The trio stepped into the side chamber and were greeted by the sight of a grand hall, hundreds of meters in radius, supported by towering stone pillars that were dozens of meters high.
Everything, from the ground to the pillars to the walls, was filled with mysterious inscription patterns.
The designs spiderwebbed over every surface and filled every possible crack and crevice.
Dozens of chests, forged of pure gold, were scattered throughout the hall. Each one was tightly shut, concealing its contents from prying eyes. Embedded into the lid of each chest was a Luster Pearl, magnificent and dazzling to the eyes.
One could tell that the chestâs contents definitely werenât ordinary, just by looking at the craftsmanship of the chest.
Wu Yaziâs eyes glowed with greed when he laid eyes on the chests. He wanted to immediately rush forward and open them.
Nie Li extended a hand to stop Wu Yazi. âDo you want to die?â
âWhat?â Wu Yazi asked him in confusion.
âThe floor, the walls, and even the pillars are filled with inscription patterns. Those are all part of the Celestial Bound Inscription Pattern Array. One wrong step will set off the trap. The patterns will melt into formless chains that will bind you, causing you unable to breath and in the end, dying from burnout. And by that, I mean theyâll wring you out until even the last drop of flesh is gone from your body.â Nie Li answered darkly. âNot even Heavenly Axis nor Dao of Dragon Realm experts can escape it!â
Wu Yazi looked back at the densely packed designs on the wall, and his heart quivered. He stared at them for a moment, then shook his head and said, âIn that case, could we fly over them?â
Nie Li looked at Wu Yazi with a cold smile. âYou can try.â
Wu Yazi caught the message in Nie Liâs tone, so he asked, âThen, does that mean we canât get to those chests? Theyâre overflowing with Heavenly Energy, so there should definitely be some remarkable treasures inside. Itâd be such a waste to leave them!â
Nie Li looked back at him and said, âI did say that you canât walk around freely. But I didnât say that thereâs no way to get them. I told you to listen to me once we got inside, remember? But thereâs one other thing; how are we going to split the treasures after we get them? I wonât go for fifty-fifty!â
Wu Yazi was silent for a brief moment, then he raised his head and said, âFine. In that case, you guys can take the first pick. Sixty percent. Is that alright?â Wu Yazi still planned to kill Nie Li and Xiao Yu, and under those circumstances, heâd get the treasures back anyways. Therefore, it made no difference to him whether Nie Li and Xiao Yu got first pick.
Nie Li looked at Wu Yazi and said, âFirst pick? Thatâs not what I meant. I made a quick count; it looks like there are twenty-six Gold Jade Treasure Chests. We donât even know their contents. But whoever opens them gets the items. Does that sound fair?â
Wu Yazi thought things over briefly, then replied, âFair.â
âAlright then. Now you have to listen to my instructions. Take seven steps forward. Three to the right. Six forward⊠Make sure your steps are three feet wide!â Nie Li commanded.
Wu Yazi looked at Nie Li, then back at the inscription patterns. âIs that really going to work? Youâre not lying to me, right?â
This chamber was filled with Celestial Bound Inscription Pattern Array. One misstep and heâd be strangled to death. What if Nie Li was planning to use it to get rid of him?
Nie Li placated him. âDonât worry about that. Thereâs no benefit in killing you. Weâre just two Heavenly Fate Realm experts. Even if we got the treasures, we wouldnât be able to bring it out of the Void Illusionary Divine Palace without your backing. If we get killed during escape, then others would steal our treasures. We wouldnât do anything that stupid.â
Wu Yazi considered Nie Liâs words and realised that there was some sense in his logic. Without his protection, these two Heavenly Fate Realms definitely wouldnât be able to enter the Void Illusionary Divine Palace. His death wouldnât benefit Nie Li!
âAlright!â Wu Yazi replied, as he moved per Nie Liâs instructions.
Everything was just as Nie Li had said. The inscription patterns under him remained inactivated has he reached the first Gold Jade Treasure Chest, leaned down, and opened it.
A golden-armoured puppet popped out and brandished its fist towards Wu Yazi.
This puppet was at least of the Heavenly Axis Realm!
There was no treasure; instead, Wu Yazi had been attacked. Wu Yazi was surprised and he returned the puppetâs fist.
*Boom!*
A shockwave resulted from the powerful impact. Even though the golden-armoured puppet had a 5-stage Heavenly Axis Realm strength, it was still too weak compared to Wu Yazi. He destroyed it in a single punch.
Wu Yazi patted his chest, sighed in relief, and said, âThat startled me! There wasnât any treasure at all! I almost got killed by that damn thing instead!â
Nie Li smiled and said, âThe master of the Void Illusionary Divine Palace must be playing a prank on you! Stay where you are. Iâll let Xiao Yu go next!â
Wu Yazi called to them, âThere arenât any treasures in these chests, only these damned things. Youâre just a Heavenly Fate Realm. Arenât you afraid of getting killed? Itâll be safer if you leave them to me!â
âThe first chest has been opened. You can go ahead and take a step, but Iâll guarantee you a gruesome death! The only way you can move is if we open the second chest! Xiao Yu, make sure you move according to my instructions!â
Xiao Yu nodded. She didnât know if thereâd be another golden puppet hidden in the second chest, but she had extreme confidence in Nie Li; she didnât doubt his words in the slightest. Either way, the most that would happen was that sheâd be sent back upon death.
âForward three steps. Left six. Back two. Left threeâŠâ Nie Li commanded Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu moved forward, arrived before the second chest, and carefully lifted the lid.
A brilliant sheen lit the room and a majestic Heavenly Energy poured out, both stemming from the treasure within the chest.
Xiao Yu peered into the chest and exclaimed in astonishment, âTheyâre gold spiritual stone essences! There must be dozens of them!â
Gold spiritual stone essences are extremely rare and can be used for cultivation, much like ordinary spiritual stones. A single piece of gold spiritual stone essence is equivalent to a hundred spiritual stone essences, which is also equivalent to hundreds of thousands of regular spiritual stones. If used to forge artifacts, the results would be Grade 8 or 9, at the very least!
The Heavenly Energy had been thinning out over the past tens of thousands of years. Even regular spiritual stone essence had become hard to come by, not to mention gold spiritual stone essence!
Dozens of precious gold spiritual stone essence!
That was an absolutely frightening wealth!
Wu Yaziâs eyes turned red the instant he saw them. Even a single piece of gold spiritual stone essence would be extremely valuable, not to mention dozens of them!
Xiao Yu stored them away.
Wu Yazi watched Xiao Yu put the spiritual stone essences away in her interspatial ring, and couldnât help trying to console himself.
âItâs stored inside Xiao Yuâs ring, so itâll be mine, sooner or later!â He felt a little better when he thought that.
He couldnât wait to open another one. He then turned back to Nie Li and said, âHurry up, can we get to the third chest?â
Nie Li glanced at Wu Yazi and said, âThe third one is mineâŠâ before he took his steps toward the third treasure chest.