Although Yuanzi had his own selfish motives, his words truly moved Yang Hao. Now Yang Hao had been pushed to the brink of desperation. If he could not concoct the “Nine Layers of Ice and Fire” before the first rays of sunlight appeared the next morning, all his loved ones and friends would surely die. Yang Hao could not afford to miss even the faintest glimmer of hope.
Thus, Yang Hao resolved to act. Using the Flying Petal and Phantom Shadow technique, he flashed through the palace gates. Though the palace was immense, it was brightly lit, glowing with golden brilliance so dazzling it nearly blinded anyone who looked.
As soon as Yang Hao rushed inside, he stopped and abandoned his swift movements—not because he had run out of energy, but because there was simply no need to continue in such haste.
It turned out there was not a single soul inside. It wasn’t Empress Dan Zhen’s private quarters, nor was it a treasure vault. In fact, the entire palace itself was a treasure.
It was a palace forged entirely from pure gold, platinum, and red gold. Inside the grand hall, over a hundred red-gold pillars, each several meters tall, were engraved with the royal crest of the Laimeng Star Kingdom. Every inch of the floor was paved with golden tiles. At the palace’s center stood a throne, assembled from bizarre and precious gems, perched upon a raised platform made of platinum.
Even removing a single corner of this luxurious palace would be enough to support an ordinary family for an entire year. Yet here, such extravagance seemed mundane and natural, as if it were simply the royal family’s due privilege.
“Oh, I remember now,” Yang Hao murmured, “this must be one of the palaces used for coronation ceremonies in the Laimeng Star Kingdom. I’ve heard there are two particularly luxurious palaces reserved for such events.”
“One of them?” Yuanzi gaped in disbelief. “Are you saying there’s another palace even more extravagant than this?”
Yang Hao nodded. “That’s what I’ve heard. The coronation ceremony of the Laimeng Star Kingdom is said to be the most extravagant in the entire universe.”
“One would be enough for show. Why build two?” Yuanzi asked, puzzled.
“Who knows?” Yang Hao had no interest in such wasteful architecture. He turned to leave. “There’s no medicine I need here, nor any woman you want to peek at. Let’s leave early.”
“Hold on, hold on!” Yuanzi quickly stopped him. “Don’t you think something’s strange? If there’s nothing here, why did your Sensing Skill react at all?”
Yuanzi’s words hit the nail on the head. Yang Hao inhaled sharply. “But there really seems to be nothing here. Could the treasures be hidden inside the golden bricks?”
“A royal palace only needs one ceremonial hall. Why build two? That’s just wanton waste,” Yuanzi, a psychological master, added, “unless the royal family of Laimeng Star is hiding something!”
“So what do I do now?” Yang Hao tried repeatedly to activate his Sensing Skill, but it no longer responded, as if some force had blocked its power.
“Set it on fire!!!” Yuanzi’s suggestion was shocking.
“Set the palace on fire?” Yang Hao was startled. Looking around, he realized the materials and labor used to build this place must have been astronomical. Burning it down would be impossible to replicate, even for the entire Laimeng Star Kingdom.
“Your current cultivation level isn’t sufficient to break through illusions,” Yuanzi said, his tone devoid of emotion. “Only by unleashing true fire and burning everything down can you tell what’s real and what’s not.”
“Burn it down…” Yang Hao muttered. Setting fire to a palace made entirely of gold wasn’t something one could say lightly.
But with no time to hesitate, Yang Hao clenched his teeth and released five balls of true fire, sending them flying toward different corners of the palace.
The flames burned a fierce red, like flowing blood. When they struck the golden walls, instead of burning through them, they made a soft popping sound—like a balloon bursting.
Suddenly, everything went pitch black. The golden splendor before Yang Hao vanished completely. The gold, the gems, the magnificent structures—all disappeared.
The place had transformed into a cold, dark, and eerie hall. At the same time, Yang Hao’s Sensing Skill, which had lain dormant deep within his mind, surged back to life, sending strong, continuous signals. The item he sought was definitely here.
“Just as I suspected,” Yuanzi exclaimed joyfully. “This was an illusionary spell.”
Yang Hao was still stunned. After a long pause, he finally regained his composure. “What do you mean by illusion? What spell?”
Yuanzi suddenly remembered that in Yang Hao’s time, spells no longer existed. The five basic techniques taught in schools were fundamentally flawed.
After a moment’s thought, Yuanzi explained, “In my time, cultivators who reached a certain level could use special spells. These spells had extraordinary effects—some could make people see things they shouldn’t, and others could even kill someone from thousands of miles away. Unfortunately, the cultivation techniques you learn now have all been weakened, so no one knows real spells anymore.”
“If no one knows spells anymore, how could there be an illusion spell here?” Yang Hao immediately pointed out the inconsistency in Yuanzi’s logic.
Yuanzi was momentarily taken aback. Faced with the facts, he could only mumble, “Well, it seems there are still some people who know spells. But they must have deliberately hidden this knowledge of spells or cultivation, which is why you’re stuck learning such inferior techniques.”
“Couldn’t it just be a 3D holographic projector?” Yang Hao scoffed. He believed that modern technology was far more convenient and practical than Yuanzi’s so-called cultivation arts.
“Can’t you just hurry up and find what you’re looking for?” Yuanzi was too tired to argue.
But even if Yang Hao wanted to find it, he had no idea where to start. After the illusion was dispelled, the once grand hall was now plunged into darkness, with only a faint red glow flickering in a distant corner. That tiny light was barely enough to illuminate even five steps ahead, leaving Yang Hao as helpless as a blind man. Though he knew treasures surrounded him, he had no way of locating them.
“Use your Sensing Skill to find where the freezer is!” Yuanzi snapped impatiently.
He didn’t need to be reminded. Yang Hao had already thought of it. The Frostfish could only survive in extreme cold, so it must be stored in a freezer. Now that Yang Hao had reached the Spirit Void stage, his Sensing Skill had improved greatly, making it easy to locate the freezer. However, opening it proved to be a bit of a challenge.
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