Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

Jiang Chen and the others arrived at the Qinghuo Gang’s headquarters.

The Red Flame Army had already dispatched a thousand-man battalion to garrison the area, sealing it so tightly that not even a fly could get in.

”The Treasure Vault is right inside!”

Wang Yizhou led the way, with Jiang Chen and the others following close behind. He explained, ”We discovered the entrance to the Treasure Vault by accident. The Mansion Master and I had to join forces and destroy an entire rockery just to get inside. The path ahead is quite slippery, so please be careful.”

The entrance to the Treasure Vault was located beside a garden pond.

The long, narrow passage was paved with smooth, glistening cobblestones. A layer of water droplets coated their surface, making it easy to lose one’s footing.

Of course, for Jiang Chen and the others, it was like walking on level ground!

「A short while later...」

They arrived before the Treasure Vault.

The door to the Treasure Vault was forged from a single, heavy sheet of metal. Carved upon its surface were runes that flickered, alternating between light and shadow.

Each rune faintly glowed with a dim Spiritual Light.

”This entire door is a Yellow-tier Profound Weapon, and it’s protected by this array of defensive ciphertexts. According to Master Kumu, a self-destruct ciphertext has been layered on top, which is why Wang Yizhou and I have never dared to try and force it open!” Yulan Shouqing said, pointing at the metal door.

Master Kumu said with an arrogant expression, ”The defensive ciphertext on this door was crafted by a First-Grade Advanced Refiner and is integrated with the entire Treasure Vault. Even I wouldn’t claim to have a perfect chance of success!”

Jiang Chen’s previous display of True Flame had been a brutal slap in the face to him.

Now, looking at the door before them, the incredibly complex defensive ciphertext made even his head ache.

He was finally in a position to see Jiang Chen fail.

Master Kumu couldn’t resist glancing at Jiang Chen, eagerly anticipating it. ’When you brat realize you’re helpless against this complex ciphertext and have no choice but to beg me for help, I’ll be sure to put you in your place!’

Beside them, Wang Yizhou gave a wry smile and asked, ”Jiang Chen, my boy, are you really confident you can disable this defensive ciphertext?”

Jiang Chen glanced at Master Kumu and said coolly, ”If you can’t disable it, you can only blame your own incompetence. Open your eyes and watch closely how I break through this defensive ciphertext!”

He strode confidently toward the metal door.

His eyes narrowed as an azure and gold light flashed in his sharp gaze, taking in the entire, complex Ciphertext Array. ’So that’s how it is... The Artifact Refiner who crafted this array was nearly at the level of a Second-Grade Refiner in their mastery of ciphertexts. Tsk, to think they even incorporated such a powerful self-destruct mechanism. It’s a good thing those guys didn’t try to force the door open. Otherwise, not only would all the treasures inside have been destroyed, but they would have died here as well!’

’Breaking the defensive ciphertext itself isn’t difficult; the hard part is safely disabling the self-destruct ciphertext.’

’This self-destruct ciphertext isn’t just activated by a direct attack; using the wrong method to disable the defensive array will trigger it as well!’

’Trying to disable this with Master Kumu’s supposed sixty percent confidence would be a one-way ticket to death!’

The diagrams for both the defensive and self-destruct ciphertexts appeared in Jiang Chen’s mind—a network of tens of thousands of interconnected silver threads. He began to analyze it, unraveling it thread by thread like a cocoon, searching for a way to break it.

Meanwhile, Wang Yizhou glanced at Jiang Chen’s back and whispered to the others, ”Do you think... he can really disable this defensive ciphertext?”

”I doubt it.”

Yulan Shouqing hesitated for a moment before giving a wry smile. ”Even Master Kumu is only sixty percent confident. I’m afraid Jiang Chen’s chances of success aren’t even ten percent.”

They both turned to look at Master Kumu.

Master Kumu stroked his beard, an air of nonchalance about him as he said coolly, ”He can’t do it.”

Just then, Jiang Chen suddenly made his move.

Two lotus-shaped clusters of golden True Flame coalesced over his hands. The inheritance from the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable included a powerful Fire Control Technique: the *Demon Flame Technique*.

Following the control method from the *Demon Flame Technique*, the two lotus-shaped golden True Flames flared with searing heat.

As the tongues of fire flickered, waves of scorching heat radiated outward.

”Thirty-Six Demonic Flame Devouring Technique...” A sharp glint flashed in Jiang Chen’s eyes. He thrust his hands forward, and the two clusters of True Flame split into two, which then split into four...

In total, they became thirty-six fine streams of golden True Flame.

As Jiang Chen thrust his palms forward, the thirty-six streams of golden True Flame shot directly into the Treasure Vault door.

