Chapter 862: Treasure Vault
It was well-known.
If the reason why the opponent had not appeared so far was because their cultivation level as a Foundation-Building Evil Cultivator was too low, then He Song's current cultivation level had already reached the peak of the Gold Core stage.
Such a cultivation level was not at all low even for an early-stage Core Formation cultivator.
After all, if this person was still alive, they wouldn't possibly go searching for a Core Formation cultivator just to possess their body.
A confrontation between two Core Formation cultivators.
With only their spirit remaining, they would have no chance of victory.
Thus, He Song, as a peak Gold Core cultivator, naturally became their top choice for possession.
In this case, He Song thought to himself.
If the owner of this place was still alive and hiding within his remains, then the moment he appeared before this person, he would probably be unable to escape being possessed.
However.
If the cultivators sent by He Song had progressively lower cultivation levels.
Perhaps the owner of this place would become impatient and stop waiting.
And since they wouldn't know whether the cultivation levels of subsequent arrivals would continue to drop.
They might choose one among He Song's group of Evil Cultivators to possess.
If things went this way.
Then dealing with a Core Formation cultivator who rashly possessed a Foundation-Building or even a Qi Condensation-level cultivator would actually be relatively simple for He Song.
Years ago.
He Song had already done something similar in the Silver Moon True Lord's cave.
At that time.
The Silver Moon True Lord had also been deceived by He Song into possessing an Evil Cultivator of low cultivation, and he had carried out the possession.
But unexpectedly, just as the possession succeeded, He Song had manipulated the Heaven罡 Divine Thunder Formation to kill him.
Nowadays.
He Song was attempting the same thing again.
Although he was being cautious.
The underlying reason was still that such an event had succeeded once before.
The likelihood of success this time would not be low.
Thus, He Song naturally imitated what he had done years ago, bringing it to this situation.
Yet, he didn't know.
Whether the owner of this place was still alive.
Or if they would indeed make the same choice as the Silver Moon True Lord.
Of course.
He Song was highly concerned about his own safety at this moment.
If He Song were truly possessed by a Core Formation cultivator.
The resources currently in He Song's possession would allow the possessor to return to the Core Formation stage in no time.
And by then.
Wouldn't He Song have lost out greatly?
Not only would he lose his life, but perhaps even the opportunity for longevity would be taken by someone else.
Moreover, that person would keep an eye on his face and body, using them for other purposes.
With such thoughts crossing his mind.
He Song became even more determined to continue testing the Gold Core corpse.
After all, it was just two Evil Cultivators.
If two weren't enough.
He could simply leave and find more Evil Cultivators.
He didn't believe that as long as the owner of this place was still alive and within his body, they could resist the urge to possess someone.
You see.
What He Song intended to do was not merely send Evil Cultivators into the cultivation hall.
Rather, he wanted to gradually reduce the cultivation levels of the Evil Cultivators entering the cultivation hall.
For instance, the Evil Cultivator He Song sent into the cultivation hall this time had a cultivation level of early-stage Foundation-Building.
The next Evil Cultivator He Song sent would reach the peak of Qi Condensation.
The one after that would reach the ninth level of Qi Condensation, then the eighth level, until finally, He Song would send an Evil Cultivator at the first level of Qi Condensation.
As long as the owner of this place was still alive and could sense the situation around their remains.
They would notice.
That the cultivation levels of the cultivators appearing near their corpse were getting lower and lower.
From early-stage Foundation-Building, they would quickly reach late-stage Qi Condensation, mid-Qi Condensation, and even early-stage Qi Condensation.
By that point.
If this person had the intention to possess others, they would not wait indefinitely.
Because the lower the cultivation level of those arriving, the harder it would be to resist the temptation.
Even if they weren't in a hurry, they would be influenced by the increasingly lower cultivation levels of the incoming cultivators.
And if that happened.
As soon as they couldn't resist and possessed a Qi Condensation-level cultivator sent by He Song.
