Devour

Chapter 361 Nine-Faced Beast Lantern

"Row."

Cheng Bai responded and took a closer look. He recognized the eight boxes of Life and Death Water that Zhu Li'en had won at the Huaya Club auction in Qian'an City. He was surprised, "They actually sent all of them all this way here. No wonder. For Nie Ziqiong, Tianning Village should be a perfect treasure trove. Why is there no Ice Flame Spring?"

Noticing Kua'e's half-smile, Cheng Bai knew there was something else going on. "With Kua'e's giant Nirvana Realm cultivation, even if she doesn't have a storage magic weapon and hasn't opened up a sea of consciousness, storing things in her Dantian Qi Sea shouldn't be a problem."

The heart is as clear as a mirror, no need to beat around the bush. Cheng Bai asked bluntly: "What do you want?"

Kua Eyang chuckled softly and said quietly, "The Water of Life and Death is of little use to me. I only hope to exchange it for two Ice-Clear God-Suppressing Pills that Your Majesty can refine."

Cheng Bai readily agreed: "Okay! I'll prepare it for you later."

Ningxiang was captivated by the shimmering black light emanating from the rack before her. This multi-treasure rack held hundreds of beads, ranging from small ones like grapes to large ones like eggs. Each one possessed a deep, elegant hue, emitting a captivating, pure light. It felt as if the night sky, shimmering with mysterious allure, was filled with the mystique of stars, captivating her senses.

She picked one up and examined it, saying bewilderedly, "It looks like a black pearl. It's not appropriate to put it on the top floor of the Treasure House of the Slaughter Society."

Although black pearls are considered relatively expensive jewels, they are just ordinary objects for cultivators. Compared with the rare natural treasures next to them, the difference in value is huge, and they are far less valuable than the golden-threaded royal wood cabinet.

Li Tong floated closer and whispered, "They're not black pearls, they're all dark pearls. Legend has it that deep-sea elves are born from the condensation of true love, and only Long Bo can find them in the deep waters!"

Ningxiang couldn't deny the bead's charm. She asked in surprise, "What's so special about it? It's a little bigger, has a more gorgeous luster...it makes it more beautiful, right?"

Cheng Bai strolled over and said with a smile, "You've found a treasure! Don't underestimate the Dark Pearl. It's more beautiful than ordinary pearls and is ranked among the eight most beautiful jewels. Its elegant and unconventional temperament is a perfect match for you!"

"Thank you, Dabai, for your kind words! I will reward you with a big red envelope." Ningxiang was overjoyed when she heard that. She grabbed a few pearls with one hand and stuffed two handfuls into Chengbai's palm. Then she turned around and happily put the treasures she had obtained into her treasure bag.

Cheng Bai took the dark pearls with peace of mind, glanced at them and saw that there were twelve of them, then put them into his bag.

Qian Buduo was the slowest to react and move. He lingered in front of the last, almost empty treasure chest and complained with a gloomy face, "What kind of junk is left here? There's only a key left, and it looks like it's made of bone."

The rest of the people put their profits away and gathered around to watch with nothing to do.

Zixuan stretched out her nose and sniffed into the cabinet, whispering, "The smell of very ancient bones. The key must be made of human finger bones, there is no doubt about it."

"If a monster with a lifespan of 150,000 years can say it's ancient, it must be even older than him." Cheng Bai thought, but it was hard to judge whether this thing was good or bad.

Looking around the spacious room, he saw nothing but nine sets of tall and luxurious treasure chests. Cheng Bai speculated, "Could it be used to open a specific treasure house? Where is the keyhole that matches it?"

Jinlian suggested, "Master Qian, you might want to keep it safe. You might find a surprise when you open it!"

Qian Buduo felt a little disappointed and put away the bone key in a depressed mood.

Cheng Bai took away all the empty golden-threaded royal wood dragon-patterned treasure chests, then turned to ask Li Tong, "Now that the chests are cleared, does that mean we've successfully broken the endless formation?"

Li Tong calculated, "It's about 10% broken, but that's just superficial. There's still important layout downstairs."

"Continue the treasure hunt." Cheng Bai led the way with the inheritance cube, and his teammates followed him to the lower level.

The hall on the third floor is even more spacious, with double the number of cabinets, all made of thick off-white Kang wood, neatly stacked with yellow and white objects, reflecting an alluring and luxurious luster under the light.

Qian Buduo's eyes widened as he exclaimed repeatedly, "Oh my! It's like a mountain of gold! There's so much money!"

On the first floor, the people were quick to share the treasures, but those who were slow to take them all were left with nothing. The Ranger Guild's treasures were clearly at a disadvantage. Jinlian, however, showed no dissatisfaction, but simply smiled and asked, "How should we distribute them reasonably?"

