Chapter 204: Bright Fire, Thirteen Water Vats

This dilapidated Immortal Manor was hidden outside by several crooked branches. Its thick layer of leaves had kept it unnoticed until now.

It made sense it hadn’t been discovered earlier, since the Endless Forest Sea had few Players venturing deep into its heart. The Green Emperor Alliance was likely the first group to truly linger and search meticulously in this area.

“Could this be an Immortal’s Cave Abode?” Trail-breaking Pony, typically quiet, sounded excited too. An Immortal’s Cave Abode held extraordinary significance for any Faction.

Even the most pathetic Immortal’s Cave Abode surpassed a regular Guild Stronghold.

When setting up a Guild Stronghold, there were two methods: building directly on an empty plot – the System would then reward them with several structures – or expanding upon an existing Immortal Manor. The System would, accordingly, enlarge the Immortal Manor’s area, further enhancing it.

For instance, the current established Factions like the Shushan Sword Alliance chose the area near their enormous Wind and Thunder Immortal Manor as their Guild Stronghold, linking the two together.

The Herbal Hall, on the other hand, expanded and strengthened one of their own Immortal Manors, converting the original site into their Guild Stronghold.

The Wanyao Palace remained shrouded in mystery. Not even the Jiuyu Pavilion knew much about them. On the Forum, the posts and traffic in the Demon Race section were pitiful compared to the bustling Human Race section.

Yet this stark contrast was unusual. While Players choosing the Demon Race were fewer compared to Humans, purely in numbers, there should still be nearly ten million Demon Race Players. It was impossible for their Forum traffic to be this low.

“This place looks so poor and ramshackle. Don’t get your hopes up too high,” Ye Rong cautioned.

He reached out, an enormous blue hand sweeping away the weeds and dead branches blocking the entrance. A gust of wind scattered the dust and mud.

This shabby Immortal Manor could have been left by a past Scattered Immortal, or it could have just been a simple dwelling casually created by an ordinary cultivator. Based on its current state, the latter seemed more likely.

The strength of these ordinary cultivators probably wasn’t much higher than Ye Rong’s present level. Naturally, the value of what they left behind could be easily judged at a glance.

“Nine… Wonder…”

Above the entrance, faint characters were carved, most of them worn away and indistinct. Only two characters could barely be recognized.

“We can know what it is by entering,” Ye Rong said. “Even if such an Immortal Manor isn’t highly valuable, its risks should be lower. It’ll be easier to develop without big costs.”

He gestured to the others behind him and stepped into the utterly dilapidated place, only knowing it might start with “Nine” and something like “Wonder.”

Generally, even long-abandoned Immortal Manors maintained basic operations: dust removal, defense, and alarm systems should still function. Take the Golden Cabinet Water Manor, which he knew best: even after losing its master for centuries, it operated normally, sinking to the riverbed to avoid destruction.

That only one of its thirteen Restrictions was currently active was because Ye Rong wasn’t its true master yet, not due to insufficient power.

Seeing the Immortal Manor so ruined suggested its creator was modest in strength at best, likely a Yellow-grade, maybe Mysterious-grade at most.

But there was an upside: it should be very easy to claim. Maybe just one trip was enough.

Compared to the Golden Cabinet Water Manor, which Ye Rong still couldn’t fully explore beyond its golden hall due to insufficient strength to defeat the six Manor Guardian Spirit Beasts.

Or consider the Shushan Sword Alliance’s Wind and Thunder Immortal Manor. Vastly larger than the Golden Cabinet Water Manor, it was supposedly left by a Celestial Immortal contemporary to Longbrow. That’s how they managed to claim it.

Even then, despite the Shushan Sword Alliance’s formidable power, they struggled with the manor initially. Rumors said it still wasn’t fully claimed.

…

Stepping inside brought instant darkness. No light penetrated.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Two dazzlingly bright flames rose from a member’s hand behind Ye Rong. They hovered in the air, illuminating the path ahead and behind.

“Bright Fire?” Ye Rong inquired.

“Mm,” the member replied. His face flushed slightly with shyness. He looked like a young, inexperienced boy, probably only sixteen or seventeen if he hadn’t altered his appearance.

