Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Under everyone's anticipation, the fifth and last iron door slowly opened.

The crowd surged in.

"Ah." Someone immediately screamed, as the condition here was even worse; the books couldn't last long in the damp environment. Some books hadn't rotted but, upon picking them up, were found to be completely stuck together, turning into a paper cake.

Most had corroded.

The Eternal Spirit Sect was once a Fifth Grade Sect. This treasury must have contained Earth Grade Cultivation Techniques and Martial Techniques, possibly even Middle Earth Grade.

Gone, all gone.

Unlike the others, Nangong Rou did not look at the Cultivation Techniques on the iron racks around her but walked straight ahead.

At the end of this stone chamber, there was a green stone table, and on the table was a tightly shut iron box.

Nangong Rou extended both hands, but her hands were trembling, showing her inner disquiet.

"What's inside?" A voice rang out behind her.

Nangong Rou turned her head sharply, revealing a smile, and said, "The Sect's treasure of the Eternal Spirit Sect, 'Minor Formless Mysterious Skill.'

"Minor Formless Mysterious Skill." Shen Chao hurriedly ran over and said in an extremely shocked tone, "Middle Earth Grade, and it's an attribute-less Technique?"

"Exactly." Nangong Rou nodded.

At this moment, Lv Han and Hu Yan also came over, their expressions revealing extreme ecstasy.

"It is said that the Minor Formless Mysterious Skill originated from the Ancient Time's 'Infinite Mysterious Skill,' created by the strongest War God known in history, the Infinite War God. Its rank even surpasses Heaven Level High-Grade, belonging to the supreme Techniques," Lv Han said tremblingly, overcome with excitement.

Chu Hao was surprised; generally, Cultivation Techniques were divided by attributes that matched one's physique. While there were attribute-less Techniques, they were generally equated with 'trash,' like the Nameless Technique and Seven Star Jue he had learned before.

However, this Minor Formless Mysterious Skill had reached Middle Earth Grade, and the Infinite Mysterious Skill had even surpassed Heaven Level High-Grade, which was simply unimaginable.

"Exactly, the Infinite War God was a true marvel. Physiologically, the Infinite War God was a mediocre talent with balanced Five Elements, but he forced himself to create the attribute-less Infinite Technique using his own understanding, allowing him to maintain a balanced internal attribute and avoid becoming overwhelmed by excessive power," Hu Yan interjected.

"I remember now, could it be that the founder of the Eternal Spirit Sect was a disciple of the Infinite War God?" Shen Chao suddenly clapped his hands together.

"You're half right," Nangong Rou said. "The founder of the Eternal Spirit Sect was merely a leaf sweeper in the Mansion of the Infinite War God in ancient times. Because he often overheard the Infinite War God imparting divine skills and practicing Techniques, he perceived some insights, hence the creation of the derived Minor Formless Mysterious Skill."

"Quick, open it and see." Hu Yan's voice also trembled.

This is a Middle Earth Grade Technique. As long as it's complete, there's a chance to cultivate to the level of War General and enter the ranks of the strongest in Tianhe County.

Chu Hao was also very expectant; although the strongest Technique of the Yunliu Sect was also a Middle Earth Grade, it was a Water Attribute Technique, which he couldn't possibly cultivate.

Thus, at most, he could only reach Warrior in the Yunliu Sect.

But the problem was, he came from the Lower World and couldn't possibly inherit a Technique of the corresponding level.

At most Martial Sect, definitely no chance to progress to Warrior.

So, this Minor Formless Mysterious Skill became his best springboard to break through the Three Minor Realms and advance to Warrior.

"Don't rush, everyone get your paper and pen ready, transcribe the Technique immediately," Nangong Rou said. "I worry that even if the Technique has been well-preserved over so many years, once exposed to air... how long it will remain intact is also a big concern."

Makes sense, thoughtfully considered.

"I have no paper or pen."

"Neither do I."

All four, Chu Hao included, shook their heads; it was normal not to carry such things. Besides, even if they had Mustard Seed Rings, the space was limited, so of course, they would carry more important things.

"I brought quite a few, originally intended to let the four of them transcribe together. Since there is only one Technique left now, I'll give it to you," Nangong Rou took out five sets of paper and pens from her Mustard Seed Ring, kept one for herself, and handed the other four sets to Chu Hao and the others.

"Thank you." All four of them said. So thoughtful and considerate of others, they almost forgot how cold and merciless she had been when she pushed more than twenty people to their deaths.

"Are you all ready?" Nangong Rou asked, and after Chu Hao and co. nodded, she placed her hand on the iron box. Just like before, she touched several beast patterns on the box, and immediately, the box sprang open.

Whirr, whirr, whirr, whirr.

Thirteen Jade Slips suddenly rose from the box, each radiating a glowing luster with characters engraved clearly visible on them.

