“You dare snatch treasure from me, Young Master?” Wu Chou had not expected Xuan Gu, who had been silent all along, to suddenly and quietly compete with him for the treasure. Enraged, he loudly questioned, his face twisting into a vicious expression.
“Ridiculous! Was this treasure forged by your family? If you can seize it, why can’t I?” Xuan Gu coldly glanced at Wu Chou, replying with unsparing sarcasm.
These words sent Wu Chou into a humiliated rage. However, as if recalling something, though his face remained full of malice, he did not retort further. Instead, he accelerated his hand seals, causing the black python to constrict even more fiercely.
It seemed Wu Chou was well aware that Xuan Gu had the backing of Barbarian Beard, whom even Patriarch Ji Yin greatly feared, and thus would not be intimidated by his threats.
A cold smile curled on Xuan Gu’s lips. Without another word, he lightly pointed at the green net. The net’s green light flared brilliantly, its threads thickening by another third, and the entire net tightened abruptly.
Though the trapped fire wolf was being forcibly compressed by the combined efforts of Wu Chou and Xuan Gu, its protective barrier, despite shrinking several sizes, grew even more dazzling and resilient. Unharmed within the barrier, the fire wolf glared fiercely at the two, and for a moment, a stalemate ensued.
The righteous and demonic factions battling fiercely above had clearly not anticipated that the treasure would end up near Han Li and the others. Wan Tianming and the other righteous cultivators grew frantic, eager to break away and seize the treasure. However, Barbarian Beard and Ji Yin remained calm and unhurried.
After all, those attempting to claim the treasure below were their allies. They were more than happy to keep the righteous cultivators occupied, allowing Wu Chou and Xuan Gu to secure the treasure undisturbed. Moreover, both believed that their respective associates stood a better chance of obtaining it.
Patriarch Ji Yin, having gifted Wu Chou with multiple treasures and knowing that the Profound Yin Art ranked among the top demonic techniques, was confident that Wu Chou had a better chance than Xuan Gu, who appeared to be only at the early Core Formation stage. Barbarian Beard, aware of Xuan Gu’s true capabilities, naturally had full confidence in him. Seeing this, Qing Yi hesitated for a moment, a flicker of regret crossing his face, before deciding to continue restraining Tian Wuzi to prevent his escape.
Thus, the only one idle near the altar was Han Li. Yet, Han Li did not consider his idleness fortunate. On the contrary, cold sweat dripped down his back. Thinking the flower basket’s magical properties were ideal for capturing treasures, he had instinctively taken out this ancient treasure without a second thought.
However, when he saw Xuan Gu joining the fray, he suddenly recalled a deeply troubling matter. This ancient flower basket treasure had come into his possession after he killed the ugly man guarding Xuan Gu. By bringing it out now, wasn’t he blatantly revealing to Patriarch Ji Yin that he was the one who had freed Xuan Gu?
This realization chilled Han Li to the bone, leaving him no mind to think about seizing the treasure. His thoughts raced chaotically as he desperately tried to devise a strategy to deal with Ji Yin.
But after a moment, Han Li was stunned. He clearly sensed that Ji Yin’s gaze had only briefly swept over the flower basket before moving on, showing no unusual emotion whatsoever. Nothing happened!
Relief and surprise washed over Han Li as he realized that the flower basket ancient treasure had not been bestowed upon the ugly man by Patriarch Ji Yin, who seemed completely unaware of its existence. Finally, he could set his mind at ease.
Han Li’s guess was indeed correct! The ugly man had left his post guarding Xuan Gu for an extended period precisely because he had received news of the flower basket ancient treasure and ventured out privately to obtain it. Although he eventually succeeded in acquiring the treasure through his methods, his absence had allowed Han Li and his group to nearly dismantle the formation imprisoning Xuan Gu. This enraged the ugly man to no end, but he ultimately fell to Han Li’s Emerald Bamboo Swarm Cloud Sword, and the newly acquired ancient treasure became Han Li’s spoils of war.
Regaining his composure, Han Li glanced at Xuan Gu, who was still contending with Wu Chou for the fire wolf, and thought to himself, “Consider yourself lucky, old demon! If Ji Yin had discovered the truth, I would have dragged you down with me—don’t think you could have remained unscathed!”
Just as it was unclear whether Han Li was fortunate or Xuan Gu was lucky, another low rumble of thunder echoed from the cave entrance.
