Chapter 460

Human Emperor Secret Vault.

Through the hidden entrance inside the coiling dragon pillar, Wang Yu instantly entered a secret chamber using spatial means. He still did not know the exact location.

However, this so-called secret vault was not particularly large in area.

It was a plaza-like structure. After all, Eastern Extreme Capital was only one of the four capitals. The Human Emperor probably did not stay here for long, mainly handling affairs from the main capital.

The dome here was inlaid with large amounts of intricately carved firefly stone. The soft white light it emitted illuminated the dark space with exceptional clarity.

Neat rows of stone pillars stood across the plaza.

Each pillar’s top was a basin-shaped platform. Various treasures floated above them, protected by extremely tight restrictions. The pillars themselves were covered in dense lines of recorded text.

Yet… after seeing the so-called “treasures,” Wang Yu’s expression turned strange.

The first pillar held an utterly ordinary ruler. The inscription read: Punishment Ruler — Once used by Imperial Tutor Cang Wu to strike the young Human Emperor’s palm until it turned red.

Wang Yu: “…”

It was just a plain ruler. At most it was an ancient antique.

A bad premonition suddenly rose in his heart.

Was this the kind of thing a man collected? It seemed… understandable?

The second pillar: Milk Potato Crisp — Once nearly choked the young Human Emperor to death. This was the first life-and-death crisis the ruler of mortals ever faced!

Here “potato” referred to peanuts, named because they grew in soil and resembled beans. Looking at the shriveled, unrecognizable lump, Wang Yu showed a very human look of disgust.

Too unreliable!

“No wonder he hid them away. He probably came here in his spare time to admire them secretly, right?”

Complaining inwardly.

Wang Yu continued downward, growing more disappointed with each one.

There were a palace maid’s bellyband, the Human Emperor’s baby teeth, a lock of broken hair recorded as “pulled from his sister until she cried.”

There were venom-filled snake fangs, a wooden rocking horse, and two dog testicles. Who knew what kind of creature the young Human Emperor had been, climbing trees to catch birds, diving into water to grab turtles.

A pure terror of a child.

There was even the skull of his first slain enemy, deliberately preserved. Wang Yu could only feel speechless.

Yet the fact that these items had been kept showed that the ancient Human Emperor’s heart still retained a man’s childhood innocence and youthful spirit. Otherwise he would not have preserved them all.

He must have been quite an interesting person.

Only at the twenty-sixth pillar did he finally escape those childish incidents. By now the young Human Emperor in the records had entered his teenage years.

The treasures finally began to show some value.

[Water Cloud Sleeves] — When Consort De was young, she and the Human Emperor secretly pledged their love. These personal magic treasures served as proof. Years later she entered the harem and their love was fulfilled.

Wang Yu read aloud. Although the story on the pillar was written in third-person perspective, it constantly praised the Human Emperor. It was hard to believe its authenticity.

Who had written it needed no further guess.

These Water Cloud Sleeves were fourth-rank supreme-grade magic treasures. They could combine with any robe. Wang Yu took them and tossed them into the Seaheart Ring.

This was his first harvest.

The next several dozen pillars recorded more small stories, all praising the Human Emperor’s charm. Without even revealing his identity, he conquered countless peerless beauties.

He even tricked the prime minister’s daughter into losing her chastity before marriage.

The treasures were mostly women’s personal items, basically all fourth-rank: jade pendants, bracelets, hairpins, step-shakers, hair ties, vanity mirrors… The most excessive was a breast-binding cloth.

According to the record, it belonged to a female general of the Immortal Dynasty.

When Wang Yu took it out, he could still smell a faint fragrance. After hesitating a moment, he stuffed it back. He had no use for it, and giving such a thing to another woman felt weird.

He rarely abandoned a treasure of considerable value.

After escaping the “succubus-version Human Emperor” stories, he had unconsciously passed more than a hundred pillars. The Human Emperor had now entered his young adult years.

