Volume Two - The Nine Provinces Map Revealed, Entering the Spirit Ruins as a Disciple Chapter 96: All Treasures Collected

When the Ghost Nether Sect Master, his face twisted with hatred, was still imagining how he would sow chaos in the world in the days to come, he never dreamed that danger would descend at that very moment.

First, the Flame-Spitting Talismans buried all around him exploded at once. Roaring fire surged down like a savage dragon and swallowed the Ghost Nether Sect Master whole. The fierce blaze instantly filled the entire tomb chamber, and even Chen Yu’s figure was exposed by its light.

“Argh... You damned little thief, how dare you scheme against me!” the Ghost Nether Sect Master roared as he was blasted away. Only then did he discover Chen Yu’s presence. Yet he had already been gravely wounded by Xia Ruo, and after taking that inferno’s blast, half his body was practically ruined. How could he possibly react in time?

With furious rage, he bellowed, “Kill... I’m going to devour you alive!”

At this moment, his hatred for Chen Yu had already surpassed even that for Xia Ruo.

But Chen Yu’s offensive was not over. In the same instant, six Wind-Borrowing Talismans were activated together. A gale rose, feeding the flames, and the already ferocious fire became even more savage as it lunged toward the Ghost Nether Sect Master.

“Damn it... Ahem...” The Ghost Nether Sect Master slammed into the stone wall and coughed up several mouthfuls of blood. Flames had also ignited on his body, and searing pain coursed through him from head to toe.

“You little thief... I want you dead...” he snarled, his face contorted in malice, his roar weak and strained. But when he looked toward Chen Yu again, there was no sign of him anywhere. “Argh... Come out!”

Suddenly, within that whirlwind of fire and wind, a streak of sword light appeared. Golden radiance shot in like lightning, and before the Ghost Nether Sect Master could even perceive it, Chen Yu burst out from the side with a single slash aimed at his throat.

“Subduing Dragon and Taming Tiger, righteous sword qi—die!”

The Ghost Nether Sect Master’s eyes flew wide. He only heard a soft, ripping sound, and then he felt his body suddenly soar upward.

Even so, Chen Yu still did not dare to relax. He drove his sword upward again toward the head of the Ghost Nether Sect Master, now suspended in the air.

“Shaking Mountains and Trembling Earth, Storm-Rain Sword.”

Sword qi erupted in all directions, and in an instant the Ghost Nether Sect Master’s head was blasted apart.

After landing, Chen Yu still did not dare lower his guard. He watched carefully, alert to every movement. Only when the Ghost Nether Sect Master’s body finally crashed to the ground and no longer moved did Chen Yu let out a long breath and say with excitement, “Good... he’s finally dead.”

Though it had lasted only an instant, Chen Yu had felt as if he were fighting while carrying a mountain on his back. Both body and mind were under unbearable strain.

Chen Yu exhaled slowly and gradually steadied himself. He searched the Ghost Nether Sect Master’s hands and body, but found nothing at all.

“No way! The dignified leader of a sect, and he has nothing?” Chen Yu cried in disbelief. Still unconvinced, he searched again. The result was the same.

“Damn it...” Chen Yu kicked the corpse hard and said bitterly, “Not even a single thing left for me? Did you spend it all on cultivation?”

But that did not seem likely. Even if he had truly used everything for cultivation, he could not possibly have left behind absolutely nothing. After all, not everything would have been useful for cultivation.

“What’s this?” Chen Yu noticed a small cloth pouch tied to the inside of the Ghost Nether Sect Master’s belt and immediately took it out.

It was tiny, no bigger than half a palm, and looked utterly ordinary. Chen Yu was full of anticipation as he tried to open it, only to find that he could not do so no matter what he tried.

“Why is it so tight?” Chen Yu tugged hard at the opening, but it would not loosen in the slightest. With his current strength, he still could not tear it apart, which showed that the pouch was made from unusual material.

