After killing the two disciples of the Purple Mansion Holy Land, Lu Chen ventured deeper into the valley, following the Purple Mansion Holy Son's trail.
He now understood that the purple-gold rat was certainly no ordinary spirit beast. Otherwise, why would the Purple Mansion Holy Son pursue it so relentlessly?
The canyon in this Great Wilderness stretched for a hundred li. Vines as thick as giant pythons filled it, and ancient trees rose a thousand meters high, blocking most of the sunlight and leaving the interior dim.
Before long, Lu Chen sensed fluctuations of divine power in the distance. Leaving an afterimage behind, he instantly became a streak of rainbow light and rushed over.
"That's... a cave abode!"
At the innermost end of the canyon, the path came to an end before a cliff a thousand zhang high. Broken stone tables and stools lay there, faintly suggesting that someone had lived here long ago.
Deep within a wilderness spanning a million li, ordinary people clearly could not have lived here. Only a powerful cultivator would have carved out a cave abode in such a place.
At that moment, a doorway had just been opened in the rock wall at the foot of the cliff. Clearly, the fluctuations of divine power earlier had come from the Purple Mansion Holy Son opening it.
Seeing this, Lu Chen remained on guard against the Purple Mansion Holy Son, while also watching for any unexpected dangers that might arise here.
Beyond the doorway in the rock wall, a massive passage extended underground. It was pitch-black inside, and the naked eye alone could not make out the path at all.
Of course, this was no problem for cultivators. With their powerful divine sense extended, everything within the cave became visible down to the finest detail.
Following the dark passage as it sloped downward for more than a dozen li, Lu Chen finally saw the Purple Mansion Holy Son. He had been stopped before a stone door several zhang high.
The door was covered in profound dao patterns and exuded an ancient aura. Clearly, it had stood there for an exceedingly long time.
"You actually survived? Where are my two junior brothers?" Seeing Lu Chen follow him here, a trace of surprise and killing intent flashed through the Purple Mansion Holy Son's eyes, which shimmered with purple light.
To his senses, this cultivator was only at the Dao Palace Second Heaven. Against two Holy Land disciples at the Dao Palace Third Heaven, he should have had little chance of survival.
After all, the profound arts and secret techniques practiced in a Holy Land, along with the resources used for cultivation, were all first-rate. Those capable of defeating Holy Land disciples from a lower realm were few and far between.
On the path of cultivation, each realm was a separate heaven. Those above were "immortals," while those below were "mortals." For a mortal to strike down an immortal was no easy feat; it was the exclusive province of a tiny handful of prodigies.
"Your two junior brothers? They said they were hungry and went home to eat!" A faint smile appeared on Lu Chen's face as he faced the Purple Mansion Holy Son in the gloom.
"You're courting death!"
The Purple Mansion Holy Son shouted coldly. Light surged in his eyes, and two beams of purple divine light shot out, transforming into two Purple Gold Divine Swords in the dark passage and slashing straight toward Lu Chen.
"Break!"
Lu Chen showed no fear. Golden flames blazed over his jade-clear palms, radiating searing heat, and he abruptly drove his fists into the two divine swords wreathed in purple mist.
Bang!
Brilliant divine light flashed through the darkness, illuminating the entire passage. Surging fluctuations of divine power then spread outward, making the entire rock wall tremble.
The divine swords unleashed by the Purple Mansion Holy Son dissipated, while Lu Chen's hands, covered in golden flames, remained completely unharmed.
What a powerful body! The Purple Mansion Holy Son was startled. The purple radiance in his eyes intensified until it almost took tangible form, and powerful killing intent filled the cave.
Whoosh!
Lu Chen refused to yield. Golden divine flames blazed over his entire body, making him resemble an ancient sun god returned to the world. The terrifying heat nearly melted the surrounding rock walls.
After a brief standoff, he spoke first. "Judging by this place, it should be an ancient cave abode. Let's open this stone door and see what's inside. There'll still be time to settle our rivalry afterward."
Shrouded in purple mist, the Purple Mansion Holy Son spoke in a cold voice laced with killing intent. "Then I'll let you live a little longer."
As the Holy Son of a great Holy Land, he lacked neither cunning nor means, nor ruthlessness in slaughter. The reason he had not immediately fought Lu Chen to the death was that he sensed a threat.
Despite being at the peak of the Dao Palace realm, he had no confidence that he could kill this nameless cultivator at the Dao Palace Second Heaven. That was the real reason the Purple Mansion Holy Son had not immediately attacked.
Although the stone door within the cave was covered in profound dao patterns, too many ages had passed. Many of the patterns had decayed and lost their mysterious power, allowing the two men to force the door open.
Beyond the stone door lay a cave abode several li across. Numerous luminous pearls the size of human heads were embedded in the ceiling a hundred zhang above, their bright, pure radiance illuminating the entire ancient cavern as if it were daylight.
Lu Chen and the Purple Mansion Holy Son kept some distance between them, guarding against one another as they cautiously entered this long-sealed cave abode.
Once inside, they saw a black spring pool roughly ten zhang across a li ahead of them. Black liquid flowed within it, giving off a terrifying aura of death.
Its blackness made the heart tremble, as though it would draw in a person's soul and mind. It also emitted a foul stench. Merely catching the faintest whiff made Lu Chen feel as if his flesh were about to corrode.
Bang!
With a sweep of his arm, he sent a rock from farther away into the black pool. It instantly dissolved into a wisp of black smoke, leaving nothing behind.
"This is... heavenly yin absolute water. There is nothing it cannot defile. Even divine weapons and Magic Treasures will dissolve into black smoke beneath its scouring, and it can even dissolve a Holy Lord's body." The Purple Mansion Holy Son's expression changed slightly.
"Foul water that defiles Magic Treasures and flesh." Lu Chen gazed at the black water with apprehension.
Soon, deeper within the cave abode, the two discovered a Purple Jade Giant Coffin. A rust-covered Copper Lamp rested on top of it, with a faint flame still flickering, burning perpetually without going out.
Although it was covered in rust, three ancient characters of demon script were carved into its base. Their forms resembled dragons and phoenixes, uncanny and mysterious, faintly revealing a terrifying aura.
"That is an Ancient Demon King's weapon-the Heavenly Demon Lamp!" the Purple Mansion Holy Son exclaimed, recognizing the three characters of demon script. Intense killing intent spread from him. Clearly, this was an ancient cave abode containing precious treasures.
A life-and-death struggle between him and Lu Chen was now inevitable. Just as the two were about to attack, they discovered another object.
Elsewhere in the cave abode stood a simple, ancient stone table. A black gourd a full meter tall rested on it, though they could not tell what material it had been fashioned from. Its mouth was sealed with a rotten wooden stopper riddled with wormholes, making it look like a decayed magical treasure.
"The Purple Mansion Holy Son, a black gourd!" Lu Chen's aura surged, and golden beams shot from his eyes as he stared fixedly at the black gourd.
Heavenly yin absolute water, a Demon King's weapon-none of them mattered in his eyes now. That Black Gourd was the true supreme treasure.
In another course of space and time, Ye Fan had obtained a Black Gourd after killing the Purple Mansion Holy Son. He had once used it to crush Wang Teng and slay a Primordial Ancestral King at the Great Saint Realm on the spot.
For it was an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon from countless ages ago, only crippled in a god war.
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