Ye Qin shot out like a streak of cyan light, escaping the chaotic battle in the treasury hall and bursting toward the entrance of the fifth passage—the one leading to the Earth Vault. The entrance was a shimmering portal bathed in a hazy yellow glow.
Huangfu Bing'er followed closely behind Ye Qin, arriving right before the yellow light gate.
Landing before the passage entrance, Ye Qin hesitated for a brief moment, a knot of unease tightening in his chest.
He had no way of knowing what lay beyond this luminous gate. Would it lead to the storerooms, filled with a dazzling array of treasures? Or would it house an ancient array, treacherous and full of hidden mechanisms? Perhaps, there was nothing at all—empty void. After all, this was an ancient treasury left over from the Immortal-Demon War ten thousand years ago; its true condition now was a complete mystery.
Ye Qin had never favored taking actions where the outcome was uncertain.
Yet, the current situation demanded he take this risk.
Ye Qin tensed his nerves, gripping the large, black token in his hand.
This ancient vault token, capable of retrieving several treasures meant for Nascent Soul cultivators from within the vaults, was an incredibly hot potato. If he didn't leave the hall of chaotic slaughter swiftly, the Golden Core cultivators who hadn't secured a token would surely fix their gaze upon him, inviting immense trouble.
Before stepping into the Earth Vault passage, Ye Qin glanced back at the hall where the cultivators were still fighting in disarray. He saw Grand Cultivator Cao and Sun Xing, among others, rushing into the other vault passages.
“Husband, you are worried about what’s inside the passage? Elder Xing Shang’s disciples from the Heavenly Dao Alliance mentioned in the jade slips that holding these large and small tokens allows one to retrieve items from the vault. Since they, with their Golden Core cultivation, could enter, surely we can too…”
Seeing Ye Qin hesitate before the yellow light gate of the Earth Vault, Huangfu Bing’er softly inquired.
“With the two of us holding the tokens, there shouldn’t be any problem entering. What worries me is the Cao clan. He holds the number two large token, which grants access to the Wood Vault. The Wood Vault stores a massive quantity of spiritual elixirs, and the Cao clan is highly likely to acquire the exceedingly rare Nascent Soul Elixir from there. If he obtains this elixir and breaks through to the Nascent Soul realm, our chances of survival will be slim.”
Ye Qin showed a look of vexation.
Earlier, in the ruined main hall outside, he had only known that these black tokens opened vaults, but not which specific vault each token unlocked. That’s why he had casually picked up the number five token. Had he known the function of every token beforehand, he would definitely have seized the number two token first, refusing to give the Cao clan any opportunity to obtain the Nascent Soul Elixir.
“Cao managed to dodge the sudden attack from the Heaven Unity Dark Water Sword just now; our efforts were nearly in vain. Now he and his two accomplices have entered the Wood Vault, making it difficult to kill him. Let’s enter the Earth Vault. Once we secure our treasures, we can figure out how to kill him upon exiting.”
Ye Qin shook his head, putting the thoughts aside, and plunged into the yellow light gate with Huangfu Bing’er.
Passing through a blinding swath of yellow light screen, Ye Qin felt a momentary disorientation of his divine sense. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself and Huangfu Bing’er standing in a dim, ancient passage.
The passage was constructed from massive, incredibly hard bluestones—magnificent and solemn.
Along both stone walls hung lamps fueled by luminous stones. Even after ten thousand years, these lamps still emitted a faint, pale yellow glow.
The moment Ye Qin entered, he felt the rich Earth element spiritual energy, which was at least ten times stronger than in the outside world.
“This is the passage to the Earth Vault?”
Ye Qin gazed forward down the corridor and muttered softly to himself.
The spacious Earth Vault passage was almost terrifyingly still.
Seeing no immediate danger made him even more vigilant. Such passages within a treasury should never allow free passage without some inherent peril.
Huangfu Bing’er surveyed her surroundings with her pure, icy eyes. She noticed that the small token in her hand emitted a yellow light that enveloped her, and the same was true for Ye Qin. She couldn't help but ask curiously, “Perhaps because we hold the tokens, we haven't triggered the restrictions within the Earth Vault passage? Husband, have you ever entered the treasury of the Purple Sword Palace? Was it similar to this?”
