Ye Qin followed the gathered cultivators through the teleportation array, feeling only a blinding flash of white light. When the light faded and he opened his eyes, he saw that he, along with several other treasure-seeking cultivators, had materialized in the grand hall of an underground palace.
Ye Qin swept his gaze around the hall, his spirit immediately lifting.
The underground palace hall was hexagonal, constructed from massive stones, spanning hundreds of feet in size. Their group was situated at the very center, upon the teleportation array.
Carved into the stone walls surrounding the hall were the emblems of the ancient cultivator battle flags from the War of the Immortal Demons, alongside various patterns of divine beasts guarding the treasury. The dome and all four walls were studded with brilliant, luminous jade beads, bathing the entire hall in a light as bright as day.
Furthermore, surrounding the teleportation array stood five statues, each several feet tall. It was unclear what kind of jade they were crafted from, but they emitted a faint, exquisite glow.
After swiftly assessing his surroundings, Ye Qin’s gaze settled upon these five statues that commanded attention.
One depicted a middle-aged cultivator in rich robes with a long beard, seemingly a statue of some ancient master. The other four were sculptures of varied flying swords, magical artifacts, and spirit beasts; they appeared startlingly lifelike, watching the crowd on the teleportation array as if they might awaken at any moment.
Beside the base of each of these five statues sat the skeleton of a cultivator. These skeletons had almost entirely crumbled to dust, clearly having died countless years ago.
Ye Qin frowned, casting a suspicious look upon the few piles of bones.
However, seeing that the other cultivators were engrossed in examining the statues, he refrained from saying anything.
“These statues are likely markers for the restriction array formations guarding this treasury.”
Sun Shi observed the five figures, attempting to probe them with his divine sense. His expression shifted slightly in surprise. “Normally, large restriction arrays consume vast quantities of top-grade spirit stones, making it difficult to sustain them for even a few hundred years. However, judging by the radiance of these statues, the restriction array of this treasury has endured for over ten thousand years without diminishing in power! It must not rely on spirit stones for sustenance, but rather draw energy for the great array’s operation through other means.”
“You mean the array within the treasury is still fully intact?”
“A treasury with a guarding array and one without is separated by a world of danger. If we aren't careful, we might all perish within this vault!”
Most of the treasure-seeking cultivators were highly experienced, and they grew tense upon hearing this.
Sun Xing mused, “What Daoist Sun says is true. Since we have arrived at this treasured place, how can we return empty-handed? Let the arrays be what they may; how can we know unless we test them? We treasure hunters have faced every kind of peril; how can we fear the restriction array of this vault!”
As soon as Sun Xing finished speaking, someone immediately chimed in agreement.
Having expended immense effort and suffered more than half their number lost just to reach this ancient treasury, none of the cultivators wished to abandon their quest halfway.
“Fellow Daoists, look at these skeletons. There are no marks of injury on their bones; they clearly sat here in peaceful meditation, not dying in battle! How did they perish here?”
“I have a small hypothesis: most likely, the teleportation array outside was destroyed by massive stones collapsing from the ceiling. They were inside the treasury at the time, thus trapped here with no means of escape, and eventually perished when their lifespans ran out!”
“Indeed, that must be it!”
“If that’s the case, this ancient treasury has not been entered by anyone else! Its reserves must be perfectly preserved. Perhaps even the ‘Nascent Soul Pill,’ an item meant to reward Golden Core cultivators who achieved great merit on the battlefield, remains within this treasury!”
Many cultivators burst out in excited chatter.
But talk was cheap; all the cultivators remained firmly rooted to the spot, unwilling to leave the main hall.
No one dared to casually test the might of the treasury's guarding formation.
The underground palace faintly pulsed with circulating runes and halos of light. The terrifying, unknown power lurking within caused a secret dread in everyone’s heart.
The restriction array of an ancient treasury was no trivial matter. Forget twenty-odd Golden Core cultivators like them; even a Nascent Soul cultivator would hesitate to trespass this formation recklessly. If they failed to obtain treasures and instead died beneath the array, it would be a truly unjust end.
Ye Qin listened silently, a sharp glint flickering in his eyes, as if calculating something.
He held a black token in his hand.
He knew this token could be used to open the treasury.
Previously, to avoid becoming the target of the crowd and drawing too much attention, he had only taken one token. The remaining four black tokens were held by Sun Xing, Cultivator Pang, Grand Cultivator Cao, and Kong Shi, respectively.
From “Token One” to “Token Five.” Each token likely corresponded to the opening of one treasury vault.
He still did not know the specific usage limitations of these tokens.
But nobody ever minded having too many treasures.
If necessary, he would acquire the other tokens. Especially the one held by Grand Cultivator Cao.
“Husband, what do we do next?”
Huangfu Bing’er, noticing Ye Qin’s contemplative expression, transmitted her voice to him mentally.