Minor Formless Mysterious Skill.

Everyone was overjoyed but then immediately became terrified as they found that the Jade Slips were starting to crack.

There was no time to transcribe slowly; they could only try to read it as fast as possible, memorizing it in their minds to transcribe it later.

For a moment, everyone fell silent, eyes wide open, fearful of missing even a single moment.

Chu Hao's eyes trembled lightly at high speed; his derivation ability was terrifying, requiring formidable memory support, allowing him almost to achieve eidetic memory.

It was dead silent; even the breathing was kept very soft.

In fact, at this moment, the best strategy would have been for each person to memorize a different piece of the Jade Slip, and then piece together what each had memorized to form a complete Minor Formless Mysterious Skill.

But the problem was, who could trust anyone else?

With something like a Cultivation Technique, just altering a few characters could lead to dire consequences, and going mad from internal energy deviation was the least of it.

How could anyone trust each other after just two short days of acquaintance?

Of course, they couldn't.

So, each person had to memorize on their own, praying that the Jade Slip wouldn't shatter before they had finished memorizing.

On one hand, they all hoped to read and memorize faster, while on the other, they wished the Jade Slip would shatter more slowly.

Yet, memorization speed varied from person to person, and the shattering of the Jade Slip wouldn't change just because they willed it. Just five minutes later, snap, crack, the thirteen pieces of the Jade Slip had completely broken apart and fell from the air.

Chu Hao and the others reached out to touch the pieces, but they turned into powder on contact, leaving no hope of piecing anything back together.

Thirty thousand years were enough to destroy everything.

Each person let out a sigh, looking at each other, but nobody asked how much the other had managed to remember.

—Involving a Middle-Grade Earth Level Cultivation Technique, naturally, no one trusted anyone, and even if someone were to transcribe what they remembered, who would dare to cultivate it?

It had to be this way.

"How do we get out?" asked Hu Yan. Now that they had each memorized parts of the Minor Formless Mysterious Skill, it was as if they were carrying a supreme Secret Treasure, and everyone became highly suspicious of the others.

They naturally had to part ways.

"Simple," said Nangong Rou. "There's a secret path outside that leads to the summit of the island, where the Elder's Council of Eternal Spirit Sect used to be; but now, we just need to get to the summit, then descend from the island—the boat is parked on the other side."

This 'other side' was, of course, relative to the den of the Green Scale Violent Snake, but she cleverly omitted this, lest Chu Hao and the others remembered how close they had come to death in the maw of a ferocious beast.

They exited the fifth treasure vault, with Nangong Rou leading, carefully stepping on different cobblestones.

"The secret path to depart requires the cooperation of five people to open, which is why I brought these four bodyguards," Nangong Rou pointed to her four escorts. "The procedure is quite complicated, and you won't be able to master it on the spot, so we five will perform the operation, and you just wait here."

Previously, she had shown considerable sincerity, and her words now seemed reasonable. Chu Hao and the others nodded in agreement.

Under Nangong Rou's direction, her four men each stood on different cobblestones, while Nangong Rou stood on the only stone in the domed space that had a pattern on it.

At her command, she and her four attendants all squatted down and began pressing on the stones.

Chu Hao just watched Nangong Rou, a sense of unease stirring within him.

This woman was exceedingly cunning, with all the marks of a ruthless leader. Could such a person truly be willing to share the treasures with them?

It should be noted that it had been thirty thousand years since the fall of the Eternal Spirit Sect, and during that time, generations of the Nangong Family had been desperately searching, their vitality severely drained by their efforts centuries ago.

They had paid such a great price, yet now they were supposed to share the fruits of their victory equally with Chu Hao and his colleagues?

Putting himself in her position, Chu Hao would not be content either.

Click, click, click.

Suddenly, a crack opened in the wall opposite them, as if a door were being opened – deep and dark. A pungent, nauseating scent instantly wafted out.

Was this the secret path of departure?

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

From within the dark path, a noisy sound suggested countless creatures were about to run out.

Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.

Just then, five cobblestones flipped over rapidly, exactly under the feet of Nangong Rou and her four companions. As the stones turned over and settled back into place, Nangong Rou and her attendants were gone.

"Oh no, the true path of departure is beneath these five stones," Chu Hao immediately realized. He finally understood Nangong Rou's plot – to leave them trapped here to die.

So what if they had memorized the Minor Formless Mysterious Skill? It would simply disappear with their corpses. The Star Stones, materials, and Treasure Artifacts they had found in the first two vaults were to have been shared after their departure, all of which were being carried by Nangong Rou's men.

They had now obviously run off with them.

Such a scheming woman!

"Then... what's behind this door?" Hu Yan asked tremulously, truly scared this time.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

No need for anyone to answer, as countless brown scorpions surged out from the opened crack, swarming like a sea.

"It's over, these are Black Needle Scorpions."