Chapter 505

Secret Room

At first glance it was boundless green mountains, overlapping peaks and ridges.

On closer inspection, clouds rose with mist, revealing the vastness of heaven and earth.

On the summit, tiger roars echoed; amidst the snow‑clad mountains and wilds, a bare‑chested handsome youth with a few white hairs swung his fists and feet at a giant tree, shaking off snow that fell on the stalwart man beside him, who resembled a black tower.

"Frenzied Tiger Heart‑Piercing Hand"

Bai Hanwu's flushed muscles steamed with heat; one hand plunged straight into the giant tree's trunk, snow falling and wind blowing, yet there was no reaction—"Young master, everything is ready!"

The black wind beside him, long accustomed to his young master's training, handed over the white silk robe, made a slight fist‑to‑chest salute, and said:

Bai Hanwu slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid qi; his cultivation method was quite extraordinary—practice forbade any use of demonic power, yet it could temper the demonic body.

His swollen muscles gradually relaxed, then he slowly withdrew his right hand from deep within the tree trunk, took the silk robe from Heifeng, and bared his teeth in a smile.

"Let's go, go meet that guy!"

After he left, however, the towering giant tree began to turn to ash from the wound Bai Hanwu had left, gradually spreading to the rest of its body, until the whole tree turned to ash.

After Yunhe returned to Huanhu Dao, he first set up several combinable fourth‑level formations,

"Five Elements Mutual‑Generation Formation, activate!"

"Five Elements Transform Spirit to Unity Formation, activate!"

"Great Five Elements Inverted Formation, activate!"

According to Yunhe's current strength, he can actually handle ordinary fourth‑level late‑stage demonic beasts; even a five‑colored peacock that grasps a trace of 'Geng Metal Qi' with a powerful bloodline was slain by Yunhe, yet Yunhe was not careless—wanting to survive in the demon beast world or the cultivation realm, or to become strong, he could not afford the slightest contempt.

Even a lion fighting a rabbit uses full strength; how much more in this demon beast world where a moment's inattention could get you killed secretly—'what is destined to come will come.'

Yunhe thought to himself that when the day came he would trade his magical treasures for higher‑level demonic beasts over a wider range, he had already considered that this world must certainly have several powerful major forces.

Especially after this trip, when he learned that this world was a fragment fallen from the earth‑immortal realm, he became even more certain of this conjecture.

Of course, given the treasures he had previously produced, sixth‑level or even fifth‑level demonic beasts would certainly disdain them, but there might still be some 'major forces' very interested in how he obtained those treasures. Everything ready, Yunhe turned to give instructions to the few lackeys following behind—except for Qingluan, all his subordinates stared dumbfounded, never expecting their king to go out and return even stronger! Truly the strongest demonic beast in their hearts!

What kind of Heavenly Demon City is this? It seems one comes, one dies; two come, a pair dies; with the great king present, there's nothing to fear.

At present, the subordinates' eyes all emitted flickering light, and the Mysterious Beast Technique on their bodies began to circulate automatically.

——————I am the dividing line——————

"This Zitian Cheng has four major gates, each guarded by a puppet servitor spirit of late Nascent Soul level!"

"The treasure you wish to take, Master, lies in the treasure palace beyond the servitor spirit."

"With your strength, Master, the puppet servitor spirit poses no problem; the real trouble is the special 'Spirit‑Breaking Arrows' used by the other imperial guards' servitor spirits!"

"These arrows can ignore the protective shields of Nascent Soul cultivators, and moreover Lady Hammer may still target the master, so the old fellow still feels that if we can avoid a head‑on assault, that would be better."

Laohulu earnestly analyzed the situation of Zitian Cheng for Yunhe; clearly it knew Zitian Cheng even better, even mentioning things never heard of in Senior Brother Yuan's jade slip—if we really rashly rushed to storm the gate, we might be caught off guard.

"If the master trusts this old fellow, this old fellow actually has a good plan."

Yunhe had not yet figured out how to get past the puppet servitor spirit when Laohulu opened his mouth to speak.

Seeing Yunhe nod slightly, Laohulu then continued: "Actually we can go to the east gate; when other cultivators provoke the puppet servitor spirit, we can sneak into the treasure palace from underground via the east gate's secret passage."

"Secret passage?"

Yunhe asked,

"Cough cough, this old fellow used to go from time to time to sit with Lady Hammer."

As he spoke, Laohulu actually began to feel a bit embarrassed.

At this moment, Zitian Cheng had long lost its former tranquility; shouts of killing shook the heavens.