“Seize the tokens when the opportunity arises!”
Ye Qin looked at the remains beneath the statues and swiftly transmitted a thought without changing his expression: “Cao!”
“Understood!”
What Ye Qin said was simple, but it was enough for her to understand. When the chance appeared, she was to move and snatch the token from Grand Cultivator Cao. As for the token’s function, there was no doubt it was crucial.
She grasped the intent immediately, feigning casualness as she directed her gaze toward the scattered remains of the ancient cultivators.
Grand Cultivator Cao, standing on the opposite side of the crowd, far from Ye Qin and the others, had been examining the black token he held—labeled “Token Two”—for a long time, unable to discern its purpose.
However, he had been constantly wary of Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er.
Seeing Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er’s gaze shift toward the piles of remains, a sudden thought struck Cao, “Is there something on these corpses?” he sneered, walking toward the skeletal remains.
“Cao, what are you doing!”
Cultivator Pang noticed Cao’s movement and immediately called out sharply.
“What else? You all stand here talking nonsense. It’s better to first divide the items on these five corpses before discussing anything else. I, Cao, am not as ‘wealthy and powerful’ as you lot who treat wealth with disdain!”
Grand Cultivator Cao turned back, laughing coldly.
After speaking in a deliberately grating tone, he flicked his body, leaving the safest central area of the hall. He arrived beneath the statues, rummaged through the skeletal remains, and retrieved seven or eight storage bags from the bodies of these ancient cultivators.
Everyone’s attention was immediately drawn to Cao’s actions.
“Wait!”
Sun Xing immediately shouted, “The items here should be inspected by us; Daoist Cao had best keep his distance!”
Just as Grand Cultivator Cao was about to open the storage bags, Sun Xing stopped him, and his face instantly changed.
Sun Xing was clearly insinuating that Cao was a nefarious, treasure-stealing rogue who should not take the initiative to compete with them for the items here.
“If that is the case, then Daoist Sun, you open them yourself!”
Grand Cultivator Cao suppressed his anger and angrily tossed the storage bags onto the ground. He already bore a deadly grudge against Ye Qin; he dared not openly clash with Sun Xing now. Otherwise, his fate would not be much better than that of the previous rogue cultivators from the Savage Island.
Sun Xing had long anticipated that Cao would not dare to object and paid no mind to Cao’s resentment.
“We have entered an ancient treasury, and every clue within is critically important, likely relating to the secrets of this place! No one shall hoard them privately; all must be shared openly! For the sake of fairness, I shall not handle them.”
Sun Xing smiled faintly, subtly controlling the scene. He swept his gaze over the cultivators before finally landing on the Wang uncle and nephew pair. “How about we have Daoist Wang, the younger one, open these storage bags and inspect their contents! Furthermore, all items here will first be examined by you and made public.”
“Me?!”
The middle-aged cultivator Wang stiffened, pointing at himself. He looked uncertainly at Elder Wang, Ye Tai, Cultivator Pang, and the others. He was clearly still somewhat bewildered, unsure why Sun Xing would suddenly choose him at this moment.
“Yes, you,” Sun Xing nodded calmly. Although the Wang uncle and nephew stood with Ye Tai’s faction, their cultivation was only at the fourth layer of the Golden Core stage—the weakest among the more than twenty treasure-seeking cultivators present, and also the most timid in temperament.
The Wang uncle and nephew lacked the courage to attempt any tricks; otherwise, any one of the others present could easily cause their demise.
The treasure-seeking cultivators whispered among themselves but ultimately no one objected. It was precisely because the middle-aged cultivator Wang was the weakest that everyone felt reassured. If it were a Golden Core ninth-layer master like Grand Cultivator Cao, no one would feel at ease.
Cultivator Pang sneered. These two Wangs were originally cannon fodder he had specifically selected. Now, it turned out they had become the cannon fodder for the entire group. Whether it was danger or opportunity, they would be the ones to test it first. The risk would be borne by the Wangs; the rewards shared by everyone else.
Ye Tai frowned, pondered for a moment, and then instructed the middle-aged Wang, “Since Daoist Sun has named you to look, then you should look.” Regardless, having the Wangs examine those storage bags also put him at ease.
Seeing that both Ye Tai and Sun Xing had nodded, the middle-aged Wang dared not refuse and quickly hurried over to pick up the storage bags.
These few skeletons were adorned with the trappings of Golden Core cultivators; it was estimated that the storage bags wouldn't hold anything particularly valuable, otherwise the cultivators would have started dividing the spoils long ago.
The middle-aged Wang opened one of the storage bags, only to find it completely empty, containing just a very ordinary jade slip.
He froze, utterly perplexed.
“What does that jade slip record? Read it aloud!”
Sun Xing’s gaze sharpened, and he spoke quickly.