Chapter 329: Seizing the Treasure!

There are two Fourth Level puppets in total.

The puppet that Guang Chengzi dealt with, having been struck mercilessly, was not merely smashed into powder but shattered into countless fragments; trying to glean scattered fragments of the Solitary Offering Formation from it is nothing short of a fool's dream.

There's nothing to be done.

Yunhe, who had developed a strong interest in the Solitary Offering Formation, could only focus his attention on the remaining puppet.

After all, he could not guarantee that the Floating Cloud Senior Person's cave dwelling would retain that Formation Dao Scroll, so if he wanted to learn more about the Solitary Offering Formation, he could not let this puppet slip away.

Originally, Yunhe had planned to wait for Guang Chengzi and the Bai Mei Daoist couple to deal with these two Fourth Level puppets, then try to exchange for the damaged puppet.

But a sudden change prevented the Bai Mei Daoist couple from simultaneously destroying the puppets with Guang Chengzi; instead, they recoiled in fear of the puppets' transformation.

Thus Yunhe naturally would not waste such an opportunity; he struck decisively, slaying the puppet before its enhancement reached its peak!

Although his action could be seen as taking advantage of the Bai Mei Daoist couple's retreat, they had already withdrawn—surely others are allowed to act?

Putting it nicely, Yunhe indirectly saved the Scarlet Silk Fairy as well.

Otherwise, if she had been rushed by that Fourth Level puppet, the outcome would likely not be good.

Seeing Yunhe's posture of "if you want it, come take it yourself," the Bai Mei Daoist gritted his teeth in anger.

"Husband."

But the Scarlet Silk Fairy's divine-sense transmission calmed him.

Then the Scarlet Silk Fairy covered her chest and gave the Bai Mei Daoist a slight shake of the head.

"Hmph!"

The Bai Mei Daoist involuntarily let out a cold snort: "Fellow Daoist Yun, you really have a knack for this. Should my wife and I properly thank you, Fellow Daoist?"

His words were thinly veiled mockery.

The strength Yunhe displayed made them unwilling to provoke him further.

The items are already in his hands; could they possibly take them back?

This mute loss, they can only swallow it.

If blame is to be assigned, it can only be that their skill was inferior.

And Yunhe, as if not hearing his words, his formerly stern face broke into a smile like spring turning to autumn, and he cupped his hands, saying:

"It was merely a trifling effort; no thanks needed, Fellow Daoist."

I've seen thick-skinned people, but never anyone this thick-skinned.

Still talking about thanks?

"Friends, don't harm the harmony."

The peacemaker Ji Liuyun stepped forward again, smiling: "This place is merely the entrance to the cave dwelling, but we have already passed two formations and suffered a puppet attack, showing how much the Floating Cloud Senior Person values this abode."

Upon hearing this, the Bai Mei Daoist couple calmed down.

Indeed.

As Ji Liuyun said, they had not yet seen any treasure but had already endured such obstruction; such a cave dwelling is hardly something a single or even a few Nascent Soul cultivators could venture into, yet one can expect that inside lie extremely precious items.

Now they are quarreling before even seeing any treasure, which is rather hasty.

Seeing the Bai Mei Daoist's anger subside, Ji Liuyun silently exhaled.

But the strength Yunhe had previously shown undoubtedly made everyone regard him with greater wariness.

"Fellow Daoists, since that's the case, let us proceed to the true depths of this cave dwelling."

As he spoke, Guang Chengzi had already landed before the corridor.

As the only Mid Nascent Soul Cultivator present, he naturally took the lead without objection.

Following closely behind were the prepared Xue Wuheng and Ji Liuyun again.

Seeing this, the Bai Mei Daoist couple hurriedly followed, intending to keep Yunhe at the rear.

Watching this scene, Yunhe merely gave a light chuckle.

Being last, he was also pleased with that.

After falling slightly behind the others' pace, before entering the corridor, Yunhe silently tossed two corpse-refining puppets into the hall.

Inside the Floating Cloud Daoist's cave dwelling, a formation blocks divine sense; although Yunhe dispelled the formation, only this corridor allows divine sense to pass through.

Moreover, even if those ahead knew he had left two corpse-refining puppets, it would not matter.

The hall contains only things others don't want; he is willing to "pick up scraps"—should others try to stop him?

