It was true that Cao Xiexiu had been killed by those few Ice Crystal Demon Spirits. Therefore, the three individuals who contributed the most to killing those Ice Crystal Demon Spirits were naturally the most qualified to receive these three Nascent Soul Pills!

"I paid the price of a Minor Divine Ability Talisman to obtain one Nascent Soul Pill; that is only fair." Cultivator Pang glanced at Kong Shi, scoffed lightly, and said casually, "But in comparison, when Brother Kong Shi was killing the Ice Crystal Demon Spirits just now, you stayed far away and contributed almost nothing! If you can still get a Nascent Soul Pill like that, then it would be truly unjust." "This..." Kong Shi was immediately rebutted into speechless silence, realizing his hope of obtaining a Nascent Soul Pill was slim, and his expression dimmed.

The ones who contributed the most in killing those Ice Crystal Demon Spirits earlier were Cultivator Pang, Ye Qin, and Sun Xing. Based on both their intrinsic strength and their actual effort, these three were the most deserving of the Nascent Soul Pills.

Ye Qin's expression remained placid, saying little. With Sun Xing and Cultivator Pang having already divided the Nascent Soul Pills in just a few words, Kong Shi and Cultivator Fan had no chance whatsoever.

This arrangement was also beneficial to him, so naturally, he had no need to comment further. "Brother Kong Shi, your complexion looks a bit gloomy; seems like your vital energy is not well!?

Did your Primordial Spirit suffer some damage?" Sun Xing suddenly recalled something, sized up Kong Shi, and asked with some doubt. Earlier, he had been preoccupied with dealing with the Cao Clan and the Ice Crystal Demon Spirits, leaving him no time to ponder the presence of Kong Shi and Cultivator Fan.

Now that things had calmed down, he vaguely sensed something amiss. "Fellow Daoist Sun worries too much.

Fellow Daoist Kong's Peacock Flame Plume lacked sufficient power, and he felt somewhat unwell in this ice cave, having been affected by some icy cold energy. It is nothing serious!" Cultivator Fan, who had been silent, suddenly interjected.

"Uh... precisely!" Kong Shi felt a degree of apprehension towards Cultivator Fan, hesitated as if wanting to say more, but ultimately just nodded in agreement.

"Oh, is that so?" Sun Xing's suspicious gaze swept between Kong Shi and Cultivator Fan, his look of confusion deepening. He had initially taken Ye Qin as his primary opponent, spending considerable effort to suppress Ye Qin's influence.

Later, when Cultivator Pang obtained three Minor Divine Ability Talismans from the treasury, his power became unpredictably strong, forcing Sun Xing to be extra wary of him. He hadn't expected that Kong Shi and Cultivator Fan would also carry numerous points of suspicion, perhaps presenting an equally significant hidden danger.

"Fellow Daoist Sun, the Cao Clan only had three Nascent Soul Pills on them, which is not enough for the six of us, no matter how we look at it. I happen to have a small suggestion that might give everyone a chance to obtain a Nascent Soul Pill.

I wonder if Fellow Daoist Sun would be willing to consider it?!" Cultivator Fan’s expression was indifferent; he paid no heed to Sun Xing’s suspicious gaze and stated his consideration directly. "Oh?

Please do elaborate, Fellow Daoist Fan!" Sun Xing’s spirit lifted slightly. "The jade slips left by those deceased Heavenly Dao Alliance disciples in the main hall indicate that this sixth passage leads to the Central Treasury—the very hub and core of the entire treasure vault, and the location controlling all the restrictive formations within it.

Why don't we enter this Central Treasury? We could deactivate all the restrictions of this ancient vault.

Once the restrictions are lifted, all the stored treasures will be directly accessible, and everyone can enter the storage rooms to take as much as they desire! The Wood Repository surely holds more than just these three Nascent Soul Pills.

We would have no need to argue endlessly over these three pills, wouldn't we?" Cultivator Fan proposed. "You mean disabling all the vault's restrictions?" Sun Xing’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He was astonished by this incredibly bold idea, but he quickly calmed down, considering the low probability of success, and shook his head: "Fellow Daoist Fan’s idea is good, but it’s easy to say and might not be so simple to execute! This vault was built by an ancient Nascent Soul cultivator, and the restrictions set within are extremely powerful.

