Wu Qi did not sit around waiting for disaster to strike. He quietly said to Huo Wu, "Use your fourth Spirit Skill and push those three forward. Create an opening for Xiaotian to finish them."
Huo Wu hesitated.
"This passage is too narrow. The flames might injure our own people!"
After being enhanced by the immortal herbs, the power of her flames was no trivial matter.
In such a confined tunnel, the shockwaves would bounce around unpredictably and could easily burn everyone nearby.
But they had no other choice.
The longer they dragged this out, the worse the situation would become for them.
And if they were trapped in the passage while enemies attacked from outside, they would become helpless targets.
"Trust the captain."
Chen Ping spoke firmly as he released his martial spirit and assumed a defensive stance.
Huo Wu stopped hesitating. Her third Spirit Ring suddenly lit up.
The moment her Resistance Fire Ring formed, a powerful wave of scorching force erupted forward, burning the three opponents and rushing toward them at incredible speed.
"Third Spirit Skill, Mystic Defense!"
Under Chen Ping's control, a giant tortoise shell appeared in front of Feng Xiaotian, effectively sealing off the entire passage and resisting the incoming fiery shockwave.
Blocked by the barrier, the shockwave instantly rebounded.
The three enemies were struck a second time and suffered even heavier injuries.
Feng Xiaotian did not waste the opportunity.
He pulled a sharp dagger from his soul tool, charged forward, and swiftly ended the lives of all three opponents. He then stored the bodies inside his soul tool to prevent them from obstructing the passage.
Wiping sweat from his forehead, Chen Ping breathed heavily.
"The impact was incredibly strong. I almost couldn't hold it back."
Wu Qi remained cautious.
The tunnel functioned much like a confined chamber. Huo Wu's explosive flames were essentially like a bomb. Once the shockwave was blocked on one side, it would inevitably burst out from the other.
And that escaping shockwave could create a major disturbance.
If the people outside noticed it, large numbers of enemies would likely rush into the ruins.
Wu Qi urged, "The direction the shockwave escaped toward is probably the exit. Hurry, let's move!"
The shockwave traveled far faster than any of them could run.
Outside, the two opposing forces locked in confrontation suddenly heard a thunderous explosion.
A torrent of scorching flames erupted from the ruins, spewing out a terrifying tongue of fire.
Bokov's expression darkened.
"Hah! So you sent people into the ruins ahead of time!"
"You intended to stall us here while your people stole the treasure!"
Zhou Congping was equally puzzled.
None of the people he had sent inside possessed fire attributes. Furthermore, the soul tool guarding the ruins had already failed. Even if traps remained inside, they should not have caused such a massive disturbance.
Suddenly, he realized something.
The royal forces had probably also sent people into the ruins during the earlier battle.
Neither side was innocent.
But Bokov knew perfectly well that he had not sent anyone.
To prevent the Xinshan Sect from monopolizing the treasures, he immediately led his forces into battle once again.
The two sides resumed their bloody conflict.
Unknowingly, they had bought precious time for Wu Qi and the others.
After leaving the tunnel, the group returned to the original entrance area.
Hearing the fighting outside, Wu Qi quickly said,
"Search the area. There must be a mechanism hiding the real passage."
"Keep your movements quiet—"
Before he could finish speaking, Changkong noticed an unusual crack in the nearby wall.
He pushed lightly.
To everyone's surprise, the wall swung open, revealing a perfectly straight corridor behind it.
"Damn, there really is one!"
Huo Wushuang exclaimed.
To guard against traps, Chen Ping activated his Spirit Skill and covered himself with defensive protection before taking the lead.
"Who would've thought the real ruins were hidden behind a wall right next to the entrance?"
Sun Buyu shook his head bitterly.
Fortunately, Wu Qi had figured it out in time.
If they had continued wandering through the maze below, they would never have found the treasure.
Worse still, the deeper they went, the more likely they would become completely lost.
Along the way, they encountered no traps.
At the end of the corridor stood a secret chamber.
Its stone door was slightly ajar, and a faint glow of fire flickered from within.
They pushed the door open.
Everything inside came into view.
The chamber's layout was extremely simple.
At its center sat a skeleton that had long since decayed into bare bones.
A perpetual lamp burning in front of it provided the room's dim illumination.
Near one of the skeleton's fingers lay a shattered ring.
Around it were numerous rusted gold and silver treasures, along with piles of black ash that had long since carbonized beyond recognition.
The surrounding walls were completely bare.
No items could be seen, and there was no obvious sign of any remaining mechanisms.
Seeing this, everyone's attention returned to the skeleton.
It was obvious that the owner of this chamber had been one of the top experts of the Spirit Master world during his lifetime.
Even after death, a faint aura of power still lingered within the bones.
Wu Qi suddenly noticed something.
Six different parts of the skeleton were emitting faint fluctuations of spirit power.
"Spirit Bones!" he exclaimed.
Joy immediately appeared on everyone's faces.
"The six Spirit Bones of a top-tier powerhouse definitely won't be low-grade. We've struck it rich this time," Sun Buyu said excitedly.
The flesh had long since decayed away, making it easy to remove the Spirit Bones attached to the various parts of the skeleton.
Among them, the Head Spirit Bone emitted the strongest spirit power fluctuation.
Wu Qi knew at once that the age of this Spirit Bone was certainly beyond imagination.
At this moment, there was no time to distribute the treasures. Everything was handed to Wu Qi and stored in his storage spirit tool. They would divide the loot after returning.
As for the gold and silver scattered across the ground, no one showed the slightest interest.
Just as they were about to leave, Changkong stopped.
"For a top-tier powerhouse, isn't this a little too little?"
It was true that the owner's storage spirit tool had shattered, causing its contents to scatter across the room and be corroded by the passage of time.
But could such a small amount of wealth really match someone of that level?
Changkong knew very well that the number of treasures stored in his grandfather's storage spirit tool was beyond counting.
So what about someone even stronger than his grandfather?
"Greed knows no bounds!" Wu Qi replied. "We've come all the way here without encountering any real danger and obtained six Spirit Bones without any accidents. Don't you understand what that means?"
Any powerful expert knew that after their death, the spirit tools maintaining their residence would eventually fail.
Once treasure hunters arrived in the future, their resting place would inevitably be disturbed.
Most experts would willingly leave behind some treasures to satisfy the treasure hunters and encourage them to leave peacefully, allowing them to rest undisturbed.
If they became too greedy and continued searching, they would likely end up staying here forever as part of the burial.
Sun Buyu nodded repeatedly.
"Exactly, exactly. We can't be greedy. There may indeed be hidden mechanisms in these walls, or perhaps more treasures concealed deeper inside."
"But once you reach for them, there's no guarantee you won't trigger the former owner's retaliation."
"What good are treasures if you're not alive to use them?"
The group had not been blinded by greed.
Following Wu Qi's suggestion, everyone entered the Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch once more, allowing Wu Qi to carry them out of the ruins.
Wu Qi covered his face with a black cloth.
The moment he stepped out of the ruins, he noticed countless eyes turning toward him.
After their earlier clash, the Xinshan Sect and the royal army had calmed down and entered negotiations.
Now that Wu Qi had emerged from the ruins, both sides could easily guess that the treasures were in his possession.
"Hand over the treasures!" Zhou Congping shouted sternly.
Wu Qi shook his head.
Spirit Bone wings unfolded behind his back, and his body rose into the air.
The treasures were already in his hands.
He had no intention of staying any longer.
----
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