Immortal Treasure

"Stop!"

The masked leader pointed his sword at the person, "Witch God Cult follower?"

"Amitabha!"

The sharp-mouthed monk clasped his hands together, "Please, benefactors, do not speak carelessly. This humble monk is from the Golden Bell Temple."

"A monk? Then why are you running around in such a panic?!"

The masked man coldly shouted, "Stop the nonsense. With a face like yours, who can you fool? Die!"

No more words were needed.

The four moved at the same time.

The monk was not hesitant either. At some point, he had quietly put on a pair of gloves wrapped in wire. He directly clashed with the sword blade, and sparks flew instantly, the sound like metal being forged.

"This monk and the masked leader are both at the Bone Tempering realm!"

Chen Sanshi could tell that their strength clearly surpassed that of Blood Tempering martial artists. They were both skilled in Bone Tempering.

Especially the sharp-mouthed monk, who appeared thin but was incredibly fierce when he fought, his aura like a Fierce Tiger from the Second Mountain.

Apart from the masked leader, the others were no match at all.

Within a few rounds, they were all injured, holding their swords and not daring to approach further, providing cover from a distance.

The masked leader and the monk were locked in a fierce battle.

As they were evenly matched, another figure appeared silently and launched a surprise attack from behind.

It was yet another Bone Tempering expert.

Two against one, the monk finally began to falter.

"Screech–"

The masked leader found an opening and slashed the monk's shoulder.

The blade did not sever his entire arm as expected. Instead, after cutting through the bone, it got stuck in the middle, making it difficult to cut completely.

Is this Bone Tempering?

Are the bones so hard that even swords can't cut through them?

I'm afraid even my Two-stone bow wouldn't be able to kill a Bone Tempering martial artist directly.

It seems getting a Ten-stone bow is imperative.

Chen Sanshi continued to watch.

Any fight where the opponent was at a higher realm than him helped improve his experience.

On the battlefield, the situation gradually became clearer.

Ultimately, two fists are no match for four hands. After being struck by the sword, the monk's disadvantage rapidly expanded. The Blood Tempering martial artists, who had only dared to watch from afar, now moved closer to find opportunities to deliver the finishing blow.

"Screech, screech, screech–"

The sound of blades tearing through clothes echoed continuously.

The fake monk looked as if he had been doused in red paint. Although his bones were hard to cut, an unknown amount of flesh had been sliced off. Some pieces still clung to his body, dangling precariously, looking extremely gruesome.

Finally, the masked leader found an opportunity and thrust his sword into the Witch God Cult follower's carotid artery.

Blood spurted like a fountain, and he fell straight to the ground, his eyes wide open in death.

"Search!"

The masked men quickly began to rummage through the corpse, but found nothing.

"There's nothing here, the Immortal Treasure isn't on him!"

"Young Master, do you think we should go up the mountain?"

"The item has most likely already fallen into Xiang Tingchun's hands."

"Let's go. We came here to pick up scraps anyway. If we can't find it, we'll just have to pay a hefty price. If Xiang Tingchun catches us, it'll be over. It looks like we'll have to pay a lot."

"Take the body and withdraw!"

Listening to their conversation, Chen Sanshi confirmed his suspicions.

The masked men were Liang Zhan and that Old Servant!

This Young Master of the Academy, who was rumored to frequent brothels all day, had not neglected his cultivation at all. At twenty-five or twenty-six years old, even if he had only been practicing martial arts for ten years, reaching the Bone Tempering realm made him absolutely top-tier in Poyang County.

If I want to kill him, I still need to improve my strength.

Chen Sanshi would not forget that Liang Zhan had once come looking for him. If it hadn't been for Wang Zhi, while he might not have lost his life, he wouldn't have fared well.

The feeling of being controlled by others was truly unbearable.

He did not linger and returned the way he came.

Did Xiang Tingchun really get the Immortal Treasure?

