by Shian Jeen
Huwang Xiao was taken aback. This Ten Thousand Words Dharani technique was so tyrannical? Learning all ten thousand characters would enable one to swagger in all four galaxies with no rival?
Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi added, “Many ancient sects’ cultivation techniques were lost in the river of time, I didn’t expect to see this Ten Thousand Words Dharani appear again. Little Huwang brat, if you’re really going to participate in the coming Highgod Advancement Tournament, this young man would be your number one rival.”
Huwang Xiao’s expression grew serious and somber, but he nodded, agreeing with Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi’s comment.
Whether it was that powerful young man or the other five people, all of them were tough opponents in the tournament.
“In fact, this Hailstone Treasure is a dwelling left behind by an ancient sect.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi explained, “It was called the Hailstone Holy Sect. More than a hundred thousand years ago, its name resounded throughout the four galaxies, to the extent where all four institute principals were wary of it. Its sect founder was an ice element divine dragon, and under him were all formidable ice element demonic beasts. Of course, there were also many humans that practiced ice element techniques.”
This information astounded Huwang Xiao, it never crossed his mind that the Hailstone Treasure would be a ruin of an ancient sect, one that even the four top institutes were wary of. Just from this statement alone, he could imagine how powerful the Hailstone Holy Sect was back in the day.
“It’s just that the sect provoked too many parties, the four galaxies’ super forces joined hands and sieged the sect, ending in its destruction.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi sighed, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Highgod divine dragon beast core, sacred grade divine pellets, all of these should be inside the Hailstone Holy Sect’s treasure vault, we must now hurry and locate the treasure vault before the others.”
Huwang Xiao’s eyes took a quick glance at his surroundings. Undulating mountain ranges weaved out for thousands of li and the countless palaces scattered like mushrooms after rain evoked a wry smile on his face, how was he supposed to search for the treasure vault in this situation?
Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi’s voice sounded, “It may be difficult for the six of them to locate the treasure vault, but it is an easy matter for you because you possess the True Dragon Physique. On top of that, you cultivate in the Treasure Dragon Protective Shield Art. Try to sense the dragon qi. The place with the highest concentration of dragon qi should be the location of the treasure vault.”
Huwang Xiao’s eyes brightened, immediately understanding the meaning of Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi’s words. A Highgod Realm divine dragon’s beast core definitely contained abundant pure dragon qi, others might not be able to sense it, but Huwang Xiao’s True Dragon Physique could.
Immediately, Huwang Xiao activated the Treasure Dragon Protective Shield Art, allowing the formation inside his body to appear.
“It’s inside one of the buildings on the mountain up ahead!” A while later, Huwang Xiao’s eyes lit up.
1. Dharani: the word dhāraṇī derives from a Sanskrit word, meaning "to hold or maintain". Dhāraṇī is suggested to be saturated with meaning – every syllable is symbolic on multiple levels
Ch.588
Huwang Xiao turned into a streak of light, flying toward a peak further in the distance. Ten minutes later, his feet touched the ground at mid-mountain level.
This particular mountain peak wasn’t as tall as the others in the proximity. Weeds grew tall around large and small stone boulders carelessly piled on the ground. If it weren’t for Huwang Xiao sensing the dragon qi in this particular spot, it would never have crossed his mind that the Hailstone Holy Sect’s treasure vault was located in such an inconspicuous small mountain.
With some help from Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi, Huwang Xiao swiftly arrived at the inner parts of the mountain.
In a short span of time, Huwang Xiao was already a hundred zhang beneath the mountain, standing in front of the Hailstone Treasure vault’s doors.
The Hailstone Treasure vault’s doors were thirty meters tall and ten meters wide, made of a material unknown to Huwang Xiao. The surface of the doors was inscribed with many different symbols that resembled ancient demonic beasts, or ancient talisman symbols if one looked from another angle, and they even looked as if they were depicting the scene of a battlefield.
At the center of the treasure vault doors, there was an obvious dent where a key was supposed to go.