In this phase the Human Emperor seemed obsessed with Body Refinement. He liked to invite the sons of the generals’ mansions to spar in the forbidden garden. The satisfying impact of fist against flesh made him addicted.

The harvests in this stage were pleasantly surprising.

Most were items obtained after defeating someone or winning bets. There were all kinds, even his first close-combat weapon.

[Three-Point Double-Edge Spear] — Originally a fifth-rank mid-grade spirit treasure. Later, following the young Human Emperor, it slew three million ice-race exotic beasts and defeated every heavenly prodigy of the era. It was personally designated by immortals as the weapon of the first-generation Human Emperor.

During the battle at Guiwu Plains against the second-generation Ice Emperor, it suffered severe damage and fell to fourth-rank supreme-grade magic treasure status, losing all spirituality.

The pillar’s story hid many secrets.

Wang Yu read with great interest.

Although the Three-Point Double-Edge Spear was a damaged spirit treasure, it was more suitable for his current stage than the Blood and Flesh Demonic Sword, especially in Extreme Yin Dragon body state.

It counted as a rather good magic treasure.

Moreover, it had repair potential. As far as Wang Yu knew, the lotus seeds produced by the Seven-Color Lotus had the effect of igniting spirituality or even restoring it.

Such treasures were extremely rare, yet rumors of them still existed.

The Human Emperor had not repaired it, not because he was incapable, but perhaps because he valued the story and legend behind it more. With his status and resources, he did not need the effect of one or two spirit treasures.

Cherishing the story behind it held greater meaning for someone who had reached the peak.

From the previous harvests, he really was that kind of person.

However.

Judging from the information revealed in the pillar stories, when the Human Emperor was young, the ancient Immortal Dynasty had only just been established. At that time the immortal in charge of the “prison” of the Ice Prison Realm still held power.

One point must be clarified: this immortal was not the same one the Crown Princess mentioned as the one who later slaughtered the Human Emperor’s lineage.

The first-generation Human Emperor should have been the descendant of the immortal’s attendant divine general.

He possessed extraordinary talent.

From birth he had spiritual-grade aptitude and was called the [True Dragon Spiritual Physique]. He stood out from childhood and attracted the immortal’s attention. Only in his youth was he confirmed as the first-generation Human Emperor.

At that time the four capitals were newly built. The ancestor of earth masters traveled everywhere setting up feng shui mystical formations, arranging the Human Emperor’s future cultivation path with perfect clarity.

Unfortunately, the Human Emperor’s talent exceeded expectations.

In the end he followed the immortal to the Upper Realm. Then came the second-generation Human Emperor, the unlucky fellow the Crown Princess mentioned who was executed by the second descending immortal on charges of crime.

The ancient Immortal Dynasty should have flourished for a long time, yet it perished after only two generations. Wang Yu suspected this was connected to the first-generation Human Emperor in the Upper Realm.

After all, where there were people there would be conflict and factional division. Although the Upper Realm immortal palace was powerful, internal competition must have been fierce.

With the first-generation Human Emperor’s personality, offending someone was perfectly normal.

Otherwise the second immortal would not have been so brutal.

In the subsequent Ancient Demon uprisings, none of the descending immortals met a good end. It carried the faint flavor of a “certain-death curse” and revealed some strangeness.

Wang Yu could not help thinking of the Beast God. His experience at the Ancient Beast Ancestral God Mountain back then had let him glimpse the true face of the Ice Prison Realm.

Now, through the Human Emperor Secret Vault, he had filled in many more details.

The only pity was that he had still not found any special carrier like the black stone tablet that truly recorded secrets.

That stone tablet seemed impossible to destroy.

Along this section of the young-adult path, Wang Yu harvested a large number of bloodline True Weapons belonging to Body Refiners. Unfortunately these items were even pickier about their owners than life-bound magic treasures.

