Chapter 519: Chapter 519
"Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" is a well-known treasure site within Kunxu Realm.
This place boasts thousands of pavilions, and dozens of palaces, all containing treasures left by Celestial Immortals for cultivators adventuring into Kunxu Realm.
Any cultivator coming here, as long as they can pass the tests, may enter and collect treasures.
At first glance, it appears similar to the "Heaven-Reaching Peak" that Zhouyang and the others visited.
But that’s not the case.
Though "Heaven-Reaching Peak" is hard to climb, scaling the peak doesn’t pose a life threat.
However, "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" is different.
The tests within "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" are diverse, each posing a deadly danger to participating cultivators.
Failing the tests means merely going back empty-handed at best, and losing one’s life and possessions becoming part of the "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower’s" treasures at worst.
Moreover, the treasures within "Heaven-Reaching Peak," although plentiful, don’t greatly attract Nascent Soul Stage cultivators. They might take one casually but wouldn’t go out of their way to obtain them.
But "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" is entirely different; it houses Tier Six Treasures in some places, and acquiring them would significantly enhance a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator’s power, allowing them to take any treasure at will if they have the strength.
Therefore, each time Kunxu Realm opens, "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" attracts many cultivators aiming to venture inside for treasures, including Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.
Zhouyang wanted to explore "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" for treasures, and Jiang Fengxian naturally found no reason to refuse.
Thus, they rested for over a month on that nameless small island. After Zhouyang’s Essence Blood mostly recovered from using the Blood Escape Technique, they together took the Thunderbolt Golden Light Divine Shuttle to head toward the location of "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower."
The golden light pierced the sky, moving as fast as lightning.
The journey from the Great Lake to "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" was quite distant, requiring them to fly over the Great Lake and cross the forest to reach the location of "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower."
The Great Lake was relatively safe, though inhabited by many powerful demon beasts; high-tier demon beasts possess intelligence and won’t randomly attack human cultivators flying over their territory unless they are highly aggressive.
Especially with Zhouyang’s Thunderbolt Golden Light Divine Shuttle traveling at great speed, even if Tier Five Demon Beasts wanted to attack him, unless they were flying demon beasts of a bird-like species, they wouldn’t easily catch up with him.
Such high-tier flying demon beasts were evidently unlikely to dwell in the Great Lake.
However, after crossing the Great Lake and entering the vast forest on its opposite bank, the situation changed significantly.
The forest teemed with fierce beasts and birds, making it easy for the territory-conscious flying demon beasts to attack the Thunderbolt Golden Light Divine Shuttle flying overhead.
In just three days, they faced no fewer than thirty attacks while crossing the forest, averaging over ten attacks daily.
The attacking demon beasts ranged in strength from mere Tier Four Demon Beasts to even reaching Tier Five Top Grade in power.
Zhouyang and his companions defeated many attacking demon beasts and retreated or changed routes under a fierce demon beast attack.
Fortunately, both were powerful beyond their realm’s limits, allowing them to successfully break through some strong demon beasts’ assaults.
After more than a month, Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian trekked through the vast forest and arrived at the mountainous region where "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" was located.
In the sky, Zhouyang glanced ahead and saw spiritual light soaring hundreds of miles away in the vast mountains. Various palaces and pavilions of different designs were either perched atop tall mountains, nestled on mid-hills, or settled among mountain bases, gorges, or flat grounds.
That was the "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower," the rumored treasure trove of Celestial Immortals, and anyone capable of entering those palaces and pavilions could obtain the treasures housed within.
"In the ’Ten Thousand Treasures Tower,’ treasures abound; the closer, the more valuable the treasures hidden in the palaces and pavilions near the center, surrounding the Heaven-Reaching Immortal Tower. With both our strengths, Fengxian, we won’t leave empty-handed on this venture."
Zhouyang gazed at those palace and pavilion structures for a long time before retracting his gaze and looking at Jiang Fengxian with a hint of anticipation.
The source of his anticipation was simple; the Nine Heavens Profound Gold and the Nourishing Spirit token he used for refining his lifebound spiritual artifact were obtained by Xu Song from this "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower."
Since the "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" housed even rare materials like Nine Heavens Profound Gold, it might contain other materials of the same tier.
And if he could find True Sun Gold in "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower," he’d secure the material for refining the second lifebound spiritual artifact, the Qianyang Golden Lamp.
Then, the two together flew on a cloud toward the vast mountains.
The area surrounding "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" forbade flying. Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian actively descended their cloud upon arrival outside and moved toward the nearest Red Palace.
Before reaching the Red Palace’s exterior, a thunderous clamor erupted from deep within the mountains, suggesting powerful forces clashing therein.
Zhouyang wasn’t surprised by this.
As mentioned earlier, "Ten Thousand Treasures Tower" is quite dangerous; the danger comes not only from the tests left by Celestial Immortals but also from other cultivators.
Often, some cultivators, unwilling to venture into the pavilions or palaces without knowing what’s inside, deliberately hide in the shadows, waiting for other cultivators to enter and blaze a trail for them.
Once other cultivators successfully emerge with treasures, these hidden cultivators will stealthily attack and commit murder for treasures.
Even if other cultivators return unsuccessful, seeing an opportunity, these lurking cultivators won’t miss the chance to kill for treasures.
Worse still, some cultivators exploring and searching for treasures together in a palace might spark conflicts over uneven treasure distribution.
