Chapter 1698 - Tomb of Jade Maiden Palace, Mysterious Man

Xu Zimo knew it clearly.

The Arctic Ancestor would definitely arrange for people to monitor him.

But how could he be someone others could truly keep under watch?

Within his perception, the positions of several nearby figures were instantly revealed.

He extinguished the candlelight in the room, plunging everything into darkness.

Then he tore open the space before him.

In the next instant, he appeared in front of a palace within the Jade Maiden Palace.

He checked his direction.

He intended to go and take a look at the center of the island.

The Jade Maiden Palace covered a vast area. Xu Zimo explored it for an entire night.

Yet he found not a single clue.

Moreover, he still could not determine why the Jade Maiden Palace was able to maintain spring all year round.

This puzzled him greatly.

Left with no choice, as dawn approached, he returned to his room.

Liu Xu'er came to see him first.

She spoke reassuring words, telling him to rest and recover here with peace of mind, and that the Arctic Ancestor had already left to seek an alliance with the other four great forces.

Xu Zimo frowned slightly.

Given how wary the Arctic Ancestor was of him, it stood to reason that she would not leave so easily.

Letting him stay behind like this seemed strange.

Was she truly not worried that he harbored ulterior motives?

Xu Zimo felt that things were becoming increasingly complicated.

As the Saintess, Liu Xu'er clearly would not tell him anything important.

So Xu Zimo could only turn his attention to Wang Xiang, the girl who had guided him the day before.

Near noon, Wang Xiang indeed came to find him.

Whether it was the outside world that fascinated her, or Xu Zimo himself, even he was not sure.

“Young Master Xu, hurry up and tell me. After you entered that burial ground, what happened next?” she asked eagerly.

Xu Zimo was not annoyed at all.

He spun a web of fabricated stories, telling them so vividly that Wang Xiang was left gasping in amazement.

“The outside world is really interesting,” she sighed.

Then her expression dimmed. “It’s a pity I’ll never be able to go out.”

“Xiang’er, there’s no need to be so disheartened. I can take you out,” Xu Zimo said.

He had already started affectionately calling her Xiang’er.

For the sake of information, Xu Zimo felt he was acting somewhat against his conscience.

“No, that would violate the palace rules. If it were discovered, not only would I be punished, I might even implicate you...” Wang Xiang replied.

“That’s true. But how could the scenery of the Great Beyond compare to your Jade Maiden Palace?” Xu Zimo said.

“Sometimes I even envy this place. Eternal spring, birdsong, flowers in bloom.”

“No matter how beautiful the scenery is, wouldn’t you grow tired of it after seeing it for so long?” Wang Xiang said.

“But I am curious. How does the Jade Maiden Palace manage to stay in eternal spring?” Xu Zimo suddenly asked.

“Well…” Wang Xiang hesitated.

“Xiang’er, there’s no need to make things difficult. If you don’t trust me, then you don’t have to say anything,” Xu Zimo said with a bitter smile.

“Young Master Xu, you misunderstand. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I actually don’t know much myself,” Wang Xiang hurriedly explained.

“I only heard senior sisters mention it. Our Jade Maiden Palace seems to be located at the center of the Great Beyond. There’s a mysterious force that blocks the edict of desolation, so this place isn’t affected.”

“If you don’t want to say it, then so be it. Why lie to me?” Xu Zimo shook his head and sighed.

“The entire Great Beyond is filled with desolation edicts. What kind of thing could possibly contend against them?”

“It might be a tree, I think. But I can’t be sure,” Wang Xiang replied.

“Meh... Forget it. Let’s not talk about it,” Xu Zimo waved his hand.

“Anyway, the scenery here is pretty nice. How about the two of us go out for a walk?”

“That sounds good,” Wang Xiang nodded.

“Oh right, does the Jade Maiden Palace have any forbidden areas? Places you’re not allowed to go? I wouldn’t want to wander into the wrong place and cause trouble,” Xu Zimo asked.

“You mustn’t wander near the places where the ancestors live. But senior sisters guard those areas anyway, so even if you went, you’d be chased away,” Wang Xiang laughed.

“Oh, and there’s also our ancestral tomb. You absolutely can’t go there. That’s where the ancestors are buried.”

Xu Zimo nodded.

He carefully committed all of this to memory.

He now had eighty percent confidence that the Desolate Tree was located within the Jade Maiden Palace.

However, the people of the Jade Maiden Palace seemed to prefer calling this place the Genesis Island.

Xu Zimo decided that the first place he would investigate was the cemetery.

To avoid arousing Wang Xiang’s suspicion, he spent most of the day with her before finally seeing her off.

During the daytime stroll, he memorized all the important locations of the Jade Maiden Palace.

As dusk fell, he left the courtyard.

The cemetery of the Jade Maiden Palace was extraordinarily luxurious.

It was located at the very center of the palace grounds.

It was a massive mausoleum complex.

There were hundreds of tombstones here.

Only a few dozen people were qualified to be buried within this cemetery.

The mausoleums were built of glazed crystal and precious jewels. Surrounding them were birdsong, flowers, and towering ancient trees.

Although this cemetery was a forbidden area, there was not a single guard in sight.

This allowed Xu Zimo to enter with ease.

“So much desolation energy,” Xu Zimo sensed the difference the moment he stepped inside.

According to Wang Xiang, a special power within the Jade Maiden Palace isolated everything, allowing eternal spring and preventing the influence of desolation edicts.

Yet here in the cemetery, the desolation edicts were extremely dense.

Xu Zimo felt that he had come to the right place.

Despite the heavy desolation, vegetation still grew luxuriantly.

He began examining the tombstones throughout the cemetery.

“Tomb of the Thirteenth Patriarch, Ice Phoenix Ancestor.”

“Tomb of the Twenty-Seventh Patriarch, Ascending Carp Immortal.”

“Tomb of the Seventh Patriarch, Thousand-Seal Ancestor.”

Xu Zimo examined them one by one.

Finally, he stopped in front of a particular mausoleum.

It read, “Mausoleum of the First Patriarch, Evergreen Ancestor.”

This mausoleum was solemn and dignified.

There wasn’t a single weed around it, clearly showing that it was regularly tended.

Most importantly, Xu Zimo could sense that all the desolation edicts seemed to radiate outward from this very mausoleum.

“I’ll go in and take a look,” Xu Zimo thought, then stepped inside.

The moment he entered, he realized that the interior was far larger than he had imagined.

Inside was actually a dense forest.

The forest was lush and verdant, and he couldn’t find the tomb at all.

Just then, space suddenly rippled.

A door appeared before his eyes.

“Why don’t you come in and have a few drinks, young friend?” a voice sounded.

Xu Zimo could not sense the other party’s location.

But the door stood right before him. Without hesitation, Xu Zimo walked in.

In the next instant, the world spun.

His figure appeared at the center of the forest.

Before him stood a tombstone and a small house.

And in front of the house, inside a pavilion, sat a man.

He held a wine jar in his hand.

White hair cascaded down as he drank deeply, completely immersed.

Xu Zimo looked at him.

Very strong.

The power within the man was like a pool of stagnant water.

It appeared calm now.

But Xu Zimo knew that once those waters surged, they could overturn everything.

“Who are you?” Xu Zimo asked.