“I haven’t entered the Purple Sword Palace treasury; I only heard Elder Great discuss the vault’s layout,” Ye Qin replied, examining the passage and shaking his head. “However, the security measures of every treasury—such as guards, arrays, and traps—will differ. We will only know what restrictions exist based on the actual situation.”
He added, “In fact, I only accidentally witnessed the Elder Great using this type of special black token before. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that it could be used to enter the vault.”
“The Azure Pill Sect also has storage vaults, but they are completely different from this. They are guarded personally by our sect’s ancestor, with no arrays; one can simply walk in and retrieve items,” Huangfu Bing’er said, her delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly.
“For now, we can only take things one step at a time. This passage should lead to the Earth Vault storerooms. While there’s nothing overtly wrong, we should still be cautious,” Ye Qin advised.
He considered the situation but found no immediate clues, despite his doubts.
After speaking, he deployed all five of his Primordial Spirit flying swords, forming the Grand Five Elements Sword Array. Five dazzling, sharp beams hung suspended around him. In his right hand, he held the minor divine artifact, the Ancient Thunder Mirror, and in his left, the large token.
He even released the Silver Armored Guard, whose power peaked at the ninth rank, and the Bone-Corroding Alligator Skeleton Demon, a late-ninth-rank entity. Since no other cultivators were present, Ye Qin saw no need to conceal his true strength to maximize their safety.
Huangfu Bing’er nodded, forming the Ice-Fire Sword Array with her twin swords. Additionally, she released her top-tier fire artifact, the Rock Fire Butterfly Wings. She rapidly flapped the massive wings on her back, holding the Ancient Scarlet Flood Dragon Sword and her small token, lifting lightly off the ground three feet in the air.
However, the density of the Earth element spiritual energy within the vault made controlling the butterfly wings feel unusually heavy, as if the Rock Fire Butterfly Wings were encased in tons of armor. Their flexibility was less than half what it was outside.
Together, their combined strength was sufficient to contend with four peak ninth-rank Golden Core cultivators. Unless they encountered a Nascent Soul-level expert like the Green Robe Ancestor, self-preservation should not be an issue.
“Let’s go,” Ye Qin said with a satisfied nod. Without further delay, he and Huangfu Bing’er, accompanied by the Silver Armored Guard and the Alligator Skeleton, proceeded deeper into the Earth Vault passage.
This corridor was not a straight path but a corridor shaped like the Chinese character '' (Hui), with a sharp turn every thousand zhang leading deeper into the vault. Fortunately, although the passage was shaped this way, it wasn't a maze.
Ye Qin proceeded cautiously for quite some time when he suddenly stopped dead, his gaze sharp. Hundreds of zhang ahead stood a humanoid stone monster, ten zhang tall. It was crouched motionless, fists crossed over its chest, seemingly asleep. Shockingly, the Earth element spiritual energy around it was hundreds of times denser than normal, emitting layers of yellow halo.
The intense concentration of Earth spiritual energy created an extremely powerful sense of lethargy, making it difficult even to move one's feet.
“Is that… a Stone Monster? An Earth-elemental Stone Monster purely condensed from Earth spiritual energy. I’ve heard these creatures have extremely long lifespans, are practically immortal, and grow stronger as millennia pass,” Huangfu Bing’er descended from her flight, her eyes wide with astonishment.
Ye Qin was slightly surprised, immediately assessing the creature’s strength. “Based on its spiritual energy density, this Stone Monster is likely at the eighth or ninth rank—a Stone Monster possessing mid-to-late Golden Core strength.”
The Stone Monster stirred from its slumber, its body cracking with loud groans—kacha, kacha—as it suddenly stood up, towering twenty to thirty zhang high.
It then stared blankly and foolishly at Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er, showing no reaction for a long moment. Perhaps no cultivator had trespassed on its territory for ten thousand years, making it unfamiliar with their presence.
However, intruders were intolerable. It suddenly reacted, letting out a low, furious, and frantic roar. It stomped forward with earth-shaking strides, covering the distance to Ye Qin in just a few steps, and violently swung its mountain-sized stone fist toward him.
If this punch landed solidly, it could crush even a cultivator clad in high-grade artifact armor into pulverized meat paste.
