inspire-indiana Chapter 732 Hidden Mission 18
Chapter 732 Hidden Mission 18
rule?
Only one item is allowed?
Before opportunity knocks, the strong remain strong, and the wise will find another way!
A barely perceptible smile curved her lips.
"Little guys, it's up to you now." With a thought, three fire iron flying ants flew out.
Upon receiving the command, the three fire-iron flying ants instantly transformed into three extremely faint streaks of fire, precisely pouncing towards the three floating immortal artifacts! Their antennae lightly touched the tower's apex, the bell's knob, and the bead's body, and mysterious runes flashed across their bodies!
hum!
The jet-black pagoda instantly transformed into a streak of dark light, disappearing into the tiny space inside the abdomen of one of the flying ants;
The dark gold bell also transformed into a golden ray and disappeared into the body of the second flying ant;
The chaotic-colored bead eventually disappeared, merging into the space of the third flying ant.
The whole process was as fast as lightning, almost completed the instant the immortal artifact was activated! The three flying ants completed their mission and swiftly darted back into the contract space between Yun Chu's eyebrows.
"Boom—!!!!!"
A sudden change occurred!
Almost at the same time the flying ants disappeared, the silent and empty dome of the secret palace was like a huge water tank that had been punctured!
A deafening clap of thunder suddenly exploded, and the entire space was instantly engulfed by a dazzling purple-white lightning that made it impossible to see!
That was no ordinary lightning; it was the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, imbued with destructive power and possessing extreme yang energy!
The lightning pillar, thick as a dragon, locked onto Yun Chu's location, tearing through space with a terrifying power capable of annihilating everything, and crashing down!
It was as if the entire secret realm was alarmed, letting out a furious roar—how dare they covet all the treasures?
He shall be punished with thunder!
Having anticipated this, Yun Chu tossed an ancient jade bottle overhead the instant the lightning flashed! It was the treasure she had obtained from the palace earlier—the Lightning Gathering Bottle!
"Collect!" Yun Chu shouted, her spiritual power surging into the jade bottle without reservation!
The bottle opening suddenly burst open, transforming into a bottomless vortex.
The raging thunder dragon, powerful enough to instantly turn a Nascent Soul cultivator into ashes, was forcibly pulled into the bottle mouth by the vortex, as if it were a mud ox entering the sea!
The surface of the lightning-gathering bottle lit up with dense silver runes, and the bottle trembled violently, emitting a buzzing mournful sound, clearly under tremendous pressure.
Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom! !
The divine lightning from the nine heavens seemed endless, each bolt thicker and faster than the last!
Instead of aiming for precision strikes, they created devastating thunderstorms that covered the entire area!
Electricity crackled wildly, thunder roared like the heavens and earth, and the entire core secret hall trembled!
Yun Chu gritted her teeth, her feet firmly planted on the ground as if rooted to the spot, her long hair dancing wildly in the surging lightning currents!
Her hands moved in a series of hand seals, forcefully suppressing the lightning-gathering bottle and guiding the raging torrent of lightning.
This is a silent contest between man and the might of nature.
The spiritual energy was being rapidly depleted, the meridians were experiencing a tremendous tearing sensation, and the temperature of the lightning-gathering bottle was rising higher and higher, turning completely red, as if it would explode at any moment.
But Yun Chu's eyes were unusually firm and bright, her internal energy cultivation pushed to its limit, squeezing out every last bit of potential. The Fire Iron Flying Ant Treasure Collection technique used the extraordinary power of immortal insects to bypass the direct collection rules, but the resulting divine punishment was something she had to bear herself!
The lightning raged for two hours! Even the surface of the lightning-gathering bottle developed tiny cracks, and Yun Chu's face turned as pale as paper.
Finally, as an unprecedentedly massive pillar of lightning was swallowed up by the lightning-gathering bottle, the thunderous spectacle abruptly ceased.
