by Fiery Moon
Xiao Yulan’s expression changed slightly, a slight amount of anger to her tone. “I frequently cultivate on Seven Horn Mountain, so I am familiar with every tree and every blade of grass here. Even if I am no match for him, it would not be difficult for me to escape, cousin, but you……”
“Hush! They are about to go in, cousin, take a look.” Xiao Chen interrupted Xiao Yulan’s words and pointed in a direction.
Xiao Yulan turned her head to take a look. There was a cliff in front. The person in blue just laughed coldly and threw out a fist on its stone wall. Cracks extended out from where that person punched the wall, spreading in all directions. The cracks kept getting larger and larger, with pieces of rocks continuously falling off the cliff.
When all the rocks finished falling, it revealed a hidden stone door. With a loud rumble, the door opened automatically. Elder Zhang quick flattered the person in blue and left behind someone to guard the entrance before entering with the person in blue.
“Let’s go!” When Xiao Chen finished saying those two words, he did not bother himself with Xiao Yulan and led the way forward.
The Zhang Clan disciple stationed outside was only a Medial Grade Martial Disciple. Xiao Chen hid himself in a place about a hundred meters from the stone door, confirming that the person in blue had moved far away.
Xiao Chen used his consciousness to control the Essence to move towards the meridians in his legs, to which the Azure Dragon within his body opened its eyes once again. Only this time, the expression in its eyes were not clear and pure like earlier, but now filled with a baleful look.
It was as though the dragon felt Xiao Chen’s intentions. The three white clouds floated around gently and two streams of even purer Essence spat out from its mouth, heading toward the meridians in Xiao Chen’s legs.
After the two streams of Essences trickled into Xiao Chen’s legs, he could feel strength brimming within his legs. He felt as though he could flatten the solid Seven Horn Mountain with one stomp!
Kill!
There was a loud shout, and Xiao Chen’s right foot ferociously pushed off from the ground, leaving behind a two feet deep footprint. His body left the ground and covered the distance of a hundred meters in an instant, the Purple Thunder True Fire burning in his palm.
The Zhang Clan disciple guarding the entrance only heard a loud shout before a purple flame hit his chest. Before he had the time to shout, his whole chest was already burnt up. A black hole occupied the middle of his chest and its size was rapidly expanding. Within moments, this Martial Disciple had been turned into a pile of ashes.
What a domineering flame—looking at the Zhang Clan disciple, Xiao Yulan sighed. “This is your Martial Spirit?”
Xiao Chen did not deny it and smiled, “Cousin, do you now believe that I have the ability to protect myself?”
Xiao Yulan bent over and dipped her fingers in the ashes. After she examined it, she shook her head and proceeded to explain. “This flame is indeed domineering but it is not as powerful as you think. If this Martial Disciple was not suddenly ambushed and could not defend himself in time, as long as he released his Essence, he would be able to defend against these flames.”
Xiao Chen, who was seen through, awkwardly smiled and avoided the topic, “They should have already made it far away. If we follow them from a distance, given the large size of this cave, we might not even run into them.”
Chapter 9: Thunder Emperor Sang Mu, Treasure Trove
Xiao Yulan felt helpless with the fact that Xiao Chen seemed to have made up his mind to follow her inside. In addition, she felt slightly suspicious in her heart, considering this version of Xiao Chen seemed different from the rumors she had heard previously.
After going past the stone door, there was a long paved tunnel. Along the tunnel, between every few meters, one could find an inlaid Night Pearl lining the walls. Due to the luminance of the Night Pearl, the tunnel was not steeped in complete darkness.
Both of them proceeded forward, walking silently in the quiet tunnel while the atmosphere was a little sinister. Xiao Chen wanted to find something to talk about to lighten the mood, but he shied away when from starting a conversation when he saw the indifferent expression on Xiao Yulan’s face.
Right when Xiao Chen could bear it no longer and wanted to say something, the road in front of them ended, a thick stone wall blocking their path. However, there was a fork in the tunnel, with two roads to each their side.
