Divine Weapon Hall, Double-Headed Flame Lion

"The 'Divine Weapon Hall'? This should be where the Fire Spring Sect stored its weapons."

After following the mountain path on the left for a while, Shen Zhou and the others finally came upon a cave dwelling.

Built into the mountainside, the dwelling looked like a three-story building from the outside. Its design was ingenious and its shape unusual. However, after a thousand years, parts of it had fallen into disrepair, robbing it of some of its former grandeur. Even so, they could still see how much care the Fire Spring Sect had put into building it.

As soon as Meng Gang heard it was a place for storing weapons, he rubbed his hands together, eager to get inside. "Divine weapons! I'll have to take a good look and see what the ancient cultivators used a thousand years ago."

As he spoke, Meng Gang started to stride inside, but Old Man Ji grabbed him and scolded him. "Don't go rushing in. Since this is where divine weapons were stored, there could easily be traps or restrictions inside. Be careful."

Meng Gang's expression turned serious. He realized Old Man Ji had a point and immediately stopped.

The group then carefully entered the building. They didn't encounter any mechanisms or dangers along the way.

Once they stepped into the inner chamber, they found that it contained a world of its own.

As it turned out, the inside of the building was a vast cavern hollowed out of the mountain.

The first thing that caught their eyes was a huge furnace standing in the middle of the cavern.

The furnace stood about five meters tall on three legs and resembled a pill cauldron, but its body was riddled with openings. From a distance, they could see heaps of ash and scrap iron inside, along with a few half-forged iron blanks. All of them had been ruined.

Clearly, this was a furnace for smelting metal.

The cavern wasn't a place for storing divine weapons. It was where they had been forged.

Aside from the furnace in the center, there were many smaller forges and furnaces around it. But they had all collapsed, buried under dust and left in ruins.

After searching the entire cavern, the group didn't find any divine weapons—not even a half-finished one. They had no idea whether everything had been cleared out before the cataclysm.

"This place is so clean. Did the people of the Fire Spring Sect realize the cataclysm was coming and hide all the good stuff beforehand?"

After searching everywhere and coming up empty-handed, Meng Gang couldn't help grumbling.

"If the Fire Spring Sect had reacted before the cataclysm, they should have been able to survive it," Tang Shan said. "So how were they wiped out?"

Old Man Ji studied their surroundings, his brows furrowed. "Perhaps they knew the cataclysm was coming and made preparations in advance. But in the end, it was beyond anything they'd imagined. Even though they took precautions, it was all for nothing."

The others drew a quiet breath.

They had prepared and put up defenses ahead of time, and still the cataclysm had "swallowed" them whole. What kind of calamity could have done that?

Just as they were wondering what the Millennium Cataclysm had been, a series of clanging sounds rang out from the cavern.

Following the noise, they discovered Shen Zhou circling the huge furnace with the Taixuan Sword in hand, tapping and knocking on it from time to time as if testing its material.

Curious, Tang Shan walked over. "Shen Zhou, did you find something?"

Shen Zhou turned and grinned at him. "I did. I found that this huge furnace seems to be made of refined steel. The material looks pretty good, and it must count as an antique, right? If I take it out and sell it, it'll be worth a fortune!"

Tang Shan was dumbfounded.

What the hell? So that was why he'd been circling the furnace?

Old Man Ji and the Qin family elders were speechless too.

The place had already been emptied out. This huge thing was the only thing left, probably because it couldn't be moved. And now Shen Zhou had his eye on it.

He really wouldn't leave empty-handed!

Meng Gang was straightforward and said whatever came to mind. "Junior Brother, even if you want it, it's so huge. How are you going to take it with you?"

Shen Zhou waved the Taixuan Sword in his hand. "Don't worry. I have a way."

With that, he began communicating with the Sword Spirit inside the sword. "Hey, Sword Spirit, help me store this big guy away."

The Sword Spirit said nothing, pretending to be "dead" again.

Shen Zhou's tone immediately turned colder. "Don't tell me you want me to suppress you in the latrine?"

Sure enough, as soon as he said that, the Sword Spirit's furious voice rang out in Shen Zhou's mind. "You jerk! You only know how to threaten me with that!"

Shen Zhou grinned mischievously. "Never mind how I do it, as long as it works. So, are you going to store it or not?"

While Shen Zhou was negotiating with the Sword Spirit, screams and earth-shaking roars suddenly came from outside the Divine Weapon Hall.

Old Man Ji, Li Taohua, and the two Qin family elders immediately changed expressions.

"What happened?"

"Let's go take a look."

"Be careful!"

The group rushed outside at once.

Seeing that something was happening, Shen Zhou hurriedly urged the Sword Spirit to store the furnace away. Only then did he rush out of the Divine Weapon Hall with Tang Shan and Meng Gang.

As soon as Shen Zhou and the others emerged, they saw a two-headed lion chasing a group of martial artists along the mountain path ahead.

The beast was strange-looking and enormous, with a shoulder height of two meters and a powerful build. Its fur was like steel needles, and a fiery sheen shimmered over its body. Its two massive heads were as big as barrels, and its roars were terrifying.

As for the martial artists, they were probably unaffiliated cultivators who had entered the Secret Realm ahead of the Qin family. There were around a dozen of them, and they were now fleeing in a panic from the two-headed lion behind them. Seven or eight were injured, and the whole group was stumbling toward Shen Zhou and the others.

