At the entrance of the True Helick's Great Trove.
Zhi'er stood at the edge of the blue expanse, looking up at the dense swarm of seals ahead.
"Helick, your greed serves no purpose other than to get your descendants killed," Zhi'er muttered viciously in his heart, gripping the sack containing Shui Yuetian tightly.
Helick's trove—the grand treasure he had yearned for day and night.
If Yu Xian inspired incomprehensible terror in him, then for Helick, he felt only hatred—the purest, most extreme hatred.
Because of that bastard Helick, he had wasted over five hundred years among the Sea Clan, all to investigate whether Helick had any surviving descendants and whether there was still a chance to open Helick's Great Trove.
He hated Helick for placing such a troublesome seal.
He hated Helick for not staying in the Sea Clan to have children, instead running off to the Abyss to court death.
If Helick had fathered more children, he wouldn't have had to waste so much time on Shui Yuetian. The very thought filled him with furious rage, wishing he could travel back in time just to drag Helick off to breed.
Once he obtained the contents inside and broke through to the Li Rank, everyone in the Sea Clan would die.
He would make the entire Sea Clan be buried alongside Helick.
If the Netherworld truly existed, he would make Helick wallow in eternal regret there.
"No, I can't wait any longer."
Zhi'er pondered for a moment, suddenly seized by a foreboding intuition.
He had an eerie feeling that Yu Xian would appear in some incomprehensible way and launch an attack on him.
Although Shui Yuetian had not yet reached adulthood, he could not afford to wait. He had to undo the seal and claim the treasure within Helick's Great Trove as quickly as possible.
Opening the sack, he grabbed Shui Yuetian by the hair and dragged her out.
"Miss, remember this: if you must blame anyone, blame Helick." Zhi'er looked at Shui Yuetian. Recalling the days he had spent looking after her, his gaze grew colder and colder.
Then, a massive torrent of water materialized out of thin air, swirling around Zhi'er before gradually condensing into spikes.
"Primordial Water True Art!"
Zhi'er incanted in a low voice, and the spikes instantly thrust into Shui Yuetian's vital acupoints.
Drop by drop, blood was slowly extracted through the spikes. This was Shui Yuetian's essence blood, harbored deep within her acupoints. Extracting it meant that even if she didn't die, she would be reduced to nothing more than dry bones in a grave, stripped of any future possibility of cultivating.
Zhi'er had always preferred caution. If he could have waited until Shui Yuetian reached adulthood, he would have chosen to wait.
Yet the pressure Yu Xian exerted on him was simply too overwhelming. He couldn't fathom how Yu Xian had tracked him down to the Bottom of the Sea, nor could he understand why facing Yu Xian this time stirred such profound terror within him.
One thing, however, was certain: Yu Xian had grown stronger and even more incomprehensible.
Against such an opponent, no amount of caution was ever enough. His only option was to make this quick: grab the treasure and flee—or fail to grab it and flee all the same!
Life mattered more than anything else.
Before long, Shui Yuetian's body aged drastically, her hair turning completely gray and withered.
Having extracted enough essence blood, Zhi'er used his ability, "First Primordial Water," to refine it once more. The blood before him gradually took on faint wisps of blue light.
It was now infinitely close to true blood.
Success or failure hinged on this single move.
Looking toward the seal ahead, he directed the blood into its core.
This method was not foolproof. If Helick had implemented a mechanism to detect the age of the blood, not only would the seal fail to open, but it might also become even more difficult to unlock.
Fortunately, Helick evidently hadn't thought that far ahead.
Zhi'er's refinement of Shui Yuetian's essence blood was an utter success, making it resemble adult blood closely enough to deceive the seal Helick had constructed.
Layer upon layer of seals unraveled.
The spiraling passage ahead, once impassable, twisted open to reveal a vast blue chamber before Zhi'er's eyes. The corners of his lips curved into a smirk. Grabbing Shui Yuetian by the hair, he hurled her inside.
To his relief, Shui Yuetian merely tumbled across the floor several times. Clearly, there were no other traps here.
Only after confirming it was safe did Zhi'er slowly step into the space.
There was not much inside this chamber. To the right stood a desk and a chair, while to the left sat a bookcase filled with various books Helick had collected.
There was also a greatsword.
The sword rested in a corner. Because the space was completely sealed and free of dust, it looked just as it had in the past, without the slightest sign of age.
Zhi'er had been able to locate Helick's Great Trove because of an ability called "Primordial Water True Treasure," which allowed him to sense the presence of unowned treasures.
It was precisely thanks to this ability that he had steadily grown stronger and made it this far.
Was this merely Helick's diversion?
Where the true treasure lay was...
Closing his eyes, Zhi'er activated Primordial Water True Treasure. His nose gradually lengthened, pointing straight ahead.
He opened his eyes and looked forward. There stood a wall—a blue wall.
"Helick, cautious as always."
Zhi'er sneered and thrust a palm forward. The entire wall shattered instantly under the force of his strike, and the space itself even began to destabilize.
Evidently, without the reinforcement of the seals, this space had become exceedingly fragile.
Once the wall collapsed, a colossal, round ruby was revealed before Zhi'er. At the center of this massive gemstone was the pattern of a golden phoenix, gleaming with gilded brilliance as though it might come to life and soar into the sky at any second.
"What... what is this?"
Gazing upon the immense ruby, Zhi'er felt his heart beat faster and faster, his eyes widening in shock.
He had assumed Helick's trove was some supreme treasure Helick had obtained by chance—perhaps Hegemon Rank equipment, or a Hegemon Rank Star Divine Artifact.
Only a treasure of that caliber could trigger such a massive reaction from his Primordial Water True Treasure.
The reason he had been willing to lurk within the Sea Clan was that his Primordial Water True Treasure had detected an unprecedented item—one whose value exceeded the very limits of the ability's appraisal.
Yet he never imagined that the truth of Helick's Great Trove would turn out to be an enormous ruby.
No.
Something wasn't right about this giant ruby.
Zhi'er suddenly shuddered, snapping out of his stupor. He closely examined the ruby's perimeter, his eyes gradually narrowing. This ruby looked somewhat like... a storage ring.
Gulp.
A storage ring that massive—not even a giant could wear it, could they?
Zhi'er took two steps back, a sense of dread actually creeping into his heart. Was this really a treasure?
Just then, however, footsteps echoed from behind. He whipped around, his expression shifting drastically. Yu Xian walked in from outside, sweeping his gaze across the chamber before finally fixing his eyes on the dying Shui Yuetian.
Shuishui!
Yu Xian hurried forward and lifted Shuishui's upper body. Only after sensing that she was still breathing did he breathe a sigh of relief.
On the other side, Zhi'er stared at Yu Xian with a grim expression, slowly turning around with the intent to flee. Yet behind him, the phoenix pattern upon the gigantic gemstone seemed to sense something, and its wings actually unfurled...
Chapter 324