After Xu Qing entered the hand, the Captain gritted his teeth. Grabbing the hand, he swung it around as hard as he could and then hurled it over the wall.2

The hand became a streak of light that shot into the palace complex. The moment it entered the complex, the warding spells activated again. However, the hand was extremely tough, so its flesh ended up lacerated and cut down to the bone, but it made it into the courtyard intact.0

Before long, the hand’s mouth opened and Xu Qing stepped out. He looked around.0

Of the nine palaces that made the phoenix-shaped complex, the middle one was glowing with violet light. Simultaneously, a similarly colored light was shining in Xu Qing’s bag of holding. A jade slip flew out of the bag of holding, moving of its own accord to hover in front of him. It was the same jade slip Arch-Immortal Plumdark had given him, which contained protective power from her. The moment it was out in the open, it pulsed with light.6

The light in the palace flickered in response. A blurry figure appeared within the violet light in the palace, floating there and looking at him.1

Xu Qing’s heart flip-flopped.7

It...0