Chapter 252: Sect Legacy

Although they couldn’t fly, Su Che and Shui Yue still moved at lightning speed. By the time Yan Ming and his group broke through the barrier, the two of them had already found the treasure hall.

Generally, treasure-hiding places held special significance and were not built as grand structures to attract attention. This was true even 70,000 years ago.

The sect’s treasure vault of Tianya Hai Ge was located within a courtyard, which looked unremarkable from the outside. Once inside the open courtyard, six buildings stood around a stone stele.

Su Che and Shui Yue both guessed that the stele was the entrance to the vault, while the six surrounding buildings were likely the residences of the elders who used to guard it.

They approached the stele and examined it carefully but found no mechanism to open it.

“Perhaps, this key is also needed to open the vault,” Shui Yue said, standing in front of the stele with the key in hand. She tried several methods, but nothing happened. Thinking of the powerful competitors who might arrive at any moment, she grew anxious. Though her face was covered by a veil, her movements revealed some panic.

“Don’t worry,” Su Che said softly as he stepped beside her. “To open the vault, we might not necessarily need a key.”

As he spoke, Su Che used his spiritual energy to create a powerful hand, which grabbed the over-six-foot-tall stele and gently shook it…

At the first attempt, it worked! The stele began to loosen, and Su Che pushed it backward based on his intuition.

Creak… creak… creak…

The stele tilted backward, and two heavy stone slabs in front of Su Che and Shui Yue split apart, revealing a wide entrance with long stone steps leading underground.

“How?” Su Che turned with a smile.

“Mm,” Shui Yue replied softly. Deep down, she admired his calmness, courage, and carefulness…

In her eyes, Su Che was now flawless, almost perfect.

As the entrance opened, a clear ringing sound came from the courtyard. Su Che believed this was an inevitable sound that occurred every time the vault was opened, serving to alert the guardians that someone had activated the mechanism. But now, with Tianya Hai Ge deserted, there were no guardians left.

Descending the stone steps, Su Che and Shui Yue, though anxious, didn’t dare to rush. After all, this was a treasure-hiding place, and it was possible there were traps or mechanisms, so they had to be cautious and not reckless.

At the end of the stone steps was a small room, with two stone doors directly across from it. It was obvious that this room also served as a checkpoint, and back in the day, a highly skilled elder must have guarded it. The two doors were engraved with strange runes, and it was clear that some kind of protective restriction had been placed on them. Without the key to the treasure vault, forcing them open would be extremely difficult. However, after 70,000 years, the restrictions on the stone doors had long lost their power due to the dissipation of spiritual energy, so it was believed that they could be opened easily even without a key. Su Che stepped forward and tried to push and pull the doors using his true vital energy… As expected, the two doors slowly swung open. Though they felt heavy, there was no resistance at all. When the doors opened, a vast, pitch-black space came into view. With the naked eye, only endless darkness could be seen; one had to rely on their spiritual sense to see anything. Yet as soon as their spiritual senses penetrated inside, both of them felt a sharp pain in their minds, struck by some powerful force. Su Che felt a bone-chilling coldness that nearly froze his thoughts and soul, but fortunately, the Immortal Prison in his mind protected him from harm. Shui Yue, on the other hand, let out a pained cry and nearly fell, thankfully caught by Su Che in time. She felt as though her spiritual sense had encountered a world of flames—intense fire rushed at her, threatening to turn her into ashes in an instant… Of course, this was just an illusion, likely caused by some force affecting her primordial spirit. “I sense cold water,” Su Che transmitted through telepathy. Shui Yue tried hard to regain clarity and replied, “I feel intense fire.” After this brief exchange, both realized that the Level 10 Spiritual Fire and the Primordial Heavy Water, which they desired most, were inside the treasure vault. Fire and water cannot coexist—earlier, Su Che’s spiritual sense had suffered from the instinctive counterattack of the Primordial Heavy Water, while Shui Yue had been nearly harmed by the Level 10 Spiritual Fire. Level 10 Fire and Water were among the most powerful entities in the cultivation world, and subduing them would certainly not be easy. Huh… Although Su Che and Shui Yue’s spiritual senses had each suffered an impact, it also awakened the Fire and Water Spirits that had lain dormant for tens of thousands of years. A bright light shone before them, illuminating the underground treasure vault. Standing at the entrance, they could see a small white jade pool in the hall; inside the pool was only a small amount of deep blue heavy water, emitting a faint glow.

