Nine Astra Skies

"This… This is a Tianyuan ancient coin!" Master Lion, who was inside the Heavenly Astra Seal, exclaimed.

"What's a Tianyuan ancient coin?" Ye Chen asked, stunned.

"Tianyuan ancient coins are a currency originating from Tianyuan Ancient City. These ancient coins are forged out of precious metals. If one were to use these precious metals to forge a weapon, it'd be extremely sharp and could easily snap a Tier Seven or Eight spirit artifact. Therefore, every single Tianyuan ancient coin is highly valuable."

"Why would these Tianyuan ancient coins appear inside the bodies of these Spirit Beasts?"

"That, I'm not sure." Master Lion was also at a loss. "I only know these Spirit Beasts have a special kind of metal inside their heads but I didn't imagine that it'd be such a precious Tianyuan ancient coin! Regardless, you cannot miss this opportunity. Collect a few more Tianyuan ancient coins!"

"Yes!" Upon hearing Master Lion's words, Ye Chen did not hesitate. He mobilized the Water Spirit Sword Technique and killed his way through. He directly beheaded the Spirit Beasts in front of him. "Slash, slash, slash." Beams of golden rays flew out. Ye Chen's left hand did not stop moving, grabbing every piece of Tianyuan ancient coin. Soon, he had already collected hundreds of pieces.

Ye Chen moved as fast as a shooting star, flying all the way.

Behind him, Fu Ze and the others were looking at Ye Chen's departing figure with astonishment. What a blazing speed! Ye Chen was killing Spirit Beasts as he flew, yet he was able to maintain such a high speed. It was truly impressive. Judging from those blue sword flashes, it was the Storm Sword. Was this person a combatant from the House of Storms?

Although the Storm lineage also had a relatively long history, the Thunder Beast Clan had never taken them seriously. They did not expect such a skilled prodigy to arise from the younger generation of the House of Storms.

Several groups of people continued to kill the Spirit Beasts along the way. Behind them, more people had entered the second level of the Soul Pagoda. Thus, a large-scale war had erupted between humans and the Spirit Beasts.

On the first level of the Soul Pagoda, the Earthly Venerable and Earthly Adept combatants who were not flying creatures looked up in envy at those who could fly. They could only take one step at a time and kill the Spirit Beasts that they had encountered along the way.

They wondered when they would achieve Heavenly Venerable or Heavenly Adept Rank.

An Earthly Venerable One swung a Tier Two longsword in his hand. He cut off the head of one of the Spirit Beast and took some of its meat. Then, he cut open the Spirit Beast's head and a golden ray shimmered into view.

"Huh, what's this?" The Earthly Venerable One took out the little thing curiously. Upon inspection, it was a flat, round metal disc that was covered with mysterious runes.

In various places, skilled masters who had cut open the Spirit Beasts' heads found the same strange metal.

"Bring this to the elder!"

"Quickly, send this to the sect leader!"

"Deliver this to His Majesty!"

...

A number of people took the Tianyuan ancient coins and left the Soul Pagoda.

Inside the Tribunal Council main camp, Grand Supreme Elder Cang Lu was carefully inspecting the round metal in his hand with an excited expression.

"Grand Supreme Elder, what's this thing?" Fu Yu and the others asked.

"If I'm not mistaken…" Cang Lu looked at the person beside him. "Bring a Tier Five longsword here!"

"Yes!" One of the subordinates quickly retrieved a Tier Five longsword and handed it to Cang Lu respectfully.

Cang Ly placed the round metal on the floor and swung the Tier Five longsword down. "Ding", there was a loud tinkling sound. The round metal was completely unblemished, but the tip of the Tier Five longsword was broken!

"Hiss—" Fu Yu and the rest of the people gasped.

"What's this? Even a Tier Five treasure cannot break it?" Fu Yu asked in shock.

"Haha, it truly is that thing. This old man's guess is right. This must be the legendary Tianyuan ancient coin! This thing is forged out of a type of special metal. If this metal is used to forge a weapon, it'd be on par with a Tier Seven or Tier Eight spirit artifact. Pass down my order. Everyone below Mystique Venerable Rank, enter the Soul Pagoda, kill those Spirit Beasts and collect the Tianyuan ancient coins!" Cang Lu decided immediately. "If anyone is willing to sell these Tianyuan ancient coins, buy them no matter what the price!"

Fu Yu voiced out in doubt, "Grand Supreme Elder, why would this Tianyuan ancient coin be embedded in the head of the Spirit Beasts? Isn't it too unbelievable to be true?"

"I don't know. Perhaps this is related to Tianyuan Ancient City and involves some ancient secrets. According to legends, during ancient times, all the ancient powerful masters went to Tianyuan Ancient City to fight against a vicious daemon creature. They haven't reappeared among mankind for tens of thousands of years. The sudden emergence of these Tianyuan ancient coins must signify an impending major event. This might be an opportunity for the Tribunal Council. All of you should be prepared as well. If another faction's Godly Venerable One or Daemon King enters the Soul Pagoda, we must also enter. We mustn't allow other people to seize this opportunity!" Cang Lu growled. A stern expression flashed across his eyes.

In the Thunder Beast Clan's camp.

A slender woman with an extraordinarily enchanting appearance was holding up the round metal in her hands. The Thunder Beast lineage also belonged to an ancient heritage, so she was able to quickly recognize the Tianyuan ancient coin. She was an elder of the Thunder Beast Clan. Her name was Bi Lin, also a Grand Supreme powerhouse of Grade Five Boundless Rank.

