Qiqi stepped toward the stone bridge, with Hu Xiaotian close behind. He did not forget to warn Ji Feihua and Liu Yuzhang, "Watch the patterns on the bridge and follow in our footsteps. Don't take a single wrong step, or the bridge will collapse."
Although Ji Feihua and Liu Yuzhang were both supreme masters, neither dared be careless here. They followed closely in the footsteps of the two ahead.
"How did Eunuch Liu discover this place?" Qiqi asked. She had learned from Hu Xiaotian that Liu Yuzhang had been the first to discover this Imperial Palace Secret Realm.
"Everything leaves traces, however faint," Liu Yuzhang said. "The first person to build the Imperial Palace Secret Realm was the War Sage, Zhuge Yunchun. These structures display craftsmanship fit for gods and demons, far beyond anything ordinary people could imagine. After building the two secret realms beneath the Imperial Palace, Zhuge Yunchun must have grown frightened himself, so he destroyed the plans. Before that, however, he had left behind quite a few manuscripts. I searched painstakingly through the Imperial Palace for decades before finally finding this place."
"Eunuch Liu certainly is a man of dedication!" Ji Feihua said coldly.
Liu Yuzhang gave a sinister cackle. "Still no match for Eunuch Ji. Otherwise, you would never have driven me into a corner with nowhere left to turn back then."
Hu Xiaotian knew the old feud between them all too well and had worried that they would clash the moment they met. Fortunately, both showed sufficient restraint. It was not that they had let go of their grudges; their shared purpose had merely driven them to set their hatred aside for the time being.
They crossed the long bridge safely and arrived before the Seven-Treasure Glazed Pagoda. The four circled the pagoda once, then