The thundercloud vortex on the dome of the secret palace spun around a few times unwillingly, emitting several muffled booms. It seemed to have exhausted its power and finally slowly dissipated, its light dimming.
The palace fell into a brief, deathly silence.
It was as if even the secret realm itself was assessing the incredible events that had happened to this tiny human—to steal three supreme treasures in such a bizarre way, and to actually use the strange artifacts to withstand the divine punishment that should have brought him to eternal damnation!
The next second, before Yun Chu could catch her breath, a soft but irresistible huge white light surged up from the ground and instantly engulfed her completely.
This time, there was no opening of a portal, but rather some kind of... "expulsion".
As the white light faded, the core secret hall returned to its utter emptiness and stillness. Only the void on the stone platform spoke of what had just transpired.
---
After an unknown amount of time, several disheveled figures stumbled through various trials and entered the final core secret hall. They were weak and bloodstained, but their eyes were filled with excitement and greed.
"A celestial artifact! The legendary celestial artifact from the secret palace must be here!"
"Look! There's a stone platform in the center!"
"It must be...wait? How come...how come there's nothing there? Empty?!"
They searched around the stone platform repeatedly, using all sorts of magical techniques to investigate, even digging three feet into the ground.
In the end, they only found a few magical artifacts and implements around the stone platform that were relatively dim in luster but had decent spiritual power.
"Impossible! How could this be?!"
"We've come this far after going through so much hardship, and this is it?"
"Where's the celestial artifact? Did someone beat us to it? Who?!"
"Or...could it be a trap? Or is there no immortal artifact at all?"
The crowd stirred, filled with incredulous astonishment, anger at being fooled, and profound disappointment and bewilderment at the futile outcome. Their hopes had vanished, leaving only endless regret and resentment echoing in the empty hall.
The palace's splendor gradually faded behind him. Without hesitation, Yue Ze condensed a barely perceptible silver light at his fingertips. His divine sense activated a secret technique, and an invisible thought traversed the void, instantly locking onto a familiar aura—"Yun Chu, where are you right now?"
A moment later, Yun Chuqing responded in his mind, like a clear mountain spring, soothing his anxiety: "I will rest for a while on the east side of Cold Mist Valley."
The location was clear. Yue Ze's eyes narrowed, and ripples like water suddenly spread around him as a massive burst of spiritual power silently erupted.
He unleashed his supernatural power, "One Step a Thousand Miles," and his entire being seemed to be swallowed up by the folded space, leaving only a distorted afterimage in his original position.
Across thousands of miles, mountains and rivers seem to become lines sketched quickly by a brush, receding rapidly in perception.
Once his body solidified, he found himself on the edge of a valley shrouded in mist, with vine-covered cliffs before him and a deep cave entrance half-hidden below.
Contrary to expectations, the cave was not damp and cold; instead, it was dry and warm.
Several fluorite stones are naturally embedded in the cave wall, emitting a soft, hazy light that illuminates a blue stone platform.
Yun Chu sat cross-legged on it, her eyes slightly closed, a faint spiritual energy flowing around her, clearly at a crucial moment of regulating her breathing. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her breathing fluctuated slightly, not yet fully calmed down.
Suddenly, a ripple-like wave emanated from the invisible spiritual energy barrier at the cave entrance, and a powerful and familiar aura instantly approached.
Yun Chu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she suddenly opened her eyes. Her clear, star-like eyes held no surprise or doubt, but rather a ripple of reassurance. Without uttering a word, she formed a hand seal and gently touched the cave entrance. The protective, transparent light barrier melted away silently, like ice and snow dissolving.
A tall figure stepped into the cave; it was none other than True Lord Yueze.
The light from the cave entrance was divided by his tall figure, and the shadow he cast almost completely enveloped Yun Chu, who was sitting cross-legged. His sharp, almost tangible divine sense did not relax its vigilance, and it immediately scanned Yun Chu's body, as if it were the most precise probe, sensing every trace of spiritual energy flowing within her.