The mass of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the wooden hall lunged for the Treasure-Gathering Gourd as they drew near, each scrambling toward it. Yet, whoever drew closest inevitably became the immediate target of a combined assault from the others.

In the blink of an eye, several of the foremost high- and mid-level Foundation Establishment cultivators were jointly "eliminated" by the surrounding crowd, dissolving into beams of light and vanishing as the restrictive array teleported them out of the labyrinth. In less than three breaths, the number of cultivators in the hall had drastically reduced by more than half.

Although every Foundation Establishment cultivator present had concealed their identities with masks or conical hats, once they unleashed their full power, discerning their origins became quite simple. After all, cultivators from the Seven Great Immortal Sects and renowned Immortal Cultivation Families possessed unique methods; whether it was their magic artifacts or cultivation techniques, their background was often observable.

Following a rapid and brief, intense struggle, the situation in the wooden hall clarified instantly, leaving only six cultivators remaining within. The Treasure-Gathering Gourd still rested on the floor, untouched by anyone.

Ye Qin and Han Xu, having deliberately kept to a corner, only risked rushing out at the very last moment to pick up any spoils, thus avoiding the thickest part of the battle for the golden gourd. Because of this, they remained inside the hall.

The four other remaining cultivators in the center of the hall were all high-level Foundation Establishment experts.

One was a thin, tall elder from the Da Luo Sect, wielding a banner-shaped artifact that casually swept out dozens of crimson arcs of wind. Another was a cold-faced, yellow-robed middle-aged man from the Di Que Sect, clad in thick, glowing armor, controlling a magic saber with both hands, his feet firmly planted on the ground, unmoving, his gaze locked intently on the tall, thin elder. Both of these individuals were experts at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment. The third was a female cultivator from a certain family in the Nan Liang Kingdom, at the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, holding a high-tier water-element magic sword.

These three were locked in combat.

The last one was Vice Hall Master Wei from the Loose Cultivator Alliance, whose primary concern was the Unquenchable Flame Ye Qin possessed; he cared less about the Treasure-Gathering Gourd. While the Gourd could generate wealth, it was nowhere near the value of the Unquenchable Flame, which directly aided a cultivator’s progress.

Though Vice Master Wei had joined the fray for the Gourd, fighting the other three, he was not exerting his full strength. At least half his attention was fixed on Ye Qin. He transmitted a private message, urgently pressing Ye Qin to agree to trade for the Unquenchable Flame.

These four high-level Foundation Establishment cultivators had encircled the Gourd. Ye Qin and Han Xu could only hover anxiously at the perimeter, unable to break in. If their cultivation levels were struck by a full-power blow from any of those high-level cultivators, the protective barriers from their talisman shields would instantly shatter.

However, it was equally unrealistic for Ye Qin to voluntarily give up the golden gourd. No one died within this labyrinth; fear of death was absent, meaning everyone would try every means possible to seize the gourd.

Ye Qin possessed one "advantage": his strength was pitifully low—the weakest among all the Foundation Establishment cultivators present. In a direct confrontation, he would lose to any single cultivator in the hall. At the critical juncture when everyone was preoccupied with wrestling for the Treasure-Gathering Gourd, his low cultivation meant he was not a priority target. Who would spare the effort to attack Ye Qin at such a moment?

The only pity was that this advantage could not help Ye Qin actually obtain the Treasure-Gathering Gourd.

He had considered using the Void-Breaking Flash from his Bat King Wings to dart into the middle of the four, but the wooden hall was too narrow. The dozens of magic artifacts and various mid-tier spells unleashed by the four high-level Foundation Establishment cultivators created a vast field of turbulent energy that nearly filled the entire hall. If he used Void-Breaking Flash, he stood a high chance of colliding with one of the artifacts or spells, causing the Flash to fail.

