Chapter 563: Penghuang's Harvest

Author: I Eat Tomatoes

Meng Chuan approached, his Primordial Spirit world projection shrouding the surroundings, making his entire form indistinct and difficult to discern. However, the oppressive aura of his life-level involuntarily caused the alien expert's heart to tremble with fear.

"Do you want to die, or do you want to live?" Meng Chuan asked.

"Naturally, I wish to live," the alien expert replied respectfully.

Meng Chuan nodded. "Tell me everything you know about this cave dwelling and the cultivators exploring it, and I can spare your life."

"As long as senior spares me and takes none of my treasures, I will certainly tell you everything," the alien expert quickly added. He knew that a "promise" made by a Tribulation Realm mighty one carries karmic implications. While weaker beings might casually lie and break promises, Tribulation Realm mighty ones will not violate their promises unless there's an extraordinary reason, as it would negatively impact their cultivation. For powerful Tribulation Realm cultivators, breaking a promise could utterly destroy their path of cultivation. Thus, powerful Tribulation Realm cultivators spare no effort to fulfill a promise.

"As long as you tell me everything, I won't touch you," Meng Chuan said indifferently. This alien expert was only a Two-Tribulation Realm cultivator, weaker than Emperor Peng, so how many treasures could he possibly have? Meng Chuan was more interested in acquiring more information about the cave dwelling.

"I am a subordinate of 'Demon Lord Black Wind' from the Yu Fang Galaxy," the alien expert immediately stated. "Regarding this cave dwelling, I know very little myself."

Meng Chuan looked at him.

"My master said he was going to accomplish a great deed, so he gathered a group of us subordinates into his grotto-heaven and brought us to this cave dwelling," the alien expert explained. "Before coming here, I knew absolutely nothing about this ancient cave dwelling. Even now... I still have no idea about its origin or location. Master only released us after we entered."

"Tell me everything you know," Meng Chuan said, frowning.

"Yes, yes," the alien expert nodded repeatedly. "I know that besides my master's faction, there are two other factions that have entered. One is from the lineage of 'Palace Lord Snow Jade' from the Sanwan Galaxy, and the other is the mysterious Five-Tribulation Realm mighty one 'Ta Gu'. I'm not very clear about Ta Gu's origin; my master didn't elaborate. In short, all three factions have entered the cave dwelling."

"According to my master, within the cave dwelling's labyrinth, we just need to follow a single path. If we go deep enough, we can hope to obtain treasures," the alien expert quickly explained. "However, if two cultivators encounter each other, only one can continue forward! The other must either surrender and give up, or be killed."

The alien expert continued, "Although there are many branching paths, they all converge at the end, so ultimately only one cultivator can possibly reach the final destination."

Meng Chuan listened.

"Traveling within the cave dwelling, one must be swift, because some treasures in the labyrinth are taken by the cultivators who arrive first," the alien expert explained. "By the time later cultivators pass by, there will be no treasures left, unless they kill the cultivators who took them."

"Also, one can stay in this cave dwelling for a maximum of one year," the alien expert added. "Once the year expires, they will be expelled."

"Is that all?" Meng Chuan asked.

The alien expert nodded repeatedly. "That's everything. Our main objective is to contend with Palace Lord Snow Jade and Ta Gu's factions."

Meng Chuan nodded slightly.

A one-year limit? If two cultivators meet, only one can proceed?

"When does this one-year period begin?" Meng Chuan inquired.

"Seven months have already passed since the cave dwelling first appeared," the alien expert explained.

Meng Chuan nodded and immediately continued forward.

The alien expert finally relaxed, letting out a breath of relief.

The hunchbacked elder, 'Old Demon Black Wind,' frowned as he looked at the surrounding pillars. Three hundred and twenty-three pillars encircled him, and he had been blocked here for half a month.

"Master, Master, I encountered a mysterious expert, suspected to be a Five-Tribulation Realm mighty one." Old Demon Black Wind heard the voice and looked at the silver bracelet on his wrist. This silver bracelet was a grotto-heaven world, containing the Primordial Spirit clones of many subordinates.

The weakest among them, a Two-Tribulation Realm cultivator, was currently reporting.

"Suspected Five-Tribulation Realm?" In the air of the grotto-heaven world, Old Demon Black Wind's huge face appeared, looking down at the alien expert. "Your strength is weaker, so you shouldn't have advanced very far. A Five-Tribulation Realm mighty one just reached your location?"

"I might have been mistaken," the alien expert said respectfully. "However, the oppressive life-level aura of this mysterious expert was indeed terrifying, just like facing master. I vaguely judged him to be a Five-Tribulation Realm cultivator. And he asked this subordinate for information about the cave dwelling; to survive, I told him everything."