The woman's appearance could be described as exquisite. She wore a shapely long dress that accentuated her voluptuous figure.

"Inform the Beast Emperor that Tianyuan ancient coins have been found in the Soul Pagoda!" she ordered in a husky voice.

"Yes!"

It was not just the Tribunal Council and the Thunder Beast Clan. Very soon, every ancient family, every ancient lineage clan, and every powerful faction had found out about this news. Only the lower ranked sects did not know about the origins of these ancient coins despite finding the Tianyuan ancient coins.

The emergence of the Tianyuan ancient coins had stirred up more undercurrents among the major factions.

In the middle of the second level of the Soul Pagoda, Ye Chen flew on. In a distance, a pillar of light rose into the sky and illuminated the entire second level of the Soul Pagoda. The source of the light was unknown but it continued to expand. Around the light pillar, dozens of white crystals floated in the air and danced around it.

"Master Lion, what's that?" Ye Chen looked from afar. The white light was slightly too bright, so he could not see clearly despite straining his eyes.

"Youngling Ye Chen, quickly grab it. Those are Cosmic Stones! Goodness, there are twenty-six Cosmic Stones. Any later and you'll miss it!" Master Lion said urgently.

After all, trailing right behind them were several groups of combatants including hundreds of Mystique Venerable Rank masters!

A single Cosmic Stone could give rise to a Mystique Venerable One! Now, there were at least twenty stones in front of them!

Ye Chen sped up and rushed toward the front. As he flew, he asked, "Master Lion, didn't you say that Cosmic Stones are very rare? Why did twenty-six of them appear in this place at the same time?"

"I don't know either. Most of the Cosmic Stones left behind from ancient times have been used up. Over the past one hundred thousand years, it'd be impossible for so many Cosmic Stones to be created. What's happening to this world? Why would so many Tianyuan ancient coins and Cosmic Stones appear suddenly?" Master Lion was also extremely puzzled. "No matter, grab them first!"

The pillar of light rising into the air also attracted the attention of the combatants behind them. They were also rushing straight toward the light pillar.

Ye Chen was one step ahead of them. He swiftly sprinted toward the Cosmic Stones. With a wave of his hand, "grab, grab, grab!"

Ye Chen had grabbed six Cosmic Stones consecutively and placed them inside his armguard space. He continued upward, snatching the Cosmic Stones floating above.

When the combatants at the back saw the crystals floating in the air, their eyes bulged.

"Those are Cosmic Stones! D*mn it, don't let that kid snatch everything!"

"Swish, swish, swish." Multiple sword energies flew toward Ye Chen, followed by several enraged Mystique Venerable Rank masters.

Ye Chen glanced at the people behind him and smirked. "You're too slow!" He had collected another seven Cosmic Stones in a row and continued further upward.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The flashes of sword energies chopped through the pillar of white light. The white light shattered and the Cosmic Stones transformed into rays of light that zoomed off in every direction.

Ye Chen was just about to grab the remaining Cosmic Stones when they had zoomed off. He was momentarily stunned. It turned out that the pillar of white light was attracting the Cosmic Stones like a magnet. Once the light pillar shattered, the Cosmic Stones would automatically disperse!

"Quick, grab the Cosmic Stones!" The Mystique Venerable Rank masters all flew toward the dispersing Cosmic Stars.

"Kill that kid. That kid has a large number of Cosmic Stones in his hand!" Dozens of Mystique Venerable Rank masters from the Temple of War rushed toward Ye Chen at the same time.

"You dare to kill me? You're looking for trouble. I'm the young lord of the House of Storms!" Once Ye Chen saw that he could not grab the remaining Cosmic Stones, he fled from the scene, all the while spitting taunts.

"Haha, the young lord of the House of Storms? Who cares? We're from the Temple of War. How dare a meager House of Storms challenge the Temple of War?" The group of Mystique Venerable Rank masters flew into the sky and closed in on Ye Chen.

Most of the Thunder Beast Clan combatants chased after the dispersing Cosmic Stones. Fu Ze glanced at the group of people from the Temple of War chasing after Ye Chen. It seemed like Ye Chen would soon be surrounded and killed.

"Big Man Fu, should we also attack and snatch those Cosmic Stones?" one of Fu Ze's men asked.

"The Temple of War is already attacking. If we join in, it'd turn into a bloodshed. Moreover, most of our men are already pursuing the dispersing Cosmic Stars. We'll just wait and see what happens!" Fu Ze's eyes narrowed. The person who was holding the Storm Sword must be an idiot. Did the kid think that just because he claimed to come from the House of Storms, he could deter the combatants from these super factions? It was completely laughable!

Seeing that he was being surrounded by Mystique Venerable masters, Ye Chen was still screaming, "Look clearly, this is the Storm Sword! You dare to besiege me? The House of Storms will soon destroy you! Temple of War or whatever, get lost! If you don't, I'll strike back!"

The combatants from the Temple of War got closer. They regarded Ye Chen as though they were staring at a dead man. This kid was at the end of his life, but still acted so precariously. He must be a dumb*ss. Yes, we saw, it was the Storm Sword alright but can your Storm Sword cut down so many Mystique Venerable masters?

Master Lion's voice sounded in Ye Chen's awareness, "Young lad, you're truly ruthless. You threw the House of Storms under the bus."

Ye Chen shrugged. The House of Storms was the one who had provoked him first. He looked around and said, "Everyone, this young lord won't play with you anymore, bye!"

"Little Wingsy, enter the Soul Pearl!"

With a "swoosh", Ye Chen took the Soul Pearl and disappeared into the Heavenly Astra Seal.