"The reward offered by Stars Tower is...is the first half of the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record, collected by Stars Tower. Additionally, there’s also a simplified map of the Ancient Demon God Palace, drawn based on the experiences of the experts who had entered the Palace throughout the ages!"
As Wug Mengshan announced the reward from Stars Tower, the expression on the face of every martial artist present changed dramatically.
One after another, the martial artists of the Vein Forging Realm and the Establishment Realm kings, looked toward the sealed Jade Talisman in Wug Mengshan’s hands with burning desire in their eyes.
Some even glanced at Ye Zhen with malicious intent.
Ye Zhen, upon hearing about the reward, was somewhat astonished and even a bit disappointed, "The Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record, what in the world is that?"
Actually, in Ye Zhen’s hopes, the best reward Stars Tower could offer would be the Innate Bloodline Enhancement Pill, something he urgently needed, especially since Ye Zhen’s Cultivation was not far from the Vein Forging Realm, and adding an Innate Bloodline had become the most pressing matter.
Of course, that was merely what Ye Zhen wished for and fantasized about; even thinking about it seemed highly improbable.
"That damn scoundrel Yan Cong!"
In an instant, the face of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect Leader Jian Qianxiong darkened, and the expression of Feng Qingyue also became extremely grim.
Hearing the fury in Sect Leader Jian Qianxiong’s curse and feeling several malicious gazes, Ye Zhen immediately realized there was trouble.
It looked like the reward was quite valuable but fraught with disaster.
"Ye Zhen, didn’t you ask me about the Ancient Secret Mansion that appears once every 60 years? Previously, due to your Cultivation level, I didn’t answer you."
"But now, I can tell you that the Ancient Secret Mansion, which is observed once every sixty years, is this very Ancient Demon God Palace. That bastard from Stars Tower, Yan Cong, is despicable! You don’t know, but the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record collected by Stars Tower has always been auctioned at a high price, and every time, it causes a bloodbath in Jianghu..." Tian Guizhang said angrily.
With Tian Guizhang’s explanation, Ye Zhen quickly understood the whole story.
So the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record is the highly secretive information about that ancient mansion amongst the Vein Forging Realm martial artists of Jianghu.
Stars Tower has always been skilled in gathering information, so the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record produced by them is extremely sought after.
It is said that every six months before the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record appears, Stars Tower would hold an auction to sell the collected information of the Ancient Demon God Palace’s upper and lower parts of the Secret Record and a continuous updated simplified map of the Palace.
Each item is very sought after, because Stars Tower always limits the sale... to only ten copies.
According to Tian Guizhang, the transaction price for the first half of the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record is generally around one million Mid-grade Spirit Crystals, and the second half is roughly of the same value.
The most expensive is the simplified map of the Ancient Demon God Palace combined from many predecessors’ experiences, with transaction prices all above two million Mid-grade Spirit Crystals, and even reaching a staggering five or six million Mid-grade Spirit Crystals.
Moreover, numerous bloody incidents have arisen from this, after all, in the previous cycle, right after Stars Tower auctioned this simplified map of the Ancient Demon God Palace, more than twenty Vein Forging Realm martial artists were killed in one night, and even an Establishment Realm king perished.
The value is extremely high; indeed a treasure.
Regardless of practicality and going by value alone, the reward concerning the Ancient Demon God Palace provided by Stars Tower was definitely worth twice or even several times more than the Longevity Holy Water.
But the problem is that announcing such a treasure coveted even by Establishment Realm kings as a public reward for the top three, was too obvious a ploy to set them against each other.
Of course, this reward had already been determined before the Spirit Returning Assembly commenced, and although Stars Tower did not know that Ye Zhen would win the championship at that time, according to the rules for providing prizes, the martial artist who received this Stars Tower reward would definitely belong to other forces.
No matter who received it, they would likely be as worried as Ye Zhen now. Stars Tower definitely harbored intentions of using this gift to harm others; they were definitely not kindhearted when offering this reward!
It has to be said that Stars Tower’s Yan Cong and even the Yan Family really are full of schemes.
But as clear as this was to everyone, they could say nothing about it.
After all, the value of the reward that Stars Tower provided was unquestionable.
In essence, Ye Zhen liked the reward provided by Stars Tower very much because it was exactly what he had been looking for. Of course, it would have been better if it was given in a different way.
For instance, to quietly distribute the reward without announcing it publicly would have been perfect.
Previously, Ye Zhen had inquired about the Ancient Secret Mansion from many sources; after all, he held five Demon Cloud Fruits in his hand, and he couldn’t let them go to waste, right?
But he came up empty-handed.
The reward provided by Stars Tower could be said to solve Ye Zhen’s problem, but it also brought big trouble, and certainly not a little of it. The wolf-like gazes of certain martial artists said it all.
"Next, I will present the awards to the top three of the Spirit Returning Ranking Competition! With the highest score, Ye Zhen will receive two drops of Longevity Holy Water, one Jade Scroll of the first half of the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record, and one Jade Scroll of the simplified map of the Ancient Demon God Palace."
As Wug Mengshan handed over these three treasures, each bearing seals from multiple people, to Ye Zhen, many people couldn’t help but swallow hard at the sight of the tempting rewards.
It must be said, these combined rewards are simply too enticing. Elders and protectors from the Heavenly Net Sect, Clan Elders from Qingyun Castle, Divine Generals from the Longevity Sect, including Duan Yingnian, all had the same reaction.
