Chapter 87: Coffin Sea Pavilion

After the two walked off the stone bridge, they walked down hundreds of steps in the stone ladder passage and appeared in a dark and empty underground warehouse.

Although the light was dim, one could still see mountains of iron boxes and exotic world coffins piled up here, so many that it would take ten days and ten nights to count them.

An old figure appeared silently behind Li Youyi, holding a lamp, and said hoarsely: "Little Twenty-Four, is this this year's newcomer?"

Li Youyi hurriedly moved aside, looking at the person behind him, his heart beating wildly.

How could there be no sound or aura at all? Is it a man or a ghost?

He was extremely hunched, his hair sparse, and in this dark underground warehouse, he was simply like a ghost from the underworld.

He wasn't holding a lamp, but grabbing a ball of fire with his hand.

"He is not Hidden Twenty-Six, but he is a person specially arranged for a special trial by the Hidden Lord himself."

Hidden Twenty-Four bowed respectfully to the old man and said to Li Youyi: "This is the Forty-Fifth Supreme Elder of the Hidden Sect, responsible for guarding the entrance from Nine Licheng to the Nine Li Hidden Sect."

In the Hidden Sect, Hidden Ones from the previous sixty-year cycle were called Elders.

Supreme Elders were Hidden Ones from the sixty-year cycle before that.

In other words, this Forty-Fifth Supreme Elder before him was Hidden Forty-Five from the sixty-year cycle before that, absolutely an old guy over a hundred years old. Being able to guard such an important place, his cultivation could be imagined.

Li Youyi hurriedly bowed.

The Forty-Fifth Supreme Elder held up the fire in his hand, leaned closer, squinted, and looked at Li Youyi carefully, laughing: "Indeed very interesting, you two change clothes first!"

He walked away with a hunched back and a staggering gait.

The surroundings became dim.

Hidden Twenty-Four threw a purple-black robe to Li Youyi, then untied her belt and started to take it off... of course, she was still wearing inner clothes, just changing the outer coat.

Li Youyi took the purple-black robe and identified it carefully, seeing the silver coffin mark embroidered on the cuffs, and was moved: "This is the standard martial robe for disciples of the Coffin Sea Pavilion!"

Hidden Twenty-Four said: "That's right, this is the third floor of the Coffin Sea Pavilion's underground treasury, a forbidden area that only the Pavilion Master can enter. What we are wearing is the standard martial robe for disciples of the Coffin Sea Pavilion's Foreign Affairs Hall."

"Are we now beneath the core Dao Domain of Nine Licheng?" Li Youyi confirmed again, somewhat incredulous.

Hidden Twenty-Four said: "The Nine Li Insect Valley itself is beneath Nine Licheng, and it is directly beneath the Dao Domain. Otherwise, why do you think the Hidden Sect's magic Qi is so thick? So suitable for cultivation? So easy to grow precious medicine? Of course, there are ancient formations blocking it layer by layer, and no one can chisel through it."

"The Great Hidden is hidden in the city, truly amazing. I should have thought of it earlier!"

Li Youyi smiled bitterly and muttered to himself: "The Nine Li Insect Valley is completely shrouded in magic Qi, forming a Dao Domain, so there must be a super-large Heavenly Law Earth Spring nearby. Possessing such a large Heavenly Law Earth Spring, besides Nine Licheng, where else could it be?"

After changing into the Coffin Sea Pavilion Foreign Affairs Hall disciple martial robe, the two

At the same time, there were two other bundles that had been prepared long ago.

Opening them, inside were night-traveler outfits at the low-grade magical artifact level; once activated, they possessed a certain degree of defensive and stealth capabilities, meant to be worn while executing missions.

There was also a bottle of powder; according to Yin Twenty-four, this powder could cause pursuers to lose their sense of smell for a short time.

"Your Huang Long Sword will expose your identity as the perpetrator; do you need to carry another magical artifact?" Yin Twenty-four said.

Li Youyi said: "Of course I do."

"With your authorization level and mine, we can only apply for one low-grade magical artifact, and it must be returned after the mission ends. If it is lost, you must pay compensation," Yin Twenty-four said.

"It isn't granted for free?"

"Do you really think the resources of the Hidden Sect are infinite?"

Li Youyi waved his hand and said: "Then forget it! I feel that since I already have a grudge against the Zhanglin Gang, taking revenge in the identity of Li Youyi is more reasonable and logical, and no one will associate it with the Hidden Sect. The problem now is, just how strong are Xu Zhanglin and Tang Yan? I know nothing about their strength, nor the strength of the Five Seas Realm."

If anyone in the Five Seas Realm could rely on their physical body to lift the Five Seas Pillar, and their magic power refinement level was higher than the Gushing Spring Realm, with a vast sea of magic Qi, then Li Youyi felt that returning home now and smashing through the Hidden Sect with Master Coffin's letter would be the best choice.

Yin Twenty-four said disdainfully: "Both of them are Seven Springs breaking into the Five Seas Realm, and they have only opened the first Qi Sea. With my strength, having broken through to the Five Seas Realm only two months ago, using just one hand is enough to finish them off!"