The extremely rare bloodline true weapons that could be inherited required the bloodline descendant of the original owner. Only then was there a chance. In outsiders’ hands they were merely ordinary sharp blades.

By this point, the harvest from the Human Emperor Secret Vault was actually less valuable than the Longevity Medicine Vault outside. It had mainly satisfied a lot of his curiosity.

The final stretch.

The Human Emperor had entered adulthood. Many pillars were empty, showing he spent far less time in Eastern Extreme Capital afterward.

Records appeared only after long intervals, but the commemorative treasures at this level were far more precious.

The [Creation Longevity Pill] gifted by his eldest legitimate son (the second-generation Human Emperor) was fifth-rank supreme-grade and could increase a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s lifespan by one thousand years.

The pillar recorded it as the first gift he had ever received from his eldest legitimate son.

For the Human Emperor, its emotional value far surpassed its practical use.

Its rarity made it the most valuable item Wang Yu had obtained in the secret vault. Once exposed, every Spirit Transformation cultivator in the entire Ice Prison Realm would fight for it by any means.

Especially given the Ice Prison Realm’s special circumstances, an extra thousand years of life meant far more thorough preparation for the day the cage was truly broken.

At the very end of the secret vault, through the Coiling Dragon Ring.

He discovered a stone wall covered in disordered patterns. Using the Coiling Dragon Ring’s authority, many of the patterns combined to form the core profundities of a divine ability.

So…

"First-Generation Human Emperor inheritance!”

Wang Yu was slightly startled. After careful inspection he discovered that many of the inheritances inside were rather low-rank, probably recorded when the Human Emperor was young.

Some special secret arts had heavy restrictions. Very few met Wang Yu’s requirements and suited him.

Just as Wang Yu was eagerly searching for a suitable inheritance…

…

…

Outside.

The Crimson Heaven Demon Venerable walked out of the Golden Luan Hall with a gloomy face. Judging from his tattered clothes, he had clearly suffered a small loss. In his hand he held a clump of golden-yellow metal that emitted faint dragon might.

This was his only harvest from “bravely charging” into the Golden Luan Hall.

It was ‘Destiny Dragon Gold’ forcibly extracted from the dragon throne. Originally it was merely gold essence refined through special secret arts.

Yet after countless years of nourishment by the Immortal Dynasty’s destiny and the Human Emperor’s purple qi, it had undergone a special mutation. It could be said that the Ice Prison Realm possessed only this single piece.

Forging ordinary magic treasures with it was unremarkable, but when crafting certain special-effect magic treasures it produced wondrous results. It counted as a niche supreme treasure that shone only in specific situations.

It still reached fifth-rank quality and barely satisfied Crimson Heaven.

At least he had not returned empty-handed.

His mood, however, had turned quite unpleasant. As the saying went, a fall into the pit teaches one a lesson. His goal had already shifted away from those flashy but useless buildings.

Instead he followed the rules of the cultivation world and began searching for places like pill rooms and artifact chambers. Those places surely could not be completely empty, right?

With a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s vast divine sense, even without flight he could cover the entire Eastern Extreme Capital and conduct an extremely thorough search.

Naturally.

Crimson Heaven’s second target locked onto the Longevity Medicine Vault.

At that moment inside the medicine vault.

The Yellow Springs Monastery Lord had collected 8 pills, while Scorching Sun Old Demon had 5. If they continued at this pace, it would take at least half a month to pack up every spiritual item inside.

And they both knew the Crimson Heaven Demon Venerable was still inside the palace.

Continuing to grind like this was not an option.

They would very likely be caught red-handed the moment Crimson Heaven entered the vault. Yet the number of fifth-rank precious pills here was enormous. Whether splitting them evenly or by strength, neither side felt it was appropriate.

Thus they had fallen into a dilemma. They both wanted Wang Yu to help quickly take out every precious pill and spiritual herb, yet neither wanted to lose their own benefits.