Xiao Chen took a look at both sides, observing that the tunnels did not have any Night Pearls to illuminate the darkness. With both sides equally as dark and unseeable, Xiao Chen inquired: “Cousin Yulan, which way should we go?”
Xiao Yulan took a look at both sides and spoke. “There are obvious signs of footprints on the left side, that should be the direction the person in blue went, we will take the right side.”
Xiao Yulan took out a 5flare and lead the way, “This place could be the cave of a predecessor, so try not to wander around on your own. There usually are some kind of restrictions in this kind of place.”
Cave of a predecessor—when Xiao Chen heard that, his interest was immediately piqued. Indeed, that person in blue would not come to Seven Horn Mountain for no reason. Xiao Chen’s tracking of the person was not in vain. Since it was the cave of a predecessor, then there would definitely be treasures.
Xiao Yulan saw Xiao Chen’s expression and knew that he did not take her words to heart, laughing coldly. “Don’t be so naive. Since this place can attract a Martial Saint cultivator, then the predecessor must have been at least a Martial King. Any one of the restrictions here could easily kill you.”
Xiao Chen smiled. “I have cousin here. As long as I follow you, I’ll be fine.”
Xiao Yulan wore a cold expression and did not respond. After they traveled for a certain distance, it brightened up, revealing a stone room in front of them.
Xiao Yulan put out the flare and carefully sized the room up. The stone room was not spacious, in the middle was a stone table and a stone stool. The walls were smooth and above the room was a large number of Night Pearls that formed the strange image of a bird.
Xiao Yulan focused her attention on the stone table, spotting an unopened red embroidered box on it. The strange bird image was painted onto the box as well. Xiao Yulan found this image to be very familiar but she could not recall what it was.
Thunder Roc!
After thinking for a long time, Xiao Yulan finally remembered the name of this bird, the Thunder Roc. A Thunder Roc was the Martial Spirit of the Martial Emperor Sang Mu, who was known as the Thunder Emperor a thousand years ago. Legends have it that Sang Mu was born into an ordinary family, meaning his parents were not cultivators. But he was born with the Thunder Roc Martial Spirit innately inside him and he even went so far as to reach the peak of Martial Saint before he turned twenty.
The battle that led him to become famous was the God Sealing Battle that was organized by the Ten Powers Alliance of the Tianwu Continent. At the age of twenty, without the backing of any sects or clans, he defeated countless geniuses of the various sects single-handedly. This was when the name of Thunder Emperor began to spread.
In the years that followed, he was like a bright comet. He battled Martial Kings, destroyed Martial Monarchs and killed Martial Emperors. His name could be heard everywhere in the great continent and many people claimed that he was the youngest Martial God in the history of the Tianwu Continent. It was only later that he slowly faded away from view.
Hearing Xiao Yulan describe the history of the owner of this cave, Xiao Chen started to get excited. “No one knows if he finally managed to successfully break through to become a Martial God, the answers to this question might be within this box.”
Xiao Yulan saw that Xiao Chen was about to go and open the embroidered box. She then hurriedly spoke, “Don’t make any careless moves, the box is strange……”
…...
Within the stone room.
The person in blue saw the embroidered box on the table and the picture on the ceiling and also guessed the identity of the owner of this cave. Smiling, he said: “So, it is the cave of Thunder Emperor Sang Mu. Before Sang Mu went missing, he already had the cultivation of a Martial Emperor. Looks like this trip was not wasted.”
Elder Zhang also laughed as well. “With regards to the matter that senior had promised, please don’t forget to fulfill it when the time comes.”
The mood of the person in blue was extremely good. He boldly laughed and gave his word. “Just a small Xiao Clan of Mohe City. My Leng Clan does not think much of them. If I can obtain an Earth Ranked Technique or Spirit Weapon, I would give you an additional surprise.”
Elder Zhang laughed. “Xiao Clan is naturally not Leng Clan’s match. In that case, senior, how shall we open this embroidered box?”
