Hunter Horse Squad

In the days that followed, Lu Chen lived quite peacefully. During the day, he checked whether Young Master Jun's injuries had healed, and at night, he cultivated inside the Twin Fish Plate. It was all very pleasant.

That day, Lu Chen was wandering aimlessly through the Twin Fish Plate, looking over the treasures Feng Tiancheng had left him, when he noticed the Spirit Ginseng in the Spirit Field.

Feng Tiancheng had planted all of it. Every stalk was thousands, even tens of thousands, of years old.

He recalled how much blood Young Master Jun had lost a few days ago. Although his wounds had healed, his Essence Blood could not recover so quickly.

Lu Chen casually picked a stalk, went to the kitchen to stew a bowl of soup, and brought it to Young Master Jun's room.

Jun Wudi was explaining cultivation knowledge to Young Master Jun and Nantian Yijian. When he saw Lu Chen enter, Young Master Jun hurriedly invited him to listen as well.

Lu Chen sat beside Young Master Jun, ladled out a bowl of soup, and handed it to him. At once, the room was filled with fragrance. Nantian Yijian ran over and asked for a bowl too.

"Drink the soup first. I just finished stewing it, so drink it while it's hot."

"It smells so good! I want some too. Hurry up and serve me a bowl."

Lu Chen had no choice but to ladle out another bowl for Nantian Yijian. Then he said to Jun Wudi, "Uncle Jun, would you like a bowl? I stewed this with Spirit Ginseng. It tastes especially good."

"You two drink it, you—" Jun Wudi had been about to refuse when he saw Young Master Jun collapse straight to the floor after finishing his soup. Startled, Nantian Yijian flung his bowl away and shouted, "The soup is poisoned!"

Jun Wudi hurried forward to examine Young Master Jun's body. Just then, Young Master Jun suddenly opened his eyes and cried, "So hot! There's a surge of energy crashing around inside my body."

After saying that, Young Master Jun fainted again. Jun Wudi examined him and found nothing unusual, except for a sudden extra surge of incomparably pure energy.

"What is going on? When did this appear?" Jun Wudi was deeply puzzled as he sensed that energy.

Seeing Jun Wudi's expression, Lu Chen thought the soup had truly been poisoned. He hurriedly asked, "Uncle Jun, what happened to Little Junzi? Was it because he drank the soup made with Spirit Ginseng?"

"Spirit Ginseng? Let me see. Even Spirit Ginseng should not cause this."

Jun Wudi quickly picked up the soup bowl Lu Chen had brought. The instant he looked inside, he burst into loud sobs.

"Lu Chen, you prodigal! How could you use ten-thousand-year Spirit Ginseng to stew soup? Do you know how many Minor Returning Heaven Pills this could have made?"

Jun Wudi was not truly blaming Lu Chen. It was simply that medicinal herbs were extraordinarily precious in this era, and using ten-thousand-year Spirit Ginseng for soup was truly wasteful.

Lu Chen hurriedly explained, "I got this from a Secret Realm. There's still a little left. Uncle Jun, do you want some?"

Looking at the Spirit Ginseng Lu Chen had taken out, Jun Wudi said, "Put it away, quickly. Wealth must not be displayed, wealth must not be displayed. Sigh, I don't know whether you're ignorant or foolish, using such treasure to make ginseng soup. Stay here these next few days. I need to explain some basic cultivation knowledge of the continent to you."

Nantian Yijian sighed along with Jun Wudi from the side. He had stayed in a sect before and knew the value of such treasures.

Of these four people, perhaps Lu Chen alone did not know the value of Spirit Plants and medicinal herbs. There were more Spirit Plants than one could count in the Twin Fish Plate, and coupled with the gap in Feng Tiancheng's knowledge, it gave Lu Chen the impression that Spirit Plants were worthless.

Gradually, Young Master Jun woke up. When he heard that Lu Chen had used ten-thousand-year Spirit Ginseng to stew soup, he joined the chorus of sighing.