“Even if it fails, at worst, I’ll just be teleported out. That’s better than…”

Ye Qin muttered to himself wryly, slapped his waist storage pouch, and a pair of massive snow-white wings immediately sprouted from his back. Before unleashing the Void-Breaking Flash, he performed an action that looked utterly insane: he tossed out the Soul-Shattering Bell artifact and simultaneously launched an attack toward the five cultivators gathered in the hall's center. This included Han Xu, whom he had only recently met. Ye Qin could only offer a silent apology for this, as whoever seized the Treasure-Gathering Gourd would keep it; there was no room for courtesy here.

Dong—!

A wave of invisible, dizzying energy swept furiously toward the five Foundation Establishment cultivators aimed at the bell's mouth. They never expected the Foundation Establishment first-level Ye Qin to possess a magic artifact like the Soul-Shattering Bell.

In that instant, the Foundation Establishment cultivators choked almost simultaneously; both their divine sense control and mana output faltered. This meant the artifacts they were controlling instantly lost direction, and their attacks paused.

Ye Qin knew it was practically impossible to defeat the four high-level Foundation Establishment cultivators plus Han Xu, a low-level Foundation Establishment cultivator, in that mere moment. The disparity in their cultivation and magic power was too vast, limiting the stunning effect. The dizziness induced in the high-level cultivators was too brief to even breach their defenses.

Fortunately, his goal wasn't to fight the four high-level experts to the death, but to snatch the Gourd. This instant was sufficient for Ye Qin to execute one Void-Breaking Flash. He slapped his wings almost blindly.

Whoosh!

Ye Qin tore through the gap in the battle and appeared directly in the center of the four cultivators, snatching the Treasure-Gathering Gourd from the ground.

Ye Qin's almost reckless action nearly stunned the four high-level Foundation Establishment cultivators present. Before they could even react to secure the Gourd, a mere Foundation Establishment first-level cultivator had snatched the initiative, snatching the prize right from under their noses.

Han Xu’s eyes widened further, realizing Ye Qin was far more formidable than he had imagined. He seemed to understand then that Ye Qin’s ability to enter the wooden hall at the first level of Foundation Establishment was definitely not due to luck.

The Soul-Shattering Bell and the bat wings capable of using Void-Breaking Flash—these two artifacts and spiritual items were exceedingly rare.

Bells are usually used for defense, warding off enemies and protecting oneself, and do not possess stunning capabilities. However, a tiny fraction of bell artifacts can produce waves stimulated by mana that shock the spirit and daze opponents; these are called Soul-Shattering Bells. Such bells cease to be defensive artifacts and become control-type artifacts—capable of stunning surrounding cultivators, leaving them unable to react. If an opponent was prepared, they might still resist; but under a sudden attack, even high-level cultivators could easily be ambushed.

Only top-tier refining grandmasters from the Da Luo Sect, who favored refining unconventional artifacts, could possibly forge a Soul-Shattering Bell. They rarely fell into the hands of outside cultivators.

As for the bat wings, there was no need to elaborate. A mere spiritual item capable of unleashing a high-tier wind-element spell was incredible. Especially since this high-tier spell was the instantaneous movement of Void-Breaking Flash. Even many Foundation Establishment cultivators had only mastered mid-tier spells and could not execute high-tier ones, naturally making them intensely envious of such a spiritual item.

The value of these two items was exceptionally high; together, they were enough to incite pure jealousy.

“The Soul-Shattering Bell! That’s my son’s soul bell, how is it in your hands? Who are you?” The thin, tall elder stared fixedly at the azure bronze bell in Ye Qin’s hand, his lips twitching, his eyes showing a mixture of shock, delight, and fury.

The elder was intimately familiar with that bell. It had originally been a high-tier artifact he used, which he had subsequently refined, significantly reducing its rank before gifting it three years ago to his son, who was then in the Qi Refining stage, for the trial in the Wan Ku Ridge cave. But his son never returned from the cave trial. He had no way to seek revenge because the cave trial was immensely complex, making it impossible to find out who killed his son. A long time had passed; he had long since abandoned the investigation, never expecting to see the Soul-Shattering Bell again here.

