Within the cramped earth vault passage, two azure figures flashed and leaped, covering hundreds of zhang in the blink of an eye.
A large host of stone monsters besieged the pair, roaring as they swung their fists, unleashing waves of overwhelming shadow-fists. Each strike carried the might to shatter mountains and rupture the earth, and every stomp shook the passage violently.
However, compared to the two incomparably agile streaks of blue light, their speed appeared far too sluggish. Nine out of ten punches struck empty air, and the single blow that landed was significantly neutralized by the strange yellow radiance emanating from the pair.
Ye Qin dared not tangle with them.
Equally terrifying were the mid-tier and high-tier earth spells they possessed innately.
Falling Stones!
In an instant, an area spanning hundreds of zhang was carpeted by colossal meteorites descending from above. This kind of wide-area bombardment left nowhere to hide; they could only endure it head-on.
Wrath of the Earth!
Within several hundred zhang, the ground convulsed violently, the world spun, and movement became almost impossible. Any slight delay meant being engulfed in the siege.
Quicksand Vortex!
Vortices of quicksand materialized from the empty ground, sucking everything nearby inward. Even cultivators in the late Golden Core stage would struggle to escape the swirling depths.
If Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er had not possessed the Earth Vault Token, enabling them to project strange protective earth shields that negated the majority of the force, they would likely have been buried long ago, leaving no trace behind.
Despite this, the relentless barrage of spells from the stone monsters forced the pair into desperate retreat, fleeing at full speed deeper into the passage, striving to break free from the monsters’ entanglement.
In a short while, the pair burst through dozens of corridors fashioned into the Hui character shape. At the far end of the passage, they spotted a gate of light, its radiance swirling and dazzling to the eye. Joy lit up their faces, and they shot inside, leaving the stone monsters outside the shimmering portal.
Ye Qin looked around again, finding himself standing within a massive vault thousands of zhang wide, with Bing'er beside him.
As soon as they entered the vault, Ye Qin sensed something was amiss—a palpable sense of extreme danger.
He looked up towards the ceiling; the stone walls were covered in countless floating talismans. A yellow light circulated, causing an immediate, dizzying effect. Within these talismans were coalesced numerous earth-yellow spirit pearls, each no larger than a fist. Yellow lightning flickered inside the pearls, emitting waves of terrifying aura that made the heart seize.
“Earthen Thunder Pearls?!”
“This is the true guardian formation of the vault?”
Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er recognized the spirit pearls almost simultaneously, exchanging a look of profound awe and apprehension.
The Earth Thunder Pearls, condensed from pure earth spiritual energy, possessed immense destructive power, especially their ability to strike the nascent soul. When driven by the treasure vault's formation, a single pearl’s impact could severely wound, or even incinerate, the physical body and soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Their terror was thus evident.
The Earthen Thunder Pearls were exceedingly potent, integrated deeply into the entire prison's restrictive magical array.
However, as long as the restriction was not triggered, there was no need to worry about the pearls being unleashed.
Ye Qin calmed his expression, lowered his gaze, and surveyed the rest of the earth vault. Rows of three-foot-tall jade and gold stone tables stood within the hall. These tables were also carved with arcane symbols and talismans, emitting faint glows, clearly indicating the presence of formidable restrictions that could not be casually touched.
Floating above each stone table were no small number of storage bags, shrouded in layers of restrictive light shields.
These shields, obviously, required the token to be opened.
The storage bags here numbered tens of thousands. They contained vast quantities of spirit stones, jade slips, books, scrolls, schematics, treasure maps, and historical records—the variety was overwhelming.
At the rear of the earth vault hall stood a gigantic stone sculpture of an earth-attribute spirit beast, perfectly still, yet emanating a heart-stopping majesty. Behind this statue lay another passage, above which were carved two vigorous, resolute characters: Inner Vault!
“This is only the Outer Vault,” Ye Qin murmured, slightly astonished.
As the Fifth Elder of the Purple Sword Palace, holding command over war mandates, he wasn't qualified to enter the palace’s deepest treasury, but he had some understanding of its scale.
The collection within the Purple Sword Palace's main treasury did not compare to the astonishing scope of this earth vault hall.
As for the Inner Vault behind the spirit beast statue, there was no need for comparison.
“Just the treasury of a single ancient immortal-demon encampment at the East Sea ship base is this extensive. I wonder how powerful the forces of the ancient Heavenly Dao Alliance must have been when they launched their massive expeditions.” Huangfu Bing'er also expressed her amazement.
It was a pity that one token allowed the retrieval of only three treasures per use.
Ye Qin gazed at the dazzling array of jade slips and texts, unable to suppress a sigh of regret; being amidst the treasure, yet unable to take them all.
“Let’s pick first.” As he spoke, his gaze swept across the main hall of the earth vault, his divine sense rapidly skimming over every storage bag on the stone tables.
Each storage bag bore a small tag, accompanied by a brief message summarizing its approximate contents.
Knowing time was precious, Huangfu Bing'er wasted no time, quickly scanning the items with her divine sense.
The True Scripture of the Great Sun's Fiery Virtue, a peak-level fire cultivation method for the Golden Core stage, absorbing and refining true solar fire; considered top-tier among fire techniques. The Complete Compendium of Mechanical Beasts, a text on refining mechanical constructs, seemingly lost to the cultivation world for ages...
