Chapter 887: Nothing Gained

Chen Yang cast a meaningful glance at Han Li and Gu Qianxun, then turned and strode through the door.

Han Li and Gu Qianxun exchanged a look and followed.

The secret vault was spacious, comparable to a palace, and housed seven or eight tall counters made of a dark wood.

This wood appeared to be no ordinary material, emitting a faint, refreshing fragrance that filled the entire vault.

Each counter had three tiers, upper and lower, and on each tier were placed many boxes and wooden cases containing various precious materials, cultivation manuals, beast cores, and so on.

Han Li paid no attention to those counters, his gaze fixed directly on the center of the vault.

There, in an open space, stood a black stone pillar over one man's height, engraved with worm-like patterns.

On top of the pillar rested a black crystal the size of a human head.

The crystal stone was smooth as a mirror, emitting a bright black light that rippled outward like black water waves, within which a peculiar energy fluctuation could faintly be sensed.

As soon as Han Li stepped into the secret vault space, the Black Calamity Insects within him, upon touching this strange energy, immediately became completely motionless, sinking into a deeper slumber.

"Black Calamity Stone!"

Han Li's heart stirred, but he glanced at Chen Yang beside him and did not immediately reach out to take it.

Gu Qianxun also looked at the black crystal stone, and a trace of surprise could not help but flash in her originally cold and clear eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Li also knows about the Black Calamity Stone? However, this item can only suppress the Black Calamity Insects, not expel them. Let's quickly search around to see if we can find a method to remove the Black Calamity Insects. Also, please forgive me, but the situation outside is changing rapidly, and we cannot delay here too long—at most half an hour." Chen Yang seemed to have seen through the thoughts of Han Li and the other, and spoke thus.

Gu Qianxun nodded noncommittally, walked over to a counter, and began to rummage through it.

Han Li, upon hearing this, withdrew his gaze and began to search around as well.

Within the Jilin Void, demonic energy and immortal spiritual power could not be used. Although this place was a secret vault, there were basically no restrictions or the like.

The three searched swiftly and soon had scoured the entire secret vault once.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Han Li set down a volume of texts, his expression somewhat grim, and glanced at Gu Qianxun beside him.

Gu Qianxun also looked over at that moment, her expression somewhat grave.

The two of them were not at ease with Chen Yang, so they tacitly took charge of searching through all the texts, asking Chen Yang to search for other items.

But after the two of them had examined every single text, they had not even seen the words 'Black Calamity Insect'.

“I’ve found some useful materials here. Fellow Daoists, you might want to come take a look.” Just then, Chen Yang’s voice rang out.

Han Li and Gu Qianxun, hearing this, quickly walked over.

Chen Yang was now standing before a counter in a corner. On the counter sat a black crystal box about a foot in size. Through the semi-transparent walls of the box, one could clearly see black centipede-like strange insects lying inside, unmistakably the Black Calamity Insects.

In his hand, he held a black jade slab. Its texture seemed identical to that of the crystal box, as if it were a part of the box. It was covered in rows of densely packed small characters.

Chen Yang handed the black jade slab to the two. Han Li and Gu Qianxun read it swiftly, taking in ten lines at a glance.

Before long, both of their expressions darkened.

What was written on the jade slab was the method for cultivating Black Calamity Insects—from their birth, to what to feed them as they grew, and how to implant them into a human body. All of it was recorded in great detail, but the method for removing them was nowhere to be found.

However, the jade slab did mention Black Calamity Stone. The Black Calamity Insect was a group species; each swarm had a queen that commanded the rest.

That piece of Black Calamity Stone was a special crystalline substance refined from the corpse of a Black Calamity queen using secret arts, which was why it had the power to suppress the Black Calamity Insects.

To suppress a single Black Calamity Insect, carrying a piece of Black Calamity Stone the size of a fingernail on one’s person was sufficient.

“These two pieces of Black Calamity Stone, Fellow Daoists, please keep them well. Wear them on your persons first to suppress the Black Calamity Insects.” While the two were reading the jade slab, Chen Yang walked over to the Black Calamity Stone and cleaved off two pieces of black crystal the size of chicken eggs, handing them to Han Li and Gu Qianxun.

“According to what’s written here, it seems such a large piece isn’t necessary,” Han Li said.

“Though it says that, more is always safer,” Chen Yang said with a laugh.

“In that case, many thanks to Fellow Daoist Chen Yang.” Han Li did not stand on ceremony; he thanked him and tucked the Black Calamity Stone close to his body.

Gu Qianxun also put away her Black Calamity Stone, but her gaze remained fixed on the black jade box.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, are you perhaps trying to take some Black Calamity Bugs? Feel free to take as many as you like, but you'll need a special container to hold them." Chen Yang said, noticing Gu Qianxun's gaze.

"Without large pieces of Black Calamity Stone, these Black Calamity Bugs are utterly useless. Look here." Gu Qianxun shook her head, pointing to one side of the black crystal box.

That happened to be a blind spot in Han Li's line of sight. Han Li walked over to Gu Qianxun's side and only then saw what she was pointing at.

