"You! Hmph! You damned bastard!"
When Qin Chen brought it up again, Xiao Yi Xian's pretty face immediately flushed crimson. Yet there was nothing she could do but grit her pearly teeth and curse him angrily.
This man was far too hateful!
A Minor Interlude
Seeing Xiao Yi Xian puffing up in anger, the smile at Qin Chen's lips deepened. "All right, stop being angry. Hurry up and put away these medicinal herbs."
After a pause, Qin Chen added, "Seeing how pitiful you are, I'll help you out a little more."
With that, Qin Chen waved his hand, and numerous exquisite jade bottles appeared on the ground. He then handed her a jade shovel and a Storage Ring.
"Hmph!"
Suppressing the embarrassment and anger in her heart, Xiao Yi Xian accepted the jade shovel and Storage Ring Qin Chen handed over. She carefully dug up the herbs one by one and placed them into the jade bottles.
As Xiao Yi Xian began excavating the medicinal herbs, Qin Chen turned his gaze toward the skeleton on the seat. Three black keys hung from the skeletal hand bones.
Qin Chen first pressed his palms together and respectfully bowed to the skeleton. Only then did he slowly step forward, take the three keys, and retrieve the ancient scroll hidden among the bones.
When he opened the scroll, a yellowed piece of parchment lay within.
It was the Pure Lotus Demon Flame Fragment Map, an opportunity the Pure Lotus Demon Saint had left behind for later generations!
By then, Xiao Yi Xian had also finished digging up the herbs, and the two of them walked together to the stone table.
Although the three keys looked much the same, Qin Chen's soul strength far surpassed that of ordinary people. He easily sensed which stone boxes matched the keys in his hand.
Qin Chen first opened the stone box on the far right. Inside lay a yellowish-brown scroll.
"Xuan Grade High-Level Dou Technique, Crazy Lion's Roar." Qin Chen opened the scroll and found that it was a Xuan Grade Dou Technique. It was presumably the item Mu Li had stolen in the original story.
Although it was called Crazy Lion's Roar, it was not some precious sound-wave Dou Technique. It was completely useless to him now.
"Tch, useless junk. You can have it."
Qin Chen casually tossed it to Xiao Yi Xian beside him, and she hurriedly caught it.
Ignoring Xiao Yi Xian's shock, Qin Chen continued opening the next stone box.
This time, a black scroll appeared inside the stone box, with several small words written along its side.
"Xuan Grade High-Level flying Dou Technique: Eagle Wings."
"A flying Dou Technique? What is that?" Xiao Yi Xian blinked her bright, watery eyes, her delicate face full of confusion.
"As the name suggests, once cultivated, this flying Dou Technique allows anyone below the Dou Wang realm to fly. As for those above Dou Wang, they can combine it with the Dou Qi wings they form themselves, greatly increasing their flying speed," Qin Chen explained.
"What? It can let someone fly?" Xiao Yi Xian's voice abruptly rose, her eyes gleaming with disbelief.
After all, in this world, the ability to fly was the signature privilege of Dou Wang experts. No matter how strong an ordinary Dou Zhe was, if they had not reached the Dou Wang realm, they could only move about on the ground.
Xiao Yi Xian looked at the black scroll in Qin Chen's hand, then raised her head to look at him. Her lips parted slightly as though she wanted to say something, yet she was too embarrassed to speak.
"What? You want it?" Qin Chen could not help laughing when he saw her expression.
With Qin Chen exposing her thoughts in one sentence, a blush instantly spread across Xiao Yi Xian's cheeks.
"If you want it, just say so. It's not like I need it anyway."
Handing the scroll to Xiao Yi Xian, Qin Chen cautioned, "With your current soul strength, you are not yet capable of contending with the soul of the Purple Cloud Eagle within the wings. Remember to wait until you break through to Dou Shi before cultivating it."
With this item, Xiao Yi Xian's rise in the Chu Yun Empire would become much easier.
Xiao Yi Xian carefully accepted the scroll. Its cool touch made her heart tremble. Gently stroking the rough patterns on its surface, she softly said, "Thank you."
Qin Chen waved his hand. "We've gotten to know each other. This little bit means nothing."
Next, Qin Chen opened the final stone box and took out an ancient multicolored scroll.
"It's a Poison Manual. You can have this too."
"Hehe..."
Xiao Yi Xian truly had not expected Qin Chen to be so generous. Out of so many treasures, he had only taken a single piece of parchment. Remembering how she had cursed him in her heart just moments ago, her cheeks could not help growing even hotter.
Qin Chen did not feel any regret. If such trivial items could win Xiao Yi Xian's heart, then he would be making an enormous profit.
"Hm?"
At that moment, Qin Chen raised his brow and turned his gaze toward the outside of the cave.
"What is it?" Xiao Yi Xian asked, puzzled.
"Nothing. A dozen or so mercenaries have arrived outside the cave," Qin Chen said calmly.
"Mercenaries?" Xiao Yi Xian was even more confused. This deep mountain region had always been sparsely traveled. Why had so many mercenaries suddenly appeared?
Could they have come for the treasures in this cave?
A few breaths later, a burst of chaotic footsteps suddenly sounded outside the stone door.
"Hahaha, Xiao Yi Xian, I finally found you!" A familiar voice entered Xiao Yi Xian's ears.
"Mu Li!" Xiao Yi Xian gritted her pearly teeth and instantly recognized the owner of the voice.
After having his subordinates block the stone door, Mu Li's gaze swept over the glittering gold coins before finally settling on the two of them. "I'm truly sorry to have disturbed you both."
Xiao Yi Xian stepped forward and coldly asked, "How did you find this place?"
