ImmortalCockroach
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235: The Correct Way To Raise A Flag
🕑 Added 2025-04-23 15:20:16 +0000 UTCThe Thousand Desolation Divine Sect's treasury was not being guarded by anyone, but it was sealed away behind six different barriers. Every barrier could only be opened by using the blood of someone directly related to the sect master, and it needed to be fresh blood at that. Moreover, the very last grand protective formation required them to step on ninety-nine different formation points in the correct order. If they made a single misstep, it would activate the profound formation and alert the entire sect.
However, it was a pity that these defenses, defenses that were so tight that they were practically impregnable to most other people, were actually completely insignificant to Yun Wuji.
He used the Thousand Desolation Crown Prince's blood whenever he needed to, and he followed the crown prince's memories to easily navigate his way through the profound formation and opened the treasury's large doors.
Even without the crown prince's memories, the profound formation wouldn't be able to stop him. With his insight, he could crack it easily after just a short look.
An extremely dense spiritual energy that was mixed with a similarly dense darkness assaulted them.
The treasury was huge. It was dozens of kilometers wide, and it stored countless spirit stones, profound crystals, precious jade, medicine, spirit pellets, profound artifacts, materials, weapons, profound arts, and other things as well.
'This treasury is quite big! Much grander than other treasuries I've seen before,' Yun Wuji thought as he looked at the treasures neatly placed. He had plundered, ahem, protected many sects and clans before, but even if they were all combined, they wouldn't amount to the treasures here.
Although the Radiant Mountain Realm was stronger than the Thousand Desolation Realm and their treasury even richer, the one who plundered it had been Mu Xuanyin, not him.
Yan Yao followed behind Yun Wuji, quietly looking around.
All of the resources in their line of sight were covered by darkness barriers that looked like they had existed for a very long time. These darkness barriers were not strong, so it would not take much effort to break them open, but if any of them were broken, the darkness aura they would release would immediately alert a relatively large area around the treasury.
Furthermore, Yun Wuji could clearly sense that there was an extremely hard-to-detect soul imprint on these barriers. The moment these barriers were touched, the owner of these soul imprints would immediately sense it... and that person was obviously the Thousand Desolation Sect Master.
Yun Wuji took out the Nethercloak Flower. The flower originally had eight petals, but now only six remained. The antenna at the center glowed with a soft silver light. He stretched out his finger and gently touched it. The moment he did, a tiny flicker of silver light appeared on his fingertip.
He stepped forward and waved his hand. The darkness barrier in front of him faded silently, along with the soul imprint etched into it. Not a single sound or trace of aura was released.
With a swift motion, he collected the profound crystals that had been concealed beneath the barrier, stashing them in his storage.
After collecting the profound crystals, he quickly moved to the next barrier and repeated the same process.
Yan Yao silently watched him plunder the treasury. The man's movements were swift and precise, like a shadow gliding through the dark. Afterimages trailed behind him as he moved from one barrier to the next. All the resources the Thousand Desolation Divine Sect had accumulated over countless years were now flowing into his pocket world like water into a well.
His actions were smooth and practiced, not a single mistake or wasted motion. He moved like someone who had done this many times before, like a professional thief. As she watched him neatly store away the sect's wealth, Yan Yao wondered just how many sects this man had robbed already.
In an extremely short amount of time, the treasury was completely emptied, not a single item left behind. Yan Yao glanced at him and asked, "Did you get what you came for?"
Yun Wuji didn't answer. Instead, he walked to the right corner of the room, crouched down, and began tapping on the black jade floor.
Suddenly, he clenched his fist and gave the ground a light punch. The black jade cracked open, revealing an invisible barrier beneath.
This barrier was extremely high level and unique; it didn't radiate any aura and completely isolated all forms of energy. It was clear that it had been created using a rare profound tool.
Even though it was invisible, they couldn't see what lay sealed inside.
"An Immaculate Barrier!?" Yan Yao's pupils contracted as she hurried over. "Is this what you were looking for?"
It was a barrier that could be described as 'absolutely auraless,' completely concealing everything within. Only an Immaculate Stone could create such a barrier.
"Hmm," Yun Wuji nodded. He slowly took out the black flower and aimed it at the barrier. Under Yan Yao's confused gaze, an intense silver light shot out from the flower's antenna and landed on the Immaculate Barrier.