These two Golden Core corpse-refining puppets' function is to collect all puppet debris in the hall, even including the gems and jade embedded in the surrounding walls.

His cave dwelling is rather shabby; having Yunhe spend time gathering materials to decorate it is not his style, but ready-made materials are available here, so he need not expend much effort.

Upon entering the corridor, Yunhe discovered.

The corridor walls are not flat; instead, they have uniformly sized niches.

One would think these niches were originally where those puppets stood guard.

Passing through the corridor.

Before everyone's eyes appeared a towering, majestic hall, richly decorated and extravagantly luxurious.

Dance floor, high platform, carved beams and painted pillars, resplendent in gold and azure.

The spiritual energy here is also extremely rich, certainly not inferior to that of a third‑grade middle‑tier spirit vein.

To be honest, Yunhe was stunned by the scenery inside this abode, and the thought spontaneously arose: "Originally, a cave dwelling could be arranged like this."

Moreover, on the hall's walls are several doors carved with exquisite patterns, each about four or five zhang high, leading to different chambers.

"This Floating Cloud Senior Person is truly—"

Even the Scarlet Silk Fairy could not help but exclaim, showing how lavish the cave dwelling's decoration is.

Those unaware might think they had entered an imperial palace.

Is this guy really a Daoist?

"According to rumors, before Venerable Floating Cloud took up the Dao and left home, he was a noble of a royal palace in the secular world; perhaps this decoration, in his eyes, counts as a cave dwelling." Ji Li Yun explained.

"I just don't know, among so many rooms, which one actually hides treasures? And I also don't know what dangers this place might hold."

Xue Wuhen's gaze swept over, and he said slowly.

This caused everyone to turn their gaze toward Guang Chengzi or Yunhe.

Noticing the gazes cast upon him, Yunhe's eyes flashed with a faint light; he pursed his lips and said, "I have not detected any trace of a formation."

Guang Chengzi also nodded, "Indeed."

After saying that, he again took out a compass from his storage bag, infused it with a spell seal, and the needle began to spin.

At the same time, he was still speaking.

"According to the customary practice of cultivators setting up cave dwellings, facing south with the north at the back, rooms in the northern position are most likely. Of course, cultivators honor the east; for a genuine palace-like cave dwelling, the possibility of being in the eastern position is also not small."

Click-click!

The compass needle stopped.

"East!"

Seeing the direction indicated by the needle on the compass, the White Eyebrow Daoist gave a soft shout, swept his white robe outward, and a burst of magical power heavily struck that stone gate.

Boom!!

Then came a dull thud, and the great gate was actually smashed open directly.

Upon confirming there were indeed no restrictions or dangers, Yunhe and the five others immediately filed in.

This room, however, lacked the lavish decoration outside; it had only a stone jade bed emitting a faint blue glow.

Upon this bed were displayed various treasures, jade bottles, jade slips, and even ancient scrolls, of all sizes and kinds.

Yunhe and the others who approached the stone jade bed did not rashly pick up treasures; instead, they continually swept with divine sense and gaze, seemingly searching for what each sought.

But what disappointed Yunhe was that, although these treasures looked fine, aside from those jade slips, there was no information concerning the techniques of the Great Five Elements Sect or the Great Longevity Great Five Elements True Scripture.

Furthermore, judging from the texts displayed on those ancient books, whether the ancient books or jade slips on this stone jade bed, what ought to be recorded are merely some interesting anecdotes from the past.

Not only him, but the others also seemed somewhat disappointed.

However, when Yunhe swept his gaze over the stone jade bed, he noticed some anomalies; seeing that no one else reacted, he also kept silent.

"It seems this place holds nothing that you fellow cultivators need; shall we part ways then?" Ji Li Yun said.

"Very good."

No one objected, and not even anyone raised an opinion about the order in which to pick treasures.

Guang Chengzi first, Yunhe second, the White Eyebrow Daoist couple third.

And the items on this bed varied, including magical treasures, ancient treasures, elixirs, and so on.

Guang Chengzi selected a legal ruler, which appears to be a fourth-level middle-grade magical treasure, and it fits his identity rather well.

Yunhe, erring on the side of caution, first roughly browsed the contents of each jade slip, confirmed he lacked what he needed, and finally chose a dao-crown-shaped ancient treasure.

