Although the Underground Palace lay beneath the lake, this place was crisscrossed with formations that shut out the damp. Aside from the darkness, the palace was neither cold nor wet.
After Madam Qianrou and the other members of the Demon Race had left, she warily swept her gaze around. Once she confirmed that no one was there, she slowly walked toward a solid stone wall.
She moved aside the shelves holding treasures in front of the stone wall, revealing its original appearance.
The stone wall was bluish-black and looked exceptionally sturdy. Complex runes had been carved into it to reinforce it, making the wall seem like steel and even more impregnable.
Madam Qianrou walked up to the stone wall, formed a hand seal over her abdomen, and began muttering incantations. In an instant, the runes on the wall shone brightly. With a thunderous rumble, the wall split down the middle and shifted toward both sides.
When the stone wall opened, another stone chamber appeared behind it. Many shelves stood inside, piled with countless treasures.
But Madam Qianrou did not even glance at them. After entering the stone chamber, she walked toward one of its walls.
She formed another hand seal and began muttering incantations.
The stone wall opened again, and a brand-new stone chamber appeared before Madam Qianrou.
In this manner, Madam Qianrou successively opened more than a dozen stone chambers before finally arriving at the most secret chamber in the Underground Palace.
This stone chamber contained neither shelves holding treasures nor chests piled high with rare and precious items. Instead, the air was suffused with a faint scent of blood.
What was astonishing was that... the scent of blood was like honey, exuding a faint, sweet fragrance that made one yearn for it.
A strangely shaped, hideous Automaton Beast