Imperial God Emperor

After some hesitation, they decided that they couldn't afford to take this risk.

All three of them didn't act rashly. Neither did they move the pill furnaces.

"Hehe, there are so many pill furnaces and they all look like they are in great condition. I'm sure that they definitely contain some treasures… They might contain the medicinal pills refined by the first god of alchemy. If I manage to get my hands on one of that, I will be rich. Ha ha ha…" Hu Bugui was overjoyed and excitedly explored the area.

Little Nine was also unable to control his curiosity and had already entered the Yin-Yang Bagua Picture. He sniffed his way around and his tail wagged excitedly

They were in the [Tusita Palace].

If this was truly the legendary [Tusita Palace], they would have struck gold. They could simply pry open any pill furnace to extract a tiny bit of its medicinal pills. Even if they only managed to obtain the tiniest medicinal pill that had the ability to increase their cultivation, it would be equivalent to an expert cultivating for hundreds and thousands of years.

They had truly stumbled on some treasures.

"Old Hu Bugui, our luck must be pretty good. It looks as though no one else has been here before and we are the first visitors." Ye Qingyu soon had a brief understanding of this place after he released his divine sense and studied his surroundings.

"Ha ha ha, this sounds even better. I knew that you had a knack for finding your way around this place. I simply followed you as you walked randomly around and then we found ourselves here. It was as though this place fell right into our laps. With my many years of grave digging… ah, no, exploring, if I found myself in a maze, I would probably still be stuck inside right now. He he he, if we get our hands on the treasure later on, I’ll only take ten percent of it. The rest belongs to you!" Hu Bugui's eyes were bright and he couldn't wait to start prying open these pill furnaces.

Ye Qingyu was also a little excited.

The million-year-old soul had indeed been telling the truth.

However, it wouldn't be easy extracting the treasures from these pill furnaces.

When Ye Qingyu released his divine sense earlier, he could already tell that every single one of these pill furnaces was sealed by an ancient and mysterious divine technique. It was held together by a powerful restraining force that made opening it extremely difficult. He couldn't use his divine sense to peer inside the pill furnaces either.

"The force that has sealed the pill furnaces is both profound and mysterious. I doubt opening it would be an easy task."

Ye Qingyu surmised after he careful contemplation.

Hu Bugui gradually calmed down and reined in his excitement. He carefully examined the pill furnaces near him and saw that there was a circle of inky blue mist swirling near the mouth and the furnace of each pill furnace as though they were chained together. The force contained within the mist was ancient, mysterious and as deep as the sea. It was clearly different compared to the sealing techniques for pill furnaces used in the current era.

However, since these treasures were within their reach, they couldn't leave without collecting them.

He thought for a moment and before he decided to give it a shot.

The chief bandit put on his fighting stance and his eyes shone brightly with excitement and eagerness as he said, "Ha ha, that's not a problem. While it is true that these pill furnaces look tough to pry open but the profound sealing technique shows how important the treasures contained within it are. Now that we're already here, we must show the first god of alchemy our skills."

Then, he dug out a brownish-gold lock that was in the shape of a semi-circle. It looked a little worn and it was covered in rust as though it was a broken artifact that was dug out from a grave. Then, he muttered a string of words, "The heaven has no bounds and the earth reveal thy beams… [Golden Omen Exquisite Lock], activate!"

As though the brownish-gold lock was suddenly awakened, a wisp of brownish-gold light flew from the lock like lightning and madly surrounded the pill furnace in front of Hu Bugui.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

A grinding sound could constantly be heard, as though bronze and stone were grinding against each other.

That tiny lock unleashed a profound and subtle force that was like an extremely sharp steel knife as it slowly infiltrated the opening of the pill furnace.

"Huh?"

Hu Bugui had such a treasure?

Ye Qingyu was a little surprised.

On second thought, this bandit was often digging graves and wouldn't have been able to survive if he didn't have at least several trump cards. He probably managed to collect a large number of treasures and carry out such smooth grave digging expeditions each time because of this lock that could unlock seals.

He looked at the golden and blue swirls of mist that surrounded the pill furnace and felt a little hopeful.

Soon, Hu Bugui suddenly frowned and cried out, "It doesn't work? I can't believe it didn't work! How could this be? Little Ye Qingyu, look here. The mist above that pill furnace is extremely mysterious and it even swallowed the aura unleashed by my unlocking treasure."

Ye Qingyu looked in the direction of the pill furnace.

He saw that of the two intermingling mists earlier, only the inky-blue mist remained while the mist released by the golden lock had almost been completely swallowed. After swallowing the golden mist, the mist surrounding that pill furnace grew livelier and its aura became more abundant, as though a mysterious force that had been dormant for a long time was awakened from its hibernation.

Uh…

The seal technique was able to absorb the aura and force of the unlocking technique? This was way too peculiar!

Ye Qingyu's brows were tightly knotted and he fell into a daze as he stared at the pill furnace.

These were some extraordinary pill furnaces.

Its extraordinariness meant that the probability of it containing a precious treasure was very high.

Hu Bugui looked slightly dejected as he kept the golden lock he used to unlock things.

"It's alright. If the first plan doesn't work, I still have the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth plan. I'm sure one of them would be able to unlock this pill furnace."

He spoke as though he was trying to cheer himself on. Then, his spirits lifted and he dug out several exotic and peculiar unlocking treasures from his sleeves and magic treasure pouch and started to try them out one at a time.

