The hall of this treasury was not large, perhaps only a few hundred zhang. With a flash, the Cao cultivator streaked from the wooden vault’s light-gate towards the ancient teleportation formation in the center of the hall, a matter of mere moments.

“Now!”

“Cao Heretic Cultivator, prepare to die! Your hands are stained with the blood of countless treasure-seeking cultivators. I have tolerated you for far too long; today is the day you perish!”

“Quickly, block the light-gate and the teleportation formation, don’t let Cao Heretic Cultivator escape!”

The treasure-seeking cultivators lying in ambush within the hall, having waited nearly a month, were already highly impatient. The instant the Cao cultivator charged towards the teleportation formation, Sun Xing immediately retracted his minor divine ability artifact, the Azure Luo Gauze Curtain, and roared loudly. Instantly, sixteen streams of light flashed into existence out of thin air.

The assembled treasure-seeking cultivators had made prior arrangements to capture and kill the Cao cultivator in one fell swoop and seize the Nascent Soul Pill.

Ye Qin didn't utter a word, charging directly towards the wooden vault’s light-gate to secure a crucial position. He, Huangfu Bing’er, Jiang Ling, and the Wang uncle and nephew—a group of six Golden Core cultivators—were tasked with cutting off the retreat. With lightning speed that defied comprehension, they sealed the light-gate to the passage leading back into the wooden vault, preventing the great cultivator Cao and the cultivator Li from retreating back into the vault passage to stubbornly resist from within.

Meanwhile, Sun Xing and the cultivator Pang, along with two others—a group of four cultivators—rushed straight for the ancient teleportation formation within the hall, fully committed to preventing the Cao and Li cultivators from entering it and thereby escaping this treasury hall to flee far away.

Kong Shi led six treasure-seeking cultivators directly to attack the great cultivator Cao and the cultivator Li, attempting to surround and kill them both.

The sharp-pointed spirit fox in the great cultivator Cao’s palm became startled, suddenly tucked itself in, leaped to the ground, shrieked, and bolted away.

At this moment, no one could spare the attention to chase after it.

“Bad! How could this group of treasure-seeking cultivators hide in the hall so silently!”

The great cultivator Cao, caught completely off guard and besieged, watched his expression shatter in horror. He bellowed a warning and violently shot out his Nascent Soul artifact, the Demon Suppressing Hammer, positioning himself tightly against the equally horrified cultivator Li, and frantically fended off the surrounding treasure-seeking cultivators led by Kong Shi.

“What method did you employ that even the sharp-pointed spirit fox couldn't detect, allowing over a dozen Golden Core cultivators to hide in this hall!”

Cao cultivator roared, his face so grim it looked ready to drip water. He had not anticipated that despite such careful planning in this guarded location, he would still fall into an ambush.

“Haha, Cao Heretic Cultivator, you are doomed! Have you forgotten that Daoist Brother Sun entered the treasury vault? There are quite a number of minor divine ability artifacts in the vault. Grabbing any one of them to deal with you is child’s play! You were too smug, focusing only on the Nascent Soul Pill and completely disregarding others.”

“Hmph, indeed, Cao Heretic Cultivator, you have no way out. Your rear escape route has been cut off by Daoist Friend Ye and the six other Daoist friends; you absolutely cannot break through their blockade and retreat into the wooden vault passage! Under the joint strict watch of Daoist Brother Sun and Daoist Brother Pang, you certainly cannot enter the ancient teleportation formation to flee this treasury hall!”

“Even if you fight desperately, willing to deplete your vital essence to instantly boost your strength significantly, you still cannot escape. Both the wooden vault and the teleportation formation are guarded by two to three times more people than are with you. With such a deployment of superior strength, not only can you not escape, but you won't even be able to drag one of us down with you.”

“Cao Heretic Cultivator, surrender now; this is a dead end, you have no chance of turning the tables.”

“Haha, Daoist friends, be extremely careful not to be dragged to mutual destruction by Cao Heretic Cultivator! We are so close to obtaining the Nascent Soul Pill; it would be a tragedy to die now!”

“This Daoist friend jokes; does Cao Heretic Cultivator even possess that capability?”

The treasure-seeking cultivators burst into laughter, mocking and ridiculing him. These treasure-seeking cultivators were all highly experienced Golden Core cultivators and had already calculated every possible desperate, frenzied struggle the great cultivator Cao might attempt once cornered.

However, the space in the hall was limited, preventing too many cultivators from attacking at once, as chaos would ensue, leading to mutual interference and potential accidents.

Therefore, only Kong Shi and the other five cultivators attacked, surrounding the two Cao cultivators.

Furthermore, since the great cultivator Cao had no viable escape routes, the other cultivators were not in a hurry, content merely to block the escape paths for the Cao cultivators.

While resisting with all his might, the great cultivator Cao’s gaze rapidly swept across the hall, his guts twisting with regret. These treasure-seeking cultivators, in their ruthless scheme to seize the Nascent Soul Pill, not only sought their lives but also planned to ensure no losses to themselves—it was simply excessive.