Huwang Xiao stared dumbly at the treasure vault doors, a helpless smile emerging on his face. Well, he found the treasure vault, but he had no key, what was he going to do now? For a powerful prominent sect like the Hailstone Holy Sect, the restrictions placed around its treasure vault were undeniably strong, striking off the option of breaking into the vault by brute force. Even if brute force could be used, the energy fluctuations would no doubt attract that six people over here. That in itself was another kind of trouble.
“First move the treasure vault away!” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi seriously said. “You can think about breaking through the restrictions later.”
Huwang Xiao was stumped, was this also a method? He laughed at himself, moving the whole treasure vault away? That was easier said than done.
“I’ll help you suppress the restrictions on the treasure vault. With your strength, it shouldn’t be too hard to move the treasure vault away.”
Huwang Xiao hesitated. Even if he could take away the treasure vault, it would surely cause the whole mountain to shake in a big way, that would certainly draw that six people's’ attention.
“What are you hesitating like a girl for? Even if those six people really rush over, there’s still me, what’s there to be afraid of?!” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi was running low on patience, “Quick, those six people will come searching this area very soon!”
With that said, Huwang Xiao threw away his hesitation and stood in front of the treasure vault doors. The true immortal essence in his dantian roared madly, then he stuck both of his palms right onto the doors, pulling it up as if he was uprooting a tree.
Light shimmered around the treasure vault as the restrictions were triggered. Just as a terrifying force prepared to attack Huwang Xiao, Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi’s sturdy claws slammed down, an even stronger dragon force tyrannically suppressed the treasure vault’s restrictions.
Boom!
As Huwang Xiao exerted force in a lifting action, the entire treasure vault shook violently, spreading out to the surface of the mountain.
Despite the far distance, the mountain’s abnormal tremors inevitably attracted the six people’s attention. All six people hastily turned around, gazing in the direction of the small mountain.
“What is happening over there?!” Azure Dragon Institute’s Li Qingming exclaimed in surprise.
At this time, another strong tremor was felt.
“Someone else snuck in?!” A cold gleam flickered in Lu Cong’s eyes.
“Go over there!”
All six people turned into streaks of light, rushing over toward the mountain Huwang Xiao was in at breakneck speed.
In the inner part of the mountain, Huwang Xiao let out a shout, both black and blue twin dragons flew out, enhancing Huwang Xiao’s strength. The treasure vault seemed to loosen slightly, but it was still stuck to the mountain.
“Forget it, let me.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi said, the Dragon Pearl released a brilliant light as streams of dragon essence force surged out, traveling along Huwang Xiao’s arms.
With Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi’s help, the treasure vault finally began to move upward.
The whole mountain trembled as if there was a fierce beast that was about to escape from inside the mountain.
Even from afar, Lu Cong’s group could see the mountain Huwang Xiao was at shaking vigorously, seemingly without reason, slightly baffling them. Their movements slowed down due to hesitation.
In that split second of hesitation, the
mountain peak suddenly exploded. The six people saw a black-haired young man carrying a giant square treasure box the size of a small hill, shooting out from the crumbling mountain.
Six pairs of eyes widened in shock.
“That… is the Hailstone Treasure?!”
Delighted, all six people lunged toward Huwang Xiao in a flash, but before they could do anything else, the Dragon Pearl glimmered in a dazzling light as Huwang Xiao put the Hailstone Treasure away in the Dragon Pearl’s space.
In an instant, Huwang Xiao was surrounded by the six people.
Earlier, all their attention was on the Hailstone Treasure, and due to the distance, none of them paid any attention to the Black Warrior Institute inner disciple robe on Huwang Xiao. Now that they were closer, all of them were surprised to a certain degree looking at the robe on Huwang Xiao.
The Black Warrior Institute’s Grand Elder Nie Yu recovered promptly from his surprise. Scrutinizing Huwang Xiao, he snapped crudely, “Impetuous! As a Black Warrior Institute’s inner disciple, why aren’t you kneeling in salute seeing three Grand Elders before you!”
