Chapter 32: Traces

"You!"
Upon hearing Hongyun's words, Niu Kai was furious, but recalling that this was not a place where he could act recklessly, he merely shot Hongyun a venomous glare and sulked in silence.
The remaining demon cultivators, however, had grown wary of Hongyun due to his earlier remarks.
Many of them tried to use their abilities to probe the cultivation level of the host's physical body, but their efforts vanished like stones in the sea—no trace could be found.
Who was this fellow, so brazen and arrogant?
Those among the demon cultivators who were on friendly terms exchanged glances, silently coming to an understanding: Hongyun was someone best not provoked.
With the demon clans beginning to stir and the area by the Sun-Moon Gorge growing turbulent and restless, it was better to have one less enemy than anything else.
As for Hongyun, after uttering his fierce words, he sat calmly, sipping tea with apparent ease, though inwardly he remained vigilant.
...
The demon cultivators waited for nearly two hours, until the sound of crisp footsteps echoed, and a woman in a snow-white dress emerged from the depths of a side hall.
She glanced over the assembled demon cultivators, pausing on the faces of several with the highest cultivation, and nodded to herself.
"I am Bai Rongrong, the master of Moonlight Hall. It is a pleasure to meet my fellow cultivators today."
Seeing many demon cultivators gazing at her as though they wished to snatch a piece of flesh, she felt some displeasure, but did not show it, keeping her smile intact:
"As for the matters at hand, I shall not say much. Just as I told you when inviting you here, so long as you find the longevity elixir, all treasures you obtain in the secret realm will be yours, and nothing will be withheld."
With these words, she paid no heed to the greed of the demon cultivators, clapped her hands lightly, and a number of half-demons stepped forward, handing each treasure-bodied demon cultivator a booklet and a snow-white token.
"These contain records of all longevity elixirs ever found in the demon vault, their appearances, effects, and possible guardian demons. Please be cautious;
As for the token, it is the key to entering and returning from the vault. Please keep it safe."
Hearing the commotion, Hongyun reached out to take the items, intending to examine them, but remembering that he was currently playing the role of a blind man, he simply tucked the token and booklet into his sleeve.
The act must be thorough; he was still a blind man now and couldn't treat others as fools.
He drifted in a daze for nearly another hour before hearing the clear, crisp voice of the Moonlight Hall master again.
"The time has come. Please be careful. The token will allow you to remain within for only thirty days. If you cannot escape in that time, you must wait for the next opening."
"The time has come?"

Some demon cultivators looked puzzled and asked,
"May I ask, Master, where is the demon vault and how do we proceed?"
"No rush."
The Moonlight Hall master looked solemnly at the side hall, ignoring the question. She formed several hand seals, and a surge of demonic energy shot upward, illuminating the hall's ceiling.
Under the intense demonic glow, mechanisms in the center of the hall activated, and with a series of transformations, phantom images appeared.
She summoned these phantoms, stepped back expectantly, and said,
"Please enter with your tokens, and take care of your lives."
When the treasure-bodied cultivators entered, she sneered, donned a suit of silver armor, and stepped in herself.
...
So this was the so-called demon vault, the place where longevity elixirs might exist?
Hongyun felt himself plummeting at great speed, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself here.
Sensing his surroundings, he paused in a certain direction, then dashed toward it.
He had detected the presence of tribulation energy here.
It was unlike the ordinary tribulation energy of this world; it possessed a certain liveliness.
Like a tribulation artifact!
At the moment he moved, a line of text appeared deep within his sea of consciousness.
"Fragmented tribulation spirit detected. Host, please collect it!"
He had been in this Treasure-Vase Realm for quite some time, always searching in vain for this very thing, and now it appeared before him by sheer chance.
Truly, one searches high and low, only to find it without effort!
He silently rejoiced that he had come here, gripping his iron staff as he rushed in that direction.
But unexpectedly, after barely a hundred meters, the sound of something slicing through the air made him dodge to the side.
Clang—
With the sound of a weapon crashing against the ground, Hongyun saw that two treasure-bodied demon cultivators now stood before and behind him.

They were none other than Niu Kai, the chief of Nan Temple Town who had previously clashed with Hongyun.
He picked up the fallen axe and pointed it forward:
"You, a wild stray demon from who knows where, dared to boast in the hall and cost me my dignity;
Now that you’ve run into me and Brother Yang, it’s time you learned a lesson."
Not far behind stood a demon cultivator holding a folding fan.
He waved the fan nonchalantly and spoke in a calm, indifferent tone:
"Exactly. You embarrassed Brother Niu in the hall, which was wrong. It's best you suffer a little."
Under normal circumstances, Hongyun might have exchanged a few words with them, but now that he'd made a great discovery, he wasn't about to waste time. Without responding, he pressed on toward his goal.
Hmm?
Niu Kai, seeing his words ignored, felt his anger flare uncontrollably. He raised his axe, manifesting the treasure-bodied image of a wild bull, and hurled it at Hongyun with full force.
How dare you ruin my plans!
Hongyun was, after all, a first-rate Great Golden Immortal of the primordial age. Having dreamed of his fate and its twists, he was all the more impatient.
After finally making progress, this foolish bull kept provoking him, making his expression turn cold.
Refuse the offered wine and you'll drink the penalty!
Hongyun snorted, turned to face the inferior bull image, and, with only twenty percent of his tribulation energy, lightly thrust his iron staff forward.
Pff—
He withdrew the staff and shook off the blood.
The once imposing image, the mighty axe, all dissipated completely. The sturdy body collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Knowing what was important, Hongyun couldn't be bothered to argue. He snorted coldly, dug out Niu Kai's tribulation core, and hurried off using his senses to pursue his goal.