“Now that his replica’s dead, he’s definitely going to send his experts back here. We have to hurry!” Lu Yun dragged Qing Han with him and slipped into the inner vault through the crack in its gates.
What the… who would’ve thought the principles of the ancient immortal dao would still be complete inside the inner vault!
Though he’d already known what to expect, thanks to Aoxue’s memories, he was still flabbergasted by the presence emanating from this ancient site.
Exotic herbs of all kinds, plants, immortal roots, and fruits that existed only in the ancient immortal world... the treasures were simply too many to count. He even saw some spirit roots that Su Xiaoxiao recalled as already having gone extinct in the ancient immortal world.
As for other treasures, there were even more of them: various ancient immortal weapons that couldn’t even be assigned a value, exotic treasures, rare ores, and mystical metals.
“Found it!” His gaze landed squarely on the center of the chamber where an osmanthus tree stood, basking in moonlight as white as snow.
The Moon Osmanthus!
Ranked sixth among the ten great connate spirit roots, the Moon Osmanthus was his true goal in visiting the treasury!
Ever since learning the truth behind the vicious poison plaguing Qing Han, he’d been thinking of the Moon Osmanthus. Perhaps he couldn’t collect all ten great connate spirit roots, but he knew that the more of them were inside Qing Han, the more his friend’s poison would be suppressed.
Qing Han had used the power of his starstone just a moment ago and consumed quite a bit of his vitality in the process, thereby deepening the poison’s hold on him. But with the Moon Osmanthus, they could beat it back once again.
“I did not think this tree would be here!” Inside the Scroll of Shepherding Immortal, Empress Myrtlestar was also stunned, then casually erased the nascent spirit mark on the Divine Seaward Iron and re-refined the arcane dao fruit.
“This dao fruit will be barely enough for me to fashion a replica. I’ll soon be able to have a look outside. Too bad the lower half of my body’s become dead matter inside the Blood Sea,” grumbled the Azure Dragon King. He’d restored some of his vitality, thanks to the scroll’s power, and could now fight for Qing Han at crucial moments, but he still couldn’t break away from the scroll.
“The Blood Sea is clearly someone’s plot. The dead creatures inside… they were all born of powerhouses from the ancient era, or even the primordial era,” Empress Violet remarked seriously. “It would be wise of you to stop fantasizing about taking back your lower half.”
The dragon nodded with resignation.
The primordial era.
According to the timeline of the world, it was the era before the ancient times. Its existence could be vaguely surmised from records unearthed from ancient tombs, but few exact accounts about it could be found.
Even so, as a pinnacle figure of the ancient times, Empress Myrtlestar was no stranger to it. There was no clear-cut divide between the primordial and ancient times, as there was from a hundred thousand years ago when the path of cultivation was severed.
……
“Qing Han!” Lu Yun suddenly looked at his friend. “Ask Senior Myrtlestar to activate the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals and gather this ancient site inside!”
“Ah?” Qing Han blinked. “Take the inner vault away with us?”
“Right! We’re already irreconcilable enemies with the North Sea monster spirits anyway, so why should we leave anything behind?” The governor decisively made up his mind. “Senior Myrtlestar should be able to exert some of her powers after obtaining the arcane dao fruit, so it shouldn’t be an issue for her to make off this ancient site!”
He’d first thought of plopping the entire premises inside hell, but the netherworld was a broken world with incomplete laws; the ancient plants would be ruined if they were stored there.
“Very well, you and Qing Han leave this place first.” The empress’s gentle voice reached their ears.
Lu Yun hastily dragged Qing Han along through the half-open door.
Swish—
The next moment, the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals floated out from Qing Han’s figure and transformed into a misty ball of white that encompassed the entire inner vault.
Hum...
Like a painting scroll slowly rolling up, the inner vault quickly shrank, melding with the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals.
“This ancient site contains the laws of the ancient immortal dao. It can establish a genuine minor world inside the scroll that will be greatly beneficial for us to recover and cultivate in.” Empress Myrtlestar’s shadow flashed over the scroll.
The Tiger Prince, the Dragon Prince, and the black dragonguard cheered with one voice and slipped inside the small world. As for the Azure Dragon King, he stared mournfully at Empress Myrtlestar, full of resentment. His injuries were too severe for him to even enter that minor world.
