Mountain summit.
An ancient hall stood tall, carrying the weight of countless years. The plaque above its entrance bore three large characters: Void-Stepping Hall.
“Demonic path scum, you deserve death!”
Senior Brother Ruan stared at his Dao companion’s severed head and body, eyes nearly splitting with rage.
Their group had endured endless hardships. Only with the help of Junior Brother Linghu’s bloodline tracing technique had they finally located the remains of the Blue Sea Ancestor.
No one knew why the ancestor had found this secret realm back then and entered it, only to perish in ditation inside the Void-Stepping Hall.
Perhaps he had been gravely wounded by the hall’s restrictions and had no choice but to sit and pass away.
These were restrictions capable of severely injuring even a Core Formation perfection cultivator!
For that reason, Senior Brother Ruan and the others had been extrely cautious. They only planned to collect the ancestor’s remains and leave.
They never expected a sudden ambush from this demonic path thief!
Worse, the attacker’s strength was terrifying. He was clearly a Foundation Establishnt cultivator, yet he had shalessly hidden himself and struck from the shadows!
Caught completely off guard, their team suffered heavy losses. Many junior brothers died on the spot, and even his own Dao companion perished miserably.
In his fury, Senior Brother Ruan imdiately took out the talisman treasure the sect had bestowed before departure: the Sea-Calming Ring!
To his shock, the demonic Foundation Establishnt cultivator also carried a talisman treasure.
“Haha! Using talisman treasures against each other? I am Foundation Establishnt while you are rely Qi Refining. How long can your divine sense and mana possibly last?”
The demonic Foundation Establishnt cultivator laughed wildly. He ford hand seals, and several strands of his hair turned white in an instant.
Black flas spewed from his mouth and nose, transforming into several fire birds that swooped toward Senior Brother Ruan.
Senior Brother Ruan was, after all, only Qi Refining. Controlling the talisman treasure to block the black ancient halberd had already left him drenched in sweat. At this mont he could only struggle to slap a second-rank inferior superior-grade defensive talisman onto himself.
Splash!
A layer of rippling water waves appeared around his body.
Chirp chirp!
One of the black fire birds lightly pecked with its beak. The water waves evaporated by more than half in an instant.
“Not good! This is Spirit-Devouring Demonic Fire!”
Senior Brother Ruan’s mind raced as he recalled the infamous demonic fire divine ability of the Sea-Destroying Alliance cultivators. It was said that Elder Tianding had been heavily injured by this very fla, and his hair still had not grown back properly to this day.
Puff!
In the next instant, the other two fire birds pierced through the water waves and slamd into him.
His mouth opened, and his entire body instantly turned to ash.
“Ha… haha… In the end, I win.”
The demonic cultivator disciple landed on the ground and picked up the Sea-Calming Ring talisman treasure. Once its owner died, the item automatically shrank back into a palm-sized blue talisman with a faint ring pattern whose glow had dimd considerably.
He was not a true Foundation Establishnt cultivator after all, only pseudo-Foundation Establishnt. The successive battles had already consud a massive amount of his mana and divine sense.
But none of that mattered. In the end, he had won!
Once he left this place and reported such a great achievent, his master would surely reward him handsoly!
The demonic cultivator’s heart surged with excitent as he stepped into the Void-Stepping Hall.
The first thing he saw was a five-colored restriction, followed by several jade platforms whose surfaces remained blurry.
A Core Formation cultivator’s remains, dressed in blue robes, sat cross-legged facing the restriction.
“This…”
The demonic cultivator disciple gazed greedily at the scene, then suddenly felt sothing was wrong. “Where is this ancient cultivator’s storage bag?”
At that mont, a sudden change occurred!
In one corner of the Void-Stepping Hall, a strange azure curtain lifted. A Foundation Establishnt cultivator with tear stains on his face charged out. It was none other than Junior Brother Linghu!
“How is there a Foundation Establishnt cultivator hidden here?”
“Impossible… Why didn’t my divine sense detect him earlier?”
The demonic cultivator disciple panicked and hastily summoned a white-bone shield.
