Cleared Out the Entire Treasury

Zhou Cheng searched the two disciples of the Demon Face Left Envoy and found three martial arts manuals and some silver notes.

Afterward, Qin Meng and the others buried the two bodies.

Once the bodies had been dealt with, Zhou Cheng thought for a moment, then instructed Jiang Chen and Yang Yu to go out and contact his master, Xing Yao, and tell him about the Demonic Cult's plans and its tunnels.

His master had also come to take part in this operation against the Demonic Cult.

After Jiang Chen and Yang Yu left, Zhou Cheng continued deeper into the Blackwater Mountain Range with Qin Meng and Lin Ru.

The Demonic Cult had laid many traps throughout the Blackwater Mountain Range, but Zhou Cheng and the others carefully went around each one.

Whenever they came across Demonic Cult disciples along the way, the three of them avoided them.

At last, Zhou Cheng reached the Demonic Cult's headquarters.

The headquarters lay in a valley, hidden from view. If he hadn't learned its location from the Demon Face Left Envoy's disciple, Zhou Cheng would have had to search for a long time to find it.

More than a dozen Demonic Cult experts guarded the entrance to the valley, so Zhou Cheng had Qin Meng and Lin Ru stay outside while he made himself invisible and walked straight in.

The Demon God Garment was now a high-grade spirit artifact. With its invisibility function activated, even a Xiantian Supreme Grandmaster couldn't detect Zhou Cheng.

That was what made the Demon God Garment so useful.

Once he entered the valley, Zhou Cheng saw an open area the size of a basketball court. Beyond it stood the entrance to a palace.

Another group of Demonic Cult disciples guarded the entrance.

Zhou Cheng also spotted a group of archers hidden nearby. There were more than a hundred of them.

The valley was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even a force two or three times stronger than the Demonic Cult would likely struggle to break in. And with the Cult's tunnels already dug, they could retreat at any time. No wonder they weren't panicking.

Zhou Cheng continued farther into the valley.

He passed through six checkpoints before finally reaching the main hall of the Demonic Cult's headquarters.

The hall was brightly lit. Dozens of people sat inside, all Xiantian experts. Nearly all the Demonic Cult's leaders seemed to have gathered.

Seated on the throne at the center of the hall was an old man with a pale, clean-shaven face. His eyes were faintly green, and his fingers were unusually large. He was likely Prince of Southern Ming.

Prince of Southern Ming surveyed the people in the hall and said, "This time, the Great Feng Imperial Family and the three great sects have sent a hundred and sixty Xiantian Grandmasters and sixteen hundred people from the Qi Refining Realm."

"Although we know their every move, we still need to prepare for every eventuality."

"If both plans fail, everyone will retreat through the secret passage."

Prince of Southern Ming had a deep, powerful voice.

Zhou Cheng held his breath.

After speaking for more than ten minutes, Prince of Southern Ming suddenly turned to a thin old man beside him and asked, "How is the investigation into the Demon God Smithy coming along?"

The thin old man was none other than one of the Demonic Cult's two envoys, Evil Saber Right Envoy. An oddly shaped saber hung at his waist.

"Ever since Demon Face died, the Demon God Smithy has been closed," Evil Saber said, shaking his head. "The workers were hired temporarily. We couldn't get anything out of them, so there's no way to investigate."

"However, judging by Demon Face's wounds, he was killed by four people working together."

"One used a saber, one a sword, one a spear, and one a bow."

"And all four were powerful. Even if they weren't Xiantian Level Nine experts, they were no weaker than one."

Demon Dragon General frowned. "Apart from Zhu Xuan and the leaders of the three great sects, who in the Great Feng Dynasty could command four Xiantian Level Nine experts?"

Prince of Southern Ming couldn't figure it out either.

A while later, Prince of Southern Ming dismissed the Demonic Cult's assembled experts. Only he and Evil Saber Right Envoy remained in the hall.

"The experts from the Mongol Kingdom and the Southern Border Kingdom should arrive tomorrow morning, right?" Prince of Southern Ming asked.

Evil Saber Right Envoy nodded. "They should be here by dawn tomorrow."

The experts sent by the Mongol Kingdom and the Southern Border Kingdom weren't numerous, but every one of them was at least Xiantian Level Four.

Prince of Southern Ming quietly said a few more things to Evil Saber Right Envoy. The latter nodded and withdrew.

Zhou Cheng was greatly surprised. He hadn't expected the Demonic Cult to have joined forces with the Mongol Kingdom and to be working with the Southern Border Kingdom as well.

The Demonic Cult, the Mongol Kingdom, the Southern Frontier, and spies within the Great Feng Imperial Family—Zhou Cheng felt a weight settle in his heart.

After Evil Saber Right Envoy left, Prince of Southern Ming turned and entered the inner hall.

Zhou Cheng thought it over, then carefully followed him.

Prince of Southern Ming passed through several corridors and came to a rocky wall. He took out a key and inserted it into a keyhole hidden in the shadows.

The wall rumbled, and a door slowly opened.

As the door swung open, the glimmer of jewels shone through, and Zhou Cheng caught the scent of spirit herbs.

Was this the Demonic Cult's treasury?

As Prince of Southern Ming entered, Zhou Cheng followed close behind. The door shut as soon as he stepped inside.

The room was a stone chamber several hundred square meters in size.

A bookcase stood in the chamber, packed with books. They were likely martial arts manuals.

In the center of the room lay piles of boxes filled with jewels, gold, and silver notes.

Prince of Southern Ming walked over to a jade box and opened it. A captivating fragrance immediately filled the air. Inside lay a golden spirit lotus.

This golden lingzhi was undoubtedly a century-old spirit herb.

Prince of Southern Ming closed the box, picked up another jade box, and left with both.

After he was gone, the door to the stone chamber closed again.

Zhou Cheng went to the bookcase and began looking through the books.

"Iron Arm Technique."

"Eagle Claw Technique."

"Twelve-Route Grappling Hands."

They were all martial arts manuals—and there were even more than the ones his master, Xing Yao, had given him, four or five hundred in all. Most came from the various sects of the Great Feng Dynasty, but some were martial arts from sects in the Mongol Kingdom and the Southern Border Kingdom too.

Some, however, were duplicates of the manuals his master had given him.

Zhou Cheng didn't bother sorting through them. He stored every martial arts manual in the Earth Cauldron.

With these manuals, he could bring his Demon-Subduing Saber Technique, Roaming Dragon White Tiger Fist, and Wind-Facing Willow Steps to the pinnacle of mastery.

After collecting the manuals, Zhou Cheng went to the medicine cabinet.

The cabinet was made of jade.

Zhou Cheng opened the drawers one by one. They were full of medicinal ingredients, and not a single one was ordinary; all were spirit herbs.

Rather than collect them one at a time, Zhou Cheng simply moved the entire cabinet into the Earth Cauldron.

The Earth Cauldron was now a supreme-grade spirit artifact, with a vast inner space of a thousand cubic meters. He could fit the entire Demonic Cult treasury inside without a problem.

After taking the medicine cabinet, Zhou Cheng continued collecting the other treasures.

Before long, he had cleared out the entire Demonic Cult treasury.

When Prince of Southern Ming came back tomorrow and saw the treasury empty, he'd probably spit blood.

Zhou Cheng wasn't worried about Prince of Southern Ming returning and seeing him. He had the Demon God Garment's invisibility, so there was no risk of being discovered.

After clearing out the entire Demonic Cult treasury, Zhou Cheng gripped the God-Slaying Saber, which could cut through iron as if it were mud, and went to the treasury door. He drove the blade straight into it, carved out a wide opening, and walked out.