The city gates were breached, and the treasure-seeking cultivators flashed forward with barely contained eagerness, surging into the desolate spirit city.

“Fellow Daoists, the restrictive formations within this ancient city were all laid down by ancient Nascent Soul cultivators. Most have long been broken and destroyed by the Demon Race cultivators, but remnants remain. These residual arrays, after ten thousand years, possess little remaining power. However, if triggered, they remain quite troublesome for us Golden Core cultivators. Exercise extreme caution!”

A middle-aged scholar-robed cultivator, one of the first to enter, quickly assessed the situation inside the city and spoke.

“Heh, Brother Kong comes from a lineage steeped in formations. He is proficient in array arts. We will trouble Brother Kong to lead the way and search this ancient city!” Sun Xing chuckled.

“Haha, it is my duty!”

The scholar-robed cultivator did not decline, moving ahead, flickering between the ruins, carefully avoiding areas where hidden formation restrictions might lie.

Once inside, the group moved deeper, observing the city’s state. They couldn't help but marvel at the desolate spirit city, spanning over a hundred li in circumference. Despite being a ruin, the vestiges of its former grandeur were still faintly discernible.

Lines of military encampments, orderly and robust in style, stretched through the city, almost to the horizon. Most of these camps, constructed from massive stones, had been destroyed during the Immortal-Demon War, though a few remained largely intact.

Ye Qin observed the city's condition, but his primary focus settled on the group led by the senior cultivator Cao lingering behind.

Even without Divine Sense probing, he could clearly feel Senior Cultivator Cao’s cold gaze lingering on his back, perpetually searching for an opportunity for a sudden strike.

The three members of the Cao clan likely believe they still have a chance to succeed, which is why they haven't given up and left. I shall allow you a few more hours of life. After I secure the ancient hidden treasures, all of you must perish! Ye Qin sneered inwardly, finding their stubbornness amusing. Unless those three possessed Minor Divine Ability-grade artifacts, their defeat and demise were inevitable. But for them to possess such artifacts was simply impossible; if they had them, Senior Cultivator Cao would have deployed them long ago.

“Husband, look over there! What is that structure?” Huangfu Bing'er, oblivious to Ye Qin’s thoughts, followed closely behind him, alert to surrounding dangers. Suddenly, her bright eyes lit up, and she pointed into the distance with surprise.

Ye Qin followed the direction she indicated.

Ahead of them stood a gigantic, soaring spire, reaching a hundred zhang high, built of massive black rock, standing silently amidst the city. Its entire surface was carved with dense runes and incantations. The area surrounding the tower exuded rich thunder-element spiritual energy, with faint arcs of lightning crackling audibly. The lightning served as anathema to the ghostly entities, causing the surrounding spectral mist to keep a respectful distance from the giant tower.

“I wonder why this tower attracts so much thunder spiritual energy… It is likely related to the thunder-element formation on the tower structure,” Ye Qin murmured in astonishment.

This tower had also drawn the attention of the other cultivators. “That is a Thunder Spirit Accumulation Tower, a high-tier defensive city tower of formidable power using thunder elements. It is rarely seen in the East Sea. It can utilize the array within the tower to summon heavenly lightning to bombard approaching enemies. Its destructive power is terrifying—it can instantly blast a tenth-tier Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator into ashes!”

Senior Cultivator Pang recognized the origin of the black spire immediately, his eyes flashing with excitement, though his voice held surprise. “However, every time this defensive tower activates its thunder array, it requires at least one hundred peak-grade spirit stones. Furthermore, the runes on the tower body are severely damaged; the thunder array has already been destroyed.”

“So many peak-grade spirit stones to activate?!”

“I wonder if any peak-grade spirit stones remain inside the tower?” All the treasure seekers were astonished.

One peak-grade spirit stone was equivalent to one hundred high-grade spirit stones, ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones, or one million low-grade spirit stones. Peak-grade spirit stones were exceedingly rare in the East Sea cultivation world. Even a Core Condensation Elixir only sold for the equivalent of one peak-grade spirit stone at the Heavenly Dao Alliance Auction. Nascent Soul cultivators generally used high-grade spirit stones at most and reserved peak-grade stones for emergencies. For Golden Core cultivators, acquiring even a few peak-grade spirit stones from an expedition would constitute a great profit, making the trip worthwhile.

Only Ye Qin remained unmoved. He possessed the Purple Mansion, capable of converting low-grade spirit stones into peak-grade ones. However, other cultivators lacked such means to acquire peak-grade stones.

“This tower must have been destroyed by the Demon Race cultivators. They also need to absorb spiritual power from peak-grade spirit stones to convert into demonic power, so they certainly wouldn't leave even a fraction behind. Even if they did, the tower body seems to have residual arrays. Who dares test its power?” Senior Cultivator Pang shook his head, concluding.

None of the treasure seekers were willing to risk it, and they reluctantly dismissed the thought.

Ye Qin, however, was inwardly shocked. The ninth-rank Silver Armored Guard Puppets refined by the Saint Emperor only require one piece of peak-grade spirit stone to operate and can kill low-tier Golden Core cultivators. This Thunder Spirit Accumulation Tower actually demands over a hundred peak-grade stones to fire! Such terrifying power that it can obliterate Demon Race cultivators must be true.

