Exploring the Holy Land Relic Again

The other two top powers in Jiancheng, upon discovering that both of the Sky Domain Sect's Spirit Condensation Realm Great Powers had died by your hand, and even Zhang Quanjian, a late-stage Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator, had not escaped, gained a profound understanding of your strength.

Watching your actions against the Sky Domain Sect disciples, they were naturally terrified into silence, not daring to move, let alone speak a word of criticism against you. At the same time, they immediately dispatched sect Elders to the Ye Family to build goodwill, sending a large number of treasures upon their departure.

You made no move against these two powers. Though you knew they too likely had people steeped in wrongdoing, you hadn't witnessed it, and for now, they hadn't provoked you, so you had no intention of striking at them.

Of course, the main reason was that the true power in Jiancheng lay with the officials—the City Lord's Mansion. Your attack on the Sky Domain Sect could be justified as self-defense after they tried to seize your blessed land, but if you struck at the other two powers without cause, it would be hard to guarantee that the Yang Prefecture Governor and Inspector wouldn't turn their attention to you.

After clearing up the Sky Domain Sect's affairs, you once again hauled away their accumulated wealth and treasure vaults from tens of thousands of years, adding them to the Ye Family's foundation. In the vault, you found many of the Earth Grade Treasure Medicines needed to refine a High-grade Earth Grade Nirvana Treasure Pill. Combined with what you'd already gathered, you only needed three more types of Earth Grade Treasure Medicines to complete the materials.

Under your tutelage, Zhang Tianhuo had already become skilled at refining Earth Grade Low-rank Treasure Pills a few years ago, and now he could easily produce Earth Origin Treasure Pills. Though the High-grade Earth Grade Nirvana Pill was difficult to refine, you believed that given time, Zhang Tianhuo would be able to manage it.

You had full confidence in Zhang Tianhuo's alchemy talent, as you intended for him to eventually refine Heaven Grade Treasure Pills for you, and even Saint Grade holy medicines in the distant future.

After all, Zhang Tianhuo was not only your disciple but also your son-in-law. Compared to having an outsider refine pills for you, someone from your own circle was far more trustworthy. This child had grown up under your watch.

In the one hundred and fortieth year, after absorbing the Bloodline Essence you released upon breaking through to the Spirit Condensation Realm, Ye Ping'an, Ye Pingjing, and Ye Chen all saw a massive boost in their cultivation.

Among them, Ye Chen was the first to break through to the Void God Realm, while Ye Ping'an reached the late-stage Heavenly Origin Realm, and Ye Pingjing advanced to the mid-stage Heavenly Origin Realm.

That same year, with Ye Chen's help as a new Void God Realm expert, you no longer needed to exhaust yourself guarding the territory. Many matters could now be handled by Ye Chen.

In the two hundred and fifth year, your cultivation rose to the mid-stage Spirit Condensation Realm. After more than a hundred years of slow improvement, your Thousand Mountains Twilight Snow finally broke through to the Return to Simplicity realm, greatly enhancing your strength.

In the two hundred and thirteenth year, the Holy Land Relic appeared once again within Yang Prefecture. Having prepared in advance, you arrived half a day before the Secret Realm opened and, as soon as it did, entered without hesitation.

This time, you had no interest in other materials, not even Earth Grade Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. You rushed at top speed to the teleportation formation you remembered. After entering the inner room, you once again collected the High-grade Earth Grade Calming Heart Bed, the High-grade Earth Grade Sun Moon Pot, the two-to-three-hundred-year-old Heavenly Dao Tea Leaves, the Mid-grade Earth Grade Alchemy Furnace, and the three Low-grade Heaven Grade Longevity Pills placed near the furnace.

After taking these treasures, you also retrieved the original Earth Grade Gathering Yuan Art manual and the Half-Saint Artifact Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard. You held the chessboard in your hand, not intending to store it in your Storage Treasure, as you would need it for further exploration of the inner area.

This time, your strength was sufficient to allow you to explore the inner area of the relic. Even if you encountered a powerful enemy, with the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard in hand, escaping wouldn't be too difficult.

This was also why you hadn't brought Ye Ping'an and Ye Chen, who had already broken through to the Void God Realm. Their strength wasn't enough to explore the inner area.

After leaving the room, unlike the first time, you immediately encountered a late-stage Spirit Condensation Realm Ghost Soul.

Only powerful Martial Artists above the Void God Realm, in specific locations, could give rise to Ghost Souls. If a corpse wasn't properly handled and absorbed enough Yin energy, the chance of it turning into a Ghost Soul increased significantly. Among these, Extreme Yin Lands had the highest concentration of Ghost Souls and Specters. In such places, any corpse left untreated would give birth to Ghost Species.

The strength of a Ghost Species upon birth was related to its former life. The stronger the living being, the stronger the Ghost Species. Most Ghost Species that emerged had no intelligence, acting only on instinct, with only a few rare exceptions. Only these rare Ghost Species could be called Ghost Cultivators, capable of cultivation.

Aside from these rare Ghost Species, all normally born Ghost Species could not cultivate. They remained at the realm they held in life, and their combat strength was generally slightly weaker than that of ordinary Martial Artists. However, their abilities were insidious and hard to guard against, and carelessness could lead to significant losses.

The Ghost Species you encountered after leaving the room appeared to have no intelligence—just an ordinary Specter. Not wanting to cause a commotion, and with your time being precious, you needed to search ahead of others to maximize your gains and avoid competition.

You skillfully used the second ability of the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard to trap the Specter. Before it could break free, you struck with full force. In less than half an hour, the powerful Specter dissipated into the void, never to revive.

After dealing with the late-stage Spirit Condensation Realm Specter, you expended ten years of your lifespan to use the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard, seeking the correct direction to find treasures. With the boost from your lifespan, the chessboard's abilities were greatly enhanced. Though not at its peak, its predictions were now impossible to be wrong.

Following the chessboard's guidance, you headed west. After passing through two forests and flying over dozens of large mountains, you arrived outside a room. Your eyes lit up at the sight. In all your time in the relic, you had rarely seen dwellings, and most dwellings usually yielded good rewards.

The room before you was protected by a formation. You used the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard again to find its weak point. Though the formation's grade was extremely high, after so many years of erosion, its energy was far from its original strength. With no one controlling it, you easily broke through with the chessboard's help.

You hadn't expected to encounter such a treasure so soon. You sensed that this formation itself was a Half-Saint Artifact, no simple matter.

As you had guessed, this Holy Land Relic had been opened several times before. A few people had discovered this room, but none could break the formation. When they entered the relic, the formation's power hadn't yet degraded so severely, and the room's energy supply was still sufficient. Moreover, they weren't skilled in formations and lacked a treasure like the Heavenly Mechanism Chessboard to find the formation's weaknesses and break through.

After deciphering the formation, you saw a Medicine Field. Due to the passage of time, the medicinal herbs here were extremely old. Even ordinary Herbs, if they had survived until now, would have tens of thousands of years of potency and would not be low in grade.

Though many of the spiritual herbs in this field had died, a considerable number remained. Most were Earth Grade Treasure Medicines. Among the Heaven Grade Treasure Medicines, you recognized twenty-three, with over a dozen more you couldn't identify. You knew few Saint Grade medicines, recognizing only three common ones from ancient texts. The other two you had never seen before. Truly, knowledge is power—you regretted not reading more. After returning, you would definitely collect a large number of books and study herbal knowledge.