Ancient Daoist Temple

Xu Yan reached out with a hooked hand and swept the three men's Qiankun Bags into his sleeve. He then cast the Fireball Spell, erasing every trace at the scene.

Afterward, he immediately concealed his aura. Without lingering for even a moment, he headed deeper into the mountains.

Under the cold moonlight, the ravines and valleys of these mountains appeared bleak and sinister. The mountain paths twisted and wound as Xu Yan traveled northeast, while the Miaoyuan Edict sensed that the heavenly and earthly energies in that direction were exceptionally dense.

After traveling a hundred li, Xu Yan stopped to rest for a moment and sorted through the three men's Qiankun Bags.

They were collateral members of the Nine Star Kui Island clans. If they had resorted to robbing independent cultivators here, they presumably did not have much in savings.

There were eighty high-grade spirit stones in total, along with thirty-six low-grade spirit stones of mottled quality. Still, each of the three had a high-grade magical artifact, which was worth something. The rest consisted of pills for restoring spiritual power and healing injuries.

These things would have to be dealt with after he got out.

Xu Yan cautiously scanned them with his divine sense, transferring all valuables into his own Qiankun Bag before tossing away all three of their bags. Traces of divine sense imprints still remained on them.

Once he was done, his Dao body's spiritual power had nearly recovered as well.

Xu Yan rose to his feet and carefully rode the Mystic Qi, fleeing northeast.

After crossing more than a dozen of the most perilous mountains, Xu Yan's view abruptly opened up, and the heavenly and earthly energies grew several degrees denser.

He looked up and found that the sky seemed somewhat brighter.

There was no division between day and night within the Immortal Treasury. In the region where Xu Yan had started, he had never seen daylight at all.

Standing at the cliff's edge, Xu Yan gazed into the distance and spread out his divine sense. Faintly, he could make out ancient Daoist temples and pavilions far away.

He proceeded cautiously. After a while, the noisy sounds of discussion reached his ears.

Rather than approaching rashly, Xu Yan leaned behind a slope and poked his head out to look.

Below lay a gorge flanked by sheer cliffs, with an ancient Daoist temple nestled within. The temple occupied a considerable area, its four halls and pavilions linked together.

It was shrouded by an ancient formation. Formation patterns could vaguely be seen winding through the air, like an overturned bowl covering the Daoist temple.

At a glance, there were at least forty or fifty people.

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes and carefully studied them.

He spotted a familiar face—Yan Qihu!

He stood with more than a dozen independent cultivators, most of whom Xu Yan recognized.

Beyond them, the most conspicuous group was the disciples of Nine Star Kui Island. More than twenty of them stood in a grand procession, led by a young man in luxurious black robes, with a pattern of nine linked stars embroidered upon his cuffs.

His cultivation was the highest here, at the sixth level of Pulse Opening.

Besides them, several lone independent cultivators and clan members stood off to one side, observing.

Xu Yan pondered for a moment, then crossed the slope and flew toward Yan Qihu.

Hearing the movement, quite a few people turned to look.

"Brother Xu?!"

Yan Qihu was pleasantly surprised and immediately came forward to greet him. The other independent cultivators exchanged glances, their expressions varying.

Xu Yan landed, a smile appearing on his face as he cupped his hands in greeting. "Xu Yan greets you all, fellow Daoists!"

Yan Qihu looked Xu Yan up and down, his gaze trembling. "Brother Xu, you've opened your pulses? Excellent, excellent! If you travel with us, with your Mystic Gate arts to protect us, we will surely reap great gains within this Immortal Treasury!"

The other independent cultivators also stepped forward one after another, greeting Xu Yan.

Half-Immortal Xu's reputation at the Langya Immortal Inn was no small matter. Moreover, the Dharma King had given him guidance outside the Immortal Treasury before, drawing the attention of quite a few people.

Fortunately, those Daoists he had once swindled had not come to Dragon Spine Mountain. Otherwise, they would likely have sought Xu Yan out to settle accounts.

