Chapter 274

Xiao Minghuang's delicate and pretty face revealed a look of joy.

"Princess Xiao is truly a woman of unparalleled talent!"

Xie Ziyin was amazed. This palace was once the Supreme Being's training ground. Although it had decayed considerably over the years, the fact that it could be breached still showed that Princess Xiao's strength far surpassed hers.

After all, even if she were to work on it for decades, she wouldn't be able to create a single crack.

"Princess, let's go inside and take a look."

Luo Qianhua said somewhat impatiently.

Just as everyone was about to enter the main hall to find out what was going on...

The magnificent palace shrank rapidly, like a balloon with a hole in it.

In the blink of an eye, the enormous palace shrank to the size of a fist.

"What's going on?" Luo Qianhua and the others were stunned, their faces full of astonishment.

Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly, her gaze sweeping over Xu Xiuer beside her. Xu Xiuer also looked surprised and guessed, "Perhaps the illusion array has been broken, and the magic weapon has revealed its true form."

In an instant, the miniature palace, the size of a fist, transformed into an exquisite hourglass-shaped vessel, its surface shimmering with a strange luster and faintly exuding an aura of age and vicissitude.

Strangely, the hourglass was empty; there was neither flowing water nor flowing sand.

Xu Xiuer stared at the hourglass, pondered for a moment, and said, "Perhaps it's a magical artifact similar to an hourglass."

Luo Qianhua nodded, her beautiful eyes gazing at the small, exquisite hourglass. "In that case, let's collect this magical artifact first."

Upon hearing this, Xie Ziyin warned, "Be careful, there might be danger."

"Having entered this treasure mountain, how can I leave empty-handed?" Luo Qianhua stepped forward without hesitation and grabbed the hourglass.

She moved so fast that even Xiao Minghuang didn't have time to stop her.

The moment she grasped the hourglass, the previously steady hourglass suddenly began to shake violently, and a crystal-clear drop of water condensed and slid down from the top of the hourglass in an instant.

Time, which had been stagnant, seemed to begin flowing again in that instant.

Or perhaps, the flow of time stands still at this moment.

Or perhaps, the ever-forward flow of time is reversed in that instant.

As the water droplets fell, the once dull hourglass suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, stirring up a layer of white ripples.

Under the radiant light, countless tiny runes appeared, intertwining with each other, and in almost an instant, they enveloped the entire space.

As the dramatic changes occurred, the surrounding space also shifted, as if we had fallen into another dimension, where the world spun and time and space became disordered.

The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard.

Xiao Minghuang immediately took action, intending to pull Luo Qianhua away.

But just as she grabbed the other person's wrist, a vortex suddenly opened up, swallowing them both up and leaving no trace.

"Your Highness!"

"Princess Xiao!"

Xu Xiuer and Xie Ziyin rushed forward, but the vortex quickly disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving only a dull hourglass lying on the ground, devoid of its mystique.

In the darkness and nothingness, it seemed as if countless voices were whispering in my ear.

There is joy, there is sorrow, there is greed, anger, and ignorance, there is separation from loved ones, and there is meeting with those one hates.

In a state of confusion, Xiao Minghuang held Luo Qianhua's hand tightly and never let go.

After an unknown period of time, she felt as if she had been pulled into an unknown world.

Soon, I felt grounded again.

Breathing in the fresh air, Xiao Minghuang opened her eyes and found herself standing in a quiet courtyard.

It is surrounded by green trees, and filled with the sounds of birds and the fragrance of flowers.

"Where is this place? An illusion?" Xiao Minghuang looked around, a look of doubt appearing in his eyes.

She looked to her side and saw Luo Qianhua looking blank and shocked, as if she had lost her soul.

"Alliance Leader Luo?"

Xiao Minghuang called out repeatedly, but there was no response until she gently patted the other person's shoulder, at which point she received a reply.

"What's wrong?"

Why are you so distraught?

"N-nothing... I don't know where this is either. Let's look around." Luo Qianhua forced a smile, her words somewhat incoherent, yet also trying to appear calm.

After saying that, she turned and walked out of the courtyard.

Watching Luo Qianhua's departing figure, Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

She immediately followed.

In any case, the first thing to do is figure out where I am and why I was suddenly teleported here from the ancient tomb.

"It must be related to that hourglass."

Xiao Minghuang made a guess in her mind.

As soon as she stepped out of the courtyard, Xiao Minghuang's brows furrowed, and her delicate nose twitched as she caught a whiff of blood.

The gaze shifted, and there lay an old man dead on the ground, a huge gash on one side of his body, his death gruesome.

"This is..." Xiao Minghuang's pupils suddenly contracted.

Seeing this, Luo Qianhua quickly ran over, examined the old man's body, and murmured, "He's been dead for about half an hour. The person who killed him shouldn't be far away."

Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly and asked, "Who is he?"

Luo Qianhua, "This person is named Zhao Yunhai, Guest Elder, and an alchemist."

"How did you know?" Xiao Minghuang's gaze was sharp, as if she could see through everything.

