After a bumpy journey to and fro the prison where Mu Ningxue was being imprisoned, Gu Ming returned to his palace in the Heavenly King’s carriage.
As he stepped down from the vehicle, he said to the attendant beside him, “I am somewhat weary. Unless it is a matter of great importance, do not disturb me.”
“Yes!” the attendant responded powerfully.
Gu Ming gave no further reaction and walked toward his room.
Creak.
He pushed open the door, and the first thing that caught his eye was an exquisitely carved wooden screen. Behind the screen sat a bed that was 2.5 meters long and 2 meters wide. On the eastern wall stood a set of tables and chairs, while the western side held a wardrobe and a dressing table.
Gu Ming walked toward the west, opened the wardrobe, pushed aside the clothes inside, and reached his hand toward the back.
The moment his fingertips touched the wardrobe wall, a ripple originated from his touch and spread rapidly through the air.
A Forbidden character emerged before him.
This was a special Restricting Seal set by Gu Ming.
The seal would only appear when Gu Ming touched it; anyone else reaching out would trigger no reaction at all.
Gu Ming lightly tapped the floating Seal Character, and it reacted immediately.
The character trembled for a moment before it began to break and disintegrate, turning into shards of debris. In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the void as if it had never existed.
A spatial rift appeared immediately after, expanding suddenly to form an opening the size of a bowl’s mouth.
After cracking the Restricting Seal, the entrance to the hidden space was revealed.
Reaching into the hole, he found a small space containing a single item.
It was a plain, unassuming mask.
The mask was entirely white, with two circular holes for the eyes to observe the outside world.
This was the Disguise Mask.
It was a treasure Gu Ming had scavenged from the Black Market at the cost of 10,000,000 High-grade Spirit Stones.
Only by placing a treasure of such value in this hidden small space could he feel at ease.
While the Disguise Mask was incredibly expensive, its transformation functions were equally powerful.
Once worn, it could not only change the wearer’s physical appearance and stature but also rewrite their aura and temperament. It could even transform their clothing.
Under the transformation of the Disguise Mask, no one beneath the Heavenly Dao could see the truth.
In other words, neither the Demon Cult Leader nor the Alliance Leader of the Righteous Path Alliance could see through the disguise.
However, the price one had to pay to use the Disguise Mask was also heavy.
To change one’s physical form and appearance once, one had to first feed it 1,000,000 High-grade Spirit Stones. To rewrite one’s aura and temperament once cost 100,000 High-grade Spirit Stones, and changing one’s clothing required 10,000 High-grade Spirit Stones.
Looking at the mask lying in the space, Gu Ming’s heart felt as if it were bleeding.
In the past month, in order to reasonably let those fools escape, he had used the Disguise Mask many times to transform into the Jade-Faced Young Master. He had spent a significant number of High-grade Spirit Stones.
Now, to rescue the Divine Maiden, he had to become the Jade-Faced Young Master once again.
And a single transformation would cost at least 110,000 High-grade Spirit Stones.
Thinking about the High-grade Spirit Stones flowing away like water, Gu Ming felt unwell.
‘The pain… it hurts so much.’
Gu Ming clutched his chest with one hand while carefully retrieving the treasure worth 10,000,000 High-grade Spirit Stones with the other. Then, he pulled 110,000 High-grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag. Enduring the agony of the loss, he poured them onto the Disguise Mask.
The moment the stones touched the mask, a ripple surged, and they merged into the treasure.
Watching the stones vanish one after another like a flowing stream, Gu Ming’s heart continued to drip blood.
But for the sake of rescuing the Divine Maiden logically, this was a price he had to pay.
A moment later, after the 110,000 High-grade Spirit Stones were consumed, Gu Ming slowly put the mask on.
As the mask fitted against the contours of his face, Gu Ming’s aura and temperament were gradually rewritten, and his clothing changed along with them.
In just a breath, Gu Ming had completely transformed into a different person — a magnificent young nobleman dressed in luxurious clothes and wearing a white mask.
Once the disguise was complete, Gu Ming waved his hand toward the wardrobe, casually placing another Restricting Seal. As soon as the Seal Character appeared, it faded away, and the bowl-sized space vanished along with it.
Next, Gu Ming briefly tidied the clothes in the wardrobe, restoring them to their original state. Having finished everything, he went to the door.
He pushed the door open slightly to observe the situation outside. After confirming that no one was there, Gu Ming darted out of the room. He stepped into the air and streaked toward the clouds, leaving a trail of afterimages before vanishing without a trace.
—
30 minutes later, Gu Ming reappeared in a patch of grass outside the Great Prison.
He observed the patrolling jailers and, with practiced ease, pulled out a bamboo tube. He uncorked it and threw it toward them.
Thud.
The bamboo tube landed among the jailers. The sound immediately caught their attention, and they tensed up, raising their weapons as they looked over.
Finding that the object was merely a bamboo tube, the jailers were stunned for a second, and a hint of relaxation instinctively rose in their hearts.
However, they soon realized something was wrong.
“Oh no, it’s Confusing Smoke! There’s an enemy attack!”
After one of them shouted, his eyes instantly became glazed. In the next moment, his body fell backward uncontrollably.
Wisps of white smoke rose from the bamboo tube. The white smoke spread rapidly, and in a short while, it had enveloped three or five people.
“Hey… you guys…”
Seeing his companions collapse one by one, a thin jailer couldn’t help but tremble. He shouted, trying to call his comrades’ names, but his eyelids twitched violently. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another bamboo tube rolling to his feet, emitting faint wisps of white smoke.
The next second, the man fell backward without warning, losing consciousness.
About fifteen minutes later, the jailers at the entrance of the Great Prison had all collapsed.
‘1,000 High-grade Spirit Stones, gone just like that…’
Gu Ming jumped out, his gaze unable to help but skip past the fallen jailers to sweep over the bamboo tubes that were no longer emitting smoke.
These tubes were filled with Confusing Smoke. This medicinal smoke was powerful and took effect quickly. Gu Ming had purchased them from the Black Market. One tube cost 100 High-grade Spirit Stones, and there were ten of them on the ground.
Gu Ming couldn’t help but clutch his chest.
‘The pain… it’s really too much pain.’
Whoosh —
Suddenly, a piercing sound of something breaking through the air rang out. Startled, Gu Ming reflexively looked up, his eyes narrowing as he saw a five-colored firework explode in mid-air.
It was a communication firework signaling an enemy attack.
‘Who is it?’
Gu Ming’s gaze swept quickly, spotting a jailer on the edge of the group who was gritting his teeth, maintaining the posture of having pulled the trigger on the tube. Under Gu Ming’s watch, the man finally collapsed.
‘Dammit.’
‘I have to hurry, or it will be trouble once she arrives.’
Seeing this, Gu Ming gritted his teeth and pulled out a stack of Confusing Smoke tubes. He charged into the interior of the Great Prison, throwing the tubes along the way. In an instant, the entire Great Prison was shrouded in white smoke.