Chapter 670 - 679: Guo Gao’s Corpse

With just five days remaining until the Ninth Trading House’s auction was scheduled to begin, the establishment finally stopped keeping everyone in suspense and publicly announced a few of the event’s headlining treasures.

There were a total of three such treasures for this auction.

The first headlining supreme treasure was the rumored Low-Level Immortal Grade Heavenly and Earthly Treasure: the Golden Corner Flower Withered Leaves.

The moment this first supreme treasure was announced, the entire Eastern Profound Domain was shaken. An Immortal-grade Heavenly and Earthly Treasure hadn’t been seen in the Eastern Profound Domain for three hundred years.

This was especially true given that the item was the Golden Corner Flower Withered Leaves, a supreme treasure known to enhance one’s Primordial Spirit, making it immeasurably more precious than ordinary Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.

A single Low-Level Spirit Grade Heavenly and Earthly Treasure capable of restoring the Primordial Spirit was enough to drive the people of the entire Eastern Profound Domain into a frenzy. How much more so for the Low-Level Immortal Grade Golden Corner Flower Withered Leaves?

Furthermore, not only could the Golden Corner Flower Withered Leaves enhance the Primordial Spirit, but it could also repair it, making it a panacea for anyone whose Primordial Spirit had been damaged.

The Ninth Trading House kept the second and third supreme treasures a complete secret, but they boldly proclaimed that the Golden Corner Flower Withered Leaves was the least of the three.

Beyond these three supreme treasures, there were countless other rare and wondrous items.

In an instant, news of the three supreme treasures sent shockwaves across the Eastern Profound Domain. Countless people began to swarm toward the Great Zhou Dynasty Royal City, every one of them hoping to attend the upcoming auction hosted by the Ninth Trading House.

...

On Forget-Life Peak of the Celestial Profound Sect, within the Forgotten Life Hall.

Yum Tianyang sat beside a low table, his eyes fixed on the scroll in his hands. His brow alternately furrowed and smoothed as he read, completely absorbed.

"Peak Master! It’s terrible! Junior Sister Yum has gone missing again!"

Suddenly, a figure rushed in from outside the hall. It was Tao Liuu, a disciple of Forget-Life Peak.

Yum Tianyang set down his scroll and frowned. "Where has she run off to this time?"

Tao Liuu hurriedly replied, "It seems she went to a mountain range in our Celestial Profound Mountain Domain called Xiebei Mountain, but we haven’t heard from her in over a day."

Yum Tianyang’s brow furrowed tightly as he mentally pictured the map of the Celestial Profound Mountain Domain. He couldn’t help but ask, "Xiebei Mountain? Isn’t that a Red Mountain? Even I have never ventured deep inside. She really went there?"

Tao Liuu nodded emphatically. "Yes, Peak Master. Please, you have to go look. We haven’t heard from Junior Sister Yum in a day and a half."

"I’m going right now."

Yum Tianyang’s expression changed. He shot to his feet and sprinted out of the hall. He knew full well how dangerous some of the Red Mountains were—filled with ferocious Demon Beasts and hidden dangers. Even he didn’t dare explore them too thoroughly.

「Ten hours later, on Xiebei Mountain.」

Pointing toward the dark, imposing Xiebei Mountain, Tao Liuu said anxiously, "Peak Master, Junior Sister Yum went up this way. She said she wanted to catch a Black Profound Snake for a pet. Senior Brother Sheng Ao went with her."

Yum Tianyang’s expression darkened, and he immediately charged up the path leading into Xiebei Mountain.

His cultivation had long ago reached the Transformation Realm, so ordinary Demon Beasts didn’t dare approach him. As he advanced, the dark Miasma along the path dissipated, and even ferocious Demon Beasts scrambled to get out of his way.

In just a few moments, Yum Tianyang reached the summit of Xiebei Mountain.

Gazing at the rugged, majestic brown rock face before him, Yum Tianyang frowned and muttered, "Strange. Why is there the aura of an Array here?"

His brow furrowed as he looked ahead, where he saw several stark white skeletons. His heart clenched, and he quickened his pace toward them.

Just as he was about to take another step, several black Qi Auras shot toward him from all sides—boundlessly sharp, powerful, and tyrannical.

’An Array?’

Yum Tianyang hastily retreated several steps, a cold light flashing in his eyes. A powerful, turbulent aura then exploded from his palm.

BOOM!

An immense wave of Primordial Qi seemed to surge from Yum Tianyang’s palm, instantly causing the hundreds of Qi Auras before him to dissipate into nothing.

There was no telling how many years this Array had existed, and its Primordial Qi had long since faded. How could it possibly withstand a single strike from Yum Tianyang?

Without further delay, Yum Tianyang rushed forward.

Ahead lay a dark, lifelessly still forest that exuded a strange and mysterious air.

After an unknown amount of time, the path ahead suddenly opened up into a clearing. The sky above was visible, but it was a dark, oppressive mass. Directly ahead, in the center of the clearing, stood a wide platform. On the platform were four stone pillars made entirely of Primordial Stone and tangled in a dense web of iron chains.

The sight was magnificent and soul-shaking.

CLANK! CLANK!

As the wind howled, the iron chains rattled, and at their center hung a skeleton of bleached-white bone.

Leaning against a nearby stone pillar was one person, while another lay on the ground. It was Yum Baobao and Sheng Ao.

Sheng Ao’s eyes were rolled back in his head. He was slumped against the pillar, his body drenched in blood and completely devoid of life. Meanwhile, Yum Baobao lay on the ground nearby, her face as pale as a sheet of paper.

Yum Tianyang’s heart trembled at the sight, his expression twisting in alarm. He rushed over. A closer look revealed that Yum Baobao was still breathing—a faint flicker of life remained. He let out a massive sigh of relief. Then, as he shifted his foot, he noticed a Token on the ground.

’Martial Uncle Guo Gao’s Token? What is it doing here? Could it be...?’

Yum Tianyang couldn’t help but glance at the skeleton, and a chill went through him.

...

「Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty.」

Inside Celestial Profound Hall, the designated gathering place for the Celestial Profound Sect.

Upon returning to Celestial Profound Hall, Wen Qingye immediately entered a state of intense cultivation. Two days passed in this manner.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

He sat on his bed, and the surrounding Primordial Qi washed over him like a surging tide. Simultaneously, the thousands of Primordial Stones arranged around him stirred, and countless streams of white Primordial Qi surged out from them, converging on Wen Qingye’s Qi Sea.

Vast amounts of Primordial Qi poured into Wen Qingye’s Qi Sea but did not stop there. It enveloped the faint golden Primordial Qi already inside his body and began to surge relentlessly through his meridians.

Wen Qingye felt as if his body had been plunged into a bizarre flame. The searing pain was unbearable, yet within it, he could feel a trace of an even more soul-stirring power.

The converging Primordial Qi was like a rampaging dragon; if not for Wen Qingye’s robust constitution, he would have long since fainted from the pain.

Time ticked by. Boundless Primordial Qi continued to pour into Wen Qingye’s body, and the energy within the Top-grade Primordial Stones he was using gradually dwindled.

CRACK! CRACK!

The cracks on Wen Qingye’s Sea of Life and Death grew more distinct, looking as if it might truly shatter at any moment. This was already the third crack to appear.