Ye Qin was slightly alarmed, not expecting the Stone Monster to be so volatile and charge him directly.
Without panic, he raised his hand, rapidly weaving hand seals. The five flying swords around him instantly formed the Grand Five Elements Sword Array and attacked the Stone Monster.
Boom!
The stone fist clashed head-on with the Grand Five Elements Sword Array. With one punch, it struck one of the flying swords. The array shuddered violently, its light dimming slightly. Furthermore, the large token in Ye Qin’s hand pulsed with an even stronger radiance, enveloping him in a strange protective shield.
Ye Qin’s previously tense expression relaxed instead. This Stone Monster truly only possessed late-stage Golden Core strength; it couldn't break through the defenses of the Grand Five Elements Sword Array. With this level of strength, it was no match for him and Bing’er. Even without the black token, he could have passed through here.
“Go!”
Almost simultaneously, Huangfu Bing’er directed her Ice-Fire Twin Swords, launching them out like two rainbows toward the Stone Monster.
The Ice-Fire flying swords struck the Stone Monster, erupting in a series of dense ding-ding-dang sounds as chips of stone scattered outward.
“Huh? This Stone Monster’s defense is terrifyingly strong, comparable to an Earth-elemental Primordial Spirit artifact!” Huangfu Bing’er exclaimed, surprised that even the might of her Ice-Fire twin Primordial Spirit artifacts failed to seriously injure the Stone Monster’s stone hide.
However, while the twin swords didn't inflict much damage, the cold energy from the Ice Sword coated its armor in a layer of frosty ice, further stiffening its movements and slowing its swings. The Fire Sword’s intense flames quickly caused numerous fine cracks to appear on the stone armor.
The Silver Armored Guard’s eyes glowed red. It stamped its foot and charged the Stone Monster, thrusting its silver spear. The effect was minimal; the spear strike only managed to break off a chunk the size of a fist. Ye Qin hadn't placed much hope in it anyway. As a puppet armor guard refined from artifact-repelling materials, it possessed extremely strong artifact-repelling capabilities, but its offensive power was not outstanding. Against a demon spirit with such immensely durable stone armor as the Stone Monster, the Silver Armored Guard could not perform effectively.
The Bone-Corroding Alligator simultaneously spewed out a glob of corpse fluid, splashing onto the Stone Monster, rapidly eroding its stone hide.
The Stone Monster raged, being simultaneously surrounded and assaulted by the flying swords controlled by Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er. Midway through the fight, Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er even intentionally allowed the Stone Monster to strike their protective shields. They discovered that whenever the Stone Monster struck their yellow shields, the force was nullified by an energy emanating from the token.
“It seems these large and small tokens do offer a protective effect.”
In just half an hour, Ye Qin’s sword strikes had battered the Stone Monster dozens of times. With a loud hualala, the creature exploded into countless hard stone fragments scattered across the ground. The extremely dense Earth spiritual energy within it gradually dissipated into the air.
After disposing of the Stone Monster, Ye Qin retracted his flying swords and shook his head regretfully. “If this Stone Monster had lived for a few thousand or ten thousand more years, it might have reached Nascent Soul level. If it could be tamed to guard a treasury or a cave-dwelling, it would be an incredibly powerful demon spirit, possessing a lifespan terrifyingly close to eternity.”
“Using a Stone Monster to guard a dwelling?” Huangfu Bing’er’s eyes brightened, captivated by the idea, but she quickly shook her head. “I don’t know how one would tame such a Stone Monster demon spirit. Moreover, a Golden Core cultivator only lives for a few hundred years, and a Nascent Soul cultivator just over a thousand. These spirits count their lifespans in millennia. By the time a low-level spirit matures into a high-level one, we would already be a pile of dry bones. Unless we could directly capture a Nascent Soul level Stone Monster to stand guard, but that difficulty is equally immense.”
Boom, boom…
The corridor shook. Roars, monstrous cries, and the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from passages in all directions.
“No, there are… many Stone Monsters in these passages!”
Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er exchanged a look; their faces turned somewhat pale. Judging by the thunderous footsteps, there must be dozens of them. Even with the tokens in hand, they dared not engage such a massive number of Stone Monsters.