80: A surprise for the big boss

Yunzhuan Water Mansion, Rear Mountain Scripture Pavilion.

This pavilion, built against the mountain, was not tall, having only three floors. It was constructed entirely from a spiritual material called "Meditation Wood." Despite weathering a thousand years of wind and rain, it still emitted a faint, soothing fragrance.

Zhou Wannian pushed the door open and entered.

The inside of the pavilion was empty, lacking the immense collection of classics he had imagined. There were only dozens of jade platforms protected by layers of restrictive light screens. Unfortunately, most of the light screens on the platforms had long since extinguished, and the Jade Slips inside had turned to dust due to the exhaustion of spiritual energy.

"Time truly is the most heartless blade."

Zhou Wannian sighed, but his feet didn't stop as he headed straight for the top floor.

He stepped onto the third floor.

There was only one offering table here.

On the table, three Jade Slips emitting a hazy green light floated, enveloped by a more complex water-attribute Restriction. The light of this Restriction flowed, faintly connected to the ley lines of the entire Water Mansion, giving off a heavy sense of indestructibility.

Zhou Wannian took out the water repelling token and tentatively pressed it against the Restriction.

"Buzz..."

The Restriction only trembled slightly, flashing red and emitting a mechanical Divine Thought fluctuation:

[Warning: Core Legacy forbidden area. Please present the Sect Head's token.]

"As expected."

Zhou Wannian was not disappointed; instead, he felt it was only natural. "If the key to the toilet could open the vault, the Yunzhuan Sect would have perished long ago... though it actually has perished."

Since the front door couldn't be swiped open, he would take the "technical channel."

Zhou Wannian squatted down and crawled under the offering table.

He felt around the floor at the base of the table for a while and found a hidden compartment engraved with the words "Maintenance."

"This is the 'backdoor' left for Formation Masters."

He used the water repelling token to open the compartment, revealing a bundle of complex spiritual energy wires (woven from Spiritual Crystal Silk). These wires were continuously drawing spiritual energy from the ley lines to power the Restriction above.

"As long as the power supply is cut, even the strongest Restriction is just for show."

Zhou Wannian took out the "Second-Tier Poison Thunder Drill" (in its inactive state) and used it like a saw, hacking fiercely at one of the thickest main spiritual lines.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

The spiritual line snapped, bursting into a cluster of sparks.

The restrictive light screen above instantly dimmed, flickered a few times, and then went out like a light bulb losing power.

"Physical hacking is the most lethal."

Zhou Wannian crawled out from under the table, patted the dust off his hands, and reached for the three Jade Slips.

His Divine Sense probed into them.

Boom!

A massive flood of information rushed into his mind, causing his newly broken-through Divine Sense to feel a slight sting.

The first slip: [Cloud Seal Heavenly Scripture: Complete Volume] (Including Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation fragments).

"It really is the original! My Everlasting Spring Art can finally be upgraded!"

The second slip: [Second-tier Talisman Array True Explanation].

"The art of combining Talismans and Formations, just what I need to fill my technical gap."

The third slip:

Zhou Wannian picked it up and looked, his expression becoming somewhat strange. Recorded in this Jade Slip was an extremely complex map of human Meridians. The circulation route was strikingly similar to the "Dual Cultivation postures" in that "Chen Family Precepts" book, but it was much more profound and orthodox.

[Secret Technique: Yin Yang Creation Furnace]

[Description: Use the body as the furnace and the spirit as the fire. It can refine exotic spiritual energy from the world and also allow Divine Sense to merge with a Dao Companion to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. Upon reaching Major Achievement, it can increase the chance of Core Formation by thirty percent.]

"So this is the true face of the spring palace picture! The Chen Family Old Ancestor must have practiced it wrong back then, which is why he came up with that health-preserving 'Yang Locking Technique.' This is the authentic secret technique that leads straight to the Great Dao!"

Three Jade Slips, priceless treasures.

Zhou Wannian was not polite at all, tucking them all into his pocket. While he was at it, he even moved the de-powered offering table into his Storage Pouch (ten-thousand-year spiritual wood is top-grade even if split for firewood).

Just as he had finished putting everything away.

Rumble—!!!

