Joe Di raised his hand and stored the flame into a jade box, sealing it with a restriction. Since this Dao Flame wasn't his, he couldn't be bothered to examine it. He pocketed the two jade slips; as his divine sense swept through one, he found it contained insights on artifact refinement, while the other was a location map.
The map was simple—it pointed to the very center of Starfire Trading Post, specifically to the underground level of a place called Starfire Trading Tower.
The rumbling explosions grew louder, but Joe Di paid them no mind. If not for the Sacred Yin Pearl, he might have already left. But since the Sacred Yin Pearl was here, meeting those people was only a matter of time.
After stepping out of the artifact shop, Joe Di unleashed a wave of flame, burning away all traces within the shop.
......
Even Joe Di could hear the roaring noises now. Randy Jen and Julia Lou, who were searching for treasures, naturally heard them too. Almost as soon as the first sound echoed, both stopped rummaging through the shops.
"Brother Randy, we need to leave!" Julia Lou said urgently.
Randy Jen nodded. "Brother Qu was right. If we don't leave now, we might never get out. I bet Brother Qu already left. What we've gained is enough to push us into the Immortal King or even Immortal Lord realm."
The two activated a pair of array flags, and in the next instant, beams of light swept Randy Jen and Julia Lou out of Starfire Trading Post.
As soon as they landed outside Shadowfire Isle, they silently rushed toward the Lunar Celestial Sea. They had already made up their minds to leave Shadowfire Isle immediately, perhaps even the Moon Ruins, and find a place to cultivate.
Skyler Xue also heard the rumbling outside. Immersed in looting treasures and cultivation resources, he suddenly realized that people outside must have found the right place and begun blasting the array gate.
Only then did he think of Trevor Qu. It was Trevor Qu who had brought him in, and now, wanting to sneak out early, he had to find his teammate Trevor Qu.
But as soon as he realized this, he remembered that he had already split up with Trevor Qu and Randy Jen. The endless stream of treasures had made him forget his original intentions.
"Senior Hao, they've already come in ahead of us." When the entrance to Starfire Trading Post was breached, someone spotted Skyler Xue.
Skyler Xue panicked and tried to escape. But as soon as he took a step, a powerful energy handprint blasted him away, slamming him into the stone wall outside a shop, where he fell to the ground.
"No wonder you didn't want to team up with us—you had a shortcut. Where are the other three?" Howard Hao swept his Immortal Essence, and Skyler Xue, who was knocked to the ground, was already at his feet.
"They're behind me..." Skyler Xue barely got out three words before a giant handprint slammed down on his head, shattering it to pieces.
The gap between mid Grand Celestial and mid Immortal King was simply too vast—not everyone could defy the heavens like Joe Di.
After collecting Skyler Xue's belongings, Howard Hao shouted, "Everyone, seek your own fortune!"
With those words, Howard Hao rushed off in the direction Skyler Xue had indicated. His earlier statement was just a courtesy—over a hundred people had entered here, and none would listen to him or hand over everything they found.
Howard Hao's main goal was to find Joe Di and his two companions. Clearly, Joe Di's group had discovered another entrance and entered much earlier. In that case, if he eliminated Joe Di's group, he'd get the most spoils.
......
Joe Di moved through various shops, sweeping away any valuable rings and items he came across.
Although he knew many things were unusable, artifact refining materials wouldn't spoil. Some rings might even remain intact.
Apart from that, the main place he was searching for was Starfire Trading Tower.
Joe Di's divine sense was powerful. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he had already swept his sense over Starfire Trading Tower.
The signboard of Starfire Trading Tower was still perfectly intact, and even the restriction at the entrance remained. The tower sat at the intersection of four major streets, making it the best location in Starfire Trading Post.
Joe Di landed here and immediately tossed out hundreds of array flags, concealing the entire tower. As an eighth-grade Immortal Array Master, he could easily set up a sixth-grade Concealment Immortal Protection Array.
The tower was still untouched, which meant no one had found it yet. Joe Di didn't want to be disturbed while searching for the Sacred Yin Pearl.
With a sixth-grade Concealment Immortal Protection Array in place, by the time anyone found this spot, he would have already taken the Sacred Yin Pearl and left.
