Chapter 42: The Eleven Palace Masters

Beitiang Shangren, Zhongyang Shangren, Qiaoming Shangren, Yuefa Shangren, Jinghou Shangren, and Xuantei Shangren—these six palace masters of Ziyang Palace stood together in front of the cave dwelling.
“Let’s begin,” said Beitiang Shangren with displeasure.
“Good,” replied the other five Shangren cheerfully.
Immediately, all six took out their magical weapons, which turned out to be swords, and cast spells together—sending sand, stones, and thorny projectiles that struck the protective array.
Whoosh!
The outer layer of the array was quickly broken, revealing the fluctuations of the second layer.
“This array is too weak. Any one of us could break it, let alone all six of us attacking together,” exclaimed Zhongyang Shangren happily.
The other five nodded in agreement. They had thought the array would be difficult to break, but it was shattered so easily.
“Let’s continue,” said Qiaoming Shangren calmly.
Soon, the six advanced slightly and launched another spell attack, effortlessly breaking through the second layer as well.
Proud, they seemed to envision the treasure hidden within the cave dwelling about to be revealed, filling them with hope.
The third and fourth layers of the array were also broken effortlessly by the six.
At this point, the six reached the fifth layer of the array, ready to attack its final barrier.
“Everyone, this is the last layer of the array. Once it’s broken, how shall we divide the treasures inside?” Yuefa Shangren suddenly spoke up.
The other five immediately turned to look at him, then fell silent. This was indeed a difficult question to answer.
All six were palace masters of Ziyang Palace, of equal cultivation and status, and would have to live together in the future. Since the true contents of the cave dwelling had not yet been revealed, none of them knew what treasures lay inside. If the treasures were of high value, it wouldn’t matter if they argued, but if they were just ordinary magical weapons, a dispute could lead to lingering resentment within Ziyang Palace.
Meanwhile, Qu Yi, who was inside the Dimensional Sphere, could no longer stand by. If these six continued to hesitate, would he have to wait forever?
Suddenly, Qu Yi appeared. Under the astonished gazes of the six, he wielded his Fire Scaled Blade and cast a spell of raging fire at the fifth layer of the array.

After casting the spell, Qu Yi mysteriously disappeared again, leaving the six high priests in utter disbelief, thinking they must have had hallucinations. But just as the fierce flames reached the fifth part of the formation, Qu Yi had actually activated the “Formation of Lost Return.” In an instant, under the panicked gazes of the six high priests, the entire world was filled with wind and fire energy—wind blades howling violently, true flames spreading like wildfire. The wind fueled the fire, and the fire amplified the wind’s power, with relentless wind and fire spells attacking the six high priests one after another. “Ah, we’ve fallen for the trap,” said the Northern High Priest, struggling to defend himself, realizing what had happened. Yet this warning came too late. The surrounding space was completely enveloped by wind and fire, making it extremely difficult to resist, let alone escape. The wind blades grew even sharper, capable of cutting through flesh, while the true flames grew hotter, capable of burning flesh to ashes. The entire formation space was filled with surging energy, its power comparable to that of those in the middle stage of leaving the body. The six high priests fought desperately, suffering greatly, but there was nothing they could do. To escape, the space was too unstable for teleportation; to survive, the overwhelming wind and fire made survival impossible. “We surrender! State your conditions,” pleaded the Northern High Priest, on the verge of collapse. Inside the dimension sphere, Qu Yi continued to laugh heartily, unshaken by their pleas. “If I don’t make you six palace masters suffer enough, how could you fear me? Well, I’ll rescue you once your energy is completely exhausted,” Qu Yi said cheerfully, full of pride. Meanwhile, the Southern Envoy, Northern Envoy, Xuan Gu High Priest, Wei Yan, and Bai Yan watched Qu Yi’s almost unrestrained laughter with disdain in their eyes, though they all wore smiling faces. Before long, the six high priests of Zi Yang Palace had almost exhausted all their energy. “Everyone, get ready. Let’s go clean up the mess,” Qu Yi said upon noticing the changes outside. Instantly, Qu Yi, the Southern Envoy, Northern Envoy, Xuan Gu High Priest, Wei Yan, and Bai Yan stepped out of the dimension sphere. Qu Yi stopped the formation, and the others immediately struck, knocking the six high priests unconscious. Without hesitation, Qu Yi launched successive spiritual attacks on each of them, causing the spirit gods to implant soul shackles on them. “You bastards! You tricked and framed us… Ah, you’ve implanted soul shackles on us!” The Northern High Priest woke up first and cursed loudly, only to quickly realize his situation. The other five high priests were awakened by his cries and also realized their plight.

“Six of you, feel free to speak. Beitian Shangren, Zhongyang Shangren, Qiaoming Shangren, Yuefa Shangren, Jinghou Shangren, and Xuante Shangren—these six palace masters, seeing Qu Yi’s demeanor, realized that even the slightest dissatisfaction from him might result in a punch. Immediately, they changed their angry expressions to smiles. ‘Master,’ the six palace masters called out eagerly. …… Qu Yi had captured the six palace masters of Ziyang Palace, and now he was surrounded by them. Beitian Shangren, Zhongyang Shangren, Qiaoming Shangren, Yuefa Shangren, Jinghou Shangren, and Xuante Shangren gathered their strength and focused on Qu Yi. They still hadn’t figured out his personality and were afraid of offending him accidentally, only to suffer again from the fierce array—either dying from the flames or dying of shame. ‘Six palace masters, once you return to Ziyang Palace, go to each of the palaces and trick those five palace masters at the middle stage of exiting the body to come here. The reason is simple: while traveling outside, you discovered a mysterious cave that requires the strength of those at the middle stage of exiting the body to break through the final barrier of its protective array,’ Qu Yi said with a smile. Qu Yi decided to try the plan again and capture the other five palace masters at the same stage in Ziyang Palace. The six of them exchanged glances, clearly understanding that Qu Yi likely wanted to capture everyone in Ziyang Palace. Should they do it or not? After some deliberation, they all realized they had no choice but to comply, or face death. ‘Yes, Master,’ the six palace masters agreed one after another. Qu Yi waved his hand, sending them back to Ziyang Palace. Three days later, Beitian Shangren returned, accompanied by a middle-aged man in yellow robes. This man was at the middle stage of exiting the body and was Fu Fu Shangren, the master of Fufu Hall in Ziyang Palace. Beitian Shangren had previously been close to Fu Fu Shangren. As soon as he returned to Ziyang Palace, he flew to Fufu Hall and told him about the cave. Upon hearing that there was a mysterious cave in the Ziyang Mountains and that its protective array required the strength of those at the middle stage of exiting the body to break through, Fu Fu Shangren became eager. Knowing the cave must be extraordinary, he immediately urged Beitian Shangren to lead the way to the cave. ‘Fu Fu, the cave is right here. I can break through the first four barriers of the protective array, but I can’t break through the last one,’ Beitian Shangren said as he arrived at the cave entrance. Fu Fu Shangren scanned with his spiritual sense and confirmed that the protective array was indeed as Beitian Shangren had described, dispelling any remaining doubts.”

“Good, North Heaven Master, let’s break through this protective formation right now.” Fu Gu Master’s eyes burned with fervor, as if he were already about to seize the treasures in the cave dwelling.

Soon, the two broke through the first four levels of the formation. At the fifth level, North Heaven Master stopped moving and stared at Fu Gu Master, asking him to take on the final level alone.

“Hmph, watch me,” said Fu Gu Master, confident and excited.

He then took his magical staff, Cang Tu Gun, channeled his earth energy into it, and swung it down hard, aiming to shatter the formation with a single strike.

At that moment, North Heaven Master suddenly raised his palm and struck Fu Gu Master, who was swinging his staff at the formation. At the same time, Qu Yi, the Southern Envoy, the Northern Envoy, Xuan Gu Master, Wei Yan, and Bai Yan also emerged from the Dimensional Sphere and attacked Fu Gu Master with their palms.

Undoubtedly, with his staff in hand, Fu Gu Master had no strength left to defend against the attacks of these seven people. He was hit by seven palms at once, suffering severe internal injuries and collapsing to the ground.

“North Heaven, you despicable wretch! You colluded with outsiders to frame me…”

Smack!

As Fu Gu Master cursed in anger, Qu Yi stepped forward and delivered a loud slap, knocking him unconscious.

Immediately afterward, Qu Yi sent his spiritual consciousness into Fu Gu Master’s soul, then activated his divine instrument to implant a soul shackle on him.

After a while, Fu Gu Master regained consciousness. He looked at Qu Yi in terror, too afraid to speak a word, fearing another slap.

Qu Yi looked at him triumphantly and said, “Alright, now that you’re captured, rest well first. In the next few days, you’ll still need to help me capture the other palace masters.”

Fu Gu Master’s heart grew even colder as he realized a larger conspiracy was targeting Zi Yang Palace.

In the following days, Zhong Yang Master brought Qi Ming Master, Qiao Ming Master brought Yu Chen Master, Yue Fa Master brought Yao Yu Master, and Jing Hou Master brought Qiao Yan Master. Qu Yi, along with the Southern Envoy and others, launched successive ambushes and captured these four palace masters who were in the middle stage of leaving their bodies.

Thus, Qu Yi now controlled fourteen out of the fifteen palaces of Zi Yang Palace. As for the last palace, the Palace of Imperial Inscriptions, its master had just reached the late stage of leaving his body and was in seclusion to strengthen his cultivation, so there was no chance to trick him into coming over.

At this moment, Qu Yi was in the cave he had prepared, removing the “Illusory Path Formation” and recalling his Fulong Sword before turning to look at the people before him. The eleven palace masters of Ziyang Palace—Beitian Shangren, Zhongyang Shangren, Qiaoming Shangren, Yuefa Shangren, Jinghou Shangren, and Xuantai Shangren—were all in the early stage of exiting their bodies. Fuyu Shangren, Qiming Shangren, Yuchen Shangren, Yaoyu Shangren, and Qiaoyan Shangren were all in the middle stage. Nan Shi, Bei Shi, Xuan Gu Shangren, and Bai Yan were all in the middle stage as well. Wei Yan was in the early stage. Looking at the power at his disposal, Qu Yi was filled with ambition and already had plans to eliminate Ziyang Palace.