Chapter 1188: Chapter 358: So This Is the Secret Recipe for Breaking Through to the Spirit Severing Realm!
Just as the thirty-six figures outside the tower performed their routine inspection, no one noticed the subtle ripples of space on the dome of the "Star Hiding Chamber" on the seventh floor inside the tower.
"Crack—"
The faint sound of cracking was perfectly masked by the roar of Spiritual Power surging.
A three-inch long crack suddenly appeared at the position representing the "Breaking Army Star" on the star map mural on the dome.
Immediately after, two hands clad in black iron gloves reached out from the crack, their fingertips twined with thread-like Power of Space, gently tearing.
"Crash!"
The entire starry sky mural shattered like a broken mirror, revealing the dark void passage behind.
Two shadows silently descended, their toes touching the cyan jade tiles without even disturbing the dust.
"Can you break down the ’Nine-layer Celestial Restriction’ covering this entire level within half an hour?" Sikong Yan asked in a low voice.
Zhou Qing frowned slightly, "What do you mean?"
"There’s only a one-hour window for the tower to replenish the Spiritual Power to the restriction," Sikong Yan quickly explained, "After that, the restriction will activate its screening function to verify all the treasures. If any are missing, an alert will be triggered."
He tutted softly, "Next time we come, what awaits us won’t just be the Divinity Transformation Guards."
A sly glint flashed in his eyes, "However... if you could make the restriction ’see’ no missing items and report everything as normal to the outside, that would be great."
A cold light flashed in Zhou Qing’s eyes, "Why mention something so important only now?"
"I just remembered, didn’t I? Besides, with such a long gap, after splitting my Primordial Spirit, possessing others, and finally merging, it’s fortunate I can even tell north from south."
Sikong Yan helplessly spread his hands.
Zhou Qing, on the other hand, clenched his hands until they creaked, then took a deep breath, raising his head to examine the swirling Three-Color Restriction on the dome.
The red, blue, and purple array patterns intertwined and squirmed like living beings, forming a complex structure like an all-encompassing net.
Half an hour, what a joke?
Though he was a Fourth-level Array Master, the path of arrays was intricate and unpredictable.
Even the simplest One-Color Restriction sometimes took several hours to break.
More intricate ones required days of effort.
Not to mention that this was the final barrier used by the Xuanyuan Royal Family to guard the treasury, specifically defending against foreign Spirit Severing Realm powerhouses.
"Impossible to break!" Zhou Qing stated bluntly.
Sikong Yan shrugged, "See? You blamed me for not telling you earlier, but telling you wouldn’t have made a difference."
"You..." A dangerous glint appeared in Zhou Qing’s eyes.
"Don’t glare at me," Sikong Yan said with a cheeky grin, taking a half step back, "We still need me to tear open space to get out."
Seeing Zhou Qing’s expression grow colder, he quickly waved his hand, "Just kidding, you really can’t take a joke."
His expression turned serious and his tone urgent, "Time is pressing, no more idle chatter. We’ll split up and see how much we can take, all based on our own skills."
After a pause, he added, "By the way, the Wood Attribute Spirit Stones should be on the sixth floor; this is the seventh floor."
His voice hadn’t even faded when his gaze shifted forward.
In the entire seventh floor of the Star Hiding Chamber, three hundred and sixty fist-sized astral beads floated quietly, slowly moving along the trajectory of the Circulation Star Array.
The starlight shimmered brilliantly, resembling a real starry river.
Each bead harbored an exotic treasure, emitting a Spiritual Power fluctuation that was alarming.
But soon, Sikong Yan’s pupils constricted and he murmured softly, "Damn it..."
His voice turned low with a hint of seriousness, "It looks like, during the years I was ’dead,’ others also had eyes on this treasury—not just us, Spirit Severing Realm powerhouses from other Cultivation Countries might have ’visited’ as well."
"Now, all these astral beads have been additionally endowed with unique restrictions of the Spirit Severing Realm by the Old Emperor, making them far more challenging to break than before."
As he spoke, he flipped his hand to retrieve an ancient compass, flicking his fingertip, and seven jade tokens flew out, shooting rapidly toward the first astral bead.
Upon touching the bead’s wall, the restriction patterns suddenly lit up, Spiritual Power surged, and Sikong Yan furrowed his brows, beginning to focus on cracking it...
Meanwhile, Zhou Qing seized the opportunity, his figure turning into a blue lightning bolt, instantly passing through the protective barrier, darting toward the sixth floor along the stairs.
As soon as he stepped in, the scene before him expanded dramatically.
This entire floor was grander than the seventh, with hundreds of night pearls embedded in the ceiling, illuminating the pavilion like daylight.
The floor was paved with extremely rare "Spirit Nourishing Jade."
Standing on it, it felt warm as water, capable of absorbing the Spiritual Power dissipated from around a cultivator’s body, allowing not a hint of aura to leak.
Within the pavilion, dozens of purple sandalwood racks were displayed, each emitting a faint scent of sandalwood.
The racks were filled with rare treasures, classified and orderly.
On the far left rack, over a thousand jade boxes were prominently placed, with lids engraved with runes of the Five Elements, subtly shimmering with Spiritual Light.
A glint of enthusiasm flashed in Zhou Qing’s eyes, as he almost could not resist rushing over, but ever cautious, he first activated [Double Pupils].
In an instant, his vision changed dramatically!
Where the seemingly tranquil wooden racks stood, countless silver threads appeared, densely woven and intertwined like a spider web, enveloping the thousands of jade boxes.
Each thread contained sharp restriction power, a single misstep would trigger lethal force!
"I must hurry up!" Zhou Qing thought with a shiver, "Half an hour is already tight, and if Sikong Yan, who doesn’t have [Double Pupils], accidentally triggers a restriction, the consequences would be disastrous!"
He no longer hesitated, spreading his hands abruptly, thousands of Spirit Seals poured out like a starry river, unfolding in an instant.
If he were to crack them one by one like back in the Nangong Family’s inner treasury, there wouldn’t be enough time—he aimed for a sweep!
