Chapter 532: A Life‑Threatening One

Soon, Yan Buji inspected the passage and the room's traps as he went, and arrived before a massive gate.

"It should be here," Yan Buji said. By his own deduction, the number of nearby traps, and the linked trap reaction box, he inferred that the one who set so many traps probably hid the item here.

Thinking that, Yan Buji pushed the door open and stepped inside.

As soon as he entered, Yan Buji sensed a strong wood‑type spiritual aura; it seemed that by opening the gate, the whole room was instantly filled with wood aura that was as tangible as water droplets!

"Wood Dao Mark?!"

Yan Buji's complexion changed; he hurriedly activated the Dao Marks within his body to resist, preventing himself from being eroded by the suddenly sweeping Dao Marks.

The erosion of Dao Marks is a common occurrence; cultivators who walk the Immortal Path develop Dao Marks, which means they already wield some law‑power. The more Dao Marks one has, the higher the realm, and correspondingly the stronger one's grasp of laws.

The stronger the laws, the closer the cultivator is to the source of a great Dao, just as Yan Buji cultivates Martial Dao Dao Marks; even without related profound skills, his understanding of Martial Dao can still raise his cultivation.

Of course, that doesn't mean that after entering the Immortal Path one no longer needs techniques or profound skills; after all, he still must rely on magical power and Immortal Essence to sustain his realm, otherwise it would be a realm without strength.

The wood‑type Dao Marks in this room were enormous; Yan Buji glanced around and saw that the entire chamber seemed to have been laid with a formation using Dao Marks, which fully activated the moment he entered....

"No, it's retracting. What's going on?" Yan Buji watched the nearby wood‑type Dao Marks converge orderly toward the depths of the room, feeling something was off, and wondered whether to turn and flee or go in to see.

But before Yan Buji could react, a flash of white light streaked through the pitch‑black room; sensing something amiss, his whole body went rigid in an instant, and he immediately summoned his massive spiritual consciousness to withdraw!

He retreated to the doorway, drew his Sea Kun Hammer, gripped it tightly, and stared intently into the room.

"What a powerful spiritual consciousness. Are all cultivators nowadays like you?"

"Since you have awakened, why not come out for a meeting?"

"Hmph."

Hearing the crisp light hum, Yan Buji subconsciously thought perhaps an old demon matriarch had revived, but as the footsteps grew nearer, he lifted his head to look.

It turned out to be a little girl!

The girl wore a pink long dress, its hem dragging the ground for perhaps two or three meters. Her snow‑white hair was coiled into two buns like spheres; her light‑gold dangling hairpins formed increasingly elaborate patterns, resembling bird‑beast blossoms. They glittered, mingling with hair ornaments, pinned into her hair. The tips of her hair dangled with pearls and jade; her face was like a peach blossom, eyes like the blazing sun, and her aura was extraordinary.

"Who are you?"

"I am Jian Fan! You, cultivator, see me not kneel—do you want to die?"

When Jian Fan opened her mouth, a massive pressure surged forward; Yan Buji furrowed his brows, stepped back a few paces, and laughed: "I, a humble monk, have knelt to Heaven, to Earth, to the Dao Ancestor, but never knelt to anyone else."

Jian Fan frowned, looked at her small hand, thought for a moment, and said, "That is indeed so."

"Hm?"

"By the way, what era is it now?"

"How should I tell you? The human race has undergone a long period of Chaos; according to the Dongxing Sea Region's calendar, it is now the 178,300th year of the Fuhai Era."

The Fuhai Era counts from the founding of the Sea‑Heaven Alliance in the Dongxing Sea Region, but earlier history is chaotic, with multiple calendars and no way to verify, so today the Dongxing Sea Region still uses the Fuhai Era as the official calendar.

Yet Yan Buji was unsure whether the little girl before him was human or demon; the aura she emitted was quite strange—she possessed massive Dao Marks and spiritual consciousness, yet lacked corresponding power. Crucially, the girl seemed to conceal some treasure that masks aura, preventing Yan Buji from discerning her true condition.

Jian Fan nodded: "I see, it's been seven hundred thousand years."

"Hm?"

Yan Buji wore a puzzled expression; he didn't really believe any being could live seven hundred thousand years—if such existed, it would have to be of saintly or sage level.

Moreover, the Accumulation Device has only existed for a few years, and this war fortress is at most a few hundred thousand years old, likely dating to around the same era as the Sea‑Heaven Alliance's Shengming Sect.

To start with a claim of seven hundred thousand years—who is she trying to frighten?

"The Buddhist school of Rushan has long since begun eradicating martial arts; how do you still have this body of Martial Dao Dao Marks?"

Yan Buji looked bewildered, unable to understand what she was saying.

Jian Fan, seeing Yan Buji's cluelessness, sighed: "Fine, I now need to restore my strength; give me a Spiritual Stone."

"On what grounds?"

"Just because you bear those Martial Dao Dao Marks," Jian Fan laughed, "I'm not some cold‑blooded killer; I know the rules of your human cultivators. Coincidentally, I have a few very powerful Martial Dao Profound Skills."

As she spoke, Jian Fan produced a yellowed ancient book; Yan Buji furrowed his brows.

In ancient times, warriors indeed passed down their teachings mainly through books, because they did not master spells, making it hard to inscribe spiritual consciousness onto jade slips. Of course, the stronger a warrior's essence, qi, and spirit, the less they need a jade slip as a carrier; they can directly embed the Martial Dao will into any object, and anyone who can sense the natural flow can receive the inheritance.

Of course, Yan Buji had only heard of this, but when Jian Fan produced that ancient book, Yan Buji sensed an extremely strong Martial Dao will!

"Since you are a warrior, you surely know how precious a transmission that endures the ages without losing the Martial Dao will is, right? Exchanging you for some Spiritual Stones would be a loss for me."

Yan Buji nodded: "I, the humble monk, indeed sensed it; may I ask how many Spiritual Stones you wish to trade?"

"Not many—thirty million."

"None," Yan Buji shouted outright.

Jian Fan's small face twisted bitterly; holding the ancient book, she sighed, "That's troublesome. I don't want to make a move now, I still have to go fetch something later. Why don't you be sensible and not make me act, okay?"

"So you intend to seize it by force?"

"Yes." Jian Fan said seriously, looking at Yan Buji: "You may be confident in your strength, but you don't seem the type to be arrogant enough to look down on everything. That means you have a way out. In a place like this, there are only two kinds of retreat: one, you possess a method of Yu Dao transmission; two, you have something that can block me. But thinking it over, it's probably the first case, so why don't you sense the surrounding space?"

Yan Buji suddenly looked up, gazing at the faint flickering lights on the ceiling, his complexion changing abruptly.

"When…?" Yan Buji widened his eyes; the space here had apparently been sealed at an unknown time—was it her hand that did it?

But there's no feeling at all; it shouldn't be like this!

She currently hasn't restored her strength; if she were to use Dao Marks, not even a trace of aura would be concealed. Even if the treasure on her body is adept at masking aura, any action would inevitably produce an abnormality!

Yan Buji had been observing her movements throughout their earlier exchange; with everything appearing normal…

"Has some mechanism of this fortress been triggered?" Yan Buji suddenly asked.

"Oh dear, you're not stupid either. So? Want to trade with me?"

He took a deep breath: "I want Spiritual Stones? No, I want a life‑threatening one!"