Having come to this mountain valley for sixteen days, Ye Chen had finally overcome the obstruction of the three Willow Demons and at long last, he saw the hidden treasure beneath the Fire Elemental Spring!
Ye Chen's gaze was completely fixed upon the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, carefully examining this unparalleled mystical stone that could nourish the three great Willow Demons.
At this moment, following the explosive shattering and disintegration of the three Willow Demons, the whole valley instantly became desolate, leaving only Ye Chen and the little monkey, along with the spinning Fire Elemental Spirit Stone.
Ye Chen felt that, as the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone spun ceaselessly in the void, the dense Heaven and Earth True Qi within the entire valley gradually began to converge towards the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone.
However, after a short while, the Heaven and Earth True Qi in the valley became the same as that outside the valley, and the spinning Fire Elemental Spirit Stone in the void finally came to a stop.
Clearly, the reason why the Heaven and Earth True Qi in the valley had been so concentrated earlier was due to the Spirit Stone emitting True Qi. Now, the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone that had appeared, directly reabsorbed all the dissipated True Qi, much like it reabsorbed the Fire Elemental Spring Water before.
Seeing the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone stop spinning and floating motionlessly in the void, waiting to be claimed, Ye Chen didn't hesitate any longer. He reached out into the void with a large hand, and the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone shot into his palm.
"So heavy!"
Grasping the fist-sized, fire-red Spirit Stone in his hand, Ye Chen's first impression was that the stone was extremely heavy.
Ye Chen's current strength was so formidable that not to mention a fist-sized rock, even the weight of a huge mountain could be borne by him.
But the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone in his hand was as heavy as if it were heavier than a massive mountain, as if it contained the power of tens of thousands of jun within it.
If not for Ye Chen's body being fortified with the exceedingly robust Gang Yuan True Qi, together with the powerful physical strength he cultivated from the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, he likely wouldn't have been able to lift this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone at all.
The weight of this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone could likely easily crush a Spirit Sea mid-stage expert to death!
"The treasure left behind by the Heavenly Saint is truly extraordinary!"
Feeling the weight of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, Ye Chen silently admired it in his heart.
Following that, he began to examine the interior of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone with his divine sense. The moment his divine sense touched the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, he felt as though he had entered a space filled with thick Fire Element True Qi, a space that was even bigger than Ye Chen's Spirit Sea, where the sky and land were both filled with dense, fire-red Heaven and Earth True Qi.
Heaven and Earth True Qi can be divided into five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Normally, Heaven and Earth True Qi is a mix of the five elements exhibiting a blue color, and it's only when the True Qi of one attribute is condensed to the extreme that it can manifest in a single color.
The interior of this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone was completely fire-red, signifying that it was all Fire Element True Qi – True Qi of the fire element condensed to the extreme!
As soon as Ye Chen's divine sense touched the interior space of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, rolling surges of thick Fire Element True Qi burst forth, pouring into his body and bringing him immense benefits!
Holding the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, he was absorbing True Qi even faster than when he had drawn in True Qi from the Fire Elemental Spring Water previously!
"Fantastic, this really is fantastic!"
"The Heaven and Earth True Qi within this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone is vast. Even if possessing the stone allows one to absorb its True Qi quickly, it would take several years to completely assimilate the immense True Qi within it!"
"If I were to bring all of this stone's Heaven and Earth True Qi into my body, this True Qi would likely be enough to let me advance to the Spirit Sea mid-stage, or even the later stages!"
Ye Chen could hardly wait to start absorbing the True Qi from the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone!
"Little monkey, let's absorb the True Qi here together."
Some found a Half-Step Rotating Pill, breaking through the defense of a group of demon wolves to obtain a Spiritual Pearl treasure, while another found a mysterious blue bottle in a large lake, containing a divine and extraordinary Spiritual Liquid that even drove them mad with desire.
The five late-stage Spirit Sea female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect went on an adventure together and discovered a fruit forest filled with strange fruits.
Even the five mid-stage Spirit Sea disciples whom Ye Chen had saved earlier had made their own gains.
All was calm and tranquil on the Fourth Sea Island, with all adventurers either searching for treasures or hunting giant beasts, seizing the one-month exploration period to gain as many benefits as possible.
But on other islands, it was not as peaceful and quiet as on the Fourth Sea Island.
With the appearance of treasure-seeking Black Beads, fighting was inevitable, and as the locations pointed out by the Black Beads continuously yielded treasures, the precious treasures made countless people envious.
Suddenly, all the islands were filled with contention, slaughter, and counter-slaughter.
Many of the weaker adventurers died amid these conflicts and during their explorations, while the ones still alive were those incredibly strong Half-Step Rotating Pills and talented disciples, as well as adventurers who teamed up to jointly defend against enemies.
Regardless, frictions, battles, and deaths continued to arise.
What no one was aware of was that as people among the 349 who had entered the ancient tomb kept dying, their deaths turned into black mist that vanished over the islands, and deep within the ancient tomb, on the huge bronze coffin tightly secured by eight enormous iron chains, the faintly glowing green-faced tiger head demon pattern was becoming increasingly bright.
This day marked the twenty-third day since everyone had entered the ancient tomb, and by this day, of the 349 individuals, a full 130 had turned into black mist and disappeared from the ten sea islands.
On this day, right after 130 people turned into black mist and vanished from the islands, the green-faced tiger head demon among the Eight Great Demon Towers on the bronze giant coffin suddenly lit up completely.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion echoed as a terrifying black light burst forth from the surface of the bronze coffin.
Within this terrifying black light, the fully illuminated green-faced tiger head Demon Tower abruptly disappeared, and in the next moment, a three-hundred-meter-tall, tiger-headed, humanoid demon with billowing black Qi suddenly appeared in the void.
Upon its appearance, the demon looked down at the huge bronze coffin.
"Master!"
"After three thousand eight hundred and sixty-three years, I, Tiger Demon Teng, have finally awakened!"
"You had slain Heavenly Saint Linghua and were gravely injured yourself, your life force dissipating, which led you to set up this astonishing scheme."
"Now, this astonishing scheme has gradually begun to unfold, master, I, Tiger Demon Teng, shall lead the charge for you!"
After the demon whispered these words, it raised its head to look beyond the massive swamp, towards the central giant island and the ten outer sea islands.
"Cultivators from the thirteen countries of the Southern Heavens, hmm?"
"You will join the various demons cultivated by the master back then, whether in death or in life, prepare to offer yourselves to the master!"
"The peripheral sea islands are still far from enough, I hope some of you can make it to the central sea island—that will be more interesting!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the demon spoke, one of the eight enormous iron chains securing the bronze coffin, covered with countless Ancient Rune Talismans, suddenly erupted in endless radiance.