Ye Qin, having secured the Gourd, dismissively curled his lip. He knew the thin elder was the father of that golden-robed cultivator he had killed in the mine shaft, and he felt only cold derision.

That man was certainly dead. During the cave trial, everyone fought for the interests of their respective sects; did he expect him to avenge him?

“Boom—!”

The entire wooden palace began to collapse on a massive scale. Once the wooden palace fully caved in, all cultivators remaining inside would turn into white light and be teleported out of the labyrinth.

Ye Qin seized the momentary lapse in concentration from the five cultivators, executed a Void-Breaking Flash, appeared on the teleportation array in the wooden hall, and vanished. Since he had come all this way to the labyrinth, he had to see the Earth Palace and gain some experience.

Seeing this, the other few cultivators cursed inwardly and rushed toward the teleportation array, vying to enter the Earth Palace before the wooden hall collapsed completely.

Silence returned to the surroundings; no sounds of fighting remained.

Ye Qin glanced around and couldn't help but smile faintly. He was indeed still inside the labyrinth; he must now be in the Earth Palace. The Immortal Fate Hall labyrinth consisted of eight palaces; the phantom beasts in the Fire Palace, Wood Palace, Earth Palace, and Metal Palace grew progressively stronger with each level. For Foundation Establishment cultivators, navigating the Fire Palace was relatively easy, but the Wood Palace was already very difficult. As for the Earth Palace, it was rumored that only a very small number of high-level Foundation Establishment cultivators could pass through it successfully within a day.

Ye Qin was immensely curious about how powerful the phantom beasts in the Earth Palace were.

He wasn't in a hurry to explore; he sat down first to recover his mana and take a look at the Treasure-Gathering Gourd in his hand. This gleaming golden Gourd seemed strange—neither wood nor stone, it was very heavy, and he couldn't tell what material it was made of. The most astonishing thing was that a strangely concentrated spiritual energy seemed to exist within the Gourd, an aura far beyond what spirit stones should possess.

Ye Qin couldn't figure it out immediately.

It was inconvenient to research and test things within the labyrinth. Once his mana recovered, he flew toward the depths of the Earth Palace. Surprisingly, after flying quite a distance, he saw no phantom beasts inhabiting the Earth Palace passage.

Ye Qin was perplexed.

“They say this Earth Palace is extremely dangerous; perhaps the reputation is overblown.”

The moment this thought surfaced, a shaft of earth-yellow light shot up from the ground, instantly enveloping him.

Ye Qin was greatly alarmed. He flapped his wings and used Void-Breaking Flash to shoot forward, escaping the yellow light's coverage. But with a clang, he slammed headfirst into a thick yellow energy wall, leaving him dizzy and reeling as he tumbled from the air.

Ye Qin was horrified to find that he was completely hemmed in by light walls on all sides. The earth beneath his feet was madly "climbing" up his legs, already coating him in a thick layer of earth-yellow, weighing him down like a thousand jun, making it nearly impossible to move an inch.

“Earth Cage Spell—!” “Earth Binding Art—!”

Ye Qin cried out in alarm. Anyone subjected to a sudden surprise attack using these two mid-tier Earth element spells simultaneously would show the same look of terror. Earth Cage Spell was one of the mid-tier Earth spells, specializing in restraint. The Earth Binding Art further entangled him, making movement difficult.

A five-tier giant Earth Tiger, towering ten feet tall, let out a low roar and drilled up from the ground. Its yellow claws swept toward Ye Qin.

“Crack!”

Very clean and decisive.

The barrier talisman on Ye Qin’s body shattered as easily as paper, and the giant claw was about to strike him.

Ye Qin, choked by the Earth Binding Art, could barely move and could only watch the claw descend. In that instant, he truly believed he was about to be crushed to death by a single swipe.

Then, a tremendously powerful pulling force from within the labyrinth’s restrictive array instantly yanked him, and he vanished from the Earth Palace. Ye Qin's journey in the Earth Palace had begun only to end immediately. (To be continued. For the rest of the story, please log in to www** for more chapters, supporting the author and genuine reading!)