Ye Rong recognized the bright white flames not because of sudden all-knowing power, but because his deep study of Buddhist Sword Art Forms had sparked interest in top-tier Buddhist Dao Spells, leading him to learn about them.

The Great Bright Flame Saber was a supreme Dao Spell. Masculine and Yang in nature, it suppressed evils and wrought near-double damage on Demonic Path beings, with severe death penalties.

Bright Fire was the foundation for mastering the Great Bright Flame Saber. A Qingcheng Disciple learning Buddhist Dao Spells was rather unusual. Remembering he also practiced the Immovable Wisdom King Sword Art, Ye Rong deliberately observed a bit longer.

In this setting, though, the two balls of Bright Fire proved very useful. Their demon-slaying prowess wasn’t evident, but their lighting effect was.

Though he downplayed the danger, Ye Rong stayed vigilant. This was the only other Immortal Manor he’d found besides the Golden Cabinet Water Manor. Who knew what hidden risks lurked?

Getting hurt here without gains would be deeply regrettable.

The passage was straight and uncomplicated. Its sides were simple blue stone, somewhat sturdy but serving no special purpose. No traps or automatons leaped out during their advance. They reached the end smoothly.

A heavy, ancient stone door stood there, carved with depictions of demons, thunder, rain, wind, clouds, and all natural phenomena.

This was the first valuable thing Ye Rong had seen since entering the dilapidated manor. He pushed the door with force.

CRASH!

The stone door crumbled into countless fragments and dust upon impact.

“This… it’s just a false front!” Ye Rong exclaimed, surprised the door wasn’t some treasure. “I really thought the door itself was a Magic Treasure!”

He strode in. A stone chamber lay within, spacious but empty.

“Water vats! Lots of huge water vats!”

“What is this place? This tiny space is the end? No guard arrays, no traps… looks like a truly worthless ruin!”

“What’s in the vats? Are they raising fish?”

The members chattered behind him. Ye Rong counted thirteen water vats. Each vat was as tall as two men standing on each other’s shoulders and so wide it would take six or seven people encircling to fully embrace it.

Ye Rong floated over to look inside one vat. The clear water held countless sparkling grains.

He reached in, but a layer of golden light repelled his hand. The faint silhouette of a fierce white tiger appeared above the water, letting out a silent roar towards the sky.

[Western White Tiger Xin Metal Restriction. Defense Value: 100,000/100,000. Reflects 24% of Flying Sword-type damage received.]

He tried the others. Each was equally untouchable, various ancient mythical beast phantoms manifesting to guard their vats.

Their Defense Values were astonishingly high—far beyond what Ye Rong had seen before—routinely soaring into six figures, accompanied by special effects.

Some inflicted 200-200 Southern Flame burns per attack; others were wreathed in Dark Profound Black Water, reducing all damage by 30%; another emitted Boundless Sublime Buddha Light, regenerating 1,000 Defense Value every thirty seconds…

Combined with these properties, these mythical beast phantom Restriction defenses formed an impenetrable, prickly fortress best left undisturbed. Yet, instead of dismay, Ye Rong felt growing excitement.

Discovering such high-Level Defensive Restrictions in a ruin was utterly unnatural. No one could believe the items guarded within these water vats were ordinary!

“Could the outside dilapidation be deliberate by the original builder?” he muttered thoughtfully. “Or were treasures hiding their true nature?”

Thirteen giant water vats, each bearing a top-tier Defensive Restriction, spanning Taoism, Buddhism, Heterodox Schools, and the Demonic Path—no single school exclusively. The cultivator who laid these Restrictions must have possessed earth-shattering power, mastering all arts.

The more Ye Rong thought, the more certain he became of the water vats’ true worth. Scanning them, he selected one as a target.

“Focus all attacks on this one!” he commanded loudly. “Avoid Flying Swords! Magic Treasures or Dao Spells only!”

After testing with a Chongxu Sword Qi (and seeing a damage number pop up above his own head), he hastily amended: “Sword Qi-type Dao Spells won’t work either!”

This Western White Tiger Xin Metal Restriction uniquely reflected 24% of any attack connected to Flying Swords.

This posed major difficulties. Without Flying Swords, their overall attack power plummeted—especially for Ye Rong, whose strength largely resided in his Flying Sword. Without it, he felt like a tiger missing its teeth.