Scorching Sun Old Demon was especially anxious.

After all, his restriction-breaking speed was far slower than the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord’s. He leaned toward an even split, or even taking the larger share.

After all, Wang Yu belonged to the Blood Reversal Sect. Logically he should receive the bigger portion. Yet the fact that his skill was inferior was also undeniable.

Considering their later plan to deal with Crimson Heaven.

If the distribution of the medicine vault harvest caused unevenness, the entire plan might collapse. This made him anxious. He at least needed one fifth-rank high-grade breakthrough spiritual pill.

Only when paired with the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect’s secret method would he have a chance to glimpse the Spirit Transformation threshold. This also involved a time issue.

The move against Crimson Heaven had to be fatal in one strike.

Otherwise, let alone the secret method, whether the Blood Reversal Sect could even continue to exist would depend on the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect’s mood. Betting like this when the sect was so large and powerful would bring more loss than gain.

Yet the temptation of the Spirit Transformation realm was right before his eyes.

He could not ignore it.

He had already missed the Celestial Star Tower opportunity once. This time he absolutely could not miss it again.

“The secret method to avoid demonic corruption…”

Scorching Sun Old Demon’s heart was heavy. He suddenly glanced at the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord. In theory, the dilemma he faced was also the other party’s dilemma.

The other party did not even possess this special secret method. So how exactly would he avoid this risk…

Since he had agreed to the cooperation earlier.

He clearly had full confidence.

Could it be that the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord had another method?

The moment he realized the key factor, Scorching Sun immediately developed the idea of trading with him. The entire vault of precious pills and spiritual herbs, plus Wang Yu’s extremely high authority, were all his bargaining chips.

At that thought, Scorching Sun suddenly spoke.

“Fellow Daoist Yellow Springs, this old man has an idea. You…”

Before he could finish, the entire Longevity Medicine Vault suddenly trembled violently. An extremely terrifying demonic essence fluctuation transmitted in from outside. The Crimson Heaven Demon Venerable’s aura was incomparably thick.

The two old demons looked at each other. Both saw shock and alarm in the other’s eyes.

“No time left. I’ll make it short.”

Scorching Sun Old Demon spoke rapidly.

“Monastery Lord, let Wang Yu quickly take out all the precious pills and spiritual herbs. You take sixty percent, this old man takes forty percent. In exchange, I need your method to avoid demonic corruption. How about it?”

The Yellow Springs Monastery Lord frowned tightly.

“My method… you cannot use.”

“How will you know I cannot use it without telling me?”

“Fine.”

Knowing time was critical, the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord pointed straightforwardly. A strand of divine sense spiritual light landed in Scorching Sun Old Demon’s palm.

After sensing the information inside, his expression turned extremely ugly.

The other party’s method of avoiding demonic corruption was very simple.

Just three words.

Enter Yellow Springs!

The “Yellow Springs” here referred to the true Yellow Springs. After years of operation and secret technique research, the Yellow Springs Monastery, which had developed from the corpses of the Yellow Springs White Bone Dao — had already drawn out a real tributary of the Yellow Springs within a secret realm.

Using endless death as sacrifice, they had opened up a genuine Yellow Springs Great River.

The power level faintly surpassed the Spirit Transformation realm. With the erosive nature of the Yellow Springs power, it could naturally suppress the demonic corruption trap inside the Spirit Transformation inheritance in reverse.

In recent years, Yellow Springs Monastery had continuously used grand spirit-extracting formation that condensed spirit stones to shape an entire Deathly Silence Desert. This true “death” involved heavenly concepts and rules.

On the surface, they attempted to destroy the Ice Prison Realm, thereby breaking the cage and obtaining true freedom. In secret, however, they were drawing out the real Yellow Springs tributary and making it flow through the Deathly Silence Desert.

This was their true goal: a stable path to Spirit Transformation!

