Chapter 570: Emptying the Treasury

Chapter 570: Emptying the Treasury

Boom! Boom!

In the central region of the ancient battlefield,

an extraordinary sight emerged.

The ground bulged into an enormous mound—

its lower half composed of rolling mountain ranges and rocky terrain,

its upper half a blood-red liquid hemisphere.

It looked as though the earth had grown a glowing red tumor.

From within this terrestrial cyst came tremendous roars and explosive crashes.

Inside, it was shrouded by the gray mist of the Death Veil,

wherein hazy fog constantly erupted with rainbow-colored radiance.

The undead suffered heavy casualties.

The vast army of the legendary lich had not even brushed against the hem of the Jade Prince’s robe

before being mercilessly obliterated by the power of a demi-artifact.

It seemed he had been laboring in vain all along.

Even sixth-tier undead would disintegrate if grazed by the sword aura unleashed from the demi-artifact blade.

Legendary undead were no exception—they fell to a single strike.

The Jade Prince calmly surveyed his surroundings, searching for the hidden puppet master behind these undead.

Li Wei had opened a portal to send him here—but hadn’t yet arrived himself.

So the one pulling strings must be Li Wei's accomplice.

Based on what the Jade Prince knew about Li Wei,

he understood that Li Wei appeared connected to a certain legendary lich.

Seeing the seemingly endless tide of undead around him,

the Jade Prince realized there must indeed be a legendary lich controlling them.

Yet something puzzled him: why was this legendary lich going to such lengths to target him?

His attacks clearly had no effect at all—so why didn’t they change tactics?

Unable to fathom the motives of the legendary lich,

the Jade Prince simply assumed that perhaps too long spent as an undead had caused its mind to atrophy,

reducing its intelligence until it could only perform such futile actions.

Trying to locate a legendary lich skilled in concealment amidst a sea of undead

was akin to finding a needle in an ocean.

After searching briefly without success,

the Jade Prince lost interest in remaining here and decided to leave.

He soared toward the sky, delivering a full-force slash toward the heavens.

A multicolored sword beam shot up into the air.

Whoosh! Bang!

The sword energy struck the massive crimson dome above, instantly shattering it.

Just as he prepared to fly out, however,

in the blink of an eye, the dome restored itself completely.

Its speed of regeneration was beyond imagination.

Eyes narrowing, the Jade Prince slashed repeatedly,

shredding the red dome into countless fragments.

Great torrents of red blood rained down from the sky.

He flew outward once more.

Suddenly, his expression froze slightly—he turned to look around.

Unknowingly, he had reappeared right back at the center of the encirclement.

Exactly where he started.

Looking up, countless droplets of blood reversed their fall, flying upward to reform the vast, vivid red firmament.

Surveying his surroundings again, the Jade Prince realized space itself had become distorted.

Normal means could not escape this place.

A colossal worm made entirely of bone writhed upon the spatial barrier,

gnawing holes through it one after another, carving twisted, winding passages through space.

One of the Twelve Death Servants—the Bone Worm Nongus, Devourer of Space.

This creature was a special creation of the legendary lich,

imbued with spatial power—a spatial worm named Nongus.

Originally, Nongus had been a time-space worm dwelling along the boundaries between dimensions.

Upon discovering it, the legendary lich performed a necromantic rebirth ritual,

transforming the time-space worm into the skeleton-devouring Bone Worm Nongus.

Using the various spatial wormholes created by Nongus across the dimensional barriers,

the legendary lich trapped the Jade Prince, preventing his escape from this area.

Within the gray mist, an inconspicuous gray cloud slowly drifted closer to the Jade Prince,

drawing no attention whatsoever.

This gray cloud looked peculiar, bristling with decayed feathers stuck all over it.

It resembled a cotton ball studded with plumes.

Unnoticed, the gray cloud drew near and clung to the Jade Prince’s body.

Gradually, the defensive glow of the tri-color demi-artifact began to fade.

When the light dimmed enough, the Jade Prince finally noticed something strange hidden within the gray mist.

Quickly, he swung his sword to cleave the gray cloud apart.

But the demi-artifact blade in his hand passed straight through the cloud,

unable to make contact at all.

These were Reaper Feathers brought back by the legendary lich from the Realm of the Dead.

Strange entities that floated freely within the netherworld.

They possessed some degree of self-awareness but lacked true intelligence—

like programmed automatons.

Within the Deadlands, they were infamous and loathed by both man and beast alike.

Reaper Feathers killed every living or undead being they encountered, harvesting souls.

Some called them the wings of death, servants of the Reaper—

tools used by Death itself to reap souls.

People avoided them at all costs.

