Chapter 346 – Location of the Hidden Treasure
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Zhou Xinyu knew that the reason Lin Ming had taken such a big risk and gambled his own life was for the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal. If Lin Ming hadn’t helped her, she would never have survived this calamity, much less have any hope of reviving the Moon Seizing Sect.
The reason she made this choice was that she had been compelled by circumstance…
Thinking this, Zhou Xinyu felt much better in her heart. She whispered, “I have the key to the hidden treasure on me. As for where it is, it’s within the South Sea, located on Dark Moon Island.”
“Dark Moon Island?” Lin Ming was stunned for a moment. These past few months, he had read many ancient texts, and had a much better understanding of the major powers of the South Horizon Region, as well as the local customs, conditions, and geography. As for Dark Moon Island, that was a place he had read about. It was a dangerous area within the South Sea, and was the eye of the South Sea’s Yin earth pulse. All year round, frost Yin energy was gathered there. It was said that in ancient times, an unparalleled war had taken place on that island, and countless powerhouses had died.
Since then, a bone-chilling wind and a black fog covered the island all year, and many fierce and vicious ghosts and otherworldly beasts existed there. Just the chilling wind by itself was dangerous for Pulse Condensation martial artists. As for the ghosts and other dangerous residents of that island, there were many powerhouses that were comparable to Houtian masters, and it was even said that there were Ghost Kings that were equal to Xiantian masters.
Thinking this, Lin Ming frowned, “Your Moon Seizing Sect actually placed their treasure trove in such a location?”
“Mm. Well, Dark Moon Island is rarely visited and mostly inaccessible, so it’s much more secure. Sir Lin may not know, but 1000 years ago, the South Horizon Region didn’t truly wish to participate in the siege of Silent Demon Emperor City. Rather, it could be said they were forced too. The might of Silent Demon Emperor City was titanic, not even the entire coalition force together was larger than Silent Demon Emperor City. In that war, the Moon Seizing Sect did have a harvest, but the losses were severe, countless sect masters fell from the sky. If the treasures were kept in the Moon Seizing Sect, it would probably have been looted in the years since then…” As Zhou Xinyu spoke, she let out a sigh. She remembered the glorious and magnificent history of the Moon Seizing Sect, but also their recent destruction; it really made her heart ache.
100 year dynasty, 1000 year sect, 10,000 year Holy Land. For a third-grade sect to last one or two thousand years was already a long period of time.
Lin Ming nodded. Indeed, if it wasn’t so, then the Moon Seizing Sect would have suffered a disaster in their weakened state, and all their treasures would have been looted. “But… even if it’s Dark Moon Island, can it stop an extreme Xiantian master?”
“An extreme Xiantian master naturally won’t find Dark Moon Island dangerous. However, Dark Moon Island’s black rock can inhibit and prevent soul perception. As long as the secret door is hidden underground, it’s nearly impossible to find. In addition, Dark Moon Island is an extremely vast land. Without a guide, a Xiantian master could spend several years on Dark Moon Island and still not find the location where my sect hid their treasures.”
“I see…” Lin Ming realized that going to Dark Moon Island wasn’t the best choice. If he became confused and walked into danger, things might turn out poorly.
Zhou Xinyu saw Lin Ming’s worries and said, “Dark Moon Island is dangerous, but my sect also left clever techniques to avoid danger, so it isn’t too risky.”
“Then I’ll have to trouble Miss Zhou to guide me at the time… before, I also heard Miss Zhou say that the Moon Seizing Sect’s hidden treasures include a total of 12 Shattered Demon Heart Crystals left over? And there are also many cultivation method jade slips, rare and precious pills, materials, treasure armor and weapons, true essence stones, and so on?”
Zhou Xinyu nipped her lips and nodded. Her sect was a third-grade sect that had prospered for a thousand years. Although they had declined afterwards, they still had a rich legacy and inheritance. The total wealth and resources they accumulated over the years was an amount that was difficult for ordinary martial artists to imagine.
“Miss Zhou, you said that if I helped you, you would share the treasure with me. How about we discuss how we will split the treasure now?” Lin Ming casually said.
Zhou Xinyu’s heart tightened. She was on the extremely weak end of the bargaining table, without any weight to add to her words. If she were forced by Lin Ming, she could say something like ‘The hidden treasure is fundamental to the revival of my Moon Seizing Sect. if you want to take it, then you’ll have to kill me first.’, or something like that.
But now, she had asked Lin Ming to help her on her own initiative, and had also agreed to share the hidden treasure with him. Lin Ming had rescued her multiple times, and during this entire process, she had only added to the chaos without being able to help at all. Because of the above, she was too ashamed to object to anything; she could only hope that Lin Ming’s demands weren’t too rough.
Lin Ming thought for a moment and said, “I don’t want the cultivation method jade slips, nor do I want true essence stones, treasure weapons or armor. If there are some Heaven Opening Pills, then I will take some. And if there are some other treasures that I’m interested in, we can negotiate. As for the 12 Shattered Demon Heart Crystals, I’ll take 10!”
Lin Ming was crazy for these Shattered Demon Heart Crystals; they were the reason that he had risked his life. Those crystals were his hope to further his completion of Tempering Marrow. With 10 Shattered Demon Heart Crystals and more Heaven Opening Pills, he wondered what percentage of Tempering Marrow he would be able to complete.
Zhou Xinyu listened to Lin Ming’s request. Although she was a bit distressed, she knew that Lin Ming wasn’t asking for much. Or, it was better to say that nothing else interested him.
Also, she just didn’t have any room to bargain further.
The truth was that for the revival of a sect, it didn’t depend on a top medicine like the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal, but rather the inherited cultivation methods, true essence stones, and a massive quantity of basic treasures and pills. These were the materials that most beginning disciples could use.