Having learned from experience, the Nascent Soul cultivators immediately slowed their movements, exchanging wary glances. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, all six of them flashed simultaneously to a position directly above the cave entrance.
By now, the Void Heaven Cauldron was very close to the entrance. Despite being Nascent Soul cultivators, they had to exert their full power to resist the extreme cold emanating from the cave. Defensive treasures were summoned one after another, their bodies radiating various strange lights. Meanwhile, the righteous and demonic factions watched each other with heightened vigilance.
Patriarch Ji Yin was utterly frustrated!
His original plan had been to drive away the righteous cultivators before retrieving the Void Heaven Cauldron and its treasures, then distribute them according to their prior agreement. However, he had never anticipated that as the cauldron approached the entrance, the ancient treasures within would fly out on their own. Now, obtaining these treasures would depend entirely on individual skill.
After all, once these ancient treasures fell into someone’s hands, it was unlikely they would be willingly surrendered to others. Thus, the prior agreement on dividing the treasures was effectively null and void.
Fuming with anger, Ji Yin’s eyes darted around as he pondered how to secure more treasures for himself. But just as this thought crossed his mind, a harsh grating sound erupted, followed by two swift “whooshes” as yellow and white beams of light shot out from the blue flames within the cave.
The six cultivators, being so close to the treasures, almost simultaneously reached for the beams nearest to them, employing secret techniques to seize them.
Wan Tianming, Ji Yin, and the scholar-robed elder all set their sights on the yellow light. In response, Wan Tianming conjured a purple fire dragon to snatch the yellow light while, with a strange flash on his face, he spat out two purple crystalline beads toward his opponents without hesitation.
“Heavenly Net True Thunder!” Ji Yin exclaimed in alarm upon seeing the unassuming beads, as if he had encountered a venomous snake.
Both he and the scholar-robed elder dared not block the beads with their treasures and hastily dodged aside. However, in that brief moment of delay, the purple fire dragon swallowed the yellow light whole, then retracted with a shake of its head.
Wan Tianming, excitement on his face, held the yellow light in his hands. Rubbing them together, he revealed the ancient treasure’s true form—a square ancient jade pendant inscribed with flowing patterns, pulsating with spiritual energy. It was clearly a top-tier treasure.
The two purple beads, after flying several meters away, emitted soft popping sounds and vanished without a trace.
Witnessing this, Patriarch Ji Yin and the scholar-robed elder turned their ashen faces toward Wan Tianming, who was now admiring the jade pendant.
“Well done, Leader Wan of the righteous path! To resort to such despicable means, using fake thunder to deceive us!” Patriarch Ji Yin spat out each word through gritted teeth.
The scholar-robed elder, equally livid, fixed a cold, piercing gaze on Wan Tianming.
In response, Wan Tianming sneered and retorted, “Shame on you two, renowned cultivators of many years, for failing to distinguish real Heavenly Net True Thunder from fake! How dare you speak of despicable means in front of me? Don’t you know that I would only use such a treasure in a life-threatening situation? After all, this divine thunder requires sacrificing my own cultivation—I’m not so extravagant as to use it lightly. Of course, if you two truly wish to witness the thunder beads, I can make an exception to fulfill your desire.” With that, he gently clapped his hands together. A purple flash later, the jade pendant disappeared, replaced by a purple bead identical to the previous ones.
Ji Yin and the elder exchanged gloomy glances, seemingly uncertain how to proceed.
Meanwhile, Barbarian Beard, relying on the superior defense of his Tuo Mo Divine Art, had withstood attacks from the dark-skinned elder and Tian Wuzi to seize the white light. It was a white, shimmering ancient coin, appearing quite peculiar.
Seeing this, Ji Yin’s expression grew even darker.
Just then, the elder nearby let out a soft exclamation of surprise. Ji Yin followed his gaze and similarly showed astonishment.
Below, near the altar, Han Li was carefully examining a yellow-and-red jade ruyi scepter, each end carved with a vividly lifelike wolf head.
It appeared to be the ancient treasure transformed from the twin-headed fire wolf! Not far away, Wu Chou and Xuan Gu looked on helplessly at Han Li, their faces filled with frustration. A trace of doubt flickered in Patriarch Ji Yin’s eyes, and he remained silent, though inwardly he was greatly shocked.
Instead of falling into the hands of Wu Chou or Xuan Gu, the treasure had ended up with Han Li, who had initially shown no intention of joining the fray.
This was entirely unexpected for Ji Yin.
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