Chapter 199: Another Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure!

Jiuyou waited in ambush for over half a year.

Every half month or so, Linghu Shou left his seclusion. He would be gone for anywhere from eight or nine days to over ten. Whenever he returned, faint or dense traces of soul power clung to his body. As time passed, these excursions grew more frequent, as if some ritual were drawing to a close.

Yet what truly alarmed Jiuyou were the man's most recent returns. Faint streams of five-colored light now twined around Linghu Shou—a sign of the natural convergence of the world's five-element spiritual energy. If Jiuyou remembered correctly, that was a hallmark unique to a Deity Transformation Cultivator.

Jiuyou's heart sank. Half a year ago, Linghu Shou had displayed no such phenomenon upon his return. To step half a foot into Deity Transformation in just a few short months—Jiuyou refused to believe there wasn't something fishy going on.

He decided he could wait no longer.

This time, Linghu Shou departed as usual, heading east.

Jiuyou waited patiently a while longer. Only after confirming the man was far away did he take out his jade tablet, pass through the layers of restrictions, and re-enter the secret chamber. The spiritual energy inside remained as thick as sludge, and faint ripples danced across the pool of water at his feet. It was exactly the same as his last visit.

He steadied himself, swept his gaze across the room, and then lowered his eyes to the floor.

With his Divine Sense, he had faintly detected another space beneath his feet during his very first intrusion, though he hadn't investigated it deeply at the time.

Now, he probed the area with his Divine Sense once more, confirming that a hidden domain truly lay beneath the stone slabs. However, he didn't rush to act. Instead, he paced slowly along the walls, his fingertips hovering just over the stone. Finally, deep within the chamber, he sensed the faint ripple of a restriction on one section of the wall.

The restriction was brilliantly crafted; without careful scrutiny, it was nearly invisible. His eyes narrowed. He kept his fingers hovering above the barrier, refusing to touch it right away.

This was a moment of choice.

If he triggered the restriction, Linghu Shou would definitely notice and return early. At that point, whether they could negotiate or not, it would end badly. But if he retreated now, he might never get a second chance at the opportunity hidden behind this stone wall.

Besides, the man might have already noticed something and could be hurrying back right now. If that was the case, Jiuyou might as well take the risk. If he was caught, the worst-case scenario was simply killing Linghu Shou before leaving. He had already reaped a substantial harvest on this trip anyway. If he could seize an opportunity to reach Deity Transformation, what did it matter if they tore each other apart?

He quickly cast his hesitation aside. Golden magical power gathered at his fingertips, but just as he was about to touch the wall, the restriction suddenly dissolved on its own. The stone wall slid silently inward, revealing a deep, dark tunnel slanting downward.

Jiuyou stared at the mouth of the abyssal passage. A surge of worldly spiritual energy—far denser and purer than before—billowed out and washed over his face. His mind jolted, and he subconsciously took a half-step back.

He steadied his stance and swept a vigilant gaze over the darkness, his mind racing.

'What is going on? Why did this layer of restrictions open on its own? A trap?'

He paused, then immediately rejected the idea. Unlikely. It was too crude. No one would lay out a trap so blatantly.

He stood completely still, one hand clenching into a fist as he felt the spiritual energy rushing up from below, carrying with it a colossal aura.

That aura was so pure it didn't feel naturally formed by heaven and earth. Rather, it felt as if something deep below was continuously radiating power.

Faintly, he could hear a deep, low rumble echoing from underground, like some massive metallic contraption grinding into motion.

He knew his answers lay at the bottom.

A ruthless glint flashed in Jiuyou's eyes. The Spirit Insect Pouch at his waist trembled slightly, and a swarm of tens of thousands of Soul-Eating Insects poured out. Their buzzing echoed through the narrow tunnel like countless fine needles piercing his eardrums as they flooded downward.

Wherever the swarm passed, a flowing purple light illuminated the tunnel walls in flickering bursts. He followed closely behind them, darting down the passage.

To his surprise, the descent went incredibly smoothly. There were no traps, no ambushes, and no further restrictions blocking his way. After passing through a narrow stretch, the tunnel suddenly opened up. Jiuyou raised a hand, recalling the insect swarm to guard his body, but his gaze was already seized by the radiant five-colored light ahead.

He looked up and immediately froze in place.

A massive, five-colored sphere of light hovered in the air. Its glow was dazzling yet not blinding, and five differently colored rings of light slowly orbited it, crisscrossing and tangling together like stars turning in the void. The sphere was a full hundred zhang tall. It radiated a pressure unlike anything he had ever felt in his life, endlessly drawing in the worldly spiritual energy from nearly a thousand li around.

And the deep, low humming he heard earlier was coming from this very object.

"It's actually you," an ancient voice drifted up from beneath the sphere of light, slow and unhurried. "I thought it would be that brat Zhou Chengshan. But come to think of it, he lacks the skill to evade my Divine Sense."

Jiuyou looked toward the sound. Beneath the colossal five-colored sphere stood a short, dark silhouette. Separated by several li, the figure looked incredibly tiny against the backdrop of the radiant orb.

As the figure walked closer, its silhouette gradually became clear. Jiuyou's expression didn't change, but his pupils imperceptibly contracted. He recognized that build, that voice, the rhythm of those footsteps, and that aura as deep as the abyss—it was Linghu Shou.

Jiuyou hadn't even had time to speak before Linghu Shou spread his hands, a cold sneer on his lips.

"Are you curious why I am still here when you clearly saw me leave? Heh."

He lightly clapped his hands, as if signaling something.

Jiuyou whipped his head around as the sound of something tearing through the air rang out behind him. A black-robed figure landed silently at the tunnel entrance. It was the exact same "Linghu Shou" he had watched leave with his own eyes.

But now, the man no longer possessed the five-colored phenomena from before. In its place was a heavy layer of black corpse energy that permeated the air, looking as if it were slowly oozing out from beneath his skin.

Jiuyou's eyes narrowed. He recognized the creature for what it was.

"A Corpse Puppet," he muttered softly.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the black-robed figure violently shifted, transforming into a hideous, half-rotted husk. Its face was a blur, its bones faintly visible through the black mist, radiating a sickening stench of decay.

Jiuyou furrowed his brows. A mere Corpse Puppet could never deceive his Divine Sense. Even Linghu Shou himself couldn't do it—unless he had borrowed the power of that five-colored magical treasure.

He raised his eyes again to look at the massive five-colored rings of light. The aura reminded him of the Demon Purification Platform from years ago, though this was even stronger. He couldn't help but think of the Imitation Spirit Treasure he had once possessed—the Heavenly Spirit Ring. It could also absorb the world's spiritual energy, but its scale was nowhere near this five-colored sphere of light.

Could this be the original prototype of the Heavenly Spirit Ring?

If this truly was a Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure, its value would far exceed all his expectations for this trip.

He didn't step back anymore. Instead, he slowly planted his feet, staring straight ahead, tucking all those questions and speculations into the back of his mind. Because right now, in the face of a Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure, the answers no longer seemed that important.

Meanwhile, the spiritual energy filling the chamber continued to pour silently into the sphere of light, as if feeding a giant, insatiable beast.