"Let's gamble!" Qin Xi said, seeing that the half-hour was almost up.
Mo Tiange exchanged a look with him. Seeing his resolute expression, a surge of desperate, heroic spirit welled up within her.
So gamble it was! What were two supreme-grade spirit treasures? Even without them, they would still strive for God Transformation!
Thinking this, she took out her token, wiped away the restriction on the Jade Bone Puppet Technique, and stored the book away. Then, she turned back and retrieved the Holy Spirit Soft Jade.
With the items secured, the two looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh. Seeing the other sigh, they smiled at one another.
Although they had resolved to gamble, they still felt somewhat uneasy deep down, after all, the cost was too great.
"Let's go!" Qin Xi said. "While they come in to select treasures, we should leave quickly."
"Mm," Mo Tiange agreed. The others would enter the treasury, and with so many treasures, it would surely delay them for a while. They needed to get far away during that time. Otherwise, staying with a group whose strength surpassed theirs was simply unsafe.
"Wait!" Fuyaozi's voice sounded in her mind once more. "..."
"The half-hour is up."
Outside the treasury, Scholar Yu first tapped the folding fan in his hand and looked at the others. "Fellow Daoists, shall we enter now?"
True Person Yuan Mu and the others, who had been resting with their eyes closed, opened them upon hearing this, their gazes sharp and brilliant.
Venerable Wuming also revealed a smile, turning his gaze to the stone door.
Subsequently, these Late-Nascent Soul great cultivators opened the stone door one by one and filed inside.
Upon entering the treasury, the radiance of spirit treasures immediately dazzled their eyes. Even though they were the top Late-Nascent Soul cultivators in the human world, having seen countless spirit treasures, facing this inexhaustible number of treasures surpassing the Nascent Soul realm still made their hearts palpitate. Even a cunning old fox like True Person Yuan Mu couldn't help but reveal a look of greed.
Forget taking everything; possessing just a few of the spirit treasures here would be enough to stand proudly in the human world!
After their exclamations of awe, Scholar Yu glanced warily at True Person Yuan Mu, then shot a look at Venerable Wuming.
Venerable Wuming's expression was calm, but he suddenly opened his eyes and gave Scholar Yu a slight smile.
This smile settled Scholar Yu's heart somewhat. These treasures, far exceeding the current level of the cultivation world, were truly enough to make one's head hot. If the Jiuyan Sect, relying on their powerful strength, tried to seize the tokens by force, he had no confidence of escaping unscathed. But with Venerable Wuming's support, it was different. The Jiuyan Sect had two Late-Nascent Soul cultivators and one mid-stage cultivator, among whom Ling Shiyu was injured and had little combat power. If he, a Confucian, and the Buddhist monk joined forces, that was also two Late-Nascent Soul cultivators, enough to contend with the Jiuyan Sect.
True Person Yuan Mu's gaze now swept over the two of them. Finally, with reason, he suppressed the greed in his eyes and said to them with a smile, "Fellow Daoists, with so many treasures here, let's not stand on ceremony. We should hurry."
The three nodded and smiled, then led their juniors to begin browsing the treasures within the treasury.
At this moment, Ling Yunhe, following beside True Person Yuan Mu, looked around and suddenly said, "Uncle-Master Yuan Mu, where are those three?"
True Person Yuan Mu was slightly taken aback, then his expression changed.
Hearing this, Scholar Yu and Venerable Wuming also turned their heads.
Although the treasury was large and had layer upon layer of restrictions, they were all Late-Nascent Soul cultivators. Whether someone was present or not could be sensed immediately.
Apart from them, there was no one else here!
Where had Mo Tiange and the other two gone? They had been outside the treasury the whole time and hadn't seen them come out!
"Scholar Yu..." True Person Yuan Mu looked at Scholar Yu.
Scholar Yu muttered to himself, "How is this possible?"
