Chapter 396 Three Earth Treasures!
A dim light flickered in a dark shipping container.
“Based on the information I’ve gathered, this man should be the mysterious man from the University of Jiangjing Chinese Medicine,” a thin man with sunken eyes, long hair, and a high nose bridge said.
The three men stared at each other and the man who had spoken was on the left.
“Hmm…” their leader, a middle-aged man with graying hair said as his eyes narrowed. He thought for a moment before he said, “Let’s not provoke this man in the future. He is very powerful, and I can’t tell exactly how powerful he is.”
The thin man was shocked by his words.
The plump man with a big belly but a small face on the right looked at the middle-aged man and said as his eyes widened, “Sir, is this man truly as powerful as you make him out to be? I can’t believe you can’t tell exactly how powerful he is.”
“Yes,” the middle-aged man nodded and added, “At least, I am not absolutely certain of how powerful he is. After all, he managed to survive the blast and emerged completely unharmed!”
The plump man and the thin man froze in surprise at his words.
Their leader might indeed be powerful, but CL-20 explosives had been planted around the area.
If they had been the ones caught in the explosions, they might not even be able to survive the blast.
“Alright,” the middle-aged man said as he winked. “We’ll stop Huaxia Operation for the moment to avoid attracting too much attention to ourselves. Otherwise, it wouldn’t just be one person coming after us the next time.”
“It is also time for us to move the location of our hideout,” he added.
The plump man and thin man nodded in unison.
“Wait!” the thin man suddenly rose with a start and shouted anxiously, “My Earth Treasure!”
The plump man and the middle-aged man immediately rose to their feet as well.
They looked at the thin man, and the middle-aged man placed a hand on the thin man’s shoulder as he asked, “What’s wrong?”
The thin man balled his hands into fists and clenched his jaw!
“Wait a minute, are you saying that the mysterious man did not leave and had even managed to find our third brother’s Earth Treasure?” the plump man exclaimed in shock.
“This is from the beast that guards the treasure!” the thin man said angrily through gritted teeth. “I’ve always maintained contact with the beast that is guarding the treasure. I’m sure you know that I’ve reared this beast since it was a baby. After I discovered the Earth Treasure that had yet to mature, I killed the beast that had been guarding the treasure and tasked my beast to guard the treasure. However, I just sensed that my beast is in danger.”
“In other words, the Earth Treasure is at risk. However, the Earth Treasure will mature in a few days!” the thin man said as his face turned pale.
“We shouldn’t be too hasty,” the middle-aged man said as he patted the thin man’s shoulder. “We can’t risk exposing ourselves. Moreover, I can’t tell how powerful the mysterious man is, so we might not even be able to kill him even if we were to join forces. We might even put ourselves in danger instead.”
“But,” the thin man said bitterly as he clenched his jaw, “you’re talking about the Earth Treasure that I’ve spent so much effort guarding. I would have extracted it the moment it ripened. Do you know what it feels like for your effort to be for naught?”
…
On a mountain near the valley.
Fang Qiu had intended to leap across the snow-capped mountain and take the shortest route back after he discovered that the HNS organization had left before he came and did not find anything unusual around the area.
To his surprise, he was attacked by a large and vicious beast the moment he scaled to the top of this snow-capped mountain.
It was a huge monkey that wasn’t large compared to the guardian beasts he had come across earlier. It was only slightly larger than an ordinary monkey and Fang Qiu had thought that its size was due to environmental factors, so he was surprised to find that this monkey was extremely vicious. It kept attacking Fang Qiu, so Fang Qiu finally gave it such a terrible beating that it almost died.
Fang Qiu stumbled upon a pleasant surprise when he reached the summit.
It was an Earth Treasure!
An Icicle Flower!
It ranked 54th on the list of Earth Treasures.
It was made from the purest form of ice on Earth. It wasn’t a type of plant but rather, it was the physical manifestation of a kind of energy. It looked like an icicle and was often mistaken as such.
Fang Qiu was thrilled to have obtained this Earth Treasure.
“This was a fruitful trip after all,” he exclaimed as he tucked the Icicle Flower away. He was glad that he didn’t have to return empty-handed.
He glanced at the monkey and was about to set off when the monkey suddenly picked up a rock and threw it hard at Fang Qiu.
“Howl…”
Then, it quickly ran forward, turned to look at Fang Qiu, and screeched out a challenge as it smacked its red bottom.
It seemed as though it was challenging Fang Qiu to follow it.
“Interesting,” Fang Qiu thought.
This was the first time he had come across such a strange monkey, so he started to follow the monkey’s tracks.
…
In the shipping container.
“Phew..” the thin man finally relaxed when he sensed that his beast was still alive.
“How’re things?” the plump man asked.
“My beast is still alive,” the thin man said wryly. “If the Earth Treasure is gone, then so be it. It isn’t the only one I’ve been cultivating in any case.”
“Cheer up,” the middle-aged man said.
…
The Himalayan mountain range had an extremely high altitude, and almost every mountain was snow-capped.
Fang Qiu followed the large monkey and quickly moved from one snow-capped mountain to another snow-capped mountain.
Fang Qiu finally noticed after they were halfway up the mountain that this mountain seemed to be shaved into half.