"Hurry, this time we must charge in!"

"Ah!"

Only see a silver arrow pierce the body of a mid‑Nascent Soul demonic beast—"Damn it!"

Watching his companion wounded and forced to retreat, the demonic cultivator who was barely holding up under the attack of a late‑Nascent Soul servitor spirit cursed silently, then transformed into a huge bird‑beast, his whole body turning into a stream of light that vanished on the spot, seeing off the two fleeing demonic cultivators; Yunhe was then at the west gate of the implement region, and to reach the east gate he still needed to go around one city gate.

The demonic cultivators at the west gate had already fled, and the passing north gate was likewise in disarray; only the puppet servitor spirit remained standing beneath the city gate.

Beneath its foot lay a ferocious giant beast's skull; at this moment Yunhe finally arrived at the east city gate's edge, only to see a massive tiger drenched in blood, its back bristling with arrows,

And before him, the puppet servant with late Nascent Soul strength had one arm torn apart, the other joints also scarred; the ferocious tiger's eyes shot out a terrifying light—'Roar!'

Seeing the fierce tiger lunge forward heavily, it pressed the already candle-in-the-wind puppet servant beneath it. Yunhe held his breath and focused; the tiger before him was the Howling Mountain Tiger clan he had visited when seeing the Rakshasa old demon. Though not the clan leader, he could still rely on his formidable physique to suppress the late Nascent Soul puppet servant spirit.

Seeing that the puppets on the city wall had all been drawn to the Howling Mountain Tiger's gaze, Yunhe hurriedly took the old gourd and headed toward the secret passage.

Whoosh

Only hearing from beneath the city wall, it seemed as if some movement was occurring.

The Howling Mountain Tiger fighting the servant spirit twitched its tiger ears, scanned the surroundings, and aside from a broken dry well, found no source of the sound.

Thus it lowered its head and bit down hard on the servant spirit's neck, pulling out the servant spirit's head together with its cervical vertebrae.

Roar!

The tremendous beast's roar directly shook down the incoming arrows, then leapt up and with a single swipe wiped out all the other guard servant spirits —————— I am the dividing line ——————

Seeing that in the pitch-black secret passage, lights suddenly flared; the rows of exquisite torches on either side seemed to sense the approaching person and actually ignited without wind.

'This way.' the old gourd said, skillfully leading Yunhe to avoid each exquisite trap.

Soon the two arrived at a hall; they saw a spacious round hall, and besides the entrance they came through, there were no other exits.

'Could this place be the underground of the treasure palace?'

Yunhe said, having looked around; as an underground secret chamber, it could be considered luxurious.

Before, the corridor had only two rows of torches, but the ceiling of this hall was inlaid with numerous night-shining pearls. 'This place is indeed arranged unusually, though it seems to be missing something.'

Yunhe said, he could feel that this place had probably been frequented before, and there were still traces left by people; due to poor ventilation in the secret chamber, a heavy ink smell could still be smelled.

'Cough cough. Indeed, something is missing.'

The old gourd did not continue the topic, but came to a wall covered with hanging scrolls, saying, 'Ah, good thing I had taken away the other scrolls.'

Lao Hulu sighed in his heart, feeling around the wall for a moment, finally found a mechanism that could be pressed "click".

The wall with the hanging picture opened, moving to the right, and behind it lay another secret passage.

Unlike the secret passage they came through, this one is thick with dust, clearly no one has been here for a long time.

"This is the secret passage leading to the Treasure Palace, you go first, master."

Lao Hulu pointed at the secret passage, then stepped back himself, seeming not intending to go in.

Seeing Yunhe's doubtful gaze, "Old man fears that if Madam Hammer sees me again she'll get angry, affecting the master's trial."

Lao Hulu put on a pitiful act, seeming to truly be doing it for Yunhe's sake.

Yunhe isn't saying he trusts Lao Hulu that much; it's just that going to such trouble to lure him to the secret chamber surely isn't just to make it easier for Yunhe to obtain the treasure.

However, Yunhe had already bonded with the Dan Pavilion by blood recognition; harming Yunhe would bring Lao Hulu no benefit! Yunhe could also guess the purpose of this secret chamber; after leaving the secret realm, not knowing when he could return, he let him go.

When the ancient bell rang, only see that Purple Sky City was already filled with the broken corpses of puppets; the puppet servant spirits that originally stepped on giant beast skulls had also lost their vitality: "What should we do now? Kill all the puppet servant spirits, and now a great formation has appeared—how can we obtain the treasure?"

