Chapter 110 |
Mountain summit.
An ancient hall stood tall, carrying the weight of countless years. The plaque above its entrance bore three large characters: Void-Stepping Hall.
“Demonic path scum, you deserve death!”
Senior Brother Ruan stared at his Dao companion’s severed head and body, eyes nearly splitting with rage.
Their group had endured endless hardships. Only with the help of Junior Brother Linghu’s bloodline tracing technique had they finally located the remains of the Blue Sea Ancestor.
No one knew why the ancestor had found this secret realm back then and entered it, only to perish in meditation inside the Void-Stepping Hall.
Perhaps he had been gravely wounded by the hall’s restrictions and had no choice but to sit and pass away.
These were restrictions capable of severely injuring even a Core Formation perfection cultivator!
For that reason, Senior Brother Ruan and the others had been extremely cautious. They only planned to collect the ancestor’s remains and leave.
Worse, the attacker’s strength was terrifying. He was clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet he had shamelessly hidden himself and struck from the shadows!
Caught completely off guard, their team suffered heavy losses. Many junior brothers died on the spot, and even his own Dao companion perished miserably.
In his fury, Senior Brother Ruan immediately took out the talisman treasure the sect had bestowed before departure: the Sea-Calming Ring!
To his shock, the demonic Foundation Establishment cultivator also carried a talisman treasure.
“Haha! Using talisman treasures against each other? I am Foundation Establishment while you are merely Qi Refining. How long can your divine sense and mana possibly last?”
The demonic Foundation Establishment cultivator laughed wildly. He formed hand seals, and several strands of his hair turned white in an instant.
Black flames spewed from his mouth and nose, transforming into several fire birds that swooped toward Senior Brother Ruan.
Senior Brother Ruan was, after all, only Qi Refining. Controlling the talisman treasure to block the black ancient halberd had already left him drenched in sweat. At this moment he could only struggle to slap a second-rank inferior superior-grade defensive talisman onto himself.
Splash!
A layer of rippling water waves appeared around his body.
Chirp chirp!
One of the black fire birds lightly pecked with its beak. The water waves evaporated by more than half in an instant.
“Not good! This is Spirit-Devouring Demonic Fire!”
Senior Brother Ruan’s mind raced as he recalled the infamous demonic fire divine ability of the Sea-Destroying Alliance cultivators. It was said that Elder Tianding had been heavily injured by this very flame, and his hair still had not grown back properly to this day.
Puff!
In the next instant, the other two fire birds pierced through the water waves and slammed into him.
His mouth opened, and his entire body instantly turned to ash.
“Ha… haha… In the end, I win.”
The demonic cultivator disciple landed on the ground and picked up the Sea-Calming Ring talisman treasure. Once its owner died, the item automatically shrank back into a palm-sized blue talisman with a faint ring pattern whose glow had dimmed considerably.
He was not a true Foundation Establishment cultivator after all, only pseudo-Foundation Establishment. The successive battles had already consumed a massive amount of his mana and divine sense.
But none of that mattered. In the end, he had won!
Once he left this place and reported such a great achievement, his master would surely reward him handsomely!
The demonic cultivator’s heart surged with excitement as he stepped into the Void-Stepping Hall.
The first thing he saw was a five-colored restriction, followed by several jade platforms whose surfaces remained blurry.
A Core Formation cultivator’s remains, dressed in blue robes, sat cross-legged facing the restriction.
“This…”
The demonic cultivator disciple gazed greedily at the scene, then suddenly felt something was wrong. “Where is this ancient cultivator’s storage bag?”
At that moment, a sudden change occurred!
In one corner of the Void-Stepping Hall, a strange azure curtain lifted. A Foundation Establishment cultivator with tear stains on his face charged out. It was none other than Junior Brother Linghu!
“How is there a Foundation Establishment cultivator hidden here?”
“Impossible… Why didn’t my divine sense detect him earlier?”
The demonic cultivator disciple panicked and hastily summoned a white-bone shield.