A major sect's treasury couldn't possibly have another exit, and they hadn't detected any other exit. How could these three have vanished into thin air? The restrictions within this treasury were not for show. Without needing orders, Ling Yunhe, Han Shizhi, and Juewu began running around. Although the treasury was large, with the three of them working together, it didn't take long to turn the place upside down. There was nothing unusual at all.
The expressions of the five Nascent Soul cultivators grew even more grave. The situation before them was completely beyond their expectations, even making them temporarily forget about the entire treasury full of spirit treasures!
The gap in realm was insurmountable. The restrictions within this treasury felt unfathomable even to them, Late-Nascent Soul cultivators; they were undoubtedly ancient restrictions surpassing the God Transformation Stage. Surrounded by such restrictions, it was impossible for them to ignore the restrictions and leave the treasury. So, where had they gone? Was there another passage within the treasury, or... Scholar Yu looked at True Person Yuan Mu and saw the same vigilance in the other's eyes, knowing they were thinking the same thing.
His expression unchanged, he sent a voice transmission: "Does Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu also think they are still within this treasury?"
True Person Yuan Mu nodded slightly and replied in kind: "Correct. If they obtained some ancient spirit treasure capable of concealing their aura..."
At this point, both their expressions turned somewhat gloomy. If that were the case, these three must harbor ill intentions toward them.
"This old monk believes the two Fellow Daoists are overthinking," Venerable Wuming suddenly spoke aloud. The voice transmission between Scholar Yu and True Person Yuan Mu couldn't be heard by others, but with Venerable Wuming's cultivation, it posed no obstacle.
Seeing Venerable Wuming speak directly, Scholar Yu glanced around somewhat warily before saying, "Oh? What does Fellow Daoist Wuming think?"
Venerable Wuming, wearing a smile, said, "Those three—one at Nascent Soul mid-stage, one at early-stage, and one who hasn't even formed a Nascent Soul—what means could they possibly have to annihilate all of us without us having time to resist?"
"Under ordinary circumstances, of course it would be impossible," True Person Yuan Mu said gravely. "But they entered the treasury earlier than us. It's very possible they obtained some spirit treasure..."
"If relying on a spirit treasure, unless that treasure can unleash immense power in an instant," Venerable Wuming said unhurriedly, speaking slowly. "But this place is the treasury, a heavily restricted crucial area of this ancient great sect."
A treasury, a crucial area with layer upon layer of restrictions, would absolutely not allow others to use magic treasures and spells freely. This was a universal principle for every sect. Otherwise, damaging other treasures would harm the very foundation of a sect.
The expressions of True Person Yuan Mu and Scholar Yu gradually eased.
If that were the case, regardless of what method these three used to disappear within the treasury, they need not concern themselves. However, they couldn't help but feel a pang of regret, wondering what kind of spirit treasure these three had taken.
And at this moment, Mo Tiange and the other two were locked in fierce battle.
In the dim stone chamber, a cultivator's vision could only reach a few zhang, yet countless hostile demonic creatures surged toward them from all around.
The three stood back-to-back, each relying on their own magic treasures to fight the demonic creatures.
"I say, Fellow Daoist Qingwei," Jing Xingzhi said. Although he had already advanced to Nascent Soul, he still habitually addressed Mo Tiange as a peer, perhaps because of Qin Xi, or perhaps because Mo Tiange was on the verge of advancing herself. "What kind of damned place is this? How can there be so many demonic creatures?"
"I don't know what's going on either," Mo Tiange said, frowning. With two Nascent Soul cultivators by her side, sharing the bulk of the demonic creatures, her pressure wasn't great. "Perhaps it's been too long..."
Just as they were about to leave the treasury earlier, Fuyaozi had called out to her, telling her that there was a passage within the treasury leading directly to the Underground Palace, namely the Vermilion Bird Sacrificial Temple. Hearing this news, Mo Tiange was overjoyed. She had previously worried about not being able to leave safely after obtaining the treasures. If this were the case, they wouldn't need to meet with True Person Yuan Mu and the others.
