Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 131 The Gate to the Treasure Vault
The Lord seemed to have no interest in Chen Ye's Emperor Banner, and was only focused on opening the treasure vault.

Chen Ye had originally wanted to show off, but now he could only put away the Myriad Soul Banner and follow after them.

Having been busy for so long, Chen Ye was also very curious about what exactly this so-called celestial object was.

Upon arriving at the foot of the collapsed platform, the Venerable One pointed to a spot and said, "Right here, start digging!"

Chen Ye asked, "You really can't even dig a hole?"

The Venerable Lord said angrily, "What nonsense are you spouting? I gave you the brow bone of the Demon Lord Wujiu for free, and you're arguing with me over such a small matter?"

Chen Ye had no way to refute it, so he could only use the transport method to start digging the soil bit by bit.

Who would have thought that this digging would go on for so long, going down a full ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), but they still didn't see any so-called treasure vault entrance.

"How much deeper is it?" Chen Ye asked.

The lord shook his head and said, "I don't know, but it's definitely right. Keep digging!"

Left with no other choice, Chen Ye had to take out the Myriad Soul Banner.

"Please lend me a hand."

Why not use this magical treasure? How can Chen Ye dig it out by himself compared to the help of tens of thousands of ghosts?

Now this magical artifact allows Chen Ye to communicate with the spirits of the underworld, making things much easier for him.

Each spirit dug up a little soil and carried it upwards, digging continuously downwards until they were deep underground.

Then a strange sound rang out, as if something had actually been unearthed from the ground.

Chen Ye quickly retrieved the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and personally dug away the topsoil. Sure enough, he unearthed rows of bluestone. He dug a little on the north side and soon saw a heavy bronze door.

Chen Ye reached out and knocked, but couldn't hear anything. The bronze door was buried deep underground, but it was still incredibly shiny, without a trace of rust.

"My lord, how do we open this door?" Chen Ye asked.

The Venerable One pondered, “According to the Nirvana Sect’s plan, the resentment generated by the hundreds of thousands of blood sacrifices, once gathered together, would allow this treasure vault to see the light of day again and break open this door. However, the formation was broken by Zhang Qi’s sword. The sacrifices are dead, but the resentment has not been collected. If we want to open this door, we need to find a similar method.”

Chen Ye asked in surprise, "You gave me the brow bone of the Demon Lord Wujiu just so I could collect these vengeful spirits and help you open the Bronze Gate?"

As expected, there's no such thing as a free lunch. The Lord wouldn't be so generous as to casually give away treasures. No matter what, it's all for greater benefits.

The Venerable One laughed and said, "That was originally the intention, but it seems unnecessary now."

"No need?"

"Yes, I lost out big time."

As the Venerable One spoke, he summoned the shadow of the Crimson Serpent Buddha and gently touched the bronze gate in front of him.

The serpent Buddha ascended gracefully along his arm and then crashed headfirst into the bronze door.

A moment later, the door silently opened a crack, then widened enough for a person to pass through.

The Lord sighed, "I've planned everything, but I overlooked this point. The formation that opens the gate is connected to the bronze gate. Zhang Qi's sword not only shattered the blood sacrifice formation above, but also damaged the seal on the bronze gate. Originally, it would have taken the resentment of hundreds of thousands of lives to break through this gate, but now it can be opened easily."

"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have needed you. I've lost out, I've really lost a lot."

Chen Ye thought to himself: This is called being too clever for one's own good; in the end, he suffered a great loss. However, he still politely said, "Thank you for the treasure, Your Excellency."

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner could be transformed into the Human Emperor Banner entirely thanks to that brow bone. Chen Ye knew he had made a huge profit this time, so he became much more polite to the Venerable Lord.

The Lord was a man of action, able to take things in stride. After grumbling a few times, he strode into the bronze gate.

Chen Ye quickly followed.

As soon as Chen Ye entered, he felt a refreshing scent. Taking a whiff of it made him feel invigorated, as if he had become clear and refreshed from the inside out.

The Venerable One's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in surprise, "The aura alone is so unique, it truly is a treasure."

After walking through a narrow passage, several bright lights naturally lit up ahead.

