377: Chapter 377 Making a fortune

Inside the underground karst cave, a crimson fluorescent light flickered on the stone walls.

Hou Chen, bearing seven layers of earth-yellow protective shields, stared fixedly at the blood-soaked youth in black before him.

There was a clean, blood-dripping hole in the youth's left shoulder, and blood dripped onto the crystalline ground.

That extremely overbearing Pure Yang fire energy was escaping through the wound.

The surrounding air crackled as it was scorched by this fire energy.

Hou Chen's back was instantly soaked in cold sweat.

This violent fire energy, this desperado-like attire—it must be that key.

How did the Gu raised by those old monsters in the sky end up crashing into his underground medicinal garden!

Being able to kill his way out from the encirclement of the direct descendants of several Central Plains sects, he was definitely a ruthless character.

Can't afford to offend him, absolutely can't afford to offend him.

This kid was involved in the schemes of a Golden Core True Lord; touching him would only bring trouble upon himself.

Hou Chen moved his toes slightly, silently shifting half a step backward.

He frantically circulated his Ji Earth True Essence, reinforcing the thickness of his seven-layered shield by another three inches.

The earth-yellow halo swirled, wrapping him into an airtight ball of mud.

Cao Yun knelt on one knee, vomiting large mouthfuls of stagnant blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.

The fire-attribute True Essence within his Meridians was nearly exhausted.

He forced himself to raise his right hand, the ball of Pure Yang Heart Fire in his palm flickering with difficulty.

The aura on this old man was firmly fixed at the boundary of the Purple Mansion Great Perfection.

Those seven layers of earth-yellow shields were despairingly thick, exuding an overbearing sense of immunity to all techniques.

Cao Yun gritted his back teeth, preparing to risk his life to detonate the Li Fire Origin.

Even if he died, he would never hand his life over to someone else.

Above his spiritual terrace, the [Mingxin Mirror] roared into operation.

The phantom of the crimson bronze mirror rolled rapidly in the firelight, emitting a light that pierced through falsehoods.

The mirror's light penetrated Hou Chen's shield, reaching deep into the other's spiritual terrace.

Cao Yun was prepared to face overwhelming killing intent and greed.

In the Cultivation World, a severely injured Purple Mansion Cultivator was just a walking piece of fat meat.

Not to mention he had just killed three people and was carrying the Storage Ring of the Chili Sect.

The next moment, Cao Yun was stunned.

The images fed back by the [Mingxin Mirror] were shockingly clean.

There was no baleful aura of killing for treasures.

No greed for taking advantage of his misfortune.

Inside this Purple Mansion Perfection old man's spiritual terrace, it was packed tightly with extremely mercenary obsessions.

"Hurry up and leave, don't delay me from scraping the fire-star stones off the wall."

Cao Yun's chest heaved violently, and he almost couldn't hold back a mouthful of blood.

What kind of weirdo was this!

A dignified Purple Mansion Great Perfection, and his head was filled with thoughts of scavenging for junk?

He, Cao Yun, was fighting for his life, yet in this old man's eyes, he wasn't even as important as a handful of mud!

The massive contrast dealt a severe blow to Cao Yun's worldview.

Hou Chen saw the Pure Yang Heart Fire in Cao Yun's palm flickering, and his heart jumped wildly.

This kid might self-detonate at any moment!

He decisively slung the pitch-black luoyang shovel on his back.

The wide sleeves of his Daoist robe hung down, directly covering the Magical Artifact.

"Little friend, this old man is just a passing Loose Cultivator."

Hou Chen gave two dry laughs, pulling out an extremely genial smile, his face practically writing 'harmless to humans and animals'.

"This underground karst cave is very spacious; you heal your wounds, and this old man will pick up his junk."

"Let's mind our own business and make our fortunes based on our own abilities."

Before he had finished speaking, Hou Chen retreated another three large steps.

He retreated directly behind a collapsed stalactite pillar, striking a posture of absolute defense.

Cao Yun stared fixedly at Hou Chen.

The feedback from the [Mingxin Mirror] could not be faked.

The other party truly didn't want to fight, and was even afraid that if he died here, it would dirty the place.

Cao Yun quickly assessed their respective combat power.

He was severely injured and dying, his Meridians were in ruins, and the Pure Yang Heart Fire was at the end of its rope.

The other party was at the Purple Mansion Perfection, and those seven layers of earth-yellow turtle shells were as hard as city walls; he definitely cultivated a top-tier earth-attribute Cultivation Technique.

If they really fought, he wouldn't even be able to scratch the outermost layer of the other's defense.

Since the other party was offering a way out, he naturally stepped down.

Cao Yun slowly retracted the Pure Yang Heart Fire in his palm.

The moment the flames extinguished, he sat slumped on the ground, exhausted.

He pulled off his Storage Ring, poured out two Medicinal Pills for healing, and shoved them into his mouth.

He sat cross-legged directly, closed his eyes to regulate his breath, and forcibly suppressed his boiling blood.

