Chapter 2340: Unforeseen Event
Zu An took the women around the palace. They were always able to avoid the patrolling guards ahead of time. The Monster Lord wasn’t here, so he could use his divine sense freely like a radar. Of course, that was also thanks to Salamay’s attack on the Imperial Prison drawing most of the guards’ attention. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to find so many holes in the security to slip through.
They quickly arrived at the storehouse. Zu An put on a set of palace emissary clothes he had prepared beforehand, and the women put on palace guard clothes. They then strutted straight inside.
“Halt!” Some guards quickly noticed them. The leader moved his hand to his weapon and looked at Zu An vigilantly. However, when he saw the palace emissary clothes, he sighed in relief.
“The lord had me come and fetch some things,” Zu An said while secretly observing the guards’ positions.
The leader sheathed his weapon. He gestured with one hand hand. “Please show us the lord’s seal.”
He took out half of a seal, clearly intending to verify Zu An’s identity on the spot.
Zu An noticed that the seal was shaped a bit like a tiger talisman. It was clear that the other half bestowed by the Monster Lord was also needed for them to open up the treasury.
I miscalculated. Salamay’s intelligence didn’t include this information before. I wonder if they did it on purpose or if they really didn’t know.
The women were worried, but Zu An reacted quickly. He reached into his pocket to pretend that he was taking out his seal. The leader reflexively glanced in that direction, but just then, Zu An suddenly struck. The leader was caught off guard and had all of his acupoints restrained before he could react.
The leader wasn’t weak, but against someone with Zu An’s current cultivation, what could he do against a surprise attack? He lost all strength as his blade was only half-drawn. The women also attacked the other guards at the same time. Of course, they were already among the strongest of the Cultivation World. They had been preparing for situations like this, so they also immediately managed to seize control of the situation.
“You aren’t a palace emissary! Who are you really?” The leader had a look of horror.
Zu An said in a serious tone, “Who I am is not important. Open the storeroom.”
A wave of ki entered the leader's body and stabbed at every single acupoint like a million needles. He screamed in pain, but hissed, “It’s useless even if you kill me. Only when the two seals are combined can this storeroom be opened.”
Zu An had already prepared a soundproofing barrier to stop the screams. He frowned when he heard that, though. The situation was a bit tricky.
Xie Daoyun had already taken the leader's half of the seal and walked up to the door. She stared at a concave recess in it and said, “He is most likely telling the truth. These doors operate based on an extremely intricate formation. They will only open when the complete seal is inserted here.”
“Will brute force work?” Yun Yuqing asked.
Xie Daoyun shook her head. “No. Also, forget about the fact that this door is made of a special material, making it as impenetrable as a mountain, the runes on the door also contain powerful offensive formations. Using brute force would produce devastating retaliation in return, and the disturbance alone would draw the attention of the palace’s guards.”
“Then what do we do?” Yun Yuqing was incredibly nervous. She knew they didn’t have that much time. If they were stopped over here, everything would be ruined at the last step.
“It’s a pity that we don’t know the other half of the runes. Otherwise, we could make one on the spot," Xie Daoyun said.
This seal’s most important part was the runes engraved on it. With Zu An and Xie Daoyun’s knowledge of formations, they could deduce the other half of the runes. However, that would take some time, and by the time they found the solution, the guards would probably rush over, making their efforts completely meaningless.
Just then, Jiang Luofu suddenly said, “Let me give it a try.”
Xie Daoyun couldn't help but give her a look. Even though Jiang Luofu was well-learned, she didn’t seem to have ever heard of the latter having much formation knowledge. And even if she was good at it, how could she be better than big brother Zu?
Zu An knew that Jiang Luofu wasn’t the type to try something without already having something in mind. He handed the seal to her.
Jiang Luofu took out a scale-shaped magical artifact. Zu An had seen it before; it seemed to represent the fairness of the law. She had taken it out to fight when the Jiang clan was in danger. She placed the seal on one side, and her hands formed several seals. She displayed some techniques quickly, and streaks of light shone on the scale. Suddenly, a holographic image of the other half of the seal actually appeared!
Zu An and Xie Daoyun were shocked. The tiger talisman’s runes were clearly visible. With their knowledge of formations, they immediately knew that the image was of the other half.
“How did you…” The two of them had never thought her scale could have such an ability!
“Don’t waste any time. I can’t hold on for that long,” Jiang Luofu said quickly.
Zu An and Xie Daoyun collected their thoughts and carefully studied the patterns on the seal. They quickly memorized it. Then, Zu An took out a piece of jade. His fingers moved like the wind, quickly carving on the surface.
…
Meanwhile, the Monster Lord had been reclining leisurely while sipping on blood wine. Suddenly, his expression changed. He took out the seal at his waist and sensed burning heat coming from its surface. His expression changed. “Who dares to try to imitate my seal?!” He pressed down on the seal to cut the connection.
“We’re going back to the palace immediately!” he snapped, all thoughts of leisure completely leaving his mind. He quickly got up and walked out.
“But Salamay’s group is currently attacking the palace. Wouldn’t our previous plan be ruined if we returned now?” a palace emissary asked.
“Hmph, the things in the treasury are far more important than Salamay. I want to see just who dares to sneak into my treasury like a rat!” As he spoke, the Monster Lord got on the three-headed bird’s back and rushed into the air toward the palace.
The palace emissaries quickly followed behind him, but they couldn't keep up with the Monster Lord at all.
…
Spurt!
Jiang Luofu suddenly vomited blood outside the palace gate.
“Little aunt!” Ji Xiaoxi was startled and quickly took out a pill to feed her. However, Jiang Luofu's eyes remained closed and her beautiful face had a sickly pale cast. Ji Xiaoxi couldn't hold onto her properly and she fell straight to the ground.
Fortunately, Zu An moved quickly and caught Jiang Luofu. He checked her pulse and quickly sensed that a dangerous power seemed to be spreading through her entire body. He quickly used the Heaven Devouring Sutra; his palm became like a black hole that sucked away all of that power.
Jiang Luofu then gradually woke up. When she saw that she was in Zu An’s arms, she was a bit stunned. However, she quickly said anxiously, “Hurry! We seem to have been noticed by the Monster Lord!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already severed his tracking energy. Even if he comes back, he won’t be able to find out that it was you.” Zu An felt really glad that he was able to do this. The Monster Lord was really a bit too strong, and was actually able to track Jiang Luofu with so much distance between them! It was only thanks to his Heaven Devouring Sutra mixed with the Kun Peng's absorption force that he was able to stop the process, or else there really wouldn’t have been anything he could do about that dangerous power.
“But he will definitely know that there’s something wrong with the storeroom…” Jiang Luofu was still worried.
“That's why things can only depend on who's faster now.” Zu An’s expression was grave. He handed her to Pei Mianman, then moved over to Xie Daoyun.
“It’s done!” Xie Daoyun hadn’t wasted any time. She had been focused on carving the rune formation the entire time.
Zu An received the seal from her and pieced it together with the half taken from the guard, placing both into the door’s indentation.
The women stared at the door nervously. They saw a blue light shine from the combined seal, and then the runes around the indentation lit up. The door slowly opened. All of them cheered happily!
The guard leader's eyes widened when he saw that. He had never expected that even something like this was possible!
When the women entered the storeroom, the scene that met their eyes left all of them shocked.
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