Sword Among Us

As the last divine weapon was destroyed by Martial Paragon Bi Xuan, the magnetic force in the hall was completely thrown into disorder.

Boom…!

The sound of springs were deafening, and they rose from every corner of the hall. It gave the people the feeling that the entire hall was trembling.

They had just experienced Great Sky Force Formation, and more than one hundred people died. The people remaining did not dare to be inattentive. They formed formations and were wary while they were on guard against the area around them. They were worried that a powerful trap would appear again.

Those in the dao of heaven could not be certain whether the booming sounds were good news either. They did not dare to lower their guard and looked around the hall nervously as they tried to look for the source of the noise.

‘It’s rising!’

Happy was the first to notice the changes in the hall.

He saw the bottoms of the forty-nine large pits were slowly being lifted until they were on level ground with the ground in the hall.

One, two…

More people noticed that the holes around them were filled to become a smooth ground.

Only the thin sword holes and the corpses all over the ground showed that the Great Sky Force Formation just now was not an illusion.

Rumble!

As more holes were filled, the walls around the hall were also pushed up high by cylindrical pillars which were positioned intermittently between each other.

The tightly shut hall turned into a mighty field supported by forty-nine stone pillars, and brilliant light shone from all directions…

“This is… the desert palace!”

While the people were shocked by the ingenious work of the creator of the hall, they finally saw the situation outside the hall through the stone pillars.

The area outside the hall was formed by a circular moat, and it isolated the palace in the center.

Less than 328 feet right ahead of them was a golden palace. It stood there in an incredibly majestic manner. White jade was used as its stairs, green jade was used as the railing, and gold was used to form the palace itself.

At first glance, it was as if this was a huge palace made of gold. There were even two mighty and awe-inspiring Qilin statues placed outside the door. They were also gold, and they protected the palace gate. No words could describe how lavish and noble the palace looked.

Even though martial artists usually regarded gold as nothing, when they saw this scene, they still felt their emotions surge, and they could not become calm even after a long time had passed.

“This is the desert palace…”

“My eyes aren’t playing tricks with me, are they…? Even the palace itself is made of gold… My God…” The sect masters in the world of wanderers had similar expressions right now. They were dumbfounded, and their eyes sparkled.

“…”

There was not even a need to mention Thousand-faced Human Fox.

As one of the four Divine Thieves in the Chinese plains, his eyes practically popped out of their eye sockets, since this was the first time he entered the ancient desert palace, which was a place filled with gold. He rubbed his hands together while he looked at the area. His breathing gradually became heavy, and if it were not for the fact that Happy was still beside him, he might have not been able to suppress his urge and had rushed forward.

“Martial Paragon!”

“The treasures in the desert palace are all of astonishing quality. If we can get all the treasures in the desert palace, the day in which we march into the Chinese plains with the Khan’s help will not be far off.”

Bi Xuan’s men were all incredibly excited.

The old zither player’s students were all very excited.

“Sir!”

“…”

But the old zither player stared at the golden palace 328 feet away with a hesitant look on his face. He frowned and said nothing.

“It’s still too early for us to be happy. Look at what’s around us.”

There was finally someone who did not put his full attention on the golden palace 328 feet away. Due to Ye Gucheng’s reminder, they looked away and started sizing up the strange moat beside them.

The moat was indeed rather strange.

Even though it was 328 feet wide, the color of the water in it was very strange.

It was not clear river water. On the contrary, the air above the moat was filled with a faint smell of incense. There was also a rather pungent smell in it.

Someone instantly. They moved to the edge of the hall and bent down with the intention to observe it.

But right when they bent down, they staggered, and they fell straight into the moat.

“Careful!”

The person who bent down was a subordinate of Martial Paragon Bi Xuan. Fortunately, his companion beside him reacted in time. When he saw that the situation was bad, he reached out and pulled his companion back.

“What’s going on?”

This person was at the peak of Myth Realm. He had only bent down slightly, and he nearly fell into the moat. Instantly, the moat was shrouded in a mysterious layer of peculiarity and danger.

The group surrounded the moat.

“Let me see…”

The old zither player spoke.

After all, the temporary alliance had not been cancelled yet. Besides, when they were in the hall, the old zither player had taken action to protect Bi Xuan’s people. The martial paragon nodded. He ordered someone to send the unconscious person before the old zither player.”

“Mister Zither Player…”

“Is he poisoned?”

The people in the hall were all experienced wanderers. When they saw the person’s situation, they knew that the person was most probably poisoned.

The old zither player did not immediately answer the question. Instead, he checked the unconscious person’s eyes and chest before he nodded slowly. “He’s poisoned.”

“What sort of poison could be so strong?”

Even a Myth Realm elite had been poisoned silently. Naturally, it was not a common poison.

“Judging by the situation, he’s poisoned by mercury. But the poisonous gases from mercury is practically non-threatening to people at our level. There should be some other form of poisonous gas in it. After it’s mixed with the mercury gas, it became exceptionally strong…” When he said this, the old zither player’s expression became stern. “As of right now, I have no way of being certain of what sort of poison our friend has. But I can be certain that it has to do with the mercury moat!”

“Mercury moat?”

The people looked at each other in shock.

