Inside the great hall, every single one of the dozens of Open Heaven Realm cultivators who had charged in—including Madam Lan—froze in place. Though the hall was packed with people, not a sound could be heard. That overwhelming divine might bore down on them like an entire world pressing on their bodies, making it hard to breathe, their blood churning.
"Golden Crow!" After who knew how long, a hoarse, trembling voice rose from the crowd.
Rumor had it that an adult Golden Crow was a creature so savage it could slaughter High-Order Open Heaven cultivators like pigs and dogs. Who wouldn't be afraid? Among those present, Mid-Order Open Heaven cultivators were already few and far between.
They had barged into this being's bedchamber without permission. If they provoked the Golden Crow before them, none of them would walk out alive. At the precipice of life and death, countless people regretted ever wading into these murky waters, wishing they could turn around and leave right now. Yet beneath the Golden Crow's divine might, not a single person dared make a rash move.
"What is there to be afraid of!" A furious shout rang out. "This Golden Crow is already dead!"
The voice was loud, but it sounded more like someone bolstering his own courage.
Still, with that reminder, when the crowd looked more carefully at the Golden Crow, they found that it was indeed so. The Golden Crow stood there the entire time, its eyes still gleaming with a divine light, yet utterly motionless. It had shown no reaction whatsoever to their arrival.
"This Golden Crow is truly dead." Madam Lan nodded gently. She had not sensed the slightest trace of life from it. When she had first entered, she had been startled as well—catching sight of such a terrifying existence out of nowhere had muddled even her thoughts. Now that she had detected the anomaly and probed a little, she could finally set her mind at ease.
A dying Golden Crow, an extinguishing sun.
On the Star of the Sun, the Solar Fire had already gone out, which confirmed the Golden Crow's death from yet another angle. However, judging by the appearance of the Golden Crow's corpse, it had not been dead for very long.
Among everyone present, her strength was the highest. With her word, the hearts that everyone had been holding in their throats finally dropped back into place, and sounds of exhaling rose one after another.
In the shadows, concealed beneath the Shadowless Veil, Yang Kai licked his dry lips, his eyes dazzled as he stared at the Golden Crow's corpse shrouded in the red barrier of light.
A mere corpse already possessed such overwhelming might—what would this Golden Crow have been like when it was alive? And if the Golden Crow was like this, what about the Dragon Clan, who ranked above it? His own Dragon Lineage truly had tremendous room for growth. The version of himself now had probably not even unlocked a tenth of the Dragon Lineage's power.
Moreover… since arriving here, Yang Kai had distinctly felt his Dao Seal stirring with an almost irresistible urge, as though something was drawing it in, filling him with a desperate yearning!
Following his instincts, his gaze drifted toward the high platform. At its four corners, objects roughly a foot long, entirely crimson and resembling red crystals, instantly caught his attention.
"True Solar Gold!"
It wasn't just Yang Kai. Once the threat to their lives had faded and people had the composure to look more carefully, the foot-long red crystals arranged at the four corners of the high platform drew the attention of everyone in an instant.
None of them had ever laid eyes on it before, yet the moment these objects came into view, nearly every person present was certain that these foot-long red crystals were the legendary True Solar Gold!
The Open Heaven cultivators had been exploring the Star of the Sun for several days already, but they had never once encountered True Solar Gold. They had all managed to collect some True Solar Fire, but how could the value of True Solar Fire even compare to True Solar Gold? That was material of at least the Sixth Order, possibly even the Seventh or Eighth Order.
In an instant, every pair of eyes turned red with greed.
A figure darted out from the crowd, lunging toward one corner of the high platform. That single move set everything in motion—over a dozen figures followed close behind, each charging at a different target.
"Foolish!" Yuan Xiaoman, who had been pressed close to Madam Lan's side, let out a cold snort.
Madam Lan sighed. "Men die for wealth just as birds die for food."
Even as her words fell, a heaven-shaking scream tore through the air. The first Open Heaven cultivator to reach the vicinity of the high platform had been blown backward. A raging fire blazed on his right hand, and no matter how hard he channeled his power, he could not extinguish it. The sickening stench of burning flesh quickly spread through the air, making everyone's stomachs churn.
Worse still, the flames surged upward at a terrifying speed, reaching his upper arm in the blink of an eye. His expression shifted several times before he made a decisive move—grabbing a long sword, he slashed it across his own shoulder.
The blade flashed. Blood sprayed through the air. A muffled grunt rang out as a severed arm hit the ground. Before everyone's horrified eyes, the flames quickly reduced the arm to ashes. The sight drained the faces of all onlookers of their color.
The burned served as warning to the rest. Those who had been itching to move now stood rooted in place, not daring to act rashly. Of the dozen or so who had rushed forward, two or three others had met the same fate, forced to sever their own arms to save their lives.
Yuan Xiaoman's expression turned grave. "It's Golden Crow True Fire!"
Madam Lan nodded gently and looked up at the red barrier of light. "It seems this Golden Crow laid down a restriction before it died. Unless we break the restriction, there is no hope of obtaining that True Solar Gold."
"Do you have a way, Sister Lan?" Yuan Xiaoman asked.
Madam Lan's brows furrowed deeply. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "It may be worth a try, but I can't do it alone."
"Let's join forces. Once we succeed, you take seventy percent, I'll take thirty!" Yuan Xiaoman's expression brightened with excitement. The quantity of True Solar Gold on the high platform was not large, but it was not insignificant either—seven or eight pieces, roughly. Even if she only took thirty percent, she would still end up with two or three pieces. Such treasures—even a single one would be an enormous fortune, let alone two or three.