"I have only opened eight springs," Li Youyi said.

The arrogant and self-satisfied expression on Yin Twenty-four's face vanished instantly, and she said coldly: "Rest assured, they are just two pieces of trash hollowed out by wine and lust. With me backing you up, just go ahead and do it."

Li Youyi dared not entrust his life to Yin Twenty-four; he secretly pondered the trump cards he could expose, and then carried them on his person.

After all, when he fought the Yang Divine Realm, he had only used the Huang Long Sword.

That was not the true height of his combat power.

"What is inside these iron chests?"

Li Youyi was curious and really wanted to open them to see, but they were covered in array patterns.

"This is not only the most important treasury of the Coffin Sea Pavilion, but also the storage warehouse for the most precious commodities of the Coffin Sea Merchant Guild; the finale items at auctions are almost all kept here. Furthermore, many of the Hidden Sect's resources and treasures are also stored here," Yin Twenty-four said.

The Coffin Sea Pavilion is the sect established by the Coffin Sea Merchant Guild.

Fourteen years ago, the Nine Li clan suffered a crushing defeat, and four pieces of the Nine Licheng Dao Domain were carved away to establish the four major sects.

They are: the Sui Sect, the Three Chen Gong, the Tianyi Sect, and the Coffin Sea Pavilion.

In the current Li Prefecture, the Nine Li Dao Academy and the Sui Sect stand as two strong powers, with the Three Chen Gong following closely behind. The Tianyi Sect and the Coffin Sea Pavilion were only established fourteen years ago, and their foundation and strength are a significant step behind.

Li Youyi asked: "What exactly is the relationship between this Coffin Sea Pavilion and the Nine Li Hidden Sect?"

Yin Twenty-four said: "Actually, the four major powers—the Sui Sect, the Three Chen Gong, the Tianyi Sect, and the Coffin Sea Pavilion—were originally house slaves and servants sent out by the Nine Li clan to sell other-realm coffins."

"The batch of people from the Sui Sect's ancestors were responsible for water transport, shipping other-realm coffins along the Sui River to the various prefectures of the Lingxiao Life Realm."

"The ancestors of the Three Chen Gong were responsible for transport along the three land routes, from the North Straight Road, the Prefecture West Road, and the East Forest Road, shipping toward the Northern, Western, and Eastern Regions."

"The ancestors of the Tianyi Sect and the Coffin Sea Pavilion were responsible for sales, which are now the Tianyi Merchant Guild and the Coffin Sea Merchant Guild."

"With the million-year-old Nine Li clan as their backing, all the large and small powers in the entire Lingxiao Life Realm naturally had to give them face. Flying the banner of the Nine Li clan, their influence gradually grew larger; they established gangs, recruited Wu Xiu, cultivated death squads, and expanded wantonly."

"With the transport channels opened up, ambition sprouted, and business naturally was no longer limited to other-realm coffins. Salt and iron, ores, textiles, brothels, gambling dens, restaurants, human trafficking... after a thousand years of operation, they gradually made their fortunes, feeding on the blood and flesh of the Nine Li clan, bullying others by flaunting their borrowed power, and the small saplings grew into towering trees, even sprouting several million-strong power clans."

"The Nine Li clan painfully lost their supreme magical artifacts and were slow to choose a leader who could command respect; they all lay on the natural treasury of other-realm coffins dreaming beautiful dreams. In order to plunder more coffins and seize more wealth and benefits, the nine clans fought amongst themselves incessantly. The Dao Academy and the Divine Temple, which should have been presiding over the big picture, instead became the disaster zones of internal strife, losing their ability to rule."

"Against such a background, the nine clans instead courted and cultivated those servants and slaves, pouring massive resources into them, thinking they were their own hired thugs that could be used to deal with other tribes, completely failing to see their wolfish ambitions. These servants and slaves profited from all nine sides, growing stronger step by step; how could they not be pleased?"

"Fourteen years ago, these servants and slaves saw the weak essence of the Nine Li clan and simply stopped pretending, which led to the half-year martial struggle and the Battle of Long Mountain."

"Only then, having suffered such great humiliation, were the high-level members of the Nine Li clan finally awakened, realizing that they were no longer the million-year-old ancient clan they once were. Subsequently, the nine clan leaders sat down calmly to discuss; the nine clans no longer fought internally, and all contradictions seemed to have room for compromise, but how could hundreds of years of decline be recovered in fourteen years?"

Li Youyi smiled mockingly: "It's the same everywhere; without external threats, and with abundant internal resources, there will inevitably be endless internal strife. Once there is an external enemy, they can instead unite. But why didn't the Hidden Sect take action, just letting the former servants and slaves bully their masters, and even carve away the Dao Domain?"

"If they aren't allowed to suffer some humiliation, how can they know shame and then be brave? When they know someone is covering for them, they will only become more unscrupulous, decadent, and extravagant. Besides..."

Yin Twenty-four looked at the treasury before her and added: "Who said the Hidden Sect didn't take action?"