Above the pool, an oil lamp floated quietly, burning with a multicolored flame. Though it was only the size of a fist, its light was enough to illuminate the entire vast underground palace. Undoubtedly, the water was Tianyuan Heavy Water, while the fire was a Level 10 Spiritual Flame. Water and fire clashed and balanced each other; they had stood against each other for countless years, with neither able to overpower the other. “Is this multicolored flame the legendary ‘Five Elements Heavenly Spiritual Flame’?” Su Che guessed in silence. Looking around further, along the edge of the circular, open hall, there was a row of extremely exquisite display racks, over a hundred zhang long, capable of holding thousands of treasures. Yet today, only a few items were displayed there. Though there were few items, it didn’t surprise Su Che and Shui Yue. After all, this Tianya Hai Ge had suffered a catastrophic destruction, and its sect’s secret realm had been preserved for some reason. However, many treasures might have been used up in the great battle or taken away by others… The remaining treasures were still extremely valuable. At a quick glance, Su Che saw hundreds of high-quality spiritual stones neatly arranged—just this alone could make any Yuan Ying ancestor covet them greatly. Of course, for Su Che, everything else didn’t matter. The multicolored flame before him was what he must obtain at all costs. The two stepped into the treasure vault together, but as soon as they took the first step inside, a mighty force rushed toward them. Boom! Su Che and Shui Yue, who were already at the Golden Dan stage, were like frail children and were forcefully pushed out of the vault by that immense force. With another boom, the vault’s door closed immediately. The protective restrictions, which had already lost their spiritual energy, were activated again, seemingly drawing new energy from somewhere. Su Che tried to push and pull the door as before but was met with a powerful rebound force that sent him several steps back. Whoosh! The vault’s door glowed, and a beam of golden light rushed into the key in Shui Yue’s hand. Then, the key also glowed, and the statue of the woman on its front side reappeared in vivid detail, speaking to Shui Yue: “Only by taking control of the sect can you retrieve the treasures.” After saying this, the woman’s image retracted back into the key. “Only by taking control of the sect can I retrieve the treasures…” Shui Yue repeated the words silently, her expression changing slightly. “How is this possible?”

“It’s not surprising,” Su Che said solemnly. “Back then, Tianya Hai Ge must have suffered an irreparable disaster. Presumably, the sect leader activated a grand array to sink the sect’s secret realm beneath the sea and seal it completely, leaving only the key to reopening it—so that Tianya Hai Ge could survive and be rebuilt.”
“And you, with your pure Water Spirit body, are the best candidate to inherit the sect. All the treasures here are meant for you, but you must take control of the sect first before you can officially open the treasure vault.”
Su Che’s reasoning also made Shui Yue realize something. She exclaimed as if awakened, “So we should head to the sect leader’s hall right away!”
“That’s right,” Su Che nodded. “Let’s go!”
The two rushed up the stone steps at full speed, straightened the stone tablet to close the entrance, reopened the three-dimensional map, and headed toward the sect leader’s hall.
The sect leader’s hall wasn’t far from the treasure vault—less than a hundred zhang away—but Su Che wasn’t sure. Having spent so much time in the underground treasure vault, they might have been overtaken by those people who had already found the hall.
…
On the other side, Yan Ming and the others were searching everywhere in the secret realm for Tianya Hai Ge’s important buildings. Without a map with keys, they could only guess based on common sense—that a sect’s most important buildings should be located in the central area of the realm.
However, this conventional idea didn’t apply to Tianya Hai Ge.
Tianya Hai Ge’s layout started at the eastern end and ended at the western end, with the central area serving as an arena for members to compete against each other.
The arena was built grandly and impressively, making it easy to mistake it for the most important building in the realm.
It was this misconception that caused them to waste a lot of time. With no other choice, the group split into teams of two or three and began searching in all directions.
Meanwhile, when Cang Jiuzi and another person were almost at the sect leader’s hall, they saw Su Che and the other person entering the hall first.
“We’ve found them!”
Cang Jiuzi immediately activated a communication spirit talisman to alert the others right away.
Upon entering the hall, Su Che and Shui Yue also saw Cang Jiuzi and the other person coming around from behind a building in the distance.
“I’ll guard the entrance. You hurry up and receive the inheritance. Don’t panic—calmness is crucial in such moments,” Su Che said softly to Shui Yue as he stood in front of the door.
“Mm,” Shui Yue nodded gently.

In terms of age, Shui Yue was over thirty years older than Su Che, but her ability to withstand pressure in critical moments was far inferior to that of a freak like Su Che.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Su Che summoned the Snake Woman, the Fire Crow, and the Nether Ghost Emperor from the Immortal Prison, facing outward toward the gate, ready to confront the attack from Cang Jiuzi and the other person.
Shui Yue, holding the key, stepped deep into the hall, striving to suppress her anxiety and panic, using her spiritual sense to scan every detail inside, trying to find the correct way to receive the sect’s inheritance.
In the blink of an eye, Cang Jiuzi and a treasure hunter at the early Golden Core stage also arrived in front of the hall.