attempting to make some sort of connection with it.
Meng Hao immediately began to fly away. There were still a handful of floor tiles that he hadn’t collected up. As for Zhixiang, her face flickered, and when she looked up and saw Meng Hao, she laughed coldly.
Her face was grim, and she obviously knew that Meng Hao had some clues as to what was happening.
“This guy is profoundly astute!” she thought. “However, there’s something unique about him. He’s capable of taking away the Celestial soil that the Immortal Demon Sect cursed for all time. From ancient times until now, he must be the first person who came here unprotected and not only evaded death, but also took away the Celestial soil!”
Zhixiang frowned. It was for this very reason that she had opted to enlist Meng Hao’s help in disabling the restrictive spells. However, at the most critical moment she had been found out by him and he seemed to be leaving. Although he had taken most of the floor tiles, there were a few left that, while seemingly random, were actually cleverly positioned.
“Grandmaster Meng, what is the meaning of this?” asked Zhixiang lightly. Her voice seemed sweet, but also filled with allure.
“There’s no special meaning,” he called back. “It’s just that my bag of holding is full.” He quickly flew out of the palace building area.
He had acquired enough Celestial soil for now and did not wish to participate in any more of Demoness Zhixiang’s scheming. As for Zhao Youlan, he now understood what was going on. Earlier, outside the basin, he had had his doubts.
Granted, there was some rancor between him and Zhao Youlan. However, it hadn’t reached the point where he felt he needed to attack her to resolve the situation.