Still, ever since arriving at the outskirts of Dragon Spine Mountain half a year ago, he had restrained himself considerably.

After all, he intended to stay here for a long while. The original owner of this body was no fool; if he offended people, he would surely invite endless trouble.

Among this group of independent cultivators, the highest cultivation belonged to a middle-aged Daoist named Fang Che, at the third level of Pulse Opening. He had only arrived at the Langya Immortal Inn a month ago.

Xu Yan had once gone out with him and Yan Qihu to kill ghosts and evil spirits, so they were the most familiar with one another.

Fang Che's gaze was steady as he said, "Fellow Daoist Xu, your arrival is perfectly timed. There is only one layer left in this Primordial Dao Array before it disperses. Later, we will join forces and attack that final layer."

Hearing this, Xu Yan glanced from the corner of his eye at the Nine Star Kui Island disciples nearby and lowered his voice considerably. "Those clan people?"

"Rest assured, Brother Xu. Fellow Daoist Fang reached an agreement with those clan people several days ago. We will only take thirty percent of the spiritual treasures," Yan Qihu said.

"Without our aid, they would need several more days to break the ancient formation."

"We can wait, but that young master cannot..."

The independent cultivators looked toward the leader of Nine Star Kui Island.

Among those within the Immortal Treasury, the people at this Daoist temple were already rather far behind.

Put nicely, that young master was cautious. Put bluntly, he was scared. He did not dare contend with the other clan prodigies of his generation, nor did he dare venture deeper before gathering enough people.

He had already delayed six days gathering manpower. If he had to wait several more days, that young master would probably be hopping up and down in agitation.

"So that's how it is."

Xu Yan listened to them, deep in thought.

About half an hour later, the Primordial Dao Array suddenly shuddered. Countless runes shot into the sky before scattering like smoke and dust.

The formation's power weakened considerably once more. Xu Yan looked over and sensed with his divine sense that only the final layer of runic formation remained.

"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and attack together!"

As they spoke, someone among the clan members looked toward Xu Yan's group and barked the command, utterly impolite.

Fang Che and the others did not grow angry at his words.

They all took out their magical artifacts and unleashed their divine abilities, attacking the formation.

Xu Yan also made his move. Curling his fingers, he silently recited the incantation for the Fireball Spell.

Black spiritual power howled forth, gradually transforming into crimson fire-aspect spiritual power and gathering into a fireball.

Crackle, crackle. Intense heat burned fiercely. The advantage of the Primordial Spirit Vein was displayed to the fullest—it embraced all things. The power of this fire-aspect technique was not the least bit weak, but Xu Yan did not deliberately show off. The fireball looked rather ordinary, with little fanfare.

Bang!

Xu Yan's fireball, along with the divine abilities of more than a dozen other independent cultivators, slammed into the formation one after another. Several formation runes immediately shattered.

Seeing that the formation did not retaliate, the clan members also acted, unleashing their divine abilities.

With more than twenty people, their divine abilities were clearly far stronger than those of the independent cultivators. That clan young master remained extremely cautious, never making a move from beginning to end. He merely stood aside with his hands behind his back, watching with a cold expression.

The Primordial Dao Array teetered on the brink of collapse. The formation patterns winding through the air gradually shattered, turning into specks of golden light that dispersed.

After everyone waited quietly for another two hours, a soft sound rang out as the formation was completely broken. For a moment, the residual power of the formation transformed into a roaring gale, whipping dust and debris in every direction until it blotted out the sky and covered the earth.

At the instant the formation broke, Xu Yan's palm grew faintly hot. The Miaoyuan Edict appeared for an instant before Xu Yan immediately suppressed it with his divine sense. This Edict would only emerge on its own when it sensed a treasure of sufficient rank.

It seemed there was something good inside this Daoist temple. Xu Yan raised a brow as the thought crossed his mind.