Chapter 378: The Pinnacle of “Hiding”

“Hey~ hey!”

“Why did you burn it?”

The Void Emperor stared at the ashes on the ground with a complicated expression, his face showing an indescribable emotion.

It seemed that Madam Xu had ultimately gotten what she wanted… Gu Ning’an pretended not to notice the emotions in the Void Emperor’s eyes and changed the subject. “Old Kui, now that this matter is settled, let’s talk about that gray thread above your head.”

At these words, the Void Emperor, who had still been immersed in a certain sadness, immediately raised his head. He hastily made a silencing gesture and said, “Mr. Gu! Let’s talk somewhere else!”

So, the Void Emperor did know something… Gu Ning’an nodded slightly and said, “You decide the place.”

“Please follow me, sir.” As soon as the Void Emperor spoke, spiritual light flared around him, and he vanished from the private room.

Gu Ning’an followed suit, tracing the Void Emperor’s departure and using spiritual power to follow him.

The shifting light and shadows left Doubao dazzled. In the blink of an eye, everything in the private room disappeared, replaced by a magnificent jade statue of a deity!

The statue had a single eye and a nose, with one foot stepping on the ground while the other extended to its waist. A single glance at it was enough to inspire awe.

Staring at the Void Emperor’s divine statue, Doubao found it incredibly hard to associate it with the cheerful, black-haired old man whose face was covered in wrinkles.

After another courteous “Please,” the Void Emperor led the two of them to the back of the statue, stopping in front of an unremarkable window.

“Sir, after you!”

Seeing the Void Emperor gesture towards the window, Doubao puffed out his cheeks and said, “You’re asking him to jump out of a window?”

“Uh…” the Void Emperor was momentarily stunned before realizing that the little one couldn’t see through the illusion he had set up.

So, he patiently explained, “This is not a window, not even a door. You just can’t see it.”

“If you don’t believe me, watch.”

With that, the Void Emperor stepped forward. Under Doubao’s wide-eyed gaze, he passed right through the wall and window.

“Spiritual power is truly miraculous!” Doubao exclaimed in awe.

Gu Ning’an chuckled, took a step forward, and followed through.

After passing through the “window,” they found themselves in a spiral staircase leading upward. The staircase was made of stone, winding endlessly out of sight.

Perched on Gu Ning’an’s shoulder, Doubao couldn’t help but exclaim, “It didn’t look this tall from the outside. Just how big is this place?”

Hearing this, Gu Ning’an smiled and lightly tapped Doubao on the head. “This is also an illusion. If you can’t see through it, you’ll be trapped walking an endless staircase. But once you do, you’ll see that it’s just an ordinary stone staircase leading downward, not up.”

Sure enough, with Gu Ning’an’s guidance, Doubao finally saw the true form of the stairs. As Gu Ning’an had said, they were nothing more than ordinary stone steps, leading downward instead of upward.

After descending the final step, they were met with an arched corridor.

The corridor’s temperature was refreshingly cool, and the moment they stepped in, Doubao felt a wave of comfort wash over him.

At this point, the Void Emperor, walking ahead, slowed his pace and pointed toward the arched ceiling, where various bizarre and colorful stones were embedded.

Some were smooth like pearls, radiating a faint, ghostly glow; others resembled tortoise shells, their surfaces marked with the passage of time.

Pointing at one of the shell-like stones, the Void Emperor smiled and said, “This stone is called a ‘Tortoise Breath Stone.’ It comes from cold pools and has a powerful aura-concealing effect. It also lowers the surrounding temperature, making this otherwise stifling corridor pleasantly cool.”

As they moved forward, the Void Emperor enthusiastically introduced various items along the way, displaying an encyclopedic knowledge of them.

There were the ever-burning copper candles that, when lit, could conceal one’s presence; a painting called Hidden Mountains, which appeared as mountains from afar but disappeared up close, as if even mountains could hide; and enchanted copper coins that could divert attention and mislead the observer.

Doubao was utterly dazzled by it all.

“Void Emperor, you sure have a lot of tricks for hiding!”

Seeing the sheer amazement in Doubao’s small eyes, Void Emperor waved a hand dismissively. “This is nothing. Come and see what’s inside.”

Through the archway at the end of the corridor, they stepped into a vast natural cavern of immeasurable height and depth.

The sight before them nearly caused Doubao to tumble off Gu Ning’an’s shoulder in shock!

In this space, every two meters, there stood a statue of the Void Emperor.

Each statue was human-sized, made from an unknown material, and appeared incredibly lifelike.

Each of the statues had a black gemstone embedded in its forehead, emitting a faint, eerie glow. The way the light flickered made it seem as if the statues were blinking. Anyone unaware of the truth would likely be scared to death by such a terrifying sight.

Doubao steadied himself and swallowed hard. “So many Void Emperors? No… so many statues?”

“Why do I feel like they’re alive?”

“They’re not alive, but their essence is special—they’ve been infused with the spiritual aura of Old Kui.” Saying this, Gu Ning’an turned to the Void Emperor and said meaningfully, “You nurtured these statues with your own blood and soul?”

Void Emperor nodded. “That’s right. There are exactly 9,999 statues here, all painstakingly cultivated over countless years with my own essence.”

“They share my aura and serve multiple purposes. Most importantly, they can take damage in my place or even die in my stead—that was my primary reason for creating them.”

Gu Ning’an asked, “9,999 statues—just one short of 10,000. Is that also a tactic to mislead potential enemies?”

“Nothing escapes Mr. Gu’s eyes,” Void Emperor said with a respectful bow. “As the saying goes, Heavenly Dao conceals the one. I had hoped to be that hidden one, yet I still failed to remain unseen.”

“To some, my methods may seem no different from an ostrich burying its head in the sand…”

“That’s not entirely fair,” Gu Ning’an replied.

“At the very least, you’ve done everything possible to conceal yourself. If you were still discovered, it’s truly no fault of your own…”

After saying this, he changed the subject. “By the way, do you usually sleep hidden within these statues?”

Void Emperor shook his head and pointed to a section of the rock wall. “No, I usually transform into a mural and blend into the side of the statues.”

Looking at the bare rock wall, Gu Ning’an couldn’t help but repeat, “It truly is no fault of your own.”

In his eyes, the Void Emperor had exhausted every possible means to hide—collecting various artifacts, refining all sorts of spiritual tools, all for the sake of concealment.

Under such circumstances, Gu Ning’an was certain that if the two True Immortals from Northern Huangtian were the ones searching, they could spend decades and still fail to find the Void Emperor—so long as he was determined to stay hidden.

Yet despite all this, the gray thread had still managed to lock onto him with unerring precision. That only further proved how formidable the methods of the Outer Heaven beings were.

It also confirmed that the Void Emperor was different from the Flood Dragon Emperor. This Void Emperor clearly knew something about the Outer Heaven beings; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to avoid them.