“Die!”
Junior Brother Linghu’s mana surged violently around him, faintly exceeding early Foundation Establishment, though he could not control it well.
In the narrow space, however, brute force triumphed. He drove a massive iron hammer spiritual artifact in a wild barrage of strikes.
The demonic cultivator struggled to block the blows and prepared to use other methods when his expression suddenly changed.
Right in front of him, a violent wave of mana appeared, condensing into a small azure sword.
“A talisman treasure? You actually have another talisman treasure on you?”
Blood beads erupted across his body as he tried to turn into a streak of blood light and retreat, but it was already too late.
The azure sword pierced forward lightly, passing straight through the white-bone shield and leaving a small hole in his chest.
“I…”
The demonic path disciple’s face twisted with bitter despair as his corpse collapsed to the ground.
“Senior Brother Ruan… Senior Sister Yu… sob sob…”
Junior Brother Linghu stepped outside and broke into loud sobs.
As a direct bloodline descendant of the Blue Sea Ancestor, he knew that his ancestor had left behind a Tide Birth Pearl back then, forged from a third-rank superior flood dragon inner core.
When the demonic Foundation Establishment cultivator attacked, he had hidden inside the hall, using the Heaven-Shrouding Curtain to conceal his aura. The item was wondrous beyond words and could even potentially evade a Core Formation divine sense. Ruan Zhixuan had specially retrieved it from the sect’s secret treasury and given it to them.
After all, they might obtain many precious treasures on this trip. They could not rule out the possibility that a demonic Core Formation cultivator would grow greedy, so some concealment was necessary.
The Tide Birth Pearl currently held by the Blue Sea Sect was only a replica. It could merely grant pseudo-Core cultivators combat strength on par with true Core Formation.
Yet the genuine Tide Birth Pearl on the Blue Sea Ancestor’s body could be refined even by a Qi Refining cultivator, granting them Foundation Establishment level power!
Foundation Establishment cultivators would not need to settle for a pseudo-Core version. They could operate the real pearl directly and possess combat strength around the Core Formation level!
After all, this Tide Birth Pearl was the genuine article, refined from a third-rank superior flood dragon inner core by the Blue Sea Ancestor himself. Its divine might was naturally on another level.
Junior Brother Linghu cultivated the Blue Sea Technique, but his cultivation was still only at Qi Refining. Even exerting every ounce of strength, he could only perform a crude sacrificial refinement of the pearl.
By the time he finally succeeded, the demonic Foundation Establishment cultivator had already killed Senior Brother Ruan.
Junior Brother Linghu could only endure in silence. He waited until the demonic cultivator collected the talisman treasure and stepped into the hall before launching his sneak attack. The result was an instant success!
Just as Junior Brother Linghu was weeping, his sea of consciousness suffered a heavy blow!
A golden, radiant Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle slammed into his mind without warning.
Junior Brother Linghu’s divine sense had always been weak. Controlling Foundation Establishment level mana was already difficult for him, and with his mind in turmoil, his vision instantly went dark.
The next moment he saw a demonic path thief charge forward in a blur, crush his Foundation Establishment grade protective mana shield with one grab, and then throw a punch.
Bang!
Junior Brother Linghu collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.
Xiang Dahu did not dare slack off. He took out a second-rank superior talisman and sealed the man’s mana.
Only after finishing did he let out a long breath. “Junior Brother, you cannot hold onto this item. Better to hand it over to Young Master.”
Xiang Dahu had not killed Linghu Qiuye. After all, he had disguised himself with the appearance of a demonic path disciple.
He quickly looted the spoils. Even Fang Qing, who was watching the live broadcast, was stunned. “Jackpot! Jackpot! Three talisman treasures alone!”
Xiang Dahu also pulled a verdant storage bag from Linghu Qiuye’s body. When he opened it, two magical artifacts lay inside!
Although time had passed, the artifacts still glowed with only slightly dimmed radiance. They were clearly third-rank or higher!