Chen Sanshi felt a sense of regret.

But he always felt something was wrong.

Thinking carefully, the Witch God Cult members mixing in with the common folk wasn't actually a good way to escape.

Since the army had arrived, even if they were truly ordinary people, they would definitely investigate their ancestors for eighteen generations before letting them go.

Compared to trying to slip by, they seemed more like they were trying to attract attention.

If it weren't for Chen Sanshi, who could hear the snapping of a branch dozens of meters away even in such chaos, no one would have discovered the fake monk.

But he didn't have anything on him.

Was it hidden?

Chen Sanshi couldn't help but recall the scene when he first obtained the Exquisite Jade Box.

With a "what if" mindset, he searched the path he had come from, finding no signs of disturbed earth.

"Am I overthinking things?"

"Wait."

A bird's chirp overhead caught his attention, and he noticed a fresh mark on the bark of a pine tree where it had recently peeled off.

Chen Sanshi immediately climbed up and, at the highest point of the trunk, found a fist-sized tree hollow.

"A snake!"

With quick reflexes, he grabbed the snake's head and pulled it out.

It was a venomous green snake.

Looking inside the hole, there was nothing else.

However, there were bloodstains on the snake's lower jaw, as if it had been torn open, and some of its scales were missing.

"Could it be..."

Chen Sanshi didn't hesitate. He pried open the snake's jaws with his hands, pulling them apart and tearing the snake directly in half. A piece of emerald green jade appeared, precisely the Jade Key described in the Great Sheng's books!

"Stuffing the item into a snake's belly, you've really got some nerve!"

He couldn't help but admire the person's ingenuity.

Even if they marked the snake, they might not be able to find it again later.

It seemed the Witch God Cult would rather discard the item than let it fall into someone else's hands.

He had to admit, this method was indeed effective.

Anyone else, a normal person, wouldn't have found such a minute trace.

But they ran into him.

Chen Sanshi put the jade away and then pulled off the snake's gall bladder.

This green snake wasn't valuable, but even a mosquito's leg is still meat.

After finishing everything, he threw the snake's carcass back into the tree hollow. Before long, other animals would be drawn by the scent of blood and eat it clean.

"Looks like Commander Xiang's trip will be in vain."

Chen Sanshi returned to the foot of the mountain, where the chaos had not yet ended.

The Witch God Cult members were putting up a desperate resistance, and the remaining two or three used the common folk as human shields, fleeing in various directions.

As expected, they were covering for the fake monk.

After the fake monk left, the Witch God Cult members started trying to save their own lives.

The Garrison soldiers also scattered in pursuit, thinly spread out, and no one paid attention to Chen Sanshi's movements.

It wasn't until dusk that the last Witch God Cult member was captured, and they began to clean up the battlefield.

In terms of casualties, three Garrison soldiers were killed and two were wounded.

Of the two killed in action, only one was a Warrior Recruit; the rest were Infantrymen.

However, they had killed seven Witch God Cult members and captured one alive, all of whom were Blood Tempering martial artists.

Truly, there's strength in numbers.

After all, they had one General Flag and five Squad Leaders. If it hadn't been for the chaotic situation, preventing the archers from being fully utilized, they could have achieved even fewer casualties.

"I killed one Proficient Blood Tempering martial artist and one Minor Accomplishment, that's worth a few bowls of Blood Replenishing Soup."

Chen Sanshi calculated.

His subordinates also returned one after another, with no casualties, and had jointly killed two people.

"Alright, stop hugging me!"

Zhu Tong impatiently pushed Xu Wencai away. "It's all over, look at you, you coward!"

"Chirp--"

The signal whistle sounded again.

Three hundred reserve soldiers were ordered to assemble in front of the Golden Bell Temple.

Xiang Tingchun, his uniform stained with blood, slowly walked out of the temple gate. His Seedling Saber was broken, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but the head clutched in his hand was proof that he had won the fight.