"Elder Wang Lin of the Outer Affairs, by the Old Ancestor's command, has come to retrieve pills. I hope the Elders will open the treasury."
After a bow, Yan Qingshan raised the token given by the Old Ground Demon Ghost and spoke loudly. An aura swept over the token in his hand, followed by a series of mechanical sounds, and a two-meter-square opening appeared before him.
Yan Qingshan bowed and cupped his hands again, then led Zi Yan into the passage. Traversing a long tunnel, Yan Qingshan and Zi Yan continued forward. With the help of some faint light, they could see that on the stone walls around the cave, some magical beast patterns were depicted, looking quite ferocious.
The end of the passage was a long stone staircase, extending down into a faint darkness, its end indiscernible. On the surrounding mountain walls, some moonlight stones emitting a faint glow were embedded, slowly dispelling the darkness within the cave.
Yan Qingshan and Zi Yan slowly descended the stone staircase. After about ten minutes, they finally reached the end. At the foot of the stairs, a tightly closed, heavy stone door appeared before them.
The stone door was entirely black, covered with moss, subtly exuding a sense of profound weight.
Yan Qingshan raised the token and repeated what he had said outside, then slowly pushed open the door. A hiss of a snake sounded, and what came into view was a huge serpentine magical beast, though it was only a Fifth-tier, not posing much danger.
After seeing the token in Yan Qingshan's hand, the serpentine magical beast coiled back down and settled, closing its eyes and falling into a deep slumber after a short while.
This was a quite spacious storeroom. Inside, the lighting was extremely dazzling. The entire storeroom was constructed from hard Ink Steel Stone, making it incredibly durable and highly defensible, as if a room had been excavated directly from a mine vein.
In this storeroom, there were many stands. On the shelves, scrolls were neatly arranged. On the other side, there were quite a few crystal cabinets, in which various rare medicinal ingredients were faintly visible, carefully placed.
"So many cultivation methods! These have all been organized and graded, with the lowest being at least Xuan-tier!"
Zi Yan whispered as she approached a section of bookshelves. The shelves before her were labeled "Xuan-tier Low-Grade," and these shelves held the most cultivation method scrolls.
Yan Qingshan led Zi Yan directly towards the depths of the storeroom. He wouldn't even glance at ordinary Xuan-tier Dou Skills or cultivation methods, as he knew what the most precious items in this treasury were.
Unbeknownst to them, the two had already reached the end of the storeroom. On an adjacent bookshelf, unlike the previous ones, there weren't many scrolls stacked, but only four ancient wooden boxes.
Around this bookshelf, unlike the others, there was protection: a faint light barrier that isolated it, with a rich energy faintly emanating from within the barrier.
"Di-tier!"
Yan Qingshan looked at the bookshelf covered by the faint light curtain. It seemed fragile but contained a considerable amount of powerful energy, and spatial fluctuations were radiating around it. A hint of excitement flashed in his eyes, then he turned and whispered, "Zi Yan, it's your turn."
"Got it!"
Zi Yan was also excited. Di-tier treasures were extremely rare even in the Jia Nan Academy, only being stored in the Book Collection Hall.
Zi Yan stepped forward, extending her small hand directly towards the light barrier. Then, under Yan Qingshan's gaze, she effortlessly reached into the bookshelf, taking out the four wooden boxes one after another.
"Thank you, Zi Yan!"
Yan Qingshan ruffled Zi Yan's soft purple hair, then took the four slightly ancient wooden boxes from the smug Zi Yan's hands and opened them one by one.
Inside the first wooden box were two silver scrolls. The material of these scrolls was quite peculiar, appearing like a strange crystal. On their surface, tiny electric lights even flickered like silver snakes, moving around.
"Rushing Thunder Mirror, Di-tier Mid-Grade, Lightning-attribute Cultivation Method!
Awakening Thunder Technique, Di-tier Mid-Grade Dou Skill, a complete set of Dou Skills with the Rushing Thunder Mirror!"
A glint of excitement flashed in Yan Qingshan's eyes. Lightning-attribute cultivation methods were already somewhat rare, and finding a set with complementary Dou Skills of this quality, reaching Di-tier Mid-Grade, was even more difficult. Its value far surpassed ordinary Di-tier Mid-Grade cultivation methods and Dou Skills, and it was extremely useful for Yan Qingshan.
"Flame Manipulation Art!"
Yan Qingshan opened another wooden box, and a crimson scroll came into view. He picked up the scroll, slowly unrolled it, and took a quick look.
"This Flame Manipulation Art was painstakingly improved by this old man over many years. Although the previous Flame Manipulation Art was strong, it required at least three people to cultivate in order to condense a 'fake Heavenly Flame,' and each condensation came at a considerable cost.
However, this art is even better. Cultivating it alone can also successfully condense a 'fake Heavenly Flame,' and its power far surpasses the former, with greatly reduced side effects. Although the condensation method has become more complex, compared to what is gained, these are negligible flaws..."
After putting away this scroll of Flame Manipulation Art, Yan Qingshan opened the last two wooden boxes. The boxes opened, revealing two items: one was a fist-sized, fiery red, spherical bead, and the other was an ordinary gray-brown bamboo slip.
