Chapter 164: The Secret Realm Opens—Terrifying Spatial Rifts!
Time flowed like water, passing swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, the day to open the Ancient Treasury had arrived.
That morning, as sunlight pierced the clouds and shone down on the Ancient Temple, everyone could sense it—an undercurrent of restlessness surging through the air.
Even the natural yuan energy between heaven and earth seemed to be boiling slightly under the pressure.
Within a quiet courtyard in the Ancient Temple, Lin Fan slowly exhaled a deep breath and paused his daily cultivation.
After continuous days of refining, the Seven-Colored Soul Crystal was nearly absorbed, and his yuan power cultivation had reached the peak of the Four-Fold Nirvana stage.
He could initiate his fifth Nirvana Tribulation and fourth Wind-Lightning Tribulation at any time—
But now wasn't the right moment.
Stepping out of his room, Lin Fan saw Lin Dong and Xiao Yan waiting in the courtyard.
Over the past few days, Xiao Yan had been training his body using the gravity zone atop the Heavy Prison Peak. He had fully adapted to his new form, and his combat power had grown tremendously.
"Brother Lin Fan!"
"Big Brother!"
Seeing Lin Fan, Lin Dong and Xiao Yan called out at the same time.
"Let's go. It's time to open the Ancient Treasury. I imagine everyone's been waiting long enough," Lin Fan said with a smile.
With that, he turned and headed out of the courtyard.
Lin Dong and Xiao Yan followed closely behind—Xiao Yan holding a thick iron staff in his hand, a life-bound treasure forged from his former beast tail.
Without wasting time, the trio headed straight for the heart of the massive city.
There, a towering structure stood—like an ancient altar.
Around the altar, mysterious runes were carved into the stone, faintly pulsing with a concealed energy.
This was the location where the Ancient Treasury would be opened.
By now, an uncountable number of people had already gathered here, waiting anxiously for Lin Fan and his group to arrive.
When they did, the once-noisy space fell abruptly silent.
All eyes turned toward Lin Fan and his companions, their gazes burning with intensity.
"Let's open the Ancient Treasury. I believe everyone's waited long enough," Lin Fan said calmly, sweeping his gaze over the crowd. He then nodded to Lin Dong and Xiao Yan.
Both of them nodded back and each pulled out an Ancient Secret Key. As they did, a strange energy fluctuation spread from the keys.
Naturally, the keys had been given to them by Lin Fan.
Smiling faintly, Lin Fan also took out two Ancient Secret Keys.
Buzz… buzz…
As all four keys appeared simultaneously, they began to tremble.
Radiant light flowed from them, enveloping the altar completely.
As the altar was engulfed, the ancient runes carved around it lit up suddenly.
In the next moment, the runes detached from the altar, floating into the air and gathering together.
Then—
A vast pillar of light erupted upward, slamming into the void above.
Boom!
The light struck something in the air, causing ripples to spread across space. Soon after, those ripples formed a massive glowing gateway filled with an ancient aura.
Creak…!
As the runes flickered, the ancient gateway slowly opened.
Instantly, a wave of age-old, sealed-away energy swept out from beyond the gate.
BOOM!
With the gate open, the endless sea of people fell momentarily silent—
And then, explosive yuan power surged from every direction, as countless figures rushed toward the glowing gate like a tidal wave.
Lin Fan reached out and stored two of the keys back into his system space. Then he said to Lin Dong,
"Take the other two and hold on to them."
"Got it." Lin Dong nodded and stowed the keys in his spatial pouch.
Afterward, Lin Fan, Lin Dong, and Lin Yan shot toward the ancient gateway.
…
Once inside the Ancient Treasury, the trio immediately grew alert, carefully surveying their surroundings.
Everything around them was cloaked in a bleak gray-yellow hue—even the sky above was colored the same.
What's more, they weren't standing on solid ground but hovering in midair.
All around them floated enormous boulders—many of which bore the remains of ruins and ancient structures.
This was a lifeless realm. The skies and ground alike were dim and cracked, and the spatial structure of the area was extremely unstable.
"So this is the Ancient Treasury…"
Lin Dong whispered, awe in his voice as he gazed at the vast and seemingly endless void.
"This space is already collapsing," Xiao Diao said as he appeared from the Stone Talisman space and hopped onto Lin Dong's shoulder.
"In another hundred years or so, it'll likely be completely destroyed. When that happens, the hidden treasures here will vanish too."
"Ah!"
As if to prove Xiao Diao's words, a few figures nearby stumbled into a spatial rift and were instantly consumed, vanishing without a trace.
"Let's go. As long as we stay alert and avoid those rifts, we'll be fine," Lin Fan said calmly.
With that, he moved deeper into the Ancient Treasury.
Lin Dong and Xiao Yan followed closely.
Suddenly, a massive rock came into view—floating in the void like a small airborne island.
Spotting it, Lin Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Let's check it out. Maybe we'll find something."
"Okay," Lin Dong nodded, and the three of them flew toward the floating rock.
The surface of the floating island was nothing but dry, lifeless desert—barren as far as the eye could see.
"There's something in the center of the desert," Xiao Diao suddenly said, eyes narrowing as he stared into the distance.
Lin Fan and Lin Dong exchanged glances and immediately moved toward the center.
Minutes later, they arrived to find a skeleton sitting cross-legged in the sand.
"This guy probably failed his Nirvana Tribulation… judging by the condition of the remains, I'd say he attempted the sixth tribulation," Xiao Diao muttered, deep in thought.
"This entire desert might've been caused by his failure," Lin Fan added.
Thinking it over, Lin Dong's pupils contracted slightly. "The Nirvana Tribulations are truly terrifying…"
Lin Fan reached out and touched the skeleton.
Poof!
It crumbled into ash on contact.
Shaking his head, Lin Fan activated the Devouring Ancestor Symbol. Black mist coiled outward, wrapping around the ashes—
He managed to glean a bit of information about the Ancient Treasury.
"Hmm? What's that?"
Lin Dong suddenly spotted a glimmer of gold hidden in the ashes and asked curiously.
With a flick of his hand, Lin Fan summoned the object—a thumb-sized golden sphere—from the ashes.
"Someone's coming," Xiao Diao warned quietly before darting back into the Stone Talisman space.
Hearing the alert, all three instantly became vigilant.
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