The bloodstains on his body fell onto the ground, dyeing the earth crimson. Teng Qingshan’s consciousness was already blurring from the intense pain; he could only muster strength to pound the ground again and again, venting his fury. With every strike, a fist-sized pit would form in the earth beneath him.

If the many experts from Qinghu Island, Moni Temple, and others were to witness this scene, they would undoubtedly be stunned into silence.

One must remember that even a peak innate Golden Core expert from the Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain could only manage a pit the size of a human head with a single arrow strike. Yet, Teng Qingshan was merely punching the ground in a frenzy, not delivering his full-force blows during combat. If his every venting punch was this brutal, how astonishing would his full power 'Tiger Cannon Fist' truly be?

“Hissing~~ Shredding~~” Beneath the tearing skin, the crimson musculature looked like densely interwoven steel cables, each strand trembling and spasming.

For the pain to bring Teng Qingshan to the edge of consciousness suggested just how violent this transformation was.

Actually… It was hardly Emperor Yu’s fault. Emperor Yu could never have imagined that outside of ‘Void Piercing Realm’ masters, ordinary Innate or Void Transcending experts would possess such formidable physical strength! An Innate Golden Core, relying purely on physical might, might only possess a strength of a few thousand jin. An increase of one or two wan jin would not place much strain on the body.

But Teng Qingshan? His base physical strength was already over two hundred thousand jin, having hit a plateau. Now, he was being reshaped by the ‘Icy Cold Power’ refined by Emperor Yu’s void energy. Furthermore, this Icy Cold Power had been accumulated by the World-Splitting Axe over thousands of years, and now it was all flooding in at once… The concern wasn't that there wouldn't be enough, but that Teng Qingshan might fail to absorb it.

Teng Qingshan’s body was simply too powerful! His endurance was too immense!

His physical strength was increasing at an astonishing rate, gaining tens of thousands of jin of power almost every moment. This extreme speed of advancement meant rapid growth in strength, but the resulting agony was equally terrifying.

“Ahhh~~” Teng Qingshan’s completely reddened eyes perceived everything before him as a blurry, scarlet haze.

In this moment, Teng Qingshan had fully transformed into a primeval demonic beast constantly augmenting its power, his sanity growing ever more obscure… By all rights, even the most formidable masters should have fainted under such torment. But Teng Qingshan’s inherent will was too steadfast; making him black out was exceedingly difficult.

Endure!

Subconsciously, Teng Qingshan refused to surrender to unconsciousness.

…… For the brief moment Teng Qingshan gripped the World-Splitting Axe, streams of cyan-green light rapidly flowed backward, channeling into the Axe, and the cyan-green luminescence throughout the Heavenly Flood Palace began to wane.

“Rumble~~~~” The Heavenly Flood Palace began to shudder violently.

Within the maze of the Heavenly Flood Palace, in the entrance corridor. “It’s shaking again?” The Beast King ‘Wu Hou’ sat on the ground, leaning against the wall. “It shook once before, why is it moving again now?” The five Innate experts from the Carefree Palace were equally perplexed. Nearby, Zhao Danchen’s eyes were cold: “Emperor Yu’s treasure trove is not so easily obtained. I estimate that Qin Lang has triggered some mechanism within the treasure trove, causing the Water Palace to vibrate.” “Elder Zhao speaks wisely,” stated Elder Shi of the Carefree Palace.

The long-browed old monk swept his cloudy eyes over the golden Dragon Turtle slumped at the entrance, then resumed his meditative repose.

These individuals who dared to risk their lives entering the Heavenly Flood Palace all harbored a deep desire for Emperor Yu’s treasure. Perhaps ‘Qin Lang’ was once allied with the Carefree Palace faction. But now, whether it was Moni Temple, the Carefree Palace, or the Beast King Wu Hou, they all secretly hoped ‘Qin Lang’ would fail to secure the treasure.

Only then would they have a chance.

The lower levels of the Heavenly Flood Palace. The nine three-legged cauldrons stood silently guarding the World-Splitting Axe, just as they had thousands of years ago. But now, Teng Qingshan’s right hand gripped the Axe, and his previous frantic pounding ceased. He had passed the most perilous and painful stage; the agony was now subsiding.

As the pain lessened, so too did the rate of Teng Qingshan’s physical augmentation.

It was approaching the very limit his body could withstand.

“That was truly painful,” Teng Qingshan murmured, feeling intermittent waves of numbness and sharp, needle-like stabs across his body. However, this level of pain no longer concerned him. “But this one increase truly is astonishing! Emperor Yu’s method of physical reinforcement is indeed powerful.”

Teng Qingshan clearly felt the surging, immense power contained within his body! It was boundless, like an ocean!

“Increased by at least double, perhaps more!” Teng Qingshan controlled the resonance of his tendons and bones. “The changes to all my bones must be the most drastic.” Teng Qingshan sensed that the vast majority of the preceding white light had been dedicated to forging his entire structure of tendons and bones; his bones were being hammered countless times, like steel, their density continuously rising.

Originally, the hardness of Teng Qingshan’s bones was comparable to some precious metallic alloys. Now, he could only guess what level they had reached.

“I’ll need to test it out to truly feel how much my strength has increased.”

Teng Qingshan suddenly swung his left fist.

“Whoosh—” The air emitted a piercing shriek as his iron fist slammed into the cyan-green ground. With a loud thud, the ground, which had been vibrating, now shook even more violently, and a deep pit the size of a human head immediately appeared, startling Teng Qingshan greatly.

