Chapter 109

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Chapter 109: Hualun Hall!

The Dark Sea Demon suddenly lunged upward, its massive body crashing down like a collapsing hill before springing up again, leaping dozens of zhang high.

A rumbling tremor shook the endless darkness, threatening to bring everything down.

“Ye Yun, once the Dark Sea Demon finishes its frenzy, it’ll be at its weakest. I’ll slay it to avenge you,” Hua Yicheng declared, his voice dripping with smugness. After scheming for so long—using the four major forces to unlock the third layer of the Hualun Secret Vault and luring them into the Water Cloud Hall—the moment of reward had finally arrived.

The Dark Sea Demon rammed violently against the boundless darkness. Under flickering emerald light, faint cracks became visible across the void. By all logic, not even the pinnacle of the Qi refining stage or the power of the foundation establishment stage could shatter this endless dark array crafted by a Golden Pill master.

Yet the Dark Sea Demon possessed this terrifying ability. Had the Hua family’s records not mentioned it, no one would believe a mere ninth-level beast could break such a formation.

Boom!

The cracks finally gave way under the demon’s relentless assault. With a deafening crash, the darkness shattered, allowing blinding light—unseen for millennia—to flood in.

The Dark Sea Demon charged into the light. Its steely gray-white fur began snapping off strand by strand, exposing pitch-black skin that withered rapidly under the glare, flaking away as if sliced by the light itself.

The creature howled in agony, thrashing wildly. Each collision shook the ground violently. It seemed desperate to retreat into darkness, but pain had driven it mad, disorienting it further from safety.

Hua Yicheng stood calmly in the luminous void—a featureless, spherical expanse of radiance. He paid no mind to the surroundings, scanning instead for the hall’s promised rewards mentioned in family lore.

According to the Hua family’s records, shattering the darkness would unleash a surge of energy to tear open the void, summoning the hall containing the Hualun Secret Vault’s most precious treasures.

Hua Yicheng’s focus remained solely on locating these rewards. The fate of the light-scorched Dark Sea Demon meant nothing to him, and Ye Yun was already a corpse in his mind.

The demon’s frenzied crashes echoed endlessly through the glowing void until, at last, its strength waned. Its fur had shed completely, its skin shredded into gruesome patches.

With one final step, the Dark Sea Demon collapsed. Its body twitched briefly before falling still.

Hearing the commotion cease, Hua Yicheng glanced back, then sprang to his feet, eyes blazing with anticipation.

From the shattered darkness, ink-black energy surged forth like a raging river. Above the luminous chaos, darkness and light swirled together, forming a towering portal over a hundred zhang tall.

Golden light flickered within the portal, coalescing into a radiant arch bridge stretching toward the horizon.

Hua Yicheng’s face twisted with fervor. This bridge clearly led to the Hualun Secret Vault’s final hall—and its treasures. He envisioned mountains of relics and the Golden Pill Dao awaiting him.

“Hahaha! For a thousand years, the Hua family sought to unlock this vault and reclaim our ancient glory. Today, that glory is mine! I’ll become the family’s second Golden Pill master!” He laughed hysterically, tears streaming as he leaped and shouted.

The light dimmed, leaving only the golden arch bridge blazing within the portal.

Hua Yicheng launched himself toward the bridge. After stepping onto it, he glanced back at the fading void, chuckled, and vanished into the light.

Moments after his departure, a streak of purple lightning erupted from the fallen Dark Sea Demon’s chest, slicing it open. A figure crawled out.

“Who knew light was its weakness? Lucky for me, its power faded after death—let the Thundercloud Lightning cut through. Otherwise, I’d have truly faced ‘death and disappearance of the spirit,’” Ye Yun muttered, relief coloring his tone as he emerged.

Within the colossal portal, the golden light dimmed, the bridge growing hazy.

Ye Yun gazed upward. While trapped inside the demon, he’d heard Hua Yicheng’s boasts. Now, seeing the fading bridge, he knew—it was the path to the final hall.

Ye Yun took a deep breath and leaped into the void portal without hesitation, landing on the golden arch bridge.

For an instant, thoughts of advancing, waiting, or retreating crossed his mind. But when he saw the surrounding scene, all other options vanished. The endless darkness had completely collapsed, leaving only chaotic light and shadow behind him.

As Ye Yun stepped onto the golden arch bridge, it suddenly contracted beneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, the bridge reached its end. With a violent shudder, all golden light vanished completely.

What appeared before him was a white hall – though calling it a hall felt exaggerated. At merely two zhang tall and three to four zhang wide, it resembled a shabby hut compared to the Water Cloud Hall.

The reason for calling it a hall lay in the four grand characters carved above its jade-like door:

Hualun Hall!

Ye Yun held his breath and scanned the area carefully, finding no trace of Hua Yicheng. The man had likely already entered.

Approaching the door, Ye Yun observed four lion-dragon statues carved into the white jade. Each beast appeared ready to leap into action, their single pupil-less eyes giving them an eerie lifelessness. They seemed like unfinished paintings awaiting final brushstrokes to awaken.

The seamless door lacked any lock holes. When Ye Yun knocked, it produced only dull thuds.

"Must I draw pupils for these four eyes?" He frowned, recalling Hua Yicheng’s words about requiring two elemental energies to open the hall – a requirement that had stalled Hua’s cultivation at the mid Qi refining stage for years.

Four eyes stared blankly from the door. While Ye Yun possessed three elemental energies, the fourth eye posed a problem.

Instead of acting immediately, he circled the hall seeking alternative entrances. Finding none, he returned to the lion-dragons.

As he prepared to channel lightning energy, the sky shifted. Eighteen blue specks appeared thousands of zhang above, swelling to egg-sized orbs within moments.

Ye Yun moved swiftly. Lightning energy flooded one statue’s eye, igniting a purple pupil. Fire element followed, creating a flickering flame-eye in another. Coldness surged through him as ice energy shot from his gaze, forming a crystalline blue orb in the third eye.

Above, the eighteen lights now resembled falling water barrels. Distant voices echoed through the air.

With no time left, Ye Yun slammed his palm against the fourth lion-dragon. A deep rumble shook the hall as the seamless door creaked open, releasing ancient dust.

Ye Yun slipped through the narrowing gap just as the door sealed itself again.

Outside, eighteen massive channels struck the ground around Hualun Hall. From the largest emerged a figure –

Ouyang Wentian!