As the azure light and aura blossomed like fireworks, the head of the Cao family, Cao Feiyue, and another Grandmaster above Peijing realized they had been deceived.
Filled with shock and rage, they attempted to dispatch one of the Grandmasters to return to Dianxian Lake, control the Ice Eye, and preserve the treasure, but Wang Chonghe of the Seven Heavens-Sundering Swords would not allow such an opportunity.
Although breaking the grand formation, divine artifacts, the Dianxian corpse, and a Grandmaster combined was impossible, as a Law Body expert, Lingbao Tianzun could briefly block them without much difficulty. As sword techniques unfolded, an aura of silence and destruction arose, sealing the surrounding area while barely enduring the attacks from the Dianxian corpse, divine artifacts, and grand formation.
Within Peijing, numerous foreign experts residing there, upon witnessing the emergence of the treasure, felt anxious, but it was useless since the grand formation had been activated, preventing them from leaving.
Meanwhile, experts from nearby towns and deep mountains, shot beams of light toward Dianxian Lake.
Seeing this, Jiang Zhiwei put away the formation chart, left the Icefire Valley, and flew toward Dianxian Lake to intercept and obstruct.
……
Boom!
Billions of thunderbolts exploded, dark water vaporized into red mist, only to quickly condense again, dousing the lightning. Entwined and tearing at each other, the clash unleashed powerful shockwaves, sweeping across the entire hall, triggering black water light, manifesting the Black Tortoise and the Vermilion Snake, which merged into Xuanwu. Under the attacks and erosion of purple lightning and red mist and dark water, they trembled and faded.
If not for the Wuzhen Hall’s suppression of magical forces, this single collision would have reduced hundreds of miles to ruin, and reduced everything within ten miles to dust!
Holding the Xuan Shui Dang Mo Banner, Meng Qi felt all his strength drained as the backlash wave hurled him past the small tree bearing the Seven Heavens-Sundering Swords, landing behind and slightly to its left.
All of this had been intentional on Meng Qi’s part. He had used the Xuan Shui Dang Mo Banner to temporarily block the capture, using the recoil force to propel himself closer to the tree.
Gazing at the nearby green leaves, Meng Qi inhaled deeply, preparing to practice the Tianxin Woyi Method, invoking Heaven’s Will to summon his Dharma Body and unleash forbidden techniques.
The Dianxian corpse, eyes spitting electric sparks, remained expressionless, murmuring, “The gate is open, the gate is open…”
Enduring the relentless assault of dark water and red mist, he pressed forward, charging toward the small green tree. At the same time, his left hand flicked, sending purple lightning ropes snaking toward the six treasures on either side.
Witnessing this, Meng Qi’s expression remained calm. Instead of advancing, he took a few steps back, abandoning the Tianxin Woyi Method and watching coldly as the Dianxian corpse reached for the treasures.
The jade box containing the shimmering Tianhe Sword was closest to the Dianxian corpse and was instantly seized by the purple lightning rope.
Just then, nearly invisible black mist suddenly surged from the box, clinging to the lightning and surging toward the Dianxian corpse.
“Ahh!” The Dianxian corpse let out a piercing scream as the black mist engulfed it. Bolts of yang lightning erupted from its eyes, ears, nose, and pores, shattering the dark mist.
Just as the two sides appeared to reach a balance, ripples suddenly emanated from the other five treasures—some as pitch-black as the abyss of hell, others like formless and colorless curses—flowing along the lightning ropes to converge upon the Dianxian corpse.
“Ahh!”
The black mist surged in and out of the Dianxian corpse, the purple lightning from its eyes rapidly dimming as it screamed in agony!
Watching this, Meng Qi’s face twitched slightly, feeling a twinge of empathy.
The treasures originally intended by the Zhenwu Emperor for himself—how could they not be safeguarded against outsiders?
Even without explicit instructions, after seeing these treasures, Meng Qi would have hesitated, inspecting and identifying them carefully, preferring to wait a moment rather than rush in recklessly.
The reason was simple: too many people had died on this path due to greed—hidden mechanisms, deceptive appearances, cursed treasures, or the lingering consciousness of ancient experts attempting possession!
This wasn’t a game where death could be undone. Facing relics of ancient masters and treasures from antiquity, how could one simply grab them without caution, as if eager to die faster?
Even if only a few out of ten times were dangerous, Meng Qi would not let his guard down. If an item wasn’t life-threatening, he would rather discard it than act rashly.
Experienced martial artists in such situations understood that certain essential steps must be followed.
First, identify the item to determine its authenticity, avoiding false leads and missing the real treasure.
Second, check for traps. If none, excellent. If present, either disable them or trigger them from a distance.
Third, use secret techniques to sense whether the item or its container harbors curses or retaliatory forces.
Finally, inspect the item for hidden traps or lingering consciousness. However, these dangers were often deeply concealed and might not manifest immediately. Thus, after a preliminary check, the item could be cautiously retrieved, remaining vigilant afterward.
Meng Qi believed that the founders of the Xijian Pavilion and the Zhenwu Sect had followed these exact procedures.
During his previous attempt to seize the Rulai Divine Palms, Meng Qi had learned the lesson that one must never act carelessly or rely on luck. Once the treasure was secured, he would immediately employ all means to escape.
However, this approach was only viable if the treasure had already been claimed or carefully inspected to ensure safety.
Before that, when encountering a sudden treasure in a dark and hidden place, Meng Qi’s accumulated experience dictated that greed must never cloud judgment—caution was paramount, and rashly grabbing treasures was the worst possible choice.