When it came to his injuries, there were the ones he’d already collected before meeting Lu Yun, and there were the more recent ones that he’d received during his great battle with the empress.
Boom!
The moment the ancient site left the inner vault, the building that’d been present since the ancient times exploded and collapsed into shattered ruins. Inside the treasury, a white dragon image flashed into existence and howled, its resounding croon spreading through the entire palace, as well as all of the imperial seas.
“No, someone’s laid hands on the dragon vein!” Inside the skydragon tomb, Bing Xuan blanched, suddenly understanding the source of his emperor’s wrath. He’d made his way back to the outskirts of the tomb, but was trapped in a formation. Throwing caution to the wind, he turned into a giant, single-horned rimesnake and barrelled outside without regard for anything.
……
Inside the monster palace, the two dao immortals facing Su Xiaoxiao, as well as Beigong Chonglou, immediately went berserk.
“How dare you touch our court’s dragon vein?! Die!” The two dao immortals flew into a rage and recklessly threw themselves at Su Xiaoxiao.
“Aha, there it is! That’s where the Far-Reaching Captivating Fragrance got to! This fragrance can disregard immortal energy, defensive treasures, and protective formations alike!” Su Xiaoxiao beamed so merrily that her eyes bent into two crescent moons. With a gentle wave of her hand, an intoxicating smell spread throughout this section of the palace.
……
“This… this is the ancient Dragon Palace’s dragon vein!” Aoxue shrieked. “Sir, take the dragon vein with you, take it with you! You can’t leave it for that blackwater snake filth!”
“Alright!” Without waiting for Lu Yun, a dragon roar suddenly came from the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals.
The Azure Dragon King once again extended his claw and grabbed the vein that’d nearly formed itself into a dragon, dragging it inside the scroll.
“I can’t believe we obtained the dragon vein. That’s a massive blow to the very foundations of the North Sea court!” The six profligates’ eyes lit up with excitement. “Loot it, loot it all! Don’t leave even a single strand of hair behind!”
Six World Chests immediately floated aloft and swept away countless treasures like six bottomless tornadoes. However, the treasury was really too vast… Even all six of them together could barely gather one third of it.
“Come out and help me loot!” With a wave of his hand, Lu Yun opened the Gates of the Abyss. Thousands of Infernum and ghostly servants piled out of the netherworld to join the plundering.
All of these immortals, cultivators, and other entities had personally died at Lu Yun’s hands. Sadly, the two dao-grade formations that he’d detonated with the stored lightning from two pill tribulations had only counted him as the indirect cause of those fatalities, so those victims hadn’t been collected as Infernum.
However, his massacre at Cloudwater Township, and those he’d killed in Xiankan’s outer city with the Great Formation of Heavenly Fiends had all resulted in new recruits for his army.
Like a migrating cloud of locusts, his ghostly subordinates made off with everything their eyes landed on. The outer vault was initially protected by prohibitions and formations, but those were connected to the great formation and were easily disabled by Aoxue.
……
“N-North Sea, Home of Worms? What in the dark depths is going on here?” Bing Xuan was a renowned powerhouse in the North Sea, with three arcane dao fruits to his name. But even so, dizziness struck him when he returned to the monster palace.
The great defensive formation outside the palace stood as strong as before, but the palace’s interior had become a right mess. Countless buildings had been wrecked, and quite a few areas were completely razed to the ground.
“Open the formation!” he bellowed, livid with rage.
“Lord Bing Xuan is back, hurry and let him in!” Hiding outside the palace gates and avoiding everything going on, Admiral Turtle’s eyes shone at the sight of his savior and he quickly gave the order to open up.
Bing Xuan’s figure blurred, then appeared inside the palace and saw almost ten million soldiers and officers collapsed on the ground, piled up in a small mountain as they snored in deep sleep.
None of the two aether dao immortals, first prince Beigong Chonglou, or the eighteen monster kings were in sight, but Bing Xuan paid scant attention to their absence. Instead, he made a beeline for the treasury.
...and found it completely empty. There wasn’t a scrap of spirit herb, piece of gold coin, or lone jewel rolling across the floor. In the depths of the treasury, the inner vault was now scattered fragments on the ground. The ancient site was a gaping, dark crater!
Pfft—
Bing Xuan wavered and threw up blood. There was truly… not even a strand of hair left.