Lu Xueqi and Bi Yao

"In other words, every time the Purple Gold Python fell asleep, it really only slept for the time it took an incense stick to burn. Then it would wake for two hours before going back to sleep."

Zixia Master nodded and said, "Mm. We'll remember that timing. Start counting from now. Once two hours have passed and the Purple Gold Python falls asleep again, we'll act at once. Remember, we only have the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Within that time, we must sneak into the palace, obtain the fragment, and then leave the secret realm. We absolutely cannot get greedy. Once we have the fragment, we retreat immediately. Understood?"

"Understood!" the fifty Zixia Sect disciples answered in unison, their voices filled with resolve.

Time crawled by. Those two hours felt longer than an entire year. Everyone hid in the passage, not even daring to breathe too loudly for fear of alerting the Purple Gold Python. Fairy Yue Hua kept thinking of Su Han, wondering how he was now, and whether he was still alive. She swore to herself that she had to obtain the fragment. She could not let Su Han's sacrifice go to waste.

At last, two hours passed. The Purple Gold Python's eyes began to grow hazy, and its body swayed slightly, as if drowsiness had overtaken it. After another short while, the Purple Gold Python could no longer hold out. Its eyes slowly closed, and its body coiled in front of the divine palace as it sank into deep sleep once more. Its thunderous breathing rang out again.

"Now. Move!" Zixia Master barked in a low voice. His figure flashed, and he was the first to rush out of the passage, darting swiftly toward the Zixia Divine Palace. Fairy Yue Hua and the