She bit her lips and said, “Thank you, Sir Lin.”
“Then Miss Zhou, I’ll have to trouble you to follow me for the next few days. If you don’t mind, could you hand me the key to take care of?” Lin Ming’s eyes narrowed. Although his approach was a bit villainous, he couldn’t depend on the heart of someone he didn’t know. Zhou Xinyu might run off somewhere when he wasn’t looking.
As Zhou Xinyu listened to Lin Ming’s blatant distrust of her, she became angry. Her beautiful eyes flared at him, and then she finally angrily opened her collar and took out a pendant, throwing it to Lin Ming as she coldly said,” The key is inside, you can take it.”
Lin Ming grabbed the pendant and then traced his nose in embarrassment. He awkwardly said, “I’m sorry for offending Miss Zhou, I ask that Miss Zhou be a little understanding and forgive me.”
Lin Ming touched this pendant that carried Zhou Xinyu’s body warmth. It had a very unique shape, just like a ceremonial dagger. As he sensed it with his soul force, Lin Ming was surprised to find that there was a pocket dimension inside. This pendant was actually a storage treasure, just like a spatial ring. Also, the grade was quite high.
Inside was only a single item. It was an exquisite hexagonal box that was colored gold and red, less than three inches wide, just large enough to be placed in the center of a palm. The wood looked as if it were made of metal, but it felt warm, and a full moon was carved onto the surface.
With further investigation, the wood of this key was very strange, emitting an ancient breath. At least, it wasn’t a fake and he wouldn’t have to worry about Zhou Xinyu somehow tricking him while he travelled with her for these next few days.
“Thank you for your understanding Miss Zhou.” Although Lin Ming seemed thankful, he didn’t imply that he was letting Zhou Xinyu walk away.
Zhou Xinyu didn’t speak in anger; it was unknown what she was thinking.
With the atmosphere a bit awkward, Lin Ming cleaned up a corner in the cave to sit down and restore his true essence. Zhou Xinyu also sat down in front of the wall opposite to Lin Ming and meditated too. After revolving her true essence several times, she felt sleepy, and leaned against the stone wall to rest.
She truly was tired; she hadn’t yet had a full night of sleep. To a Pulse Condensation period martial artist, a night without sleeping was nothing. But before Zhou Xinyu came here, she had fled through the Southern Wilderness for four to five days without rest until she arrived at Green Mulberry City. Then, almost immediately, the fierce war with the beast tide had erupted, and she had to flee that very night. After that, Lin Ming went through an intense battle because of the Shattered Demon Heart Crystal, and Zhou Xinyu had to wait with extreme anxiousness for three hours while the dreamland enchantment was slowly whittled away. Now that she could finally relax her guard, she was naturally sleepy.
Zhou Xinyu rested for three or four hours, and when she woke up it was the afternoon. The barren mountain was still the wilderness. While Zhou Xinyu was sleeping, she kept her guard up a bit just in case. Feeling Lin Ming leave, she didn’t care that much. As she stepped out of the cave, she saw that Lin Ming had cleared out an open space, built a fire, and was roasting two rabbits.
In these sparsely populated hills, there were few natural enemies, so the rabbits were especially plump. Their entire bodies were roasted gold, and a fragrant smell wafted in the air.
Smelling this delicious aroma, Zhou Xinyu was immediately hungry. She hadn’t eaten for almost an entire day and night.
She was quite happy to eat this roasted rabbit meal. When she finished eating, she licked her fingers in delight. She didn’t think that Lin Ming would have this sort of skill; the barbecue flavor was just so good.
Lin Ming got up and said, “Before we go to Dark Moon Island, I’ll have to make a number of preparations. So, I’ll have to trouble Miss Zhou for these next few days…
Green Mulberry City –
After the chaos of last night due to Huang Zixuan, the army camp finally discovered one thing – Zhu Ping was missing.
The entire camp searched tirelessly for him, but couldn’t even find his corpse. Even the scouts reported that they didn’t see Zhu Ping leave the camp. It was as if he evaporated into the air.
When the investigation reached this point, the high level characters of Green Mulberry had a faint guess about what had happened. Zhu Ping had been killed, and it had been by someone who had a grudge against him. For that person to be able to kill him in the camp without raising a single sound, there could only be one.
As Lin Wanshan, Zhuang Fan, Lin Wuyin, and the others realized this, their complexions turned extremely ugly. They didn’t have the qualifications to question Lin Ming’s decisions, nor did they dare to, but the problem was that Lin Ming had been chased down by a group of masters and was missing, and their army commander was killed too.
What would they do if the beast tide came again?
Everyone was nervous like ants in a hot pan, until late in the morning of the second day, Qin Ziya and his group arrived at Green Mulberry City on their Heavenly Wind Eagles.
There were dozens of Heavenly Wind Eagles with two or three masters on each. With such a large group flying overhead, the guards instantly panicked, making a report of the chaos to headquarters.
Lin Wanshan and everyone hurriedly ran over.
Heavens!
There were over 100 masters! Looking at their true essence fluctuations, if they weren’t at the Pulse Condensation period, then they were at the Houtian realm!
Lin Wanshan and everyone else were shocked. What was going on? In the midst of a raging beast tide, over a hundred masters had actually come. They knew just what this meant. This could be the lifeline of their Green Mulberry City. But, why had they come here?
They didn’t recognize the white-clothed man that was leading them, but there were people that recognized the two behind him.
“Those… aren’t those two Mister Muyi and Miss Qin from the Marshal Quarters?” Zhuang Fan look at Qin Xingxuan and Muyi who were standing atop a Heavenly Wind Eagle. He had seen Muyi and Qin Xingxuan before. But currently, they should definitely still be at Sky Fortune City.