"Are you daring to challenge my lord for the treasure?" Wu Chou didn't expect the usually quiet Xuan Gu to suddenly challenge him for the treasure without a word, his face now blazing with fury. "Hah! Is this treasure even crafted by your family? How can you claim it when I have it? How can I possibly let you take it?" Xuan Gu coldly glanced at Wu Chou, delivering a sharp, unyielding rebuke. With those words, Wu Chou grew furious. Yet, as if remembering something, though his expression remained fiercely hostile, he didn't speak up again. Instead, he quickened his hand gestures, tightening the grip of the black giant serpent even further. It seemed clear that Wu Chou understood Xuan Gu's strength—backed by the formidable, deeply respected Master of Extreme Yin, who would never be intimidated by his sheer force. Xuan Gu smiled faintly, said nothing, and simply lightly pointed at the green net. The green light on the net surged brilliantly, thickening the green threads by an additional three parts, then the entire net tightened. The bound fire wolf, though strongly compelled by the joint spells of Wu Chu and Xuan Gu, had its luminous aura compressed into several smaller circles—yet grew even more brilliant and resilient. Within this glowing shield, the fire wolf continued to calmly gaze at the two spellcasters, creating a moment of stalemate. Neither the celestial nor the heavenly forces, who had expected this precious artifact to remain at its original location, could have anticipated its arrival at Han Li and his companions' site. He felt far more confident in securing the treasures from Wu Chou than from Xuan Gu, whose true standing he knew well—especially given the rough-hewn, bearded man’s unwavering confidence. Qing Yi, observing this, sighed slightly with a touch of regret, hesitating only briefly before finally anchoring himself to Tian Wu Zi, preventing him from vanishing to attend elsewhere. As a result, the only one remaining idle near the altar was Han Li. Yet Han Li did not find this idleness at all comforting; on the contrary, he was now drenched in cold sweat. He had chosen the ancient flower basket just because he believed its divine function suited the task of retrieving relics. But upon seeing Xuan Gu rush to claim the treasures, he suddenly recalled a serious matter that now threatened to unravel everything. This very flower basket had been obtained only after he defeated the ugly man who had been guarding Xuan Gu. By now bringing it forth, he was openly revealing to Ji Yin Master that Xuan Gu had indeed been released by him. This revelation left Han Li chilled to the core—how could he now even focus on retrieving the treasures? His mind was filled with a myriad of thoughts, and he struggled hard to devise a strategy to counter the extreme coldness. Yet, after a while, Han Li was startled. He clearly sensed that the Master of Extreme Cold had merely glanced at the floral basket before swiftly shifting his gaze—there had been not a single unusual emotion, nothing at all had happened! Only then did Han Li suddenly realize with surprise and delight. The ancient relic in the floral basket had never been bestowed upon the plain-looking man by the Master of Extreme Cold, and the man himself seemed completely unaware of its significance. Now, finally, he felt at ease. His intuition had been correct! The plain-looking man had stayed away from the island guarding Xuan Gu for such a long time precisely because he had learned of the floral basket's existence and had gone out on his own. Although he later managed to successfully obtain the relic, he had inadvertently weakened the great array that had been trapping Xuan Gu, breaking it in pieces. This had left the plain-looking man utterly astonished and furious, jumping up in rage. But ultimately, he fell to Han Li's Qingzhu Fengyun Sword, and the ancient treasure he had just acquired became Han Li's prize. Han Li, having regained his composure, glanced at Xuan Gu, who was now engaged in a struggle with Wu Chou over the Fire Wolf. He silently mused, "This does indeed seem like good fortune for you, Old Demon. If the Extremes of Yin truly discovered this, I'll certainly drag you into the fray. Don't think you can escape unscathed!" As he hesitated whether to feel relieved for Han Li or fortunate for Xuan Gu, another deep, resonant thunderous roar echoed from the mouth of the cave. The Yuanying-level cultivators, now seasoned in such events, paused momentarily, exchanged glances, and looked at one another with growing concern. Then, without knowing who initiated the movement, six figures swiftly moved and simultaneously appeared directly above the cave entrance. The Xutian Ding had now drawn close to the entrance. Though these were Yuanying cultivators, they had all fully activated their internal techniques to withstand the unusual cold radiating from the cave mouth, continuously summoning defensive artifacts and magical lights that shimmered constantly across their bodies. And between the Zheng and