Chapter 111: The Fire of Rebirth

Lin Yi had lived for so long that, to escape the boredom of loneliness, he had learned everything there was to learn. The more than one hundred thousand jade slips containing inherited techniques he had just acquired were enough to keep him busy studying for decades.

Having swept through the area, Lin Yi headed toward the next pavilion. The moment he stepped through the door, a sharp white light struck at him instantly. Lin Yi’s expression remained unchanged; he tilted his body slightly, and the white light slammed into the floor behind him. With a loud bang, the iron-hard ground was instantly pierced by a bottomless hole. Given such power, if a Spirit Venerable were hit directly, they would be either dead or crippled.

"A thousand years have passed, yet it is unexpected that the arrays here still remain." Lin Yi cast a spell, a glint of gold flickering in his pupils. He saw that although the pavilion’s defensive array was dilapidated and less than a tenth of its original power remained, it was still functioning. This alone showed just how formidable the Sanqing Sect had been in its heyday. Most arrays were considered impressive if they could last a hundred years, but the Sanqing Sect’s arrays had endured for over a millennium and still possessed such lethality.

"Mr. Lin, what was that?" Angel asked, lingering fear in her voice.

"An array," Lin Yi replied simply. He pointed his finger into the void, and a beam of golden light shot from his fingertip, merging into the building. Soon, the array within the pavilion dissipated rapidly, like melting snow.

"Let’s go." Lin Yi withdrew his finger and spoke calmly.

The two entered the pavilion. The first floor was empty, save for a three-meter-tall alchemy furnace standing in the center. The furnace was pitch black, its surface carved with complex, intricate runes; even a glance from an ordinary person would cause dizziness.

"This is actually a primordial treasure!" Lin Yi walked around the furnace and reached out to touch it. It felt icy to the touch, and faint roars of beasts seemed to echo in his ears. There are six stages of artifact forging: Mortal, Dharma, Spirit, Treasure, and above Treasure lies the Primordial Treasure. Having lived for thousands of years, Lin Yi had only ever seen two or three primordial treasures in his life. This showed just how precious the furnace was.

Suddenly, Lin Yi sensed something inside the furnace. With a thought, he realized that a wisp of translucent flame was sealed within. A flame capable of being contained by a primordial treasure was clearly no ordinary item.

"Nirvana Fire." Lin Yi was shocked. Even the primordial treasure furnace itself had not caused such a strong ripple in his heart. Legend had it that the Nirvana Fire was one of the ten primal flames; though it was fire, it contained immense vitality. No matter how severely a life form was injured, as long as it was bathed in the Nirvana Fire, it could recover rapidly. More importantly, the Nirvana Fire could rejuvenate; it could make even an old man with one foot in the grave become young again.

Lin Yi had not expected to encounter a wisp of Nirvana Fire here. Without hesitation, he pointed his finger and unsealed the furnace. Without the seal, the already faint Nirvana Fire dimmed further, appearing as if it might extinguish at any moment. Lin Yi hurriedly took out a jade bottle, carefully collected the flame, and placed a dozen seals over the mouth of the bottle. He planned to try and see if he could integrate this Nirvana Fire into his Golden Core once he returned.

He then stored the alchemy furnace away and headed to the second floor, which was filled with pills. They ranged from the first to the seventh grade, but unfortunately, due to the passage of time, these pills had long since spoiled and were filled with medicinal toxins, making them unusable. Lin Yi had intended to leave, but he suddenly remembered the Nirvana Fire he had just acquired. Perhaps he could use it to purify the toxins and restore the medicinal efficacy of these pills. Of course, this was just a hypothesis. Although the cultivation world had information on the ten primal flames, their specific effects still required practical testing. Lin Yi waved his hand and collected all the pills.

If he could truly restore these pills, his path to cultivating subsequent Golden Cores would be relatively easier. For every Golden Core Lin Yi formed within his body, the resources required increased exponentially. Before, a single top-grade spirit stone could help him break through, but now, he needed at least a hundred.

The third and fourth pavilions contained nothing particularly surprising—mostly common dharma artifacts and precious ores. While these were valuable, nothing caught his eye. When Lin Yi reached the final pavilion, the arrays had already failed, so he encountered no attacks upon entering.

"Mr. Lin, look over there." Angel pointed to a corner. Lin Yi glanced over indifferently. Sitting in the corner was a skeleton, and judging by the clothing, it was likely the elder who had guarded the treasury. In the skeleton’s arms lay three items: a palm-sized wooden flying boat, a jade slip of inherited techniques, and a top-grade spirit stone the size of an adult’s fist.

"Mr. Lin, should we go take a look?" Angel asked cautiously.

"Of course." Lin Yi raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk playing on his lips. As they approached the skeleton, whether due to psychological factors or not, Angel felt the temperature drop, causing her to instinctively rub her arms.

Lin Yi squatted down and picked up the wooden flying boat. It looked ordinary, but if activated with true essence, it could grow with the wind and soar through the sky. It was incredibly fast, capable of covering thousands of kilometers in just over ten minutes. Furthermore, it was equipped with numerous offensive and defensive arrays, offering high security. Even in the cultivation world, only major sects possessed such vessels. Naturally, Lin Yi would not let such a treasure go.