Their movement was slow—even sluggish.

Thus, so long as one remained cautious, kept distance, and quickly fled upon spotting one,

danger could usually be avoided.

However, once entangled by a Reaper Feather, death was inevitable.

For within each feather lay fragments of the Law of Death.

Even semi-divine undead found it nearly impossible to evade pursuit by the Reaper Feathers.

This was also the reason why the creatures of the Death Realm believed that the Feather of Death was connected to the God of Death.

No one knew how the legendary lich had brought the Feather of Death into the Prime Material Plane.

But now, the Feather of Death was indeed under his control.

Not so much controlled as guided.

The Feather of Death clung to the Jade Prince, and the power of the Law of Death continuously weakened the defenses of the demi-artifact.

Realizing he could not harm the Feather of Death, and seeing the power of his defensive demi-artifact steadily waning, the Jade Prince finally showed a trace of panic on his face.

“What in the world is this thing?”

His eyes revealed bewilderment.

He had never seen nor heard of such an object before.

So much so that for a moment, he didn’t even know what treasure to use against this strange cloud.

As the radiant light of his defensive demi-artifact was about to be swallowed by the peculiar gray cloud—

The Jade Prince hastily cast out a holy relic from the Church of the Light God.

A golden chalice of divine light—a sacred artifact used by the Church to transform ordinary spring water into holy water.

The Jade Prince hoped that drinking holy water over time would extend his lifespan.

Using some connections and spending a small fortune, he had purchased this Chalice of Light directly from the Pope.

Though the Chalice sounded incredibly rare, as if there were only one in existence—

In truth, it was an authentic creation of divine power. As long as the Church prayed to the Light God, they could produce as many Chalices as they wished.

Since the Jade Prince was willing to pay a high price for it, the Pope was naturally happy to sell him one.

It was also a gesture of goodwill.

The Jade Prince hurled the Chalice of Light into the strange gray cloud.

The divine energy within the chalice, stimulated by the Law of Death, instantly erupted.

Brilliant holy radiance burst forth.

The Law of Light manifested.

The two opposing laws clashed, tearing apart the Feather of Death that had been clinging to the Jade Prince.

The Jade Prince quickly fled the area with his dimmed defensive demi-artifact.

Boom!

After a brief standoff between the Feather of Death and the Chalice of Light, a violent explosion occurred.

The Feather of Death dissipated, and broken feathers slowly fell from the cloud, transforming into specks of light that gradually faded into the air.

The Chalice of Light also lost its glow and fell powerless to the ground.

Landing in the dirt, it became utterly inconspicuous.

Seeing that the Chalice had resolved the threat of the Feather of Death, the Jade Prince finally let out a breath of relief.

However, he no longer dared to underestimate the legendary lich who had ambushed him. This lich truly had some tricks up his sleeve.

To be able to obtain something so bizarre—

Just as the Jade Prince prepared to draw his ultimate weapon to destroy everything in the vicinity—

Suddenly, a bone-chilling sensation surged through his heart, making every hair on his body stand on end.

He immediately poured all his strength into his defensive demi-artifact, pushing its power to the limit.

A beam of black light shot silently from the gray mist, striking the Jade Prince’s back.

For a moment, the three-colored radiance of the demi-artifact blocked the black light.

Then both vanished simultaneously.

A sharp crack echoed in the Jade Prince’s ears. Looking down, he saw that his defensive demi-artifact had shattered.

His expression turned grave.

The legendary lich lowered his staff, his face emotionless.

That black light had been a forbidden spell—Death’s Finger.

The forbidden spell known as Death’s Finger was said to be the strongest single-target incantation.

Even a demigod struck by it would perish instantly.

The Jade Prince’s demi-artifact had saved him from certain death.

Thus, the demi-artifact was now completely destroyed.

Had it been at full strength, perhaps it might have withstood Death’s Finger without being utterly ruined.

But the lich had timed his attack perfectly—waiting until the demi-artifact had been weakened by the Feather of Death, then striking when it was most vulnerable.

Successfully destroying the Jade Prince’s last line of defense.

A trap from which there was no escape.

With the demi-artifact broken,

the Jade Prince finally found himself in real danger, no longer able to maintain his aloof composure.

After the demi-artifact shattered, he pulled out a top-tier legendary defensive item.

Compared to a demi-artifact, even the finest legendary equipment paled in comparison.

It left him feeling insecure.

The Jade Prince charged toward the direction from which the black light had come,

intent on locating the lich.

Now, the true battle began.

After Li Wei delivered the Jade Prince to the legendary lich, he noticed the prince attempting to forcibly open a spatial portal to return to the Jade Court.

