"Ding..."
A clear, lingering chime rang through the sky. Vast swaths of copper coins rained down from above like a shower of gold, and when they struck the ground, they produced bursts of crisp clinking.
After countless copper coins fell to the ground, they slowly dissipated into nothingness. The barrier shrouding the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb had long since vanished, while the Yin Qi began to diminish at a furious rate. Vitality flourished, and spiritual energy surged forth like a great flood.
In the blink of an eye, scattered patches of green appeared throughout the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb. In another blink, that faint greenery became ripples that swept outward. In no more than one or two breaths, the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb had completely shed its gloomy atmosphere, transforming into a vibrant mountain range blanketed in vegetation.
Even the hills within the wild grave forest became lush and verdant. Saplings rose from the earth one after another, and within only a few breaths, they had grown into towering trees dozens of meters high.
When the rain of copper coins finally faded, a single glittering golden Copper Coin floated in midair, growing larger and larger until it became a massive coin a hundred zhang across. Four ancient characters were inscribed upon it: Good Fortune and Treasure. Its golden radiance seemed even more dazzling than the blazing sun.
Spiritual light overflowed from the square hole at its center, spreading into ripples. A middle-aged man draped in gold and silver, Bao Yu hanging from his waist and four gemstone rings adorning his fingers, emerged from within with a general's belly and a broad smile. His upstart magnate aura shot straight into the heavens...
"Gold paves the way, Good Fortune and Treasure!" Treasurer Qian's face lit up with delight. Even his fleeing steps halted as he rubbed his hands gleefully. "I never thought the Great Shopkeeper would emerge from seclusion and personally hurry here!"
The Great Shopkeeper cultivated the Cosmos One Qi Great Art. Just as in business, it emphasized both incoming and outgoing gains. To absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, one had to know how to give up heaven and earth's bounty in order to advance swiftly and stabilize one's realm. That rain of money was a secret art of the Cosmos One Qi Great Art—scattering money to buy spiritual energy, nurturing fortune and giving birth to life. When encountering a dead land like the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, he naturally would not let it pass by.
"Hahaha, this old man was willing to spend a Good Fortune and Treasure coin to cross the void, yet I never expected the Spirit Platform Saintess to be willing to deploy eight dragon steeds and the Five-Colored Seven-Fragrance Carriage. And the Great Elder of the Profound Heaven Holy Sect even managed to invite the Kun Demon King to personally escort him. How disrespectful, how disrespectful." The fat man with the aura of an upstart magnate stood in the air and laughed heartily. Behind him, the Good Fortune and Treasure coin shattered with a thunderous boom, turning to dust.
This ancient Good Fortune and Treasure coin treasure could only be used once...
Even in the wealthy Ten Thousand Eternity Commerce, it could not be casually used unless the matter was extremely urgent.
"Treasurer Jin is wealthy and powerful, so naturally he can bear to spend it. This old man lacks such a treasure, so I could only exhaust my sweet words to trouble the Kun Demon King into stretching his limbs."
Before the man could be seen, his voice arrived, vast and rolling like galloping thunder. Only then did a spot of light flash three times in succession amid the pitch-black curtain at the horizon, arriving at the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb. When the light faded, an elderly man in black robes appeared out of thin air, his beard and hair snow-white, his face as tender as an infant's.
At that moment, the torn sky at the horizon slowly closed, and everything returned to calm.
"Purple Firmament Dao Lord's tomb has appeared in this world, so naturally we dared not neglect it. Yet after coming here and observing for a moment, I found that the rumors were mistaken. This place is likely not Purple Firmament Dao Lord's tomb, but a contingency he left behind—a place specifically meant to select a successor." A soft yet chilly voice drifted from the Seven Fragrance Carriage, like spring water tinkling and flowing forth.
The instant those words were spoken, Treasurer Jin and the Great Elder were both startled. Divine light flickered in their eyes like blazing suns as they gazed toward the abyss.