“Haha, Daoist Pang speaks the truth, but everyone need not regret it. Compared to the ancient treasury this city might hide, these spirit stones are but a drop in the ocean. We should prioritize finding the ancient treasury!” Sun Xing coughed, cutting off the cultivators’ lamentations.

The treasure seekers straightened up.

Ye Qin cared little for other objects, but the Nascent Soul Elixir within the ancient treasury was something he absolutely had to obtain. Missing this opportunity, he didn't know when he might acquire another.

Sun Xing gathered everyone’s attention, smiled faintly, and surveyed the group before saying gravely, “Based on the clues gathered by the treasure-seeking cultivators, the ancient treasury is very likely within this city. However, its exact location remains unknown. We shall disperse and conduct a thorough search around this city. If anyone encounters danger, simply send up a signal, and nearby comrades will rush over immediately. Of course, any minor gains discovered belong to the finder, but the location of the ancient treasury must be shared with everyone. None of us knows when those savage island heretical cultivators might appear. The priority is finding the ancient treasury. If no one objects, let us act swiftly! Daoist Ye, you take a few people to search the southeast district. Daoist Pang, you take some people to the northeast district. Daoist Cao, you take your people to the northwest district. Brother Kong, you accompany me to search the central district.”

As the nominal leader, Sun Xing’s dispatching and organizing of the group was standard procedure. The others voiced no objections.

However, Ye Qin couldn't help but frown slightly when he saw Sun Xing send Senior Cultivator Pang’s trio to the northeast district, and dispatching Jiang Ling and the Wang cousins and their kin to the southwest district.

Ye Qin said little, leading Huangfu Bing'er and a few unfamiliar treasure-seeking cultivators toward the southeast district.

“Leader Sun is suspicious of us; he's trying to separate those familiar with us, preventing us from banding together to claim a large area and conceal any important clues we find,” Huangfu Bing’er, quick-witted as ever, understood Sun Xing’s selfish calculations. She whispered, “Yes, Sun Xing’s deployment clearly shows his suspicion of me. But since we acknowledged him as the leader, I can’t say much, or it will cause further complications. Let’s find the ancient treasury first, and deal with the rest later.”

Ye Qin nodded gently. “Mmm.”

With that, the two fell silent, quickly moving forward while keeping a sharp watch on their surroundings. The other three treasure seekers followed them.

The small group swept the ruins with their Divine Senses.

In this desolate spirit city, broken structures were visible everywhere. Some ruins even contained residual ancient arrays. Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er, generally weak in formation arts, dared not investigate what differences these ancient restrictions held compared to current cultivation world arrays.

“There are fragments of magic tools everywhere here, but they’ve long been scrap, completely useless. What a pity!” Huangfu Bing’er expressed some regret, but then quickly wondered aloud, “That’s strange. Countless Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators perished in the Immortal-Demon War, yet there isn’t a single skeleton of an East Sea cultivator in the city. The remains of high-tier demon cultivators are also completely gone!”

“Perhaps the Ghost Cultivators took them to refine skeletons. The Bone Mountain Range piled up with so many remains—I suspect the Ghost Cultivators hauled them all there!” Ye Qin pondered. “However, refining high-tier skeletons must be extremely difficult. Low-tier Golden Core Ghost Cultivators probably can’t handle the remains of a Nascent Soul cultivator. A late-stage Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivator might have a slight chance.”

After traveling for a while with no findings, Huangfu Bing’er grew somewhat disheartened, yet she remained puzzled. “Since the Ghost Cultivators cleaned up all the skeletons in the city, why didn’t they simply occupy this desolate spirit city and transform it into a Ghost City?”

“I don’t know… Perhaps there are too few Ghost Cultivators here, and they don’t wish to remain in a city filled with residual arrays. They sleep during the day and roam when it gets pitch dark at night—stepping on a residual array would be no laughing matter.” Ye Qin had occasionally considered this question himself but had no answers, forcing a bitter smile. “Do Ghost Cultivators even sleep?!”

Huangfu Bing'er chuckled softly. Although they had gained nothing, hearing her husband joke like this made her mood much better.

Seeing Huangfu Bing'er smiling sweetly at him, Ye Qin felt a warmth in his heart. However, the thought of the Nascent Soul Elixir weighed heavily on his mind. “We’ve spent quite some time already; we need to hurry and find that ancient treasury.” He then turned to the three treasure seekers following them. “Daoist Fan, the three of you should also spread out. Searching separately will speed things up!”

“That’s fine!”

“We will follow Daoist Ye’s suggestion!”

One cultivator named Fan, along with the other two, exchanged glances and agreed, scattering to cover a wider area in the southeast district. Huangfu Bing’er put aside her thoughts and rapidly searched the ruins alongside Ye Qin.

A little over an hour later, a streak of golden light suddenly shot through the air.

“Transmitting Talisman!”

Ye Qin’s words had barely fallen when the golden light paused in mid-air and emitted Sun Xing’s voice: “Daoist Ye, rush quickly to the main hall in the central district! A massive ancient teleportation array has been discovered here—it is highly likely the entrance to the ancient treasury!”

“An entrance has been found?!” Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er exclaimed in unison, exchanging a look. They immediately summoned Daoist Fan and the other three treasure seekers from the southeast district and sped towards the city center.

...