The old zither player nodded slowly.

“Indeed.” He stroked his long beard and said, “Mausoleums of emperors will usually have powerful mercury serving as traps so that no one can enter it. This desert palace might not be a mausoleum, but since it contains treasures that can fight against a country, the person who had been in charge of the country and created this palace must definitely not hope that his treasure would be taken by others so easily…”

“This old man is pretty interesting.” Thousand-faced Human Fox sent Happy a private message. “The mercury trap is indeed a method that many of the royal mausoleums will definitely use. But this is the first time I’ve seen someone use so much mercury to create a moat. I believe that the treasures in there are definitely incredibly extraordinary.”

“You’re one of the four Divine Thieves in the Chinese plains. You’ve definitely visited quite a lot of mausoleums belonging to emperors, right?”

Happy had a thought appear in his head.

When Happy mentioned his life of stealing from mausoleums, Thousand-faced Human Fox felt incredibly smug.

“Of course. If I’ve never gone to a royal mausoleum before, how could I even say that I’m a thief?”

“Alright, stop feeling so smug. Since you’re experienced, you should have witnessed this poison, right?” Happy had a professional narrator with him, so he naturally did not need to listen to the old zither player. He just asked Thousand-faced Human Fox.

The latter smiled.

“You guessed right. Last time, when I visited a royal mausoleum, I did encounter a similar poison. It’s the same as the current situation.”

“What exactly is this poison? Why is it so domineering?”

“The things that the royal family use are always fatal and cannot be cured. They never show mercy. If it’s not domineering, how could they show that the royal family is not to be infringed upon?” Thousand-faced Human Fox explained calmly.

“Are you saying that the person can’t be saved anymore?”

Happy’s heart tensed it.

Thousand-faced Human Fox nodded slightly. He moved his lips and explained, “Just now, if that person hadn’t personally tested the mercury, I wouldn’t have thought that the desert palace would use so much money to build a mercury moat. They even put in meditation incense above the moat.”

“Meditation incense?”

“Yeah. Meditation incense is originally not poisonous. But when it fuses with mercury, it will form an endless wave of poisonous gas. Those who smell it will fall unconscious and die. Fortunately, even though this gas can be produced quickly, it also disappears just as quickly. Unless we get close to the surface of the moat, it’ll be difficult for us to inhale the poison,” Thousand-faced Human Fox explained.

Thousand-faced Human Fox’s explanation caused Happy to sigh in relief. He was really worried that he would suck in this incurable poison.

“…”

In less than fifteen minutes, the Myth Realm elite who inhaled the poisonous gas inhaled his last breath in front of the old zither player.

The old zither player frowned and sighed. “What a domineering poisonous gas…”

“Everyone, stay away from the moat.” When Bi Xuan saw how his subordinate had died strangely, he was naturally not in a good mood.

For a period of time, the people in the hall became incredibly wary of the moat.

However…

The elites could only look at the golden palace, which was right across the moat. Even if the air above the moat was filled with dangers, they still did not want to miss the treasures in front of them.

“As long as you hold your breath and not inhale the poisonous gas, you should be fine.”

“A’li, your lightness skill is the best! This way… we’ll protect both of you. You fly over!”

Martial Paragon Bi Xuan’s people seemed like they did not fear death at all. The death of their comrades did not make them sink into fear. They quickly thought of a way and carried out their plans.

“Alright!”

The people all had the idea of letting others take the risk for them. They just watched the martial paragon’s people walk to the edge of the moat.

The elites in the dao of heaven did not say anything. They stood by the side and watched carefully.

The swordsman in the black armor was the only who remained calm. However, he would occasionally look at Happy, Osaya, and Thousand-faced Human Fox through the corner of his eyes. It seemed like the trio’s actions caught his attention.

At this moment, Happy and Thousand-faced Human Fox were talking about whether there was a method to get rid of the meditation incense. When they saw that the people from the martial paragon had already started to take action because they could not hold back. Thousand-faced Human Fox started to take pleasure in their misfortune.

“Heh… The martial paragon is about to lose people.”

“You just mentioned that the meditation incense and mercury won’t mix together for long, and there is a large limitation to its area of effect. As long as we don’t accidentally inhale it, it won’t threaten us… Bi Xuan isn’t an idiot. We can tell based on how long we haven’t been poisoned that as long as we succeed in getting over, Bi Xuan will get the initiative. They will have the right to take control of the desert palace’s treasures. Do you really think he’s an idiot just because he has a lot of people on his side?”

Happy saw through Bi Xuan’s intentions.

“Master, do you really think that this is a normal mercury moat. If this is just a faint layer of poisonous gas, then you’d be underestimating the person who created this trap. This is a moat that used a lot of money to build. It’s practically just child’s play for the trap master to put a few fatal traps into the moat.”

Right after he finished speaking, the person from the martial paragon flew over the edge of the moat and headed into the distance.

But right after he flew less than ten feet, that person suddenly opened his mouth and cried out. “No!”

Before the people in the hall knew what was going on, they saw the person changing direction in the air. His face was full of shock and despair. It was as if he saw something incredibly terrifying! However, right after he spoke and turned around, his true qi spilled out of him, and he fell into the moat, and he was instantly swallowed by mercury.