Starfire Trading Tower wasn't just well-located—it was also spacious inside.
The tower had five floors. What surprised Joe Di was that, unlike other towers filled with corpses, Starfire Trading Tower had none. Even the shelves on every floor were empty.
Joe Di didn't mind. As a seventh-rank Immortal Pill King, he wouldn't care even if there were pills left on the shelves. Besides, after so many years, any pills would be useless anyway.
What Joe Di cared about was the underground level. According to Eugene Yu's jade slip map, the Sacred Yin Pearl was in the basement of Starfire Trading Tower.
There was no staircase to the basement, but with Joe Di's arraycraft skills, he easily found the restriction leading down.
Before he could break the restriction, Joe Di felt an intensely cold aura surge toward him.
The Sacred Yin Pearl was definitely inside—otherwise, the chilling aura wouldn't be so terrifying even through the restriction. Joe Di carefully wrapped his body in Dao Flame, then summoned his Azure Veil Blade and slashed downward.
Boom! With just one strike, Joe Di heard the sound of the restriction cracking.
Immediately, Joe Di sensed something was wrong. The restriction didn't seem manmade—it was a natural seal...
A natural seal in the basement of a trading tower, and inside it, the Sacred Yin Pearl—how bizarre. But Joe Di was certain it was a natural seal. He wasn't just an ordinary eighth-grade Immortal Array Master; he possessed the Ninth Prime Law, and his understanding of arraycraft far surpassed that of most array masters.
This chapter isn't over yet ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!
Crack! Just as Joe Di was pondering why there was a natural seal here, the seal suddenly split open. Joe Di could clearly see at least a dozen perfectly preserved corpses inside, each with almost unchanged expressions.
A dull gray pearl floated in the basement, more than ten meters away from Joe Di, spinning constantly. Before his divine sense could reach it, an overwhelming aura surged toward him.
Joe Di felt his whole body enveloped by a world-creating aura. In that instant, his cultivation soared, and every pore felt like it would explode.
It was definitely Chaotic Qi. Just as Joe Di tried to absorb it with his cultivation technique, a frigid cold stream instantly flooded his body. The chilling yin energy filled him, and in moments, his body stiffened.
Not good! Joe Di panicked. He finally understood how those people on the ground had died—it was the yin energy from the Sacred Yin Pearl that killed them.
If he didn't come up with a solution, in a little while, he'd end up just like those corpses, lying here forever.
But at that moment, all his meridians were frozen, and he couldn't move any of his senses. Thankfully, he'd spread Dao Flame throughout his body to protect himself—otherwise, he'd have already lost consciousness.
Joe Di could only frantically communicate with the Dao Flame in his mind. Even though his Dao Flame had reached ninth-grade immortal flame, under such terrifying cold yin energy, it couldn't completely break free.
The Dao Flame kept compressing. Though it couldn't fully escape the cold yin energy, it could barely protect Joe Di's soul and physical body.
Boom! The sound of an explosion jolted Joe Di awake from his haze. He realized that the Concealment Immortal Protection Array he'd set up had been discovered—someone was attacking the protective array around Starfire Trading Tower.
"Senior Hao, this protection array can't have been set up more than a day ago. I bet it was those few who came in alone. There must be something good in Starfire Trading Tower." The Concealment Immortal Protection Array Joe Di had set up was already torn open, and over a hundred people were gathered here. The speaker was a Grand Celestial expert skilled in arraycraft.
In more than a day, they'd already turned Starfire Trading Post upside down.
A cruel smile flashed in Howard Hao's eyes. "All the good stuff in here was snatched up by those ants first. Don't worry, everyone here will get a share when the time comes. For now, let's keep attacking and break this Concealment Immortal Protection Array."
Boom boom! Nearly a hundred attacks struck the Concealment Immortal Protection Array Joe Di had set up. With just one round, the array emitted a cracking sound and split open.
Howard Hao was the first to rush in, and no one else lagged behind.
"This is Chaotic Qi..." A Grand Celestial expert was so excited his hands trembled. At that moment, everyone felt their Dao grow clearer.
(Woke up feeling dizzy this morning, must be sick. If updates are unstable these days or late, please forgive me.)