Chapter 359: Finding the Treasure

"Really?" Yuan Yao's eyes lit up.

Yue Liu chuckled, "Of course it's true."

He spoke slowly, "In the forward passage three forks will appear; choose the middle one, and after reaching its farthest end, turn left, keep walking, stop at the farthest point, and break straight through the wall ahead."

"Immediately after, you'll see four branching paths; choose the second passage and keep going."

"When you reach the deep end, you'll see a huge stone gate ahead. Push it open; inside are all of my Yue family's treasures, cultivation manuals, spirit stones, and three Heavenly Pride Tokens."

Yuan Yao silently noted his words.

Just as Ying Wuji and Cang Li were about to follow the bloodstain direction and take the right passage, she hurriedly reached out and grabbed them.

Moreover, she forced them into the middle passage.

Cang Li's expression was slightly startled; just as he was about to ask, he heard Yuan Yao speak at a rapid pace, "Senior Brother Yue Liu told me that taking this passage leads to the treasure faster."

"Who? Who told you?!" Cang Li was shocked.

Yuan Yao, while pulling them forward, explained that a lingering thought of Yue Liu resides in her sea of consciousness, allowing him to converse with her.

Cang Li showed an incredulous expression.

Over five hundred years ago, Yue Liu was the champion of the third Heavenly Pride List and the strongest formation master in the entire cultivation world.

Cang Li straightened his demeanor, "Please convey my greetings to Senior Brother Yue Liu."

Seeing his seriousness, Yuan Yao teased, "He can hear what you say."

Cang Li: "......" It's a bit terrifying.

Ying Wuji glanced at Yuan Yao but said nothing.

Yuan Yao said, "Let's go quickly!"

Cang Li sighed, "I didn't expect this treasure hunt to be so easy; Senior Brother Yue Liu truly benefits future generations."

Yue Liu told Yuan Yao, "In this underground labyrinth, besides the correct routes and secret passages, nearly half the corridors are rigged with formations."

Yuan Yao, after hearing, was somewhat surprised.

She relayed Yue Liu's exact words to Cang Li and Ying Wuji.

Ying Wuji solemnly said, "Thank you, senior, for your assistance."

Cang Li also voiced his thanks.

The three no longer delayed and rushed toward the path Yue Liu described.

They, as Yue Liu instructed, broke through a wall.

The wall wasn't thick, so a single palm shattered it.

Soon, they reached the final passage.

Looking far ahead, they saw a massive stone gate deep within the passage.

Above the stone gate, a plaque bore a single character: "Yue."

The three exchanged glances and kept sprinting forward.

Yue Liu's voice echoed in Yuan Yao's sea of consciousness, "To open the stone gate, you must first break the five-layer restriction barrier. Descendants of the Yue family, Hong family, and Ao Clan can use bloodline power to break these five layers, but beyond that only those who have reached the Body Integration Realm or formation immortal masters can dispel the barrier."

"Yuan junior friend, with your ability, locating the formation eyes of these five restriction layers will likely take a long time. Now, time is pressing; I am willing to tell you the formation eyes, but breaking the barrier will depend on you."

Yuan Yao, hearing that, replied earnestly, "Alright."

She stationed her three senior brothers and the Youngest Senior Brother around, and under Yue Liu's instruction, began using spiritual power to assault the formation eyes of the restriction barrier!

She closed her eyes and felt the formidable strength of the restriction barrier.

It was stronger than the previous layer.

Time slipped away bit by bit.

Yuan Yao broke through the first layer of the restriction barrier.

Immediately followed by the second layer…

The third layer…

About a quarter of an hour later, she broke through the final layer.

She suddenly opened her eyes, her breathing became a bit rapid, and her complexion turned slightly pale.

She had just expended most of her spiritual power.

"How's it going?" Cang Li and Ying Wuji hurried to her side.

Yuan Yao looked up, "Broken through…"

Cang Li said helplessly, "I asked how you feel now—any discomfort?"

"I'm fine," Yuan Yao nodded, then quickly said, "Let's go in quickly."

Meanwhile—

Ying Wuji seemed to sense something, turned back, and saw Lu Xiangxiang's figure appearing not far down the passage.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and with a swift palm he flung the stone gate open.

He grabbed Yuan Yao and Cang Li, darted inside the stone gate, and quickly shut the gate.

And across the passage, Lu Xiangxiang, upon seeing Yuan Yao and the others find the treasure secret room even faster than she did, flashed an incredulous look, "How could this be?!"

Before she could react, they closed the stone gate.

"Bang!" a sound nearly deafening.

Lu Xiangxiang's face turned ghastly, so angry her face was about to twist.

She disregarded her injuries, having endured countless hardships to get here, only to be snatched away by those three despicable scoundrels!

No!

She absolutely cannot return empty‑handed!

And on the other side.

After Yuan Yao entered the secret chamber, she looked up and the sight that met her eyes left her with an expression of shock.

Piles of glowing spirit stones were stacked before them.

Behind several spirit stone piles lay various treasures and magical artifacts, mostly intermediate- and high-grade artifacts, with a dozen or so saint-grade artifacts.

All kinds of cultivation manuals were placed neatly on the shelves.

The bookshelves had thirteen rows.

At a glance, the end could hardly be seen.

On the table at the innermost part lay three Heavenly Pride Tokens.

And also, the identity tokens of all members of the Yue clan.

Ying Wuji said to Yuan Yao and the other, "I will guard here; you quickly store these items in your storage spaces."

"Good!" Yuan Yao and Cang Li's eyes lit up.

Yuan Yao first ran to the deepest part of the secret chamber and placed the three Heavenly Pride Tokens into her storage space.

And when she saw over a thousand identity tokens of the Yue clan members laid out on the table, her heart gave a slight jolt.

Yuan Yao sent a mental inquiry: "Senior Yue Liu, do you still want these identity tokens?"

Yue Liu slowly replied, "Could you help me bury them in our native soil?"

"All right." Yuan Yao did not refuse this time; she gathered up all the identity tokens.

Immediately afterward, she went to collect various magical artifacts.

At that moment, Cang Li moved those several piles of spirit stones into his own storage space.

After a moment, Yuan Yao went to store the Yue clan's treasured cultivation manuals into her storage space, and while doing so she said to Yue Liu, "I want to take these manuals back to the Carefree Sect and place them in the sect's Scripture Pavilion, giving other disciples a chance to study them. Senior Yue Liu, do you mind?"

Yue Liu fell silent for a moment.

"I don't mind."

"Senior Yue Liu, you just said that only the bloodline power of the Yue, Hong, and Ao clans' descendants can break the seal formation, which reminded me of someone. In our Carefree Sect there is a senior martial brother named Ao Su, who keeps half a map in his clan's ancestral tomb. I would like to ask, what is your relation to the Ao clan?"

Upon hearing this, Yue Liu said, "The Ao clan's ancestors once saved me. Is Ao Su still alive?"

Yuan Yao: "He is alive."

Yue Liu: "How old is he now, what cultivation realm is he at, and what is his talent like?"