Therefore, it was no surprise to Zhouyang when he sensed cultivators fighting deep within the mountain range; he merely noted the direction and heightened his vigilance.
Before long, the two of them arrived outside the Red Palace.
This Red Palace covered an area of several acres, comprising an outer hall and an inner hall, separated by a courtyard enclosed by high walls. Due to the power of the array, Zhouyang and his companion could not discern what lay inside the courtyard.
To enter the palace, they could not climb over the walls; they could only go through the main entrance of the outer hall.
However, the main entrance was not easy to access.
Zhouyang looked up to see four stone statue warriors holding glaives on either side of the main entrance, with a purplish-red House-Protecting Treasure Mirror hanging above the lintel.
If they wished to enter the Red Palace in search of treasure, these obstacles would have to be dealt with.
"Let me first test the strength of those stone statue warriors."
After observing the four stone statue warriors for a moment, Zhouyang gestured with his hand, summoning the Tier Five Tiger Puppet Beast obtained from the Immortal Puppet Sect cultivator Wu Zidao, who strode towards the palace gate wielding a dark gold great axe.
The Tiger Puppet Beast moved slowly, as Zhouyang was cautious that, if it moved too quickly, he might not have time to retract the puppet beast in case of danger.
When it was still more than a hundred feet from the main entrance, the eyes of the four stone statue warriors outside the gate suddenly flashed white, and their bodies came to life in an instant.
"Immortal Palace Forbidden Land, intruders shall die!"
"Immortal Palace Forbidden Land, intruders shall die!"
"Immortal Palace Forbidden Land, intruders shall die!"
The mechanical, cold voices buzzed from the mouths of the four stone statue warriors, their two-zhang long bronze halberds simultaneously pointing at the approaching Tiger Puppet Beast.
The Tiger Puppet Beast, of course, did not heed the stone warriors’ warnings. Instead, under Zhouyang’s command, it suddenly accelerated towards the four stone statue warriors.
After a piercing clash of metal and stone, the Tiger Puppet Beast, now covered in scars, retreated back to Zhouyang’s side.
The four stone statue warriors, on the other hand, returned to their original positions and once again became stone statues. However, one of them had become a one-armed statue, its left arm having been shattered into rubble by a single axe blow from the Tiger Puppet Beast in the recent battle, unable to recover.
"Their melee capability is equivalent to a Tier Five Lower Grade Demon Beast, but they possess a level of cooperative combat ability that beasts cannot match. Together, the four stone statue warriors have strength comparable to a Tier Five High-Grade Demon Beast!"
Zhouyang solemnly stated his assessment regarding the stone statue warriors that had reverted to statues.
He glanced with a slight heartache at the Tiger Puppet Beast beside him, noting more than a dozen deep scars from the brief encounter.
These scars would not render the puppet beast unusable, but if not repaired, enemies could easily exploit these weak points to destroy the puppet beast.
Unfortunately, he had no time for repairs, as the upcoming battle would not go well without the Tiger Puppet Beast.
"As Brother Zhou said, these stone statue warriors are not the concern; rather, it is the Treasure Mirror that remains unknown and therefore most fearsome!"
Jiang Fengxian said in a low, serious voice as he gazed at the purplish-red House-Protecting Treasure Mirror on the door frame.
Upon hearing this, Zhouyang quickly responded, "The Treasure Mirror hasn’t been activated, which likely requires proximity to trigger. We can first take care of the four stone statue warriors before considering our next steps."
"Alright, let’s take two each, and do not let them form a combined battle array again!"
Jiang Fengxian nodded slightly, agreeing with Zhouyang’s view.
With this decision, they immediately summoned magical artifacts to strike at the four stone statue warriors.
Zhouyang directed the Puppet Tiger to engage one stone warrior while he, using sword control, attacked another.
These stone statue warriors had the defensive and offensive capabilities comparable to a Tier Five Demon Beast, but their movement was not fast, and their techniques were repetitive. Once familiar with their patterns, Golden Core Stage cultivators could easily destroy them.
Of course, Zhouyang had no time for a prolonged battle and directly unleashed a blaze of "Qianyang True Flame" onto a stone statue warrior, reducing the stone warriors to piles of rubble.
At the moment the four stone statue warriors were all destroyed, the purplish-red House-Protecting Treasure Mirror above the door frame suddenly activated. Orıginal content can be found at novel·fire·net
The mirror flashed with a red light, and the surrounding environment of Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian underwent a dramatic transformation, becoming a blazing sea of molten lava with turbulent, intensely hot magma everywhere.
Witnessing this scene, Zhouyang’s expression turned peculiar as he remarked to Jiang Fengxian, "Who would have thought this mirror was actually a key artifact suppressing a Tier Five High-grade Array? It seems you and I must brace for a hard-fought battle today!"
Jiang Fengxian saw his expression and knew he was recalling their past experience breaking an array in the Wilderness Jungle.
Back then, the Mountain Protection Array outside Xu Song’s cave similarly formed a "Realm." To break the array, they repeatedly entered the realm to deplete the array’s power, eventually succeeding after nearly three months of effort.
Their current situation bore a striking resemblance to their previous ordeal.
The difference was that they were no longer the weaker Purple Mansion Stage cultivators of the past, and they could not rely on internal and external forces to exhaust the array’s power as before.
This time, they had to rely on their combined strength to break the formation forcibly—and quickly.