"Let's go further inside and see what else we can find," Ye Xun said.
Zhou Yan led the few of them further in. The deeper they went, the more astonished Zhou Yan became, for the treasures here were simply too numerous to count. Each item was priceless.
After a long period of exploring the surroundings, Zhou Yan and the others finally discovered a hidden secret chamber filled with books.
"Husband, come quickly and look! There are so many cultivation manuals here," Zhen Mi exclaimed excitedly, jumping up.
Ye Xun also focused his attention on the secret chamber. It wasn't small, with rows of shelves inside, each laden with books. The books on every shelf emitted a soft glow.
Seeing so many books, Ye Xun instinctively reached out.
"Don't touch it, be careful!" Zhou Yan warned.
"What are you doing?" Ye Xun asked, confused.
"The books here have restrictions. If you touch them, you'll be attacked," Zhou Yan said sternly.
"Oh!"
Ye Xun was startled by Zhou Yan's words and immediately withdrew his hand.
He hadn't expected the restrictions to be so well hidden, even fooling him.
Zhou Yan surveyed the surroundings. Besides the cultivation manuals, there were other miscellaneous books. These were not important. Zhou Yan looked at the restrictions and used his divine sense to probe them.
"Indeed powerful. Without divine sense, it would have taken immense effort to break these restrictions," Zhou Yan commented.
As soon as Zhou Yan finished speaking, a strange noise echoed from within the secret chamber, and the surrounding bookshelves began to spin wildly.
"What's happening? Why are the bookshelves spinning?" Zhen Mi cried out in surprise.
"I swear I didn't touch anything," Ye Xun said innocently.
"Don't worry," Zhou Yan reassured him.
A loud bang came from overhead.
Then, Zhou Yan felt the ground beneath him tremble, and the entire study began to shake.
Dozens of Immortal Palace guardians descended from above. Clad in golden armor and wielding long spears, they surrounded the study.
These Immortal Palace guards, each clad in armor and exuding a sharp killing intent, stood outside the study's entrance, weapons in hand.
"Intruders in the Immortal Palace shall be killed without mercy!"
The Immortal Palace guards stated coldly before charging towards Zhou Yan and his companions.
These were the guardians of the Immortal Palace, likely a defensive mechanism set up by the original owner to prevent outsiders from invading, now inexplicably activated by Zhou Yan and his group.
"These guards are quite good. I wonder if I can recruit them later!" Zhou Yan shouted, unleashing a torrent of divine sense that enveloped the guards.
Ye Xun: "(⊙_⊙)"
"Boom..." The Immortal Palace guards were sent flying over ten meters before crashing heavily onto the ground.
Although these guards were not weak, they could not withstand the sweep of Zhou Yan's divine sense.
However, just as the guards were about to dissipate, a stream of golden light flowed into them from within the palace.
Not only did the guards recover their bodies, but their strength also increased once more.
"What… what is happening?" Zhen Mi asked, astonished.
"It must be the palace's formation. The Immortal Palace has formations that empower its guardians, which is why they can regain their strength," Zhou Yan explained.
"This palace's formation is extremely potent. I need time to dismantle it."
"Alright, I'll help you," Ye Xun offered.
"Mm," Zhou Yan nodded.
Ye Xun then began studying the formations, preparing to break them.
Ye Xun's eyes glowed with a peculiar purple light, turning red as if they were about to ignite.
"So this is how it's set up? Array patterns should be injected here, and here?" Zhou Yan focused entirely on breaking the formation while also studying how it was constructed.
At this moment, Diao Chan, watching Zhou Yan's focused demeanor, gazed at him with adoration. She knew she had fallen in love with this man. She didn't know when it started, but this love had slowly permeated her entire life.
"He does look quite handsome when he's serious," Diao Chan said with a smile.
"Hmph," Zhou Yan grunted, ignoring Diao Chan.
By now, he had found the key. The formation of this palace had three crucial points. The first was in the center of the palace.
A formation core was placed there. The second was on the left-side bookshelf, with a pearl embedded at the top. The third was on the right, among the rows of bookshelves.
These three formation cores had to be destroyed; otherwise, the entire formation would not cease to operate and would instead grow even stronger. What was most troublesome was that once the formation core was destroyed, it meant the entire formation was destroyed, rendering it useless.
Zhou Yan closed his eyes, carefully sensing the array patterns on the bookshelves. Compared to the formation diagrams in his mind, these array patterns were vastly inferior, yet they still shared commonalities.
Soon, Zhou Yan opened his eyes, constantly deducing in his mind.
"Rumble..."
The study where Zhou Yan and his companions were located began to shake violently, as if the entire palace were collapsing.
"This is bad, the palace seems to be collapsing," Zhen Mi cried out. If the palace collapsed, they would surely be buried here and would likely perish.
"Don't panic!"
Zhou Yan calmly uttered, then moved his hands rapidly. Brilliant silver-white light flashed on his palms, and then runes appeared in the air.
"What is this?" Zhen Mi asked in surprise, looking at the floating runes.
These runes rotated continuously in the air, soon forming a net, which was then slammed down, covering the entire palace.
"Buzz..."
The formation within the palace was instantly deciphered. Da Feng Novel Network.
Following this, the entire palace suddenly emitted a mass of black mist.
This black mist rapidly condensed and took shape, transforming into a skull that lunged towards Zhou Yan to devour him.
The skull carried a terrifying aura, as if it were the master of this space, compelling one to bow down.
"A mere trick," Zhou Yan said indifferently, then waved his palm. The skull instantly shattered, vanishing into thin air.
At this point, the palace's formation was not just deciphered, but had been commandeered by Zhou Yan.
With a wave of his hand, the burly Immortal Palace guardians dissolved into the air.
The furiously spinning, unceasing bookshelves returned to their places, and the violently shaking, unstable Immortal Palace slowly restored itself under Zhou Yan's control.
"As expected of formations carved by deities, truly extraordinary. They are mine now!" Zhou Yan's lips curled into a smile.
They did not cease their treasure hunt. Zhou Yan was now like a locust crossing the land, taking anything he saw, be it medicinal herbs or weapons.
Ye Xun looked at these items and smiled, "As expected of a deity's treasure trove, it is truly rich."