Undercurrents

A stick of incense later, Qin Jue arrived at a courtyard in the southern part of the city, reeking of stench—this was the Beast Taming Workshop.

"Kid, renting a mount?" A burly-faced steward leaned lazily against the black ironwood counter, twirling a greasy leather whip in his hand. He glanced at Qin Jue, noted his plain cloth clothes, and casually pointed at the pens behind him. "If you're in a hurry, pick a Gray Wolf—fifty gold, two hundred deposit."

He gestured with the whip toward a row of restless shadows in the corner. "If you're broke, pick a Black Scale Horse—five gold, ten deposit. Let me tell you, break it and you pay, kill it and you pay, lose it and you pay too!"

"One Black Scale Horse." Qin Jue couldn't be bothered to waste words. He pulled out his money pouch, counted out fifteen gold, and tossed it onto the counter.

Staring at the deflated pouch, Qin Jue frowned slightly, thinking to himself: "If this trip yields nothing, next month's cultivation resources will be gone." Pushing the thought aside, he turned and walked toward the pens.

"Whinny—!" The moment Qin Jue approached, a horse covered in fine black scales whipped its head around, snorting two streams of scorching white air from its nostrils, its thick hind hooves gouging deep furrows into the ground in restless agitation.

This horse was called a Black Scale Horse, carrying a trace of low-grade Fierce Beast "Ironclad Earth Dragon" blood. It could bear eight hundred jin and travel a thousand li in a day. But the beast was fierce-tempered; even an ordinary martial artist at the Hundred Refinements Third Layer might struggle to subdue it if lacking in strength.

Qin Jue's expression didn't change. His right hand shot out like lightning, fingers like iron pincers, precisely clamping down on the large tendon at the back of the Black Scale Horse's neck!

"Hum!" His blood and qi vibrated faintly, and a hidden force seeped through his palm into the horse's body, instantly crushing its wild nature. The Black Scale Horse, which had been about to kick, stiffened all over, the ferocity in its eyes vanishing in an instant. It lowered its head meekly, letting out two coaxing whinnies.

"Let's go." Qin Jue swung onto the horse in one clean, sharp motion. With a low shout, the Black Scale Horse pushed off with all four hooves, shooting out of the Beast Taming Workshop like a black bolt of lightning, racing along the official road toward the city outskirts.

Two days later. The scenery around grew increasingly desolate. Withered weeds stood half a man tall, and the air was thick with the smell of rotting leaves and wet mud. Here, Silver Moon Bay was less than thirty li away.

Qin Jue lay low over the horse's back, his gaze calmly fixed ahead, while his mind rapidly calculated everything about "Silver Moon Bay." Silver Moon Bay was a massive backwater bend of the Tongtian River. The area was a web of waterways and swamps, perpetually shrouded in poisonous miasma, with Fierce Beasts roaming for a hundred li in every direction.

"Ordinary spiritual herbs give off fragrance for no more than a few zhang, but this scent drifts for dozens of li—it's no common item. What's more, when a spiritual herb appears, there's always a guardian beast or a natural formation to mask its aura. It would never be so blatant." "This doesn't feel like a treasure emerging... it's more like..." Qin Jue narrowed his eyes. "A sealed Origin Energy node has developed a crack!"

Just then—"Caw! Caw!" Above the dense forest ahead, a black cloud exploded into the sky. Hundreds of Iron-Beak Black Crows, as if startled, surged upward in a frenzy, shrieking mournfully. Then, a strange wind blew toward him.

The wind carried no stench, but instead a crisp, refreshing fragrance that lifted his spirits the moment he smelled it!

"This is..." Qin Jue yanked the reins sharply, his nostrils flaring. As the fragrance entered his body, his dormant blood and qi began circulating on their own. The fatigue of travel vanished, and his internal organs felt soothed, as if washed clean by a spring.

"Such pure Heaven and Earth Origin Energy!" Qin Jue's pupils contracted sharply. This wasn't some exotic fragrance at all—it was an "Origin Energy Tide," produced only when Heaven and Earth Origin Energy reached an extreme density! He looked up and saw, dozens of li away above Silver Moon Bay, a visible milky-white halo slowly expanding, pulsing like a heartbeat. With each pulse, it spewed vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Origin Energy in all directions.

"The density of Origin Energy here is at least ten times that of the outside world!" Qin Jue's fingers gripping the reins tightened slightly. For a martial artist, this was a cultivation paradise. Even just breathing here would increase one's cultivation. If he could find the source...

"Boom!" At that moment, the ground shook violently. Qin Jue frowned and looked back. On the official road behind him, a rolling cloud of dust surged like a long dragon! Seven or eight riders came thundering in. The mounts of the few at the front were Blood-Red Savage Horses, a full circle larger than the Black Scale Horse! These horses were fiery red all over, muscles knotted, each hoof-fall producing a dull thunderclap. They could bear five thousand jin, with three times the explosive power of a Black Scale Horse.