On the fiery red bead, one could feel a rather violent and vast fire-attribute energy contained within. This was actually a rare Seventh-tier Monster Core.
A Seventh-tier Magical Beast was equivalent to a Dou Ancestor level. The monster core formed within the body of such a powerful magical beast was extremely valuable.
Moreover, magical beasts of this level already possessed intelligence comparable to humans. If truly pushed to a dead end, they would even self-detonate their monster core rather than let the enemy succeed. Therefore, it was rare for anyone to obtain a magical core of this level.
Yan Qingshan's attention, however, wasn't much on the monster core, but rather he directly picked up the seemingly very ordinary bamboo slip.
This bamboo slip was gray-brown, its material appearing quite common, exuding an ancient aura, and looking quite old.
Yan Qingshan gently untied the fine thread on the bamboo slip, slowly unrolled it, and then, a line of blood-red characters, tinged with a hint of ruthlessness, appeared clearly before his eyes.
"Sky Demon Puppet!"
These three blood-red characters made one's heart tremble. Yan Qingshan slowly unrolled the bamboo slip, and densely packed blood-red characters, emanating a scent of bloodlust, came into his view.
"Sky Demon Puppet, this method is neither a cultivation method nor an ordinary Dou Skill, but a puppet technique passed down from ancient times.
To refine a Sky Demon Puppet, three things must be gathered: a body, a soul, and a monster core. The body serves as the vessel, the soul as the guide, and the monster core as the heart, combined with numerous other materials, to ultimately create a demon puppet.
Demon puppets are divided into three grades: Sky, Ground, and Man. The difference in grade depends on the refining materials and the refining flame. They possess infinite power and are without joy or sorrow, pain or injury, truly a killing machine!"
Yan Qingshan's gaze slowly swept over the blood-red characters on the bamboo slip, and the surprise on his face grew stronger. This so-called puppet technique was the root of his daring adventure into the Demon Flame Valley.
Throughout his cultivation journey, Yan Qingshan had gone from being a small Dou Disciple with no background to his current state, repeatedly treading the fine line of danger, but this also allowed him to achieve his current cultivation. If he didn't have a backing, he would create one—Yan Qingshan had always believed in this.
The Dou Qi Continent was a very realistic place. Here, if you had no background and no trump cards, even with talent, it was difficult to rise. So, from the very beginning, whether it was capturing Xiao Yi Xian or taking Qing Ling as his maidservant, Yan Qingshan had clear objectives.
The Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpant, Chi Lian, was the first 'backing' he found. Relying on it, Yan Qingshan completed the plundering of the Mo Family in Yan City, acquiring initial capital accumulation and then soaring to great heights.
Now, the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpant could barely keep up with his progress, but in his subsequent actions, he absolutely needed a stronger backing. Dou Kings and Dou Emperors were not enough; he needed Dou Ancestor level combat power, and this Sky Demon Puppet was something Yan Qingshan had considered.
The Sky Demon Puppet originated from an ancient puppet refining technique, a lost art even among many forces and the ancient Eight Clans in the Central Plains. It could refine powerful puppets comparable to Dou Zuns at their peak, perfectly suited for Yan Qingshan's situation.
"I have the monster core, but I still lack a Dou Ancestor-level soul and body. But there's no rush for that; I can slowly think of ways."
Yan Qingshan muttered to himself before regaining his composure. This was not the time for him to be complacent. He quickly put several treasures into his storage ring, then went to the place where medicinal ingredients and pills were stored.
Yan Qingshan collected some well-preserved rare medicinal ingredients, and then took some jade bottles and a few precious pills. The highest grade of pills here reached Rank Six, and there was even a Zong Breaking Pill.
Yan Qingshan stopped after plundering what he needed. After hiding a few special storage rings, he walked out of the storeroom with three jade bottles.
It wasn't that Yan Qingshan hadn't thought of clearing out everything in the storeroom, but the Demon Flame Valley was not a small place like Feng City.
There were still some Dou Kings and Dou Emperors left behind here, and the Old Ground Demon Ghost hadn't left long ago. If he caused too much commotion, he would be courting death.
"Wang Lin, bring three Rank Five Fuling Pills!"
As Yan Qingshan walked out of the storeroom, he held up the token and jade bottles in his hand. Several subtle auras swept over him multiple times. The cave entrance behind him slowly closed. Everything happened as Yan Qingshan had envisioned, with no unexpected changes.
Yan Qingshan led Zi Yan out of the Demon Flame Valley cave. Although he was anxious, he walked at a steady pace, eventually reaching the entrance of the Demon Flame Valley. He took out the token with one hand, gave a few instructions, then led Zi Yan out of the Demon Flame Valley.
After leaving the Demon Flame Valley, Yan Qingshan immediately nailed the token given by the Old Ground Demon Ghost onto a tree trunk. After leaving a line of text, he quickly departed with Zi Yan, heading towards the depths of the vast and uninhabited magical beast forest.
This time, he had taken quite a few treasures, plundering the accumulated wealth of major forces like Black Emperor City and Demon Flame Valley, which had Dou Ancestor experts guarding them.
There were indeed many treasures, but many of them carried the energy imprints of their respective forces. He now needed to find a suitable place to erase these imprints, otherwise, he would be tracked down very soon.