He Song could rely on the Wanjian Guiyuan Formation he already controlled to completely obliterate this person.
This plan was perfect.
As long as the owner of this place was still alive and within their corpse, intending to possess someone.
There was absolutely no way they could escape He Song's grasp.
Of course.
If the owner of this place had already perished or had already possessed another and was cultivating elsewhere, not yet returning to retrieve their relics.
Then He Song's probing would be nothing more than futile efforts against an imaginary foe.
However, if such a situation arose, He Song certainly wouldn't waste time here.
Instead, after multiple attempts, he would immediately take all the opportunities available and leave without delay.
Probing like this was also a matter of degree.
It was impossible to keep probing endlessly.
Doing so would just be a waste of time.
Such probing only needed to confirm that the owner of this place was truly deceased.
Other than that, there was no need for further investigation.
With these thoughts in mind, He Song quickly pondered and then released the Qi Condensation-level Evil Cultivator beside him.
He placed this Evil Cultivator directly at the entrance of the cultivation hall.
Ensuring that upon waking up, they would immediately see the scene within the cultivation hall that had already been thoroughly searched.
And the corpse at the center of the cultivation hall.
He Song didn't believe that.
As an Evil Cultivator.
This person wouldn't want to investigate the corpse.
He knew well the greed of Evil Cultivators.
And indeed, reality proved him right.
After He Song placed this Evil Cultivator at the entrance of the cultivation hall and woke them up.
This person quickly discovered everything within the cultivation hall and immediately rushed inside to investigate the corpse.
However.
After rummaging through the corpse for a long time, they found no treasures.
Just as they were disheartened and left the cultivation hall to seek opportunities elsewhere.
He Song struck, killing them far from the cultivation hall.
Subsequently, He Song went out and captured several Evil Cultivators of varying cultivation levels according to his previous plan.
He threw these Evil Cultivators one by one into the cultivation hall, watching as they approached and investigated the corpse.
With the passage of time.
When He Song's last Qi Condensation-level Evil Cultivator was killed by his own hand.
He Song's gaze turned toward the Gold Core corpse in the cultivation hall.
He now had his answer regarding whether there was a Gold Core cultivator's spirit lingering within.
Nevertheless.
To be safe, He Song threw another Foundation-Building Evil Cultivator into the cultivation hall.
He wanted to see if the absence of possession earlier was due to the low cultivation levels of the previous cultivators.
But when this Foundation-Building Evil Cultivator also died quickly under He Song's hands, just like the previous ones.
He Song's certainty grew that there was no lingering spirit of a Gold Core cultivator within the corpse.
Clearly, this Gold Core cultivator's corpse contained nothing, and no Gold Core cultivator was hiding within, plotting to possess someone opportunistically.
Otherwise, after multiple attempts, the person within would not be able to contain themselves.
In this case, this Gold Core corpse was safe.
With such thoughts in mind.
He Song scanned the several Evil Cultivators by his side.
Internally, he let out a small sigh of relief.
Before leaving this place to search for Qi Condensation-level Evil Cultivators, He Song hadn't just caught a few.
Instead, he had brought many more Evil Cultivators along, for his own use.
Therefore, besides the previously mentioned Qi Condensation-level Evil Cultivators and the Foundation-Building Evil Cultivator later sent in.
He Song still had several Evil Cultivators nearby who were still unconscious.
These people.
Were the backbone of He Song's exploration of this Gold Core cultivation hall.
They were also key to clearing traps during He Song's subsequent exploration.
Although the owner of this place seemed to have perished long ago, and their remains had already been tested multiple times by He Song.
He Song remained as cautious as ever.
Because he had never understood the abilities of a Gold Core cultivator before.
He had no idea what a Gold Core cultivator could do.
Thus, when exploring this Gold Core cultivation hall, He Song had to proceed with utmost caution.
He couldn't just recklessly extend his spiritual awareness to scan the entire Gold Core cultivation hall.
If he did that.
If the owner of this Gold Core cultivation hall was still alive, they might not even know how they died.