How could we, a few Golden Core cultivators, possibly disable them so easily!" "If the six of us wish to enter the Central Treasury to disable the restrictions, the first step must be to kill all the Ice Crystal Demon Spirits in this passage. Judging by the number of spirits in the other repositories, there are probably around a hundred Ice Crystal Demon Spirits in this ice cave passage.

Fellow Daoist Sun, are the six of us incapable of dealing with nearly a hundred Golden Core-level Ice Crystal Demon Spirits?" Cultivator Fan countered immediately. "We are only six Golden Core cultivators; it is absolutely impossible to handle nearly a hundred Golden Core-level Ice Crystal Demon Spirits!" "If we can't kill them all at once, what about luring and killing just a few at a time?

Although the Ice Crystal Demon Spirits are spiritual entities, they have been in this ice cave for ten thousand years without contact with the outside world; their spiritual wisdom cannot be very high. How could they be a match for us!" "This...

let me consider!" Sun Xing paused, seemingly swayed by Cultivator Fan’s words. He pondered for a long while, then turned to Cultivator Pang and asked, "Brother Pang, how much longer can your Minor Divine Ability Flame Bell Shield last?" "It can probably last another eleven and a half hours; half an hour was already used," Cultivator Pang grumbled.

Truthfully, he was quite frustrated; once those eleven hours were up, his Minor Divine Ability Talisman with its massive defensive power would be completely useless, unlike the Minor Divine Ability ancient artifact Sun Xing possessed, which could be used for a very long time. "Eleven and a half hours...

killing about ten Ice Crystal Demon Spirits per hour is extremely difficult. However, we can try.

Even if we fail, at worst, we just retreat from this ice cave; there’s no loss. If we succeed in deactivating the vault’s restriction formation, the benefits gained are unimaginably vast.

After reaping this massive fortune from the vault, we won't need to risk adventuring in the Sea of Blood anymore and can directly strive for the Nascent Soul Realm!" Sun Xing quickly calculated, and his desire to enter the ice vault grew stronger. Furthermore, he still possessed two Minor Divine Ability magical artifacts that he hadn't used yet, which could be employed at a critical moment.

With his current strength, he certainly wouldn't perish in this ice cave. Cultivator Pang was also quite moved.

"Since no one objects, let us exert our full strength and kill all the Ice Crystal Demon Spirits in this ice cave as quickly as possible, breaking through to the Central Treasury. Brother Pang, Brother Ye, what do you two think?" Sun Xing swept his gaze over the group and asked.

"Agreed! But, regardless of success or failure, I must first take one spiritual pill from what Cao Clan possessed.

Otherwise, we won't even bother with this ice cave; I'll leave directly!" Cultivator Pang stated gravely. "Heh heh, if Brother Pang isn't leading the defense against the Ice Crystal Demon Spirits, there's no way we can fight our way through this ice cave.

I'll take one, Brother Pang takes one, and Brother Ye takes one! Let's not argue anymore; that's how it's settled.

Brother Kong, Brother Fan, do you two have any objections?" Sun Xing laughed heartily. "No objections.

We will follow Brother Sun's instructions!" Kong Shi considered it and ceased his insistence. His strength was too weak, lacking any decent trump cards; he simply couldn't compete with the trio of Sun, Pang, and Ye.

If there was a chance to enter the Central Treasury and control its formations, he still had a decent opportunity to obtain a Nascent Soul Pill, so he could only nod in agreement. Cultivator Fan had never asked for a Nascent Soul Pill, so naturally, he had no issues either.

Sun Xing found it strange that Cultivator Fan seemed uninterested in the Nascent Soul Pills but far more focused on entering the ice vault. However, since Cultivator Fan himself wasn't demanding one, he didn't press the matter.

Cultivator Pang walked directly to where the Cao Clan member had died, the spot where the body was frozen in ice, and unleashed several fierce palm strikes, shattering the thick ice crystals. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved the storage pouch from Cao Shi’s waist, opened it, and dumped its contents out with a rustle.