The entire Scripture Pavilion shook violently, and dust fell from the rafters.

A terrifyingly intense Spiritual Pressure, accompanied by a furious roar, pierced through layers of rock walls from the direction of the front mountain.

"Damned Puppet! Shatter for me!"

It was the voice of the Blood Shark Group leader.

This was followed by a deafening sound of metal clashing.

"Not good."

Zhou Wannian's expression changed, and he quickly walked to the window to look outside.

In the passage connecting the front and rear mountains, spiritual light flashed and Sword Qi crisscrossed. The Qingyun Sect Elder's Flying Sword was like an Azure Dragon, frantically strangling the remaining Restrictions along the way.

"Those three Foundation Establishment old monsters have broken through the front gate! A bit faster than expected."

Zhou Wannian glanced at the water repelling token in his hand.

The token was now flashing red frantically, displaying a line of data:

[Alert: Abnormal pressure in the Power Maintenance Zone! Cooling cycle failure! Furnace temperature has exceeded the critical value!]

[Alert: The power core is expected to undergo a spiritual energy explosion in thirty breaths!]

A "kind" smile curled at the corner of Zhou Wannian's mouth.

This wasn't something he was doing now; it was the "foreshadowing" he had personally planted half an hour ago in the power zone by turning off the cooling valves.

After this period of high-load operation (the front gate formation being attacked), combined with the inability to dissipate heat, that power furnace had now become a pressure cooker about to explode.

"Thirty breaths."

"Just enough for me to run away, and just enough for these big shots to rush in and 'take over'."

"Although it won't kill those in the Foundation Establishment Stage, it's enough to collapse this Water Mansion and trigger a seawater backflow."

"Destroying the evidence and giving everyone a cold bath at the same time."

Zhou Wannian didn't stay any longer.

He didn't take the original elevator (it was too slow and he might run into people).

He went to a corner on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion and lifted an inconspicuous floorboard. Below was a slippery pipe that could only fit one person.

This was the "Emergency Slag Discharge Port" he had seen on the map, leading directly to the deep sea outside.

"Squeak!"

Wangcai had already jumped in impatiently.

"Seniors, I'll leave this mess to you."

Zhou Wannian cupped his hands toward the front mountain, then took a leap and jumped into the pipe.

Whoosh—

His figure instantly disappeared into the darkness. The floorboard closed automatically, fitting perfectly... Twenty breaths later.

Boom!

The Qingyun Sect Elder split open the final Restriction leading to the rear mountain with a sword strike and rushed into the herb garden with a grim face. The Blood Shark Group leader and the demonic cultivator followed closely behind.

When they saw the mess of a herb garden that looked like it had been gnawed by a dog, along with the Iron-Armed Ape parts scattered everywhere, the expressions of the three men instantly froze.

"Who?!"

"Who beat us to it?!"

The Blood Shark Group leader was so angry his whole body trembled, and he smashed a giant rock with a hammer. They had fought tooth and nail to break the formation, only to find that someone else had finished off all the soup?

Before they could vent their fury.

The ground beneath their feet suddenly gave a desperate tremor.

Gurgle... Boom!!!

A dull explosion came from deep underground (the power zone).

It was the judgment of physical laws, the ultimate roar of an overheated power furnace.

Immediately after, the entire space began to collapse. Countless massive cracks spread across the ground, and overwhelming seawater mixed with violent spiritual energy turbulence erupted from the cracks!

"Not good! The Water Mansion is collapsing!"

"Ley line explosion?! Retreat, quickly!!!"

The Qingyun Sect Elder's face changed drastically. Ignoring the search for treasures, he mounted his escape light and prepared to flee.

The three great Foundation Establishment experts were like stray dogs, fleeing miserably through the collapsing ruins and the inflowing seawater.

Meanwhile, in the deep sea dozens of miles away from Bitter Leaf Island.

An inconspicuous bubble surfaced.

Zhou Wannian, holding Wangcai, looked back at the small island that was slowly sinking and stirring up massive waves.

"What a grand display of fireworks."

He tidied his Daoist robe, which had been dampened by seawater, turned, and swam toward the depths of the vast ocean.

The story of Bitter Leaf Island had ended.

But the legend of Han the Runner had only just begun.