The barrier didn't shatter or make a sound, but the area touched by the silver light began to dissolve, as if melting away.
As the barrier vanished, an impossibly pure purple light shone on their face.
This cluster of purple light instantly sucked in Yan Yao's gaze. She took a step forward, her eyes freezing for a long period of time as she breathed out the next few words in an incredibly strange tone, "Untamed... Divine... Marrow!"
With great effort, she tore her gaze from the Divine Marrow and stared at Yun Wuji's back, her eyes wide with disbelief. How did this man know an Untamed Divine Marrow was hidden here?! As a formidable witch, she understood all too well the immense value of this divine treasure.
For a split second, the thought crossed her mind to knock him out and take both him and the Divine Marrow back to the Soul Stealing Realm.
However, after exerting a great deal of effort, she managed to calm her impulse and looked away. Although the Divine Marrow was a priceless item, the man before her was countless times more valuable. Just the ability to make people perfectly compatible with darkness was millions of times more valuable than a hundred thousand Divine Marrows.
If she were to forcefully capture him now and take him to the Soul Stealing Realm, not only would she be disobeying her master's order, but she would also incur his enmity and hatred. At that point, the man's value would greatly diminish. After all, even if they forced him to work for them, he would certainly not exert all his effort, and many things he was likely still hiding would remain unrevealed.
'Good. She's smarter than she looks.' Yun Wuji thought, a smile forming on his face as he saw she made no move. With his back to her, he stretched out his hand and stored the Divine Marrow in his storage.
Although he didn't have the Sky Poison Pearl to completely conceal the aura of the object, Yun Wuji wasn't worried. After all, the only one capable of sensing its aura would be its original owner, Chi Wuyao.
Standing up, Yun Wuji clapped his hands with a wide smile, clearly in a good mood. "It's time to leave," he said, handing her another black petal.
The time limit for the previous petal had already passed, and it had turned to fine black dust, losing its effect.
"Yeah," Yan Yao replied, shooting him a complicated glance before taking the petal.
Once both of them became invisible, they ignored the Crown Prince's body lying on the ground and left the treasury.
The duo retraced their steps, taking the same passage they had come through, and returned to the prince's bedchamber. Yun Wuji pressed the mechanism to close the secret passage leading to the treasury. "That went smoother than expect—"
BOOM!
The chamber's ceiling exploded inward as an overwhelming Divine Master's pressure crushed down like a mountain.
"Vermin! Did you truly think you could flee?!"
Yun Wuji's smug remark died mid-sentence as the voice thundered through the room. Yan Yao shot him a withering glare, her entire face saying, 'You just had to jinx it, didn't you?'
However, Yun Wuji didn't have the luxury to look at her. Instead, he stared above him as the bedchamber's walls were blasted away. A figure of a man floated above them in the sky. Despite their invisibility, the man was looking directly in their direction as if he could see them.
"I'll stall him. Take this chance and leave," Yun Wuji whispered grimly, not even turning to look at her.
"...???" Yan Yao was taken aback.
What the hell was this guy saying?
Wait a second… why did this scene feel so damn familiar?
She stepped to his side and said firmly, "No. I won't."
She originally hoped they could plunder the treasury and leave quietly without alerting anyone. That way, she wouldn't need to reveal her strength. But now… it looked like she had no choice.
It wasn't that she hadn't considered stopping him from coming here; she just couldn't find a good reason to do so, especially with how firm his attitude had been, not to mention the clever tricks he prepared. Honestly, it was impressive that someone with his level of strength could pull something like this off.
"Nonsense! I'm the one who dragged you into this mess," Yun Wuji said coldly. "Get ready. Once I draw his attention, leave immediately, don't waste time worrying about me."
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
"Sect Master, what's happening?"
"Have enemies attacked the sect?!"
"Who dares to attack our sect?!"
While the duo whispered to each other, more and more powerful auras rushed toward them, Grand Elder, Chief Protector, and several other high-ranking elders among them.
The Thousand Desolation Sect Master's face twisted with fury. Ignoring his subordinates' questions, his voice boomed like thunder, "You dare harm my son?! Speak, where is he, or death won't be mercy enough for you!"
His words unleashed an aura far more oppressive, crashing down on Yun Wuji and Yan Yao. In the next instant, the Nethercloak Flower petals they held burst into tiny sparks and dissolved, exposing them both to everyone's eyes.