Only by first reaching the peak of the Ice Prison Realm could they gain a better view to coordinate the overall situation and ponder a genuine method to break the cage.

Furthermore, due to the special nature of the Yellow Springs power.

Unless one cultivated the Yellow Springs Azure Fall Scripture, cultivators who walked other paths fundamentally could not achieve the same effect using Yellow Springs power.

The greater possibility was that before they could even resolve the demonic corruption, they themselves would be turned into a pool of muddy water by the Yellow Springs. This secret technique involved the true hidden secrets of Yellow Springs Monastery.

Therefore.

The Monastery Lord did not explain in too much detail. He only briefly described what the Yellow Springs power could achieve. This was also the root of Scorching Sun Old Demon’s disappointment.

He could not walk someone else’s path.

“First take the treasures. We’ll talk about other matters after we’re done.”

The situation was urgent. The top priority was still to leave the Longevity Medicine Vault first. After all, no matter what choice they made later, triggering the hidden Yin-Yang Killing Formation in Eastern Extreme Capital would require Wang Yu’s help.

However, The two of them had already been talking for quite a while.

Yet Wang Yu still leaned against the vermilion pillar, completely unmoved. Scorching Sun Old Demon immediately showed a suspicious expression and fiercely pressed his divine sense toward Wang Yu.

The aurora illusory body instantly revealed a mocking smile.

With a soft pop, it exploded into dreamy colorful light dots and vanished.

The Yellow Springs Monastery Lord’s expression also turned gloomy.

He instantly rushed in front of the vermilion pillar and carefully inspected it for a long time, but found no problems at all.

After all, this was a secret vault personally arranged by the first-generation Human Emperor.

If he did not want to suffer social death, he must have used every method he had learned in his lifetime. He had even specially reinforced it after reaching the peak of his cultivation.

The coiling dragon vermilion pillar was merely an entrance with spatial means. The real Wang Yu had long since left the Longevity Medicine Vault.

Without Wang Yu’s help, Scorching Sun Old Demon and the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord could not even exit the Longevity Medicine Vault, let alone the fact that the Crimson Heaven Demon Venerable was currently breaking restrictions outside.

Once their movements became too loud, they would definitely be discovered by Crimson Heaven.

At that time, whether they tried to escape or fight.

The outcome would not be good.

For a moment, both men felt like they had been schemed against.

The Yellow Springs Monastery Lord spoke bluntly.

“Scorching Sun, your skill at controlling people is truly disappointing.”

“Isn’t this all because of your little schemes? Otherwise, how could Wang Yu have developed a grudge against this old man? You still have the face to say that!”

In truth, Wang Yu’s choice was perfectly normal.

Scorching Sun’s behavior had already proven he was untrustworthy. Wang Yu certainly would not trust the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord either. No matter how nicely they spoke, what mattered was what they actually did.

Moreover, Wang Yu felt no sense of belonging toward the Blood Reversal Sect.

Other than a few limited individuals, he had zero psychological burden scheming against Scorching Sun Old Demon. Since they dared to threaten him, they naturally had to bear the feeling of being bitten back by an “ant.”

Let them go kill Crimson Heaven. He had no interest in joining that mess.

The situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Other than exchanging a few barbs, the two had no way to deal with it, though they also would not start fighting each other.

Taking a deep breath.

The Yellow Springs Monastery Lord said:

“The situation has not yet reached the point of despair. There is still a slim chance of survival. Have you forgotten what our original purpose was when we came in?”

Scorching Sun Old Demon suddenly remembered.

“You mean… there might be spiritual items here that can deal with Crimson Heaven?”

“Not necessarily spiritual items. It could also be restrictions or formation.

“Let’s search first. This Monastery Lord recalls that Jade Water Demon Lord was schemed against and killed by Wang Yu inside the medicine vault. There might be similar arrangements here.”

In fact, it was exactly as the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord guessed.