“Die!”
Junior Brother Linghu’s mana surged violently around him, faintly exceeding early Foundation Establishnt, though he could not control it well.
In the narrow space, however, brute force triumphed. He drove a massive iron hamr spiritual artifact in a wild barrage of strikes.
The demonic cultivator struggled to block the blows and prepared to use other thods when his expression suddenly changed.
Right in front of him, a violent wave of mana appeared, condensing into a small azure sword.
“A talisman treasure? You actually have another talisman treasure on you?”
Blood beads erupted across his body as he tried to turn into a streak of blood light and retreat, but it was already too late.
The azure sword pierced forward lightly, passing straight through the white-bone shield and leaving a small hole in his chest.
“I…”
The demonic path disciple’s face twisted with bitter despair as his corpse collapsed to the ground.
“Senior Brother Ruan… Senior Sister Yu… sob sob…”
Junior Brother Linghu stepped outside and broke into loud sobs.
As a direct bloodline descendant of the Blue Sea Ancestor, he knew that his ancestor had left behind a Tide Birth Pearl back then, forged from a third-rank superior flood dragon inner core.
When the demonic Foundation Establishnt cultivator attacked, he had hidden inside the hall, using the Heaven-Shrouding Curtain to conceal his aura. The item was wondrous beyond words and could even potentially evade a Core Formation divine sense. Ruan Zhixuan had specially retrieved it from the sect’s secret treasury and given it to them.
After all, they might obtain many precious treasures on this trip. They could not rule out the possibility that a demonic Core Formation cultivator would grow greedy, so so concealnt was necessary.
The Tide Birth Pearl currently held by the Blue Sea Sect was only a replica. It could rely grant pseudo-Core cultivators combat strength on par with true Core Formation.
Yet the genuine Tide Birth Pearl on the Blue Sea Ancestor’s body could be refined even by a Qi Refining cultivator, granting them Foundation Establishnt level power!
Foundation Establishnt cultivators would not need to settle for a pseudo-Core version. They could operate the real pearl directly and possess combat strength around the Core Formation level!
After all, this Tide Birth Pearl was the genuine article, refined from a third-rank superior flood dragon inner core by the Blue Sea Ancestor himself. Its divine might was naturally on another level.
Junior Brother Linghu cultivated the Blue Sea Technique, but his cultivation was still only at Qi Refining. Even exerting every ounce of strength, he could only perform a crude sacrificial refinent of the pearl.
By the ti he finally succeeded, the demonic Foundation Establishnt cultivator had already killed Senior Brother Ruan.
Junior Brother Linghu could only endure in silence. He waited until the demonic cultivator collected the talisman treasure and stepped into the hall before launching his sneak attack. The result was an instant success!
Just as Junior Brother Linghu was weeping, his sea of consciousness suffered a heavy blow!
A golden, radiant Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle slamd into his mind without warning.
Junior Brother Linghu’s divine sense had always been weak. Controlling Foundation Establishnt level mana was already difficult for him, and with his mind in turmoil, his vision instantly went dark.
The next mont he saw a demonic path thief charge forward in a blur, crush his Foundation Establishnt grade protective mana shield with one grab, and then throw a punch.
Bang!
Junior Brother Linghu collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious.
Xiang Dahu did not dare slack off. He took out a second-rank superior talisman and sealed the man’s mana.
Only after finishing did he let out a long breath. “Junior Brother, you cannot hold onto this item. Better to hand it over to Young Master.”
Xiang Dahu had not killed Linghu Qiuye. After all, he had disguised himself with the appearance of a demonic path disciple.
He quickly looted the spoils. Even Fang Qing, who was watching the live broadcast, was stunned. “Jackpot! Jackpot! Three talisman treasures alone!”
Xiang Dahu also pulled a verdant storage bag from Linghu Qiuye’s body. When he opened it, two magical artifacts lay inside!
Although ti had passed, the artifacts still glowed with only slightly dimd radiance. They were clearly third-rank or higher!