“These must be the Blue Sea Ancestor’s magical artifacts…”
Xiang Dahu pressed a hand against Linghu Qiuye’s dantian and silently circulated his mana.
Moments later, a deep azure pearl appeared in his palm.
The pearl was the size of a baby’s fist, entirely sapphire-blue, with flickering inner luminescence that carried an unfathomable might.
“The Tide Birth Pearl…”
Xiang Dahu swallowed hard. Unfortunately he possessed an prominent earth spiritual root and cultivated an earth-attribute technique. The Tide Birth Pearl was useless to him.
“Huh? What is this?”
He rummaged through the verdant storage bag again and pulled out an iron scroll.
On the scroll were four large characters: Zhoutian Star Palace Map.
When he opened it, the item turned out to be a map!
“Void-Stepping Hall… specially marked, and besides that, the main peak…”
“This should also be a relic left by the Blue Sea Ancestor. A secret realm map? Too bad… the restrictions here are too strong. We cannot break them at all.”
Fang Qing scanned the map once and immediately ordered Xiang Dahu to withdraw.
The harvest this time was already far beyond expectations. There was no need to push for more. Successfully bringing everything out of the secret realm would count as complete success.
Several hours later, Junior Brother Linghu woke up with a violent start.
Looking around at the desolate mountain summit, he shivered coldly. Suddenly he bowed in all four directions. “I do not know which senior saved me, but Linghu Qiuye is endlessly grateful…”
After a moment Linghu Qiuye straightened up, brows tightly furrowed. “Could it be that the demonic path thief ran into some danger and fled in a hurry, not having time to kill me? That thief possessed second-rank Body Refinement and was a stronger Foundation Establishment cultivator than the previous one! Damn it!”
As if remembering something, he hurriedly checked his body and immediately cursed inwardly.
Not only had the Tide Birth Pearl vanished without a trace, but every treasure from his storage bag had disappeared as well…
Tianxin Island.
Bronze underground palace.
As the one-month deadline drew near, the cultivators no longer sat calmly in meditation. They gathered before the entrance instead.
“The time has come. Open it.”
Qin Ruxue and another demonic path array master activated the array disk and lifted the restriction.
Before long, a blood-covered Blue Sea Sect disciple tumbled out in a sorry state. He barely managed a bow. “Disciple… disciple…”
Before he could finish speaking, a powerful Core Formation divine sense swept over his entire body.
Qin Ruxue also noticed an elder from Pill Island standing nearby with a spiritual rat.
A Treasure-Seeking Rat? This creature excelled at locating treasures. Whether spiritual herbs or ores, nothing could escape its nose…
Her heart chilled. She watched the disciple obediently hand over his storage bag for inspection.
After him came three Sea-Destroying Alliance cultivators in a row.
Although they were missing limbs, their killing intent was thick. The moment they emerged, they were surrounded by several demonic path Foundation Establishment cultivators and thoroughly searched.
Several hours later, more than forty cultivators now stood in the open area, most of them heavily wounded.
‘The casualty rate in this ruin is even higher than I expected.’
Qin Ruxue felt a secret shock. A quick glance showed that Miao Yifan and Bei Lingshu were both present, but Li Tianlong and Shu Rou had yet to appear.
Moments later another Blue Sea Sect disciple crawled out of the passage in a panic. He was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining. It was none other than Xiang Dahu!
“Ancestor!”
Xiang Dahu bowed toward Ruan Zhixuan and handed over his storage bag.
Inside were several superior-grade magical artifacts, some ores, and a dozen or so second-rank mid-to-superior grade spiritual herbs.
“Mm. Go rest.”
Ruan Zhixuan’s divine sense swept over the items and found nothing unusual. Seeing the Foundation Establishment elder controlling the Treasure-Seeking Rat nod as well, she casually waved him away.
This disciple’s cultivation was low and he bore few injuries. Clearly he had searched only the outer areas before hiding somewhere safe.
This was also why the sect used benefits to lure them. If the sect forced disciples into the secret realm, they would definitely slack off…