Qin Jue swept his gaze over them and quickly assessed the situation. The riders were all in fine brocade clothes, their auras formidable—clearly from distinguished backgrounds.

One of them had skin faintly gleaming with a jade-like luster—clearly a Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer Jade Bone Realm cultivator! The other, a burly man with a face full of rugged flesh, had faint blood energy steaming from the top of his head—a Hundred Refinements Seventh Layer Blood Melting Realm expert!

"Quick! It's right ahead!"

"With such a phenomenon, there must be a heavy treasure emerging!"

This group moved with incredible speed, catching up to Qin Jue in no time.

"You on the Black Scale Horse ahead, get out of the way!"

A Brocade Youth at the front, seeing Qin Jue blocking the path, flashed a cruel glint in his eyes.

"What piece of trash dares to block this young master's way? Looking for death!"

He suddenly clamped his legs against the horse's flanks. The Blood-Red Savage Horse let out a roar, its speed surging as if it intended to ram Qin Jue and his mount into the air!

At the same time, his wrist flicked, and a horsewhip laced with golden threads shot out like a venomous snake, tearing through the air with a piercing whistle straight at Qin Jue's face!

"Whoosh—"

Before the whip's tip even arrived, the fierce wind already stung the skin painfully.

If that whip landed solidly, even an ordinary Hundred Refinements Third Layer martial artist would likely have their skull shattered by the blow!

Qin Jue's expression remained calm as he sat motionless on his horse, as if frozen in shock.

Just as the whip's tip was about to strike between his brows, Qin Jue moved!

"Clang!"

The Cold Iron Sword slid three inches from its sheath. A flash of cold light shot out, striking the whip's tip with unerring precision!

"Hum—"

A strange vibrating force traveled along the blade. The fierce, domineering whip energy vanished like a mud ox sinking into the sea, shattered in an instant! The whip, which had been as straight as a spear, went limp and bounced weakly to the side.

"Huh?"

The Brocade Youth felt a violent shock in his wrist. A powerful counterforce surged back, numbing half his body and nearly making him lose his grip on the whip. His eyes were filled with shock!

That whip strike had only used thirty percent of his strength, but it shouldn't have been something a poor brat riding a low-grade Black Scale Horse could block!

He was about to lash out when a companion beside him growled in a low voice:

"Liu Yun, stop wasting words with him! Senior Brother Ning Wuque has already gone far ahead—hurry up and follow!"

"Hmph!"

The youth called Liu Yun cast a cold, venomous glance at Qin Jue, as if memorizing his face, then viciously snapped his whip. "You got lucky this time! Don't let this young master run into you again!"

With that, the group kicked up a cloud of dust and thundered away.

Qin Jue watched their retreating figures, his face expressionless as he sheathed his sword.

"Silver Moon Bay having such a change is interesting. I hope this trip yields some unexpected gains."

He muttered softly, then suddenly yanked the reins. The Black Scale Horse neighed in pain and shot forward like a black shadow, charging at full speed toward Silver Moon Bay!

A few li away.

Liu Yun caught up to the front of the group, his face still twisted with anger. "Damn it, some poor brat dares to block this young master's way! If I didn't have business today, I'd have broken one of his arms!"

He rubbed his still-numb wrist, but a flicker of doubt lingered in his mind. That sword strike just now was really strange.

"Enough."

The white-clad youth at the very front of the group spoke indifferently, not even turning his head. His gaze was locked on the distant phenomenon, and the Cloud-Treading Beast beneath him moved as if walking on flat ground, wind swirling around its hooves.

"Senior Brother Ning." Liu Yun immediately dropped his anger, replacing it with a fawning smile.

The man before him was a direct-line genius of the Ning Family—Ning Wuque! Ranked ninth among the outer court experts of Qingcang Academy, his Cold Ice Force had long reached mastery. If not for this rare treasure, he wouldn't have bothered bringing along these branch-family disciples.

"Many factions are eyeing this treasure. Don't waste time on ants." Ning Wuque's tone was cold.

"Yes, yes."

Just then, a lean youth at the back of the group suddenly leaned in, hesitating. "Senior Brother Liu, that guy just now... his back looked a bit familiar to me?"

Liu Yun shot him an impatient glance. "Familiar my ass! All the poor wretches in this world look the same!"

"No..."

The lean youth frowned in thought, then his eyes lit up. He lowered his voice: "I remember now! That figure looks just like that Qin Jue who severely injured Young Master Zhiyuan in the outer court a few days ago!"

"Qin Jue?"

Ning Wuque, who had been moving forward with indifference, finally turned his head slightly, a hint of amusement on his face.

"The one who injured Ning Zhiyuan? That waste Zhiyuan is indeed embarrassing, but even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner."

He turned back, a cold smirk curling at the corner of his mouth. He lightly flicked the reins, and the Cloud-Treading Beast suddenly accelerated.

"If it really is him, then on this trip to Silver Moon Bay... I don't mind taking the trouble to cripple him."