The black-robed man and the Asura Puppet Ghost, locked in combat, both noticed the commotion Shen Luo had caused. Their palms clashed fiercely, driving each other back, before both swooped toward him.
Yan Wushi's eyelid twitched at the sight, and he cursed inwardly. Didn't you say you'd only take a quick look and be right back?
How was this a covert investigation? You were clearly provoking them on purpose!
Still, complaints aside, he could hardly stand idly by now. He immediately revealed himself and moved to lend a hand.
The Yin Beasts surrounding him pounced at once, cutting him off halfway.
Underground, Shen Luo paid no heed to the chaos above. He rapidly scanned the words appearing on the stone stele and discovered that they described a Demon King Stronghold ability called the "Flameburst Formula," which summoned demonic fire to attack with considerable power.
Like the Shatterstone Step, however, this ability was of limited use to Shen Luo, so he merely committed it to memory in passing without giving it much thought.
What interested him more was whether this stele would produce a treasure like the black rod, just as the previous one had.
As he pondered this, a thunderous crash rang out overhead.
An enormous hand manifested in midair and uprooted the entire ruined palace along with the ground beneath it, flinging them high into the air to crash down in the distance.
A vast opening was torn in the earth, leaving Shen Luo's surroundings completely exposed, like a great pot with its lid lifted off.
Shen Luo merely glanced up before immediately returning his gaze to what lay before him.
With a hiss, the black stele in front of him had already turned to black ash and dispersed.
Almost simultaneously, an exquisite short ruler, black and yellow in