“My bare physical strength, with a single punch, is nearly equivalent to that one arrow from an Innate Golden Core expert?” Teng Qingshan realized that the expert from the Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain had used Innate True Essence as his arrow.

“I estimate my physical strength is about two to three times what it was,” Teng Qingshan speculated. “If I add my Innate True Essence, the combination should put me close to that of an Innate Golden Core!” Teng Qingshan finally understood the magnitude of this gain! In comparison, Emperor Yu’s other two gifts paled in significance.

An Innate Void Core, possessing a body as potent as a top-tier demonic beast, could unleash power comparable to an Innate Golden Core.

Of course, achieving this was also due to Teng Qingshan’s already formidable physique beforehand.

“My strength is immense, but my realm is still significantly behind an Innate Golden Core. They can negate air resistance; I cannot,” Teng Qingshan understood. “Facing an Innate Golden Core now, I am still no match. But I can effortlessly kill an ‘Innate Solid Core’!” In terms of pure burst power, he possessed double that of an Innate Solid Core.

Slaying an Innate Solid Core now was indeed simple.

“Hm?” Teng Qingshan suddenly noticed the fist-sized pits scattered on the ground.

“Why haven't these pits healed after so long?” Teng Qingshan was alarmed.

Indeed, the pits he struck had not healed!

This was because the ‘World-Splitting Axe’ was the core foundation for the existence of the entire Heavenly Flood Palace, which required the Axe to continuously refine energy to sustain itself. Now, Teng Qingshan had moved the World-Splitting Axe from its central position. The continuous energy conduit had been severed.

All the cyan-green light was flowing back and dissipating.

The tremors in the Heavenly Flood Palace were growing fiercer!

“Rumble~~~” The entire maze seemed to be shaken by a giant. Teng Qingshan looked down at the ground, his expression changing drastically—

“Crack, crack~~~” Fissures began to snake across the floor.

Teng Qingshan looked up; the ceiling supporting the upper maze showed even more severe cracking.

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” Large chunks of cyan-green stone rained down from above. In the blink of an eye, the entire Heavenly Flood Palace began to collapse.

…… Inside the maze. The groups from the Carefree Palace, Qinghu Island, and others, who had initially assumed the tremors would fade as quickly as the last time, suddenly discovered the shaking was escalating. Cracks were appearing in the ceiling, the floor, and the surrounding walls, growing wider and wider.

Splash, splash~~~

Massive amounts of lake water began pouring in through the fissures above. Without the World-Splitting Axe maintaining the structure, the Heavenly Flood Palace could no longer shield itself from the lake.

“This is bad, the Heavenly Flood Palace is collapsing!” an elder from the Carefree Palace cried out in alarm. “This is great news!” Wu Hou, however, let out a loud laugh and rapidly charged forward.

Blast!

The ground abruptly split open, revealing a massive fissure. Wu Hou dove directly into the gap, plunging into the first underground layer.

The face of the Qinghu Island Master, ‘Gu Yong,’ broke into joy, and he roared, “Quick, seize the treasure!” Even as his voice echoed, he himself plunged into the great fissure. The Innate experts who hadn't reacted immediately now understood everything!

The collapse of the Heavenly Flood Palace was exactly what they needed! They could now seize the treasure.

“Rumble~~~” The collapse intensified. Even the ground beneath their feet was splitting open. “The treasure is for those fated to find it,” the long-browed old monk chuckled, taking a single step that vanished like lightning into the fissure. The collapse of a palace could never crush an Innate expert; far from being crushed, they couldn't even be injured.

…… The collapse of the Heavenly Flood Palace was too rapid. Before Teng Qingshan could even attempt to take the three-legged cauldrons, large sections of stone began falling from above.

“Hurry and leave, or we won't be able to get out,” Teng Qingshan swiftly tucked the World-Splitting Axe into his sash, then darted forward like lightning to snatch two of the three-legged cauldrons.

“Hm?” Teng Qingshan looked ahead in surprise.

Eight figures clad in black descended from above. All eight wore black robes and golden masks—they were the forces of the Ying Clan.

“Qin Lang? No, you are not. Who are you?” The leader, Ying Haojiang, exclaimed in shock. His eyes immediately fixed upon Teng Qingshan’s ‘Sky Eagle Claw Gauntlets’ and the package on his back. Everything suggested this person was Qin Lang to him. Yet, he did not recognize Teng Qingshan’s face.

“Haojiang, that’s Teng Qingshan, the Teng Qingshan from the Guiyuan Sect. I saw his portrait in the clan intelligence report.”

“The treasure is mine!” A hearty burst of laughter rang out—it was the voice of the Beast King Wu Hou.

“This is Emperor Yu’s treasure trove,” the eight members of the Ying Clan finally realized. The nine three-legged cauldrons before them were Emperor Yu’s treasure… Having never seen the treasure before, they hadn't realized in that first instant that the seemingly ordinary nine cauldrons constituted the entire hoard.

However— “Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”……

Teng Qingshan’s legs moved like phantoms; in an instant, he kicked six of the three-legged cauldrons away, sending them flying in various directions.

Teng Qingshan himself clutched one cauldron in each hand: “There are nine, and I can’t hold them all with just two hands. Besides, taking too many will likely drive the various sects into a frenzy to hunt me down. Two cauldrons will suffice! The six I kicked away should be enough to distract them.” Teng Qingshan dared not be too greedy, especially as the lake water surged violently inward.

Like a fish, Teng Qingshan, gripping two cauldrons, plunged into the lake water and vanished.

Ying Haojiang managed to grab the single three-legged cauldron nearest to him, then roared, “Quick, seize the cauldrons!”

But the other six had already flown far away.