Of course, many people were merely tempted.
To actually head to the Ancient Demon God Palace, there is another important prerequisite condition—the Demon Cloud Fruit!
Without the Demon Cloud Fruit, these things are completely useless.
But, the Secret Realm of Demon Souls opens once every five years, and each time, dozens of Demon Cloud Fruits flow out. Over the span of 60 years, that’s not a small number.
The sound of swallowing saliva, like a series of alarm bells, rang out in Ye Zhen’s mind.
However, Ye Zhen didn’t care.
If it couldn’t arouse the greed of others, would it still count as a treasure?
Moreover, the first half of the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record and the schematic had arrived at a time when Ye Zhen needed them most.
At most, it was a thorny reward!
"Next, I will award the prizes to the second and third place of the Spirit Returning Ranking Competition....."
Compared to the reward for first place, Ye Zhen, the rewards for the second and third place were halved and considerably reduced.
The reward of Longevity Holy Water was only a single drop, and among the awards provided by the Stars Tower, there was only the first half of the Ancient Demon God Palace Secret Record, without the schematic.
In other words, the Ancient Demon God Palace schematic in Ye Zhen’s hands was a reward exclusive to him, highlighting its value, but also triggering the envy of others.
The grand Spirit Returning Assembly thus concluded, and the various forces began to depart from Immortal Light Mountain one after another.
However, the Sun and Moon Divine Sect did not leave right away but began to arrange defenses at the entrance to the Immortal Realm Spiritual Veins of Immortal Light Mountain.
Arranging the defenses wasn’t to prevent someone from sneaking into the Immortal Realm Spiritual Veins but to defend their own Martial Artists at the entrance of the Spiritual Veins against any attacks.
By this time, Ye Zhen had already learned that the Immortal Realm Spiritual Veins of Immortal Light Mountain were not a place you could enter whenever you wished, as there was an extremely powerful Defensive Array in place.
The large Jade Scroll that had flown out of the Immortal Realm Spiritual Veins earlier, sealed with an enchantment, contained the Magic Formula to pass through that arrangement as well as the method of crafting the Passing Jade Token.
In other words, from now on, to enter and Cultivate inside this Supreme Spirit Vein, one must obtain a Passing Jade Token, difficult to refine by Sect Leader Jian Qianxiong.
Ye Zhen understood that this must be due to the old ancestors of the Demon Race existing within the Immortal Realm Spiritual Veins. To put it another way, even if one triumphed in the Spirit Returning Assembly, one would not monopolize this Supreme Spirit Vein but would share it with the Demon Race residing within.
Ye Zhen was very curious as to what kind of agreement the old ancestor of the Demon Race inside had made with the Five Great Forces of Qinglan Martial City?
With the accompaniment of Vein Forging Realm experts, it didn’t take long for an extremely powerful Integrated Offense and Defense Formation to be set up. Soon after, a team of Sun and Moon Divine Guards arrived with an air of killing Qi and took over the defensive duties.
With that, Ye Zhen and his companions once again boarded the Six-Winged Green Light Cicada of Sect Leader Jian Qianxiong and headed back toward the Sun and Moon Divine Sect.
Upon departure, Ye Zhen took one last look at the increasingly distant Immortal Light Mountain, and the image of Hu Qingtong suddenly surfaced in his mind.
"Has she joined the Devil God Palace? Will she leave this Supreme Spirit Vein? Why do I always feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before?"
In Ye Zhen’s perception, Hu Qingtong was like a mystery.
However, within a few moments, Ye Zhen forcibly suppressed this thought and began to reflect on the gains and losses from this Spirit Returning Assembly.
The harvest was much more than Ye Zhen had expected.
Not to mention the rewards, just the Essence Spirit Pearl of the Goldback Stone Beast King alone was worth more than expected.
Not to mention the Low Grade Spirit Artifact Great Momentum Hammer and the Mid-grade Spirit Artifact Soul Capturing Jade Skull.
Apart from these overt gains, Ye Zhen’s greatest harvest was the accidental discovery of a purple scale inside the reward Jade Talisman issued by the elder of the Beast Taming Sect, Yangh Yiguan.
In a way, Ye Zhen felt that this was his biggest harvest.
Knowing the origin of that purple scale, Ye Zhen could ask Yangh Yiguan for help in advancing the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten.
Yangh Yiguan had said that to advance the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten, the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill from the Beast Taming Sect was needed, yet it had been lost to time.
However, Yangh Yiguan didn’t completely dash hopes and mentioned having some clues about the Five Elements Melt Blood Pill.
Ye Zhen believed that this wasn’t just Yangh Yiguan tantalizing his interest; there must be real clues. Perhaps, the breakthrough opportunity for the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten lay right there.
Lost in thought along the way, it didn’t take long before Ye Zhen came up with a plan.
Currently, advancing the Cloud Winged Tiger King Kitten would be Ye Zhen’s top priority.
The journey there was fast, but the return was even faster.
Almost as soon as the Six-Winged Green Light Cicada landed on the square before the Temple of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, the hearty laughter of the Sect Leader Jian Qianxiong filled the air.
"Someone come! Beat the drums, open the Temple, the Sect Leader will reward his meritorious followers!" (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your vote of recommendation or monthly ticket, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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