Treasure Map

Clang!

With a sharp clatter, Tian Yiming's wide-eyed head dropped to the ground with a thud. Blood gushed from his neck like a fountain, spraying more than two meters into the air.

At the sight of the bloody scene, Zhao Ping'an knitted his brows, feeling a little queasy.

Damn, Baidu really wasn't lying. The blood pressure in the human arteries is insanely high!

Remembering something he'd once searched online out of boredom, Zhao Ping'an muttered with a churning stomach.

About a minute later, he formed a giant hand from his Qi and seized Tian Yiming's corpse, which had stopped spraying blood, along with his fallen head.

Then he spotted the black iron ball clutched in Tian Yiming's left hand. With Tian Yiming dead, it had dropped to the ground with a thud.

Zhao Ping'an untied the bundle from his back and found a pile of familiar Spiritual Medicines and assorted odds and ends.

There was dry food, a few Gold Notes—about ten thousand taels—a little loose silver, two manuals, and a map.

Zhao Ping'an searched Tian Yiming's body as well and found another Shocking Heaven Thunder tucked close to his person, along with another map.

"Is this a Treasure Map? A Martial Venerable's legacy? This location... the Luoxia Mountain Range in the Yellow Marsh Dynasty!"

Looking at the map Tian Yiming had kept close to his body, Zhao Ping'an murmured in surprise.

He hadn't expected Tian Yiming to have something like this. He just didn't know whether anyone in the Profound Water Dynasty knew about the Treasure Map. It would be fine if they didn't, but if they did, the Profound Water Dynasty had just hit the jackpot.

They hadn't found a dead Martial Venerable, but they were about to encounter a living one.

He wondered what expression the royal family of the Profound Water Dynasty would wear when that happened.

Still, Zhao Ping'an figured the Profound Water Dynasty most likely didn't know. Otherwise, they wouldn't have let Tian Yiming cross half the dynasty and travel all the way to Tannan Commandery, a border region adjoining the Yellow Marsh Dynasty.

"When my cultivation starts progressing more slowly, I'll have to check out the place marked on the map."

Zhao Ping'an stowed the Treasure Map and Gold Notes close to his body and spoke softly.

Then he tossed out the dry food and water from Tian Yiming's bundle. He stuffed everything else back into the bundle, which was made from the pelt of some unknown Demonic Beast, and slung it over his back.

After that, he tore off a relatively clean piece of clothing from Tian Yiming and wrapped his head in it, then quickly vanished into the woods.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhao Ping'an appeared at Wu'an Mountain again. Dozens of people had gathered there by now, all of them having rushed over after seeing the Signal Flare.

When they saw Zhao Ping'an suddenly appear in front of the shattered gate with a bundle on his back and something resembling a human head in his hand, everyone bowed and greeted him. Their curious gazes lingered on the blood-dripping bundle in his hand.

Zhao Ping'an had no time for these people, whose cultivation reached no higher than the peak of the Houtian Martial Artist realm. He walked straight into his own loft.

"It seems Tian Yiming never came in here."

Looking at the furnishings in the loft, unchanged since he'd left, Zhao Ping'an murmured.

That made sense. For Tian Yiming, a Sixth Level Grandmaster, what value could there be in a place where an Innate Martial Master lived?

In the study on the second floor, Zhao Ping'an opened the bundle and sorted its contents into separate piles. Then he picked up the two manuals and examined them.

From the outline, he could tell that both were Human-grade Cultivation Methods. One was an internal cultivation method, Falling Maple Gang Qi, which could take one to the eighth level of the Grandmaster realm. The other was a Lightness Skill: Illusory Body Folding Steps, the very technique Tian Yiming had used to evade Zhao Ping'an's hidden weapons.

"Garbage..."

After flipping through them twice, Zhao Ping'an tossed the two Human-grade Cultivation Methods onto the table. They could have stirred up a storm of bloodshed in Tannan Commandery, but he clearly had no interest in them.

The reason was simple: compared with the cultivation methods derived by the Game Panel, these two Human-grade Cultivation Methods were inferior by more than a single grade. They were no match at all.

Then he picked up the map from the bundle and looked it over again. It was the first time he'd seen such a detailed map of the terrain.

The map was about a meter long and half a meter wide. It mainly showed the topography of the Profound Water Dynasty, the locations of its cities large and small, and brief introductions to their various powers. Along the edges, it listed the neighboring countries of the Profound Water Dynasty.

Zhao Ping'an guessed it was more like a military map, given how detailed it was.

If an enemy country got hold of it, the Profound Water Dynasty would be in serious trouble.

From east to west and from south to north, Zhao Ping'an carefully studied everything marked on the map.

It was also the first time he'd learned the names, locations, and distances of the Profound Water Dynasty's Three Prefectures, Twelve Commanderies, and Forty-eight Cities.

The Profound Water Dynasty bordered three other dynasties and an endless mountain range.

To the south lay the Yellow Marsh Dynasty, to the east the Shan'an Dynasty, to the north the Xiujiang Dynasty, and to the west the Jue Ling Mountain Range.

Unfortunately, the map gave only a name and nothing else. Well, that wasn't quite true. Beside the words "Jue Ling Mountain Range," two large red characters stood out clearly: "Forbidden Land."

Clearly, that place was extraordinary—or, more accurately, extremely dangerous.

"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!"

"Giddyup, giddyup, giddyup..."

A string of fine horses raced toward Wu'an Mountain. Ahead of them, four figures were hurrying along with Lightness Skills, moving far faster than the horses.

They were the Innate Martial Masters from South Ridge City's various powers. At the very front were Ouyang Yun and three Grandmasters who had come from Profound Water City.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

As Zhao Ping'an studied the map on the second floor, he suddenly heard someone knocking. He immediately leaned out from upstairs and called down:

"What is it?"

"My lord! Grandmaster Ouyang from the City Lord's Mansion has brought three people and is waiting outside the gate!"

"Got it. Let them in."

"Yes, my lord!"

Watching the guard hurry toward the shattered gate, Zhao Ping'an's gaze turned deep and thoughtful. The only people who could have come all the way from South Ridge City to Wu'an Mountain with Ouyang Yun in such a short time were the three Grandmasters from Profound Water City. As for their purpose, it went without saying.

Zhao Ping'an quickly stashed the map, the two manuals, and the Shocking Heaven Thunder in a hidden compartment on the second floor. Then he carried Tian Yiming's head and the bundle down to the reception hall on the first floor.

He had just set them on the table when four figures arrived outside the loft.

Zhao Ping'an sat in the grand chair at the head of the room and raised his hand, drawing the door toward him.

Clang!

The door swung open, revealing the guard outside, who had been about to knock again.

"Please, come in."

Zhao Ping'an waved the guard away, then called out in a clear voice.

"Ouyang Yun greets Grandmaster Zhao. These three are the Third Offering of our Profound Water Dynasty's Hall of Worship, Thunderous Blade Qiu Wanren; the Tenth Offering, Dim Sum Brush Xiang Shengrong; and the Twenty-eighth Offering, Heartbreak Palm Liao Hongyi."