“How about it? Are you confident we can restrain and capture those two before the avatars of the Xuan Ye Demon King can sound the alarm? Otherwise, if they escape, it will surely alert the enemy.” One of the two figures spoke in an unusually shrill voice, transmitting his words to the other.
“Hmph! The so-called avatars of the Xuan Ye King are merely puppets created by forcibly refining the souls of his subordinates using the Soul Extraction and Mystic Art. Their intelligence is greatly diminished. Although they possess the cultivation level of a Nascent Soul, they are much easier to deal with than normal cultivators of the same rank. With our combined strength, subduing them won’t be difficult. But for the old demon to send his avatars out alone at this time is truly a stroke of luck for us. Eliminating them is like cutting off one of his arms, making our plan all the more certain.” The other voice, deep and sinister, replied.
“Brother Tianfeng makes a valid point. However, I find it strange that these two avatars are tracking someone, to the extent that they were dispatched from the ancient tomb at such a critical moment. And now, they seem to have suddenly lost their target.” The first voice sounded puzzled.
“Who knows? Whoever it is, it won’t affect our plan. Once the Xuan Ye King leaves his tomb, his power will inevitably diminish greatly. This is a rare opportunity. Normally, that old demon is too cunning to leave his tomb even for a moment. If not for the trap I laid for him, we’d have no chance at all. After all, within the tomb, his abilities rival those of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“Hehe! If the Xuan Ye Demon King knew that you secretly leaked our plan to the other two great families, I wonder what expression he’d make? No doubt those families have also invited their backing sects to lie in wait for the old demon. And even if he somehow escapes the ambush, we’ll be lying in wait outside the tomb. There’s no way he can flee.” The shrill voice chuckled darkly.
“Indeed. We’ve spent nearly a decade planning this. From the moment we set the trap, we’ve had our subordinates monitor the old demon’s every move, ensuring we strike at the perfect moment. Once he’s gone, his favored concubine, the ‘Jade Blossom Consort,’ and his newly ascended Corpse King son will be no match for the three of us. The treasures he’s collected over the years, along with the thousands of corpse soldiers slumbering in his tomb, will be more than enough for us to split. Moreover, I’ve heard his Heavenly Corpse Body is nearing completion. Given his cautious nature, the nearly perfected Heavenly Corpse Pearl must be hidden somewhere in the tomb. Once we obtain it and erase his soul imprint, even without being Corpse Kings ourselves, we can use it to refine our bodies to be indestructible—immune to fire and water. It’s the ultimate treasure for body cultivation!” Brother Tianfeng’s voice carried a hint of greed.
“Haha! My cultivation technique doesn’t focus on body refinement, so I have no interest in the Heavenly Corpse Pearl. All I want are the thousands of corpse soldiers in the tomb. With them under my command, I can establish my own power in the Wudong Mountains.” The shrill voice laughed lightly.
“I knew you’d say that, Brother Yin. Only your Corpse Spirit Art can effortlessly control those corpse soldiers. That’s why, out of all our peers, we chose to ally with you—each of us gets what we desire!” The other man sounded pleased.
“Naturally. But time is running short. Brother Kuangsha is tailing the old demon without issue. To avoid complications, let’s quickly eliminate these two avatars and then lie in wait near the tomb. If the old demon escapes back inside, it’ll be disastrous.” The shrill-voiced man glanced at the two green figures still lingering in the distance and made his suggestion.
“Agreed. The old demon should have already left the Snow Ridge Mountains by now. Let’s act.”
After a brief hesitation, Brother Tianfeng nodded.
At that moment, the two green figures in the distance were still growling irritably. Suddenly, they sensed an overwhelming surge of spiritual energy behind them and turned to look.
All they saw was a vast expanse of dark demonic clouds and a terrifying white hurricane descending from the sky, swallowing them whole…
…
Meanwhile, Han Li stood before a stone gate hidden behind a waterfall, unaware that a looming crisis had been inadvertently averted by others. Had those two avatars come for him, Han Li could have easily slain them, but it would have cost him his last chance to unleash his sealed power.
