Driving Back Soul Tian Di, Discovering the Hidden Treasure Vault

Lin Yang had little Dou Qi left in his body. Gritting his teeth, he burned a drop of blood essence and unleashed two Ancient Dragon Sky-Splitting Claws to meet the attack head-on.

The four attacks collided, and another terrifying storm of energy erupted.

Soul Tian Di still deployed the Heavenly Soul Shield.

Lin Yang gritted his teeth and endured it head-on.

Gu Yuan, meanwhile, directly raised the Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer before him and used it to block the attack.

The Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer was the Artifact Emperor's crowning masterpiece. Its hardness even far surpassed that of the golden puppet.

As the energy storm dispersed, Gu Yuan's eyes flickered. He immediately hurled the Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer toward Lin Yang.

"Lin Yang, use this. It can attack and defend. One blow from that hammer, and Soul Tian Di won't be able to withstand it."

Lin Yang caught the massive hammer in one hand. A stream of law power hummed and flowed within it.

At the sight of the massive hammer, Soul Tian Di's eyes heated up. He immediately burned a drop of blood essence and lunged fiercely at Lin Yang.

The two Immortal King phantoms condensed a pair of enormous black hands that grabbed toward Lin Yang, clearly intending to seize the hammer.

Lin Yang sneered and swung the massive hammer, shattering the black hands with a single blow.

"W-What?!" Soul Tian Di's expression froze when the giant hands were destroyed in one strike.

Not bad. It truly deserves to be called the Artifact Emperor's treasured hammer. Lin Yang gave it an inward thumbs-up.

As soon as he spoke, Lin Yang flashed forward and wildly attacked Soul Tian Di with the massive hammer.

The hammer was incomparably hard, nearly indestructible. For a time, Soul Tian Di was beaten back step by step.

Lin Yang's lips kept curling upward as the massive hammer whistled through the air with ferocious force, never pausing for even an instant.

Soul Tian Di finally could not take it any longer. He charged straight out of the space, deciding to flee. If he remained any longer, Lin Yang would sooner or later take him down.

Seeing this, Lin Yang increased the speed of his swings by another degree.

Only after Soul Tian Di escaped the space did Lin Yang finally stop.

It was not that he did not want to pursue him. He had burned blood essence, and chasing after him to fight desperately would only waste it. The loss would outweigh the gain.

Lin Yang put away the massive hammer and slowly let out a breath.

"Lin Yang, we finally drove that guy away." Gu Yuan came over, also breathing a sigh of relief.

After calming down, Lin Yang swept his gaze around the space several times. Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Patriarch Gu Yuan, were there only one massive hammer and half a strand of Source Qi on the third level?"

Gu Yuan nodded slightly. "Yes, that was all. Could Soul Tian Di have already taken the other things? After all, by the time we arrived, he was already about to enter the third level."

Lin Yang shook his head. "Soul Tian Di probably did not take much. I think there may be a hidden treasure vault somewhere in this space. Let's search carefully."

Gu Yuan's gaze shifted. "Is that so? Then let's search thoroughly."

The two immediately began searching everywhere.

Half an hour later, Lin Yang suddenly noticed that there was something wrong with a spatial barrier in a corner of the second level.

He immediately took out the Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer and smashed it down.

With one blow, a crack appeared in the spatial barrier. Lin Yang continued striking it several more times.

The spatial barrier suddenly shattered, revealing a small space within.

Lin Yang hurriedly called out to Gu Yuan, "Patriarch Gu Yuan, I found it."

Gu Yuan flashed over and swept his eyes across it, a smile appearing on his face. "There really is one. Lin Yang, hurry in and take a look."

Lin Yang entered the small space first. The moment he stepped inside, countless treasure lights instantly dazzled both of them.

Lin Yang and Gu Yuan stood with their mouths open, unable to utter a sound for a long while.

After a long time, Lin Yang took a deep breath and said, "Patriarch Gu Yuan, we've struck it rich. There are at least a dozen Emperor-grade artifacts here, and countless Heaven-tier weapons—at least several hundred."

"Yes, we've truly struck it rich."

As soon as he spoke, Lin Yang and Gu Yuan immediately began selecting treasures.

Lin Yang chose a fire-attributed Emperor-grade longsword. Five words were engraved upon the blade: Purple-Gold Azure Sun Sword.

With a light flick of his finger, the blade gave off a clear hum. Lin Yang guessed that this sword was made from the same material as the Purple-Gold Glazed Hammer.

Its power was surely extraordinary.

After putting away the Purple-Gold Azure Sun Sword, Lin Yang chose another set of Emperor-grade armor.

It consisted of five pieces: an upper garment, lower garment, head-and-shoulder piece, belt, and boots.

Once all five pieces were worn, they protected his entire body completely.

The armor was silver-white throughout. Lin Yang did not know what material it was made from, but he could sense that its defensive power was astonishing.

It should not be inferior to the Purple-Gold Azure Sun Sword.

After making his selections, Lin Yang also chose a set of Heaven-tier soft armor and an Emperor-grade saber for Xiao Yan.

He left all the rest for Gu Yuan.

Once Gu Yuan saw that Lin Yang had finished choosing, he swept everything remaining into his storage ring in one go.

Afterward, the two no longer lingered and headed to Sky City.

Lin Yang had promised Black Dragon Venerable some rewards. Now that they had obtained the inheritance, it was time to make good on it.

Above Sky City, Gu Yuan casually tossed several Heaven-tier weapons and a realm-breaking medicinal pill to Black Dragon Venerable.

Then, he and Lin Yang tore open a spatial rift and departed, returning to the Central Plains.

Elsewhere.

After leaving Black Dragon Island, Soul Tian Di returned to the Nalan Clan with a face full of rage.

He had been on the verge of obtaining the inheritance, only for Lin Yang and Gu Yuan to catch him off guard with a counterattack.

Soul Tian Di was furious beyond measure.

But what could he do?

At that moment, the Great Villain System suddenly issued a mission. "Ding! Detected that the host is furious. The system has generated a compensation mission. Please proceed to the Flame Clan and capture Lin Yang's wife, Fire Spirit Fairy. Upon completion, you will be rewarded with the Nine Nether Reincarnation Map."

The anger in Soul Tian Di's heart eased slightly. A compensation mission was not bad.

"Lin Yang, I never expected you to form a marriage alliance with the Flame Clan. Once I recover from my injuries, I'll capture your wife and see whether you hand over the inheritance."

Flame Clan.

Ever since completing their trade of the Ancient Emperor Jade with Lin Yang, Yan Jin and Fire Spirit Fairy had entered seclusion.

Yan Jin and Fire Spirit Fairy had both cultivated the Holy Sun Fire-Swallowing Art. Every day, they devoured beast flames, raising their cultivation bit by bit.

More than half of the Flame Clan's members had been dispatched to gather beast flames throughout the continent.

In the blink of an eye, seven days had passed.

Above the Flame Realm, space suddenly tore open, and an aura far surpassing Yan Jin's descended abruptly.

The arrival was naturally Soul Tian Di.

The entire Flame Clan was instantly alarmed, and the clan-protecting formation immediately activated.

However, the clan-protecting formation, which could withstand the full-force strike of a peak nine-star Dou Saint—

Under a single palm strike from Soul Tian Di empowered by the Immortal King's Corpse Shroud, it shattered with a thunderous boom.

The entire Flame Clan was shaken.

Inside the secret chamber, Yan Jin forcibly interrupted his devouring of flames and immediately emerged from seclusion to confront Soul Tian Di. Fire Spirit Fairy came out with him.

"Soul Tian Di, our Flame Clan has already traded the Ancient Emperor Jade to Lin Yang. What are you here for now?" Yan Jin demanded angrily.

"Hehehe, Yan Jin, I did not come for the Ancient Emperor Jade. Today, I can spare your lives, but I must take Fire Spirit Fairy with me. Otherwise, I will surely exterminate your Flame Clan." Soul Tian Di gave a sinister, chilling laugh.

The reason he left the Flame Clan a chance to survive was not because he had suddenly become merciful or generous. He was worried about negotiating with Lin Yang. If he had already exterminated the Flame Clan, Lin Yang would definitely erupt completely and fight him to the death.

After all, Lin Yang had already obtained that massive hammer. Soul Tian Di was currently no match for him.

Yan Jin's expression darkened. He had been too anxious just now and had not even considered Fire Spirit Fairy.

Soul Tian Di had come to capture Fire Spirit Fairy in order to threaten Lin Yang.

What should he do?

Yan Jin's heart was in utter turmoil. Soul Tian Di could break the clan-protecting formation with one palm strike. Even if the entire Flame Clan mobilized, they likely could not defeat him. Forcing a fight would only cause needless casualties.

But handing over Fire Spirit Fairy? How could that be possible? If he did, Lin Yang would probably hate him to death.

"Yan Jin, I'll count to five. If you refuse, do not blame me for being unable to hold back and exterminating you all," Soul Tian Di said coldly.

However, at that moment, space suddenly tore open, and Lin Yang and Gu Yuan stepped out into the air.

Two hours earlier, Lin Yang had suddenly received a system mission to rescue Fire Spirit Fairy, so he and Gu Yuan had rushed over without stopping.

Fortunately, they had arrived in time and caught up just in time.