The once peaceful Secret Realm descended into chaos following this Thousand Corpse Encirclement Battle.
At present, Youye was charging straight toward the Cangbaoge with the stolen key in hand, while the other Righteous Path cultivators fought desperately to stop her.
Meanwhile, the Ling King monsters stationed in other parts of the Imperial City were at a loss.
If they intervened, these people hadn’t caused trouble in their territory; if they didn’t, it would be a matter of losing face.
It wasn’t until Youye reached the Cangbaoge’s entrance and inserted the stolen key into the stone pillar that the Ling King monsters finally understood what to do.
Rumbling… as the key fused with the pillar, the treasure vault’s gate, sealed for countless years, began to slowly move open at an excruciatingly slow pace.
Youye estimated the gate’s opening time and couldn’t help but feel speechless—it would take more than an entire hour just for a gap large enough for one person to pass through.
It would require nearly half a day for the gate to open completely.
The noise from the gate’s opening had already spread throughout the entire Imperial City.
Whether cultivators knew the situation or not, they were gradually converging toward this spot.
This wasn’t the worst of it — the most critical problem was that as the Cangbaoge’s gate slowly opened, the Ling King monsters throughout the city all gathered here.
Their goal was clear: to drive away every cultivator approaching the treasure vault.
Even the powerful Youye could only retreat in disarray from the siege of so many Ling King monsters, biding her time for the right moment to strike.
……
“Turns out there’s such a trap here. Obtaining the key doesn’t mean success; the real difficulty lies at this very spot?”
After hearing Senior Sister Linglong’s account of the events in the ruins of the Imperial City, Miss Hua Jian couldn’t help but admire the designers of these mechanisms.
She figured Youye’s mind must have been in turmoil.
She had expertly snatched the key and been the first to arrive at the treasure vault filled with treasures, yet those carrying the key received no special treatment.
Like everyone else, they had to obediently wait until the vault’s gate was fully opened before entering to seek treasure.
So what was the point of all the trouble beforehand?
Wouldn’t it be the same if the Righteous Path cultivators came later to open the door?
She could no longer stay within the treasure vault’s range; it was already guarded by several Ling King-level monsters—entering meant certain death.
She had to continue hiding her identity to avoid the Righteous Path’s search.
If there was a fight first with the Righteous Path and then with the Ling King monsters guarding outside the Cangbaoge, Hua Jian doubted Youye would survive without burning out.
“If that’s the case, then there’s no need to rush. We just need to return to the Imperial City before the gate fully opens,” Hua Jian offered her suggestion.
Actually, she had a less honorable plan she didn’t voice: they didn’t even need to enter the Cangbaoge—just robbing those coming out would suffice.
After all, the competition to enter directly was fierce, but lying in wait for a little cutie coming out was much easier.
Better to wait for one person than to fight an entire city—that was the principle.
Unfortunately, this idea was immediately rejected by Linglong.
“What if they put the treasures into Storage Pouches?”
This was a real problem; breaking open those pouches wasn’t easy.
Even if they ambushed a little cutie, it might be meaningless if they only managed to snatch worthless items.
This Secret Realm was different from the ones Hua Jian had been in before. The survival soil for body-snatching cultivators was poor.
Even if they successfully ambushed someone, the stolen items wouldn’t sell for much.
They couldn’t really sell the Spiritual Garments, Ling Swords, or Storage Pouches of Saint Sect disciples, could they? If they did, the Saint Sect people would come knocking on their door the next day.
“Then we follow them from behind, let them fight first, and we reap the rewards!”
Linglong had publicly declared that she had exhausted much of her strength fighting the Ling King yesterday and needed to rest, lacking combat ability for the time being.
With the main combat force absent, it was reasonable for Yaochi to remain hidden, right?
By the time the battle inside the Cangbaoge concluded and Linglong had rested, coming out to clean up the mess wouldn’t be suspicious.
“Will they give us that chance?” Linglong doubted things would go that smoothly.
