Treasure Hunting

"Hoo..."

With various thoughts flashing through his mind, Xiao Ling let out a long sigh of relief. He then looked toward the sheer cliff face; there were very few footholds to leverage, but that did not stump him.

He took a coil of rope he had prepared in advance from his storage ring, tied it to a large boulder nearby, wrapped the other end twice around his wrist, and leaped off with a single bound.

The whistling wind scraped against his youthful face like the back of a blade, bringing with it a faint stinging sensation, but he paid it no mind.

Instead, he kicked his legs out in succession, using the inertia in mid-air to adjust his direction, and then swung like a pendulum, leaping toward the direction of the cave.

"Bang!"

After landing on his feet, Xiao Ling tied the rope to a crooked tree nearby, only then finding the time to survey his surroundings.

The first things to catch his eye were the crisscrossing vines and the cave entrance blocked by rubble.

Looking at the scene before him, a sharp glint flashed in Xiao Ling's eyes, and his heart raced with excitement. After all, there was nearly a million in gold coins beckoning to him inside that cave, along with nearly a hundred rare medicinal herbs, all of which held great appeal for him.

Thinking this, Xiao Ling struck out with a Crushing Stone Palm, and instantly, the rubble blocking the entrance was pulverized into stone dust.

This Huang-tier intermediate Dou Technique of the Xiao Clan, when executed with his strength comparable to a three-star Da Dou Shi, truly achieved the effect of shattering stone with a single palm.

The scattered debris was shaken into powder the moment it came within ten centimeters of Xiao Ling's body.

He swept away the obstacles with a casual wave of his hand and looked into the cave, where a one-meter-wide passage greeted him.

At the end of it stood a heavy stone door. The door appeared seamless, looking like a massive boulder wedged there, blocking anyone who might have designs on it.

Xiao Ling felt no panic. He walked up to the stone door, followed the memories in his mind, crouched down, and felt along the bottom of the door.

Soon, he touched a small protrusion. He pressed it gently, and accompanied by a creaking sound, the stone door slowly rose upward.

"Got it."

Xiao Ling smiled, though he still stepped back slightly, ready to strike at any moment. As the door rose, a dim yellow light emanated from within, gradually illuminating the entire tunnel.

Seeing what was inside the stone door, Xiao Ling finally let out a complete sigh of relief. It was mainly because of the incident with Wu Ming that he had decided to explore this opportunity early; otherwise, he wouldn't have come here so soon.

At the very least, he would have waited until he had pocketed the market revenues of the Aoba Family and the Jialie Family.

After all, he didn't believe those two old foxes would so easily hand over their respective largest markets to the Xiao Clan.

Furthermore, there must be something fishy between them and that Wu Ming. These were all things that needed to be dealt with, but they weren't as important as this opportunity, as it concerned his future...

Xiao Ling's old face flushed red, and he hurriedly composed his mind before walking into the stone door.

The first thing he saw was a skeleton sitting on a chair, and three locked stone boxes on a bluestone table in front of it.

Seeing this, Xiao Ling took a few quick steps, arrived before the skeleton, bowed slightly, and said, "Senior, no offense intended. Rest assured, I will find a suitable successor for your legacy."

Having said that, Xiao Ling straightened up and looked at the skeleton's hand. Seeing three black keys there, he took them without a word.

Only then did he turn his gaze to the skeleton's arm, promptly detached it, extracted the map of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame—which could drive the entire Dou Qi Continent into a frenzy—and then reattached the arm for the deceased.

Xiao Ling did not intend to keep this map for himself, but he could trade it to his Yan Di in the future, making the other party work for him even more loyally.

After all, one must always uphold the principle of the carrot and the stick with subordinates; only then can they be made to work harder.

He had understood these ways thoroughly in his past life, though it was a pity he hadn't had the chance to use them then.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ling turned his gaze to the three stone boxes. He stepped forward and opened them one by one. He took the treasure from the first box, and a colorful, ancient-looking scroll came into view.

Gazing at it, a sharp glint appeared in Xiao Ling's eyes, and he carefully tucked it away.

He then looked at the second stone box, which contained a pitch-black scroll. Xiao Ling was no stranger to this scroll; it was the treasure Xiao Yan used to show off and slap faces in the original story.

Xuan-tier high-level flight Dou Technique: Eagle Wings.

However, he didn't intend to use this himself because he had better options; he just hadn't had enough lifespan to trade for them previously. He intended to leave these Eagle Wings for that girl, Xiao Yu.

After putting it away, he looked at the third stone box, where another scroll lay.

Seeing this, Xiao Ling raised an eyebrow, took it out, and glanced at it. It was a sound-wave Dou Technique.

Xuan-tier high-level Dou Technique: Mad Lion Roar.

He had seen Mu She use this technique in the original story, but Xiao Yan had never managed to force it out of him.

"This one is actually quite good. I can keep it for my own cultivation or bestow it upon the younger generation of the Xiao Clan..."

Xiao Ling muttered, then swept his gaze to the right, where there was a small pool containing hundreds of densely packed, rare medicinal herbs.

"This is... Ice Spirit Flame Grass?"

Xiao Ling stared at the Tier 5 spirit herb that possessed two attributes; one half looked like ice crystals, while the other half resembled a cluster of flames.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He needed this herb as well. After he finished his subsequent tasks, he planned to make a trip to the desert of the Snake-People Tribe to claim the Green Lotus Core Flame.

After all, he needed a Heavenly Flame for alchemy, and he hadn't found one in the material section yet.

The system's response was that he needed to reach Level 2 to trade for such high-level treasures of heaven and earth.

Xiao Ling then took out a jade ruler, carefully cut it, placed it in a jade box, and stored it away. Only then did he look at the remaining spirit herbs, his eyes shining once more as he saw that many of them were exactly what he needed, namely:

Tier 3 spirit herb: Purple Blue Leaf.

Tier 4 medicinal herb: White Spirit Ginseng Fruit.

Tier 4 medicinal herb: Snow Lotus Seed, an auxiliary ingredient for refining the Tier 4 Breakthrough Pill; this was something he had prepared for his future breakthrough to the Dou Ling realm.

Tier 3 medicinal herb: Red Blood Spirit Ginseng, an auxiliary ingredient for the Tier 3 Breakthrough Pill.

Tier 3 medicinal herb: Earth Poria Root, an auxiliary ingredient for the Tier 3 Breakthrough Pill.

Looking at the medicinal herbs before him, Xiao Ling moved with swift precision, packing them into jade boxes one after another to take away.

After he had collected everything, a hint of lingering desire remained in his eyes.

Finally, he fixed his gaze on a pile of gold coins in a corner on the other side, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes; these were his reliance for breaking through to a Tier 3 Alchemist, and he would turn against anyone who dared to snatch them from him.

Following that, Xiao Ling flashed over to the spot and, with a wave of his hand, swept up all the gold coins.

Once finished, he scanned the cave one last time, and seeing nothing else of value, he approached the withered skeleton and bowed once more.

"Junior has received your kindness, Senior, and since there is nothing else I can do for you, I shall lay you to rest."

"Boom..."

Xiao Ling clapped his hands together and smiled with satisfaction before stepping out of the cave, returning to the camp just as the first light of dawn broke.

However, just as he was about to step into his tent, he saw Little Fairy Doctor staring at him in a daze.