Chapter 170: Chapter 140: Investigating Chen Xiao, Clouded Leopard Inner Core

Although the Inscriptionless Stele was now gone.

Fortunately, Xiao Chen had been observing it carefully and had already completely memorized the technique called the Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique.

He had been busy comprehending the Mental Realm before and hadn’t yet properly studied the Heart Method.

Now, recalling its contents in detail, he confirmed that it wasn’t some kind of Cultivation Method,

but an auxiliary secret method specifically designed to help Cultivators enhance their Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The specific method involved "consuming" different grades of Earth Evil Qi according to the Cultivator’s current Cultivation Realm.

Then, based on the characteristics of the different types of Earth Evil Qi, one could obtain various benefits.

’Wait, Earth Evil Qi?’

HISS~!

Xiao Chen sucked in a sharp breath.

To be honest, this sounded similar to some Demon Techniques.

If he recalled correctly, he had read in many of the sect’s biographies about some infamous Demon Cultivators who used Earth Evil Qi to create Demonic Calamities.

Moreover, whenever the term "Evil Qi" appeared early in one of those biographies, a related Demonic Calamity was sure to follow later in the text.

However, even Demon Cultivators only dared to *utilize* Evil Qi.

But the Mystic Sky Eating Secret Technique was even bolder, having one directly consume Evil Qi to strengthen the Cultivator’s own body—a true theft of heaven and earth’s creation.

He had to admit, the creator of this Immortal Palace was truly a master of their craft, and incredibly bold.

Xiao Chen sighed to himself and got up, walking toward the Wood Character Stele.

’Now is not the time to study the Secret Technique. While there’s still time, I should look at the Wood Character Stele a bit longer. Maybe I’ll gain some small insight.’

No one could ever have too much of that kind of insight.

Along the way, he also circled the other Enlightenment Steles a few times, checking for anything he might have missed, but unfortunately, he didn’t find any new secret texts.

His actions, however, made the other Cultivators instantly nervous.

They were afraid he would make the other Enlightenment Steles disappear too.

Especially when Xiao Chen circled around and stopped behind the Wood Character Stele, the Cultivators with Wood Spirit Roots became extremely anxious.

’Why did he have to pick this one? Don’t tell me the Wood Character Stele has a problem too?’

Fortunately, many of them remembered that he had looked at the Wood Character Stele *before* going to the Inscriptionless Stele.

’Since nothing happened before, nothing should happen now... right?’

But they were completely overthinking it.

For the next two days, nothing unexpected happened.

At noon on the ninth day, the rigid, mechanical voice echoed within the Immortal Palace once again: "The Immortal Palace will close in twelve hours."

"I repeat, the Immortal Palace will close in twelve hours."

The second announcement was extremely loud, enough to startle any Cultivators in Meditation.

But that didn’t matter, because Xiao Chen wasn’t in Meditation at all. He had been staring for two days and had only managed to count the eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight leaves painted on the toon tree.

Therefore, upon hearing the announcement, he decisively gave up on trying to comprehend it any further and turned to leave.

The vast majority of the other Cultivators also got up and left.

Only a few Loose Cultivators were reluctant to leave, wanting to stay a little longer.

Behind the square was a long corridor that led to the exit.

In front of the Water Curtain at the exit lay several skeletons, some belonging to Cultivators who failed to leave in time during the last opening, and some from the one before that.

Chu Yuebin followed closely behind Xiao Chen, and one after the other, they passed through the Water Curtain at the exit.

Others had the same idea as him.

But then, his vision blurred.

Chu Yuebin was shocked to find that all the other Cultivators were around him, but Xiao Chen, who should have been right in front of him, had vanished without a trace.

’What’s going on?’

Chu Yuebin had originally planned to use this method to figure out who Xiao Chen really was.

But now, he could only cast a suspicious gaze on the few other Cultivators around him. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

On the Jingkong Sea, wind swept across the water, kicking up waves.

But arriving even before the waves were several Golden Core True Men.

All the Cultivators who came out of the Profound Celestial Immortal Palace were immediately brought under control.

Zhao Yangming was also standing to the side, helping to identify which lucky person had obtained the Ninth True Technique.

Of course, Chu Yuebin, Wen Ruoxi, and the others with them were not detained.

The reason they dared to show their faces in the Secret Realm was that they were not afraid of their identities being exposed.

Of course, some necessary questioning was still unavoidable.

Facing the Golden Core True Men who were watching them like tigers, no one present dared to lie.

Soon, the fake name "Chen Xiao" and the intelligence that he had comprehended the Wood Character Stele the moment he stepped into the square were all gathered.

Twelve hours later, the Immortal Palace closed and fell silent once more.

But from beginning to end, Zhao Yangming never saw Xiao Chen appear.

"Could it be that he missed the closing time?"

A Golden Core True Man fell into deep thought. "Or perhaps there are other secrets within the Immortal Palace?"

Another Golden Core True Man snorted coldly. "Hmph, he must have used a trick to blend in with the crowd. If we take everyone back and interrogate them one by one, won’t we find out everything?"

Zhao Pengze was the first to shake his head. "No, that won’t work. There are many future fellow Golden Core Daoists among them."

Historically, any Cultivator who comes out of the Immortal Palace with even a shred of enlightenment from the Enlightenment Steles has a greatly increased chance of Core Formation.

Detaining them here is already the limit. If we were to actually take them back for interrogation, it would inevitably cause dissent and alienate them.

In the future, after they achieve Core Formation, how would we interact with them?

We might just end up making more enemies.

As for eliminating them to prevent future trouble, that’s even more out of the question.

The major powers are all scrambling to win over these Loose Cultivators. They’d love it if the other powers gave up so they could take all these Golden Core prospects back to their own faction.

"There must be another exit."

After questioning Chu Yuebin, Chu Haoxi took the initiative to share this piece of intelligence. "Yuebin saw it with his own eyes. Chen Xiao left the Immortal Palace one step ahead of him."