“Pah, I finally obtained these three Nascent Soul Pills! Once I successfully undergo the tribulation and form my soul, I will become the supreme Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Eastern Sea Cultivation World. You rabble dare to stand in my way! … I’ll fight you to the death! Even if I die, I’ll take you all with me! Those who block me shall perish—!”

The great cultivator Cao roared madly, spewing the vital essence from his Golden Core onto the Demon Suppressing Mace, causing the mace to swell enormously and exert its maximum power, adopting a desperate posture to fight the surrounding treasure-seeking cultivators to the death.

Kong Shi and the few treasure-seeking cultivators who were attacking felt confident of victory. Seeing Cao cultivator go berserk, they couldn't help but retreat a few steps.

Under these circumstances, they were certainly unwilling to fight Cao cultivator to the death.

Let alone fighting to the death, they were unwilling even to suffer severe injuries. Being heavily wounded would mean losing the opportunity to obtain the Nascent Soul Pill—among the cultivators vying for the three pills, anyone seriously injured would certainly not qualify.

The great cultivator Cao appeared increasingly manic, but his desire to survive never diminished, and thoughts raced through his mind, seeking that sliver of chance for life.

In that split second of lightning and flint, his gaze swept across the five passages of the treasury.

Within this treasury, apart from the wooden vault blocked by Ye Qin and the other six, the other four passages were unguarded. After all, the treasure-seekers' numbers were insufficient to assign guards to all five passages. If their forces were too dispersed, there might be a small chance for the Cao cultivator to escape, or for him to drag someone down with him in a moment of desperate frenzy. That would be unacceptable losses.

Moreover, the treasure-seeking cultivators had no need to guard those four passages.

This was because the Cao cultivator did not possess the access tokens for those four vaults; the tokens were held by other cultivators. If Cao were to enter one of those vaults, he would surely be killed by the demonic spirits within—a dead end that would save the seekers the trouble, allowing them to claim the Nascent Soul Pill for free.

“Access to the first five vault passages requires tokens.”

“But there is a sixth passage. No one holds an access token for this passage! No one knows what lies inside.”

The great cultivator Cao gritted his teeth, suddenly turning his body and shooting toward the sixth passage of the hexagonal treasury hall.

The great cultivator Cao was desperate to flee. The Demon Suppressing Mace swept aside several attacking artifacts. Without even exchanging a word with the cultivator Li, he violently shot into the sixth passage, into the light-gate emitting a frosty white glow.

The cultivator Li, who had been fighting alongside Cao with full strength, was instantly exposed, revealing large gaps in his defense. He immediately let out a scream as several top-tier flying swords pierced him repeatedly, slicing him into several pieces.

Seeing that the Cao cultivator had abandoned the cultivator Li and charged into the sixth passage, the assembled cultivators stopped their attacks, recalling their artifacts, their expressions varying.

“The Cao cultivator indeed charged into the sixth passage. If I hadn’t worried that he might destroy the Nascent Soul Pills in his haste, I would have struck to surround and kill him just now!”

Sun Xing seemed to have anticipated this, stating that the Cao cultivator would choose this passage, and he sneered.

The three Nascent Soul Pills were hard-won by the Cao cultivator, giving him a chance to step into the Nascent Soul Realm. He would never willingly destroy them! As long as there was even a glimmer of hope, he would not destroy the pills, and this sixth passage was his final hope!

The cultivator Pang stated gravely, “Now that Cao Heretic Cultivator has charged into the sixth passage, the jade slips left by the Golden Core disciples of the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s reward elder only mentioned this as the central vault, with no mention of the situation in this passage. Furthermore, Cao cultivator doesn't have the token for this sixth passage, and neither do we. What should we do?”

Kong Shi looked at Sun Xing and Pang cultivators and asked.

“Hmph, what’s there to fear? Cao Heretic Cultivator is charging ahead; if there’s danger, he’ll meet it first!”

The cultivator Pang was unconcerned. He quickly collected the storage bag of the cultivator Li but found no Nascent Soul Pill, and his face changed in anger. The cultivator Li didn't have the pills. It seemed all three Nascent Soul Pills were on the Cao cultivator. Never mind that! Everyone, follow me, let’s kill our way in!

Saying that, he took the lead and rushed toward the light-gate of the sixth passage.

Seeing someone take the lead, the other treasure-seeking cultivators, fearing the Nascent Soul Pills would fall into someone else's hands, all rushed through the light-gate of the sixth passage to pursue the great cultivator Cao.

Ye Qin stood with his arms crossed, coldly observing the changes on the scene, seemingly deep in thought, not moving immediately.

Sun Xing, holding the four-sided Earth Quintessence Array Flags Nascent Soul artifact, was just about to step forward when he glanced at the still-hesitant Ye Qin and inquired curiously, “Daoist Friend Ye, are you not planning to enter?”

“Daoist Brother Sun, please proceed first; I will follow shortly!”

Ye Qin smiled faintly.