… 

Ten minutes later.

"This is my final unlocking treasure. I can't believe it didn't budge at all. The first god of alchemy's pill furnace is too goddamn tight!" Hu Bugui wailed, his disappointment and reluctance written all over his face as he held a magical item that was shaped like a ball in his hand.

"Woof, Mr. Gravedigger, you've failed, haven't you? If we can't do it via gentle means, let's try forcing it open then. You'll still need me to show up at the crucial moment!" Little Nine who was sniffing his way around in the corner had already completely lost his patience. It suddenly turned back and rushed over, proudly showing off his sharp teeth, its tail wagging as it walked toward the pill furnace. "Watch me, you useless gravedigger."

"You?" Hu Bugui was annoyed by its provocation. "Try opening it then, since you claim to be so good."

Little Nine looked at Hu Bugui with a mixture of contempt and disdain.

It jumped and its chubby body sailed through the air to stand near the mouth of the pill furnace. Then, it smiled "I knew you'd underestimate me. My nose has the ability to leave a mark on the Wall of Storm, so is there anything else my teeth can't open?"

"You? The Wall of Storm?" Hu Bugui looked astonished.

Although he had never left Clear River Domain, he was a very well-informed chief bandit, so he was very familiar with the legend of the Wall of Storm.

But… That dog's nose, the Wall of Storm…

Impossible!

Hu Bugui looked at Ye Qingyu with a question in his eyes.

He didn’t expect little Ye Qingyu to nod in amusement.

Was… was it true?

Did this mean that other than eating, sleeping and running away, this silly dog also had a diamond defensive body?

Shock was written all over Hu Bugui's face but he quickly recovered. No wonder so many experts were after this silly dog while they were at the Wei River Mountain Range. He thought that those people were blind then but he didn't realize that he was the blind one…

Little Nine ignored Hu Bugui's astonished gaze and immediately pounced toward the mouth of the pill furnace and started frantically gnawing on it as though it was the most delicious food in the world. It was trying to bite a hole through the seal of this pill furnace.

"Arrhwoo… Arhh arhhh arhh... woo..."

Little Nine was very excited.

However, it stopped after more than a dozen breaths and panted heavily. "Woof, oh my god. How could this be… I can't even open it with my teeth. What is this goddamn thing anyway? I gnawed at it with all my might but my teeth didn't even leave a mark!" it exclaimed in surprise.

Its dejected wails sounded similar to Hu Bugui's cries earlier.

Ye Qingyu was also rather surprised.

"Sigh, little Ye Qingyu, you're the only one who has yet to make a move amongst us. Why don't you try too?" Hu Bugui turned to Ye Qingyu and said with a sigh. He felt disappointment wash over him once more and couldn't even muster the energy to mock the silly dog.

"Yes, human, why don't you go? We’ve already laid out the foundation and loosened the restraints of the pill furnace. We'll leave the final step to you," Little Nine said shamelessly.

It obviously didn’t want to miss out on the treasure within the pill furnace either and its eyes shone fawningly.

Ye Qingyu nodded and walked up to the front of the pill furnace.

It wasn't practical to break this pill furnace since the hundreds of pill furnaces here were all interconnected. If he broke one of them, the rest would be affected. Furthermore, destroying it might cause the treasure within it to lose its spiritual energy.

He had to use the gentlest method to remove the seal.

He was silent for a short while.

Then, a plan gradually came to him.

A faint silver splendor swirled around all ten fingers on his right hand, then he started drawing in the Void.

As he continued to draw, it wasn't clear what he was drawing with each stroke he took and his drawing resembled a child's graffiti.

His fingers brushed past and the silver splendor remained in the Void.

Moments later, he only made a few strokes.

There wasn't a single energy wave.

"Woof… what are you doing? Drawing? I can do that too… sigh, human, you… Forget it. If you can't do it, then let's give up and hurry on to our next destination. We might even be able to collect some remnants of what the others have left behind," Little Nine was a little disappointed. It stretched and sprawled out in the corner.

As soon as he spoke.

Ye Qingyu drew the final stroke.

A strange silverish-grey formation appeared in the Void.

Sweat beads rolled down his forehead.

He opened his palm and suddenly pushed at this strange silverish-grey formation.

The silverish-grey formation landed on the pill furnace in front of him as though it had taken on a solid form.

In the main hall.

Crack!

A clear and melodious sound echoed through the air.

The sealing mist of the small pill furnace in front of him that was about as tall as a man suddenly disappeared mysteriously and the pill furnace lid that was shaped like a sacred tripod was slowly lifted by a strange force.

A rich and fragrant scent wafted through the entire hall.

"It… has been opened?"

Hu Bugui rushed over in disbelief.

Ye Qingyu was equally stunned. He had initially planned to give up but later suddenly recalled the one hundred eight ancient characters of the [Cloud Top Cauldron] and used an occult technique from that bronze cauldron to send one of the characters toward the pill furnace.

He didn't expect it to work!

After they got over their initial shock, they were both overjoyed and rushed over to peer into the pill furnace.

Right in the middle of the pill furnace was a lotus-shaped holder made from black rock and more than a hundred light purple pills were placed within it. These pills were about the size of a longan and they were shiny and crystalline, like pearls or the moon.

All around these pills were waves of abundant Immortal qi. The mysterious fragrance was so strong that it was visible and swirled around these pills. They only sniffed a little bit of its fragrance but immediately felt refreshed and energized.