Inside the dilapidated building, cobwebs, cracks, and dust were scattered everywhere, and the walls bore old, faded paintings.
Everyone kept silent as they rushed to find a room. Jun Wu purposefully moved toward the door at the far end.
Since hearing about the Bright Pearl Village ruin, memories of the ancient being had flashed through his mind, and he knew that if he wanted to grow stronger quickly, he needed the inheritance hidden within the ruin.
Opening the door, he found steps leading downward. At the end of the passage was the ancient clan's treasure vault.
However, instead of rushing to the vault, he examined the seemingly ordinary walls and breathed cold.
Behind the walls were deadly traps.
These traps might be challenging for others, but not impossible for him. He cast a defensive array formation without hesitation, creating a shield around him.
With the shield in place, he raced toward the vault.
Whoosh!
From the walls, dozens of arrows shot toward him at breathtaking speed. Jun Wu did not dare underestimate the attack and strengthened the defensive formation.
The arrows bounced off the shield but left several cracks in it. Halfway through the passage, a terrifying fire burst from a hidden hole, blazing toward him.
"Damn!" he cursed, increasing his speed.
'I need to create a formation that increases my speed,' he thought, gritting his teeth as the heat pressed against the shield.
Sweat dripped from his forehead, and his heart pounded as he watched the shield on the brink of shattering.
"Huh!" He sighed in relief as he escaped the flames.
Passing through the traps, he heard them retract into their hidden chambers, and everything grew quiet.
"I hate ruins." He clicked his tongue and turned his attention to the open vault.
"I guess whatever happened here prevented them from emptying the vault."
Entering the vault, he saw many empty shelves and moved from one to another, noting that some still held old manuals.
But when he touched the manuals, they disintegrated into dust.
This was expected; only the heavens knew how old these manuals were.
When he found weapons instead of useless manuals, his eyes lit up. There were various weapons, some worn and some still usable.
He gathered the weapons and continued his search. On the last shelf, he saw a small box made from special wood.
Moving to the box, he opened it.
Inside were small, shiny stones, along with two manuals.
Seeing the stones, a rare smile appeared on his face. This was why he had come to the ruins—for these stones. These were no ordinary stones; they were Spirit Stones.
Spirit Stones were rare cultivation resources found only in ruins. Whenever Spirit Stones appeared, bloodshed was sure to follow.
Without hesitation, he closed the box, ready to leave the vault.
Ahhh!
A miserable scream echoed from the passage leading to the vault. Jun Wu furrowed his brows and left the vault.
On the other side of the vault, disciples from the Verdant Blade Hall stared at him, their eyes brightening.
"Captain, look, he has rare weapons," a young man shouted, his gaze filled with greed.
Yuan Lim looked at Jun Wu in shock. Jun Wu's loot was far more valuable than anything they had found in the ruin.
"Kid, why don't you leave some weapons for us? Then we won't have to fight you," Yuan Lim threatened with a smile.
"Come and get them," Jun Wu replied coldly.
"Fine!" Yuan Lim's face darkened, his blood boiling in anger. "Three of you, go."
He commanded three of his disciples, who rushed into the passage. They tried to dodge the deadly arrows but were killed shortly after reaching the center.
Watching his disciples' deaths, Jun Wu sneered. The vault would have been emptied long ago if the trap were that easy.
Yuan Lim gritted his teeth as he looked at the corpses. With so many dead, he couldn't return to the hall without sufficient resources.
Determined, he vowed to take everything from Jun Wu.
"There's only one path out. Let's see how you escape," he sneered, folding his arms and waiting for Jun Wu.
Just then, footsteps approached, and soon Gu Cheng and his clansmen arrived at the underground vault.
"What do we have here?" Gu Cheng grinned evilly.
Ignoring Yuan Lim, he stared at Jun Wu.
"Hand over everything, and you may keep your life," Gu Cheng said arrogantly.
He would have rushed to kill Jun Wu, but the bodies in the passage gave him pause. He could only resort to threats.
Jun Wu ignored him and approached them. He was a Peak-stage Third-Rated Martial Artist, while Yuan Lim and Gu Cheng were Initial Second-Rated Martial Artists.
As Second-Rated Martial Artists in their youth, they were geniuses with bright futures and filled with pride.
How could they let a nobody trample over them and take the rare resources from the ruin?
As Jun Wu closed in, their smirks grew, greed overflowing.
To them, he was as good as dead.
But when Jun Wu was only a few feet away, he attacked.
He was decisive and ruthless.
The Wind Attacking Formation appeared before him, and two wind strikes flew toward Gu Cheng at breathtaking speed.
Shocked!
Gu Cheng felt his hair stand on end and quickly took a defensive stance, delivering a powerful fist strike.
Bang!
He tried to shatter the wind strikes but soon realized they were more powerful than he had imagined.
Ahhh!
The first wind strike left a deep gash on his arm, while the second hit his chest, causing a severe injury and sending him flying.
In a single exchange, Gu Cheng was defeated, leaving everyone stunned. But that was just the beginning—Jun Wu wasted no time, sending two powerful wind strikes at Yuan Lim.
Prepared, Yuan Lim used his movement skill to dodge the wind strikes and, in retaliation, threw a hidden dagger at Jun Wu. His movements were fluid, leaving no chance to evade.
But Jun Wu didn't intend to dodge.
A shield appeared around him, deflecting the attack.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Jun Wu retaliated with four deadly wind strikes.
"Damn!" Yuan Lim cursed, his heart pounding in his chest.
This was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre fighting style. Without a second thought, he fled the narrow passage.
Unfortunately, his slower disciples couldn't escape quickly and were cleaved in two by the wind strikes.
Outside, covered in sweat, Yuan Lim looked back at the door leading to the underground vault, furious and gritting his teeth.
He turned to the students from the Mystic Path Academy, an evil glint flashing in his eyes.