The person in blue snorted coldly. Given the strength of Martial Emperor Sang Mu, he definitely would have left behind some restrictions on this embroidered box. Even with his Martial Saint cultivation, if he rashly opened it, he would also get hit by the backlash from the restrictions. Taking a look at the group of Zhan Clan cultivators, the person in blue laughed strangely.
“Elder Zhang, get the group of cultivators behind you to open this embroidered box. With me behind, I guarantee that nothing will happen to them.”
Elder Zhang’s complexion changed. However, he quickly recovered, “Since senior has asked, then there naturally is no problem. You! Quickly open this box.”
The Zhang Clan cultivator who was pointed out quickly displayed an expression of horror, stammering, “Great… Elder, I, I, I ……”
Elder Zhang’s expression changed, anger clear in his voice. “Are you not going to follow my instructions? Have you forgotten the Clan Rules?
When the Zhang Clan cultivator heard the words ‘Clan Rules’, his expression turn unsightly. He walked up front hesitatingly, closing his eyes and stretching his hands out to touch the box.
“Chi!”
When the Zhang Clan cultivator touched the box, the Thunder Roc on the box seemed to come to life and flapped its wings, shooting out a bolt of lightning from the box. Before the Zhang Clan Cultivator could activate his Essence to protect himself, he was charred black.
The person in blue completely disregarded the Zhang Clan disciple and just quickly stretched out his right hand to grab the embroidered box. A stream of solid rocks extended from his shoulder out to his palms, very soon covering his entire arm in a layer of stone.
He gently opened the box without suffering any damage, finding within the embroidered box a black book, a Martial Technique manual to be specific.
The person in blue impatiently took it out and flipped through it but quickly lost interest after taking a couple of looks at it. This was just a Superior Grade Yellow Ranked Martial Technique; it was not worth much even in the Great Qin Nation. Finding it insignificant to his use, he simply threw it over to Elder Zhang while explaining. “Elder Zhang, this is a Superior Grade Yellow Ranked Martial Technique. I don’t need this, it’s yours now.”
Chapter 10: Great Treasure, Moonstone
Elder Zhang was checking on the person who had been electrocuted at the moment. If he was still breathing, there was a chance to save him. The only consolation he felt was when he heard the person in blue say that he was going to give him a Superior Grade Yellow Ranked Martial Technique.
This got him excited. Even in the entire Zhang Clan, only two or three copies of a Superior Grade Yellow Ranked Martial Technique was in their possession. It would be worth it even if that Zhang Clan disciple died.
Elder Zhang received it and smiled. “Many thanks to senior. Should we turn back and take another path?”
The person in blue shook his head. “There is no need, the road on the right will probably lead to the same destination, the exit is definitely within this stone room.”
When the person in blue ended his statement, he carefully inspected the entire stone room, sweeping his eyes across the four walls before finally resting his gaze on the wall in front of the table. A hunch told him that the exit should be located in front of them but he was simply not familiar with these strange mechanisms. If he wanted to find a key switch by chance, it would be very difficult.
Since he could not do it that way, then he would do it the hard way! The person in blue began to speak in a deep voice: “Move aside, I am going to pierce through this stone wall.”
When a Martial Saint expert took action, it was difficult to avoid casualties. When the surrounding people heard what he said, they hurriedly hid behind him. Shortly after, rocks appeared on the right arm of the person in blue again.
The rocks were moving around strangely on the arm of the person in blue. In fact, they were slowly embedding into his skin, leaving behind a small gray line that seemed to move towards his palm like a poisonous snake.
When that line arrived at the palm, it formed a spiral and continuously rotated. A terrifying energy seemed to be pulsing out from his palms. After this energy appeared, he immediately jumped up and quickly struck out, his palm hitting the stone wall in front.
“Rumble……!"
The entire stone room shook continuously. There were plenty of stone fragments continuously falling down. With a bang, the stone wall in front was blasted apart, revealing a hole large enough for two men to enter.