He could not yet determine the exact function of this ancient treasure, but he reckoned its power would not be low.

Compared to magical treasures that, even after refinement, can exert at most seventy percent of their power, he still preferred the ancient treasure more.

Thereafter, everyone set to work.

Yunhe also obtained a fourth-level lower-grade Eight Trigrams mirror-shaped magical treasure.

This magical treasure should be related to setting up formations and formation dao; since Guang Chengzi did not take it, he naturally had no hesitation in storing it away.

Besides that, he also received a bottle of elixir that restores magical power, a volume of ancient text, and two jade slips.

Although the items on this stone jade bed could not be evenly divided among Yunhe and the five others, at this moment they all acted with considerable tacit modesty, as if preparing for something more important.

Seeing that everyone had finished dividing the treasures, Yunhe, under their somewhat bewildered gazes, walked again to the stone jade bed and actually lifted the bed right up!

Stowed it into his storage bag.

". Hehe, Fellow Daoist Yun, you must be a thrifty homemaker." The White Eyebrow Daoist couldn't help but mutter sarcastically.

"Quite right, quite right."

Yunhe, however, paid no mind, leaving the White Eyebrow Daoist utterly speechless.

He felt this person was truly impervious to persuasion.

"It seems this place is not Venerable Floating Cloud's true treasure hoard." Xue Wuhen said.

This received unanimous approval from everyone.

"Since it's not the east, then it can only be the. north!"

As the words fell, the six of them all at once displayed their respective escape techniques, rushing toward the room north of the main hall.

At this moment, each of them clearly understood that when it came time to seize the most crucial treasure, perhaps fighting would become unavoidable.

Since they would have to fight anyway, it would be better to first stow the objects they sought.

The earlier calm and smooth manner of dividing the treasures seemed merely to have laid the groundwork for this final scramble.

Boom!!

The chamber doors burst open instantly; six streams of light entered the room almost without order, and six strands of divine sense swept through.

This chamber was considerably larger than the previous one, and its interior was filled with many bookshelves.

It seemed this place was originally meant for Master Floating Cloud to display the various cultivation techniques he had collected.

However, at present most of these bookshelves were empty, with only a few items placed upon them.

This left Yunhe somewhat disappointed.

After all, if he could obtain the many cultivation techniques collected by Master Floating Cloud, he could also learn his way and extensively study the books.

Even if he ultimately failed to find the subsequent techniques of the Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture, he could still, in that manner, create a cultivation method best suited to himself.

But he did not know that.

Even if Master Floating Cloud truly possessed profound magical power, with his late Nascent Soul cultivation base he could have acted with impunity at the time, but seizing so many sects' cultivation scriptures would inevitably make him a target of public criticism.

But in fact, Floating Cloud Senior indeed almost suffered a siege by the Yuan Ying cultivators of all sects at that time.

Therefore he had once publicly sworn a heart‑demon oath.

He only glanced through each technique he obtained once, absolutely never passing it on, and he left no records—no books, no jade slips, or any other information.

That is why those sects at the time laid down their arms and ceased hostilities.

It would have been fine if only Floating Cloud Senior studied it himself, but if he casually spread it, that would be an act of destroying the Dao lineage and digging up people's graves.

Moreover, his late‑stage Yuan Ying cultivation base was indeed formidable, so the matter finally fizzled out.

This can be considered a mutual compromise.

So now most of these shelves are empty; only a few items that he did not obtain through this kind of 'borrowing' method remain.

"Huh?"

Yunhe's eyes suddenly flashed with sharp light, and his magical power surged throughout his body.

His figure shot forth toward a bookshelf.

At the same moment he moved, the other five also flashed out without hesitation.

But what surprised Yunhe was that, although he had prepared himself to contend with others at any moment, no one actually tried to seize anything from him.

The five Guang Chengzi shared exactly the same goal.

On the contrary, he became that 'singular' individual.

This left Yunhe somewhat bewildered.

And when his divine sense swept toward the object the five were vying for, a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

It was a token.

A black‑wood token engraved with an elegant bird pattern.

It hung silently on a bookshelf.

————

PS: I forgot to set up automatic update last night, so I'm releasing two chapters together.

(End of chapter)