Chen Ye asked warily, "My lord, is there some kind of trap here?"

"Probably not. I've heard that this divine object is extraordinary. It can cause spiritual energy to change wherever it radiates, rendering ordinary restrictive spells useless. Just hiding it has already taken a lot of effort from the Nirvana Sect, so it's probably difficult to set any traps inside."

Hearing the Venerable One's explanation, Chen Ye became even more curious. What exactly was this so-called treasure from the Immortal Realm, and how could it have enabled the Nirvana Sect to establish itself?

Driven by curiosity, Chen Ye followed closely in the Lord's footsteps and continued forward.

Just as the Lord said, they did not encounter any magical restrictions along the way. The long corridor was empty, with only the luminous pearl providing limited light.

We continued forward, walking for what seemed like hundreds of feet, as if we were heading straight to the Earth's core.

The refreshing aura grew stronger, and Chen Ye felt his blood and qi strengthening with every breath. He was currently at the opportune moment for tempering his body with powerful energy, making him most sensitive to these physical changes; it was definitely not an illusion.

"Just a few breaths here feel like a complete transformation of my body, even better than this superior body refinement method, and it doesn't hurt at all. If I could go into seclusion here to cultivate, wouldn't it be easy to overcome the difficulties of body refinement?"

Chen Ye grew increasingly expectant, and finally, their hard work paid off, and the two of them finally reached the deepest part of the underground palace.

Before them stood a jade Buddha statue, several feet tall, seated cross-legged on a lotus pedestal.

The Buddha statue has exquisite and lifelike features. When Chen Ye looks into it, it feels as if he is being looked down upon by a living Buddha.

However, this jade Buddha was not the treasure the two were looking for; the real treasure was in the palm of the Buddha statue. The jade Buddha was several feet tall, but the treasure seemed to be only the size of a human head, as small as a grain of rice in the Buddha's palm. Yet, this treasure emitted a three-foot-long radiance, which could be clearly seen from a great distance.

The Venerable One had no intention of paying homage to Buddha; he simply flew forward to take the treasure down.

Chen Ye followed curiously and, upon closer inspection, finally saw what the treasure looked like.

Chen Ye exclaimed in surprise, "How come it's a child?"

Its fair and tender appearance clearly indicated that it was a baby less than a month old, sitting cross-legged in an adorable manner with a smile on its face.

His features and expression were no different from those of an ordinary child.

However, upon closer inspection, the child was not breathing; his hair was tied in a bun with a green vine and a few green leaves.

The seven-colored rays of light emanated from the child, along with a refreshing scent that grew stronger the closer one got. Chen Ye felt as if he were floating on air.

The Venerable One was the same; he had intended to reach out and take it, but stopped when he got close, exclaiming in surprise, "My lifespan has actually increased quite a bit."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye immediately asked, "Longevity? How did you know, Your Excellency?"

The Venerable One exclaimed excitedly, "I am already at the Returning to the Void Realm and can sense my own death date long ago. But just now, after taking two breaths of immortal energy here, I feel that I have gained thirty years of lifespan. You are lucky, kid. If I can gain thirty years of lifespan, you will gain at least three hundred years."

"Just smelling it can add hundreds of years to your lifespan..."

Chen Ye was initially surprised, then seemed to remember something.

The Lord had already reached out his hand, and a clump of withered branches spread from his palm, wrapping around the child.

Upon seeing this, Chen Ye immediately cried out, "Not good! Your Majesty, please hold your hand!"

The Venerable One frowned. Although he didn't know why Chen Ye was shouting so loudly, he still put away the withered branch and asked Chen Ye, "Why are you shouting like that? Do you want to take this treasure from me?"

Chen Ye smiled wryly, wondering if he had that ability.
Chen Ye quickly said, "How dare I contend with Your Excellency? I just don't want you to fail at the last minute. This treasure cannot be touched with wood."

The venerable one asked, "Why not? And how do you know it's impossible?"

Chen Ye didn't know how to explain it; he had only just remembered what this thing was.

