233: Chapter 233 Demonic Insects and Tender Grass, A Greedy Treasure Trove

The eighth level was more desolate than he had imagined.

There were no walls, no dome; it was a boundless, grayish-white wasteland.

The sky was like a vast tent, covering the four wild directions.

Gluttony's Devilish Qi transformed into countless pitch-black devilish insects across this wasteland, dense and swarming like a tide.

They had no eyes, only greedy mouths constantly gnawing at the ground, the air, and even space itself.

And Greed's Devilish Qi transformed into tender grass, stubbornly growing out from the cracks left by the gnawing.

As the devilish insects gnawed past, the tender grass was swallowed; when the insects left, the tender grass grew again.

One waned while the other waxed, endless and eternal.

Yu Rumeng stood beside Chu Sheng, looking at this wasteland, at those two strands of Devilish Qi that had been entangled for thousands of years.

Those two Demon Lords, who once looked down upon the world, were now reduced to nothing but these instinctual dregs.

"Strong as the Demon Lords were," she said with a trace of imperceptible emotion, "they eventually vanished into history."

"The fortunes of the world turn; each has its time to shine. Prosperity leads to decline, and from the depths of adversity, fortune rises."

Chu Sheng did not reply.

He watched the tender grass being gnawed by the devilish insects and constantly reborn, remaining silent for a moment before saying something that surprised Yu Rumeng: "I don't think so."

Prosperity leading to decline is a rule, but decline is not the end.

Greed and Gluttony are dead, but Arrogance remains.

After Arrogance, there will be the next, and there will be you and me.

"As long as the roots of the Demon Race remain, the Demon Lords will never cease to exist."

Yu Rumeng turned her head to look at him, her gaze complex.

She did not refute him, merely nodding.

This wasteland had almost no concept of time.

There was no sunrise or sunset, no shifting stars, only the grayish-white sky and ground, and the devilish insects and tender grass that were forever gnawing and forever growing.

Chu Sheng did not know how long he had walked; perhaps a few hours, perhaps days, perhaps longer.

He did not count, nor could he.

After circling countless times and passing through countless areas ravaged by devilish insects, a great hall finally appeared ahead.

In this wasteland, it was like a lost pearl.

Chu Sheng quickened his pace and walked to the front of the great hall's gate.

"It seems this place hasn't been eroded."

He reached out and pushed the door, but it did not budge.

There was no handle on the door, only the image of Greed. That legendary Demon Lord who had plundered the world had a blurred face on the relief.

But those eyes seemed to stare at everyone, as if saying: Want to enter? Bring something to trade.

A giant lock hung in the center of the door gap, radiating the aura of a High Grade heaven rank magic treasure.

Chu Sheng reached out to touch the lock body and probed into the lock cylinder with his Divine Sense. Inside was a complex structure of Restrictions, fully dozens of layers deep, with an extremely high difficulty to break.

"A High Grade Heaven Rank treasure, used to lock a door."

"This fellow Greed really spared no expense when it came to theft prevention."

Chu Sheng cursed, but did not rush to break it.

He used Heavenly Venerable Duobao directly, and a gentle light surged from his Dantian, enveloping the giant lock.

He attempted to refine this lock.

The light of Heavenly Venerable Duobao swirled over the lock for a few breaths.

He could refine a portion, but he could not take it away.

Chu Sheng sighed and began to break the Restrictions.

Half an hour later, the final Restriction was undone.

The door did not open, but the lock no longer obstructed him.

Chu Sheng put away Heavenly Venerable Duobao and pushed open the door of the great hall.

The scene behind the door made him gasp.

The ground was covered with Spirit Stones and devilish stones—not Low Grade or Medium Grade, but High Grade and top grade.

They were piled up to his ankles like sand.

The walls were embedded with seventh or eighth-tier Materials—Dragon scales, Phoenix feathers, Qilin horns, and Xuanwu shells—each piece worth a fortune.

He casually pried off a Dragon scale; it felt warm in his hand, and the patterns on the scale were clearly visible.

In the center of the stone hall floated a smaller hall, entirely transparent, as if cast from crystal.

Inside, a hundred Magic Treasures were neatly displayed, all of them without exception being Heaven Rank, ranging from Low Grade to top grade.

But each of these Magic Treasures was firmly controlled by chains, with the "Greed Lock" engraved on them, originating from the same source as the giant lock at the door.