Under Jun Wudi's tutoring, Lu Chen gained a more rigorous understanding of cultivation on the continent. The spiritual energy here was not as dense as it had been in Feng Tiancheng's era, so Spirit Plants and medicinal herbs did not grow as old. Naturally, they were especially expensive. The same was true of other things.

After hearing this common knowledge, Lu Chen also felt guilty about what he had done.

Just as Lu Chen was endlessly lamenting his own guilt, Nantian Yijian strode in, cursing under his breath.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! I was only playing the zither. Fine if they don't know how to appreciate it, but why did they have to curse at me? Damn it!"

Whenever Nantian Yijian played the zither, people gathered around him. They did not dare attack him, so they began cursing instead. After several days of this, Nantian Yijian had become unbearably frustrated.

Then Nantian Yijian said, "Little Lu, Little Junzi, let's swear brotherhood. We'll form a squad, and once you two join, we'll specialize in hunting down those people. This squad will be called—the Hunter Horse Squad."

"That's a good idea. I agree. I want to be the eldest brother."

Young Master Jun had always wanted to be the eldest brother, so he agreed instantly. Without waiting for Lu Chen's consent, Nantian Yijian pulled the two of them down to their knees and rapidly recited the words of sworn brotherhood.

By the time Lu Chen came to his senses, Nantian Yijian had finished speaking and risen to his feet.

"From today onward, the Hunter Horse Squad is officially established. You two will be the elder brothers, and I'll be the younger brother. Since I'm the younger brother, you have to protect me. I want to see whether those people still dare curse."

Only then did Lu Chen realize Nantian Yijian had tricked him into becoming a thug. Furious, he raised his fist and was about to punch Nantian Yijian.

But Young Master Jun followed behind Nantian Yijian and said, "I'm the oldest, so I'll be the eldest brother. Little Lu, you're younger than me, so you'll be the second brother."

Lu Chen was extremely depressed. How had he ended up with these two living treasures? What kind of sworn brotherhood was this careless?

But no matter how Lu Chen argued, the two insisted that the Hunter Horse Squad had already been established and could not be changed.

"Hunter Horse Squad!"

"Hunter Horse Squad!"

"Hunter Horse..."

And so, amid the two men's shouts, Lu Chen could only agree helplessly.

Another day passed. Lu Chen and the other two were learning how to circulate spiritual energy when a burst of cheers came from outside the camp. The three hurried out and saw the bluish-green light in the sky vanish, exposing the pit entrance to the Secret Realm to the air.

Lu Chen stared at the pit and discovered that a stone stele had appeared beside the passage.

As he looked at the stone stele, Lu Chen's heart suddenly began pounding. The summons had come from within it.

Only a silhouette was carved on the stele. Five demonic beasts followed behind it. Lu Chen had seen that silhouette before. To confirm it, he sank his consciousness into the Twin Fish Plate and found the Azure Emperor's identity token.

Looking at the identity token, Lu Chen confirmed that the silhouette was the Azure Emperor. However, the silhouette on the stele possessed an even sharper aura, radiating an air of slaughter and conquest.

At that moment, someone in the crowd said, "The Secret Realm has opened! I'm going to strike it rich."

"You think you'll strike it rich with that cultivation of yours? Do you think you're from Fengtian Prefecture or Medicine King Villa? You're overestimating yourself. Be careful not to get killed the moment you enter."

"Who are you talking about? Just wait. Once we enter the Secret Realm, I'll be the first to kill you."

"Come on, then. We'll see who dies first."

In an instant, the atmosphere around the Secret Realm was ignited. The crowd cursed endlessly, but with several great sects present, no one dared make a move.

Jun Wudi appeared before the crowd. With a single sweep of his gaze, the scene instantly settled down.

Jun Wudi shouted toward Medicine King Villa and Purple Flame Fortress, "May I ask whether Medicine King Yao Buting is here? May I ask whether Purple Flame Celestial Lord Zi Long is here? Would you come forward for a meeting?"

The moment Jun Wudi finished speaking, an old man emerged from Medicine King Villa's direction. With the bearing of an immortal, he said, "Hehe, this old man is here. Greetings, Celestial Being Jun."

