The Sword God of the Universe

Chapter 2187: Chapter 2187: Skeleton [Third Update]

The Inspector Ao Hong merely went through the motions in intercepting the Black River Heavenly Monarch from entering the Yellow Springs Cave without actually exerting real effort.

Of course, even if he did put in effort, he wouldn’t be able to stop the Black River Heavenly Monarch from entering the Yellow Springs Cave.

The Yuantong Immortal Venerable glanced towards the heads of the Four Great Forces.

Xin Si, Li Feng, and Gong Zhi all felt the gaze of the Yuantong Immortal Venerable, but chose to remain indifferent. Everyone knew that with the Black River Heavenly Monarch entering the Yellow Springs Cave, one of the nine entry quotas had been taken. Who would willingly give up a quota? Nobody wanted to.

“Immortal Venerable, there are eight quotas left. I propose that our Four Forces evenly divide them, with each force receiving two quotas, which perfectly totals eight.” Inspector Ao Hong suggested with a lighthearted smile.

“Daoist Ao Hong, you have quite the imagination.” Clan Leader Xin Si sneered.

War God Li Feng glanced at Ao Hong but said nothing. Gong Zhi Buddha of the Shadow Tower simply ignored Ao Hong’s suggestion.

Ao Hong’s proposal was obviously bound to fail. The Yuantong Immortal Venerable would never agree.

“Daoist Gong Zhi and Daoist Xin Si, your two forces each obtain three quotas for entry through the advanced entrance to the Yellow Springs Cave.” Yuantong Immortal Venerable slowly spoke.

The issue of quota allocation needed resolution, and delaying wasn’t a solution.

“Immortal Venerable, although the Xin Family received three quotas, we have decided to grant one to our junior friend Jing Yan. So in actuality, the Xin Family has only two quotas.” Clan Leader Xin Si immediately explained with a weary expression.

Gong Zhi Buddha glanced at the Yuantong Immortal Venerable, about to speak but held back.

“Daoist Gong Zhi, your Shadow Tower can relinquish one quota then. This way, the Yellow Springs crystal stone your Shadow Tower brings out from the Yellow Springs Cave, I won’t take my share.” Yuantong Immortal Venerable thoughtfully proposed.

According to the rules, each of the Four Great Forces had to submit twenty percent of the Yellow Springs crystal stones they brought out from the Yellow Springs Cave to the Yuantong Immortal Venerable.

Upon hearing this offer, Gong Zhi Buddha thought for a moment before replying, “Alright then!”

This arrangement by the Yuantong Immortal Venerable indeed caused some loss to the Shadow Tower. Although one quota was lost, they wouldn’t have to give up twenty percent of Yellow Springs crystal stones to the Yuantong Immortal Venerable. This loss and gain seemed acceptable to Gong Zhi Buddha.

“Then it is settled!”

“Now everyone can enter the Yellow Springs Cave.” Yuantong Immortal Venerable waved and spoke.

The unexpected appearance of the Black River Heavenly Monarch had dampened the mood of the Yuantong Immortal Venerable, leaving him rather indifferent.

He could foresee that this matter would soon spread throughout the entire Faro Heaven Domain.

Jing Yan and the others gradually flew towards the vast Netherworld Gate of the Yellow Springs Cave. In the blink of an eye, all eight vanished within the gate. After members of the Four Great Forces entered through the advanced entrance, only then did the Wanwu Realm Practitioners under the Shen Zhou Heavenly Monarch according to the prior arrangement enter through the low-level entrance.

“Whew~”

“Whewwhew~”

Jing Yan felt his body being compressed by a surging force, and a scene of earthy yellow filled his vision. Around him, there was only the sound of whistling wind.

Jing Yan concentrated and observed his surroundings.

Yellow sand, blocking out the sun. This was no ordinary yellow sand; although outwardly similar to regular sand, Jing Yan could clearly sense that each grain of sand here was extraordinarily heavy, akin to the weight of ten thousand catties. When the sand brushed against one’s body, it was painful.

However, such a challenge was of no consequence to Jing Yan; his physical body was extremely strong, and even without utilizing the Ancient Tree Inheritance, he wouldn’t suffer any damage. Yet, for other cultivators entering this Yellow Springs Cave, aside from body-refining practitioners from the Ancient Land of Morning Light, they would have to use divine power to resist the yellow sand. Other than Jing Yan, those entering through the advanced entrance were mostly powerful beings of the Immortal Rhythm Level, so the impact would be limited.

Due to the restricted vision, Jing Yan directly activated his divine soul power to probe the environment.

“Entering the Yellow Springs Cave necessitates first finding the ore veins of Yellow Springs crystal stones. If one can locate a vein, obtaining Yellow Springs crystal stones is not hard. Should one fail to find a vein, the quantity of Yellow Springs crystal stones acquired would be uncertain.” Jing Yan contemplated.

Within the Yellow Springs Cave lie hidden veins of Yellow Springs crystal stones. These veins contain significant amounts of Yellow Springs crystal stones. Aside from the veins, even in the desolate wasteland with yellow sand all around, Yellow Springs crystal stones might appear. With luck, one could stumble upon them, but this relies on fortune; besides, Yellow Springs crystal stones on the wasteland are sparse, how often could one encounter them?

Under the engulfing yellow sand, Jing Yan flew through the Yellow Springs Cave.

In merely less than a third of a cup of tea time, Jing Yan’s expression slightly changed.

“That is…”

“Go over there to check it out!” Jing Yan’s divine thought detected something unusual.

Increasing his flight speed, he swiftly reached the location where his divine thought had discovered the anomaly.

“This…” Jing Yan arrived and furrowed his brow.

He saw a corpse, or to be precise, bones. The bones were scattered across an area, partially buried in the yellow sand, with only a small portion exposed.

“Why is there a corpse here?”

“Isn’t the Yellow Springs Cave supposed to pose little danger? Even those entering through the advanced entrance typically don’t encounter fatal threats. The Yellow Springs Cave has been opened countless times; Clan Leader Xin Si and others may never have personally entered, but surely they wouldn’t be mistaken. So how did this person die here? Could it be they were killed by another cultivator?” Jing Yan mused deeply.

Though he could only see some bones, Jing Yan was certain that during life, this person was not an ordinary cultivator. Even in death, the bones were extraordinarily heavy. In the Yellow Springs Cave, the wind could sweep up sandstorms, yet these bones remained unmoved by the fierce gales.

With a slight shift in thought, Jing Yan reached out with his hand, unleashing a burst of divine power, clearing away the sand around the bones. As divine power swirled the sand, a section was soon clear. After retrieving his divine power, the skeleton became visible.

“Indeed a human cultivator.” Jing Yan nodded slightly.

“Hmm?”

“Is that a storage artifact?” Jing Yan noticed that beneath the skull, there appeared to be a storage artifact.

This storage artifact was only partially visible, and if not inspected closely, it could be easily missed. It was fortunate that Jing Yan blew away the surrounding sand, otherwise he definitely wouldn’t have seen this deeply hidden storage artifact.

Jing Yan extended his hand and circulated divine power. The black storage artifact slowly rose from beneath the bones, landing in Jing Yan’s hand.

“Indeed, it’s a storage artifact. It’s quite odd; if this person was killed by another cultivator, why wasn’t the storage artifact taken?” Jing Yan shook his head.

His divine thought enveloped the storage artifact. This storage artifact still had restrictions in place, making it impossible to open directly; the restrictions needed to be broken before the contents could be seen.