Chapter Thirty-Eight: Before Retrieving the Treasure

Water and fire are merciless. After a great battle, the divine flames of Ninefold Ignition and the Jade Void Palace Lantern’s net of fire ravaged the land. The giants and fire shamans fought fiercely, and the red rocky hills stretching for tens of thousands of miles were reduced to wasteland. Not a blade of grass survived, scorched earth lay everywhere, and corpses littered the ground, rivers of blood flowing between them. The fire shamans were nearly wiped out, and the giants suffered devastating losses. All around, only endless desolation remained.

“Are these bodies not going to be buried?” Seeing the brothers of the Gale clan ignore the fallen giants, Qingxu could not help but speak, inwardly criticizing them. He had thought well of them before—how could they now be so cold?

“Buried? Why should we bury them?” Dashan asked in confusion.

“The dead ought to be laid to rest in the earth!” Qingxu replied, as if it were obvious—this was the common wisdom he held.

“We are born of heaven and earth, and when we die, we should return to heaven and earth. One place is no different from another—the burial is but an unnecessary ritual,” replied Dafeng.

Hearing these words, Qingxu was startled. Though Dafeng’s view contrasted with his own, it was not wrong; burial rites were merely the conceits of later generations. Under the laws of nature, good and evil, right and wrong are indistinct. He suddenly recalled an old tale: someone fell into a well, one person looked on in silence—this was evil; another laughed—this was worse; yet another threw stones in, the worst of all. Compared to the worst, the mere onlooker seemed virtuous.

The three made their way toward the secret domain of the giants.

The secret domain lay deep in the westernmost reaches of the red rocky hills, encircled by many caverns like stars around the moon. Each cavern was a mile or several miles wide, serving as the dwellings of the giants.

Following the Gale brothers into the central cavern, Qingxu finally understood its mysteries. Within, the mechanisms and traps were countless, peril at every step. Without a guide, any intruder—even an immortal—would surely perish.

Most terrifying was that, as they ventured deeper, the paths twisted and connected with other surrounding caverns, no less complex than the most intricate maze, with countless branching corridors.

“This secret domain is truly treacherous—unless one is supremely powerful and simply destroys everything, unraveling the traps and mazes would be nearly impossible!” Qingxu thought, marveling at his fortune to have the Gale brothers as guides; otherwise, even ten lives would not suffice.

He did not know how much time had passed. In his memory, they had chosen at least ten thousand forks and descended thousands of miles underground. Eventually, the Gale brothers stopped, for the path ended. Before them stood a massive stone gate, inscribed with countless ancient runes and sigils, radiating a timeless, vast aura.

“My goodness, this gate must be at least tens of thousands of years old.”

“Benefactor, this is the Giant Spirit Gate. Strengthened by secret arts and wards of successive Giant Kings, without the proper method, even a Golden Immortal would need half a year to breach it,” Dafeng explained, a trace of pride in his expression.

Suddenly, Dashan coughed up a mouthful of hot blood, his face pale as paper, the golden light around him dimming, as if his life’s candle were nearly spent.

“This is bad. My brother and I have little time left—we must act quickly,” Dafeng exclaimed, feeling his own body’s weakness. Though he was stronger in cultivation than Dashan, he too could not endure much longer.

The brothers exchanged glances, nodded, and with a loud shout, both waved their hands. Strands of profound yellow radiance struck the runes on the gate, enveloping it in a misty hue. The closed gate slowly parted, its thickness astonishing Qingxu—several yards at least. Was this a door, or a tunnel?

The Giant Spirit Gate was halfway open, and the Gale brothers were already bleeding profusely, their bodies trembling.

“That’s enough, no need to open it entirely,” Dashan urged anxiously, letting go and stepping inside. Dafeng followed, and Qingxu entered last.

Passing through the gate, they found themselves in a spacious underground altar. At its center stood a large cauldron, radiating profound yellow light, surrounded by treasures and auspicious glow, with the innate light of merit flowing ceaselessly, ancient runes flickering in and out of sight.

“A supreme treasure of earth and heaven—while it cannot compare to the Tower of Heaven and Earth, it is no less than the Jade Void Palace Lantern, and nearly equal to the Central Saffron Banner. Remarkable! Truly remarkable!” Qingxu muttered, the cauldron matching his expectations, perhaps even exceeding them.

Suddenly, two streaks of light shot across the vast underground space. The Gale brothers gathered all their golden radiance to their chests, and a dazzling mix of yellow and blood-red energy shot towards the cauldron.

As the essence of earth and life entered the cauldron, both giants fell dead on the spot.

Qingxu paid no heed to the drop of pure yellow water that formed in the cauldron, his attention fixed on the bodies before him, his heart stirred with complex emotions.

“Alas, with no reincarnation, their souls are destroyed, returning to heaven and earth.”

After a moment of reflection, Qingxu stepped toward the cauldron, ascending the altar’s forty-nine steps. He gazed upon the vessel, full of pure yellow water, a blood-red glow within that gradually faded over time, the yellow light growing stronger.

“A single drop—an entire cauldron?”

Normally, a drop of pure yellow water would take a hundred or thousand years to form naturally, but aided by the Gale brothers’ life essence, it was accomplished in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

For now, no more pure yellow water could be produced. Qingxu began to consider how to use it. To forge an immortal artifact with it would be a waste.

“Yellow Turban Warrior? If a giant absorbs a drop of pure yellow water, he can evolve into a Yellow Turban Warrior. What about myself? But who knows if there are side effects—better let my Earth avatar try it first.” Though he believed there would be no adverse effects, Qingxu was cautious and would not risk it without certainty.

Let the Earth avatar absorb and refine a drop of pure yellow water—after all, it was still himself.

Having decided, Qingxu waited for the cauldron to produce the water. He also examined the altar’s connection to the earth veins, intending to take the treasure along with the water. As for the consequences to the earth’s flow, he had his own methods to deal with the karmic repercussions and need not worry.