His gaze was fixed on the lower right corner of the stone gate, where a small, inch-wide hole protruded slightly.
With a flick of his hand, a silver key appeared from his storage pouch. He flicked his finger, sending the key flying straight into the hole.
The front half of the key fit perfectly, leaving only the handle exposed.
Han Li smiled faintly and pointed a finger at the key.
A wisp of green spiritual energy struck the key, causing the handle to rotate slightly. The cold, gray stone gate immediately shimmered with light as a milky-white barrier appeared. With a faint tremor, the gate slowly rose, revealing a small passage.
Han Li glanced inside and strode in calmly.
After walking a dozen paces, he came upon a teleportation formation about ten feet wide. The eight slots around the formation were all empty.
Seeing this, Han Li chuckled.
Anyone unaware of the trick and filling all the slots with spirit stones would be torn apart by spatial forces during teleportation. The designer of the Feng Family’s secret vault was truly cunning.
Han Li stepped forward, his eyes flickering. With a wave of his sleeve, five low-grade spirit stones flew into five of the slots. He then sent a spell into the formation, causing it to hum softly.
Given his mastery of formations, Han Li could instantly tell if anything was amiss. Satisfied, he stepped into the center of the formation.
A flash of white light engulfed him, and he vanished.
The teleportation distance was short. With his powerful spiritual sense, Han Li barely felt any dizziness before reappearing in an unknown hall.
His gaze swept across the room, taking in every detail.
The hall wasn’t large—about twenty feet across—with walls and floor made of a peculiar warm stone, impeccably clean. The furnishings were sparse: two rows of emerald-green wooden shelves and three silver chests, each a few feet wide.
This was the Feng Family’s secret vault, smaller than Han Li had expected.
The wooden shelves, made of some rare material, had retained their color and even emitted a faint fragrance despite the passage of time.
One shelf held an assortment of magical artifacts, mostly mid-grade, numbering over thirty, with a few unidentified treasures mixed in. The other shelf was packed with nearly a hundred jade slips of various colors.
Han Li ignored the artifacts and treasures, heading straight for the jade slips.
After scanning them briefly, he picked one up and immersed his spiritual sense into it.
With his formidable spiritual power, he finished reviewing all the jade slips within the time it took to eat a meal. To his surprise, none contained any Buddhist cultivation techniques.
Could Feng Zhen’s words have been false?
Han Li shook his head, dismissing the thought. He had used the Dream Induction Technique to verify Feng Zhen’s claims—there was no way the man could have deceived him.
Pondering, Han Li turned his attention to the three silver chests. After a moment’s hesitation, he walked over and opened them one by one.
The first chest was filled with hundreds of mid-grade spirit stones. The second contained jade boxes of varying sizes, holding rare materials for refining artifacts and pills—far more valuable than the spirit stones.
Finding nothing of interest in the first two chests, Han Li’s expression darkened slightly.
When he opened the third chest, he was met with stacks of talismans glowing with various colors. Disappointed at first, he suddenly sensed something and reached out with a telekinetic grasp.
With a whoosh, an object shot out from beneath the talismans and landed in his hand.
It was a half-foot-long crimson wooden box, sealed with a pale yellow talisman and engraved with Buddhist scriptures.
Recognizing the talisman as a simple spiritual seal, Han Li tore it off without hesitation and opened the box.
As soon as the lid lifted, a seven-colored Buddhist light radiated from within. The source was a thumb-sized, milky-white bead.
“A relic!” Han Li murmured, his face lighting up with joy. Alongside the relic were two Buddhist artifacts—a dharma wheel and a string of pale golden prayer beads—and a yellow jade slip.
Ignoring the artifacts, Han Li immediately grabbed the jade slip and immersed his spiritual sense into it.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage