Three Clans Fight for Treasure, Guixu Enters Quietly

Inside the Northern Dark Water Palace, it was even more vast than it appeared from outside.

After passing through the shattered stone gate, the group found an independent body of water before them.

The waters floated amid an ancient palace complex.

The palaces had long since fallen into ruin.

Countless stone pillars had broken apart.

The walls were covered in claw marks left by ferocious beasts and ancient formation patterns.

Most of those formation patterns had already failed, yet they still radiated a chilling aura.

The moment Lan Shuang stepped inside, the Book of Cause and Effect trembled softly.

"There are many Baleful Fiendish Remnant Causes here."

She warned them quietly.

"Don't touch anything in the water palace carelessly."

Han Jue had been staring at a broken halberd embedded in the stone wall.

Hearing Lan Shuang's words, he immediately withdrew his hand.

Ao Lie saw this and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Rare. You actually listen to advice now."

Han Jue replied blandly, "I am merely following the Emperor's decree."

Ao Lie said, "You weren't this steady before."

Han Jue glanced at him.

"I'm improving."

Ancestor Xuan Jia followed slowly behind them.

"It's a good thing to learn how to be steady."

Lady Mingzhu, meanwhile, observed the flow of the surrounding water veins as they moved.

She was skilled at sensing treasures and quickly discovered the patterns within the water palace.

"These palaces may look chaotic, but they are actually layered according to the water veins."

"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl should be where the water veins converge."

Lan Shuang nodded.

"Can you find the route?"

Lady Mingzhu closed her eyes for a moment, then raised her hand and pointed toward a broken corridor on the left.

"This way."

Han Jue looked toward the main hall directly ahead.

The spiritual light there was denser, and it looked more like where a treasure would be hidden.

Ao Lie smiled faintly.

"You want to take the front entrance?"

Han Jue fell silent for a moment.

"We'll go as Lady Mingzhu says."

A trace of surprise flashed through Ao Lie's eyes.

This guy had truly become much steadier.

The Guixu group did not head for the main hall.

They followed the broken corridor on the left, bypassing several side halls that appeared to be blazing with treasure light.

Not long afterward, rumbling sounds came from afar.

The Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan had triggered the restrictions.

In one side hall, dozens of baleful water arrows erupted.

Those water arrows carried power that corroded the Primordial Spirit. Even a Golden Immortal struck by them would suffer damage to their foundation.

The Dragon Clan elites roared in fury.

Ao Yin's face turned livid with rage.

"Damn it! Why haven't the restrictions in this water palace failed yet?"

On the other side, Lin Yue of the Qilin Clan had also run into trouble.

They had assumed that medicinal herbs from the water palace were hidden in a treasure pool overflowing with spiritual light.

Instead, a ferocious beast's phantom had been sealed beneath the pool.

After the phantom burst out, it directly devoured the cultivation power of two Qilin Clan cultivators.

Only after Lin Yue personally intervened was it suppressed.

The Frost Phoenix Lineage of the Phoenix Clan was not having an easy time either.

Feng Li was much more cautious, but the Frostflame they cultivated clashed with the water palace's yin-baleful aura, slowing their advance.

The Guixu group, on the other hand, avoided most of the restrictions by following Lady Mingzhu's judgment.

They took detours all the way. It seemed slow, but it was actually the safest route.

Listening to the distant explosions behind them, Han Jue suddenly felt a little reflective.

"The Emperor was right. If we can avoid battle, we should avoid it."

"If we forced our way through these restrictions head-on, we would suffer too."

Ao Lie nodded.

"Being first to fight does not mean being first to obtain."

Han Jue looked at him.

"That doesn't sound like something you would say."

Ao Lie replied calmly, "After guarding Dragon-Suppressing Pass for so many years, I had to learn something."

Ancestor Xuan Jia chuckled.

"It's good that you can learn."

Ao Lie's expression darkened.

He always felt that this old turtle was taking advantage of him.

The group continued onward.

Along the way, Lady Mingzhu constantly identified the water veins.

Lan Shuang used the Book of Cause and Effect to reveal the dangers in the remnants of ancient formations.

Ancestor Xuan Jia was responsible for defense.

Han Jue and Ao Lie stood to the left and right, leading the Realm Guard and preparing for sudden dangers at any moment.

This coordination was somewhat awkward at first.

But as they avoided several dangerous places, the entire group gradually became more harmonious.

This was where the Guixu Guardian Team's advantage emerged.

Their cultivation was inferior to the elites of the three clans.

If taken individually, many of them could not even defeat an ordinary Dragon Clan elite.

But they excelled at formation coordination, defense, retreat, and covering one another.

Whenever danger arose, the Realm Guard's first instinct was not to charge forward and fight desperately, but to form a formation and protect the group first, then let Lan Shuang determine whether they should continue.

This style was completely different from that of the three clans.

Within the water palace,

the Dragon Clan preferred to force their way through.

The Qilin Clan valued breaking formations head-on.

Although the Phoenix Clan was cautious, they carried a strong bloodline pride and were unwilling to take lengthy detours.

The Guixu group, however, cared nothing for appearances.

If they could detour ten miles, they would not waste another move fighting.

If they could use the Book of Cause and Effect to see things clearly, they would never use lives to test the path.

This approach gradually made Feng Li, who had been watching them in secret, frown.

Leading the Frost Phoenix Lineage, she watched from afar as the Guixu group bypassed another side hall.

At first, she thought Guixu was cowardly.

But when she saw that side hall collapse with a thunderous crash a quarter of an hour later, spewing vast amounts of baleful poisonous water, her gaze turned serious.

"They saw the danger in advance."

A member of the Frost Phoenix Clan said softly, "Clan Sister, Guixu's Book of Cause and Effect is very strange."

Feng Li nodded.

"And that lady of the Mystic Clam Tribe is exceptionally accurate in judging water veins and treasure aura."

"The Guixu clans may not be top-tier in cultivation, but they work together very well."

"It is as though they have specifically trained together to avoid calamities and explore dangerous places."

At that point, a thought suddenly arose in Feng Li's heart.

Was this truly a refuge faction hastily assembled on the spot?

Why did they act with such order?

And why did every step they took carry such remarkable steadiness?

Behind this, there was likely no shortage of guidance from the Mysterious Abyss Emperor.

Feng Li recalled the information sent back by her clan.

The Mysterious Abyss Emperor slept within Guixu and was said to be in the Seclusion Realm.

She had originally only half believed it.

But looking at the Guixu group now, the doubts in her heart lessened instead.

The temperament of a faction often came from its leader.

The people of Guixu were so steady; that Emperor was likely no ordinary great power.

Thinking this, Feng Li said to the clansmen behind her, "Follow the Guixu group."

"Don't get too close."

"Whichever way they go, we go the same way."

The Frost Phoenix Clan members were slightly stunned.

"Clan Sister, wouldn't that be..."

Phoenix Li's tone remained calm.

"Reaching the core alive is more important than saving face."

The Frost Phoenix Clan members said no more.

The Phoenix Clan began taking detours along the Guixu route.

Lan Shuang quickly noticed this.

Han Jue looked back.

"The Frost Phoenix Lineage has followed us."

Ao Lie frowned.

"Should we drive them away?"

Lan Shuang shook her head.

"They are only following from a distance. They have not tried to seize anything or provoke us."

"Leave them alone for now."

Ancestor Xuan Jia said slowly, "That girl Feng Li is not simple."

"For her to set aside the Phoenix Clan's pride and follow us shows that she is smarter than Ao Yin of the Dragon Clan and Lin Yue."

Ao Lie's mouth twitched.

"If you want to insult Ao Yin, insult Ao Yin. Why drag the Dragon Clan into it?"

Ancestor Xuan Jia replied blandly, "I am merely stating facts."

Ao Lie snorted coldly.

Before long, the Guixu group arrived at a dark water corridor.

At the end of the corridor stood a massive Blackwater altar.

Above the altar floated a dark blue pearl.

Within the pearl, a miniature sea seemed to flow slowly.

With every flow, the violent surrounding water veins calmed slightly.

Lady Mingzhu's eyes lit up.

"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl."

Han Jue gripped his spear tightly.

"We finally found it."

But Lan Shuang did not step forward immediately.

The Book of Cause and Effect flipped wildly in her hands.

Black-and-white radiance fell upon the altar.

The next moment, everyone's expressions changed.

Beneath the altar, a mass of pitch-black remnant soul was coiled.

That remnant soul had merged with the Blackwater. Its aura was ancient, chaotic, and greedy.

A crimson eye opened from within the Blackwater.

It stared at the Guixu group, especially at the Book of Cause and Effect in Lan Shuang's hand.

Then its gaze passed over everyone, as though searching for some deeper aura.

"Guixu..."

"Black Tortoise..."

"That old bastard is still asleep?"

The voice was hoarse, laden with hatred suppressed for countless ages.

Lan Shuang's heart jolted.

This remnant soul of a ferocious beast actually knew the Emperor?

Just then, the sound of water breaking came from behind them.

The Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Qilin Clan experts also arrived at the core region one after another.

When Ao Yin saw the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, greed blazed in his eyes.

"The treasure is here!"

Lin Yue stepped forward as well.

"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl belongs to the Qilin Clan."

Phoenix Li, however, looked at that mass of black-water remnant soul, her expression grave.

"Don't move yet."

Unfortunately, Ao Yin could no longer restrain himself.

He raised his hand directly, his dragon claw reaching for the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl.

The next moment.

The black-water remnant soul opened its enormous mouth.

In a single bite, it devoured half of Ao Yin's power.

Ao Yin's expression changed drastically.

"What is this thing?"

The black-water remnant soul let out a strange laugh.

"The taste of the Dragon Clan..."

"It's still as disgusting as ever."

The entire core altar was instantly drowned in a savage, baleful aura.