It can add over three hundred years to your life by just smelling it, and make you grow up like an infant—isn't this the ginseng fruit?!
Chen Ye didn't know why the ginseng fruit from Journey to the West would appear here, but he clearly remembered that the ginseng fruit could not come into contact with anything of the Five Elements.

This ginseng fruit falls when it encounters gold, withers when it encounters wood, dissolves when it encounters water, scorches when it encounters fire, and sinks into the earth when it encounters soil. When the Venerable One tries to catch it with a withered branch, the result will only be that the ginseng fruit withers instantly, wasting this treasure.

However, it might just look similar? It might not actually be a real ginseng fruit.

Chen Ye couldn't be 100% certain, so he could only say vaguely, "Your Excellency, this is a true celestial object. I think I've seen it in ancient books. It's called Ginseng Fruit. But Ginseng Fruit cannot be touched by anything of the Five Elements. Look at that baby's bottom, there are several layers of fur underneath. If it had touched this jade Buddha, it would probably have merged into the Buddha statue long ago."

The Lord looked closely and indeed saw several layers of fur underneath. At first, he thought it was to keep the baby from getting cold, so he put the fur under him.

The Venerable One asked, "You mean I can't touch it with anything of the Five Elements? Are you telling me to just use my hands?"

Chen Yegang nodded, but the Venerable One said, "Then go get it, and hand it to me after you get it. Don't try anything funny with me."

Chen Ye smiled wryly; this devil was quite cautious.

However, Chen Ye also wanted to give it a try, so he mustered up his courage and reached out to the ginseng fruit.

When my fingertips touched that fair and tender arm, I felt a smooth layer of jade. It was warm, but it wasn't flesh and blood.

Chen Ye tried to pick up the ginseng fruit, but found that it weighed an unknown amount of weight. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge it.

Seeing that Chen Yezhen had touched the ginseng fruit without any damage, the Venerable Lord stepped forward and said, "Let me do it."

The Venerable One gripped the ginseng fruit tightly and pulled hard, causing a loud rumbling sound that seemed to shake the entire underground palace.

The Lord quickly released his grip, fearing he might have triggered a trap, or that he might have damaged the divine object by using too much force.

"What's going on here?" the Lord asked.

Chen Ye shrugged. How would he know? The book didn't say that the ginseng fruit weighed tens of millions of kilograms.

If it were really that heavy, wouldn't Tang Sanzang's jaw have been broken if he had bitten it?
"No, this ginseng fruit shouldn't be this heavy. Even if it were, it couldn't possibly shake the entire underground palace, unless... this thing has taken root and sprouted!"

Chen Ye opened his spiritual eyes and saw that the surroundings were filled with extremely rich spiritual energy from plants and trees. Upon closer inspection, he saw that several bright roots were growing out from under the ginseng fruit, piercing into the jade Buddha's palm and spreading all the way to the jade Buddha, even covering the underground palace in front of him.

The Lord also discovered that the dense roots had completely merged with the underground palace, which was why an earthquake would occur when it was pulled out. Unless the entire underground palace was dug out, the only way to remove the ginseng fruit was to cut off these roots.

"Does the book you read say that ginseng fruit can cure diseases?" the Venerable One asked.

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "I've never seen one before, but since this ginseng fruit has already taken root and sprouted, isn't it more valuable than a simple fruit? Once it grows into a ginseng fruit tree, wouldn't that be equivalent to having a whole bunch of ginseng fruits?"

The Venerable One sneered, "Who knows how many years it takes for it to bloom, or how many years it takes to bear fruit?"

Although he said that, the lord ultimately did not attempt to pick the ginseng fruit.

This thing feels as hard as jade; even a flying sword might not be able to cut through its roots. But flying swords are also of the Five Elements; who knows what would happen if one encountered one?
The Lord does not want this only treasure to rot in his hands.

He couldn't use his magic to dig out the entire underground palace and carry it away, because he would be discovered within half a day, and then disaster would befall him.

But now that this treasure is hidden in the underground palace and can't be taken away, what should we do?

After pondering for a long time, the Venerable Lord said to Chen Ye, "Boy, you've got a good deal. I see you don't have a sect, so why don't you establish your own sect in this underground palace?"

(End of this chapter)