According to the Black Warrior Institute’s rules, any outer disciples and inner disciples were required to kneel in salute upon meeting a Grand Elder.
Huwang Xiao merely sneered at his words, “Grand Elder? Working in cahoots with people from Azure Dragon Institute, according to Black Warrior Institute’s rules, not only will you be stripped off your Grand Elder status, you’re to be subjected to severe punishment.”
Although both the Black Warrior and Azure Dragon Institutes were under the Vientiane Divine World Surface’s jurisdiction, the two institutes had always been at odds with each other, the competition between them never ceased, neither did the conflicts.
Nie Yu and the other two Black Warrior Institute Grand Elders’ expressions tightened, killing intent flitted across their pupils.
Black Warrior Institute’s Grand Elder Zhao Lufei shook his head with a disdainful sneer, “Brat, you think you’d be able to leave here in one piece? I’ll give you a choice, obediently hand over the Hailstone Treasure vault and we shall give you a painless quick death. Of course, if you think you’re able to escape, you can choose to escape, however, I advise you not to do so, or you will wish you were dead!”
Lu Cong’s icy voice sounded: “No need to speak so much nonsense, just kill him off directly.”
Zhao Lufei and the other Black Warrior Institute Grand Elders looked at Nie Yu.
Nie Yu nodded.
Regardless of anything else, this inner disciple couldn't leave here alive. Even if the Black Warrior Institute conducted an investigation, it wouldn't involve them in any way. Even if it did, they could just simply use the excuse that the inner disciple was rebelling, thus they punished him. With the three Grand Elders’ status, the institute naturally wouldn't pursue the matter too deeply.
Nie Yu, Zhao Lufei, and the other Grand Elder did not recognize Huwang Xiao because he changed his facial features with his immortal essence force, otherwise, knowing that Huwang Xiao was the Institute principal's personal disciple, they’d still feel a minimum amount of apprehension killing Huwang Xiao.
Seeing Nie Yu nod, Zhao Lufei turned his attention back to Huwang Xiao. His palm struck out through the void without a word.
Wind blades rose with the palm force, accompanied by the sound of muffled air blasts.
But, just as Zhao Lufei’s attack was about to hit Huwang Xiao, the six of them saw his forehead shine brightly, releasing a horrifying destructive power.
Startled, all six of them flew backward in retreat.
By the time they looked again in Huwang Xiao’s direction, he had already vanished without a trace.
“This?!” Lu Cong rushed to the spot where Huwang Xiao stood earlier, his face ugly.
“What happened? Impossible, that little punk, how can he vanish? How did he escape?!” Nie Yu yelled in anger and disbelief, “Search! We absolutely must find that damn punk, we cannot let him get away!”
“He won’t get away!” Lu Cong said with a cold glint in his eyes, “To leave the Hailstone Treasure space, one must know the method to open the restrictions, he’s definitely still here somewhere!”
Ch.589
When the five people heard Lu Cong say that Huwang Xiao wouldn't be able to leave unless he knew the secret method of opening the restriction, their tension slightly eased.
“We’ll split up and search, we must absolutely dig out that damn punk!” The Black Warrior Institute Grand Elder Nie Yu hissed through his teeth, a grim expression on his face.
Zhao Lufei and the rest nodded their heads in agreement, flying off in different directions without another word, while Lu Cong’s silhouette appeared above the mountain where the Hailstone Treasure used to be in a flicker. His eyes were chillingly cold. How did that Black Warrior Institute inner disciple hide himself from their spiritual sense detection and entered this Hailstone space? Most importantly, how did he find the Hailstone Treasure?
What baffled him even more was how that inner disciple blocked Zhao Lufei’s attack. Despite being the weaker one amongst the six of them, Zhao Lufei was still a genuine peak mid-Tenth Order God Ream.
Lu Cong and the rest split up to search for Huwang Xiao, adamant to find him even if they had to dig six feet under. Meanwhile, out on the other side in the Hailstone Forest, a soft light glimmered, revealing Huwang Xiao’s silhouette.
