Chapter 67: The Bandit Treasure (1)

The scope of the Loulan Ancient City was vast, with ancient towers stretching as far as the eye could see, their boundaries indiscernible. No one knew where the treasure was hidden.

Yang Qi could not use his true qi to investigate, for he knew that there were experts at the Life-Stealing Realm stationed in the ancient city.

What he needed to do now was to capture an expert, force out the location of the treasure, then secretly infiltrate and search for it, storing everything in his "Storage Ring" to amass great wealth.

Yun Hailan, Chu Tiange, and others were bound to engage in a fierce battle with the Life-Stealing Realm experts. He would take this opportunity to empty the city of its treasures, infuriating these two.

"Who are you?"

The leader of the Red-Haired Blood-Sucking Bandits looked at Yang Qi coldly.

His face was completely covered by red hair, making it impossible to discern any expression, but the cruelty and malice in his tone were evident.

"Don't ask who I am. Tell me, where is the treasure of the entire Loulan Ancient City?"

Yang Qi repeated.

"It was long ago transported to the Blood Demon Cave. If you want to find it, go to the Blood Demon Cave."

The Red-Haired Leader burst into laughter.

Suddenly, a blood-colored shadow appeared behind Yang Qi, and a blood-colored palm struck down.

Bang!

Yang Qi's true qi behind him rebounded, shattering the blood-colored palm and causing the shadow to vanish in the backlash. The human-shaped true qi shadow of the Red-Haired Leader also dissipated into the air as a blood mist.

"It seems you prefer the bitter wine to the sweet. Since you won't answer my questions, I'll have to capture you and force the information out of you with true qi. Do you think I'm a fool? With such a large army of blood-sucking bandits in the ancient city, how could they survive without treasure to sustain them?"

Yang Qi made his move without hesitation, delivering a punch.

This punch condensed into the form of the Death God's Spear in mid-air, a massive spear tightly gripped in his fist, piercing through the air as if a death god had descended to harvest lives.

"Blood Shadow Divine Shield!"

The Red-Haired Leader's qi burst forth, forming a shield in front of his body, entirely made of blood. In the center of the shield, a blood-colored ghost head appeared, spewing various blood-colored flames from its mouth.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi's Death God's Spear, in a flash, pierced through the Red-Haired Leader's shield and shattered his entire true qi. Then, a long true qi arm extended from behind Yang Qi, grabbing the Red-Haired Leader and pinning him to the ground.

In just one move, the Red-Haired Leader was captured alive.

The red hair on the Red-Haired Leader's body was highly toxic, but it didn't affect Yang Qi, who used his true qi arm to capture him.

"Now, you can talk."

Yang Qi sent a stream of true qi into the Red-Haired Leader's body, a destructive force from the Divine Elephant Imprisoning Hell technique, wreaking havoc in his meridians.

Instantly, the Red-Haired Leader screamed in agony, his red hair fading to reveal a pale face, that of a middle-aged man.

Yang Qi used his true qi to force all the Blood Demon qi in his body into the dantian, suppressing it harshly, ready to cripple his martial arts at any moment.

"I'll talk, I'll talk. In the center of the Imperial City, thirty zhang underground, there is a secret passage leading to the hidden treasure. All the treasures we plundered from the northwest are stored there." The Red-Haired Leader finally couldn't bear it and began to beg for mercy.

Yang Qi then asked him in detail about the entire layout of the Loulan Ancient City, the experts, and the dangerous traps, getting a clear understanding of everything.

It took a full incense stick's time for the Red-Haired Leader to explain the entire treasure burial site.

Snap!

After he finished speaking, Yang Qi decisively ended his life, then extracted a fist-sized Blood Demon core from his body.

This demon core was extremely beautiful, with countless blood-colored runes rotating on its surface. It felt soft and spongy, like an inner core, storing the most powerful Blood Demon true qi. Unfortunately, it couldn't be used for cultivation, as the Blood Demon technique, once practiced, required daily blood-sucking to avoid poisoning, causing unbearable itching throughout the body.

This was a major drawback of the Blood Demon technique, similar to a drug addiction. However, due to its rapid cultivation speed, many still pursued it.

"This Blood Demon core is worth at least five merit points." Yang Qi looked at it and stored it in his ring.

At this moment, he had already put the ring on his finger.

"Death God's Protection!"

With a loud shout, his true qi spread out, forming a dark golden armor around his body.

This dark golden true qi armor enveloped his entire body, airtight and impenetrable.

The true qi armor looked like it was forged from black gold, with a fierce appearance, resembling an outer shell. It had spikes on the back, two winding horns on the head like dragon horns, and clawed hands with nine fingers, symbolizing the supreme nine. His feet were clad in war boots.