Just as he reached for the jade slip, two scarlet lights suddenly shot from the skeleton’s eye sockets. "Ah!" Angel was startled. The lights in the eye sockets flickered before instantly darting into the center of Lin Yi’s forehead.

"Haha, brat, obediently hand over your body, and this old man will make you a man above men." A weak, lingering soul clamored within Lin Yi’s sea of consciousness. The world had undergone massive changes, cultivation had fallen into decline, and the higher a cultivator’s rank, the faster they perished. Fortunately, he knew a soul technique and had used it to seal his spirit within his body. After waiting for a thousand years, he was thrilled to finally encounter a living person.

"Oh, are you sure?" Lin Yi asked with interest.

"Of course! In my time, I was a supreme expert of the Nascent Soul stage." As the remnant soul spoke, he launched a soul attack directly at Lin Yi’s sea of consciousness. He was confident that even as a mere remnant soul, dealing with an ordinary person would be effortless. Yet, the moment his attack landed, he was stunned. His soul attack had sunk like a stone into the ocean, not even causing a ripple.

"What is going on?" The remnant soul was baffled. He launched several more soul attacks, but the result remained the same.

"You are too weak," Lin Yi stated.

"Ignorant child! How dare you call me weak!" The remnant soul was so enraged his spirit seemed to distort. Back in his day, as an elder of the Sanqing Sect, he was revered by so many; to be called weak by some yellow-haired brat was an insult.

Lin Yi could not be bothered to waste more breath. His divine sense erupted instantly. The remnant soul sensed the danger keenly, but before he could flee, a boundless soul force pinned him in place. Before this power, he felt like a lone boat in a vast ocean, liable to be swallowed at any moment. The remnant soul was instantly terrified.

"Wait, little brother, let’s talk this over. Don’t kill me!" the remnant soul begged hurriedly. He planned to appease Lin Yi first and then find an opportunity to seize his body.

But Lin Yi was not a three-year-old child; he would never listen to such pleas. The terrifying divine sense engulfed the remnant soul, and with one final, unwilling roar, the soul dissipated completely.

Lin Yi shook his head. The remnant soul could have lasted another hundred years, but he had been foolish enough to try and seize Lin Yi’s body. Though Lin Yi looked young, his real age was thousands of years, and his soul power was terrifyingly formidable. Even if this elder had been in his prime, he would have had no chance of possessing Lin Yi.

Lin Yi withdrew his focus and picked up the jade slip from the skeleton's lap. Anything carried by an elder must be special. He cast a wisp of divine sense into it: *Three-Soul Parasitic Technique*. After browsing through it, Lin Yi felt a flicker of interest. Simply put, this technique involved splitting one's soul into three and housing them in three different bodies. The benefit was that one could triple their cultivation speed and study time. However, the technique had a major flaw: the slightest carelessness would result in the total destruction of one's soul. Lin Yi was only interested in the theory; he had no intention of practicing it. He did not lack time; if one cultivated long enough, even a pig could become an immortal.

Finally, Lin Yi collected the top-grade spirit stone and headed leisurely to the second floor. Upon entering, he squinted slightly. The second floor was littered with the skeletons of spirit beasts, which disappointed him slightly. The third floor was the same. It was not until the top floor that the beast skeletons finally vanished.

The top floor was stacked with three black chests. Lin Yi opened one to find it filled with high-grade spirit stones—over fifty kilograms in a single chest. Without a word, he stored them all. He checked the surroundings with his divine sense once more to ensure nothing was left behind before leaving the pavilion.

With this, the exploration of the Sanqing Sect’s treasury was complete, and Lin Yi had become insanely wealthy overnight. Given such terrifying assets, anyone would be tempted to rob him.

"Alright, let's head back," Lin Yi said, in a very good mood. For now, he would not have to worry about resources for his cultivation.

"Mm," Angel nodded.

The two left the treasury. They had no intention of continuing to explore the primeval forest, so their return trip was much faster. In less than half a day, they emerged from the forest. To his surprise, they ran into Yu Xiaoyu and Elder Qiu again. It appeared as if they had been waiting specifically for him.

Seeing Lin Yi, Elder Qiu walked over excitedly, leaning on her cane. "Mr. Lin, thank you for saving us last time."

"Don't misunderstand. I never intended to save you," Lin Yi replied, shaking his head. He had acted only because Ruan Zhen had tried to kill him.

Elder Qiu felt a moment of awkwardness, not expecting Lin Yi to be so blunt. Usually, a young man would at least offer a polite phrase when praised. "Cough, cough. Mr. Lin, it is a fact that you saved us. I have nothing much to offer, but I hope you will not despise these few spirit stones."

Elder Qiu took out three thumb-sized medium-grade spirit stones. At that size, the three stones weighed at least thirty grams—worth over three billion in cash. Lin Yi did not stand on ceremony. Regardless of his intent, the fact remained that he had saved Elder Qiu and Yu Xiaoyu.

Yu Xiaoyu stepped forward and said sweetly, "Mr. Lin, I was in the wrong before. I hope you don't mind."

Lin Yi said coldly, "If I truly minded, do you think you would still be standing here talking to me?"

Yu Xiaoyu stuck out her tongue. She knew Lin Yi was speaking the truth; every time she thought of him slaying Ruan Zhen, a chill ran down her spine.