Han Anbo took a look, then turned to Li Qingxian and said, "I’m afraid this is one of the rebels’ treasure vaults, and quite possibly their most important one."
"Lord Li, you’re amazing!" said Zheng Gaojue, his eyes wide. "Not only did you lead us to safety, but you had already discovered this treasure trove."
"It was nothing," Li Qingxian said nonchalantly.
As Zhou Henn searched the body, he said, "The door and the cavern walls are reinforced with Magic. I can’t open them. And the key to a vault like this won’t be on the Gatekeeper."
"I know the Life-Seeking Skill," Li Qingxian said. "The Life-Seeking Sect excels at ’searching’ and ’cracking’."
Zhou Henn nodded. "The Life-Seeking Sect is indeed formidable in that regard. Historically, half of all major tombs were discovered by the Life-Seeking Sect."
"In that respect, the Life-Seeking Sect’s reputation isn’t exactly sterling," Han Anbo said with a smile.
As if he hadn’t heard, Li Qingxian continued, "I’ve carefully examined these Talismans. They serve two main purposes: reinforcement and warning. Given the current situation, the warning function is useless. As for the reinforcement, it would be difficult to break with Daoist Skills or brute force, but with a Fate Skill, it should be simpler."
Zhou Henn said, "Not necessarily. The Life-Seeking Skill is powerful, but Fate Skills require many special Life Materials. The Life Materials needed for a Fate Skill that can undo these Talismans aren’t something you can just buy anywhere."
"Fortunately, I have something that can substitute for Life Materials," Li Qingxian said.
"Oh?" Zhou Henn and Han Anbo looked at Li Qingxian in surprise.
Li Qingxian took out the All-Purpose Jade Pendant.
"All-Purpose Life Materials?" Han Anbo asked.
"You two, watch my back. I’ll see how to break these Talismans. Uncle Xiaozhou, once the Talismans are broken, with your Fourth-Grade strength, you should be able to open this door, right?"
"It’s just a question of one kick or two," Zhou Henn said.
"Good."
Li Qingxian walked up to the large door, took out his Life Disc, activated his Spiritual Eye, and observed the Talismans.
To Zhou Henn and the others, the patterns of the Talismans on the door and walls only flickered occasionally.
In Li Qingxian’s eyes, the entire wall and steel door were covered in a dense array of tadpole-shaped, snake-shaped, and cloud-shaped Talismans.
A golden light shone, and the black Talismans seemed to flow and shift, appearing and disappearing.
’Good thing it’s only a three-form Talisman array. If it had flower or beast shapes, making it a four-form array, I have no idea how many Qi Fortune Fish it would have cost me.’
Li Qingxian thought to himself as he observed the changes in the protective Talismans.
Then, he flipped through his copy of *Life-Seeking Skill*. There was a Chapter dedicated to explaining how the Life-Seeking Skill could counter the various protective Talismans of the Daoist Sects.
’This type of Talisman likely originates from the Chenzhou Technique, which is known for being miscellaneous, numerous, and widespread. But its flaw is obvious: it lacks the purity and refinement of techniques like the Dragon and Tiger Technique or the Divine Sky Technique. It’s easy to use but difficult to master. To dispel this kind of Talisman, you need a combination of multiple Fate Skills...’
Li Qingxian mulled it over for a long time, sorting out the details. Just as he was about to cast the skill, he heard Yui Qingchen’s voice.
"Those of you buried in the mountain, do not panic. The Internal Factory has already reported to the Imperial Court. By tomorrow at the latest, the Imperial Court will dispatch Daoist Cultivators and Puppet Cultivators to excavate the mountain."
The voice, carried by the True Essence of a Third-Grade Expert, reverberated through the mountains.
Han Anbo sighed. "I suppose that’s the only way. As long as the Daoist Sects have enough Yellow Turban Warriors and the Puppet Cultivators have enough skeletons, they’ll be able to clear away the rubble and open a path quickly."
"Warriors..."
Li Qingxian thought for a moment, then said, "Let’s back up."
Li Qingxian slowly retreated, and the other three followed.
Stopping three zhang from the door, Li Qingxian took a deep breath. With a flip of his right hand, a translucent, drum-shaped seal appeared in his palm.
"I request the presence of the Electric Drum Warrior," Li Qingxian said politely.
The drum-shaped seal gave a little leap and jumped into mid-air.
ZZZZT...
Lightning coiled and churned, weaving together to form an oval, black-rimmed portal of electricity. Its bottom touched the ground, and its top reached the cavern ceiling.