“Trying won’t hurt. If we get caught and forced into a direct fight, you’re here, aren’t you?”
“What if you’re not?”
“Then I’d drop a Mist of Disappearance and run.”
Feng Yan’s escape was swift and thorough. Don’t underestimate Miss Hua Jian’s ability to flee; as long as it wasn’t the likes of Linglong or Youye chasing her, she guaranteed any pursuer would be a dead man.
……
Yaochi was retreating to the city in a leisurely manner, while the other Saint Sects gathered outside the Cangbaoge—the new focal point of the Imperial City.
Nearly half the Ling King monsters of the city had assembled here, forming formidable enemies that even the combined forces of the Saint Sects might not be able to defeat.
Currently, only the palace among the ruins was still guarded by Ling King monsters; the others had all moved to the treasure vault’s vicinity, protecting the most crucial gateways.
“No wonder those other places lack rich resources; it seems the most precious treasures are hidden inside the Cangbaoge!”
Because of the rapid change in circumstances, the Saint Sect alliance, which had just collapsed due to a crisis of trust, reformed once more.
However, this time the representative for Yaochi was an obscure Inner Sect disciple.
The other Saint Sects understood—after all, everyone had witnessed Saintess Linglong’s state after battling the Ling King yesterday. She couldn’t recover quickly.
This gave them a slight sigh of relief. With Linglong temporarily sealed off, their chances of obtaining treasure increased.
If possible, they would prefer Linglong to stay hidden for a while.
“We tried opening the treasure vault’s gate before, but couldn’t succeed no matter what,” one Penglai cultivator murmured.
“Stop with the nonsense. What about those Ling Kings guarding outside? And there’s a demonic cultivator watching us secretly,” a Heavenly Dao Sect cultivator interrupted the Penglai cultivator’s muttering.
Is now the time to reminisce? Shouldn’t they focus on handling the current predicament?
“We can’t fight these monsters head-on—that would give the demonic cultivator a chance to benefit,” a Wanling Sect cultivator quickly stated. “Can we arrange formations to control these monsters and send our elite disciples into the Cangbaoge to explore?”
It wasn’t realistic for everyone to enter the vault to seek treasure. Sending only a few in was a better choice.
……
“Each sect selects three cultivators to explore the Cangbaoge while the others form formations outside to block enemies? Sounds pretty good.”
Hua Jian and Linglong had just returned to the Imperial City ruins when they heard the frontline message from the Cangbaoge.
The Five Great Sacred Sects decided to execute this plan once the vault’s gate was fully opened, using all their strength to temporarily seal the guarding monsters and buy enough time for the few entering to explore.
Three people—a somewhat small number, but not insignificant for the Saint Sects.
This first wave would be the first to explore but also faced enormous risks—in other words, they were the pathfinders risking death.
If the Cangbaoge proved perilous, the outer Saint Sect cultivators would adjust their plans and proceed cautiously.
If it wasn’t dangerous inside, the sects might send in more than just a small team.
“It seems other sects aren’t placing their bets on this initial exploration. The cultivators they sent are mostly of average strength,” Linglong compared the names of disciples sent by other sects with her own list.
The real prodigies seemed unwilling to be the first to step forward.
Well, not entirely. The Jian Sect’s three entrants were the top three experts within the Secret Realm.
Sword cultivators were straightforward, unbothered by all these subtle intrigues.
“So, Linglong, do you plan to enter the vault directly?” Hua Jian propped her head up and looked at Linglong.
Linglong calmly shook her head. There was nothing inside the vault that particularly attracted her, and if she went in first, it would definitely trigger reactions from other sects.
She might face the top talents from each Saint Sect alongside her.
“No, I intend to observe quietly from outside.”
Send people in first to clarify the situation, then decide whether to enter.
“That makes sense; you’re still recovering… The Seven-Colored Lotus in the Noble Garden is about to bloom; I plan to go snatch it.”
“Oh, do you need me to send someone to help?” Linglong’s expression shifted slightly.