The underground medicinal garden fell into a strange, eerie silence.

Cao Yun closed his eyes, the Li Fire Origin slowly wandering through his Meridians, repairing his damaged flesh.

However, he kept a sliver of Divine Sense outside, constantly alert to the old man's movements.

Seeing Cao Yun enter meditation, the heart Hou Chen had been holding finally dropped back into his stomach.

Hou Chen took out the luoyang shovel again and began to work, tiptoeing around the area where Cao Yun was.

Clang!

The shovel blade wedged precisely into a crack in the stone wall.

Ji Earth True Essence surged along the handle of the shovel, instantly dismantling the ancient Restriction on the stone wall.

Hou Chen pried hard, and a fist-sized piece of crimson fire jade rolled down.

He nimbly picked up the fire jade, wiped the dust off with his Daoist robe, and stuffed it into his Storage Ring.

Cao Yun's eyelids twitched slightly.

Was this old man for real?

A dignified Purple Mansion Perfection, actually scraping the wall!

Hou Chen worked with increasing enthusiasm.

The luoyang shovel swung, creating a blur.

The fire-star stones and fire jade ornaments embedded in the stone walls, along with the soil contaminated with Bing Fire Qi energy.

Were all swept clean as if he were scraping the ground three feet deep.

He even followed the veins of the earth and pulled out several broken spirit wood pillars by the roots.

Cao Yun watched with his Divine Sense while healing.

This old man's style of doing things truly pushed being 'cautious' and 'greedy' to the extreme.

He didn't grab the core Opportunity, and he didn't provoke Karma or trouble.

He specialized in picking the scraps others looked down on, making a fortune in silence.

Cao Yun's spiritual terrace felt a moment of clarity.

There must be an expert guiding this old man from behind.

When ordinary Loose Cultivators reached the Purple Mansion Perfection, who wasn't arrogant and desperate to rush to the main hall?

To be able to lower his face and dig in the mud here, this level of forbearance and insight was truly beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Hou Chen dug and stopped along the way.

Unknowingly, he had circled to within three feet of Cao Yun.

Cao Yun opened his eyes suddenly, his muscles instantly tensing.

The Pure Yang Heart Fire danced on his fingertips again, emitting a dangerous hiss.

Hou Chen froze, the luoyang shovel hanging in mid-air.

The two of them fell back into an awkward situation of staring at each other.

Hou Chen swallowed his saliva, his gaze passing over Cao Yun and landing on a worn-out meditation cushion half a step behind him.

The surface of the cushion was covered in dust, yet it faintly emitted a cool, calming aura.

It was clearly a calming object used by ancient Cultivators for meditation.

"Little friend, don't panic."

Hou Chen gave a dry cough and held out two fingers.

He carefully pinched the edge of the cushion.

He pulled it out with a jerk.

The cushion was in hand.

Hou Chen quickly stuffed it into his Storage Ring, then retreated ten zhang away as if he had greased his feet.

"This cushion is comfortable to sit on; this old man is old, and my back isn't good."

Hou Chen explained with a straight face, his words so sincere that one couldn't find any fault.

Cao Yun's cheek muscles twitched wildly.

This old bastard, he's absolutely incredible!

He wouldn't even let go of a worn-out cushion under someone else's butt!

He completely dissipated the Pure Yang Heart Fire, too lazy to bother with this weirdo again.

He closed his eyes, focusing on guiding the medicinal power to repair the piercing wound on his left shoulder.

Seeing this, Hou Chen patted his packed-full Storage Ring with satisfaction.

This trip to the Secret Realm was a huge profit.

He turned around, his gaze landing once again on the dark gold crack leading directly to the foundation of the main hall.

The fire-attribute Origin that True Monarch Yanqing wanted was still ahead.

Hou Chen pushed his seven-layered shield to its limit.

His hunched body was preparing to squeeze into the crack.

Rumble!

The entire underground karst cave began to shake violently without warning.

The crimson rock layers collapsed over a large area, and countless gravel fell like raindrops.

Scalding lava poured backward frantically along the cracks, instantly turning the bottom of the karst cave into a sea of fire.

The violent Bing Fire Qi energy surged tenfold, scorching the surrounding air until it was completely distorted.

Cao Yun suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his injuries worsening directly under this pressure.

The Li Fire Origin within his body agitated uncontrollably, seemingly responding to some ancient summoning.

The seven-layered shield on Hou Chen's body emitted an unbearable explosion, the outermost halo cracking inch by inch.

He jammed the luoyang shovel into the ground, barely stabilizing his figure.

Both of them looked up in horror at the same time.

Clang~

A grand and ancient bell toll, from the direction of the main hall in the deepest part of the ruins, penetrated the layers of the earth and exploded with a roar.

The bell sound contained the supreme Law pointing directly to the Dao.

Where the sound waves passed, the space rippled visibly to the naked eye.

Ten thousand fires submitted, and the earth's veins trembled.

The Bing Fire golden essence, pointing directly to the Great Dao of the Golden Core, had finally appeared!