On the crystal box was engraved a six-petal flower pattern, quite exquisite, seemingly some kind of mark.

The pattern was carved very shallowly, hard to see without looking closely.

"Fellow Daoist Gu, do you recognize this pattern?" Han Li's gaze sharpened as he asked.

This pattern carved on the black crystal box should not be without purpose.

"Before I came to Qingyang City, I once saw this pattern in Xuan City. It is the exclusive mark of a sword-forging master, Lady Sixflower." Gu Qianxun said slowly.

"Lady Sixflower? Sounds like a woman. A female sword-forging master is rare." Han Li stroked his chin.

"I have also heard of Lady Sixflower's great name. He is not a woman. In the Holy Domain, there is a race called Baiyi, skilled in sword forging and artifact crafting. Only the one with the highest forging skill in each generation can obtain the title 'Lady.' Senior Sixflower is the current Lady of the Baiyi clan. For reasons unknown, a million years ago, he was cast into the Scale Accumulation Void by the Yeyang Dynasty and has lived in Xuan City's main city ever since. Every weapon he forges is a masterpiece, hard to obtain even for ten thousand gold. Du Qingyang once wanted to request a suitable weapon from him but failed." Chen Yang shook his head and said.

"I see. But why would Lady Sixflower's mark appear on this box?" Han Li asked, somewhat puzzled.

"It seems this box was made by Lady Sixflower, or perhaps he has some connection with these Black Calamity Bugs?" Gu Qianxun furrowed her brows and murmured.

"There's still a bit of the secret vault left to search. Let's finish searching first." Chen Yang suddenly interjected.

Han Li looked ahead; there was one last cabinet left to examine, but it was filled with various materials and a motley assortment of odds and ends.

Though hope was slim, the three of them worked together to carefully search this final cabinet.

Han Li picked up a piece of fluorescent purple-black crystal, carefully probed it with his spiritual sense, found nothing inside, and set it down, picking up the next item.

"Oh!" Han Li's expression changed slightly.

This item was a palm-sized black relief, carved with a three-headed, six-armed demon god sitting in a strange posture.

He had seen something like this before. In Zhao Gu Zhenren's storage artifact, there was also such a black relief.

The two reliefs were identical in size and material, the only difference being the postures of the two demon god statues.

"Could these two statues be connected?" Han Li speculated inwardly, glancing at Chen Yang and Gu Qianxun, both of whom were examining other things and not paying attention to him.

A flash of light appeared at his brow, and a beam of crystalline light shot out, sinking into the relief.

The black relief trembled slightly, then came to life, its limbs moving and striking various poses—twelve in total. With each pose, strange, unrecognizable characters appeared on the back of the relief.

But the twelve poses of this relief were completely different from those of Zhao Gu Zhenren's relief, and although Han Li could not recognize the strange characters, he could tell they were also different from the previous ones.

A hint of joy flickered in Han Li's eyes. This relief was indeed closely related to Zhao Gu Zhenren's relief, seemingly part of a set.

He casually flipped the black relief a couple of times and then nonchalantly put it back in its place.

The three quickly finished searching all the items on this counter, and as expected, found nothing of apparent value.

The only valuable information found in this secret vault was that black jade slip. The three then gathered again around the black jade box.

"Regardless, this is still a clue." Han Li said thoughtfully, looking at the Sixflower mark on the jade box.

Gu Qianxun said nothing, merely turning her gaze to Chen Yang.

"I'm truly sorry for not finding a way to remove the Black Calamity Bugs for you. But once I've cleaned up Du Qingyang's remnants, I will definitely send more people to continue investigating and give you both a satisfactory answer." Chen Yang looked ashamed.

"A satisfactory answer? Does Fellow Daoist Chen mean to guarantee finding a way to remove the Black Calamity Bugs? And when might that be?" Han Li frowned slightly, then asked coolly.

"Only Du Qingyang knew the method to remove the Black Calamity Bugs. Now that he is dead, I will do my best to search the city lord's mansion and other places, and also try to gather information from Xuan City. I should be able to find it." Chen Yang quickly said.

"Should be able to find it? Fellow Daoist Chen, spare us such perfunctory words. Give us a definite answer regarding the Black Calamity Bugs." Gu Qianxun said coldly.

"It seems you two have already joined forces and no longer intend to continue cooperating with me?" Chen Yang looked at Han Li and Gu Qianxun, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, his tone turning icy.

A white light flashed on his left arm, and a layer of crystalline white faintly appeared on his skin. An immense, fierce aura suddenly erupted, pressing down on the two of them.

This aura was extremely vast, no less than Du Qingyang's earlier, and incredibly sharp. The surrounding void seemed to be cut by countless razor-sharp forces, buzzing and trembling.

Han Li and Gu Qianxun felt as if a towering mountain were pressing down on them, their bodies sinking slightly, but their expressions remained unchanged. They immediately released their own auras, merging them together, and managed to withstand Chen Yang's pressure.

Three immense auras intertwined, and in the void, faint sparks of trembling light appeared. The entire secret vault shook gently.