Chapter 157: 麻翻黄金宫

Qin Mu suddenly realized that this kind of thinking was extremely dangerous for him. This was exactly how the cripple lost his leg; though the cripple always wore a cheerful face in front of others, he constantly sighed in private, longing to retrieve his lost leg, yet never daring to.

If he were to fall into the frenzied theft that the cripple engaged in before losing his leg, he probably wouldn't be far from the cripple's fate.

"Though this feeling is exhilarating, I should do it less often in the future."

Qin Mu cautioned himself. He looked back at the various treasures on the ground, wanting to take everything except the ominous items refined by the Loulan Golden Palace. However, he could only carry a limited amount.

"The Sword Pellet, enshrined here, must be a valuable treasure."

Qin Mu picked up the Sword Pellet. It was very heavy; he guessed it contained many sealed swords.

As his vital qi lightly permeated it, he heard a hum, and a scimitar flew out from the "Sword Pellet," slowly rotating half a circle in front of him.

"It's not a Sword Pellet, it's a Blade Pellet!"

Qin Mu was surprised. He had seen such Blade Pellets before, used by the rebels in the Barbarian Di Kingdom. The rebels had used them to attack Ba Shan Priest's Cliffside Heavenly Gang divine ability. As a result, tens of thousands of scimitars were all embedded in the Cliffside Heavenly Gang, unable to be retrieved, which was why Tuo Limu was able to slaughter the rebels so easily.

Qin Mu picked up a scimitar. It felt a bit awkward; he figured it required a special cultivation technique to activate. However, the quality of this scimitar was much better than those of the other rebels, its texture no inferior to his pig-butchering knife.

He withdrew his vital qi. The scimitar then clinked back into the Blade Pellet and vanished.

The Blade Pellet contained an extremely large number of scimitars; it was definitely a formidable weapon.

Qin Mu then picked up the broken sword. He couldn't sense any power from it; it seemed to have no power at all and felt remarkably light in his hand.

Qin Mu activated his Divine Firmament Heavenly Eye and Azure Firmament Heavenly Eye, examining it closely, but still couldn't discern anything special. However, for it to be so solemnly hidden in the Loulan Golden Palace's treasury, it must be extraordinary, so he put it away as well.

A section of the guqin was charred. Qin Mu glanced at it; it was a mark left by a lightning strike.

"Huh, something's not right. This guqin has a malevolent aura and a demonic presence!"

Qin Mu examined it closely, finding it stranger the more he looked. The guqin emitted a bloody, malevolent aura, as if a rich flow of blood qi circulated within it, and the demonic presence was incredibly strong.

This guqin didn't seem like an instrument at all, but rather an incredibly terrifying great demon.

"Could it be a tree spirit that cultivated into a demon and was then crafted into a guqin? Good stuff, I'll take this too."

Qin Mu slung the guqin onto his back, then picked up a hand bone. The moment he grasped it, he felt as if he'd been struck by lightning, his body trembling violently. An incredibly loud voice boomed and exploded in his mind.

"Divine language!"

Qin Mu's expression changed dramatically, and he quickly threw the hand bone away. The voice was a divine language; it felt as though a deity had appeared in his mind the moment he held it. He had casually tossed it aside after removing it from the golden platform's seal, only now realizing how wise that decision had been.

"This hand bone is extremely strange. Could it be a god's hand?"

He steadied himself, drew his Young Protector Sword, and used the sword to lift the hand bone. Then he picked up a cloth bag from the ground and placed the hand bone inside.

"The Buddhist Thousand Banner Pagoda is also a good item, but it's too large."

Qin Mu examined the Thousand Banner Pagoda from top to bottom. Each banner on the pagoda was exquisitely crafted, only about three inches tall, but when cleverly assembled into the shape of a pagoda, it became quite large, over ten feet high. If he carried it on his back, it would definitely attract attention.

He did pick up those several sariras and put them into the cloth bag. Then he found a few jade beads and tossed them into the bag as well.

Qin Mu also put the Blade Pellet into the cloth bag. It was then that he felt something strange. The Blade Pellet was very heavy, but once inside the bag, he couldn't feel its weight.

