Chapter 887: Fruitless Trip

Chen Yang took a glance at Han Li and Gu Qianxun, then made his way into the vault.

Han Li and Gu Qianxun exchanged a glance with each other before following along.

The interior of the vault was just as large as a palace, and inside it were seven or eight large cabinets that were crafted from some type of black wooden material.

The material appeared to be quite extraordinary, and it was giving off a fragrant aroma that permeated throughout the entire space.

Each cabinet was split up into three levels, with each level bearing various containers that held things like precious materials, cultivation arts, and beast cores.

Han Li paid no heed to the cabinets as he cast his gaze directly toward the center of the vault.

A tall black stone pillar was standing there, and it was riddled with squiggly worm-like patterns.

At the top of the stone pillar was a black crystal roughly the size of a human head.

The crystal was as smooth as a mirror and giving off rays of bright black light that rippled through the air in all directions, carrying with a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations.

As soon as Han Li stepped into the vault, he could immediately sense that the Black Tribulation Centipede in his body had fallen into an even deeper state of slumber.

"That's the Black Tribulation Stone!"

Han Li took a glance at Chen Yang and didn't immediately make a move for the Black Tribulation Stone, while Gu Qianxun was also looking at the stone with a hint of elation in her eyes.

"You also know of the Black Tribulation Stone, Fellow Daoist Li? The problem is that this thing can suppress Black Tribulation Centipedes, but not entirely remove them, so let's see if there's something here that can do the job. My apologies, but given the current situation, we can only stay here for an hour at most," Chen Yang said.

Gu Qianxun nodded in response, then began rummaging through one of the nearby cabinets, while Han Li quickly followed suit.

With devilish qi and immortal spiritual power completely inaccessible in the Scalptia Spatial Domain, there were no restrictions in the vault, so the three of them were quickly able to complete an exhaustive search.

Around fifteen minutes later, Han Li set down a book with a grim look on his face, then turned his gaze to Gu Qianxun.

She also turned to look at him, and both of them could see their own disappointment and concern mirrored on each other's faces.

Neither of them trusted Chen Yang, so they had volunteered to look through all of the books in the vault, while Chen Yang was assigned with the task of searching through everything else.

However, there wasn't even any mention of Black Tribulation Centipedes in any of the books.

Right at this moment, Chen Yang's voice rang out.

"I've found some useful information here, come and take a look, fellow daoists."

Han Li and Gu Qianxun hurriedly made their way over to him upon hearing this.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

At this moment, Chen Yang was standing in front of a cabinet in a corner of the vault, looking at a black crystalline box that was around a foot in size. Through the semi-transparent walls of the box, one could see a series of Black Tribulation Centipedes sitting inside.

He was holding a black jade slab that was crafted from the same material as the crystalline box, upon which was inscribed a passage of small text.

Chen Yang handed the jade slab to Han Li and Gu Qianxun, who quickly read through its contents, and as they did so, their expressions darkened even further.

Written on the jade slab was the breeding method for Black Tribulation Centipedes. It covered the processes of raising Black Tribulation Centipede and implanting them into host bodies in great detail, but there was no mention of how to remove the creature from a host's body once implanted.

However, the jade slab did mention that Black Tribulation Centipedes were social creatures, and that each colony of Black Tribulation Centipedes had a king that ruled over them all.

This Black Tribulation Stone was a special material refined from the body of a Black Tribulation Centipede King, and that was why it was able to suppress Black Tribulation Centipedes.

In order to suppress a Black Tribulation Centipede, it was sufficient for one to carry a piece of Black Tribulation Stone the size of a fingernail.

While Han Li and Gu Qianxun were reading through the contents of the jade slab, Chen Yang strode over to the Black Tribulation Stone, then lopped off two egg-sized pieces before handing them to Han Li's duo as he said, "Carry these with you to suppress your Black Tribulation Centipedes."

"According to what's written here, I don't think we'll need pieces this large," Han Li said.

"That may be so, but it's better to be safe than sorry," Chen Yang replied.

"That's true. You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Chen Yang," Han Li said as he stowed the Black Tribulation Stone away, and Gu Qianxun also did the same, but her gaze was still fixed on the black jade box.

"Are you considering taking some Black Tribulation Centipedes with you? Go ahead, but make sure to use a special container to hold them," Chen Yang said.

Gu Qianxun shook her head as she pointed at one face of the box and said, "Take a look here."

That side of the box just so happened to be in Han Li's blind spot, so he was only able to see what she was referring to once he strode over to her side.

An intricate six-petaled flower design had been engraved onto the box there, and it seemed to be some type of symbol.