the Mo factions, everyone remained on guard, watching each other closely. Currently, Jiyin Master was utterly frustrated! According to his original plan, he intended to first drive out the Zheng Dao figures, then extract both the Xutian Ding and its treasures, and finally divide them among the parties as agreed. Yet he had never anticipated that, as the Xutian Ding approached the entrance, several ancient treasures would suddenly take flight on their own. Now, which party these treasures would fall into would entirely depend on their own merits. For no matter which party acquired them, they would no longer be able to return them to him. Thus, the original agreement for dividing the treasures was completely rendered obsolete. While deeply annoyed, Jiyin Master kept his eyes darting around, pondering how he might secure more treasures for himself. But as soon as this thought arose, a sharp, grating sound erupted, followed by two sharp "whooshes"—a yellow and a white glow simultaneously shot forth from the azure flame within the cave. Six people were so close to the treasure that they all moved simultaneously, reaching out with secret techniques to grasp the nearest glow. Wan Tianming, along with Ji Yin and the scholar-dressed elder, focused on the yellow glow. As Wan Tianming raised his hand, a purple fire dragon materialized and bit into the yellow glow. At the same moment, a change flashed across his face, and he opened his mouth, forcefully expelling two luminous, purple, pearl-like orbs toward the opposite side. "Heavenly Lattice True Thunder!" Ji Yin exclaimed, as if seeing a venomous serpent, upon noticing these seemingly ordinary orbs. The two then hesitated to use their法宝 to intercept or absorb them, instead swiftly stepping back to evade the orbs. However, during this brief pause, the purple fire dragon had already swallowed the yellow glow whole, then shook its head and retracted. Wan Tianming, beaming with excitement, held the yellow glow in his hands, then rubbed them together, revealing the original form of the ancient artifact—a square ancient pendant, its inscriptions shimmering with light and radiating vibrant qi, clearly a fine piece of treasure. The two purple orb beads, after flying straight for several zhang before emitting two faint bursts of sound, vanished without a trace. Master Jiji, the Patriarch of Extreme Yin, and the elder in scholar's robes, turned their gaze to Wan Tianming, who was handling his jade pendant, and their faces instantly turned ashen. "Indeed, a worthy master of the orthodox path! How could you resort to such base tactics—deceiving us with false lightning?" Master Jiji said, each word delivered with biting intensity. The elder in scholar's robes likewise had his face flushed with anger, fixing Wan Tianming with a cold, unwavering gaze. Yet, upon hearing this, Wan Tianming merely sneered and retorted, "Both of you, having established yourselves as renowned cultivators for so long, are now unable to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit Heavenly Luo True Lightning. How dare you claim it's beneath you to speak of such base conduct? Do either of you not know that, unless it's a matter of life or death, I would never have resorted to using this precious artifact? After all, this divine lightning—crafted through the sacrifice of my own cultivation power—is no mere luxury; I have never been so Of course, if both of you truly wish to witness this Lightning Pearl, I shall be honored to make an exception for you." With these words, Wan Tianming gently closed his hands. After a flash of purple light, the jade pendant vanished, and in his hands now appeared a purple pearl identical to the one he had just shown. Both Ji Yin and the elder exchanged glances, their faces darkening, as if uncertain about what to do next. At the same time, the bearded man, relying on the exceptional defensive power of his Tuo Tian Mo Gong, had successfully absorbed the blows from the black, thin elder and Tian Wu Zi, securing a bright white glow in his hands—a peculiar ancient coin-shaped bronze piece. Ji Yin's expression grew increasingly grave. Just then, the elder beside him suddenly murmured softly, "Hm!" as though deeply surprised. Ji Yin followed his gaze, his own face now reflecting a sense of astonishment. Near the altar below, Han Li was carefully examining a jade scepter of yellow and red hues, each end carved with a lifelike wolf's head—precisely the ancient artifact formed by the pair of fire-wolf beings just now. Beside him, Wu Chou and Xuan Gu stood with expressions of growing helplessness, their faces tinged with mild resentment. A flicker of doubt passed through the eyes of the Master of Extreme Yin, who remained silent without speaking. Yet within, he was deeply astonished. The ancient artifact had not ended up in the hands of Wu Chou and Xuan Gu, but instead had fallen into the hands of Han Li, who had shown no initial intention to claim it. To the Master of Extreme Yin, this development was truly unexpected.