A massive leg, like a courtyard pillar, shot out. Then, a giant man, a full three zhang tall, emerged from the black portal, hunched over.
He couldn’t stand up straight.
The distance from the floor to the cavern ceiling was barely two zhang.
Lightning wrapped around the giant’s arms, but the drum on his back was gone.
"Where’s the drum?" Li Qingxian asked.
"It’s stuck," the Electric Drum Warrior said with a helpless look.
A first-class Warrior from the Upper Realm, one of the best of the best, was now hunched over like a little old man, his back pressed against the cavern ceiling, his head tilted as he looked helplessly at Li Qingxian.
Zhou Henn and the other two were utterly astonished.
Even hunched over, the three-zhang-tall giant radiated an indescribable pressure. The muscles of his legs, arms, chest, and abdomen looked as if they were carved from brass, bulging and gleaming with a dazzling metallic sheen.
Zhou Henn could sense that the Warrior’s power wasn’t overwhelming—he wasn’t his match—but the *level* of that power was far superior to his own.
"I summoned you this time to open that door," Li Qingxian said, pointing at the large gate.
The hunched Electric Warrior turned, saw the vault door, and fell silent.
"Are you strong enough?" Li Qingxian asked.
The Electric Warrior held it in for a moment before slowly saying, "Enough."
With that, he walked forward, still hunched over, and placed a hand on the door.
BOOM!
The two streams of lightning on his arm shot out like long serpents, slithering up the cavern wall and across the steel door.
Sparks flew and thunder roared.
The Talismans shattered, one after another.
At the same time, a piercing alarm blared from the steel door.
"Noisy!" The Electric Warrior placed his other hand on the door and let out a low shout. A sound like the beat of a colossal drum from beyond the heavens swept through the cavern.
KRA-CHA...
The steel door cracked and splintered.
The Talismans completely disintegrated.
"Farewell!" Without a glance at Li Qingxian, the Electric Warrior turned, ducked back into the black portal, and vanished.
"He’s quite prideful," Li Qingxian remarked.
Zhou Henn let out a sigh of relief.
"Care to do the honors?" Li Qingxian asked, looking at Zhou Henn.
Zhou Henn walked up and gave the door a light tap with his right hand. The massive steel gate collapsed with a deafening crash, sending dust flying everywhere.
Li Qingxian took a closer look. The door was thicker than he had imagined, over half a chi thick. ’One tael of silver can buy a hundred jin of wrought iron,’ he thought. ’After magical refining, the resulting steel is far superior to ordinary steel, and one jin of it is worth one tael of silver. This door is nearly three cubic meters, weighing over forty thousand jin. It could sell for at least four thousand taels.’
With a wave of his right hand, Li Qingxian’s Qiankun Bracelet absorbed the broken door.
Han Anbo and Zheng Gaojue exchanged a look and silently followed behind Li Qingxian.
"Li Qingxian, you’ve stumbled into some serious dog-shit luck," Zhou Henn sighed from just inside the doorway. He was the first one in.
"This is my hard work finally paying off." Li Qingxian walked past the tall and sturdy Zhou Henn and swept his gaze across the room. Only then did he understand why Zhou Henn’s tone was filled with such envy, jealousy, and hate.
Before him, ten doorways were lined up in a neat row.
Above each doorway hung a Wooden Token inscribed with words: Salt and Iron, Gold and Silver, Jewels, Medicinal Herbs, Weapons, Books and Ledgers, Treasures...
When Han Anbo and Zheng Gaojue came in and saw it, they were dumbfounded.
Han Anbo muttered to himself, "Nether Mountain has been accumulating wealth for years, and this is the Divine Capital Sub-Branch. All the funds and spoils from near the Divine Capital must have been transported here. This means... No, we can’t take it all. The Imperial Court will definitely send people to excavate the mountain, and they’ll surely find this place. Even if they don’t dig their way here, they’ll interrogate the rebels and find out about it. If we empty it out completely, the Imperial Court will launch a full investigation."
Li Qingxian sighed. "Yes. That’s why we’re taking the ledgers first."
Zhou Henn and the other two were dumbfounded.
Li Qingxian made a beeline for the cavern marked "Books and Ledgers." Inside, he saw rows upon rows of bookshelves. With a grand sweep of his hand, he stuffed all the books into his Qiankun Bracelet, not bothering to see what they were.
After collecting everything, Li Qingxian walked out, looked at the three of them, and said, "Now, do you think they’ll be able to figure out how much was stored in here?"