Chapter 803

Chapter 803: Opening the Vault

Under the cover of night, Wang Chen stealthily slipped into the icy waters of the river in a secluded, uninhabited area.

Taiwu City was vast, and with its proximity to the mountains, it was crisscrossed by numerous inner rivers originating from the highlands.

The river Wang Chen had just entered was known as the Washing Silk River.

As he submerged, he switched from external to internal breathing, and a surge of innate true energy enveloped his body, forming a protective barrier that shielded him from the cold river water.

With a swift hand gesture, Wang Chen cast a water manipulation spell, allowing him to glide through the water like a fish, moving with remarkable agility.

He swam swiftly.

Having reached the extraordinary state, Wang Chen was now capable of practicing some basic spells, among which the water manipulation spell was particularly useful.

However, the spells in this world were quite different from those in the Haotian Realm, rendering his previous knowledge obsolete.

Luckily, with the guidance of Elder Yao, his ever-present mentor, Wang Chen quickly mastered over a dozen practical spells.

Though the Washing Silk River was small, its depth reached three to four zhang. To remain undetected, Wang Chen swam close to the riverbed until he reached a small bridge.

The area around the bridge was bustling with activity. Flower-adorned buildings lined the riverbanks, their windows aglow with colorful lanterns. Maidens, their faces painted with makeup, leaned out from the windows, smiling and calling out to the passersby below.

The scene was enchanting, with people on the bridge captivated by the beauty, oblivious to Wang Chen beneath them in the river, as he activated a hidden mechanism by touching a bridge pier.

A low rumbling sound echoed as a waterhole appeared before him.

Without hesitation, Wang Chen dove into the opening.

The underwater passage was short; after swimming about a hundred steps, his head emerged from the water.

In an instant, Wang Chen leaped out of the water.

His clothes were completely dry, not a single drop of water clinging to them.

He landed in front of a sealed stone door and flicked his fingers, releasing a ball of flame.

The bright flame instantly illuminated the stone door, revealing the true seal characters etched into its surface, which glowed faintly.

“Your luck is holding,” Elder Yao remarked. “This secret vault has remained undiscovered.”

Though Elder Yao had visited Taiwu City decades ago, this vault had been constructed over a century earlier and had remained sealed since.

It was remarkable, considering Taiwu City was home to millions and attracted the strongest human cultivators in the world. Yet, over a hundred years, the vault had remained untouched—a testament to Wang Chen’s good fortune.

Following the instructions of the Nascent Soul true immortal, Wang Chen placed his hands on the stone door.

He channeled innate true energy into it.

But this was no random infusion; the energy flowed along the true seal characters on the door’s surface, lighting them up in a precise sequence until all the runes were fully illuminated.

Boom!

The stone door shuddered violently, and a cascade of dust fell from its surface.

Then, with a deep rumbling sound, the stone door slowly swung open, creating an even louder commotion.

At that moment, Wang Chen felt a strange sensation, as if something had been awakened simultaneously.

“Not good!”

Elder Yao said in a deep voice, “Someone has set up formations underground and may trace us here. You need to move quickly!”

What was meant to be a very secretive operation was now exposed!

Wang Chen nodded and immediately dashed into the newly opened secret vault.

The size of the vault wasn’t large, approximately three zhang on each side, and it contained dozens of boxes of various sizes.

It was quite similar to another secret vault that Wang Chen had explored before with Elder Yao.

He casually opened the nearest box, which was completely filled with purple coins.

More purple coins!

How much did this old senior love to save?

Wang Chen silently complained, and he heard Elder Yao say, “Don’t worry about those; they aren’t worth anything.”

In fact, what Wang Chen saw at that moment was merely a fake vault; the items inside couldn’t be said to be worthless, but they were mostly ordinary things.

The real treasures were hidden in another hidden chamber.

Using a fake vault as a cover for a secret vault was a common treasure-hiding method.

However, the seal on this hidden chamber was much stronger, and it took Wang Chen thirty percent of his innate true energy to open it.

He also wasted a lot of time.

He vaguely sensed that he didn’t have much time left.

As he entered the hidden chamber, Wang Chen’s attention was instantly drawn to a ring placed on the right-side shelf!

This ring was silver-gray and had the simplest circular design, with no embellishments or inlays.

But Wang Chen recognized it at a glance as a Xumi Ring!

Most importantly, he could feel that the Xumi Ring was emanating a trace of spiritual energy.

Though extremely weak, it was still as noticeable as a candle flame in the dark!

Elder Yao exclaimed in surprise, “Oh?”

Wang Chen stepped forward and grabbed the Xumi Ring, then extracted a wisp of spiritual energy from the Reincarnation Pearl to perform the unlocking technique.

To his astonishment, the Xumi Ring actually opened!

However, the space revealed to Wang Chen was not very large, only five feet on each side, and much of the area remained sealed.

Yet, Wang Chen was immensely satisfied.

After arriving in this world, his biggest problem had been the lack of a storage magic tool; even when hunting fierce beasts in the mountains, he could only bring back a portion of them.

He still needed to carry important weapons and equipment, Healing Pills, and other supplies, which was very inconvenient.

Now it was great; with the Xumi Ring, many issues would be solved.

Time was limited, so he didn’t waste a moment, stuffing the other items hidden in the chamber into the Xumi Ring one by one.

He also drew a significant amount of spiritual energy from the Reincarnation Pearl.

This caused Elder Yao to be completely silent, as he likely could no longer communicate with Wang Chen.

After finishing packing, Wang Chen sealed the hidden chamber once again.

As for the items in the outer fake vault, he hadn’t touched them at all and simply couldn’t fit them in.

Boom!

Just as Wang Chen exited the secret vault and prepared to return the way he came, the stone wall on the right side of the passage suddenly exploded.

Countless fragments of stone flew everywhere!

A hulking warrior with a strong build burst in, glaring and shouting, “You thief, leave…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Wang Chen thrust his fist towards him.

The towering warrior scoffed, extending his palm as large as a fan to grab Wang Chen’s "weak" fist.

As an innate strong fighter, he was confident he could crush Wang Chen’s fist easily.

Crack!

When their fists collided, the warrior’s thick fingers shattered instantly, and his entire arm twisted and deformed.

The immense pain distorted the innate strong fighter’s face; he opened his mouth to scream, but Wang Chen’s second fist slammed into his face.

Smack!

The giant head exploded on the spot, with red and white contents splattering against the stone wall behind.

It was a scene too horrific to behold!

However, the death of the hulking warrior was just the beginning; new figures appeared in the stone hole behind him.

There were quite a few of them!

Wang Chen leaped back, swiftly returning to the waterway.