Master Kumu’s eyes shot wide open, a look of pure terror on his face. He stumbled backward, shouting, ”HOLY SHIT! Are you trying to get us all killed, you brat?! Motherfucker, I should’ve known someone your age couldn’t possibly know how to disable a defensive ciphertext! You idiot, stimulating the array with True Flame will one hundred percent activate the self-destruct mechanism! I’m not dying with you!”

Before he’d even finished speaking, Master Kumu had transformed into a streak of Flowing Light, fleeing toward the entrance.

Yulan Shouqing and Wang Yizhou exchanged a look.

They saw all the ciphertexts on the Treasure Vault’s door erupt with terrifying energy fluctuations, like a bomb about to detonate at any second.

”FUCK!”

”RUN...!”

The two of them also fled in a panic.

Seeing this, the Black Emperor, who had been perched on Jiang Chen’s shoulder, laughed so hard he slid off. He clutched his stomach with his fleshy wings, nearly cramping up. ”Hahaha... those three idiots actually got scared off? This is killing this Emperor! Hahaha...”

At that same moment, the light from the dense web of ciphertexts on the Treasure Vault door before Jiang Chen suddenly receded.

The entire defensive Ciphertext Array grew dim.

The Spiritual Light in every single one of the carved runes vanished. The massive defensive Ciphertext Array was now useless, posing no further threat.

”Whew.”

Jiang Chen let out a long breath, an excited smile on his face. He planted his hands on the door, pulled them sharply apart, and gave a short command, ”Open!”

RUMBLE—

The massive metal door slowly swung open.

A dazzling aura of treasure burst forth before slowly dimming. The Treasure Vault, which held the accumulated wealth of the Qinghuo Gang’s decades-long history, was finally revealed to Jiang Chen.

The Treasure Vault was over four hundred square meters in area.

In the center were dozens of large, open chests, filled to the brim with gleaming silver taels and glittering gold. Based on the market exchange rate of one hundred silver taels to one tael of gold, the chests alone contained no less than a billion silver taels.

”Little Black, take it all!” Jiang Chen said to the Black Emperor, his eyes shining.

His Storage Ring was too small to hold this much treasure!

”You got it!”

The Black Emperor nodded excitedly. He opened his mouth, and a black vortex appeared before him, swallowing chest after chest of gold and silver into his Devouring Space.

Jiang Chen then turned to look at the four walls of the Treasure Vault, each of which was lined with a row of cabinets.

The cabinets were overflowing with a dazzling array of treasures!

A Green Blood Coral worth a million, an exquisite Jade Ruyi...

There were also numerous Martial Arts Secret Manuals, Cultivation Technique Secret Manuals, Spirit Medicines, Profound Weapons, and more...

At a rough estimate, the treasures lining these four walls were worth more than two billion silver taels in total.

’As expected of one of the three former titans of Yulan Mansion. The treasures in this vault alone are worth three or four billion! It’s a shame I can’t take the shops and other properties with me, but this trip has been a massive haul. Especially these Spirit Medicines and refining materials... they’ve helped me gather most of what I need for the First-Revolution Tyrant Essence Pill. Once I visit the Alchemist Guild and find the last two primary ingredients, I’ll be able to refine the Tyrant Essence Pill!’ Jiang Chen thought, an excited smile on his face.

He used his Divine Thought to scan the entire Treasure Vault, not missing a single corner.

Once he was certain he hadn’t missed anything, he finally left.

「Meanwhile...」

Back at the entrance to the passageway, Yulan Shouqing, Wang Yizhou, and Master Kumu were staring anxiously in the direction of the Treasure Vault.

Wang Yizhou asked, ”Master Kumu, are you sure it was going to explode? It’s been a while, but there’s been no sound.”

”I... I don’t know...” Master Kumu stammered, looking hesitant. ”An Artifact Refiner’s ciphertext engravings are extremely fragile. Hitting the inside of the Ciphertext Array directly with True Flame like Jiang Chen did... something should have happened, one hundred percent! I don’t know why it’s been so quiet for so long!”

”You don’t think it already blew up, and we were just too far away to feel it?” Yulan Shouqing asked, his expression strange.

Just then, the sound of footsteps—TAP... TAP... TAP—echoed from the narrow passageway. The three of them watched, dumbfounded, as Jiang Chen emerged safe and sound with a brilliant smile on his face.

He smiled at Yulan Shouqing and Wang Yizhou.

”Gentlemen, the Treasure Vault door is open, and I’ve collected the treasures inside. Now...” His gaze swept over to Master Kumu, and he broke into a wide grin. ”It’s time for you to fulfill your promise!”