For his own safety, He Song took extreme precautions this time.
Even after testing the Gold Core corpse in the cultivation hall.
He didn't take it away but instead left it in the cultivation hall, untouched.
This Gold Core corpse.
To He Song, was still quite dangerous.
Therefore, it was clearly not safe to carry it around immediately.
Leaving it here and retrieving it when he was about to leave might be safer.
But since he had already tested it and was fairly certain that no Gold Core cultivator was hiding within, intending to possess others at any moment.
After some thought, He Song decided not to linger in this place.
Instead, he quickly maneuvered Qingfeng and Mingyue, along with Xianyun, deeper into the Gold Core cultivation hall.
As for the puppets in the cultivation hall that He Song had been suppressing with the Wanjian Guiyuan Formation.
He didn't take them.
Instead, he continued to suppress them firmly with the Wanjian Guiyuan Formation.
The reason for this.
Mainly was because if He Song personally retrieved these puppets, the danger involved was still significant.
Even though He Song had tested extensively.
And confirmed that no one was hiding in the Gold Core corpse to possess others.
The existence of the Gold Core corpse itself was inherently dangerous.
He Song didn't want anything untoward to happen while he was taking those puppets.
Therefore.
To be absolutely safe.
He Song eventually decided to gather those puppets just before he left this place.
He maneuvered Qingfeng out of the cultivation hall's range.
In Qingfeng's field of vision, He Song quickly spotted another palace.
However.
When He Song maneuvered Qingfeng to the location of this palace and saw its name.
His expression flickered with surprise.
"Treasure Vault."
Scanning the three large characters "Treasure Vault."
He Song's look of surprise deepened.
Treasure Vault?
As a Gold Core cultivator.
How could there be a Treasure Vault like this?
Not even Gold Core cultivators had them, let alone Qi Condensation-level cultivators, who all had storage bags.
And as a Gold Core cultivator, the space inside their storage bag was naturally immense.
Surely they could fit some treasures inside.
Ordinary cultivators also typically carried all their belongings on them when venturing outside.
Thus, the treasures obtained by cultivators were mostly stored in their storage bags.
As for the cultivation halls inside.
There was no need to build a separate Treasure Vault.
Yet now.
He Song had discovered a Treasure Vault in a Gold Core cultivation hall.
The appearance of this building forced He Song to think deeply.
Because even he himself hadn't built a Treasure Vault in his own cultivation hall.
Anything valuable was kept on their person.
Thinking of this, He Song took a deep breath and quickly became alert.
This Treasure Vault.
Might be a trap.
Designed specifically to kill those who impulsively charged in upon seeing treasure.
With such thoughts in mind.
He Song's gaze turned to the Evil Cultivators still unconscious by his side.
These Evil Cultivators were all greedy.
Sending them to explore this Treasure Vault was perfect.
After all, if there really were traps in this Treasure Vault, these Evil Cultivators could act as scouts, clearing all the traps.
And if there were no traps in this Treasure Vault.
He Song could easily control these Evil Cultivators.
There was no way he'd let these Evil Cultivators eat a single elixir or use a single talisman in the Treasure Vault.
With such thoughts, He Song extended his spiritual awareness and quickly grabbed a Foundation-Building Evil Cultivator, throwing them before the gates of the Treasure Vault.
As this person woke up.
He Song quickly observed their every move through Qingfeng's perspective.
Initially.
This Evil Cultivator, upon waking up and seeing the Treasure Vault beside them.
Didn't show much greed in their eyes.
But when they surveyed the surroundings and walked around, noticing that there was no one else.
Only a tightly shut Treasure Vault.
Their greed began to show.
As a Foundation-Building cultivator.
They also had spiritual awareness.
Thus, they quickly extended their spiritual awareness to examine the contents of the Treasure Vault.
However, this Treasure Vault had been created by a Gold Core cultivator. With their Foundation-Building level spiritual awareness, they couldn't penetrate it. (End of Chapter)