The engravings were very shallow, making them difficult to see unless one were to pay close attention.

"Do you recognize this symbol, Fellow Daoist Gu?" Han Li asked.

The design didn't appear to have been engraved onto the box simply for decorative purposes.

"I've seen this design in Profound City prior to coming to Green Goat City, it's the emblem of the master swordsmith, Mistress Liu Hua," Gu Qianxun replied.

"Mistress Liu Hua? Female swordsmiths are quite uncommon," Han Li mused.

"I've heard of Mistress Liu Hua as well, and he's actually a man. There's a tribe by the name of the Hundred City Tribe in the Holy Realm, and the tribe excels in forging swords. The most skilled swordsmith of each generation in the tribe receives the title of "mistress", and Senior Liu Hua is the current mistress of the Hundred City Tribe.

“However, for some reason, he was cast into the Scalptia Spatial Domain by the Night Sun Empire around a million years ago, and he's been residing in the main city of Profound City all this time. All of the weapons refined by him are exceptional, priceless pieces. Even Du Qingyang had once requested a weapon from him, but was turned down," Chen Yang said.

"I see. Any idea why his emblem has appeared on this box?" Han Li asked.

"Perhaps this box was made by Mistress Liu Hua, or perhaps he has something to do with the Black Tribulation Centipedes," Gu Qianxun speculated.

"There's still a bit left of the vault that we have to search, so let's go through that first," Chen Yang interjected.

Han Li raised his head to discover that there was still one more cabinet that hadn't yet been searched, and this one was laden with miscellaneous items.

Even though the chances of finding what they wanted on this cabinet were quite slim, they still conducted a thorough search.

Han Li picked up a glowing dark purple crystal, then carefully inspected it with his spiritual sense, but didn't discover anything special about it, so he set it down before picking up another item beside it.

This item was a palm-sized black statue depicting a devilish deity with three heads and six arms in a strange seated posture, and a hint of intrigue flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

He had seen a black statue in Daoist Master Bone Shine's storage tool that was almost identical to this one in size and material, except the two differed in posture.

Could it be that the two statues are somehow connected?

Han Li thought to himself, then took a glance at Chen Yang and Gu Qianxun to discover that they were busy looking through other things, so they hadn't noticed what he was doing.

A beam of translucent light shot out of his glabella before vanishing into the statue, which shuddered slightly before immediately going through a series of poses, of which there were a total of twelve, and with each pose that it adopted, a passage of strange text would appear on its back.

However, these twelve poses were completely different from the ones displayed by Daoist Master Bone Shine's stone, and even though Han Li couldn't read this text, it was quite apparent to him that the text displayed by the two statues was also different.

A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this. It seemed that this statue and the one that had once belonged to Daoist Master Bone Shine belonged to the same set.

After inspecting the black statue for a moment longer, he placed it down onto its original spot in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

It didn't take long before the three of them completed the search of the cabinet, and sure enough, they discovered nothing of value.

The only useful thing that they had found was that black jade slab, so the three of them gathered around the black jade box again.

"In any case, this is technically a lead," Han Li mused with a contemplative expression.

Gu Qianxun offered no response as she turned her gaze to Chen Yang.

"My apologies for my inability to find a way to remove the Black Tribulation Centipedes from your bodies. However, once I've eliminated all of Du Qingyang's loyal followers, I'll be sure to send out people to investigate the matter and give the two of you a satisfactory answer," Chen Yang said with an apologetic expression.

"A satisfactory answer? When is that going to come?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Du Qingyang was the only one who knew how to remove Black Tribulation Centipedes from their host bodies, but he's dead now. I'll continue searching for leads in the city lord's manor, and at the same time, I'll try and find out more information from Profound City as well. That should be enough to unearth a solution," Chen Yang hurriedly replied.

"Should be enough? I suggest you don't try to placate us with such insubstantial promises, Fellow Daoist Chen. Please give us a conclusive answer on the matter regarding our Black Tribulation Centipedes," Gu Qianxun said in a cold voice.

Chen Yang bristled slightly upon hearing this, and he also said in a cold voice, "Looks like the two of you have already joined forces. Are you planning to conclude your collaboration with me?"

At the same time, a layer of white light emerged over his left arm, and a tremendous aura erupted out of his body.

The aura that he was displaying here wasn't inferior to that of Du Qingyang's by much, and it was extremely sharp, making Han Li and Gu Qianxun feel as if there were countless tiny blades slicing through the space around them.

The two of them immediately released their auras as well, and their combined auras were able to hold their own against Chen Yang's.

The surrounding space was beginning to twist and warp violently, while the entire vault was also trembling slightly.