The person in blue withdrew his hand. Looking at the hole in front, he indifferently said: “Let’s go.”
Although the person in blue said to go, he did not make a move. Elder Zhang couldn’t help but call him an old fox in his heart. However, at this moment, he could not afford to offend him. He led the members of the Zhang Clan and entered the hole.
After going through the hole, the viewing range in front widened, opening up to reveal to their eyes a vast stone platform further ahead. When he raised his head to look at the ceiling, he measured it to be somewhere around a hundred meters high. There was a stone pillar in the middle of the stone platform, the faint radiance glowing off of it attracting all of their gazes.
“Moonstone!”
“What a big piece of Moonstone!”
That glowing stone pillar was actually carved out of a large piece of Moonstone. Damn it, what a waste, he actually used Moonstone to carve a pillar. Each and every one of them looking on reprimanded exactly this in their hearts.
In the Tianwu Continent, Moonstones were quite rare, and the few locations that had Moonstone quarries were already confirmed to have dried up many years ago.
With such a large piece of Moonstone, they could forge a countless amount of Spirit Weapons. If they used the entire piece and mixed it with some other rare materials, it would even be possible to make a Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon. Due to the scarcity of Moonstones, the Tianwu Continent had not seen any Heaven Grade Spirit Weapons in hundreds of years.
Not only the person in blue but everyone in the Zhang Clan would wish to obtain it. When they thought about the value of this pillar made of Moonstones, they could not help but swallow their saliva. However, the gaze of the person in blue was not completely focused on the pillar. He noticed an exposed sword hilt at the top of the pillar.
That should be the sword hilt of a Spirit Weapon; a Spirit Weapon that was inserted into the Moonstone. What rank was this Spirit Weapon? Earth Ranked? Definitely not, it was at the very least a Superior Grade Heaven Ranked Spirit Weapon and it might even be a legendary Divine Weapon. When the person in blue thought of this, his blood began to boil.
However, when he thought of the owner of the cave, the person in blue immediately calmed down.
“You guys, go in front and check out the situation. After this matter is over, I will reward you guys will 500 taels of gold each.”
Under the promise of a great reward, the morale of the Zhang Clan disciples was raised tremendously. They all condensed a protective barrier and walked towards that stone pillar care
fully. When they were about fifty meters away from the stone pillar, a faint yellow barrier suddenly appeared. It blocked their passage as though it was a wall, and even their vision seemed to be blurred.
Regardless of how hard they tried, the few Martial Disciples could not press forward. They tried their Martial Techniques to smash against the thin barrier. In an instant, many Martial Techniques flew at it.
“Ka! Ka! Ka!”
When the Martial Techniques struck the thin barrier, they were actually reflected back with their speed and might doubled. In an instant, the Zhang Clan disciples were all struck by their own techniques, causing them to fall to the ground and cry out in agony.
With this sudden unforeseen turn of events, the Zhang Clan disciples all immediately became afraid. This yellow barrier was too weird and the other Zhang Clan disciples who had yet to go up did not know what to do.
The expression of the person in blue did not change, as if he had expected such a scenario. He slowly walked to the front and placed his hands on the yellow barrier. A wave of Essence extended from his palms onto the barrier and his consciousness controlled the Essence to move around the barrier. After a long period of time, he understood what to do.
The Essence in his body quickly circulated, and even more Essence came out of his palm, like tiny snakes swimming about on the thin barrier. When he saw that the barrier was completely covered with his Essence, he stopped supplying it and used his consciousness to control the tiny strands of Essences to tightly stick to the barrier.
“Withdraw!”
The person in blue shouted softly and the Essence that was stuck on the barrier started to flow back. The thin yellow barrier started to shake, after which a tiny hole the size of the eye of a needle appeared on the thin barrier. The person in blue felt joy in his heart and used his left hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
“Elder Zhang, this thin barrier is the restriction left behind by that predecessor. Based on my strength alone, I can only open a hole the size of one person. Remember to get your men to move fast.”