There was a cliff that seemed to be set at a 90-degree angle.
“Howl…”
The large monkey ran to the foot of the cliff, picked up a rock, screeched loudly in the direction of the cliff, and started to hit the cliff with the rock.
Fang Qiu immediately looked up and saw a huge cave at the top of the cliff.
There was an enormous eagle in front of the cave that stared at the monkey down below.
“Screech…”
The enormous eagle let out a huge screech before it suddenly swooped downwards. It spread its wings and charged ferociously at Fang Qiu.
“Interesting. It even knows how to join forces with its comrade to attack me.”
“However, beasts are driven by instincts, so how are they getting along so well when there is an Earth Treasure around?”
Fang Qiu suddenly thought of a possibility.
The enormous eagle rushed toward him while the large monkey picked up two rocks and charged viciously at Fang Qiu.
“The only reason why they could live in harmony is that they are each guarding an Earth Treasure!”
He immediately flew into the air, dodged the attacks from the two beasts, clambered up the wall, and rushed into the enormous eagle’s hideout.
The enormous eagle was livid when it saw what Fang Qiu had done. It threw its head back, let out a loud screech, and frantically swooped after Fang Qiu.
The large monkey quickly climbed up the cliff as well.
“I knew it!”
Fang Qiu’s face lit up after he took one look at the enormous eagle’s cave.
He was pleasantly surprised to discover another Earth Treasure inside the cave.
It was the Heavenly Scent Horn, ranked 46th amongst the Earth Treasures.
It was shaped like an antelope horn, and its texture resembled that of a wild mushroom. It was also completely black in color.
“I must be so incredibly lucky to stumble upon two Earth Treasures that have just ripened.”
Fang Qiu chuckled loudly. Then, he gave the enormous eagle a backhand slap, and his Dragon’s Claw shot out from his palm. Then, he leaped forward without a second’s hesitation while the enormous eagle was stopped in its tracks by his Dragon’s Claw. He then picked up the Heavenly Scent Horn.
His curiosity was piqued.
These two Earth Treasures had only just ripened. It hadn’t been that long since they ripened but these beasts had more than enough time to eat these Earth Treasures.
Yet, they didn’t eat these Earth Treasures and even continued to watch over them. Why could that be so?
He thought to himself.
Fang Qiu tucked the Heavenly Scent Horn away, walked out of the cave, and started to engage those two beasts in battle.
…
Meanwhile, in the shipping container.
“Ah!”
The thin man, who had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to sit back down after his comrades had comforted him, suddenly jumped back up to his feet with a startled cry.
He had sensed the beasts that guarded his first and second Earth Treasures were under attack.
He received a distress signal from both beasts!
“Damn you!” the thin man couldn’t help but curse. “How dare you take my second Earth Treasure even after you snatched the first one under my nose?” he yelled.
He was devastated!
He had spent ages searching for these Earth Treasures!
Yet, they were snatched right under his nose before he even had the chance to eat them!
….
On the snow-capped mountain, these two vicious beasts quickly sustained critical wounds after battling with Fang Qiu.
Fang Qiu was about to leave after happily collecting two Earth Treasures when the large monkey issued another challenge by smacking its buttocks. The enormous eagle that circled the air above started to aim its poop at Fang Qiu.
Fang Qiu nimbly dodged the poop attack.
“You’re still trying to challenge me?” Fang Qiu was getting a little annoyed.
These two vicious beasts were going too far.
These two beasts immediately headed in the same direction after Fang Qiu started to run after them.
It would have been extremely easy for Fang Qiu to catch up to those two beasts, but he deliberately slowed down as he chased after them.
He was no fool, and he wouldn’t act rashly in a fit of anger.
Moreover, why would he be angry after obtaining two Earth Treasures?
He was merely putting on an act.
“Could there be another vicious beast that would lead to yet another Earth Treasure?” he speculated.
They traveled past two mountains before arriving at a tiny valley.
As the large monkey and enormous eagle screeched angrily, a humongous lizard that was as big as an alligator suddenly charged out from the valley.
This lizard was seven or eight meters long and three meters tall.
“I knew it,” Fang Qiu couldn’t help but chuckle when he saw the lizard.
Since the large monkey could guard an Earth Treasure, the humongous lizard would definitely be guarding an Earth Treasure as well, right?
He jumped past the three beasts, and when he looked down, he immediately spotted a lone bright red fruit hanging from a tree that was about the size of a human and didn’t have leaves.
“Oh wow, a fiery fruit!” Fang Qiu exclaimed in shock.
The fiery fruit ranked 390th on the list of Earth Treasures.
According to the Heaven and Earth Treasure Scroll, the fiery fruit was shaped like a fruit, was as red as blood, burned as strongly as a fire, and was as scorching as a flame.
Just as its name suggested, it contained an enormous amount of elemental fire energy.
Fang Qiu would have never thought that the fiery fruit could be found in a valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
This might not be a Heaven Treasure but its existence would be enough to cause a huge stir. More importantly, the fiery fruit was extremely beneficial to those who cultivated strong and masculine martial arts.
Those who were troubled by cold Qi would treat this fiery fruit like a treasure because its unique elemental fire property made it far more valuable than ordinary Earth Treasures. It was almost as good as a Heaven Treasure.