Chapter 341: 341. Unlock new permissions

Fang Zhou decided to stay a few more days in the Capital before returning.

Naturally, it wasn’t because of any unspeakable messy matters but because of the stele in the Imperial Palace Dungeon.

Qiao Sen revealed all the secrets of the Qiao Clan to Fang Zhou without reservation, including the origins of the Blood God Mask and the Blood God Array.

However, compared to the Blood God Mask, after listening, Fang Zhou was more concerned with the nearly six-zhang-tall stele at the center of the dungeon.

According to Qiao Sen, this stele, like the Blood God Mask, was also a relic left by the Blood God. It’s said that the inscriptions on it contain a world-shattering divine skill, mastering which would let one traverse the Cultivation World.

The Zhao and Qiao clans’ emperors had studied the stele and inscriptions tirelessly over the generations. Emperor Qiao Zhi even studied them day and night while hiding in the dungeon, but unfortunately, to no avail.

So, they gradually concluded that either this rumor was groundless, or their talents weren’t sufficient to comprehend it.

Fang Zhou returned to the Imperial Palace Dungeon after a few days. Due to his battle with General Yaksha, the place had become ruins, with most buildings collapsed, and Qiao Sen had already planned to completely seal it and bury the secrets forever.

Fang Zhou came to the stele at the center of the dungeon. The stele was still intact, not affected by the battle.

He first read through the inscriptions, a scant few thousand words, all talking about the Blood God’s achievements in the Cultivation World, a self-praising eulogy.

After reading, Fang Zhou checked the stele again but found nothing special. No matter how he looked at it, from whatever angle, it appeared to be just an ordinary stele and a not-so-artistic inscription.

Over hundreds of years, dozens of emperors of two dynasties had studied it meticulously. If there were anything special, it would have already been discovered.

Perhaps cutting open the stele might reveal something hidden inside, but this was a valuable heritage left by the ancestors, and the Zhao and Qiao descendants dared not act recklessly.

They didn’t dare, but Fang Zhou had no such apprehensions since Qiao Sen had already decided to seal the place forever.

He memorized the inscription, summoned the Xuanyuan Sword, and sliced the stele to pieces.

After the stele was shattered, sure enough, something strange was hidden inside–a palm-length key.

Fang Zhou took out the key and found it wasn’t made of crystal or jade but some kind of stone, smooth with misty patterns on its surface.

Finding a key hidden inside the stele with no explanation–only a genius could guess what it was meant to open.

Fang Zhou tried to use the system’s identification function, and soon a line of words appeared before his eyes.

[A magical key that always points to an unknown direction]

Fang Zhou thought for a moment and placed the key on the ground, observing it closely.

Soon he noticed that the key was rotating at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, taking more than ten minutes to stop, pointing in a certain direction.

Fang Zhou identified it was likely pointing south.

This key might have something to do with the Blood God, but it wasn’t what Fang Zhou wanted.

He cut the stele into slices like meat, but apart from the key, there was nothing else, no world-shattering divine skill hidden inside. This centuries-old relic was thus destroyed.

If the rumor was true, the skill still had to be found through traces in the inscription.

Fang Zhou already had two divine skills of his own, so his need for more was not high, but he had a slight hoarding compulsion. Seeing something good before him made him want to collect it–not whether he could use it, but missing it felt like losing millions, making him uncomfortable.

Generations of emperors couldn’t find any trace in the inscription, and with Fang Zhou’s ordinary intellect and talent, he naturally couldn’t either.

But he could cheat. Not using his cheat was a crime–wasn’t Wise Time prepared precisely for this?

Fang Zhou left the dungeon and returned to the palace, instructing Yu Qing not to let anyone disturb him, then entered the gourd space.

Wise Time still had a cooldown of more than ten days, and Fang Zhou planned to use the time flow in the gourd space to refresh the cooldown.

The gourd space was as expected, but after advancing to Innate, Fang Zhou found his connection with this treasured gourd even closer.

Previously, he had only basic permissions, such as absorbing and releasing people, but after advancing to Innate, he finally unlocked new permissions–controlling the time flow.

He could slow time in the gourd space to be just like reality, slow it to a 1:2 ratio, or even speed it up to a 35:1 time flow.

Fang Zhou didn’t know if this was the treasure’s limit or if his own stage was insufficient, but this discovery delighted him immensely.

Originally, he was most troubled by the gourd space’s excessively high time flow, wasting life while hiding inside.

Now he could slow time down to half of reality, making it a vacation paradise, a favorite for those who like to hide.

With nothing to do, he could hide in the gourd, gaining more life than others for free, feeling utterly satisfied.

Fang Zhou increased the time flow to 35:1, intending to refresh the Wise Time cooldown first.

Next, he needed to stay in the gourd space for more than ten days, waiting for Wise Time to cool down.

With nothing else to do, Fang Zhou took out the Image Keeping Stone to review it several times, then recalled something.

It seemed like someone had been forgotten in the gourd space.

General Yaksha’s subordinate, Li Yan, who could use the Ghost Shadow Secret Technique.

This person had been absorbed into the gourd and then forgotten by Fang Zhou; if he hadn’t been idly reminiscing now, he might not have remembered.

After all, even General Yaksha was dead, and keeping this person seemed to serve no purpose.

However, whether it was useful depended on how one used it.

Fang Zhou quickly dug Li Yan out from the garbage mountain and woke her up.

As soon as Li Yan regained consciousness, she vigilantly looked around. Her memory remained from that night, and suddenly finding herself in a strange place was utterly shocking.

“It’s you?! What is this place?”

Li Yan looked at Fang Zhou in surprise, recognizing him as the handsome man whom Di Ao had forcibly taken to his mansion.

Fang Zhou didn’t expect Li Yan to have seen his face. He chuckled, “Well, this is called the Water Dragon Joy Park; you’ll come to love it.”

“It’s you!”

Li Yan recognized Fang Zhou’s voice, identical to the masked man who ambushed her.

She suddenly pounced towards Fang Zhou, but froze mid-air, unable to move.

Fang Zhou pointed at her from a distance, using the Cloth Exploring Sword Technique.

With a ripping sound, Li Yan’s black clothes instantly exploded, revealing her bare body.

She was astonished and hurriedly attempted to perform the Ghost Shadow Secret Technique, but found she couldn’t channel the Spiritual Energy within her body, sweat breaking out on her forehead in anxiety.

In this gourd space, Fang Zhou was the ruler, and those absorbed couldn’t even commit suicide.

Fang Zhou stroked his chin, circling around Li Yan, clicking his tongue in appreciation, “Wow, quite a figure.”