Mu Li shrugged, a smug smile appearing on his face. "Naturally, someone led us here."
"Someone? Only my assistant Li Fei and I knew about this... Did she bring you here?" Xiao Yi Xian's voice trembled with disbelief. She had never imagined that the assistant she trusted most would betray her.
Seeing this, the smile on Mu Li's lips grew wider. "Hehe, that foolish woman obediently told us everything she knew without us even needing to question her."
"You bastard!" Anger surged in Xiao Yi Xian's eyes as she cursed him furiously.
Perhaps because Qin Chen, a Dou Wang expert, was here, she did not feel much panic in her heart.
"Sorry, but our mercenary group needs these things badly. With them, we can expand beyond Green Mountain Town. Xiao Yi Xian, you know how I feel about you. Just submit to me. I'm destined to rise to great heights someday, and I definitely won't treat you poorly," Mu Li said with a faint smile.
"Then I really should congratulate you." Qin Chen, who had been watching the show for quite some time, had somehow walked in front of Xiao Yi Xian. He spoke casually.
"Brat, what are you trying to do?" Mu Li's gaze instantly turned cold, and the men behind him also assumed guarded stances.
"Nothing. I just don't like the sight of you, so I want to send you to hell."
As soon as the words fell, vast soul power erupted and transformed into sharp, slender needles that shot toward the mercenaries' foreheads.
Pop!
Sounds like bursting bubbles rang out one after another. These mercenaries had no idea what had happened. Their eyes rolled back, and they fell stiffly to the ground. Not a drop of blood splattered within the stone chamber.
That was the advantage of soul attacks. Although Qin Chen did not know any soul techniques, he could still mobilize soul power to attack enemies, though the effect was greatly diminished.
It would not work against opponents of the same realm, but dealing with cannon fodder like Mu Li was effortless.
Seeing Qin Chen so easily dispose of the mercenaries who usually strutted about so arrogantly, a trace of surprise flashed through Xiao Yi Xian's beautiful eyes.
Knowing and seeing were two different things. Witnessing it with one's own eyes was always far more shocking than reading about it in a book.
The True Burial Chamber
"Wait here. I'm going to deal with a few stragglers."
Before Xiao Yi Xian could respond, Qin Chen's figure had already darted out of the stone chamber like a ghost.
After a while, Qin Chen returned, but there was now a young woman in his hand.
Thud!
Qin Chen casually threw the woman in his hand onto the ground and said indifferently, "You can decide what to do with this woman who nearly got you killed."
"Li Fei!"
Upon seeing the woman's face on the ground, Xiao Yi Xian's delicate body suddenly trembled, and anger flared once more in her eyes, which had only just calmed.
Li Fei still wore lingering terror on her face after being captured by Qin Chen. Seeing Xiao Yi Xian looking at her, she frantically tried to crawl to her feet.
"Xiao Yi Xian, I... I didn't do it on purpose. I only wanted to save you!"
"Shut up!"
Xiao Yi Xian shouted angrily. She casually picked up a rusty longsword from the pile of gold coins and walked toward Li Fei. "If you truly wanted to save me, why didn't you notify the other mercenary groups? Why did you specifically bring these ambitious bastards here?"
"Xiao Yi Xian, I... Urgh..."
As Xiao Yi Xian swung the longsword, Li Fei clutched her throat. After struggling for several breaths, she stopped moving.
Xiao Yi Xian looked at Li Fei lying in a pool of blood. The hand gripping the longsword trembled slightly, her knuckles white from gripping it too tightly. Yet there was not the slightest regret in her eyes, only a cold sense of relief.
"I didn't expect you to be so decisive." Qin Chen was the first to break the silence.
"Aren't you even more ruthless? You killed so many people without even blinking." Xiao Yi Xian rolled her eyes and casually tossed the longsword aside with a clanging sound.
Do not be fooled by Xiao Yi Xian's young age. Her hands had already been stained with several lives. Otherwise, how did she think she had made it to Green Mountain Town and survived here?
Qin Chen smiled softly and stored every item in the stone chamber inside his Storage Ring.
"Are we leaving?" Xiao Yi Xian looked at Qin Chen.
Qin Chen shook his head. "No rush. Don't you find this place a little strange?"
"Strange?" Xiao Yi Xian did not understand.
"If someone wants to hide things inside their own body without causing themselves discomfort, only Spatial Force can accomplish that. And to use Spatial Force, one must at least reach the Dou Zong realm."
"I examined the skeleton just now. He was merely at the Dou Wang realm. It would have been absolutely impossible for him to do this himself," Qin Chen explained.
Xiao Yi Xian's brows furrowed slightly. "You mean the owner of this skeleton was not the one who hid the treasures, and there was someone else?"
"I'm only guessing."
Qin Chen laughed aloud and lowered his gaze to the stone tiles of the chamber. "But how will we know whether there's anything unless we search?"
Qin Chen circulated the Dou Qi in his body and grabbed toward the ground. Stone tile after stone tile was ripped up and stored in his Storage Ring.
As the ground was continuously excavated, a deep, shadowy hole appeared before them.
"So the entrance was sealed with a special material that could block soul power. No wonder I failed to notice it earlier."
Qin Chen sighed inwardly. It seemed this was why Yao Lao had failed to discover it in the original story.
"There really is a hidden passage." Xiao Yi Xian leaned toward the opening and peered inside by the faint light.
Qin Chen smiled without speaking. He took Mu Li's corpse out of his Storage Ring and casually tossed it into the hole. After seeing that nothing unusual happened, he stepped aside and smiled. "Come on, let's go down and take a look."
Before you continue