Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

Chapter 400: Chapter 290: Breakthrough to the Mid-Golden Core Stage

The Gu Family disciple had sharp ears. Hearing this, he snorted coldly and said, "In your dreams! Nothing can escape this trap—not a person, not even sound! Unless your friend over there has skills like mine for disabling mechanisms and can find a way out from his side. Otherwise, he’s doomed to die in there!"

Song Mingyue secretly pursed her lips. ’Your skills?’ she thought. ’Ling Xiao is a hundred times better than you!’

Qin Zhaoran was not one to dither. Seeing this, he waved his hand. "Find the next passage!"

Perhaps out of impatience, Qin Zhaoran’s tone was curt. The Gu Family disciple was displeased but didn’t dare say a word. In a place like this, killing him would be child’s play for them. He was already starting to regret entering, but the arrow had already left the bow. He could only brace himself and press on.

The Gu Family’s Mechanical Skill was truly impressive. Before long, the disciple found another mechanism and announced, "This is a big one! Everyone, get back!"

After everyone had moved aside, the Gu Family disciple pressed hard on a spot on the wall. A stone slid inward with a soft WHOOSH, followed by complete silence. The disciple himself was taken aback. Several people shot him suspicious glances, and he started to look flustered. Just as he was about to say something, he felt the floor begin to tremble beneath his feet.

At first, it was a slight tremor, but it slowly grew into a violent shaking. A line bulged up from the center of the hall’s floor! Then, it began to rise steadily upward!

The debris from the collapsed path above and the sand on the floor began to slide down the newly formed slopes to either side. The entire floor of the hall had split in two down the middle, separating and rising high into the air!

Everyone stared, utterly dumbfounded! They all huddled together. Fortunately, a few meters of solid ground remained at each end. When the two massive floor sections finally pressed flat against the opposite walls, the scene below... was completely revealed. Everyone, including Shangguan Yutong and Song Mingyue, was stunned. The sight was even more shocking than the winding path of lights that had resembled an angry dragon!

Below was a cavern of dazzling splendor, brightly lit. Countless statues of all sizes, sculpted from pure gold, stood in neat rows. Their reflection of the light was so brilliant it was almost blinding.

There were also countless chests, large and small. Some were closed, while others were open. Inside the open chests, Crystal Cores glittered, emitting a collective wave of energy that could be felt even from a great distance...

"Hahahaha!"

Even though these were all people from prominent families and sects who supposedly viewed money as dirt, their eyes still went red with greed at the sight of this astonishing fortune.

One person let out a great laugh and leaped down. The others hesitated for a moment, but when they saw he was unharmed, they couldn’t resist and jumped down after him.

Song Mingyue and Shangguan Yutong exchanged a look and shook their heads. The treasure below was certainly tempting, but they were both far more concerned about Ling Xiao’s safety. In comparison, they wouldn’t have cared if it were a mountain of solid gold.

But Qin Zhaoran shot them a look and said in a sinister tone, "You two, get down there as well."

"On whose authority?" Song Mingyue asked, glancing coolly at Qin Zhaoran. "We have no interest in the treasure below."

"Hehe, this old man is interested in that friend of yours who disappeared," he said, his gaze flickering. He narrowed his eyes, a hint of killing intent leaking out.

The two had no choice. ’This Qin Zhaoran is too cunning,’ they fumed internally, ’he’s even planning for things that haven’t happened yet.’ They could only follow the others and leap down.

Once everyone had jumped down, the massive floor sections above began to slowly close. Someone looked like they wanted to get back up, but the Gu Family disciple said, "Don’t worry. There are air vents, which means there must be another way out. The design of these ruins is incredibly ingenious. It certainly wasn’t built just to trap people."

That person said, "You guarantee that?"

Although the Gu Family disciple wasn’t powerful, he was an authority on this subject. And like most experts, he disliked being questioned. Hearing the doubt in the man’s voice, he gave a faint smile. "If you don’t believe me, feel free to go back up."

Just as he finished speaking, the last crack of light from above sealed shut. A hint of mockery touched the Gu Family disciple’s lips. The other man’s face flushed with anger, but realizing it was too late to argue, he shot the disciple a glare and turned away.

