Xu Chen only glanced at it and had no intention of interfering. He looked deep into the main hall, where more a dozen passages branched out toward the depths of the Shui Mansion. Instead of hesitating over which passage to take, Xu Chen trusted his most instinctive intuition and chose the third passage on the left.
The passage was littered with corpses. Some martial artists, heavily wounded and still breathing, lay on the ground, groaning in agony. Xu Chen saw some people who specialized in hunting down the heavily wounded and dying, killing them to loot their wealth, while others made a living by stripping corpses. There were even groups teaming up to hunt others.
Resources in the Shui Mansion were limited. Only a select few had the qualification to fight for the greatest treasures. With impure motives, some people began to target others, killing them to plunder their wealth.
More than ten thousand martial artists had poured into the Shui Mansion. Even if each person carried only thirty or fifty spirit stones, the total sum was astronomical. Realizing this, Xu Chen's expression turned slightly grave. Watching the martial artists constantly shuttling through the passage, he grew inwardly on guard.
Sounds of fighting came from ahead. Three people were ganging up on one. Soon, the besieged person died a tragic death under their joint attack.
After stripping the dead person of their wealth, the three men cast malicious glances at Xu Chen.
"Hand over your Storage Ring, or die!"
The short-built man got straight to the point, speaking in a harsh tone. As he spoke, the three of them quietly closed in on Xu Chen. The moment Xu Chen showed any sign of being ungrateful for a way out, they would strike ruthlessly without hesitation. They had done this more than once; already, no fewer than ten people had died at the hands of these three brothers since entering the Shui Mansion.
Xu Chen looked at the three approaching men and coldly spat out two words:
"Courting death!"
*Bang, bang, bang!*
Raising his hand, he struck three consecutive palms. The terrifying palm force, like a hurricane or thunder, blasted the three of them flying backward. They crashed against the stone walls of the corridor, and the cracking of stone walls and the snapping of bones sounded simultaneously.
The arrogant trio suffered complete fractures all over their bodies and died on the spot, breathing their last.
Casually killing the three men, Xu Chen clenched his hand into a fist, and a suction force emanated from his palm. The next moment, three Storage Rings appeared in his hand.
Injecting a sliver of Spiritual Power into the Storage Rings, a faint smile played at the corners of Xu Chen's mouth. The spirit stones in these three rings were truly numerous; clearly, they had killed quite a few people.
However, all of that now belonged to him.
Farther away, people with malicious intentions who had witnessed Xu Chen kill the three men with a flick of his hand turned pale with fright and quickly scattered, no longer daring to harbor any ideas about him.
Sensing that all the prying gazes hidden in the dark had withdrawn, Xu Chen strode toward the depths of the corridor.
This time, before he had walked very far, fierce sounds of fighting came from ahead once again. Quickening his pace, Xu Chen discovered that the sounds were coming from a stone chamber.
"Du Zhong, I clearly saw this gourd first. Seeing that we both belong to the eight great clans, let this gourd be mine, and I'll owe you a favor. How about it?"
Tang Mo said loudly.
"Bah!"
Du Zhong spat on the ground and said, "Tang Mo, how much is your favor worth? The gourd is filled with mid-grade Spiritual Liquid, which is worth a fortune. You expect me to back down with just a word? Do you take me for a fool?"
"It seems we have nothing to talk about, then."
Tang Mo said in a frigid tone.
Du Zhong stepped forward. At the same time, the clan members following behind Tang Mo and Du Zhong all drew their sabers and swords.
The atmosphere in the stone chamber was charged with tension, ready to snap!
Just as the two sides were about to erupt into a life-and-death conflict, footsteps suddenly echoed from outside the stone chamber.
"If you don't want to die, get lost right now!"
Without even looking at the person at the door, Tang Mo shouted coldly to drive them away.
However, the footsteps did not recede; instead, they grew closer and closer. Finally, a figure appeared at the entrance of the stone chamber.
Seeing that the person at the door had treated his warning as wind passing the ear, a flash of coldness crossed Tang Mo's eyes. He turned his head to glare at the newcomer, only to find that the visitor was a youth and not a disciple of any major sect, meaning he had nothing to worry about.
"Scram!"
Suppressing his temper, he waved his hand to chase him away.
Xu Chen turned a deaf ear. His gaze remained locked on the jade-skinned gourd in Tang Mo's hand.