Luo Qianhua lifted the old man's clothes, revealing the nameplate that had been hidden.

Two lines of small print were written on it:

Guest Elder, Alchemist, Zhao Yunhai.

350. The Luo Sisters

Next, Xiao Minghuang continued walking outside, encountering horrific scenes along the way.

Everyone died a gruesome death, their blood staining the grass red.

Xiao Minghuang could tell that most of these people were ordinary people without cultivation, while the old man who had died tragically was the only martial artist in this mansion with cultivation, but he was only at the Body Realm.

Soon, they arrived at a place that looked like the main hall.

Inside, in the main seat, a middle-aged man dressed in fine clothes was pinned to the chair by a long sword, his eyes wide open, his face contorted in pain and grotesque.

The man was dressed in rich attire and possessed an exceptionally handsome appearance.

Sadly, he has now perished, dying with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

Upon seeing the middle-aged man, Luo Qianhua's pretty face instantly turned ashen.

"These beasts!"

She crushed the nameplate between her fingers, her delicate fingers turning blue and white from the excessive force.

Rumble~

In an instant, a thunderclap resounded in the void, and a torrential downpour of wind and rain poured down. The large tree in the courtyard was struck by lightning and snapped in two!

In the raging thunder and rain, Luo Qianhua looked up at the sky, her eyes filled with boundless rage and boundless hatred.

Xiao Minghuang sighed softly, then formed a hand seal and used her causal supernatural power. Countless mysterious runes danced around her, searching for the true culprit in this matter.

A moment later, Xiao Minghuang withdrew her divine power, and the mysterious runes disappeared.

She slowly opened her eyes, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, and murmured, "There's a profound cause and effect behind this!"

Luo Qianhua was so immersed in grief that she didn't notice her words and actions at all.

Just now, Xiao Minghuang used her causal supernatural powers to investigate the whereabouts of the perpetrator, but after connecting several ordinary mortals and a minor cultivator with causal lines, she suddenly encountered a major causal connection with a Saint King, preventing her from exploring further at will.

"I'm only at the King Realm. If I'm not careful, I might suffer a backlash!"

Xiao Minghuang looked wary, the consequences of Xu Xiuer's backlash still fresh in her mind.

Learning from the past is essential for the future.

Let's take it one step at a time and see.

With her abilities, finding the perpetrator wouldn't be difficult; in fact, she probably already has.

But her concern wasn't for the few mortals who directly attacked, but for the mysterious Holy King standing behind them.

Xiao Minghuang thought to himself, "With my current strength, even if I were to face a Saint King, I wouldn't be without the power to fight back."

In fact, if this Holy King hadn't been a prodigy, she wouldn't have needed to run away.

After obtaining the Six Directions, Eight Desolations, Five Directions, and Five Dippers Star Chart, her entire star array was basically complete, and she was not afraid at all, even when facing a Saint King!

Xiao Minghuang pondered to himself, based on Luo Qianhua's reaction upon arriving at this place, she should know where she is.

Moreover, she had just witnessed Luo Qianhua's anger and sorrow in the main hall, and those emotions were so real and intense that she could empathize with them.

Having embarked on the path of cultivation for so many years, she had long since become accustomed to life and death. A few mere corpses could not stir even the slightest ripple in her mind.

But the deceased in this mansion... she guessed, were very likely relatives of Luo Qianhua...

Although she couldn't know why she was here.

"... Perhaps it's the power of that hourglass?"

Xiao Minghuang's thoughts raced. Before they were swept into the vortex, Luo Qianhua was holding onto the hourglass, and she was holding onto Luo Qianhua.

Later, they were brought here, perhaps using the time and space experienced by Luo Qianhua as their coordinates.

"Could this be... her hometown? Is this some point in time that Luo Qianhua experienced before...?"

Xiao Minghuang murmured to herself.

If that's the case, then everything makes sense.

Immediately, she snapped out of her thoughts, walked over to Luo Qianhua, and patted her shoulder.

"Now that we're here, at least we can avenge them ourselves."

Xiao Minghuang gently took her hand and pulled her cold, trembling body closer, his touch both tender and firm.

Luo Qianhua's delicate body trembled. She raised her head to look at Xiao Minghuang, her vision blurred by tears.

"Thank you..."

"Come on, I'll take you to get revenge!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Qianhua was stunned for a moment before realizing she was overworked, and seemed somewhat incredulous.

"I... I..."

Xiao Minghuang sighed softly, "Haven't you made it clear enough? Everyone here should be related to you, right?"

Seeing that her disguise had been completely exposed, Luo Qianhua collapsed into Xiao Minghuang's arms as if all her armor had been removed, and burst into tears.

"Waaah~"

At this moment, the grievances and anger that she had suppressed for so long were finally released, and she cried her heart out, just like a child.

This is her home!

In her young eyes, it was her whole world.

The men, women, and children of the mansion lay dead before her eyes, their deaths gruesome and tragic. How could she possibly accept it?

"Alright, I'll take you away from here." Xiao Minghuang picked her up and walked towards the door.

"Mmm," Luo Qianhua replied, her voice choked with emotion.