Chapter 595 - 576: A Peculiar Key, Primordial Demon Essence

The Black Dragon’s words made Yang Chan’s heart skip a beat.

The trial’s rewards weren’t as bad as he had expected. If the boxes were small, what they could contain would be limited, but boxes with their own pocket dimensions were a different story entirely.

Fortunately, he had the Profound Yin Hanging Bead, a powerful Treasure. Otherwise, he might have felt it was a pity that he couldn’t take the boxes with him.

Yang Chan gazed at the boxes, a fiery glint flashing in his eyes.

To him, this was like opening blind boxes; it always brought a sense of unknown anticipation.

"Can you see through these boxes?"

Yang Chan suddenly asked, looking at the Black Dragon beside him.

’While blind boxes mostly contain rewards, they can also hold nasty surprises, or even danger.’

Yang Chan couldn’t see through them with the naked eye, but the Black Dragon was another matter.

"I can’t. They’re imbued with a power that blocks all forms of inspection. A Soul Body can’t see through it at all!"

The Black Dragon floated next to Yang Chan, shaking its head slightly.

In its vision, they were still just sealed boxes, completely opaque. This was what made them so special.

They were created through Refining with Great Divine Techniques, specifically to prevent inspection.

"Are they dangerous?"

Yang Chan continued to ask.

’He hadn’t forgotten that some people liked to rig boxes with all sorts of mechanisms. When opened, a barrage of Hidden Weapons would fly out to kill the person opening it.’

’His Cultivation had reached the Cleansing Marrow Grandmaster Realm, so not many Hidden Weapons could harm him. However, there were still powerful poisons that could kill upon contact with blood, instantly dissolving one’s physical body.’

’He could ignore ordinary poisons, but he had no way of dealing with such lethal toxins.’

’Especially since these boxes themselves were extraordinary, their creator was certainly no ordinary person. It was entirely possible they possessed such methods.’

"I don’t know. They’re imbued with a special power, so I can’t see through them or sense any danger!"

"There’s no way to know without opening them!"

Hearing Yang Chan’s words, the Black Dragon paused for a moment before it dawned on it. ’This is the ever-cautious Yang Chan I know.’

He hadn’t lost his senses at the sight of so many Treasures, nor had he let his guard down just because they were trial rewards.

An ordinary person might not suspect the boxes were dangerous and would just open them directly, but not Yang Chan.

"Why don’t you let me open them for you, Master? It’s better if you don’t do it yourself!"

Once it understood, the Black Dragon volunteered for the task.

It finally realized the purpose of Yang Chan’s questions. He didn’t want to open the boxes himself; he wanted the Black Dragon to do it.

Having figured this out, the Black Dragon spoke up, showing great consideration.

"Alright, you can open them."

"Use this Flying Claw. If there’s any danger, it will give you time to react!"

Yang Chan naturally agreed with pleasure.

’Opening blind boxes was fun, but it was better to leave the unknown ones to the Black Dragon.’

Upon hearing this, the Black Dragon took the tool and used its Soul Power to control the Flying Claw. As it touched the first box, a dark light flickered, and the box fell open, revealing the Treasure inside.

"A key?"

No Hidden Weapons shot out; the box opened directly. But the item inside was not what Yang Chan had expected.

A key was floating inside, leaving him rather baffled.

’The trial rewarded him with a key? What was this supposed to open? Don’t tell me it’s for the other two boxes?’

"It should be a key!"

The Black Dragon noted that the key looked very peculiar, but it was still a key, just an odd-looking one.

Suddenly, an idea struck the Black Dragon.

"Master, why don’t you take out that special box you found before we entered the Elite Trial Array and give it a try?"

The Black Dragon suddenly remembered the special box Yang Chan had dug up in that space before entering the Elite Trial Array. At the time, they couldn’t open it because they didn’t have a key. Now, this special key had appeared as a trial reward. Perhaps it was the key to that very box.

After all, it made sense that the key for a box found right before the Elite Trial Array could be obtained within the Trial Array system, and this Elite Trial Array was the most likely place to find it.

It was, however, quite a coincidence.

"Mm."

With a mere thought, Yang Chan summoned the strange-looking box he had stored in the Profound Yin Hanging Bead, and it appeared before him.

He had long been curious about what this box contained. After all, it had been hidden underground in the area just before the Elite Trial Array.

Without special methods, it would have been impossible to find.

Before, in the area preceding the Elite Trial Array, the Saint Sons and Saintesses from the various Holy Lands, along with the Princes and Princesses of the Imperial Dynasty, were all formidable figures. Yet, none of them had discovered this hidden box, which showed just how well it had been concealed.

He refused to believe that those people hadn’t thoroughly scanned the area with their own detection methods before entering the Elite Trial Array.

They had simply all failed to find the box.

"Go on, try to open this box!"

Yang Chan instructed the Black Dragon to open the box.

The trial reward boxes held no hidden dangers, but the same couldn’t be said for this one, which had been placed before the Elite Trial Array.

Someone might have left it as a deliberate trap, or perhaps something was being suppressed inside. It could also be hiding a Treasure. Anything was possible.

Take the Black Dragon, for example. Hadn’t it been suppressed in a high tower in Taiyin Heaven? If not for the Profound Yin Hanging Bead, Yang Chan himself might have fallen into a trap back then.

"Alright!"

The Black Dragon took the key from the trial reward box and inserted it into the box that Yang Chan had taken from the Profound Yin Hanging Bead.

Yang Chan watched from the side.

As the peculiar key was brought before the peculiar box, the key began to change shape. The box did as well, its keyhole morphing to match.

’If I had tried to craft a key based on the keyhole’s original shape, it would never have opened,’ Yang Chan thought. ’I might have even triggered some power within the box, possibly destroying it and getting caught in the backlash.’

’It seems the contents of this box are far from simple; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been secured like this.’

"Master, take the two trial boxes aside. We should both take another step back!"

The Black Dragon gave this warning before the box was opened. A box secured in such a manner was clearly not simple and was very likely to hide danger.

And if there was danger, the Black Dragon would be the one to face it head-on, because Yang Chan would use the Profound Yin Hanging Bead to defend himself.

The Black Dragon was well aware of this, which was why it offered the reminder. Otherwise, it would surely be the one to suffer.

After they both retreated, a pitch-black aura surged out of the box. This aura carried an extremely unsettling presence, one that triggered a primal fear in the body.

"This is the Primordial Demon Essence of an ancient archdemon!"

The Black Dragon, for its part, was completely stunned to see this aura emerge and immediately identified the source of the pitch-black energy.