Those Who Came After

The flames in Xiao Yang's hand vanished in an instant. He retreated from the cave and used his soul power to guide himself behind a stone pillar.

At the same time, his soul power spread directly into the underground river.

Xiao Yang had originally been wondering whether it might be some kind of Magical Beast.

But he had not expected it to be four middle-aged men.

Xiao Yang took a look. All four of them were Da Dou Shi!

However, judging from their auras, they should have been slightly weaker than Xiao Zhan, roughly comparable to the First Elder and Second Elder of the family.

In other words, they were probably around the Two-Star or Three-Star Da Dou Shi level.

At that moment, the four men cautiously emerged from the water, looking extremely vigilant.

The four of them stayed together and did not immediately light any torches.

They even circulated their Battle Qi and formed Battle Qi Armor.

After all, circulating Battle Qi might produce a faint glow.

Condensing Battle Qi Armor would make their entire bodies glow.

That might not have mattered during the day, but in a place like this, it would have been extremely conspicuous.

None of the four dared to speak. They could only move forward through the darkness.

After reaching the Da Dou Shi realm, one did gain some night vision.

Thus, although they could not see the entire underground space clearly, they could at least make out the situation nearby.

Through his soul power, Xiao Yang saw a bald man lean toward a scar-faced man.

"Danilo, it looks like nobody is here. That Dou Wang's destination probably isn't this place, right?"

"Where exactly is the ruin you mentioned?"

The bald man spoke very softly. Masked by the sound of the underground river flowing, even the other two Da Dou Shi traveling with them did not hear him.

Danilo did not speak. He merely shook his head and covered the bald man's mouth.

When Xiao Yang heard the bald man's words, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes.

He had not expected anyone else to know about this place!

He had thought the location recorded on the treasure map rewarded by the system should have been known only to him.

He had even nearly assumed that the system had created this treasure location on the spot.

After all, Xiao Yang did not consider that impossible.

He had not expected this place to have existed all along.

He did not emerge immediately. Instead, he quietly watched to see what the four men intended to do.

After confirming that none of them was looking in his direction, he cautiously poked his head out from behind the stone pillar and checked the information on their red names.

In an instant, Xiao Yang learned the cultivation of all four men.

Two Two-Star Da Dou Shi and two Three-Star Da Dou Shi.

This level of cultivation was nothing to Xiao Yang.

Only one of the four had cultivated a Low Black Tier Battle Technique. The strongest techniques of the remaining three were merely High Yellow Tier Battle Techniques.

Thus, Xiao Yang was not worried in the slightest.

Danilo, the leading Three-Star Da Dou Shi among the four, walked straight into the cave through the darkness.

Only after reaching the end of the cave and still seeing no one did he let out a sigh of relief.

"There should be no one here."

"We didn't see any water stains when we came ashore just now, either."

As he spoke, Danilo took a torch from his Storage Ring and lit it, instantly illuminating the cave.

"Look, this is the location of the ruin I told you about."

"I discovered it after being chased here by an extremely powerful Third-Rank Magical Beast."

"Let's make this clear first. Since I discovered this place, I get forty percent of the final treasure. The three of you get twenty percent each!"

The three, including Miga, agreed without hesitation.

"No problem!"

"Right, we already agreed on that before coming here."

"We're already grateful that you brought us here to make a fortune."

Hearing this, Danilo nodded and continued.

"I found the mechanism that opens the rock wall before. There's a puppet inside, and I couldn't beat it at all."

"But with the four of us working together, there shouldn't be a problem."

As he spoke, Danilo crouched down and prepared to touch the mechanism.

"I'll open the rock wall now, and we'll..."

But just then, under the torchlight, Danilo's expression changed abruptly.

"Wait, why is there dirt here?"

"And this dirt is still a little damp!"

"No, it looks like someone has been here!"

Danilo instantly became vigilant.

At the same time, a trace of viciousness and killing intent flashed through his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Miga and the other two immediately became alert as well, their eyes filled with killing intent.

Lowering their heads, the three indeed saw several faint footprints.

"Don't open it yet. First, check whether this underground space has any other passages."

Danilo looked directly at the three men as he spoke.

As he spoke, he walked out of the cave, preparing to conduct a thorough search.

The other three also took torches from their Storage Rings and began exploring.

Sensing Miga steadily approaching through his soul power, Xiao Yang could not help sighing.

There were no other passages here, and entering the underground river would definitely cause some disturbance.

These people would discover him sooner or later, so Xiao Yang could not be bothered to keep hiding. He stepped directly out from behind the stone pillar.

The instant he appeared, Miga looked at him vigilantly.

"Who are you?"

Hearing the voice, the other three immediately gathered around Miga and watched Xiao Yang warily.

Danilo looked at Xiao Yang and forced a fake smile onto his face.

"Little brother, you've probably been standing here for quite some time, haven't you?"

"You must have discovered what is inside that cave too, right?"

"How about we explore this treasure together?"

Although he spoke with a smile on his face, Danilo's eyes were filled with killing intent as he looked at Xiao Yang.

It was not just Danilo. Miga and the other two gradually spread out as well, faintly forming an encirclement around Xiao Yang.

There was not the slightest fear on Xiao Yang's face. He remained as indifferent as ever.

"It seems I was here first."

Danilo looked at Xiao Yang and let out a pretentious sigh.

"Sigh, why make things difficult?"

The next moment, his expression turned savage.

"Kill him!"

Without any hesitation, he shot toward Xiao Yang.

The other three did the same.

They had never considered that Xiao Yang might be the "Dou Wang expert" they had seen earlier.

After all, Xiao Yang looked as though he had only just come of age. Even if he had started cultivating in his mother's womb, his cultivation could not have been that high.

Watching the three men pounce at him, Xiao Yang secretly used an Experience Doubling Card and a Points Doubling Card.

A layer of dark-red Battle Qi Veil emerged around his body, while his right hand was instantly enveloped in dark-red flames.

He poured Battle Qi into his legs and directly activated Snow-Treading Without a Trace.

The next moment, he appeared directly behind Johnson, who was only a Two-Star Da Dou Shi.

Before the four men could react, Xiao Yang struck at the back of his head without hesitation.

That punch hit Johnson's Battle Qi Armor, erupting with a tremendous noise.

"Boom!"

"Crack!"

The Battle Qi Armor at the back of Johnson's head shattered instantly, and Xiao Yang's flame-wreathed right fist slammed directly into the back of his head.