The people who had followed Qin Zhaoran here were almost all powerful figures from major families and sects. Not a single one of them paid any mind to the solid gold statues; everyone’s gaze was irresistibly drawn to the chests.

Qin Zhaoran laughed heartily. "All the Magic Beast Crystal Cores... will be divided equally! Everyone here gets a share!" ’Only while we’re inside these ruins,’ he thought.

Ling Xiao kept his hands pressed on the Urgently Cold Cauldron. Several hours passed, yet his expression remained unchanged. The pure, completely refined energy from within the cauldron flowed continuously from his hands, through his meridians, and converged on the Golden Core in his Dantian.

This pure energy was incredibly pleasant to absorb. Thanks to his powerful Mental Cultivation, Ling Xiao’s strength rose steadily and smoothly, with no signs of him succumbing to cultivation deviation.

More than ten hours later, Ling Xiao absorbed the last wisp of energy from the Urgently Cold Cauldron. The Golden Core in his Dantian had grown much larger! His body slowly descended to the floor. He remained seated cross-legged with his eyes closed, his hands slowly forming a series of seals. He guided the True Essence in his body to circulate wildly through his greatly expanded meridians. After rapidly completing nine Grand Circulations, he abruptly exhaled a plume of turbid air and let out a long, clear cry.

The sound was like a great bell, making the stone chamber tremble violently.

Among the people below, several of the Sword Emperor-level experts suddenly looked up, suspicion flashing in their eyes. They quickly composed themselves, but they all knew in their hearts that something had just changed up above.

An immense aura radiated from Ling Xiao’s body. He opened his eyes, and they shone with a dazzling golden light. It was quite some time before the glow slowly receded.

Ling Xiao was overjoyed. ’This is an incredible stroke of luck!’ The Magical Beast he had just refined must have been at least at Tier Eight Peak before being turned into a Puppet Magical Beast. Ling Xiao even suspected it might have been Tier Nine.

Because the pure energy he had just absorbed had helped him break through the peak of the Early Golden Core Stage in a single stroke, advancing to the Mid-Golden Core Stage!

Ling Xiao summoned the nine hundred and ninety-nine Cold Iron Short Swords from his ring. In an instant, the air in the stone chamber filled with the swords, their tips all pointing downward.

The swords were all incredibly sharp, glinting with a cold light. At Ling Xiao’s command, they began to move. First, they shifted their positions one by one, then they began to move as a whole, slowly revolving around him.

Ling Xiao let out a great shout.

"Strike!"

The nine hundred and ninety-nine Cold Iron Short Swords suddenly shot outward from him as if from an explosion!

They all struck the surrounding walls of the chamber. The stone was incredibly hard; even the razor-sharp Cold Iron Short Swords could only chip off the tiniest flecks of rock.

Ling Xiao laughed, then recalled the nine hundred and ninety-nine Cold Iron Short Swords. ’When I have time, I’ll properly refine these,’ he thought. ’Then they’ll be able to display their true power!’

Ling Xiao then took out the suit of armor he had just acquired. The mental connection he’d felt before immediately returned.

It was then that Ling Xiao noticed a line of words carved into the table where the armor had rested: The pinnacle of Alchemy—Refined Gold Moonlight Armor!

Ling Xiao examined the soft armor in his hands, unable to identify the material. It emitted a faint, yellow glow, like moonlight. The armor was simple in design—sleeveless, with no buttons, essentially a cylinder with two holes for the arms. As he inspected it, Ling Xiao couldn’t find a single seam or joint anywhere on it.

This alone spoke to the armor’s preciousness. Ling Xiao suddenly placed the Refined Gold Moonlight Armor on the table, looking at the line of words again: ’The pinnacle of Alchemy.’ Then, he drew the Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword from his ring.

His sword flashed. The powerful Sword Qi of the Mid-Golden Core Stage caused the Demon Blood Red Lotus Sword to let out a clear, ringing cry. With a furious roar, he brought the blade down hard on the Refined Gold Moonlight Armor. A strike like this... could have cleaved a Sword Sect expert in two!

The ancient table beneath it, unable to withstand such tremendous force, instantly shattered with a BOOM and collapsed! But a glance at the Refined Gold Moonlight Armor revealed that it didn’t have a single scratch on it.

"A true treasure!" A delighted smile spread across Ling Xiao’s face.

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