Mid-grade Spiritual Liquid inside a jade-skinned gourd? A whole gourd of mid-grade Spiritual Liquid was worth no less than one hundred thousand spirit stones. No wonder the disciples of the Tang and Du clans were fighting tooth and nail over it.
"Good words cannot persuade a damned ghost! Kid, I gave you two chances, but you don't know how to cherish them!"
Murderous intent surged in Tang Mo's heart.
"Kill him!"
A Tang family disciple stepped out, drew his saber, and slashed toward Xu Chen.
*Bang! Crack!*
The saber was met with resistance and snapped in two!
And the Tang family disciple who had slashed at Xu Chen trembled, looking down to find that the broken blade had stabbed straight into his chest. He had actually died by his own weapon.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, the man slowly collapsed to the ground, full of resentment.
Tang Mo froze slightly. He had never expected that an ordinary-looking youth would actually dare to kill a member of the Tang family. His expression turned stern, and murderous intent surged in his eyes.
"Hack him to pieces!"
At his command, the Tang family disciples all drew their weapons and swarmed Xu Chen from all directions.
Most of the Tang family disciples were in the Qi Condensation Realm. Though numerous, they posed little threat to Xu Chen.
With a flicker of his body, Xu Chen vanished from the spot, and the incoming attacks all missed.
Almost at the same time, Xu Chen ghosted in front of one of them. Under the man's bewildered gaze, he clenched his fist into an imprint and threw a direct punch.
*Crack!*
The head exploded like a watermelon. Blood splattered everywhere. The headless corpse swayed and dropped straight to the ground.
Another kill in a single exchange. Clean and neat, without a trace of hesitation.
*Bang!*
*Puff!*
Spiritual Power surged into Xu Chen's right leg as he lashed out with a fierce kick. With a loud *bang*, a burst of bloody mist exploded from the waist of a martial artist at the First Layer of Qi Condensation Realm, and his body flew backward uncontrollably like a kite with a broken string.
At this moment, Xu Chen was like a fierce tiger descending the mountain, unstoppable.
In the space of a breath, three Tang family disciples were dead and two were injured.
Seeing Xu Chen acting like a god of slaughter, Tang Mo's eyelids twitched. "Du Zhong, this guy is a tough nut to crack. You and I will join forces to kill him, and then we'll split the Spiritual Liquid equally. What do you say?"
Realizing the threat Xu Chen posed, Tang Mo actually proposed teaming up with Du Zhong.
Yet Du Zhong wore a cold sneer and rejected Tang Mo's proposal: "This person has no enmity with my Du family. Why should I team up with you?"
"You..." Tang Mo was boiling with rage. He shot a vicious glare at Du Zhong, then drew his long saber. As Spiritual Power surged wildly, he cleaved downward with a single slash. The sharp blade qi tore through the air, emitting a piercing sound as it attempted to split Xu Chen in two from head to toe.
"Die!"
A hoarse roar tore from his throat.
*Puff!*
With a swift hand-blade, Xu Chen severed a man's neck, then tapped his foot to nimbly dodge the descending blade.
"Third Layer of Qi Condensation Realm, nothing special!"
Xu Chen said calmly.
With that, pitch-black Spiritual Power surged over both his hands as he slapped a palm toward Tang Mo.
Tang Mo countered with a reverse slash, the blade shining with brilliant sword qi as it viciously hacked toward Xu Chen's palm.
*Bang!*
Palm and blade collided, and a deep thud rang out.
Just as Tang Mo pulled back his blade to strike again, his expression abruptly shifted. To his shock, the long saber seemed to be firmly adhered to the opponent's palm, making it impossible for him to retrieve his weapon.
Sensing disaster, he prepared to let go of the saber and leap back, only to discover with horror that a terrifying suction force was emanating from the hilt, firmly trapping his right hand. Under this pull, the Spiritual Power within his body began flowing uncontrollably into the hilt.
He struggled with all his might, but to no avail.
Within a breath, a full third of his internal Spiritual Power had vanished. If this deadlock continued, he would sooner or later be sucked dry into a mummy.
"Hand over the Spiritual Liquid, and I'll spare your life!"
Xu Chen said indifferently.
Tang Mo's expression flickered continuously. Finally, he flicked his left hand, hurling the jade-skinned gourd straight toward Du Zhong.
