Chapter 267: Chapter 162: Primordial Ruins

The alluring female cultivator is the Dao companion of Master Duobao, having been together for over a hundred years. She is also a veteran member of the team, known as Fairy Nishang.

This treasure-hunting Spirit Rat was nurtured by Fairy Nishang from a young age, only manifesting its treasure-hunting talent upon advancing to Tier Three.

Since then, it has always been the core of the Hongtian team, heavily protected.

“Goldie, today once again we all rely on you, don’t embarrass your mother,” Fairy Nishang lovingly held the Spirit Rat, stroking its golden fur.

“Squeak, squeak~” The Spirit Rat seemed to enjoy it a lot, snuggling closer to Fairy Nishang, then turned around.

Its deep brown pupils continuously enlarged, and the golden hair on top of its head gradually stood up, then started vibrating at a high frequency.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the golden hair atop the rat’s head calmed down, remaining upright without leaning in any direction.

At the same time, the compass in Master He’s hand began to move.

A moment later, it pointed towards the west, signaling to proceed.

The swamp’s black water has a very strong shielding effect against Divine Sense, making conventional sense detection almost useless for treasure hunting beneath the swamp. Only the Spirit Rat with such extraordinary talent is effective.

However, the treasure-hunting divine ability of this mouse extends only within a hundred-foot radius.

The entire team moved forward following the direction pointed by Master He.

After traveling two hundred feet, they stopped again,

and the Spirit Rat repeated its previous divine ability.

In this way, they stopped and started repeatedly.

Meanwhile, four other experienced elders weren’t idle, continuously using their experience to assess the swamp’s layout, the depth of black water, traces of dead branches, and other conditions, under the protection of teammates.

This treasure-hunting method is the approach used by most of the Immortal Seeking Teams in the swamp.

Obviously, this method still lacks efficiency and accuracy.

Half a month later, after the Spirit Rat once again displayed its divine ability, the gold hair on its head suddenly shifted to one side, trembling rapidly.

“Surely it’s a big fortune, the last time Goldie’s treasure hair trembled like this was twenty years ago for the Tier Four Thousand-year-old Willow Wood Core!” Fairy Nishang exclaimed with delight.

“Tier Four Thousand-year-old Willow Wood Core!” Hearing this, Li Jizhou’s heart stirred slightly.

That’s a high-level treasure material capable of crafting genuine Tier Four Talismans!

Even genuine Tier Four Talismans can pose a certain threat to newly ascended Nascent Soul True Monarchs. If one can craft a top-grade or even exquisite one, it might unexpectedly slay a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Unfortunately, Li Jizhou’s Divine Soul is trapped in the Late Stage of Core Formation, unable to advance, and thus cannot craft Tier Four Talismans.

“Hahaha, good, good, Heaven bless us, Heaven bless us, this time we have at least a Tier Four treasure material as a base, and even a significant chance to acquire a Spiritual Treasure!” Master Duobao laughed heartily.

“Everyone, especially newcomers, must be extremely cautious in the coming time. Twenty years ago, during that incident, our team of twenty-eight had half killed or injured.

The higher the level of treasure material or opportunity, the greater the danger. This is the fundamental reason why our Hongtian team’s casualty rate has always been criticized.” Nie Jinghong’s demeanor suddenly changed, fully invoking his Middle Stage of Golden Core power.

Li Jizhou nodded slightly, moving closer to the Spirit Rat and puppet, with the puppet already holding several defensive Tier Three Mid-Stage Talismans.

The divine ability of the Tier Three Mid-Stage treasure-hunting Spirit Rat has a minor flaw: any treasure below its level doesn’t qualify as treasure in its perception.

In every treasure hunt, the minimum is Tier Three Mid-Stage treasures, often being Tier Three Advanced or even Quasi-Fourth Tier treasures.

This also leads to the team’s high casualty rate.

However, this fact is confidential and only known to those who truly join the team.

“Right below us!”

A moment later, the entire team adjusted its formation, with Copper Mountain and the teammate holding the Purple Gold Shield guarding the perimeter.

Nie Jinghong and Master Huangshi turned towards the inner circle, directly facing the black swamp water pointed by the Spirit Rat’s golden hair.

“Master Chong!” Master Duobao glanced at the seasoned Gu Master in the team.

The elder Gu Master sighed slightly, waved his hand, and a swarm of Insect Gu submerged into the black water.

A moment later, the Gu Master’s Divine Soul weakened suddenly, clearly suffering a backlash.

He then looked at Master Duobao and shook his head.

The Insect Gu he sent down had all died in the black swamp water, but merely due to the water and not any other attack.

“Hmm!” Master Duobao nodded to him, then looked towards the team’s third female cultivator.

This female cultivator, who often wore disguises and was taciturn, played her most significant role in the team with her top-grade Water Spirit Root, specializing in Water Element Cultivation Techniques, possessing numerous water element secret skills, especially effective in the swamp.

The Water Nymph nodded slightly, extending her hands slowly.

The black water of the swamp started to swirl, and moments later, a ten-foot diameter vacuum appeared in the swamp, reaching down to the swamp’s thousand-foot depth, then a torrential poisonous mist poured in.

Nie Jinghong exchanged a glance with Master Huangshi, and then took the lead to fly down.

Master Huangshi closely followed the Ghost Shadow Puppet and flew down too.

After eliminating visible threats, the twelve above descended one by one.

The formation then reverted to its original state, with Nie Jinghong wielding the Jinghong Spear at the forefront, Master Huangshi, Copper Mountain, and the cultivator holding the Purple Gold Shield guarding the outer circle.