“A treasure. This has to be a treasure,” Chen Yu said excitedly. He pulled on the black cord binding the opening and circulated the Nine-Breath Breathing Art, trying to crush it with brute force.

To his surprise, the moment his spiritual energy flowed into the black cord, the tightly sealed pouch began to open by itself. At the same time, his awareness seemed to slip inside.

The pouch was filled with treasures: gold and silver, elixirs, yellow talismans, secret manuals...

“Ah... this is... Could it be a Pocket Heaven Pouch? A Pocket Heaven Pouch is similar to a Pocket Heaven Talisman, but they are vastly different. A Pocket Heaven Talisman is only a one-time item, whereas a Pocket Heaven Pouch is crafted from special materials. It is more like a small space inscribed not only with Pocket Heaven formations, but also with spirit-gathering patterns and the like, allowing many things to be stored within. It is not limited to a single kind of object like a Pocket Heaven Talisman.”

Chen Yu grinned from ear to ear. “I’m rich. I’m really rich... I never thought I’d get my hands on such a treasure. Ha ha...”

Although the Ghost Nether Sect Master had indeed spent heavily in order to refine himself into a corpse fiend, what he had left behind was still exceedingly plentiful to Chen Yu.

Chen Yu’s consciousness casually swept through the Pocket Heaven Pouch. Suddenly, his brows lifted, and with a thought, a wooden box about a foot high and wide appeared in his hand.

“Why does this wooden box also carry a trace of baleful resentment? Hmm... what is this writing? Seal the Malevolence?” Chen Yu frowned, then a flash of insight struck him. “Could it be that he used this thing to hold that Bone-Path Yin Essence?”

He sensed it carefully, and it was indeed so. The box’s baleful aura was the same as that Bone-Path Yin Essence’s. In that case, Chen Yu naturally did not dare be careless. With a swift sword strike, he split the pool of yin and evil energy apart, quickly lifted out the Bone-Path Yin Essence, and placed it into the wooden box. The moment the box closed, the resentful aura emitted by the Bone-Path Yin Essence could no longer be felt.

“Ha ha... It really is as I thought. Wonderful,” Chen Yu said excitedly.

But this was no time for study. He understood all too well the principle that possession of wealth invites disaster. If others learned that he had obtained the Ghost Nether Sect Master’s fortune, it would be hard to say whether they might covet it.

He took several Flame-Spitting Talismans from the Pocket Heaven Pouch and burned the Ghost Nether Sect Master’s corpse to ash. He also collected the bodies of the Ghost Nether Sect Master and the nine Purple Corpse Elders, then used Wind-Borrowing Talismans to scatter the ashes, erasing every trace before leaving swiftly.

He ran all the way until he reached a higher chamber, only to discover that the passage ahead had collapsed completely and there was no way through.

“No way... It’s blocked. How am I supposed to get out?” Chen Yu said anxiously.

What was worse, he could already hear movement from above. There was no need to guess; other cultivators must have arrived and were trying to break through the passage in order to capture the Ghost Nether Sect Master.

“What do I do? What do I do?” Chen Yu grew even more frantic. “Calm down, calm down. At worst, I’ll use a magic banner to conceal myself and slip away in secret.”

Holding the magic banner tightly in one hand, Chen Yu let his awareness sink into the Pocket Heaven Pouch with the other, searching for something usable.

“Got it!” His eyes lit up. He took out an Earth-Walking Talisman. “Ha... no wonder the Ghost Nether Sect Master wasn’t the least bit anxious even knowing he was trapped underground. So he had something like this.”

He immediately贴 the Earth-Walking Talisman to his body and activated it. In an instant, his entire person merged into the earth. Chen Yu now moved forward as if swimming through water, slipping away at great speed.

By the time the disciples of Spirit Ruins entered the chamber once more, Chen Yu had already secretly returned to the surface and reached the outer perimeter of the tomb mound.