Nine Nether Spirit Ginseng and Thought Spirit Pearl

The air in the mountain forest suddenly froze, even the chirping of insects and birds abruptly ceased. All eyes focused on the iron box held by the burly guard—the box was no larger than a palm, entirely black, its surface covered in strange dark red patterns, glinting with the cold metallic sheen under the sun.

"Young Master! We found it!"

The guard knelt on one knee, holding the iron box high above his head. Veins bulged on his thick arms, clearly indicating the seemingly small box was not light. Even stranger, the air around the box seemed to subtly distort, as if an invisible chill was spreading outwards.

Sun Yu's eyes flashed, and he lunged forward, snatching the box. The moment his fingers touched the lid, a thin layer of frost formed. With a soft click, the lid was slowly lifted—

"Hiss..."

The closest constables gasped in unison, instinctively taking several steps back. Inside the box lay a completely black ginseng, its body covered in fine, silvery-white patterns that pulsed slightly as if alive. Most horrifying was the blurred human face at the root, its vacant eye sockets and twisted mouth appearing to scream silently.

"Nine Nether Spirit Ginseng! It really is the Nine Nether Spirit Ginseng!" Sun Yu's voice trembled with excitement, his eyes gleaming with near-insane greed.

Ye Yun stood at the edge of the crowd, his pupils contracting sharply. The appearance of this spirit ginseng matched the records in the Ye Family's ancient texts, the "Records of Strange Objects," perfectly—this item only grew in extremely Yin locations, requiring the resentment of nine hundred and ninety-nine wronged souls to form. The silver patterns on its body were the physical manifestation of condensed resentment.

"Where did you find it?" Sun Yu demanded sternly, his fingers unconsciously tightening. The iron box creaked under his grip, its edges already dented by his fingers.

"Replying to Young Master, it was found under a fresh mound of earth about thirty paces behind the bandit's lair," the guard replied respectfully. "It wasn't buried deep, and a bluestone was placed on top as a marker."

A flicker of suspicion crossed Sun Yu's eyes: "Take me to see it!"

The group arrived behind the bandit's lair. Several uneven pits, seven or eight in total, were scattered around, clearly having been dug up multiple times. The guard pointed to an unremarkable small pit—the soil by the edge was still fresh, and a moss-covered bluestone lay tilted nearby. Under the stone was half a broken hemp rope, its end stained with dried, blackened blood.

"Interesting..." Sun Yu crouched down, his fingertip brushing the soil. He suddenly let out a cold laugh, "This soil was compacted with true qi. No wonder it wasn't found during the search."

Ye Yun's heart skipped a beat at his words. Compacting soil with true qi was the work of at least an 8th Rank martial artist. It seemed there was an extraordinary individual among these bandits.

"Continue searching!" Sun Yu stood up abruptly, his black robe billowing as if caught in a wind. "That Lord was robbed of two treasures, both stored in these marked boxes. The Nine Nether Spirit Ginseng is only one of them. There's another..."

His gaze swept over everyone present like a hawk's: "Whoever finds it will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold!"

The constables erupted in a clamor. A thousand taels of gold was enough for an ordinary family to live in luxury for a lifetime. Everyone immediately scattered, expanding the search area from the bandit lair to the entire mountain forest.

Ye Yun deliberately lagged behind, his eyes occasionally glancing towards the spot where he had found the bronze plaque—that mound of earth was less than a hundred paces away but had been overlooked due to being covered by thick fallen leaves.

"Brother Ye..." Yan Xiao Liu sidled up, his voice lowered to a whisper. "That ginseng looks sinister. I was close just now, and I think I heard it... crying?"

Just as Ye Yun was about to reply, he felt the bronze plaque in his bosom grow slightly warm. He pretended to bend down to tie his shoelaces, subtly taking out the plaque to check—the eye symbol on its surface was emitting a faint bloody light, and its pupil was pointing directly southeast!

"Liu Zi, go check over there." Ye Yun casually pointed in the opposite direction, while he himself walked towards the direction indicated by the plaque.

With each step, the plaque grew warmer. When Ye Yun stopped under a crooked Old Locust Tree, the plaque was already too hot to hold. He crouched down, pushing aside the thick layer of fallen leaves to reveal the soft soil beneath—

"There's a reaction here!"

A startled cry suddenly came from not far away. Ye Yun's heart jolted, and he quickly hid the plaque in his sleeve. He saw a young constable standing by the mound he had discovered earlier, a wooden plaque in his hand emitting a strange red glow.

Sun Yu appeared like a ghost, snatching the wooden plaque. Seeing the intense red light on the plaque, his breathing clearly quickened.

"Everyone, get back!"

Sun Yu roughly pushed the crowd aside and personally crouched down to dig away the leaves. As the soil was gradually brushed away, an iron box, identical to the previous one, gradually revealed its true form. The difference was that the patterns on this box were golden, shimmering with a peculiar halo under the sun.

The moment the lid was lifted, a soft, milky white beam of light shot up into the sky, illuminating an area of ten zhang as bright as day. Within the light beam, countless tiny golden runes flowed like swimming fish, forming mysterious patterns that vanished in an instant.

"Thought Spirit Pearl... " Sun Yu's voice was almost a moan, the greed in his eyes practically solidifying. "It really is the Thought Spirit Pearl..."

Inside the box lay a treasure the size of a pigeon's egg, crystal clear like glazed glass, with star-like nebulae swirling within. Even more miraculous, when light shone upon the pearl, fine golden patterns would appear on its surface, forming miniature formations that exuded a calming aura.

Ye Yun stood at the back of the crowd, his heart churning like a stormy sea. The value of this Thought Spirit Pearl was a hundred times greater than the Nine Nether Spirit Ginseng! According to the "Records of Strange Objects," it was only when a spirit cultivator whose mental power had reached the realm of "roaming the void" died that there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance of this item forming. Wearers would not only experience a surge in mental power but also attain the profound state of "wisdom born from a single thought," making it a priceless treasure for spirit cultivators.

"Young Master, both treasures have been found. Should we..." the thin guard whispered, a hidden flicker of desire in his eyes.

Sun Yu slammed the lid shut, the greed on his face instantly vanishing, replaced by his usual arrogant condescension: "Everyone listen! Whatever you have seen and heard today, if anyone dares to leak even half a word..." His cold gaze swept over every face, "...I will have your entire clan exterminated!"

The constables trembled into silence, bowing their heads in agreement. Ye Yun also lowered his head, feigning fear, but his mind was racing—either of these treasures was enough to ignite a bloody storm. Why were they in the possession of this group? Who was that mysterious, important figure? And what was their connection to the destruction of the Ye Family?

"Disperse!" Sun Yu roared, personally tucking the two iron boxes close to his body. Before leaving, he gave Chen Qingzhou a meaningful look: "Constable Chen, regarding today's events..."

Chen Qingzhou suppressed his pain, cupped his fists in a salute: "Young Master Sun, rest assured, your subordinate knows nothing."

Sun Yu nodded with satisfaction, mounted his horse with two guards, and rode away in a cloud of dust.

Only after the sound of hooves faded did everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Yan Xiao Liu slumped to the ground, wiping the cold sweat from his brow: "My dear mother, we've finally gotten rid of that plague god..."

"All of you, shut up!" Chen Qingzhou suddenly shouted, his face exceptionally stern. "Regarding today's events, if anyone dares to speak a word... don't blame me, Chen, for turning my back on you!"