Without hesitation, Li Wei severed the connection.

The portal vanished right before the Jade Prince’s eyes.

At that moment, the vast garden held only Li Wei.

As he prepared to leave, he suddenly remembered the contingency plan he had set aside.

He hurriedly activated it.

Among the mountain of gift boxes, one suddenly opened, and a hand reached out.

Moments later, Li Wei’s illusionary body crawled out from inside the box.

By now, all the gift boxes had already been stacked in the Jade Prince’s treasury, awaiting his command.

Most gifts, once placed here, would remain forgotten, gathering dust for years.

But now, someone was about to change their fate.

Leevi had originally intended to wait until the guests dispersed, at which point the illusion hidden inside the gift would quietly emerge and open a spatial portal.

This would have allowed the legendary lich to lead his grand army stealthily into the Jade Court.

Yet, he had not anticipated that plans would fail to keep pace with changing circumstances.

Before the gift Leevi prepared could even be used, the Jade Prince took the initiative to summon him.

The prince had even willingly stepped straight into the spatial portal.

It had all gone so smoothly that it felt utterly unbelievable.

As he was leaving, Leevi remembered the illusion still concealed within the gift box.

Realizing the illusion was surrounded by a massive mountain of treasures, he figured he might as well make a fortune before making his exit.

Upon activating the illusion and witnessing the scene before his eyes, even Leevi was struck with astonishment.

He had actually materialized inside the Jade Prince's grandest treasury, a vault brimming with a millennium's worth of accumulated wonders.

Under normal circumstances, absolutely no one entered this vault, and its massive doors remained tightly sealed.

But at this moment, Leevi's illusion was free to do exactly as he pleased.

He immediately opened a portal to his magical space, sweeping up all the surrounding gift boxes into the void in one clean motion.

Along with them, he began to pocket every single treasure resting on the vault's display shelves.

The magical space was vast enough anyway; there was no need to worry about running out of room.

By now, the volume of his magical space exceeded one billion cubic meters.

It was larger than even a demi-artifact grade storage ring.

It was more than enough to completely strip the entire treasury bare.

However, certain vital and precious items were secured by magical arrays and locked within enchanted cases.

Leevi refrained from touching those for the time being.

Forcibly breaking the magical arrays to extract the items would trigger the treasury's alarms and draw the guards.

Thus, Leevi focused first on taking everything that could be easily carried away.

This process alone consumed nearly an hour of his time.

The Jade Prince's treasury was simply too immense.

Leevi felt as though he had just carted off a fortune equivalent to the wealth of several kingdoms combined.

Yet, these collectibles and treasures represented only a fraction of the Jade Prince's true wealth.

Compared to these items left to gather dust in a vault, the prince's fixed assets, vast territories, and the kingdoms he invested in constituted a far greater fortune.

Those were things Leevi had no way of taking with him.

Even so, walking away with a mere tenth of the Jade Prince's wealth was enough to ensure that Leevi would never have to worry about money or resources for the rest of his days.

Once he finished plundering the ordinary collectibles in the vault, Leevi turned his attention to the precious items he desired most.

To be completely safe, I should destroy all the magical arrays simultaneously in one go, Leevi thought to himself.

If he relied solely on magic, even as a legendary mage, he would be unable to pull off such a feat.

There were simply too many items.

It was impossible for him to divide his focus to attend to every single magical array.

However, Leevi could utilize the laws of elemental fusion to manufacture miniature nuclear bombs.

Using the useless decorative gemstones he had gathered within the vault, he crafted several hundred miniature nuclear bombs and placed them at precise locations throughout the treasury.

He calibrated their power perfectly so that they would destroy the magical arrays without damaging the treasures sealed inside.

Then, he retreated to a safe corner.

With a mere flicker of his mind, he detonated all the miniature nuclear bombs instantly.

A violent, trembling roar echoed through the chamber, and the magical elements across the entire treasury instantly tangled into a chaotic mess.

Every single magical array was blown wide open.

This action also triggered the treasury's alarm array.

Immediately, a heavy rush of footsteps resounded from outside the doors.

Leevi's illusion cast a telekinesis spell, causing all the surrounding treasures to fly willingly into the portal of the magical space.

The final item soared into the magical space.

The illusion closed the spatial portal.

Then, it dissolved on the spot.

The wisp of spiritual energy within the illusion exploded with a soft pop, vanishing without a trace.

The entire treasury returned to absolute silence.

Rumble!

The vault doors were thrown open.

When the guards beheld the completely empty treasury, they were all utterly stupefied.

What on earth was going on?

Where did the items in the treasury go?

Even if a thief had broken in, where was the thief who stole them?