The restrictions in the Longevity Medicine Vault were one level higher than those in the Immortal Officials’ Medicine Vault. There were also hidden destruction restrictions set by the first-generation Human Emperor to prevent outsiders from entering the secret vault.

They were meant to destroy evidence at critical moments. Whether they could find and trigger them would depend on the two men’s abilities.

The more critical the situation, the calmer one must be. Only then could one seek a ray of hope in desperate straits. Both of them had faced countless dangerous situations to grow to their current level.

The current predicament was merely a bit more severe than usual.

They did not seek to kill Crimson Heaven, only to find a chance to survive.

Not long after.

Accompanied by a thunderous explosion, the giant spiritual light shield covering the entire Longevity Medicine Vault completely shattered. Under the raging astral winds, all the doors opened wide.

If previously the restrictions had blocked divine sense from penetrating and seeing the scene inside.

Now that the restrictions were broken, the Crimson Heaven Demon Venerable instantly noticed the problem.

Someone had beaten him to it!

The first person he thought of was Wang Yu. Since he had once entered the imperial palace, if there truly was unimaginable authority, then all the treasures here must have been taken.

Thus, his already gloomy mood instantly turned into a violent storm. His chest was filled with rage waiting to be vented.

Fortunately.

Very few restrictions inside had been broken. The existence of large quantities of fifth-rank precious pills and spiritual herbs finally eased Crimson Heaven’s mood somewhat.

“Flood-dragon slaves, children, come in and break the restrictions.”

“Yes!”

Three Flood-dragons and two children, all at Nascent Soul cultivation. Although the two children looked like kids on the outside, they had actually cultivated special secret techniques that deliberately preserved their youthful bodies.

In reality, they had accompanied Crimson Heaven for many years and were old monsters in their own right.

Having subordinates do the hard labor.

They could break the restrictions around the precious pills faster. Seeing his subordinates begin working.

Crimson Heaven himself snorted coldly and looked toward a dark corner on one side of the dome. Two little mice were hiding above that beam. No wonder not many spiritual items had been taken from here.

“Scorching Sun, Yellow Springs.

“What… after taking this Venerable’s things, you still want to ambush this Venerable?”

They were all long-famous old timers. During the Spirit Transformation celebration back then, Crimson Heaven had met nearly all the top Nascent Soul experts in the world.

They could be considered old acquaintances.

Having been suddenly exposed, the two no longer hid. They walked out openly and respectfully saluted Crimson Heaven. There was no trace of their previous killing intent.

“Yellow Springs greets the Venerable.”

“Scorching Sun greets the Venerable.”

“This Venerable cannot accept greetings from the likes of you. Let’s make it short. Hand over everything. This Venerable will personally search your storage rings.”

The moment these words came out, even though Scorching Sun and Yellow Springs had expected it.

They still felt extremely stifled and dissatisfied. They were both giant figures of the demonic path. When had they ever been treated like this? Storage rings were highly personal items that usually contained some secrets.

Without erasing the divine sense imprint, no one else could open them.

They were very private.

But taking Master Youming as a warning, the two exchanged a glance and obediently bowed their heads in submission, presenting their storage rings with both hands.

One was the Patriarchal Ancestor of the Zhuo Clan, a highly respected figure.

The other was the Monastery Lord of Yellow Springs, ruler of a dominant demonic sect.

Yet under the pressure of a Spirit Transformation Venerable, they were so obedient.

A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Crimson Heaven’s mouth. They dared to touch what belonged to him, and they thought handing over the items would solve everything?

How naive!

He had been worrying about lacking a proper excuse to kill them, and now they had delivered themselves to his door. His tolerance for Scorching Sun was higher, but toward the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord, he could not tolerate even the slightest bit.

The killing intent in his chest had long reached its peak.

The moment he took the storage rings, he attacked without hesitation.

The Life-Seizing Demonic Claw shot out fiercely, aiming straight for the Nascent Soul inside the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord. His target was crystal clear!