A middle-aged cultivator with a blue birthmark on his face said, this person faintly exudes a dragon blood aura, likely an elder of the Wood Flood Dragon Clan.

"Hmph, you always boast about reading so much? How come your reading is useless?"

Beside him, a bare-chested big man covered in scars spoke with a sneer: "Xiaofeng, if you're seeking death, I can grant it!"

The middle-aged man with the birthmark spoke hatefully, his eyes flashing with a vicious light.

Seeing the two who were originally not on good terms now actually wanting to fight, Hongxiu felt a headache; however, as demon clansmen, they indeed are not good at formations, but if they don't break the formation, they cannot obtain the treasure. "Alright you two, why not just stand guard here until the clan chief finishes, then this formation will also be broken!"

Hongxiu said to the two, which also counts as stopping the two's occasional bursts of flame.

Reaching the end of the secret passage, Yunhe pushed open a heavy iron door, then walked through a winding staircase, finally arriving at the gate of the Treasure Palace: "You've come."

A graceful hammer-shadow appeared, facing Yunhe below, with a hint of disdain on her face.

"That old gourd is really addle-headed, actually telling you the location of the secret passage—where is he?"

Noticing Lao Hulu hadn't appeared, Madam Hammer stepped closer to Yunhe a few steps, confirming Lao Hulu really hadn't come; she was obviously even angrier: "Good! At least you know you did wrong and dare not show up."

The more she looked at Yunhe, the more displeasing he became; she turned her head and spoke viciously.

"I have no treasure here, you may leave."

As for that, Yunhe still didn't know what had happened? This is simply a pair of lovestruck man and woman; can even artifact spirits have such complicated feelings? Yunhe remained silent.

"You guys argue, just argue, how can it involve me? However, thinking that the secret chamber seems often tended, Yunhe had a guess: 'No, madam, do you know that the Dan Pavilion senior often mentions you in front of juniors?'"

Yunhe said with a sincere expression.

"Hmph, stop spouting nonsense, he's probably hiding and can't make it in time!"

Madam Hammer, however, was disdainful, gave Yunhe a sideways glance, and planned to ignore him further.

What the madam said is indeed not wrong. After all, last time they met, just seeing her knocked Old Gourd about so he couldn't tell direction; anyone would be afraid.

All this lovey-dovey stuff, Yunhe doesn't understand.

However, Yunhe won't just give up either; since he already coaxed an artifact spirit before, this time he'll just try to sweet-talk again.

"Madam, do you often go to that secret chamber?"

Yunhe flashed to stand before Madam Hammer and asked.

"You! Hmph, I've never gone there, what would I go there for?"

Just thinking that she herself had already forgotten when she last went to the secret chamber, Madam Hammer felt a bit sour.

"But the secret chamber I've seen is exceptionally clean, with a strong ink smell, clearly someone often cleans and paints in there."

Yunhe stared straight at Madam Hammer, as if seeing through her thoughts.

"Enough, no more talking!"

Only see Madam Hammer's emotions suddenly somewhat out of control.

"You just want the materials for the treasure, right? I'll let you go!"

Yunhe still wanted to say more, but only saw the surrounding space twist; Madam Hammer's figure grew farther away, and in the next moment he arrived on a vast green meadow.

"If you want the treasure, find the vault key hidden here."

The voice grew fainter; although Yunhe's purpose was achieved, he still felt something was missing.

Forget it, this was never his concern to begin with; he lifted his gaze to look around.

Only see on the vast grassland, not a single living thing, only lush green grass and a breeze sweeping over the meadow. Yunhe gently infused his power into the compass in his hand; only see the needle slowly move, finally pointing to a direction.

Yunhe had no doubt, and sped off in the direction the needle pointed.

But see the needle that had been steadily pointing in one direction slowly drift toward another direction.

Seeing this, Yunhe harbored a slight doubt: if it were a dead object, it certainly wouldn't behave like this—"Could it be a living thing?"

Yunhe thought to himself, the trial surely wouldn't be this simple.

Only see at the spot where Yunhe originally stood, bit by bit bones rose from the ground, gradually assembling into a wolf-shaped monster made solely of bone; then on its hollow skull, clusters of azure flames ignited in the eye sockets. The leading, slightly larger bone wolf raised its head and let out a long, mournful howl: "Aooo!"

In an instant, the other bone wolves followed the leader's howl, and the heavens and earth echoed with loud wolf howls.

"Wolves!?"

Yunhe, who had been chasing that living thing, heard this long wolf howl and paused.

Before this, there had been no living things here; where did these wolves come from?

(End of chapter)