Ink Jade Ancient Treasure

Outside the dilapidated temple, a streak of red light approached.

Ye Kang, holding his saber, emerged from the darkness. Illuminated by the faint lamplight, a face with a playful smile gradually came into Fan Shanyue's view.

"You sure know how to take the long way around. You almost got away."

Ye Kang's tone was relaxed, as if catching up to Fan Shanyue had only taken a little effort.

Fan Shanyue's face was filled with terror.

"No... this is impossible... How could you possibly catch up to me? I clearly erased all traces. You couldn't have caught up to my Qinggong..."

"Don't speak so absolutely. When it comes to traveling, your Qinggong and Miss Dai's Qinggong are not just a little bit different. If she had your strength, I probably wouldn't have been able to catch up."

Upon hearing this, Fan Shanyue's expression instantly contorted.

"It's that bitch! She gave you her Qinggong!"

Ye Kang shook his head. "Regrettably, I wanted it, but she wouldn't give it. However, she did tell me your Qinggong was also quite good, so I came."

Fan Shanyue suddenly understood.

"No wonder you scoundrel didn't go after the river pirates and insisted on bothering me. So that bitch was the informant! I should have ground her to ashes long ago!"

Fan Shanyue cursed angrily. He wanted to run, but he had no strength left.

Knowing he couldn't escape this fate, he suddenly formed his hand into a palm and struck forcefully at his waist.

Whoosh!

A Hundred Flowers Sword Qi pierced through his head. This time, he didn't dodge. His eyeballs burst, his head lolled, and he died.

[Ding]

[Host has completed the mission: Eliminate Flower Thief. Reward: 8000 Comprehension]

Ye Kang walked forward and felt around Fan Shanyue's waist.

"Strange, why is there nothing? Wasn't his movement just now meant to destroy a secret manual?"

[Ding]

[Detected incomplete ancient treasure. Inject True Qi to use.]

"Ancient treasure? What's that!"

Ye Kang was slightly surprised. If even the system was reminding him, it had to be something good.

He tore open the clothes at the corpse's waist. He saw half of a dark green jade pendant hanging from his belt.

Ye Kang held his breath, took down the jade pendant, and attempted to inject True Qi into it.

Swish!

Ye Kang felt as if he had entered a magical little space. He stood on a jade platform, about half the size of a basketball court. Scattered on the platform were various items and gold and silver.

Suddenly, with a flash, he was back in the dilapidated temple, his expression incredibly complex.

"Holy crap! Isn't this a Storage Magic Treasure only found in fantasy novels! Am I not in a Wuxia world!"

Ye Kang felt utterly blown away, his worldview challenged.

He quickly sat down and used his Wood Element True Qi to calm his agitated mind.

"It seems my understanding of the world I'm in is far from as high as I imagined."

Ye Kang took a moment to compose himself, then injected True Qi with full concentration again, exploring it carefully.

Inside the space, the surroundings were blocked by invisible walls of air, impossible to penetrate.

The height was also roughly equivalent to a normal room, with no room to go higher.

Most peculiar was that directly in front of the jade platform, there wasn't an air wall, but a void. His True Qi couldn't reach it at all.

The jade platform there seemed to have been shattered by something, leaving it uneven.

"That must be the broken part of the jade pendant. A complete jade pendant space would be at least the size of a basketball court. Even though only half remains, it's still an uncommon treasure."

Ye Kang was overjoyed and immediately checked Fan Shanyue's inventory.

There wasn't much gold and silver. This guy apparently only liked women and disdained wealth.

What interested Ye Kang the most were two secret manuals.

One was titled Shadow-Piercing Steps, undoubtedly Fan Shanyue's strange Qinggong. It was more fitting to call it a footwork technique.

The other was titled Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body, the nature of which was unclear.

Fortunately, he had the system. Ye Kang took out both secret manuals and activated the Quantum Fluctuation Speed Reading technique, finishing them in seconds.

[Ding]

[Recorded Innate footwork technique Shadow-Piercing Steps. Entry level requires 5000 Comprehension.]

[Recorded Innate Martial Arts Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body. Entry level requires 3000 Comprehension.]

[Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body: Condense phantom spirit butterflies. Inject True Qi into the spirit butterflies to change your form, making the illusion indistinguishable from reality.]

Ye Kang felt exceptionally good after reading the introductions to two martial arts techniques.

He learned that the Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body was the method Fan Shanyue used for disguise. He had previously thought Fan Shanyue relied on makeup, but he never expected him to possess a dedicated martial arts technique for it.

Conveniently, he had been rewarded with 8,000 Comprehension. Without further ado, he decided to learn the movement technique first.

[Ding]

[Host has spent 5,000 Comprehension to gain introductory mastery of Shadow-Piercing Steps.]

At the same moment, Ye Kang closed his eyes slightly, and countless insights flooded his mind.

Ever since he was picked up by his master as a child, he had spent his days in a dark cave, comprehending the mysteries of the void, keeping bats as companions and blind fish as friends. He had moved through walls and earth for twenty years, finally achieving the ability to tread on emptiness, shifting his form and changing his appearance in an instant. Wherever his gaze fell, he saw the Bagua and Jiugong grids, allowing him to reach any destination in the blink of an eye.

Ye Kang opened his eyes. With a single thought, the surrounding space transformed into a series of coordinates composed of Jiugong and Bagua formations.

He circulated his True Qi, and his figure suddenly turned into black smoke. The next second, he appeared on a dirt mound ten steps away.

After trying this a few more times, Ye Kang's True Qi was rapidly depleted.

He couldn't help but show a look of ecstatic joy.

"What a powerful technique! No, just as I suspected before, this is not a mortal skill at all, but a far more profound martial art!"

He couldn't comprehend the intricacies of instantaneous movement and teleportation, but it didn't matter. He only needed to understand how potent this movement technique was in actual combat.

Afterward, he also gained introductory mastery of the Spirit Butterfly Thousand Illusions Body.

This martial art technique was much simpler. Even while comprehending it, Ye Kang only spent ten years to gain introductory mastery, but its miraculous applications were endless.

He extended a finger, and a captivating blue True Qi spirit butterfly leaped from his fingertip.

By spending some time to sketch someone's likeness within the spirit butterfly, he could then transform into that person's appearance at will.

It was a pity that introductory mastery only allowed him to condense one spirit butterfly. Upon achieving perfect mastery, he would be able to condense nine spirit butterflies. The name "Thousand Illusions Body" was somewhat exaggerated.

Of course, while the movement technique and disguise martial art were practical, they didn't significantly improve his cultivation realm.

Ye Kang, highly satisfied, hung the Ink Jade Fragmented Pendant on his belt. Then, he swung his saber, decapitating Fan Shanyue. He wrapped the head in a piece of tattered cloth, set the rest of the corpse ablaze, and then departed.

He needed the manual, he needed the treasure, and he needed the credit for killing the Flower Thief.