Hope Fang is okay, the battle for treasures has always been like this

Amidst Hun Lan's furious curses, Chen Yi remained expressionless, unmoved as he continued the refinement process.

Fortunately, the operation was a success. Hun Lan didn’t turn into a brain-dead imbecile—only his "root of fate" was severed, stripping this lifetime from his myriad reincarnations and cutting all ties to the immortal realm.

Unfortunately, after being forced into signing a contract and losing control of his own body, Hun Lan suddenly realized: Had he perhaps been a little too reckless with his words earlier?

Oh no!!!

Death wasn’t the scary part—living in agony was the real torment!

He’d cursed to his heart’s content earlier, but now that the situation was clear, he was in for a world of suffering!

How would this guy torture him?

He didn’t look like the forgiving type!

Double oh no!!!

"DUang!"

Chen Yi never held grudges. He simply… gently coaxed Hun Lan into a deep sleep.

After all, this was his first time handling a Taiyi-level being. He lacked experience, so getting cursed at during the process was understandable. He’d just have to be more careful next time. Once these captives were brought back to the Ziwei Immortal Realm, this Hun Lan would be classified as a top-tier resource—to be used thoroughly, reasonably, and relentlessly!

"Chen Yi, you look a bit grim. Did something bad happen?"

At this moment, Black Earth, who had just deciphered the conditions to proceed to the next stage, cautiously asked.

"It’s nothing!" Chen Yi waved his hand. "What are the requirements for the next stage?"

He decided to pause his operations for now, advance to the next stage, and wait for these immortal realm laborers to mine all the resources here before harvesting them.

Black Earth hesitated before speaking slowly, "The condition to enter the third stage is rather unique—you must forge a special ‘toll coin.’"

Chen Yi was stunned. "A what now? Toll coin?"

Black Earth explained, "Simply put, you need to extract ‘Geng Metal’ from the Five Elements Mountain, use ‘Bing Fire’ as the furnace, ‘Jia Wood’ as the material, ‘Gui Water’ for quenching, and ‘Wu Earth’ for solidification. Then, following a specific pattern, you must refine it within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, infusing it with a drop of your essence blood to forge a Five Elements Fate Coin. Only then can you proceed."

"Of course, without the suppression of the Spirit-Sealing Mark, you could do this with a mere thought. But now, with only our most basic physical forms, even gathering the materials is difficult, let alone completing the forging within the time limit!"

"Chen Yi, you can still use magic, right? This daunting task falls to you!"

Hearing this, Chen Yi frowned and asked thoughtfully, "Show me the forging process for this Five Elements Fate Coin."

"Sure!" Black Earth nodded and immediately carved a diagram into the hard ground.

"See? This is the pattern of the Five Elements Fate Coin. It looks simple, but without magic, it’s nearly impossible. Relying solely on the physical body, you can’t freely manipulate the essence of the Five Elements, let alone refine them according to your will—especially under such a tight deadline. This is practically torturing me, Black Earth!"

Chen Yi fell silent.

If even a Great Luo found this task daunting, how had Little Fang managed it?

He wasn’t like Chen Yi, whose Spirit-Sealing Mark might as well not exist, allowing him to wield magic freely.

Little Fang had only his rudimentary pseudo-immortal body to work with. In such harsh conditions, he’d still completed this grueling task within the time limit—and excellently at that!

Even if his lower cultivation reduced some resistance, the difficulty of the task itself hadn’t lessened. In fact, due to his youth, lack of experience, and insufficient mastery, the challenges he faced might have surpassed even those of a Great Luo!

He really… was something else.

"Little Fang, Little Fang… it seems this Chaos Treasure truly has a bond with you. Stay sharp—don’t embarrass yourself!"

Chen Yi’s gaze turned profound. His only worry now was that Little Fang might have succumbed to the pressure, trapped or even fallen in one of the later stages.

So, he needed to speed up. He planned to set a trap in the third stage to capture all five ancient clans of the immortal realm, then follow Little Fang’s trail to check on him.

He hoped Little Fang was alright!

"Hahaha! You think you can kill me?!"

"Is this all you’ve got?"

"So what if you copy all my moves?"

"Aside from beating me half to death, what else can you mirror clones do? What are you even good for?!"

"Watch this—Monkey Steals the Peach!"

"High-level combat only needs the simplest techniques!"

"Dragon Claw, Lotus Drift, Scorpion Strike, Kangaroo Hop!"

"Twin Peaks Pierce the Ears—Smash the Walnut! Twin Dragons Play with Pearls—Stupid Elephant Stomps the Rat…"

Knocked down again and again, he kept getting back up.

Little Fang’s mentality had shattered. His attacks were chaotic, driven purely by sheer stubbornness as he charged forward, only to be pummeled relentlessly by the mirror clones. Clearing this stage seemed hopeless…

Fortunately, the mirror realm was saturated with dense primordial spiritual energy, rapidly replenishing his stamina, magic, and condition. That was the only reason he could fight nonstop for twelve hours and still be full of energy!

What he didn’t know was that behind the mirror world, a little girl with twin pigtails was silently watching, her expression complex—wavering between hesitation, intrigue, and, most of all, an indescribable fear.

"Big Brother… you’re really amazing. Can I… really trust you?"

"Senior Creation Disc trusted that person so deeply, only to be betrayed and have his true spirit utterly annihilated…"

"Will you become like him?"

"Let me… see your heart a little longer…"

"Ugh—"

"Why do I suddenly feel a chill down my spine? Who’s talking about me behind my back? Is it you, Old Wushi? Damn it!"

Outside the Chaos Secret Realm, within the causal mist space created by the Wu Shi Heavenly Mirror.

The Little Golden Dragon shuddered before immediately turning to taunt the mirror’s spirit, a young boy.

"Moron!" The boy-spirit couldn’t be bothered with him, tossing out a single insult before silently resuming communication with Hu Fangyuan, far away in the Abyssal Ruins of the Divine Realm’s Dark Abyss.

Only a Chaos Treasure could truly understand another Chaos Treasure!

Though Hu Fangyuan’s disguise as "Black Earth’s sister" seemed unremarkable on the surface, under the guidance of the Wu Shi Mirror’s spirit, she had secretly avoided every red flag that might repel a Chaos Treasure’s spirit, maxing out her favorability—all behind Chen Yi’s back.

If she and Chen Yi reached the final stage simultaneously, the newly awakened Chaos Treasure would undoubtedly choose her!

Sorry, Chen Yi. The competition for Chaos Treasures has always been ruthless. You’re too domineering—a spirit would never favor someone like you!

......

P.S. Everyone, please hold off on the gifts for now. I don’t deserve them. Let me rest—I’m still not fully recovered. The negative effects are stacking, and my health keeps dropping. I barely managed to push out these two chapters. I’m completely spent…