Huwang Xiao breathed out in relief having fled from the Hailstone Treasure space.
All six on the other side were formidable Tenth Order God Realm masters, and although Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi was a Highgod Realm master, being bound to the Dragon Pearl, there was no guarantee he’d be able to kill all six people. Therefore, Huwang Xiao heeded Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi’s advice. Leaving the Hailstone Treasure space and finding a safe place to break the restrictions on the treasure vault was more important than anything else.
“The six people inside are probably close to going berserk by now.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi chuckled, “The Hailstone Treasure was right in front of them, but in the end, it was taken away by an unknown swift-footed Black Warrior Institute inner disciple.”
Huwang Xiao flashed a sheepish smile, “Let’s leave the Hailstone Mainland first.” If those six people realized that Huwang Xiao had actually left the Hailstone Treasure space, they’d probably keep a hawk’s eye on the Hailstone Mainland’s transmission array. At that time, it would be much more troublesome to leave.
Controlling the Godly Mt Xumi, Huwang Xiao made his way back to the Hailstone Mainland’s transmission array. When his feet once again touched the Cloudsea Mainland’s soil, the last shred of worry finally disappeared from his mind.
Changing back his facial features, Huwang Xiao made a trip to Changzhi City’s Divine Fort Residence to visit his family before returning to his Yard No.1 in the Black Warrior Institute’s Misty Rain Mountain Range to enter closed-door practice.
After contemplating the matter over several times, Huwang Xiao decided against telling his Master Feng Yang about Grand Elder Nie Yu and other two Grand Elders’ secret collusion with the Azure Dragon Institute. If that matter was revealed, the news of him getting the Hailstone Treasure would also be exposed. At that time, Nie Yu and the others would definitely lock on to him. Though they might not do anything on the surface, arrows released from the dark were hard to avoid, especially when they came one after another.
After all, they knew Huwang Xiao by another face, thus he wasn’t afraid that their investigation would lead to him in any way.
The restrictions placed around the Hailstone treasure vault far exceeded Huwang Xiao’s current ability to break, however, with Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi around, it was a different matter. Then again, it still took Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi a full month before he managed to successfully break all the restrictions placed on it.
The moment the treasure vault was opened, Huwang Xiao came face to face with mountains of divine grade spirit pellets that saw
no end, winding mountains of Xuanwu coins, peaks after peaks of piled up divine and saint grade spirit stones, he was dumbstruck.
Endless mountains of spirit pellets, an inexhaustible amount of Xuanwu coins, countless spirit stones and elixirs.
“Haha, cat got your tongue, right?” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi laughed proudly, “From the outside, the Hailstone treasure vault doesn’t seem big, but in fact, this Hailstone Treasure vault’s space was expanded many times over by Highgod Realm masters using their divine law. The Hailstone Holy Sect was a prominent sect tens of thousands of years ago, how could its treasure vault be any less than this?”
Huwang Xiao swallowed audibly.
Although he could condense spirit stones and he did not lack money, he was still shocked by the richness displayed in front of his eyes. Staring at the piles and piles of Xuanwu coins that stretched for miles, his eyes widened. How many were there exactly? This amount could no longer be summed up using billions, was it a trillion? Or ten trillion? Perhaps, a hundred trillion?
And those divine grade pellets, there were probably no less than a trillion pellets? The mountains of saint grade spirit stones, another trillion?
On another side, there were armors and weapons piled into several hundred small hills.
Despite having yet to determine the durability of these armors, he could tell at a glance that these were no common stuff. At the very least, they reached divine grade. Some were even better than the White Flame Divine Armor that he bought.
Huwang Xiao’s breathing inevitably quickened.
“If any of the super forces or families got their hands on the Hailstone Treasure, their strength as a whole would increase at least twofold.” Dragon Emperor Ao Taiyi said, “If it was a first rank force, they could develop into a new super force within a few hundred years’ time. Little Huwang brat, with this Hailstone Treasure, you can even raise your own army and squander as you like.”