Chu Sheng tried to sense them with Heavenly Venerable Duobao, only to discover that the keys for these chains were not in the tower.

Greed had scattered the keys all over the Northern Region, hiding them in places only he knew.

Without the keys, forcibly removing them would trigger self-destruction, and the Magic Treasures would turn into fragments within a few breaths.

"This guy has been dead for thousands of years and is still so guarded against thieves; he really was a born miser."

Deep within the stone hall, a bone-chilling cold rushed toward him.

Chu Sheng walked forward a few steps; frost formed on his eyebrows, and the speed of his spiritual power circulation slowed significantly.

He quickened his pace. A Medicinal Pill was suspended in mid-air, entirely snow-white, with nine pill patterns slowly swirling on its surface, emitting an astonishing chill and a medicinal fragrance so thick it could not be dissipated.

A ninth-tier Medicinal Pill, the Ice Soul Divine Soul Pill.

Chu Sheng gasped.

"A ninth-tier Medicinal Pill!"

He had seen records of this Medicinal Pill in the texts of Wendao Palace.

Where did Greed get it? It likely wasn't bought; it was stolen.

Several Magical Artifacts were scattered beside the Medicinal Pill.

They were not heaven rank magic treasures, but true Magical Artifacts.

Each one radiated an aura comparable to the zhu xian sword, but most of them were damaged.

Some were reduced to mere fragments, the runes on the shards still flickering faintly, like the last breath of a dying person.

While alive, Greed had plundered the world, not even sparing Magical Artifacts.

Chu Sheng squatted down and picked up a broken sword blade; it felt ice-cold in his hand, and a trace of faint spiritual light still remained on the edge.

Old Grandfather spoke from inside the ring: "Some of these Magical Artifacts, this seat has seen, and some I have heard of."

"Back then, the Sect-protecting treasures of the major Sects in the Central Region were stolen one after another. So it was Greed who had done it."

Chu Sheng placed the sword blade fragment back where it was, not taking it.

These things could not be taken away, and they would trigger Restrictions; besides, they were already broken to this extent, and it would be impossible to explain them if taken out.

Deeper inside, he saw a body.

It was not human-shaped, but beast-shaped.

A giant bird, its wingspan likely exceeding several zhang, its feathers crimson like flames; even in death, it still emitted a faint light.

Her figure was graceful, her neck long, and her tail feathers trailed on the ground like a burning river.

The pressure of the Dao Palace level emanated from her body, lingering for thousands of years without dissipating.

Feng Wa's Physical Body.

The Yao Race's phoenix true body.

Her body was pierced by chains—wings, torso, tail.

A black stone pillar was inserted into her heart, covered in dense runes.

Greed had used her Physical Body as a vessel for the Resurrection Array, and for thousands of years, the spiritual power within her had been drained wave after wave, injected into the Array.

Her Physical Body had been tortured beyond recognition; her feathers had lost their luster, her skin was withered, and were it not for the faint pressure still emanating from her, she would almost look like a mummified corpse dried by the wind.

Chu Sheng stood there, looking at this body that had been tortured for thousands of years, remaining silent for a long time.

He said: "No wonder Feng Wa hates Greed so much."

"If it were me, I would hate him too."

Yu Rumeng walked to his side, looking at that phoenix true body; she could understand Feng Wa's pain.

She asked in a low voice: "Who is she?"

Chu Sheng did not turn back, his voice very flat: "Feng Wa."

"The true owner of the Fengxian Secret Realm."

"Her Divine Soul has been trapped in the Secret Realm for thousands of years, and her Physical Body has been locked here for thousands of years—neither living nor dead, neither human nor ghost."

"She wants me to help her retrieve her Physical Body."

He fished the fengxian ring out of his Storage Pouch.

The moment the ring sensed the Physical Body, it lit up, flickering with a ghostly light; Feng Wa's Divine Soul was calling out to her own body.

Chu Sheng held the ring and walked to Feng Wa's Physical Body; that black stone pillar was the core of the Resurrection Array, and pulling it out would liberate the Physical Body.

But it would also trigger the final Restriction left by Greed.

"In the last simulation, Greed did not resurrect."

In this lifetime, he could not wait.

"One last step remains."

Chu Sheng looked at that black stone pillar.

The ground suddenly shook.

It seemed something was getting closer and closer.

Yu Rumeng's gaze became sharp.

Chu Sheng turned around, his hand pressing on the zhu xian sword.

"What on earth is this?"