This was the form of Death God's Protection after he advanced to the Qi Master realm, transforming into the Death God's Armor.

Even if he jumped into the lava of a volcano, he would be unharmed. This was the strongest protection, making him invulnerable to any true qi.

This was also why he had the confidence to face Chu Tiange.

The "Great Sun Heaven and Earth Sword" would likely not be able to cut through the Death God's Armor.

Of course, by transforming into the Death God's Armor, he also concealed his identity, making it impossible for anyone to recognize him as Yang Qi, which made things much easier.

"Chu Tiange, I look forward to meeting you again, Yun Hailan! I also look forward to meeting you. Don't think that with Chu Tiange protecting you, you can do as you please. I will kill Chu Tiange right in front of you, showing you that your pride is nothing before me."

With the Death God's Armor, Yang Qi's speed increased dramatically, leaping between the tall buildings, appearing to others as nothing more than a gust of wind and snow.

In no time, he saw the massive Imperial City at the center of the entire Loulan Ancient City. This Imperial City was ten times the size of Yandu City, the capital of the Loulan Ancient Kingdom, with gold-leaf tiles on the roof and golden bricks on the ground.

Although gold was no longer used as currency but as a decorative item, the fact that the royal family could pave the ground with gold bricks was still impressive.

Approaching the Imperial City, Yang Qi immediately sensed a powerful force lurking deep within.

This force was like an ancient behemoth, swallowing clouds and exhaling mist, boundless and endless, even affecting the snow clouds in the sky. A blood-colored true qi pillar could be faintly seen rising to the sky, interacting with the celestial phenomena.

This was definitely a scene that only an expert at the Life-Stealing Realm could create.

"Let's not worry about that for now. First, I'll go down the secret passage and find the treasure."

Yang Qi quietly landed beside the Imperial City, then crouched in a corner. Next to the Death God's Armor, the Winter Snow true qi from the Four Seasons Sword Technique merged with the snow, making him invisible, especially at night.

He could faintly hear the sounds of battle outside, attracting many experts from the blood-sucking bandits, making the interior of the Imperial City even more deserted.

Yang Qi crouched by a frozen moat.

This moat was over a thousand steps wide, with ice several people thick.

Yang Qi had learned that at the bottom of this moat was a secret water passage leading to the underground of the Imperial City. The underground of the Imperial City had many tunnels, like a maze, containing the accumulated wealth of the Loulan Ancient Kingdom for hundreds of years, as well as various treasures plundered by the blood-sucking bandits from the northwest.

Although the underground maze was filled with traps, Yang Qi's qi could melt metal and iron, making the traps ineffective.

Snap!

With a true qi shock, he quietly broke the ice and sank into the water.

The water was extremely deep and pitch black, with faintly visible fish swimming around. However, Yang Qi's true qi had reached the "Out of the Body" realm, allowing him to see everything even in complete darkness.

With his true qi scanning, everything in the water was clearly visible.

The moat was very deep, and the water pressure increased the deeper he went. Fortunately, Yang Qi's true qi was powerful, and the cold water could not touch his body. Otherwise, even a regular qi expert would not have been able to endure it.

He sank directly to the bottom of the moat.

At the bottom, it was clean and free of silt. Yang Qi sent out a stream of true qi and discovered that the bottom was paved with gold bricks, polished smooth by the constant flow of water.

His true qi continued to scan, covering over ten miles, and he suddenly struck out with a palm, creating a large hole in the riverbed. It turned out to be a steel door, tightly sealed, made of a metal that did not rust.

When the iron door opened, water rushed in.

Yang Qi followed the water flow into the entrance.

Snap, snap!

As soon as he entered, a loud noise echoed, as if a giant blade was cutting into his body. He scanned with his true qi and discovered a massive meat grinder-like blade at the entrance, spinning at high speed due to the water flow, slicing anyone who entered into pieces.

However, the sharp, massive blades shattered into pieces upon contact with Yang Qi's Death God's Armor, turning into scrap metal.

Seeing the sharp blades, several zhang long and numbering over a hundred, Yang Qi thought to himself, "Fortunately, it's me. Even a regular Qi Master would likely die from this."

After destroying the hidden trap, Yang Qi entered a secret passage without getting wet. The water from the moat flowed into a channel, the mechanism's ingenuity leaving one in awe.

"Good, this is the secret passage."

Yang Qi knew that the more dangerous a place was, the more likely it was to be the location of the treasure. With his body impervious to blades, he charged forward.

Along the way, he triggered many traps, including countless hidden weapons, spinning blades, various poisons, and even flames, but none of them affected him.