Chapter 317: Chapter 286: The First to Arrive_1

With a map in hand, Xu Mu traveled much faster. Moreover, thanks to the versatility of the Virtualization Skill, he encountered no obstacles and quickly arrived at his destination.

A rugged palace built of stone came into his view. This was the center of the territory, where Prince Jade truly made the zombies!

The local townsmen are merely the first step in the creation of the zombies, further processing is then carried out here.

To avoid detection by the monsters, Xu Mu refrained from using Divine Intent throughout the journey. Upon arriving, he only then dared to restore his actual form, using Divine Intent to carefully scan the surroundings.

With the assistance of his Divine Intent, he discovered multiple traces of Formations and restrictions nearby. Each one was powerful, though many of them had ceased operation.

“Although they have stopped working, there are no signs of destruction. It seems that others haven’t arrived yet!”

With this thought, Xu Mu couldn’t help but feel thrilled.

In places like these, being the first to arrive certainly provided an upper hand. Those arriving second might not even get leftovers.

“Having the God Refining Tripod as a storage tool, the Virtualization Skill really comes in handy!”

Without the Virtualization Skill, he would never have arrived here so effortlessly. Given the formidable strength of other teams—particularly that of the leading Imperial Princes and the Seventh Princess—he might not have surpassed many if he had journeyed through the wilderness the regular way.

Without lingering at the entrance, Xu Mu once again transformed his body into a wisp of cyan smoke, slipped through the gaps between the Formations and restrictions, and arrived at the entrance of the palace.

There, hordes of zombies wandered about emotionless and mechanically attired in all sorts of clothing.

Although these zombies seemed foolishly dull, the aura they emitted was formidable, with many of them at the Golden Core Stage.

“One, two, three…eighty-six! Hiss! There are so many visible ones, there could be even more hidden. This place is terrifying!”

Seeing so many Golden Core zombies, Xu Mu couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. Even with his abilities, dealing with such a horde would be a daunting task.

The even scarier part is that these zombies self-destruct, which could potentially be lethal if caught off guard.

The only good news was that there were only zombies here, no ghosts.

Although ghosts don’t self-destruct like zombies, they are far more sensitive. Even if Xu Mu were to virtualize himself, he would still likely get detected.

Without the presence of ghosts now, his movements would undoubtedly be much smoother.

“I guess those ghosts must have been taken into the Banner of Ten Thousand Spirits by Prince Jade. Otherwise, there would not be nine Nascent Soul Stage ghosts!”

“But why didn’t he take these zombies as well?”

If he had brought these zombies, he could surely cause considerable chaos in the Heavenly Jail.

Xu Mu was puzzled.

What he didn’t know was that, Prince Jade did not lack the desire but the means to bring along the zombies. Being a bona fide cultivator, he simply didn’t have the capability to control so many zombies. Carrying them along could become a burden, creating early detection of his intentions. His reason for nurturing zombies was not to combat, but to replenish strength for the Seventh Prince.

Once the Seventh Prince’s strength was fully restored, the zombies here became pointless.

Under the supervision of the Da Yuan Dynasty, there was no possible way he could have brought along so many zombies. The original plan was to wait until the Seventh Prince had managed to escape before taking control of them. However, he himself ended up being sacrificed instead, and the Seventh Prince, fearing retaliation from the Imperial family, gave up on this place.

Unknown to the underlying reasons, Xu Mu remained puzzled.

For problems that were beyond his understanding, Xu Mu did not bother to investigate further. Keeping himself in virtualized state, he took advantage of the gaps within the zombies’ patrols and flew into the palace.

Just as he had surmised, there were also zombies inside the palace, moving mechanically through the hallways and rooms, just like the walking dead.

“I’m lucky these are only zombies. If they were refined corpses, it wouldn’t have been this easy!”

The difference between zombies and refined corpses is that the latter would not develop wisdom over time. Once control is lost, they can only execute simple commands.

This makes their movements, as well as their attacks, seem extremely rigid.

However, it is precisely because of this that they are easier to control. There are no instances of counterattack.

It appears that these zombies have been commanded to protect the palace and not allow strangers to approach. Thus, they keep patrolling back and forth.

Apart from the patrolling zombies, there were more Formations and restrictions within the palace. Even in his virtualized state, Xu Mu had to proceed with great caution to avoid any accidents. In such a place, there was nowhere to hide.

After searching several palaces on the outskirts and coming up empty-handed, Xu Mu couldn’t shake off a creeping feeling of unease.

“The palace is too clean. It’s as if someone has cleaned it out!”

Since he was the first to arrive, it definitely wasn’t the doing of other Imperial Princes and Princesses, unless they had the exact same means as him.

In this case, there was only one possibility—the original inhabitants had taken all valuable items when they left.

Upon closer thought, this was indeed a possibility. Since the other side didn’t flee but left with premeditation, they certainly wouldn’t have left anything valuable behind.

“No wonder the Imperial family is so generous, allowing Princes and Princesses to bring people along. It turns out there’s nothing valuable left!”

Complaining silently, Xu Mu gave up searching room by room. Instead, he decided to check out the center. If he still found nothing, he would leave right away.

If he stayed any longer and ran into others, they would surely suspect him of taking all the valuables. Hence, leaving early would be better to prevent being wrongly accused.

About ten breaths later, Xu Mu calculated that he should have arrived at the central area. Looking around, he quickly noticed a building that stood out from the rest.

It was a small, black stone temple. Its walls were sharp-angled, standing about thirty feet high but only spanning three to four steps in a circle. At first glance, it resembled a standing black coffin.

A weird house like this set up at the center naturally stirred curiosity.

What was even stranger is that there were no zombies nearby—the perimeter was even less secure than the outskirts.

Xu Mu cautiously approached and examined the temple. He saw a multitude of dim golden inscriptions etched onto the stone, which appeared to have lost their function. It was unclear whether it was due to a lack of energy or someone intentionally terminated them.

As soon as he assured that there were no dangers nearby, he materialized and swung a gust of wind at the wall with a wave of his hand.

Pitter-patter!

The inscriptions crumbled like damp wall taking the brunt of the wind, turning into a layer of dust on the ground. The wall, as a result, looked tarnished.

“As expected, they lost their function already. Given the severity of the damage, it’s unlikely it was stopped intentionally!”

Xu Mu circled the stone house and surprisingly found an entrance at the back. Pushing it lightly, he saw an altar-like stand inside. With no deity or ranking, it just held a few scattered black jade slips.