Thus, the three of them directly descended from the treasury to the Underground Palace, planning to first explore the Underground Palace, then leave the Immortal Palace through another exit from there.
Unexpectedly, not long after descending to the Underground Palace, they discovered that the Primordial Demon Qi inside had leaked severely, even attracting a batch of demonic creatures. These things included refined corpses and demonized demon beasts. Although their cultivation wasn't very high, they were extremely troublesome.
Thinking of this, Mo Tiange couldn't help but ask: "Master, telling me to leave via this secret passage—was that your plan all along? At that time, I was alone. If I encountered these demonic creatures after descending, how could I leave safely?"
Fuyaozi paused for a moment, then answered with a bitter smile: "This was indeed your master's lack of consideration. When I descended to the Underground Palace back then, there were no such demonic creatures, so..."
"So, Master, you simply never considered that after a hundred thousand years, this place might become unsafe. If I had truly descended alone and perished here, it would have been fate."
Fuyaozi did not reply, tacitly admitting it.
Mo Tiange rolled her eyes inwardly. Luckily, her fate was strong. Qin Xi had met up with her at the entrance, and they had encountered Jing Xingzhi earlier. With two Nascent Soul cultivators by her side, these demonic creatures, though troublesome, were not a real concern.
They fought their way out of the stone chamber and through several passages, finally slaughtering all the demonic creatures.
The three breathed sighs of relief and each found a safe spot to sit cross-legged and regulate their breathing.
"Fellow Daoist Qingwei, just what is going on? Shouldn't you explain it to me?" Jing Xingzhi asked, eyes closed as he regulated his breath.
"Uh..." The matter of the Vermilion Bird Sacrificial Temple was complicated to explain.
"I've cooperated with you but haven't gained the slightest benefit. Instead, I've fought a battle here. If you still don't explain clearly, that's just too unfair."
"What do you mean 'not the slightest benefit'?" Qin Xi snorted from the side. "At the very least, you escaped the pursuit of that God Transformation Stage refined corpse. Should I settle accounts with you first?"
"..." This time, it was Jing Xingzhi's turn to be speechless. When pursued by that refined corpse earlier, if Qin Xi hadn't turned back and released a spirit talisman to delay it, it was hard to say whether he could have escaped. To be fair, if not saving his whole life, it had at least saved half of it.
Seeing Jing Xingzhi speechless, Mo Tiange suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for him. Actually, this Jing Xingzhi was quite unlucky.
He was originally the esteemed disciple of an Ancient Sword Sect Nascent Soul Sword Venerable, gifted with outstanding talent and high status. Unexpectedly, his master perished, leaving him without backing. He was suppressed everywhere by his master's rivals, and his status plummeted. Later, relying on his intelligence and temperament, he cultivated to late Core Formation. If he could have advanced to Nascent Soul in one go, he would have finally overcome his hardships. But then, at Heavenly Demon Mountain, he was schemed against by Perfected One Songfeng along with her, not only missing an opportunity but also completely falling out with the ruling faction of the Ancient Sword Sect on the way back, suffering severe injuries. Injured and unable to return to his sect, he had no choice but to seek another place, leaving Tianji to become a rogue cultivator.
From a heaven's favored son to a wandering rogue cultivator—his experiences couldn't help but make one shed a tear of sympathy.
That would have been one thing; after all, everyone has unlucky times. But the problem was, having a Qin Xi beside him for comparison made him seem utterly pitiful.
The two of them were actually very similar: both esteemed disciples of Nascent Soul cultivators from famous major sects, both young with profound cultivation. In terms of aptitude, Qin Xi certainly wasn't higher than him. In terms of status, they were originally about the same. But their fortunes were truly worlds apart. When he left Tianji in a wretched state, Qin Xi formed his Nascent Soul gloriously, becoming a Supreme Elder of the Xuanqing Sect. Now, meeting again in a foreign land, he was once again overshadowed by Qin Xi.
If she were Jing Xingzhi, she would surely lament: having a Qin Xi in this world was simply the heavens deliberately trying to disgust him!