After One Incense Stick, Fang Chen and the others arrived before a magnificent palace, grander even than the seven-colored Glazed Hall he had seen in Glazed Ancient City.
The palace doors stood open. Bloodstains covered the entrance, and bodies lay strewn across it in every direction. Some belonged to the Misty Sect, the Eight Trigrams Gate, and the Lingyun Sword Sect; others belonged to different sects. A few had already rotted, having apparently died long ago.
Chen Xiaofei took in the scene and said, "Looks like someone beat us here!"
Yan Ziyi stared at the palace doors, her expression grave. "Everyone, be ready. This place is dangerous!"
Everyone immediately gripped their swords and stayed on high alert.
Fang Chen looked up at the doors. "Wait here. I'll go in and see what's inside!"
"Okay!"
Everyone nodded. Fang Chen had reached the Twelfth Layer of Qi Refining and was far stronger than they were. Even if danger lurked inside, he should be able to handle it.
Standing at the entrance, Fang Chen peered into the Great Hall and saw even more bodies. He crouched and searched them, only to find that everything they had carried was gone. Evidently, not everyone who had entered the Great Hall had died. The survivors had stripped the dead of their treasures.
The Great Hall was vast. Two rows of towering White Jade pillars stretched deep into its interior.
Floating Immortal Sword in hand, Fang Chen walked straight into the Great Hall. The moment he crossed the threshold, he felt the invisible force that had been suppressing him vanish. He tried sweeping the Great Hall with his Spiritual Sense and found that it could leave his body again.
He swept the entire Great Hall with his Spiritual Sense but detected no living beings. The place was