A middle-aged man flew down from Purple Flame Fortress's direction. With a demonic, sinister aura, he looked over the crowd and said, "Celestial Being Jun, hurry and begin. I can hardly wait."

Seeing that the three great sects had all arrived, the crowd became lively again. "Celestial Being Jun, hurry and begin. We can't wait any longer."

"Yes, hurry and begin. We certainly will not act recklessly."

"Yes... yes."

Jun Wudi looked at the gradually livelier scene and signaled for silence.

He said, "Two months ago, we received word that someone had obtained the top-grade material Yin-Yang Sand within Fengtian Prefecture. Only after investigating did we locate this Secret Realm. Do you know whose Secret Realm this is?"

"Celestial Being Jun, we already know. Hurry and continue, don't delay any longer."

"Celestial Being Jun, hurry and tell us. My heart is itching to hear it."

Seeing the eager looks in everyone's eyes, Jun Wudi continued, "After investigating, we discovered that this was left behind in the early years by that legendary Heavenly Emperor. That is why we spread the news and sincerely invited everyone here."

Upon hearing this news, the crowd began arguing again.

"The Heavenly Emperor—could that be the Azure Emperor, who crushed all heroes beneath him, first opened a passage beyond the domain, and ascended away?"

"Damn, we're rich this time! Even a scrap of his fur would be an immense treasure to people like us."

"Fengtian Prefecture is truly grand! Celestial Being Jun is invincible!"

"..."

Seeing everyone's excitement, Jun Wudi said, "Now that the Secret Realm's gate has appeared, opening it requires tremendous power. Therefore, everyone will need to contribute. Once we enter the Secret Realm, the Heavenly Emperor's treasures will be contested according to each person's fate and opportunity."

After Jun Wudi's words, the moment everyone heard that the Heavenly Emperor's treasures would depend on fate and opportunity, they instantly became like loyal dogs, each expressing their devotion in every possible way.

"Celestial Being Jun, rest assured. We will certainly use the full extent of our cultivation."

"From today onward, whoever refuses to submit to Fengtian Prefecture is against me."

"Count me in..."

"Me too..."

Seeing their expressions, Jun Wudi felt it was time to open the Secret Realm.

"Since everyone wishes to enter the Secret Realm as soon as possible, I will not speak any more nonsense. Soon, pour all of your spiritual energy into the stone stele. Do not hold anything back. Only by opening this gate can we truly enter the Secret Realm."

As he spoke, Jun Wudi looked toward Yao Buting and Zi Long. The three of them had the highest cultivation among those present. Jun Wudi quietly told the two, "Fellow Daoists, you must reveal your true strength. I previously searched through ancient records and learned that a demonic beast guards the Heavenly Emperor's weapon and magical treasure deep inside. We will go directly to find that demonic beast and seize the treasure."

Yao Buting and Zi Long had already known the general situation when they received the news. The three had discussed spreading word to draw numerous cultivators here, intending to use them to attract the lesser demonic beasts while they conveniently took the final treasure.

The two exchanged glances. "Celestial Being Jun, we came this time to help Fengtian Prefecture. We must take half of the final magical treasure and resources."

Young Master Jun watched the two suddenly open their mouths like lions, trying to raise the stakes, and became furious. There was something in the Secret Realm that they absolutely had to obtain, and they could only seize it in secret.

Jun Wudi had previously exhausted the strength of his sect to enter once, but the final demonic beast had been too powerful. That was why he had planned this Secret Realm gathering with the other two sects.

"You are opening your mouths like lions."

"You can refuse. Fengtian Prefecture only sent you here. If you refuse, our two families can join forces. Let's see who loses out then."

Jun Wudi looked at the two before him. In the past, he would never have put either sect in his eyes, but now he was seriously injured and needed the treasure inside the Secret Realm.

"Sigh, half it is, then. Better than nothing. I ask that you two fellow Daoists give it everything you have. Once we come out, we will divide the treasures equally."

After considering it again and again, Jun Wudi could only grit his teeth and agree for now. He would settle accounts with them later.