The Cao Clan member’s storage pouch contained an enormous amount of wealth: raw materials, elixirs, spirit stones, and magical artifacts, all flashing with multi-colored light. Many of the artifacts inside were not things Cao Shi himself used, still carrying the aura of other cultivators.

Clearly, most of this wealth was plundered from the cultivators Cao Shi had killed while treasure hunting. Cultivator Pang rummaged through it and found three small white jade bottles.

Upon opening them, he saw they indeed contained Nascent Soul Pills. Although he had never seen a real Nascent Soul Pill, he had seen the drawings of them on blueprints and easily recognized them.

Moreover, the dense spiritual energy within the pills confirmed their authenticity. Cultivator Pang’s usually steady face showed excitement.

He handed one bottle each to Sun Xing and Ye Qin, and the three of them immediately divided the Nascent Soul Pills. As for the other treasures, though quite valuable, they didn't command the attention of the cultivators, and they were quickly divided without much haggling.

The six treasure-hunting cultivators then departed without delay, heading deeper into the ice cave passage. Cultivator Pang relied on the defense of his powerful Minor Divine Ability Flame Bell Shield, charging at the very front, luring one or two Ice Crystal Demon Spirits at a time to a secluded spot in the ice cave for encirclement and slaughter.

Sun Xing used his Four Directions Earthen Flag to set up an earth-element formation, tightly trapping the Ice Crystal Demon Spirits. Meanwhile, Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er controlled their seven Primordial Spirit flying swords, unleashing full power to bombard and annihilate the spirits.

Kong Shi and Cultivator Fan controlled their respective magical artifacts, providing full assistance to the assault while simultaneously guarding against the appearance of Ice Crystal Demon Spirits from other passages. The defensive capabilities of these six mid-to-late stage Golden Core cultivators were formidable, and their destructive power was terrifying.

Combined, their overall combat strength approached that of a weaker early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Despite this, it took them a full ten hours—slightly less than the estimated time—to clear out nearly a hundred Golden Core-level Ice Crystal Demon Spirits in this long ice cave passage, reducing them all to ice shards.

The group of six finally arrived at the end of the ice cave passage and saw a gate of light several feet high, emanating an aura of harsh frost. At the end of the passage, the freezing cold energy had intensified several times compared to the entrance, reaching a level that could instantly freeze a Golden Core cultivator without fire-element protection.

Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er fully activated their mid-grade Primordial Spirit artifacts, the "Southern Bright Vermilion Fire Sword" and the "Purple Jade Vermilion Fire Sword," for self-protection, yet they still found the chilling air almost unbearable. They had to gulp down the ninth-grade Fire Crimson Fruit Pulp wine constantly to dispel the cold energy invading their bodies.

Fortunately, the couple had brought plenty of high-grade spiritual wine, enough to maintain their excellent condition. A large mouthful of the ninth-grade spiritual wine cost them four to five hundred low-grade spirit stones.

Over ten hours, Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er had spent no less than a million spirit stones. The other cultivators had also prepared plenty of spiritual wine, but its grade was not as high as the Ye couple's; they could only shiver and envy them.

"Going past here should lead to the Central Treasury!" Upon seeing this, the cultivators exchanged glances and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The ten hours of intense battle had severely depleted their magic power and spiritual consciousness.

Although they had consumed large amounts of spiritual wine midway to restore their magic power, their spiritual consciousness could not recover quickly. Everyone looked extremely fatigued.

Cultivator Pang’s Minor Divine Ability Flame Bell Shield was now dim, its fiery glow almost entirely dissipated; it looked like the shield wouldn't last much longer. If it weren't for the prospect of controlling the entire vault’s restriction formations in the Central Treasury, they probably wouldn't have struggled so arduously to clear this ice cave passage.

Sun Xing stopped before the gate of light. "If we succeed in deactivating the formation restrictions in the vault, we will equally divide the spoils afterwards.

Brother Kong, your contribution on this journey has been the least. For the sake of fairness, isn't it time for Brother Kong to exert himself now?

You go first!" Sun Xing’s eyes flickered, and he smiled. He had no idea what kind of scene or restrictive dangers lay beyond this gate of light.

Naturally, such matters required a cannon fodder to scout ahead. Otherwise, why would he have bothered having Kong Shi follow along just to benefit for free?