“At least I’ve read novels before,” Meng Qi mused smugly, watching the Dianxian corpse’s plight. “Even in low martial power worlds like ‘Liancheng Jue,’ treasures were often poisoned, causing greedy grabbers to go mad and die. Why risk it in a world filled with ancient masters, gods, and immortals, all with curses?”
After a breath, the black mist dissipated, the curses unleashed. The Dianxian corpse collapsed forward, its obsession extinguished, its body showing signs of significant damage.
“Good thing this guy had brute strength but no brains, acting purely on obsession!” Meng Qi muttered in relief, summoning the last of his physical strength to stride forward and seize the small green tree.
If the Dianxian corpse still had consciousness, how could it directly grab the treasure and be destroyed by the backlash? The correct course would have been to eliminate competitors first, then take ample time to identify the item.
After roughly stuffing the small green tree into his mustard seed ring, Meng Qi remained on high alert. He secretly formed hand seals, following the guidance of the Zhenwu Emperor to attempt dispelling the curses.
At that time, Zhenwu’s consciousness had revealed the method to locate the treasure, the hand seal to open it, and the incantation gestures to lift curses and activate restrictive spells, but had not specified which treasures were cursed or the exact layout of the hall.
Thus, upon entering, Meng Qi’s first action was to identify the authenticity and detect hidden curses. Just as he confirmed that all items except the small green tree carrying the inheritance bore hidden dangers, the Dianxian corpse pursued him from behind.
Precisely for this reason, Meng Qi deliberately used the Profound Water Demon-Repelling Banner to create a recoil force toward the small green tree. He planned to activate the Heavenly Heart Woyi Method to unleash forbidden techniques and escape with the most valuable item if the situation turned unfavorable.
In the end, seeing the Dianxian corpse, obsessed and irrational, directly grabbing the treasure, Meng Qi halted his actions and watched coldly.
As the hand seal was formed, no more black mist emanated from the six treasures—all of it was absorbed by the Dianxian corpse.
“Ri Yue Yan Xin, Bing Yan Jing Po, Tianhe Jian, Xuan Gui Jian, Po Kong Gu Fu, and possibly a Xuan Ming Zaohua Dan…” Meng Qi quickly collected the treasures, his eyes growing brighter, resembling Qu Jiulang somewhat.
This was a tremendous haul!
If not for the sudden appearance of the Dianxian corpse, exhausting and destroying the Xuan Shui Dang Mo Banner, everything would have been perfect!
Yet, thinking of the small green tree, possibly a divine artifact inheritance, Meng Qi couldn’t feel disheartened. After all, only through effort could one gain rewards.
With the lesson of the Rulai Divine Palms’ summary still fresh, Meng Qi wasted no time, hesitated not a moment. After glancing at the Dianxian corpse, he prepared to rush to the location where the small green tree had been placed.
Though the Dianxian corpse was tempting, Cao Xianzhi was also a member of the Immortal Trace sect, and they would inevitably cross paths again. Since all the treasures had been taken, it was better not to go too far.
Even thieves have their codes!
“Huh…” This glance caused Meng Qi to pause slightly, as a purple lightning mark, dim and fading, was visible on the Dianxian corpse’s wrist, on the back of its hand.
A former disciple of the Thunder God?
Before or after the Overlord?
Knowing that all items on the Dianxian corpse had been taken by the Cao family, and that further inspection would be useless, Meng Qi inhaled deeply, dragging a residual shadow, arriving at the table where the small green tree had been placed.
Then, he mustered the strength accumulated over these few breaths and activated the forbidden technique!
The black Zhenwu Hall lit up with water light, the Black Tortoise and Vermilion Snake reappearing, their power gathering toward Meng Qi.
Because he had mastered the forbidden techniques of the hall, Meng Qi had been confident earlier that he could escape with the most precious small green tree in front of the corpse of Dianxian!
This was his home ground!
Upon opening the hall’s door, the Forbidden Technique could be fully activated once, just like the Xuan Shui Dang Mo Banner. However, the Forbidden Technique could assist Meng Qi in breaking through the outer formation, whereas the banner’s effect was comparatively weaker. The choice of which to use to block the capture of the Dianxian corpse was obvious!
Water light surged, the Black Tortoise and Vermilion Snake swirling in black and white like Taiji and Xuanwu, coiling around Meng Qi.
Boom!
Black and white light shot into the sky, the hall collapsed, the cold moon shattered like a dream.
This world began to collapse!
Boom!
Wrapped in black and white light, Meng Qi burst out of the ice-cold milk, flying straight toward the ancient ice outside, violently colliding with the grand formation.
Boom!
Waves surged from Dianxian Lake, floating ice flew into the air, the white expanse of the island shattered, the ancient ice cracked, and the black and white light struggled to emerge.
The massive commotion reached Peijing. Lingbao Tianzun performed a clever maneuver, dodging the Grandmasters, suddenly flying and appearing above the island, his sword light slashing down, perfectly combining with the black and white force from within!
Boom!
A crack appeared in the grand formation. Meng Qi changed tactics, withdrew, and rushed out.
As soon as he felt weak, Jiang Zhiwei’s sword light enveloped him. Lingbao Tianzun descended with a sweep, and the three vanished simultaneously!
In the blink of an eye, like a hare taking flight and a hawk swooping down, the other foreign experts arrived, only to find everything gone!
The head of the Cao family nearly exploded in rage but barely restrained himself.
Inside the ancestral home, Han Guang was suave, Gao Lan cold and indifferent, seemingly unconcerned with the outside world.
……
Above the Eastern Sea, a young Daoist with disheveled hair turned his head, staring blankly at the rippling blue waves before him for a long time before murmuring, “It’s him…”
He furrowed his brows, appearing both pleased and troubled:
“I seem to remember who I am…”
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