The Dual Sword Arts of Yin and Yang, a supreme-grade Golden Core sword art...
Although their divine sense screening was swift, it took nearly the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn before they had a rough overview of the tens of thousands of storage bags. They skipped those containing only spirit stones; those were likely wartime reserves, not the kind of rewards ancient cultivators strove for.
The priority was selecting Golden Core stage cultivation methods and secret manuals.
These texts were artifacts from ten thousand years ago. While some lineages persisted within the major Immortal Palaces, many others had been lost. When unearthed in ancient ruins, they often commanded exorbitant prices at auction. Even these Outer Vault texts, although limited to the Golden Core level, were invaluable. A few top-tier methods were even usable by Nascent Soul cultivators.
After reviewing for a while, Ye Qin remarked.
Huangfu Bing'er nodded in agreement: "Husband, I will handle the selection here. You should enter the Inner Vault first and choose the Nascent Soul stage texts. Time is pressing; we must leave quickly to avoid unforeseen changes outside."
"Very well! I shall go take a look now."
Ye Qin agreed and, holding the large token for the Inner Vault, proceeded toward the passage behind the spirit beast statue.
The Inner Vault passage was shrouded in gloom. As Ye Qin walked, he could see nothing of the surroundings, relying solely on the token in his hand to proceed cautiously.
After walking barely ten steps, Ye Qin felt a strange sensation wash over him—as if he had passed through some kind of restriction. Then, his vision brightened, and he found himself in a vault similar in appearance to the Outer Vault, though considerably smaller.
On the ceiling of the Inner Vault rested a stone lotus several zhang long. The restrictive array of the Inner Vault radiated outward from this stone lotus as its center.
What made his heart tremble was that the seed receptacle of this stone lotus was filled with Earthen Thunder Pearls, their yellow lightning flickering more intensely, exuding a suffocating aura of destruction.
Even a cultivator in the late Nascent Soul stage attempting to forcefully break the Inner Vault’s restriction to seize the treasures would likely be annihilated by these Earthen Thunder Pearls.
Ye Qin glanced at the array but dared not touch it, focusing instead on the Nascent Soul level storage bags displayed on the stone tables.
This Inner Vault was filled with ancient restrictions operating at full power; a single misstep could lead to complete annihilation of body and spirit.
There were a significant number of storage bags in the Inner Vault, each containing extremely valuable items usable by Nascent Soul cultivators.
Ye Qin spent a brief moment rapidly inspecting them, his heart surging with delighted surprise. Even the East Sea's largest merchant guild, the Heavenly Dao Pavilion, could likely not amass such a wealth of immortal manuals and secret texts needed by Nascent Soul cultivators all at once.
Every single item stored here was incredibly precious; in the Central Continent, any one of them could serve as a foundation treasure capable of establishing an entire sect.
Yet, as he reached the end, Ye Qin couldn't help but frown.
"Among these ancient Nascent Soul level texts, why is there no cultivation method for the Nascent Soul chapter of the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture?"
Although filled with joy, Ye Qin felt a distinct disappointment at failing to locate the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture’s Nascent Soul chapter.
As his cultivation approached the Nascent Soul stage, finding that specific chapter had become an urgent necessity. Otherwise, upon entering the Nascent Soul stage, he would lack a cultivation technique, severely hindering his progress.
Unless he could devise a cultivation method himself.
But self-creating the Nascent Soul chapter of the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture was no simple feat. It required the collective genius of countless brilliant ancient cultivators, accumulated over hundreds or thousands of years, to forge a technique that could capture the very essence of creation. Creating such a technique spontaneously was far from easy.
“I’ll pick the others first! The other manuals and techniques are also excellent.”
Ye Qin shook his head helplessly, then let the thought go, shifting his focus to the other ancient texts.
Looking at the names of these ancient books, most were entirely unfamiliar. About a third of these ancient Nascent Soul texts were still circulated within the East Sea cultivation world. The remaining majority, due to overly demanding cultivation conditions, environmental shifts, and various other reasons, were likely long lost and impossible to find.
Ye Qin's divine sense swept over one storage bag. After reading the accompanying description, he paused, slightly startled.
“The Great Technique of Deep Netherworld Immortality, a ghost cultivation method!? A technique created by an ancient mighty Ghost Cultivator after touring the Southern Demonic Continent and the Western Gloom Continent. This great technique encompasses everything—cultivation methods for the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation stages, alchemy, artifact refining, talisman crafting, puppet mastery—the list is endless. But why would a ghost cultivator’s manual be in the Heavenly Dao Alliance's treasury? Would any cultivator dare practice such a thing?”
Ye Qin felt puzzled.
Perhaps the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s Punishments Elder had simply dumped a pile of Nascent Soul manuals in here to inflate the count?
It included the ghost cultivation art for the Soul Transformation stage!
Upon seeing the words ‘Soul Transformation stage,’ Ye Qin sucked in a cold breath.
This did not belong to the Nascent Soul tier; it should be a technique for a higher level: Soul Transformation. Logically, the manual for the Great Technique of Deep Netherworld Immortality should not be housed in this Inner Vault but rather cherished in the main treasuries of the Heavenly Dao Alliance or the Heavenly Demon Alliance—the most elite cultivation methods, reserved for Sect Masters and supreme figures.