True Treasure, Seven-Kill Sword Casket!

Inside the ruined temple, it was pitch-black.

By the moonlight, Jiang Yuan made out the state of the temple.

The temple was small. A decrepit statue stood in the center, with an offering table before it, thick with dust.

Straw, scraps of cloth, and several wine jars lay scattered across the floor.

Everything looked utterly ordinary.

Jiang Yuan frowned, suspecting that his guess had been wrong.

Had Xue Tu truly been here by coincidence?

Was this simply an utterly ordinary ruined temple?

Jiang Yuan did not leave in a hurry. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused his senses.

The Primordial Sword Body had given him not only talent in the sword, but senses keener than those of ordinary people.

He could feel a faint, barely perceptible presence within this ruined temple.

"Could it be here?"

Jiang Yuan opened his eyes and looked toward the statue at the very front. Its eyes seemed to have been watching him all along, which made it look rather strange.

Could it be a mechanism?

A thought stirred in Jiang Yuan's heart. He reached out and tapped the statue's eyeballs.

Thud, thud, thud—

The next moment, the statue actually began to tremble. Then it started rotating in place, revealing a deep, shadowy passage beneath it.

The passage was narrow, allowing only one person through at a time.

It was pitch-black inside, impossible to tell how deep it went.

Jiang Yuan hesitated briefly, but still jumped in. After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the view before him suddenly opened up!

It was an underground stone chamber. It was not large, but it was piled full of things.

Gold and silver treasures, medicinal pills, spirit stones, cultivation manuals, secret tomes, weapons, and blades—too many to count!

This stockpile was likely no less impressive than the treasury of the City Lord's Manor.

Jiang Yuan sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes filled with shock. "Th-this... could this be the Blood-Clad Cult's treasure vault?"

No wonder.

No wonder the Azure Profound Sect disciples and the Black Market had both wanted a share of the spoils. The collection here was unbelievably abundant!

Just how many people had these demons killed?

"Who's inside?"

At that moment, an angry shout came from the passage entrance. Several figures immediately filed in one after another, making quite a commotion.

"They found me so quickly?"

Jiang Yuan's expression shifted slightly, but he soon understood.

This was Xue Tu's tactic of luring the tiger from the mountain!

Knowing that he was no match for the combined forces of the Azure Profound Sect and the Black Market, he had deliberately pretended to flee in defeat while secretly sending people back to move the treasures here.

What a cunning scheme!

Jiang Yuan's gaze sharpened. He hid in a corner of the stone chamber, quietly gripping the Evergreen Sword in his hand, waiting for them to deliver themselves to him.

"Strange. No one?"

Before long, several Blood-Clad Slaves entered the stone chamber. They looked around, but found no trace of anyone.

"Impossible. The statue above was clearly opened."

"Who could it be?"

"Be careful. That person may still be here."

As they spoke.

Whoosh!

A flash of sword light suddenly streaked out. A figure appeared like a phantom, and the blade gleamed through the darkness.

Then came a burst of screams.

"Arghhh!!"

In an instant, Jiang Yuan had slain several Blood-Clad Slaves. He was so fast that it happened in the blink of an eye, leaving them no time to react.

"Am I dead?"

One Blood-Clad Slave whose head had been severed from his body watched his own falling corpse, his face full of disbelief.

That sword was far too fast.

"This place isn't safe to stay in."

After killing them, Jiang Yuan sheathed his sword and continued deeper inside, intending to take some treasures and leave.

At that moment, he discovered a strange sword casket.

The sword casket was ancient and weathered, carved with intricate patterns and emitting faint ripples of spiritual energy. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object.

"Could it be a true treasure?"

Jiang Yuan's heart stirred. He reached out and picked up the sword casket, studying it for a while, yet finding no clue to its workings.

Still, he was absolutely certain.

This had to be an extremely rare true treasure.

A true treasure was a treasure operated with true qi, tailored specifically for martial artists. Its value was beyond estimation.

Forget it. I'll take it first and worry later!

Jiang Yuan did not hesitate. He tucked the sword casket into his robes and turned to leave.

Besides the sword casket, he took several medicinal pills and cultivation manuals that appeared especially valuable, leaving everything else untouched.

It was not that he did not want to take more.

He simply could not.

He could not carry it all.

Once the others came to their senses, this place would be discovered sooner or later.

Whether the Blood-Clad Cult returned to kill him or the Azure Profound Sect and Black Market came back to investigate, it would be difficult for him to escape.

Those who bite off more than they can chew cannot swallow it.

If he was taking anything, he could only take the most valuable items!

That was the only way he could leave quickly!

Jiang Yuan was about to leave when he suddenly stepped on a strange floor tile. Its color seemed somewhat different from the others.

Thud, thud—

The next moment, the wall at the end of the stone chamber split apart to either side, revealing yet another passage!

"Gasp!"

Jiang Yuan's heart tightened. He had not expected this treasure chamber to conceal another world within it. It was truly astonishing.

This passage was narrower and darker than the last.

Could there be even better treasures inside?

Jiang Yuan hesitated, but still walked in.

The treasure was right before his eyes.

If Heaven did not grant it, how could one take it? If Heaven granted it and one refused, one would surely suffer its blame!

After Jiang Yuan entered, he heard a bang, and the hidden door behind him closed once more.

"No way back?"

Jiang Yuan frowned. He had not expected the mechanism to be so exquisitely designed.

The passage was long and winding. He walked for roughly half an hour, yet still had not reached the end, as though it were endless.

Another half hour passed.

At last, light appeared ahead.

Jiang Yuan let out a breath of relief and cautiously stepped out of the passage, only to suddenly find the place before him somewhat familiar.

When he looked up, his face changed.

This was actually the rear courtyard of the City Lord's Manor!

"This..."

The hairs on Jiang Yuan's body stood on end, and a chill ran down his back.

The demon cult's treasure vault led directly to the City Lord's Manor?

Damn it, was this something he was supposed to know?

Right!

If that was the case, then everything made sense.

With the power controlled by the City Lord's Manor, it could never have allowed a Blood-Clad Cult force like this to wreak havoc within the city. Nor could it have merely sent wandering martial artists to deal with the matter.

Unless someone had secretly permitted it...

The more Jiang Yuan thought about it, the more terrifying it became. He did not dare dwell on it any further.

Leave. He had to leave immediately!

By the time Jiang Yuan returned to the teahouse, dawn was nearly breaking.

He did not alert anyone. He quietly returned to his room and shut the door.

Then he took out the sword casket from his robes.

Jiang Yuan examined it carefully and discovered that the patterns were not decorations, but some kind of sealing formation.

He tried channeling true qi into it.

A faint halo appeared over the surface of the sword casket, but quickly vanished.

It still would not open.

This was probably why the casket had been left in the stone chamber. Xue Tu and the others likewise had no idea how to open it.

At that moment, a line of illusory words suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[ Ding, a true treasure has been detected. ]

[ Seven-Kill Sword Casket (high-grade true treasure): This casket is made from South Sea Divine Wood and is indestructible. Sealed within are seven flying swords painstakingly refined by a grandmaster of the Sword Dao. They may be activated with sword intent. ]

What the hell?

Jiang Yuan was startled. This sword casket had such an incredible origin?

Only those above the middle three realms could be called martial arts grandmasters. What kind of existence would dare call himself a grandmaster of the Sword Dao?

Such an existence could likely rank among the top five in the entire Great Qian Kingdom.

They might even all be figures of legend...

"I struck it rich."

Jiang Yuan's eyes gleamed with excitement. This risky trip had not only not been for nothing—he had made a killing.