Sun Xing didn't press the matter, smiling as he entered.

“Husband, what is it? Is something wrong?”

Huangfu Bing’er glanced at Ye Qin, knowing her husband must have noticed something, and inquired via divine sense.

“Sun Xing and Pang cultivator deliberately allowed the Cao cultivator to enter the sixth passage; they have selfish motives! Be wary of those two once we enter the passage!” Ye Qin transmitted faintly.

Huangfu Bing’er didn't immediately understand and asked via divine sense, “What selfish motives do they have?”

“There are only three Nascent Soul Pills; how can they be enough for everyone? Sun Xing obtained three minor divine ability artifacts in the treasury vault. And the cultivator Pang also obtained at least three powerful divine-level talismans in the fire vault. They are confident in their own strength and have full assurance regarding their safety inside the passage. But for the other cultivators, the passage will be dangerous; not only will they have little chance of getting a Nascent Soul Pill, but they might lose their lives.”

Ye Qin shook his head and sneered faintly. His divine sense transmitted, “It is much better for two people to divide the Nascent Soul Pills than for a large group to share them. Precisely because of this, they intentionally left an opening to draw the Cao cultivator into the treasury passage, using this passage to ambush all the other treasure-seeking cultivators without shedding a drop of their own blood. By doing this, the ones most likely to obtain the Nascent Soul Pills will be those two. Each of them can secure at least one, perhaps even two. The other cultivators won't even have a justifiable reason to accuse them.”

“Oh, these two have truly calculated well, but they don't understand our strength. They want to collude to swallow all three Nascent Soul Pills, but that may not be certain.”

A flicker of astonishment crossed Huangfu Bing’er’s eyes.

“Let’s go! We’ll act according to the situation!”

Ye Qin finished speaking and entered the passage. Huangfu Bing’er nodded subtly and followed Ye Qin inside.

The elder Wang saw that all the cultivators were busy scrambling for the Nascent Soul Pills, with no one paying attention to the storage bag and artifacts left behind by the cultivator Li. He was overjoyed and quickly picked up the cultivator Li’s artifacts, examining the contents within.

Soon after, the middle group of cultivators entered the sixth passage.

The cultivator Fan looked at Ye Qin for a long while, then glanced at the white light-gate of the sixth passage. His pale face was impassive; he moved slowly and deliberately, finally strolling into the light-gate last.

“The central vault of the ancient treasury… I hope it won't disappoint this Lord!”

The great cultivator Cao’s vision flashed white, and he rushed breathlessly into the light-gate of the sixth passage of the treasury. Having forcefully expelled his vital essence several times just moments ago had severely weakened his Golden Core and Nascent Soul.

The great cultivator Cao had no time to think.

Before him lay a passageway through a vast, white ice cave.

This passage was no different from the others in structure.

It only possessed an intensely dense concentration of ice spiritual energy.

So strong that it was almost unbearable.

Instantly, a bone-chilling cold swept over the great cultivator Cao. Even though he was wearing a top-tier protective robe, he could barely resist the frigid air. In what seemed like the space of a few breaths, a layer of frost formed on his hair, eyebrows, and skin.

This bone-piercing cold seemed to freeze the very meridians in his body, causing his magical power circulation to stiffen.

“This passage is even more formidable than the others!”

The great cultivator Cao’s expression changed dramatically. He slapped his waist storage bag and immediately released a top-grade fire-element spiritual bead to protect himself. Surging fire spiritual power poured out from this spiritual treasure, but it could only barely fend off the invasive extreme cold and frost aura.

The great cultivator Cao felt slightly warmer but dared not linger. “You want the Nascent Soul Pills? Come and kill me if you dare! Unless I die, no one gets them!”

Saying that, the great cultivator Cao, ignoring everything else, stared at the cold air and rapidly charged deep into the ice cave passage. In a few rapid moments, he vanished within the passage.

“Where did he go?”

The cultivator Pang led the numerous cultivators who rushed in sequentially through the light-gate of the sixth central passage, but when they entered this ice cave passage, the figure of the great cultivator Cao was nowhere to be seen.

However, the faint fire spiritual energy at the entrance of the passage, along with the shallow marks on the frost covering the ground, confirmed that the great cultivator Cao had indeed paused here and had already fled into the depths of this treasury central passage.

This ice cave passage was not particularly wide, filled with white ice crystals and ice spikes, about ten zhang high and wide. The light reflecting off them was dazzlingly harsh.

The group only had time for a quick glance before being hit head-on by an overwhelming wave of ice spiritual aura, almost freezing them into a pile of ice sculptures.

The Golden Core cultivators with weaker cultivation bases drove their magical power to its maximum to maintain their protective shields, yet they still couldn't resist the cold, and even their bodies began to tremble.

The treasure-seeking cultivators were aghast.

They had to remember that they were all cultivators in the mid to late stages of the Golden Core realm.

If this place could freeze them like this, the ice spiritual energy here was far too dense.

Although they had some mental preparation, they never expected this passage to be so ferocious.