He picked up the cloth bag and turned it over several times, examining it. This cloth bag was also one of the treasures sealed on the golden altar. He didn't know what material it was made of or what its purpose was. One side of the bag was embroidered with a mythical beast, its mouth wide open, positioned exactly where the bag's opening was.

He opened the bag and peered inside. He saw several sesame-seed-sized items in the bag, which were exactly the treasures he had just placed inside.

Qin Mu was stunned. He poured out the divine hand bone, sariras, Blade Pellet, and other items. As they slid out of the bag's opening, they were still the same size, unchanged.

"Strange!"

Qin Mu pulled open the bag's mouth and stuck his head inside. What he saw made him jump in surprise: a space roughly the size of a small field, six to seven *zhang* high.

He pulled his head back out and reached into the bag. Even with an entire arm inside, he still couldn't reach the bottom.

Qin Mu thought for a moment. He put the divine hand bone, sariras, Blade Pellet, and other items back into the cloth bag. Then he stuffed the guqin into the bag as well, and even the Thousand Banner Pagoda.

He then lifted the shimmering golden lower body and stuffed it into the cloth bag too.

Then the young man stood up. He began picking up items from the ground, stuffing every piece he found into the bag. Anything too large to fit, he left behind.

Before long, the cloth bag became slightly distended, and he could gradually feel some weight, but it wasn't heavy.

Qin Mu lowered his head and picked up the items he had discarded earlier. He also found several alchemy furnaces. One of them was a sealed furnace, larger and more valuable than those at the Imperial College.

Only the cult's bone-refined artifacts remained in the treasury. Qin Mu let out a breath. He tied the cloth bag to his waist and covered it with his clothes.

"It's been a while. I should go find Sister Yu Xiu and the others and leave as soon as possible."

The young man's heart pounded erratically, but he steadied himself. He then pondered carefully for a moment. Instead of putting on the human skin mask, he took out his pig-butchering knife, trimmed his hair, and styled it in the manner of a shamanistic cult disciple.

Qin Mu put on Dan Barro's clothes. He circulated the Creation Divine Art from the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture. His skin color immediately began to subtly change, emitting a faint golden glow. At a glance, he appeared to be a shaman who had achieved minor success in his cultivation within the Loulan Golden Palace.

Qin Mu opened the Loulan Golden Palace's map and examined it, then put the map away.

His vital qi activated the talisman treasure. The talisman treasure floated into the air, and runes lit up one by one, illuminating the seal on the treasury's entrance.

"Twelve, nine, six, ten, seven, six, seven, one..."

Qin Mu recited the numbers. Each time he uttered a number, the talisman treasure would flip in the air, directing one of its fourteen faces towards the seal.

When entering this treasury, the turtle-backed guard had activated the talisman treasure to unlock the seal. The talisman treasure's transformations were extremely complex; it had fourteen faces, each with different runes, making it very difficult to memorize the changes in these runes.

However, remembering the sequence of these runes was not troublesome for Qin Mu.

He had memorized the fourteen faces of the talisman treasure as fourteen numbers, and then reversed the numerical sequence from his entry to break the seal from the inside.

Before him, cubic blocks appeared one by one and successively receded. Qin Mu walked out, finally exiting the treasury smoothly.

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. He took out his Young Protector Sword and shattered the talisman treasure. Then, following the map's directions, he headed towards the Loulan Golden Palace's storeroom.

Although the Loulan Golden Palace was currently blockaded, a Great Shaman was still on duty in the storeroom. Qin Mu handed him a prescription. The Great Shaman read aloud, "Two *liang* of snakeweed, one *jin* and six *liang* of Heavenly Bamboo, four *liang* of oleander... So many herbs, are you planning to refine a powerful medicine?"

Qin Mu nodded and chuckled innocently. "I got injured just now and need to recover."

"Did you go fight the guy blocking the mountain gate? I heard about it too, quite a few people died. Luckily, that guy's been killed, so it's not shameful. The time Wukhan blocked the gate, *that* was truly shameful."

The Great Shaman prepared the herbs. Qin Mu handed over Dan Barro's money pouch and said, "Do you have any fresh purple fruits from the Crimson Pearl Grass? Give me four."