Since learning of the Seven-Colored Lotus in the Imperial City ruins, Linglong knew Hua Jian wouldn’t let it go.
Their affinities were just too high. If Hua Jian let it slide, she wouldn’t be Hua Jian.
“No need. Few have eyes on this lotus; I can handle it myself.”
……
Hua Jian wasn’t bluffing.
Under the current circumstances, the other Saint Sect members didn’t have the energy to worry about the Seven-Colored Lotus.
The Saint Sects only sent a few hundred disciples into the Secret Realm. Considering the initial chaos and losses during exploration of dangerous areas, each sect now had only around thirty to forty disciples left.
Most of these had been summoned near the Cangbaoge to prepare for exploration, so who still had the heart to watch the almost thoroughly ransacked Noble Garden for the lotus to bloom?
Only a little one deeply learned from Hua Jian stubbornly waited here.
Buzz… snap!
A tiny bee was suddenly swatted away by a creeping vine. Hua Jian turned and quickly identified several suspicious spots.
Hmph, even your master dares to ambush me? Little Caidié, your courage grows bolder.
As an expert in sneaky tactics, Hua Jian was also experienced in guarding against ambushes.
Before approaching the Seven-Colored Lotus’s location, she was already highly alert, which allowed her to detect Caidié’s poisonous bee before it got close.
With a slight finger movement, a Wood Spirit Energy hidden beneath Hua Jian’s skirt flowed from her legs into the soil.
After a few breaths, she heard faint cries nearby.
Approaching to investigate, she found a small girl trapped inside a cage made of vines.
“Sister Hua Jian, you’re so amazing!” Caidié greeted Hua Jian cheerfully, not embarrassed as if the ambush was someone else’s idea.
While chatting, she gathered her Spirit Energy and struck the vine cage with a single palm, easily breaking free.
This cage wasn’t even a true spirit technique—just a few ordinary vines catalyzed with Wood Spirit Energy. If Caidié couldn’t break free, that would be strange.
“What are you still doing here? Aren’t you afraid of getting caught again?”
“As long as I don’t steal from others, it’s fine!” Caidié shook her head dramatically, displaying her unique brilliance.
She was here not for anything else but to ambush and knock people out.
In truth, Caidié wasn’t short on money and had little concept of Spirit Stones.
Unlike Hua Jian, who had suffered in the past and had developed an insatiable craving for Spirit Stones.
“If you’re not stealing, why are you hanging around here?”
“To ambush those people!”
Hua Jian blinked; she seemed to understand Caidié’s meaning.
Sitting and waiting without stealing—pure addiction.
Caidié seemed to treat this place as a rare battlefield for practice, using the cultivators who came here as free sparring partners to test her various techniques.
Even if caught, this time she only knocked people out with poison, not actually harming them.
No cultivator with a sense of justice could criticize Caidié this time.
After all, cultivators had to fight in the Secret Realm, right?
“Sister Hua Jian, are you here to ambush with me?”
Caidié excitedly waved her little fist.
“I came for the Seven-Colored Lotus… oh, but it wouldn’t hurt to wait here for a while first!”
Hua Jian originally wanted to refuse but thought about it and realized waiting here might be a sure-win business.
The Seven-Colored Lotus was a rare spiritual treasure. If a cultivator came to pick it up, she and Caidié could knock them out and maybe make some extra profit.
“I’ll set up formations nearby. Caidié, you hide here—this spot has a wide view and makes escape easier.”
Hua Jian pulled out the formation materials she had painstakingly made by hand over the past days from her Storage Pouch—plant powders of some sort.
Once taken out, the strong fragrance made Caidié pinch her nose.
“Stinky!”
“The ultimate form of fragrance is stinky. After I scatter these, the smell won’t be so overwhelming,” Hua Jian smiled, unbothered by Caidié’s blunt critique.
After all, she agreed it was pungent, but once transformed into the foundation of the formation, the scent would become intoxicating.