In the inner circle, the Spirit Rat was heavily guarded, and the female cultivator with the Water Spirit Root sustained her water element secret skills, advancing step by step.

The swamp’s black water connects with the earth veins, the entire water body interlinked, ordinary cultivators dispelling the black water with great Magical Power can only clear the area around their body, and due to the water’s corrosive poison, it’s unsustainable.

The black water is no ordinary water, even regular water-element cultivators cannot control it with such large-scale, prolonged precision like this woman.

Below the swamp, the terrain was jagged with strange rocks, ravines crisscrossed, and many hidden rivers and caves spread throughout. Even with the Spirit Rat’s guidance within a hundred-foot radius, the team searched for half a day.

Finally, they arrived outside a cave, and the Spirit Rat became particularly excited.

The frequency of the trembling gold hair on its head reached the utmost limit.

“The cave is winding and impenetrable!” said the woman with the yellow face, her Spiritual Eye flickering as she shook her head.

The Gu Master hesitated no longer and once again released a swarm of Insect Gu into the cave.

However, moments later, he squinted slightly, unable to sense where the Insect Gu had gone.

“Retreat!” Master Duobao pondered for a moment and then took the lead to stand outside the cave.

“Clang~”

The next moment, nine flashing artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts of various spiritual glows flew out in succession.

Instantly protecting Master Duobao, among them were exotic treasures that could withstand Divine Soul attacks, defensive heavy treasures with an earthy yellow glow, and Top-Grade Spiritual Artifacts no less sharp than Nie Jinghong’s Jinghong Spear… Just a slight sense was enough to perceive the extraordinariness of the nine treasures.

This was the origin of the title “Master Duobao.”

Moreover, these nine treasures were just the tip of the iceberg of all the treasures he had collected.

It was said that most of his treasures had been damaged, lost, or sold over the years, but he still had many today.

Releasing nine at once was only because his Late Stage of Core Formation strength made it difficult to simultaneously control too many high-tier Spiritual Artifacts and exotic treasures.

Being able to fully control nine Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact level treasures was credit to the “Art of Weapon Derivation,” his main cultivation technique.

With the protection of nine Spiritual Artifacts and the hope of treasures inside the cave, Master Duobao took the lead and walked in.

The others locked their Divine Sense onto him.

“Whoosh~”

However, just as he stepped into the cave less than a hundred steps, his presence suddenly disappeared.

All connections with his Divine Sense broke without any warning.

“Secret realm relics type treasure!”

Everyone immediately concluded.

“It’s actually not heavenly treasures but a secret realm! No wonder there are no high-tier demon beasts guarding outside.”

“No wonder the gold reacted so strongly!”

“Although not all secret realms in the marshland are filled with heaven-defying opportunities, it’s unheard of for any secret realm to be barren, and this time is indeed auspicious.”

…

Most of the opportunities in the marshland were heavenly treasures submerged in the depths of the black water.

Any materials and great medicines above Tier Three were considered opportunities.

But the greatest opportunities were certainly the tombs, relics, and secret realms deeply buried within the earth’s veins and emerging at this place with the earth’s veins’ movements.

The Hongtian team became all excited.

Because if they only found specific treasures, the team’s collective harvest would be distributed according to contribution.

For example, if today’s find was just a piece of treasure material, the fourteen members could only cut it into several parts for distribution or trade compensations among themselves.

But if it were a secret realm type of treasure, entering it would not only mean numerous treasures but also the chance of benefiting based on one’s own fortune.

However, they also became more cautious.

Opportunities often come with crises!

“Such a secret realm with obvious spatial transmission effects is likely to scatter, so once inside, every man for himself!”

“Act according to circumstances, good luck to everyone!”

“I can’t hold on much longer, go in quickly!”

…

Facing the secret realm, nearly no one hesitated, and they all stepped in.

Master Huangshi decisively put away his puppet and followed in.

When they reached a hundred steps into the cave, without the slightest warning, an invisible force of space distortion occurred.

The next moment, Li Jizhou felt a spatial intertwining, and the puppet had already arrived in an unknown space filled with ruins of broken walls.

Almost simultaneously, the Ghost Shadow Puppet was instantly released, standing by his side.

Seated steadily in Liuli’s courtyard, Li Jizhou immediately ended his cultivation, fully linking his Divine Soul to the puppet.

“Such heavy Evil Qi!” Li Jizhou thought to himself.

Looking around, a barren sight met his eyes, with broken walls and remnants scattered everywhere, amid various shattered buildings. Upon closer inspection, this place must once have been a prosperous Immortal City formed of palaces.

Moreover, it was even more radiant and glorious than the most bustling Liuyun City he had seen.

The ruined halls were even more grand and majestic than the City Lord’s Mansion of Liuyun City, resembling the structures of an emperor’s Imperial City.

“Friend Huang!” Suddenly, a deep voice called out.

Li Jizhou turned his puppet’s head to look, and a hundred feet away, the figure of the Water Element female cultivator appeared.

It was only then that he realized that his tree ring’s perception had lost its effect here, and even the power of time within the rings had no response.

His Divine Sense was also confined within a ten-foot radius.

“Friend Mu, do you have any guesses about this place?” asked Li Jizhou cautiously, observing the approaching Master Mu.

“If I am not mistaken, this should be a relic from an ancient Dynasty in Central State!”

“A relic of a Dynasty in ancient times from Central State!” Li Jizhou’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep