"A strange restriction."
Dan Barrow glanced at the vicious little homunculi, his heart skipping a beat. Each one seemed forged from the soul of a powerful cultivator—terrifyingly strong, driven only by slaughter.
These strange cubes formed an incredibly complex lock, runes shimmering across their surfaces. Only when the runes were aligned could the lock be opened—otherwise, the homunculi would be unleashed!
There were countless translucent cubes, so many it was impossible to count. When the Sigil-Cube's runes mapped onto a cube, that cube would retreat and vanish.
"Unlocking this restriction is incredibly complicated. Without the Sigil-Cube, it's nearly impossible!"
The Sigil-Cube spun ceaselessly, its fourteen faces projecting ever-shifting runes, forcing the cubes ahead to continuously retreat.
The Sigil-Cube floated forward, and the turtle-backed guard stepped ahead. Dan Barrow hurried to follow, keeping pace through a long corridor until, suddenly, the space opened up before them.
Inside the golden hall was another world entirely. From the outside, it looked small, but within, it was at least ten times larger—rows of pillars lined up, and altars of all sizes, each bearing a bizarre treasure.
The turtle-backed guard, carrying the Grand Guardian's Sword, strode forward with a smile. "Such a precious treasure must be kept in the deepest, most honored place. My cultivation isn't strong enough to seal it; only the Witch-Venerable can do that. Dan Barrow, you've made a great contribution—even I'm envious!"
Dan Barrow quickly grinned, "I got more than one treasure off that Everpeace fellow. There's also a little jade bottle—probably sacred medicine. I sniffed it, and the scent was so marvelous I almost felt like I'd become immortal..."
He pulled a small jade bottle from his sleeve. The turtle-backed guard’s eyes lit up and he snatched it away, laughing, "Dan Barrow, you’ve done a great deed—the Witch-Venerable will surely reward you handsomely. I brought you here ahead of time to pick out treasures, so you’d better show me some respect! I’ll take the sacred medicine in this jade bottle!"
Dan Barrow’s face twisted in pain.
Seeing his pained expression, the turtle-backed guard chuckled, "Stingy." With that, he twisted open the jade bottle and sniffed it under his nose.
"So fragrant—hmm—so—so—sweet…"
The guard’s face still wore a satisfied grin as he toppled over, stiff as a board.
Dan Barrow held his breath, quickly snatched back the jade bottle, corked it tightly, and didn’t dare inhale. After some thought, he produced another bottle, bottling the air around him, then pried open the guard’s mouth and wedged the uncorked bottle inside for him to hold.
"This way, he won’t wake up for a while. Whew—"
Dan Barrow exhaled a long breath, then began to shed his disguise. From within Dan Barrow’s skin, another person emerged—it was Quinn Shepherd.
"I guess I’m using demonic methods now, too."
Quinn glanced at the discarded skin on the floor and shook his head. Granny Sue could wear other people’s skins and change forms at will, but he still felt a psychological shadow from it.
Quinn retrieved the Grand Guardian’s Sword, rummaged through the turtle-backed guard’s belongings, found the Sigil-Cube and tucked it away, then picked out a few other odds and ends.
After searching thoroughly, he found nothing else useful and gave up.
"Divine Firmament Heaven Eye, open! Azure Firmament Heaven Eye, open!"
With the Divine Firmament and Azure Firmament Heaven Eyes activated, layers upon layers of runes formed twin heavens in Quinn’s pupils. Everything around him became sharply defined.
Every golden altar here was shrouded in seals, much like the cubes he’d seen before. Each cube concealed a vicious little homunculus—twisted features, wild hair, razor-sharp claws and fangs—visible only through the Heaven Eyes.
Quinn picked up the Sigil-Cube and studied the fourteen runes on its faces. After comparing them, he shook his head—this artifact was only a key for the golden hall’s door, not for the altar seals.
He hurried past altar after altar. Outside, Lynn Ling was likely still blocking the entrance, but her skills, though improved by learning Barrett’s Battle-Method fusion, were still a notch below his—she wouldn’t hold out long.
The treasures atop the golden altars were all different. Many were unique to the Loulan Golden Palace, crafted with sinister ingenuity—paintings on flayed human skin inscribed with runes, skull bowls, drums made from human hide, bone banners, Thousand-Poison Soul-Devouring Banners, and bone shrines, all wicked artifacts of the demonic path.
But aside from these, there were also many dazzling treasures, radiating golden light—likely artifacts forged by Witch Kings themselves.
Quinn also spotted some treasures that didn’t belong to the Witch-Cult: a Thousand-Banner Pagoda, Buddha relics—probably Buddhist sacred artifacts—a grape-sized Sword Pill, an ancient guqin scorched at one end, and a broken sword.