“These must be the Blue Sea Ancestor’s magical artifacts…”
Xiang Dahu pressed a hand against Linghu Qiuye’s dantian and silently circulated his mana.
Monts later, a deep azure pearl appeared in his palm.
The pearl was the size of a baby’s fist, entirely sapphire-blue, with flickering inner luminescence that carried an unfathomable might.
“The Tide Birth Pearl…”
Xiang Dahu swallowed hard. Unfortunately he possessed an prominent earth spiritual root and cultivated an earth-attribute technique. The Tide Birth Pearl was useless to him.
“Huh? What is this?”
He rummaged through the verdant storage bag again and pulled out an iron scroll.
On the scroll were four large characters: Zhoutian Star Palace Map.
When he opened it, the item turned out to be a map!
“Void-Stepping Hall… specially marked, and besides that, the main peak…”
“This should also be a relic left by the Blue Sea Ancestor. A secret realm map? Too bad… the restrictions here are too strong. We cannot break them at all.”
Fang Qing scanned the map once and imdiately ordered Xiang Dahu to withdraw.
The harvest this ti was already far beyond expectations. There was no need to push for more. Successfully bringing everything out of the secret realm would count as complete success.
Several hours later, Junior Brother Linghu woke up with a violent start.
Looking around at the desolate mountain summit, he shivered coldly. Suddenly he bowed in all four directions. “I do not know which senior saved , but Linghu Qiuye is endlessly grateful…”
After a mont Linghu Qiuye straightened up, brows tightly furrowed. “Could it be that the demonic path thief ran into so danger and fled in a hurry, not having ti to kill ? That thief possessed second-rank Body Refinent and was a stronger Foundation Establishnt cultivator than the previous one! Damn it!”
As if rembering sothing, he hurriedly checked his body and imdiately cursed inwardly.
Not only had the Tide Birth Pearl vanished without a trace, but every treasure from his storage bag had disappeared as well…
Tianxin Island.
Bronze underground palace.
As the one-month deadline drew near, the cultivators no longer sat calmly in ditation. They gathered before the entrance instead.
“The ti has co. Open it.”
Qin Ruxue and another demonic path array master activated the array disk and lifted the restriction.
Before long, a blood-covered Blue Sea Sect disciple tumbled out in a sorry state. He barely managed a bow. “Disciple… disciple…”
Before he could finish speaking, a powerful Core Formation divine sense swept over his entire body.
Qin Ruxue also noticed an elder from Pill Island standing nearby with a spiritual rat.
A Treasure-Seeking Rat? This creature excelled at locating treasures. Whether spiritual herbs or ores, nothing could escape its nose…
Her heart chilled. She watched the disciple obediently hand over his storage bag for inspection.
After him ca three Sea-Destroying Alliance cultivators in a row.
Although they were missing limbs, their killing intent was thick. The mont they erged, they were surrounded by several demonic path Foundation Establishnt cultivators and thoroughly searched.
Several hours later, more than forty cultivators now stood in the open area, most of them heavily wounded.
‘The casualty rate in this ruin is even higher than I expected.’
Qin Ruxue felt a secret shock. A quick glance showed that Miao Yifan and Bei Lingshu were both present, but Li Tianlong and Shu Rou had yet to appear.
Monts later another Blue Sea Sect disciple crawled out of the passage in a panic. He was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining. It was none other than Xiang Dahu!
“Ancestor!”
Xiang Dahu bowed toward Ruan Zhixuan and handed over his storage bag.
Inside were several superior-grade magical artifacts, so ores, and a dozen or so second-rank mid-to-superior grade spiritual herbs.
“Mm. Go rest.”
Ruan Zhixuan’s divine sense swept over the items and found nothing unusual. Seeing the Foundation Establishnt elder controlling the Treasure-Seeking Rat nod as well, she casually waved him away.
This disciple’s cultivation was low and he bore few injuries. Clearly he had searched only the outer areas before hiding sowhere safe.
This was also why the sect used benefits to lure them. If the sect forced disciples into the secret realm, they would definitely slack off…
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