"That's very expensive. Where would we find fresh ones? Do you want dried ones?"

"Dried ones are fine too."

The Great Shaman retrieved the dried purple fruits. Qin Mu took them and popped one into his mouth. Seeing his innocent demeanor, the Great Shaman secretly took a few extra coins from the money pouch, feeling a surge of satisfaction.

Qin Mu's expression subtly changed, and he snapped, "You overcharged me!"

The Great Shaman's face fell, and he angrily retorted, "What? You're slandering me!"

Qin Mu pulled at the money pouch and said, "I know exactly how much money is in my pouch. You overcharged me; I can tell by the weight. I'll report you to the Shaman King!"

The Great Shaman hastily tried to grab the money pouch. As they struggled, a jade bottle in Qin Mu's hand accidentally fell into the storeroom and shattered with a "smack."

"Don't tell the Sha..."

Before the Great Shaman could finish his sentence, he suddenly toppled over stiffly. A fragrance permeated the storeroom. Several Great Shamans who had come upon hearing the commotion collapsed to the ground with thuds before even reaching the storeroom.

Qin Mu threw the money pouch into the storeroom, letting it land on the Great Shaman. Then, holding the cloth bag at his waist, he carefully rummaged through it. He pulled out a cauldron, which was precisely the sealed furnace he had found in the treasury.

"For this batch of Bewildering Incense, I added ten times the usual amount! I'd like to see if it doesn't incapacitate the entire Golden Palace!"

He placed the medicine into the furnace, and his vital qi burst forth, rapidly circulating around the cauldron. His technique was so varied and intricate it was dazzling. Before long, the Bewildering Incense in the furnace was refined. The vital qi in Qin Mu's palm still transformed into raging flames, but instead of cooling it with Black Tortoise vital qi as he had last time, he let it burn fiercer and fiercer.

A moment later, Qin Mu stopped and opened the furnace lid. Pink smoke billowed out of the furnace, spreading everywhere. Even though the Crimson Pearl purple fruit in his mouth could counteract the Bewildering Incense, he still felt as if his limbs were slowly disappearing.

He quickly held his breath. The smoke was still pouring out of the furnace. Qin Mu's vital qi transformed into Azure Dragon vital qi, and he cast the spell of summoning wind and rain from the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture, blowing the smoke away.

Soon, the strong wind carried the Bewildering Incense throughout the entire mountain.

He immediately rushed into a golden palace. He slung on his satchel, strapped on his twin blades, put on his iron hammer, leaving his sword case aside. Then he rapidly headed towards the mountain gate.

His vital qi transformed into Black Tortoise vital qi, forming a cloud of mist, which then condensed into a water ball in his hand.

Qin Mu dropped the remaining three Crimson Pearl purple fruits into the water ball. While running wildly, he held up the water ball with one hand. His other hand moved like a blur, fingers dancing, continuously changing hand seals, tapping the water ball to activate the medicinal properties of the Crimson Pearl purple fruits.

The three purple fruits absorbed the water and quickly became plump. Their medicinal power was activated by him.

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, streaks of golden light flew up into the sky, hastily fleeing outwards. It must have been the Shaman Kings guarding the sacred hall, seeing all the disciples on the mountain "dead from poison," panicking and escaping from the Loulan Golden Palace.

"Dead, all dead!" A loud voice, filled with terror and panic, rapidly faded into the distance.

Qin Mu increased his speed to the maximum, rushing towards the foot of the Golden Mountain Gate. He saw Qing Niu, Hu Ling'er, and Ling Yu Xiu all lying on the ground. Ling Yu Xiu had multiple injuries on her body, covered in bloodstains.

He immediately put a Crimson Pearl purple fruit into each of their mouths. The person, the ox, and the fox slowly woke up. Still feeling some numbness in their limbs, and a slight tingling in their souls and spirit forms, they didn't know what had happened.

"The Bewildering Incense can scare off Shaman Kings, but it won't incapacitate them."

Qin Mu quickly said, "In the Loulan Golden Palace, there are likely a few beings who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ba Shan Priest. They will definitely rush here once they get the news. We must leave immediately!"