Li Youyi said: "The high-level members of the Coffin Sea Pavilion have long been controlled by the Hidden Sect? Or rather, there are Hidden Sect people inside the Sui Sect, the Three Chen Gong, and the Tianyi Sect?"

"I am just a Hidden person who arrived two years earlier than you; how would I know so many secrets?" Yin Twenty-four did not want to say more.

The Forty-fifth Supreme Elder moved horizontally behind Li Youyi like a ghost and said hoarsely: "Leaving the Hidden Sect to execute a mission requires planting the Death Spirit Fire."

Yin Twenty-four clearly knew the rules; she closed her eyes and calmly accepted the flame overflowing from the Forty-fifth Supreme Elder's fingertip, and the flame entered the center of her brow.

Li Youyi thought of Li Qing's death and was horrified in his heart; naturally, he resisted.

Yin Twenty-four said: "The Death Spirit Fire will only erupt when you are captured and suffer an invasion of your consciousness by a Thought Master. When it truly reaches that point, do you think the other party will spare your life? Rest assured, when the mission ends, the Death Spirit Fire will be removed."

Li Youyi said: "Then... if I take the initiative to tell the secrets I know, will the Death Spirit Fire erupt?"

"No."

Yin Twenty-four immediately added: "But you will be hunted down by the entire Hidden Sect. And all those who know the truth will also be cleared out. Of course, if you are truly captured and do not want to suffer the pain of thought-power invasion, you can trigger the Death Spirit Fire yourself. There is no other way; the Hidden Sect must ensure its own safety."

Li Youyi could not find a reason to refute this, so he nodded.

After the Death Spirit Fire was planted, Li Youyi and Yin Twenty-four went up along the stone steps, walking through three layers of the treasury before finally reaching the ground.

The two disguised themselves as disciples of the Coffin Sea Pavilion's External Affairs Hall, helped transport goods from the first-layer warehouse, and left the Dao Domain with the merchant guild's convoy, entering the bustling streets of Nine Licheng.

The noisy and lively sounds rushed toward them.

On the road, the two quietly got off the carriage and blended into the endless stream of people.

The July sun was extremely scorching.

But, finally feeling the sunlight again and seeing the blue sky and white clouds, Li Youyi felt an indescribable sense of relief: "After eating medicinal meals for two months, I really miss the delicacies of the human world. Let's go, let's go eat a good meal first, my treat!"

Yin Twenty-four was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected this guy to have a generous and bold side. Having not satisfied her appetite for too long, she was naturally somewhat expectant as well.

But when Li Youyi brought her to the place to eat, she was instantly stunned. She carefully scrutinized this simple noodle stall opened on the side of the street, wanting to see its extraordinary aspects; perhaps she was just unobservant? Who knows, maybe there was something special in the pot, and the shopkeeper could conjure up many human delicacies that were both fragrant and delicious in the next moment.

Li Youyi had already sat down first and shouted: "Shopkeeper, two bowls of noodle soup, extra beef. Sit down quickly, don't just stand there so stiffly."

Yin Twenty-four's expression was very unpleasant: "If it's just two bowls of noodle soup, you didn't need to let me have such high expectations earlier."

"How could it just be two bowls of noodle soup?" Li Youyi said.

Yin Twenty-four said: "And beef, right? This joke isn't funny."

Li Youyi took out the three-headed snake bracelet and placed it on the table: "This is the real main course!"

Yin Twenty-four was naturally experienced; she immediately saw that this bracelet was extraordinary, quickly picked it up, and carefully observed every detail of it, her eyes becoming increasingly fervent.

She whispered: "This is a blood-refined magical artifact! It should have a powerful blood soul sealed inside. Looking at the forging technique, it doesn't look like a low-grade magical artifact."

"Good eye, worthy of being in the Five Seas Realm."

Li Youyi dropped a bombshell, saying: "This is a high-grade magical artifact!"

With Yin Twenty-four's temperament, her hands shook, and the bracelet nearly fell to the ground.

A high-grade magical artifact—that is a treasure only top figures in the Five Seas Realm are qualified to possess.

Furthermore, this high-grade magical artifact even had a blood soul sealed inside...

Li Youyi acted as if he didn't see her shock at all; he looked toward the direction of the pot, as the noodles had already started to boil, and whispered: "Help me sell it. Since your Hidden Sect controls the Coffin Sea Pavilion, just sell it secretly at the Coffin Sea Merchant Guild. Help me buy some Light Flame Pills; I must break through my thought power as soon as possible and strike at the Square Inch Bright Fire, otherwise I don't know how many years it will take to forge the golden trace veins, and I can't wait that long."

Yin Twenty-four couldn't listen anymore and couldn't help but want to curse: "Are you crazy? The blood soul inside a high-grade magical artifact has combat power at least at the level of the third realm of the Five Seas. You want to sell it just to buy Light Flame Pills? Fine, sell it to me."

Seeing Li Youyi staring at her in surprise, she immediately tucked the three-headed snake bracelet away.

Immediately after, Li Youyi asked a question that struck at her soul: "Can you afford it?"

(End of chapter)