"Hmm." Old Demon Black Wind didn't mind. The information his subordinates knew was only the most basic, which could be figured out by spending more time in the cave dwelling. Truly important details, such as the cave dwelling's location and origin, were unknown to his subordinates.

"Could another Five-Tribulation Realm cultivator have entered?" Old Demon Black Wind grew increasingly wary. More and more powerful cultivators were entering this cave dwelling. He had initially thought he only needed to contend with Palace Lord Snow Jade, but then Ta Gu, a Five-Tribulation Realm mighty one from the Asura Realm, arrived, and now another Five-Tribulation Realm cultivator?

Boom! Boom!

A golden light and a gray light clashed in the mere ten-zhang-wide passage.

The golden light was Emperor Peng, who now manifested his wings, while his hands wore a pair of secret treasure gloves. The gray light was a gaunt, skeletal six-armed alien. Its six arms moved eerily and unpredictably, each wielding a weapon, as it fought Emperor Peng with all its might.

Both sides were Physical Body Three-Tribulation Realm cultivators. Even when battling in the narrow, ten-zhang-wide passage, their movements were still unpredictable, and their techniques possessed world-shattering power. Both were considered top-tier among Physical Body Three-Tribulation Realm cultivators.

The six-armed alien had reached the Three-Tribulation Realm nearly ten thousand years ago and had a deep accumulation of power. Emperor Peng, even when he first reached the Tribulation Realm, was powerful enough to rival a Three-Tribulation Realm cultivator. Once he truly reaches the 'Three-Tribulation Realm,' he will be considered top-tier among them.

"Pfft."

Emperor Peng's palm, with unparalleled power, formed into a claw. After a long struggle, a single claw strike severed one of the six-armed alien's arms. Once shattered, the arm immediately disintegrated into countless particles that rushed towards the severed area, attempting to regenerate. However, the void solidified, freezing the countless particles in place.

"Rip." "Slash."

Emperor Peng's techniques were ruthless, yet they contained the profound mysteries of the Void lineage. The six-armed alien's injuries worsened. After three consecutive arms were severed, it could only sigh and self-detonate, unwilling to endure further humiliation.

"Boom—"

Along with the self-detonation, Emperor Peng was sent flying backward, crashing into the passage wall. Blood stained his feathers, but these wounds healed in a blink of an eye. A smile appeared on his face. "Fortunately, fortunately, I brought the Six-Tribulation Realm secret treasure, the 'Void-Rending Hand.' My strength could suppress him. That fool, Marquis Ice, brought such weak treasures; otherwise, I wouldn't have been confident in killing him."

The Three-Tribulation Realm 'Marquis Ice' came from a lower-tier world and was considerably poorer. When exploring this cave dwelling, knowing there was a risk of death, he was reluctant to bring his most valuable treasures. His six arms each wielded one Five-Tribulation Realm secret treasure and five Four-Tribulation Realm secret treasures, naturally resulting in somewhat inferior combat power. It's worth noting that Marquis Ice had also accumulated two Six-Tribulation Realm secret treasures and several Five-Tribulation Realm secret treasures over the years. If he had brought all his treasures, the outcome of their battle would have been uncertain.

Emperor Peng, on the other hand, came from a medium-tier world, specifically one with deep accumulations, making him far wealthier. Even knowing that death was a possibility this time, he still brought a Six-Tribulation Realm secret treasure and other less extraordinary treasures to take the risk. He could afford the loss!

Of course... in terms of wealth, Emperor Peng was far inferior to Meng Chuan. Even 'Senior Pang Ming,' who cultivated both Primordial Spirit and physical body and had accumulated wealth from years of wandering abroad, only carried about ten thousand cubic units of treasure, which still paled in comparison to Meng Chuan's outer realm true body.

"Marquis Ice also had some gains," Emperor Peng said, examining the spoils of war with satisfaction. "All together, there are nearly six hundred cubic units. What a profit! My harvest from this cave dwelling is truly significant."

Meng Chuan walked through the labyrinthine passages, his Primordial Spirit world projection affecting the surroundings, ensuring a smooth path without any obstructions.

In the initial stages, there were no obstructions at all.

However, he also didn't find any treasures.

"It seems the cultivators ahead have already taken all the treasures," Meng Chuan realized. He walked leisurely, yet his speed was terrifyingly fast, and soon he arrived at another branching path.

The path branched into two directions, both leading to incredibly distant places.

"Emperor Peng is in this direction." Meng Chuan directly chose one of the paths.

Although there were many branching paths in the labyrinth, they ultimately converged at one point. Furthermore, many of these paths interconnected, so cultivators would occasionally encounter each other.

As for Meng Chuan, he was choosing his path by tracing karma, drawing ever closer to Emperor Peng.

"Almost there," Meng Chuan thought, advancing leisurely within the cave dwelling. For him, capturing Emperor Peng was of paramount importance; as for the opportunities within the cave dwelling, they were secondary.