Only after a moment did Treasurer Jin let out a long sigh. "A miscalculation, a miscalculation. I had long heard that the Spirit Platform Saintess was astonishingly gifted, a heaven-blessed talent. Ever since she entered the world, the Spirit Platform Holy Sect has never selected another generation of Holy Maiden. I never expected her gaze to be like a torch, seeing through everything as clearly as fire, and to discern it before the two of us."
"So it is indeed so. This is merely a place for selecting a successor, though it cannot be said that we have gained nothing." The Great Elder of the Profound Heaven Holy Sect stroked his beard and nodded, with little disappointment on his face. "When Purple Firmament Dao Lord passed away, it happened too suddenly. He had no time to arrange many contingencies. The entrance here was transformed from a secret treasure, and there must be a secret realm within. The rumored fragments of the Purple Firmament Dao Scripture must also be inside. If we join forces, we should be able to break through by force."
"The Great Elder speaks reasonably." Treasurer Jin was the first to nod in agreement.
"Reasonable." The Spirit Platform Saintess also agreed.
At once, divine light surged. Within the Seven Fragrance Carriage, rosy clouds transformed into a rainbow and plunged into the abyss.
Treasurer Jin's eyes snapped open, transforming into two glittering golden Copper Coin phantoms. The phantoms burst from his eyes, their light dazzling as they became a half-black, half-white Copper Coin that dropped into the abyss.
The Great Elder reached out and made a grasping motion. The void before him immediately rippled and transformed into a boundless starry sky. A massive hand, as though it intended to crush the heavens themselves, followed the methods of the two before him and descended into the abyss.
The three shouted in unison. Divine light surged within the black abyss, rippling outward in vast waves and soaring straight into the sky.
"This secret treasure is extraordinary. It has actually transformed into the entrance of a secret realm and connected itself to the realm, allowing it to borrow the power of the entire secret realm. Everyone, exert yourselves together!" A furious roar sounded from the sky, and the light within the abyss deepened further as spiritual radiance erupted forth.
The mere escaping shockwaves reduced the Ghost City ahead to dust in an instant. One Line Sky, which had endured countless years of water erosion, vanished without a sound. Mountains shattered, and the waters flowed backward.
Xu Shen, Bai Yunfei, Treasurer Qian, and the many ghost creatures had already retreated far away, yet they were still sent flying backward by the escaping shockwaves.
More than half of the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, which stretched for a hundred li, was reduced to flying ash. The earth was effortlessly flattened as well. The Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, which had already developed a third of the mysteries of a secret realm, was completely beaten back to its original form at this moment...
The many ghost creatures that had been blasted away flew through the air, their mouths twitching, yet none dared utter a word. They merely looked at the foot-tall black acacia tree resting in their palms and let out a faint sigh...
On the abyss's side, layers of earth had been stripped away, leaving only the circular abyss behind. Once the stone fragments dispersed, a wooden cylinder a hundred zhang tall stood within the great pit, ancient in appearance and simply patterned.
"This secret treasure is actually... a penholder?" Treasurer Jin was quite taken aback as he stared at it...
"That does make sense. This penholder is overflowing with righteous Qi, ancient and restrained, impervious to all evil. It is likely one of the Desk Five Treasures belonging to some great ancient cultivator with divine abilities. With it as the entrance, fiends, ghosts, and specters naturally cannot enter. Those who can enter are all people who meet the qualifications to be selected as successors." The Great Elder stroked his beard and nodded, a trace of realization appearing on his face.
"You two, after subduing this Penholder Secret Treasure, could you yield it to me? I will compensate you both with other items." The Spirit Platform Saintess suddenly spoke.
"Certainly." It was only a penholder. Though it was an ancient secret treasure, compared to the things within the secret realm, it was naturally not especially precious. The two did not compete over it and readily agreed.
Entering the palace? Not happening. When I started this book, I had two openings, and the other one was First-Rank Forceful King. I knew First-Rank Forceful King would have performed better than this one, but I still posted this one. Maybe my brain short-circuited... Also, please give it a favorite and some recommendation votes. Muah.