Seeing this, the Qin family's second elder's expression turned grave. "A Double-Headed Flame Lion. I can't believe a demon beast like this is still here!"

Shen Zhou pressed him for details. "Is this thing powerful?"

Qin Changfeng explained, "If demon beasts are ranked from one to nine, then judging by its aura, this huge fellow should be an eighth-level beast, on par with a martial artist at the Transformation Yuan Eighth Realm. But demon beasts have powerful bloodlines and monstrous physiques. Even someone at the Transformation Yuan Ninth Realm would have a hard time against it. It could even wrestle with a Celestial Firmament Realm expert."

Tang Shan and Meng Gang immediately drew in a sharp breath. "It's that strong?"

Old Man Ji's eyes gleamed. Delighted at the thought of a worthy challenge, he said, "The stronger, the better. The stronger the demon beast, the more nourishing its flesh and blood. This old man's cultivation has hit a bottleneck. If I kill this huge fellow and stew it into soup, I might just break through."

Shen Zhou was also eager for a fight. "My Golden Body Art has been stuck for ages too. Looks like it's time to make some progress!"

Seeing that Old Man Ji and Shen Zhou both saw the Double-Headed Flame Lion as a great tonic, the two Qin family elders were fired up too.

"Good," said Qin Yihu. "Since we came to search for treasure, there's no reason to let such a 'great tonic' get away. Let's take it down!"

As soon as they made up their minds, the unaffiliated cultivators fled up to them, shouting, "Help! Save us!"

Behind them, the two-headed lion lunged at the group with its jaws gaping wide.

Old Man Ji didn't even spare the cultivators a glance. He strode forward two steps, crouched slightly, and slowly gathered strength in his legs.

When the two-headed lion was almost upon him, his eyes suddenly flashed. He kicked off the ground, rocketing toward the beast like a cannonball, and shouted, "You beast, take my fist!"

His blood and qi exploded.

Old Man Ji's fist slammed into the two-headed lion's shoulder blade. The beast let out a muffled roar, then flew backward and crashed into the ground more than ten meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The power of Old Man Ji's punch was terrifying!

But the two-headed lion had thick skin and strong defenses. It had barely hit the ground before it shook its heads and got back up, apparently only dazed by the blow.

"This beast really is thick-skinned!"

Old Man Ji's gaze sharpened, but he wasn't the least bit flustered. If anything, his fighting spirit burned hotter.

"Let me!"

Seeing this, Shen Zhou raised his sword and prepared to hack the lion to pieces. Old Man Ji quickly stopped him. "Kid, cover me first. Let me trade a few blows with this beast."

Shen Zhou raised an eyebrow at Old Man Ji. "Old man, say so if you can't handle it. Don't go throwing your back out at your age."

Old Man Ji glared at him. "Kid, I was roaming Great Cang back when you were still nowhere to be found. Just watch and learn!"

Shen Zhou smiled and said no more.

He'd sparred with Old Man Ji before. The old man's body-refining strength at the peak of the Transformation Realm's eighth level was no exaggeration. Even if he couldn't beat the beast, he wouldn't get hurt, so Shen Zhou didn't interfere.

As they spoke, the two-headed lion had clearly been enraged by Old Man Ji. Once it recovered, it roared and pounced at him with claws out. It moved so quickly that it was no slower than Old Man Ji.

"Good! Come at me!"

Old Man Ji's fighting spirit surged. He channeled his essence force, swung his iron fists, and battled the two-headed lion.

Boom, boom, boom...

For a time, the sound of fists pounding before the Divine Weapon Hall rang out like a drum, each blow following the last.

Shen Zhou watched the fight closely, ready to jump in and help at any moment.

The two Qin family elders stayed alert, keeping watch for any other dangers nearby.

Qin Mingyue, Tang Shan, and Meng Gang kept their eyes on the unaffiliated cultivators. Once they saw the two-headed lion had been held off, the dozen or so cultivators stopped and began catching their breath and treating their wounds.

At the same time.

At the foot of the mountain beside the Artifact Refining Hall, a group from the Xu Family lay hidden, keeping out of sight.

Xu Baxia looked surprised when he saw the two-headed lion. "Why did that beast run over to the Artifact Refining Hall? The last time we explored the Secret Realm, I saw it in the Rear Mountain."

Xu You's expression shifted. "It's no matter. That beast is powerful, and even a Celestial Firmament Realm expert would struggle against it. It can give the Qin family a bit of trouble and wear them down. Besides, weren't we trying to lure the Qin family to the rear mountain? Looks like we can use this beast to draw them over."

Hearing this, Xu Baxia seemed to realize something. His expression changed. "Elder, are you planning to use the formation in the Fire Spring Sect's Rear Mountain Forbidden Ground against Shen Zhou?"

Xu You smiled faintly. "Young Master Baxia, this is all part of the clan head's plan. Shen Zhou has a Qin Family Divine Weapon. Taking him on directly would be too risky for us. But if he runs into the formations and restrictions the Fire Spring Sect set up a thousand years ago, then no matter how strong he is, he won't come out unscathed.

"Once he's badly wounded, that'll be the perfect chance for us to strike and seize the divine weapon!"

Xu Baxia's expression shook.

So his father had planned everything so carefully.

No wonder his father had said that once the Citywide Martial Hall Tournament was over, the Qin family might disappear for good.

If they really got their hands on the Qin Family Divine Weapon this time, the Qin family would be a lamb before a tiger in front of the Xu Family, with no hope of ever turning things around.

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