Never had Du Zhong imagined that Tang Mo would so easily hand over the Spiritual Liquid. Reaching out to catch the jade-skinned gourd, he still felt a sense of unreality.
The jade-skinned gourd they had nearly killed each other over had fallen into his hands just like that.
Yet the next moment, Du Zhong's expression warped.
Because Xu Chen had abandoned Tang Mo and was charging straight at him.
Xu Chen's speed was terrifying. Before Du Zhong could react, he had already closed in right before him.
"You dare?!"
How could he surrender the Spiritual Liquid that had just fallen into his hands? Du Zhong roared in fury and threw a punch straight at Xu Chen's face.
Xu Chen neither dodged nor evaded, meeting the blow head-on with his own punch.
*Boom!*
Du Zhong was struck as if by a heavy blow, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth, and his body flew backward like a cannonball. At the same time, the jade-skinned gourd slipped from his grasp.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Xu Chen snatched the jade-skinned gourd, stashed it into his Storage Ring, and then flashed out of the stone chamber in a blur.
Climbing up from the ground, Du Zhong turned pale with rage upon seeing that Xu Chen had already departed.
***
Leaving the stone chamber, Xu Chen continued running wildly toward the depths of the Shui Mansion.
Ten minutes later, Xu Chen spotted another stone chamber. As he approached, he was surprised to find that the material of the stone door was quite unusual—a rather rare Azure Spirit Stone.
Azure Spirit Stone was comparable to metal in hardness and possessed exceptionally high spiritual conductivity, usually used for setting up formations.
Walking closer, Xu Chen said pleasantly surprised: "There is a seal on the stone door, and the seal is intact, undamaged. This means the treasures inside the stone chamber are completely preserved and haven't been ransacked!"
Xu Chen was overjoyed. There must be good things hidden inside the chamber.
Clenching his fists, he impatiently slammed a punch onto the stone door, wanting to break it open with brute force.
*Boom!*
That full-powered punch had enough destructive force to shatter a millstone-sized boulder. Yet when it landed on the stone door, the door did not budge in the slightest.
Not only did he fail to shake the door by even a fraction, but Xu Chen himself was pushed back a step by the backlash, his internal blood qi churning.
"The seal is too strong. No wonder it managed to remain intact. I suppose I wasn't the only one to discover this chamber before; others must have found it too, but failing to break the seal, they could only leave in bitter disappointment."
At this thought, instead of losing heart, Xu Chen grew even more excited. The stronger the seal, the more precious the treasures hidden inside the stone chamber must be!
*Boom, boom, boom, boom!*
channeling his Spiritual Power, he unleashed several punches in succession, making the air crackle with sonic booms, but the stone door remained stubbornly motionless.
*Cough!* Xu Chen coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The seal on the stone door not only possessed terrifying defensive capabilities but also a headache-inducing recoil effect that faithfully bounced all attacks back onto the attacker. In other words, the stronger Xu Chen's attack, the more horrifying the rebound force he suffered.
"This seal... I'm afraid only a martial artist in the True Qi Realm could break it!"
Xu Chen frowned deeply.
Brute force couldn't shatter it, and he didn't know how to crack formations—did he really have to give up?
"Right, let's try this method!"
After a brief moment of contemplation, Xu Chen extended his right hand, pressing his palm flat against the stone door.
The next instant, he activated the Devouring Emperor Technique.
A terrifying devouring force erupted from his palm.
The seal on the stone door had endured through god knows how many years. Even if it could still function, just how much residual energy could possibly remain?
As long as he devoured the energy of the seal, once deprived of energy supply, the seal would crumble on its own.
***
The pure residual energy within the seal was swallowed by Xu Chen bit by bit. As time passed, the aura emanating from Xu Chen grew stronger and stronger.
His cultivation realm gradually climbed from the early stage of the First Layer of Qi Condensation Realm to the middle stage, then the late stage, and peak...
Feeling his cultivation skyrocket at such a pace, Xu Chen was overjoyed; this alone saved him thousands of spirit stones.
The energy within the seal far exceeded his expectations. Even if there were nothing of value behind the stone door, this trip would still have been worth it.
*Crack!*
With an almost imperceptible sound from within his body, Xu Chen took another step forward, breaking through to the Second Layer of Qi Condensation Realm!
And it wasn't over yet!
Early stage of the Second Layer of Qi Condensation Realm... middle stage... late stage...
