"Did I just survive a spiritual treasure encounter and even get lucky for once?"
Looking at the two spiritual artifacts and the three disciple tokens in front of him, Li Ye couldn't help but scratch his head.
Even after three years of scavenging, the only spiritual artifact he had previously acquired was a damaged low-grade inner armor.
Thankfully, the formation restrictions in the area had a sealing effect on spiritual energy, preventing the armor from losing its essence and becoming completely useless after the damage.
Even then, he had only been able to repair the armor after advancing his artifact refinement skills to Tier 2 for his puppet crafting needs putting in quite a bit of effort.
At least that had filled the gap left by the outdated Red Scale Armor.
But now, he had effortlessly picked up two high-grade spiritual artifacts, one of which was a wood-metal aligned sword that perfectly complemented his cultivation techniques its sharpness and power were more than adequate.
The external armor for the puppet also filled the gap left when the stone armor was destroyed by that mysterious treasure, saving him the trouble of selecting and grinding new stone blocks.
Although Li Ye had suffered notable losses this time, his overall strength had leaped forward.
With luck like this, it was hard not to feel a bit emotional.
But what he hadn't expected was that among the three disciple tokens, an even bigger surprise was waiting for him!
"I've already accumulated 4,200 contribution points. Just a few more high-level missions, and I can apply to exchange for the Profound Fire Essence…"
"The sect's foundation runs deep… To forge high-grade artifacts and puppets, they went so far as to seize control of that Profound Fire Cavern… From then on, not only could disciples form their Core exchange for the essence, but the quality of their refined treasures and puppets skyrocketed as well…"
"Seems like the creation of the Heavenly Craft Hall was also accelerated significantly because of that…"
"Following the Heavenly Palace Hall to reinforce the southern border against the demon clans has earned me contributions far faster than any in-sect task. At last, I've glimpsed the path toward the Golden Core realm…"
"…Wait…"
"…How could this be?!"
"The sect has conspired with the demon clans, aiming to steal the Sacred Tree inheritance from the Wood God Sect…"
"Even if it's to refine an unprecedented Nascent Soul-grade puppet… Doesn't this mean the sect has betrayed the Mortal Realm… betrayed the human race?!"
"…"
"Our plot failed… overnight, we became the enemies of the entire cultivation world…"
"I am filled with hate… The Profound Fire Essence is stored in the secret vault, and now I'll never have a chance to obtain it again!"
"So what if you're a disciple of a great sect, if your cultivation is too weak? In the face of the overwhelming tides set by the top cultivators of the mortal realm, all you can do is drift with the current or be crushed by it…"
"The Golden Core path… was I never meant to walk it after all?"
.................
The information left within the token ended abruptly perhaps its original owner perished in that multi-sect siege after recording their final doubts.
Holding the token, Li Ye couldn't help but feel a twinge of emotion.
As someone who also walked the path of cultivation and longed for the Golden Core realm, he could genuinely empathize with this person's determination.
He deeply understood the sorrow and resentment of striving hard with high hopes, only to have it all collapse due to the ambitions of the sect's upper echelon.
"Senior… your regrets have truly struck a chord in my heart," Li Ye murmured, shaking his head. But gradually, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Yet the information you left behind has been of great help. If I can seize the opportunity and form my Core because of it, the credit will be yours!"
Profound Fire Essence! Secret Vault!
This was brand new information Li Ye had never obtained before. Despite collecting quite a few disciple tokens over the years, none had ever mentioned a contribution exchange list!
As for what exactly was stored in the secret vault, he still had no idea.
However, according to what this disciple of the Heavenly Craft Hall had left behind, even until the siege by multiple sects, the Profound Fire Essence remained stored within the vault.
Even if other sects managed to break through the mechanical palace that was the Heavenly Craft Hall, they might not have taken everything.
Li Ye had found during his years of exploration that some formations had unique restrictions, allowing the items inside to remain well-preserved.
For instance, in that broken artifact chamber where he once discovered a fragment of a spiritual treasure, the formation was still tight and intact, with treasures inside untouched.
Even if such things couldn't be handled by just anyone, their value was unquestionable.
"From what I've seen over the years, this lava palace was most likely intentionally destroyed by the heads of the Heavenly Craft Hall at the last moment taking everything down with them…"
"Otherwise, with how chaotic and layered these formations are, it seems unreasonable for them to still function after being breached and thoroughly searched."
Li Ye's expression turned thoughtful as he pieced together years of clues.
"If what the owner of that first token said is true, then after realizing the situation was hopeless, the elders and top disciples of the Heavenly Craft Hall escaped into a secret realm, likely taking the most valuable items with them…"
"But in such a rush, would they have taken something like the Profound Fire Essence a core-formation-grade resource, especially with them?"
He couldn't be certain. But for him, this was potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain something that could help him form his Core.
"So next, I need to not only search every one of those buildings and islands that show signs of hidden treasures but also do everything I can to find the building that might be this so-called secret vault!"
The formation was still expanding and churning chaotically. Even though Li Ye could suppress it slightly, he couldn't fully control it.
His time to explore the lava palace alone was running out!
"All I can do now is hope that the secret vault was also damaged in the collapse, and that part of the structure containing the Profound Fire Essence was blasted away from the main palace…"
"Otherwise, if I'm forced to go deep into the main palace… even with my life-bound puppet acting on my behalf, the risks are just too high. If something goes wrong, I won't even have a chance to escape."
Two years later.
On the summit of Mount Pingyang, inside a mountain-top cave residence.
A glow of green mixed with faint purple light enveloped Li Ye, as surging spiritual energy continuously gathered around him.
Flowing through his meridians and following his cultivation technique, the energy became purer and more refined.
As it reached his dantian, it was tempered by a swirling vortex and the Wood God True Flame, transforming completely into a pure green-purple hue, merging into the thirty fully condensed liquid mana orbs he had already cultivated to their limit.
Suddenly, Li Ye's aura shifted the bottleneck that had held him back shattered with a thunderous surge.
His absorption of spiritual energy sharply increased, allowing even more energy to flood into his body at a rapid pace.
Within his dantian, the Wood God True Flame flickered wildly, while the liquid mana rapidly expanded then split giving birth to entirely new liquid mana drops.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Gradually, Li Ye's aura began to stabilize, and the influx of spiritual energy slowed. But the intensity of his mana was now far greater than before.
He opened his eyes, a flash of green and purple spiritual light flickering in them before fading.
A hint of awe crossed Li Ye's expression.
"Not even five years… and I've already reached mid-stage Foundation Establishment."
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