Chapter 1802: Investigating the Spirit Emperor Palace

Turning his head to look, Zhang Xuan's brows jumped.

This middle-aged man was, like himself, a powerhouse at the Great Perfection of the Immortal Realm.

"Finally, a break..."

"Perfect, I'll go back and study the materials!"

"These treasures are really too hard to identify..."

...

Hearing about the break, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and low murmurs arose in the room.

The treasures in the room became harder to identify as they went on. Even though everyone here was among the top appraisers of the Spirit Race, there were still many they couldn't recognize.

Now that they had a break, it was just the right time to look up information. Otherwise, if they appraised incorrectly, they might really be executed.

"Everyone, this way, please!"

After giving instructions, dozens of guards entered, each leading an appraiser. In front of Zhang Xuan was also a guard in black armor.

Though curious, he knew that asking too many questions would only arouse suspicion, so he said nothing and followed closely behind, walking forward step by step.

Before long, they arrived at a residence, which, like a student dormitory, was divided into individual rooms.

He was assigned to one of them.

"Don't go visiting other rooms, no communication allowed. If you want to look up books, you can apply in advance. If the Spirit Emperor Palace has them, they will be brought to you! If you want to cultivate and restore your energy, you can also apply for medicinal assistance!"

The guard opened the door and instructed.

"Yes!" Nodding, Zhang Xuan entered the room.

Inside the room, there was an isolation array, making communication jade talismans unusable. It seemed they were still worried about the appraisers communicating with each other.

Once they communicated, their prices might become identical, making it impossible to determine the true value of the treasures.

Creak!

The door closed, and Zhang Xuan sat down.

The quiet room was not large, only about forty square meters, with tables, chairs, and a resting area all available. Around the walls, arrays made of top-grade spirit stones provided ample spiritual energy, allowing even the most exhausted to recover easily after staying for a while.

"Perfect, I'll take this opportunity to investigate the location of the dragon blood!"

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan remained motionless as his soul emerged from between his brows.

He hadn't come here to be an appraiser. Since he had free time, he naturally wanted to search for the exact location of the dragon blood.

The soul was formless and intangible, quietly floating in the room as it moved forward. Just as it reached the door, it felt a force blocking its path.

"An array that blocks the soul..."

After a glance, Zhang Xuan understood.

Soul masters had vanished without a trace on the Master Teacher Continent, so the Master Teacher Academy and some places on the continent had not set up such arrays. But the Spirit Race had this profession.

Thus, many places had arrays that blocked the soul, preventing it from passing through.

Forcing his way through would certainly invite greater trouble.

"Eye of Insight!"

Patterns appeared in his eyes, and he quickly found a flaw in the array. With a slight flicker, he slipped through.

Whoosh!

A crack appeared in the door, and he silently slipped out.

"You'll stay here..."

In the corridor, guards were still leading appraisers in and arranging accommodations.

With a slight flicker, Zhang Xuan stuck to the wall and flew out.

His soul, like his true qi, had reached the Great Perfection of the Immortal Realm, making it too easy to avoid detection by these guards.

Leaving the building, Zhang Xuan dared not fly too high. This was the Spirit Emperor Palace; he wasn't afraid of the arrays, but there were certainly ancient sages. If discovered, he might not even be able to escape.

"Although the Spirit Race's palace doesn't emphasize geography and terrain like the Master Teacher Continent, with various runes carved everywhere, it is still as solid as iron... Even if the Spirit Emperor is severely injured and truly hides here without coming out, it would be almost impossible for the Mediocre Emperor and the others to kill him!"

Moving along the corridor, Zhang Xuan sketched the layout of the entire mansion in his mind and marveled inwardly.

On the Master Teacher Continent, before constructing a building, one usually finds a suitable location to gather feng shui, then uses the geography of mountains and rivers to concentrate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

The Spirit Race's method was different. The walls and floors were carved with special runes. Although they lacked the advantage of terrain, they could still make the entire mansion rich in spiritual energy, suitable for cultivation.

The former followed nature, gathering spiritual energy without damaging the environment—a sustainable development. The latter, on the other hand, extracted spiritual energy from other places, disregarding the well-being of others, appearing somewhat ruthless and inhumane.

Perhaps this was also the difference between the Spirit Race and humanity.

"Not a trace of dragon blood's aura..."

After wandering for nearly two hours, he had almost covered the entire Spirit Emperor Palace but found no trace of dragon blood, not even the dragon scale grass mentioned by Ancient Sage Haoxun.

What Ancient Sage Haoxun knew was information from three thousand years ago. Could it be... the dragon blood no longer existed?

"Only that palace remains, which I haven't entered..."

After flying for a while longer, Zhang Xuan locked onto the last place.

The bedchamber of Emperor Chen Ling.

Because of the presence of an ancient sage's aura, he had not dared to enter.

He hadn't detected dragon blood anywhere else. If it existed, it might be here.

"Whether there's an ancient sage or not, I have to go in and take a look..."

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan raised his brows.

He had come for the dragon blood. Not investigating would mean all his efforts were in vain.

Suppressing his energy fluctuations to the minimum, he activated the Eye of Insight and looked toward the palace before him.

A special seal seemed to envelop the surroundings. Even a soul entering would be easily detected.

Knowing the danger, Zhang Xuan was not impatient but waited for an opportunity.

He hid within a large tree, concealing all his aura.

With a mind that had reached the ancient sage level, he was unperturbed by anything. Rather than rushing in and being discovered, it was better to wait quietly here.

As long as someone lived there, people would surely come and go. For him, that was an opportunity.

"How are those appraisers doing with their evaluations?"

After waiting for about half an hour, he indeed heard voices.

Looking quietly, he saw the middle-aged man at the Great Perfection of the Immortal Realm from the main hall following an old man as they walked this way.

This old man's aura was hidden within his body, making it impossible to gauge his depth. However, his eyes exuded an intense pressure. It seemed that a single glance from him would detect any disguise or concealment, making it impossible to hide.

"Ancient sage?"

His pupils contracted.

If he wasn't mistaken, this old man's strength had definitely reached the ancient sage level.

As expected of the Spirit Emperor's bedchamber, it indeed had such a powerful being.

Having confirmed the old man's strength, Zhang Xuan dared not make any move. Holding his breath, he hid his soul within the tree, not daring to stir, afraid that any leakage would be detected.

"Some have almost finished appraising, but the value is still uncertain. Our Spirit Race's appraisers are still far behind those of the Master Teacher Continent!"

The middle-aged man sighed.