Harvesting the Treasure

Nalan Chenfeng smiled and gently raised his hand, using Dou Qi to lift the jade box and deliver it before Xiao Yi Xian.

"Alright."

Xiao Yi Xian raised her hand and accepted it.

"Alright, I should be going. Until we meet again."

With that, Nalan Chenfeng left the inn without hesitation and headed toward the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Whether he could find the mountain cave containing the treasure this time, he did not have complete confidence. He could only search as hard as he could within the limited time available.

He would return to Qingshan Town.

One day, he would personally place the Seven-Colored Poison Manual, which recorded the Woeful Poison Body and countless methods for preparing poisons, into Xiao Yi Xian's hands.

Even without this poison manual, Xiao Yi Xian could still rely on her Woeful Poison Body to increase her strength, but her progress would inevitably be somewhat slower.

Xiao Yi Xian would certainly go to the Chu Yun Empire in the future. Poison masters ran rampant there, and perhaps she had already planned to go.

But without sufficient strength, Xiao Yi Xian would not only find it difficult to temper herself and grow there, she might even risk losing her life.

"This person doesn't seem so bad..."

Seven days later.

Magical Beast Mountain Range, outskirts.

"It's really well-hidden..."

At the edge of a steep cliff, Nalan Chenfeng blew apart two Rock Snakes with a single punch, and his brows could not help but furrow.

Rock Snakes were first-rank serpentine magical beasts that lived within rock walls. They possessed mutated earth attributes, and because their bodies were flat and long, they could glide through the air for a short distance. Thus, they were usually found among sheer cliffs.

The treasure cave he remembered was beneath a cliff, with a great number of Rock Snakes in the surrounding area.

Yet over the past seven days, following the herb-gathering route map Xiao Yi Xian had given him, he had searched hundreds of cliffs within the nearby areas marked on the map and investigated many caves, but still found nothing.

Even though it was only the outer region, the Magical Beast Mountain Range covered an enormous area. With his current Dou Ling strength, it was simply impossible for him to investigate every area in just ten or so days.

There was no living aura within that cave residence, so soul perception was completely useless.

"Three more days..."

After taking a deep breath, Nalan Chenfeng stomped his foot. Dou Qi surged beneath him, and he shot upward into the air with the force of the recoil.

A Dou Ling could not form wings from Dou Qi and soar through the skies like a Dou Wang, but could remain airborne for brief periods.

And in the outer region of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, there were no magical beasts capable of threatening him.

Time slipped by, and two days later.

"I finally found it..."

At the entrance to a cave beneath a cliff, Nalan Chenfeng slowly came to a stop and let out a long breath.

The area around the cave was littered with broken stones and trees, appearing exceptionally chaotic. Before Nalan Chenfeng now stood a narrow cave entrance.

The entrance could barely accommodate two or three people passing through at once. The interior was pitch-black, with faint glimmers of light seeping out, while the area around the entrance was covered in marks resembling blade carvings.

"These carvings are the markers. There's no way this is wrong. Better hurry..."

Nalan Chenfeng steadied himself slightly, then lightly stepped forward and walked toward the dark cave entrance.

This was a cave residence left behind by a Dou Wang. At most, it contained some simple mechanisms, none of which could pose any danger to him.

A few minutes later.

Nalan Chenfeng emerged from the dim passageway, and his vision suddenly brightened as he saw a stone door emitting a faint yellow glow.

"Senior, pardon my offense!"

Nalan Chenfeng clasped his hands in salute, then clenched his fist. Dou Qi wrapped around it as he punched the stone door.

He had no patience to search for mechanisms and solve them. Besides, the door was not sturdy; even a Dou Shi could easily break it.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the stone door immediately shattered into pieces, revealing the scene within.

It was a rather spacious stone chamber, simple in every respect. Moonlight Stones embedded in the walls provided illumination, allowing everything to be seen clearly at a glance.

"A skeleton..."

Nalan Chenfeng's gaze narrowed as he looked toward the center of the stone chamber.

There was a chair in the middle. A set of dry bones sat upon it, its hollow skull drooping beside its pale thigh bones, giving off an unsettlingly sinister feeling.

"I'm afraid no one would ever guess that the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Map Fragment is hidden inside these skeletal remains."

Nalan Chenfeng lowered his gaze toward the broken opening in the skeleton's arm bone, where a tiny scroll could vaguely be seen.

"Without cultivating the Burning Decision, this fragment is useless even if I obtain it. A person can only refine one Heavenly Flame in their lifetime—this is common knowledge on the Dou Qi Continent. Although top experts can forcibly fuse multiple Heavenly Flames, that comes with drawbacks as well."

"And obtaining the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame from the start isn't realistic. I can't wait that long..."

"I'll keep it for now. If necessary, I can trade it to Yao Chen for something. If I can gather the ingredients for the Dou Ling Pill and Emperor's Extreme Pill after reaching the Dou Wang level, I can have Yao Chen refine them."

"Still, that old fellow Yao Chen tends to add something extra to the pills he refines. I can't just consume them casually."

Nalan Chenfeng pondered for a moment, then came up with a plan.

The best way to solve the pill problem would be to become an alchemist himself. But he and Yao Chen would not be enemies, so they could certainly make some trades.

If he could not trade for pills, he could trade for something else. In any case, he could not simply hand this over to that master and disciple pair for free.

"Senior, I have disturbed your resting place today and committed many offenses. I hope you will forgive me."

Nalan Chenfeng walked forward and bowed to the skeleton. Then he stirred a finger around the broken arm bone and retrieved the tiny scroll.

Calling it a scroll was not quite accurate. It was actually less than half a map.

"This was left behind by an existence like the Purifying Demonic Lotus Saint, a peak Dou Saint. Even burning it with Heavenly Flames would not cause the slightest change. I truly don't know how Hai Bodong managed to split the fragment in his possession into two."

Thinking of the map's origins, Nalan Chenfeng's black eyes flickered with confusion.

The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Map Fragment had been personally drawn by the Purifying Demonic Lotus Saint and contained the residual power left behind by such a peak existence.

Yet Hai Bodong, whose strength remained at the Dou Ling level due to Medusa Queen's seal, had somehow split his fragment of the demonic flame map into two. It was simply unbelievable.

"That's absurd..."

Nalan Chenfeng muttered a complaint, then stopped overthinking and stored the map in his Storage Ring.

"Next are these three stone boxes."

After putting away the demonic flame map, Nalan Chenfeng removed three keys from the skeleton's fingers and looked around.

Before the chair stood a somewhat broad bluestone platform, upon which three tightly locked stone boxes were arranged neatly.

In addition, vast piles of glittering gold coins and countless precious treasures were heaped in three corners along the edges of the stone chamber. The number of gold coins alone was no less than a million.

In the final corner were several flower beds built from piled soil, planted with all sorts of flowers and grasses. Their unusual fragrance filled the air, making one feel refreshed and at ease.

"Collect!"

Nalan Chenfeng shouted softly and raised his hand. Dou Qi surged forth, unleashing a powerful suction force that drew the flowers, grasses, and gold coins into his Storage Ring.

Quite a few of these medicinal herbs were valuable, such as the Ice Spirit Flame Grass, a main ingredient for refining the fifth-tier Blood Lotus Pill.

Next, Nalan Chenfeng used the three keys to open the three stone boxes in succession, revealing their contents one by one.

"High Mystic Rank Dou Technique, flying Dou Technique—Purple Cloud Wings..."

"Seven-Colored Poison Manual!"

"High Mystic Rank Dou Technique, Roaring Lion Chant!"