As he devoured more and more energy, Xu Chen stopped rejoicing and instead grew uneasy, because he sensed that the seal's energy seemed endless.
"Why?"
"This defies logic. The reason the Shui Mansion appeared was because the energy maintaining its operation had been exhausted, but the seal on this stone door is clearly connected to a massive 'energy pool', and the energy inside is inexhaustible."
"With such a colossal 'energy pool', the Shui Mansion shouldn't have opened at this time!"
Just as Xu Chen frowned in thought, the stone door shuddered violently. Immediately afterward, the seal rapidly weakened.
"What's going on?"
"Has the seal's energy finally run out?"
Xu Chen was both startled and delighted. Putting strength into his palm, he gave a heavy push. With a creaking groan, stripped of the seal's reinforcement, the stone door was slowly pushed open by Xu Chen.
Pushing aside his doubts, Xu Chen stepped inside.
This was a stone chamber measuring about one hundred square meters. The surrounding walls were embedded with fist-sized sunstones.
In the center of the chamber stood a bronze tripod, more than two meters tall, its body engraved with countless runes. In front of the bronze tripod rested two large chests and one small chest.
Holding his breath, Xu Chen walked over and opened the first large chest on the left.
The chest was piled high with neatly cut spirit stones. Compared to lower-grade spirit stones, the ones in this chest were much more crystal-clear and emitted a far purer spiritual aura.
*Gulp!*
Xu Chen swallowed hard.
"Middle-grade spirit stones!"
The spirit stones in the chest were unquestionably mid-grade. Spirit stones were divided into four grades: lower, middle, upper, and supreme. Lower-grade stones were the worst, and supreme-grade stones were the best. One mid-grade spirit stone could be exchanged for ten lower-grade ones, though nobody would actually do that.
The large chest laid out before Xu Chen right now contained at least one hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Converted into lower-grade spirit stones, that was a million!
What kind of concept was that? The ten thousand-strong army that had poured into the Shui Mansion probably didn't even possess a million spirit stones altogether.
Quickly packing away both the chest and the stones, Xu Chen reached out with slightly trembling hands and opened the second large chest.
The moment the chest opened, a wave of heat hit his face. The ambient temperature in the stone chamber instantly rose by several degrees. The interior of the chest glowed a fiery red.
"Fire Crystals?"
Seeing the contents of the chest, Xu Chen was once again shocked. Fire Crystals were a type of fire-attribute crystal, an indispensable material for alchemists when refining pills. Fire Crystals also had grades, and the ones in this chest were mid-grade. Their value even surpassed that of mid-grade spirit stones.
With a dry throat, Xu Chen packed away the second large chest.
Finally, his gaze landed on the third chest. Compared to the first two, this one was significantly smaller.
*Creak~*
The chest slowly opened. Xu Chen couldn't help drawing a sharp breath.
"Mystic-grade intermediate spiritual herb, Nine-Tailed Sunflower Grass; Mystic-grade primary spiritual herb, Life-Prolonging Fruit; Mystic-grade primary spiritual herb, Everlasting Flower; Mystic-grade intermediate..."
A total of seventeen spiritual herbs, every single one of them a Mystic-grade spiritual herb, were worth a fortune.
"Spirit stones, Fire Crystals, spiritual herbs... The master of the Shui Mansion was truly extravagant. The entire net worth of an ordinary True Qi Realm martial artist probably doesn't even amount to one-tenth of this."
"The master of the Shui Mansion must have been far stronger than the True Qi Realm while alive."
Walking up to the bronze tripod, Xu Chen reached out to touch it, and his expression changed. The tripod still retained residual warmth.
He carefully inspected the tripod. "A Spirit Artifact! This is a Spirit Artifact!"
Joy bloomed across Xu Chen's face.
"Could the master of the Shui Mansion have used a Spirit Artifact tripod for alchemy?"
"After countless years have passed, the tripod still retains a trace of warmth."
"Then, are the pills inside the tripod already refined, or did the attempt fail?"
Xu Chen lifted the lid of the tripod and looked inside. At the bottom of the cauldron lay three reddish pills, glowing with luster.
"There really are pills!"
Scooping the pills into his palm, Xu Chen inspected them closely. The next second, the name slipped past his lips.
"Three-Turn Longevity Pill!"
Earth-grade primary pill!
A martial artist who consumed the Three-Turn Longevity Pill could extend their life by three Jiazi—one hundred and eighty years!