Cheng Bai and Li Tong quickly counted the treasures and explained concisely, "Each chest on the left holds 200,000 taels of gold, a total of nine. Each set of chests on the right holds 100,000 taels of star gold, also nine sets. The quantities are evenly distributed, so each person gets the treasure from one yellow chest and one white chest, just enough."

The treasure-dividing plan sounded reasonable. Qian Buduo cheered up and took a step forward to collect the treasure, but suddenly he felt dizzy in front of his eyes.

"Oh no! There's an ambush!" Jinlian screamed, waved her palm, and rolled up a strong airflow, pulling Qian Buduo back.

Qian Buduo's face turned pale with fear. He stared blankly at the black shadow in front of him and screamed in shock, "Ghost? Ghost!"

A flat figure floated in the air, thin as a sheet of paper, light as air. More precisely, it was a piece of human skin, complete with features and limbs. It looked as if it had been drained of flesh and blood, leaving it to float lightly through the air.

Everyone felt a chill running down their heads, a chill that surged like a tide. There were more than one strange human skin, each fluttering, twisting, and swaying, as if issuing a silent threat.

Ningxiang was surprised and said, "It's not Qian Duoduo, it's Gui Piaopiao."

"What kind of weird lamp is that hanging on the ceiling? Where did the human skin come from?" Cheng Bai's gaze fell on the ceiling.

In stark contrast to the fourth floor, which was equipped with multiple moonstone lanterns, the lighting on this floor came from a single light source hanging high up.

It is six meters long and about three meters wide and thick, shaped like a nine-sided figure, each side of which has a ferocious face that looks like a wolf or a dog. At first glance, it looks like a huge, strange-shaped pale yellow lamp.

Cheng Bai deduced, "Its location is extremely crucial, high up in the core of the Anti-Nine Palaces and Eight Diagrams."

A piece of human skin emerged from one of the nine beastly mouths, slowly swirling and dancing. As it approached another mouth, it suddenly slipped in, then burst out again, swaying and splitting in two. This cycle continued to increase rapidly, threatening to fill the entire building. The eerie, oppressive feeling grew silently.

Li Tong suggested, "This is the third corpse puppet, created from the remains of the Nine-Faced Beast. Any living being it swallows will be completely devoured and transformed into a human-skinned puppet."

Zi Xuan thought for a moment and said in horror, "Nine-faced beast? It's said that the Tu Min sect possesses such a guardian spirit beast, with a challenge rating of 64, yet it hasn't appeared in the world for over a hundred years. I didn't expect it to become a corpse puppet."

Cheng Bai raised his eyebrows and said in a serious tone, "The human skins are not floating randomly. They form a formation full of murderous intent... If my guess is correct, the core of the endless formation lies in this nine-faced beast lantern. The human skins are the endless killing layout."

If Li Tong hadn't had his hands, he would have applauded and echoed, "That's pretty much it! Killing it will at least break 60% to 70% of the endless formation."

Zhai Xufei stepped forward and challenged, "Your Majesty, since this fellow has enough nerve, let me settle this battle."

"Okay! Thank you for your help, Mr. Zhai." Cheng Bai nodded in agreement, waved his hand, and stepped back a few steps with the others to make room.

Zhai Xufei twisted his nine heads to stretch his muscles, then strode forward.

"Ah... Ah... Ah..." A terrifying shrill scream came from the human skins all over the sky. Each of them jumped and moved on the ground like a two-dimensional figure walking out of a flat world, and pulled out flat blades one after another.

Under the light, the numerous blade edges reflect golden halos, interweaving and converging into dazzling blades of light. The interplay of virtual and real is so dazzling that it is hard to take your eyes off.

Suddenly, knife marks appeared all over the floor of the building, as if numerous, sharp, invisible weapons were attacking silently and swiftly, tearing everything to pieces.

Zhai Xufei sneered disdainfully, "Haha! You dare to show off your skills in front of an expert, using some real and fake tricks. You don't know your own limitations!"

He maintained a giant body of over seventeen feet, with a huge physique but surprisingly flexible. His nine mouths opened simultaneously to spit out a violent wind, shooting out tiny wind blades that were several times more numerous than the number of human skin.

There were continuous "swish, swish, swish..." sounds of tearing cloth, and the human skin killers were chopped into pieces without exception. The figures dissipated like smoke but there was no blood.

The wind blades and the invisible sharp edge collided rapidly, emitting a series of crisp "clang, clang, clang..." sounds. The two mixed and merged into a passionate and frantic sonata, which made people tremble in the ears!

Li Tong saw through the clues and explained, "The human skin killer uses dazzling light to confuse the opponent, and secretly uses the ghost claw secret technique to launch a sneak attack."