A true fortune, priceless beyond measure. It was a rare, miraculous elixir that couldn't be bought even with spirit stones.
With burning eyes, Xu Chen stared at the three bright red Three-Turn Longevity Pills. He had previously been forced to take the Life-Burning Pill, which had overdrawn his lifespan. Although inheriting the Devouring Great Emperor's legacy had restored a portion of it, he still had a deficit.
Now, it was resolved. Consuming a Three-Turn Longevity Pill would not only completely make up for the damage caused by the Life-Burning Pill, but his lifespan would also dramatically increase as a result.
Opening his mouth, he tossed one of the Three-Turn Longevity Pills inside.
The pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth. The warm medicinal power bloomed and rapidly spread throughout his entire body.
*Tap, tap, tap!*
His ears suddenly twitched. He caught the sound of faint footsteps. Someone was approaching.
With a wave of his large hand, Xu Chen swept away the bronze tripod, dashed out of the stone chamber, and left without looking back.
The moment Xu Chen departed, a group of people arrived.
"We're late. This stone chamber has also been completely ransacked. Let's go, to the next one."
Just as this group prepared to leave, a figure completely wrapped in a black robe materialized at the entrance of the stone chamber, blocking their path.
"Hand over the Thunder Fire Tripod and the Three-Turn Longevity Pills, and I'll spare your lives!"
The Black-robed Man said coldly.
"What Thunder Fire Tripod? What Three-Turn Longevity Pills?"
"Playing ghosts!"
"Get lost right now, or don't blame us for being impolite!"
The group inside the chamber wasn't intimidated in the slightest and shouted sternly.
"Stubborn fools!"
The Black-robed Man waved his hand. Black fog surged, engulfing the entire stone chamber. Screams rang out instantly.
When the black fog dissipated, several corpses lay horizontally across the floor of the stone chamber. Under the gaze of the Black-robed Man, the corpses on the ground began to shrivel rapidly, their flesh vanishing until nothing was left but skeletons.
"The Blood Refining Formation is already running. Everyone who dies in the Shui Mansion will be refined by the formation."
"There are tens of thousands of martial artists who entered the Shui Mansion. Though most are in the Qi Condensation Realm, refining them will still be enough to awaken the slumbering Blood Protector!"
"The Thunder Fire Tripod and the Three-Turn Longevity Pills are temporarily lost, but as long as that person hasn't left the Shui Mansion, they will eventually find their way back into my hands."
The Black-robed Man muttered softly.
"The battle on the other side should be starting soon, too!"
***
"This trip was far too worth it!"
Xu Chen sprinted through the corridor. He didn't linger along the way because most of the chambers further down were already ruined, holding no search value. Thus, running at full speed for roughly a quarter of an hour, he finally spotted the exit to the seemingly endless corridor.
Hubbub, conversations, and curses converged into a roaring river of noise.
Slowing his pace, Xu Chen stepped out of the passage. Beyond the passage lay a massive hall capable of holding tens of thousands of people, surrounded by more than a dozen corridors.
This hall was the core area of the Shui Mansion. All the martial artists who had poured into the mansion—as long as they weren't dead—ultimately gathered here.
***
Inside the vast hall, quite a few figures were present, though compared to the total number who had entered, they were far fewer. Of the missing portion, a small fraction had yet to arrive, but the vast majority had likely become cold corpses.
Among the crowd, the four top experts led by Xiao Teng were the most distinctive. Within a ten-meter radius of where the four stood, no one dared to approach.
At this moment, everyone's gaze was fixed on the white light barrier suspended in mid-air within the hall.
Floating inside that white light barrier were seven weapons: a saber, a sword, a spear, a shield, armor, a hammer, and a bow.
The seven weapons hovered quietly in mid-air, radiating palpitations-inducing fluctuations.
"Spirit Artifacts!"
Gazing at the seven weapons in mid-air, Xu Chen's pupils involuntarily contracted. These seven weapons were all Spirit Artifacts!
"The master of this place is definitely not just a True Qi Realm martial artist."
Xu Chen grew even more certain of his guess. In Taishang Country, Spirit Artifacts were scarce; even a lower-grade Spirit Artifact could cause True Qi Realm martial artists to fight until their heads bled. Yet here, seven appeared all at once. Combined with the Spirit Artifact tripod he had obtained a moment ago, there were eight Spirit Artifacts in this Shui Mansion alone.