A clue to a ninth-tier expert's legacy! A hidden reward

"This is the herb-gathering area."

Escorted by Luo Lin, whom he called Aunt Luo, Chu Zhou passed smoothly through the outer region of the Magical Beast Mountain Range and reached the depths of a forest near its middle region.

For two months each year, many decent-quality herbs grew in the center of this forest. They were used to make an ungraded wound medicine that sold well in Qingshan Town and was popular with mercenaries, so the Herb-Gathering Team came into the mountains to harvest them every year.

This forest happened to lie halfway up a tall mountain, close to a cliff.

There was a saying on the Dou Qi Continent: if you ever fell off a cliff and landed in a cave, do not panic. Take a couple of steps forward, and you might become an expert.

This saying was not without basis. The Dou Qi Continent was vast, and most people could spend their entire lives without seeing even the tip of its iceberg.

Many unknown recluses left behind their legacies at the end of their lives, waiting for someone fated to claim them.

"If I can't find it today, perhaps I can ask Xiao Yi Xian for help."

As he searched along the cliff, peering down, Chu Zhou pondered silently.

He remembered that Xiao Yi Xian had a magical beast called Blue Eagle, a first-tier flying magical beast fairly common in the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. She had rescued him when he was injured as a youngster, so he was extremely loyal to her.

Searching while riding Blue Eagle would certainly improve his chances considerably, but for now, he would try the crude approach first.

When Xiao Yan had been picking an herb by the cliff, Xiao Yi Xian had deliberately interrupted him to divert his attention, which meant it was not difficult to spot.

If Yao Lao had not possessed such powerful soul perception, sensed something suspicious about Xiao Yi Xian, and discovered the cave beneath the cliff, Xiao Yan would have missed this opportunity.

"I actually found it. Looks like my luck isn't bad either."

After searching for only a quarter of an hour, Chu Zhou found his target.

At the edge of the cliff, thirty feet from a large tree, a white orchid fruit tree that had yet to bear fruit grew on the sheer cliff face.

About fifty or sixty feet directly beneath this white orchid fruit tree, he could make out a slightly protruding rock. There was a sizable crack above it, impossible to notice without looking closely, and traces of a Rock Snake's passage marked the surrounding cliff face.

With all these signs appearing together, and the location near the forest where Xiao Yi Xian often gathered herbs, this was almost certainly the right cave.

With that thought, Chu Zhou called to Luo Lin nearby, "Aunt Luo, I found the place."

He had already prepared an excuse, claiming that Xiao Yi Xian had told him where the cave was, and had coordinated their stories with her beforehand.

With Xiao Yi Xian, he had once again used his story about being a Fourth-Rank Alchemist, specifically asking her to keep the matter secret. She had naturally agreed without hesitation.

"Young Master, this cliff is rather high. Would you like me to scout the way first?" Luo Lin asked after walking over and inspecting the cliff.

"Xiao Yi Xian said a Rock Snake occasionally appears here. Aunt Luo, go down and scout for me first. If you find the Rock Snake, kill it. If there isn't one, I'll go down myself. Some Spirit Medicine grows in this cave, and I want to pick it," Chu Zhou said, having already planned everything.

"Yes." Luo Lin accepted the order without question.

She then took climbing ropes and equipment from her Storage Ring, secured a rope around a nearby tree, tied herself in, and began climbing down.

Before long, Chu Zhou heard a commotion below. Most likely, Luo Lin was dealing with the Rock Snake.

For a nine-star Dou Shi, killing a Rock Snake was child's play.

About half a cup of tea's time later, Luo Lin climbed back up the cliff.

"Young Master, I've cleared the cave from its entrance to a hundred feet inside and found no danger. Do you intend to go now?" Luo Lin asked, hoping to urge Chu Zhou to be more cautious.

"I'll go now. If I haven't returned within half an hour, come looking for me, Aunt Luo." Chu Zhou immediately nodded.

Having come this far, he certainly intended to claim the opportunities inside the cave right away.

Once he had made his decision, Luo Lin said nothing more, only assuring him that she would stand guard atop the cliff.

Chu Zhou immediately tied the rope as Luo Lin had done and climbed down. Upon reaching the cave entrance, he found the Rock Snake's corpse.

Taking out the fire striker he had prepared beforehand, he lit a torch, entered the cave, and strode deeper inside.

A quarter of an hour later, he reached the mechanism-operated door and easily located its switch with his soul perception.

As he stepped through the stone doorway, the space before him suddenly opened up.

It was a huge stone chamber that looked somewhat empty at first glance, with moonlight stones embedded in the surrounding walls for illumination.

A chair stood in the center of the chamber, holding a seated skeleton. Its skull, with hollow eye sockets, had fallen into the gap between its pale thighbones, lending the chamber an eerie air.

Before the skeleton stood a broad, long Bluestone Platform resembling a table, with three locked Stone Boxes neatly arranged on top.

The chamber had four corners, three of which were piled with gold coins and precious gold and silver treasures. The gold coins alone numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

With a wealthy woman like Ya Fei backing him, Chu Zhou paid no attention to these worldly riches. His gaze fell on the fourth corner, where a small flower bed made from special soil held a variety of spiritual flowers and herbs, ranging from the third to the fifth tier.

Purple Blue Leaf, white spirit ginseng fruit, snow lotus seed, ice spirit flame grass...

But Chu Zhou did not rush to collect any of them. He walked straight to the skeleton and retrieved the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map from among its bones.

Everything else in this stone chamber combined was worth less than this single Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map.

The location of the purifying lotus demon flame was an open secret among experts and powerful factions.

On the Demon Fire Plains, the Demonic Flame Space appeared once every thousand years, and the Eight Great Emperor Clans all sent people to try to obtain the flame.

The true purpose of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map was that, once all its pieces were assembled, one could obtain the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint’s Remnant Image Power. It could be activated within the Demonic Flame Space to control the Heaven Refining Ancient Array and suppress the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame, whose strength had reached the five-star Dou Sheng level.

It was effectively a major aid in refining the purifying lotus demon flame, as well as a life-saving safeguard within the Demonic Flame Space.

Surely snatching something like this ahead of its intended recipient deserved a reward?!

The next moment, a voice sounded in Chu Zhou's mind.

"Just as... huh?"

[Firmament Ledger revelation]: You have obtained one of the clues to the legacy left behind by a peak nine-star Dou Sheng Expert. Once you obtain the complete set of clues, you can receive the reward for "the first person to obtain a clue to a ninth-tier expert's legacy," with an announcement across all of Blue Star for everyone to celebrate.

Chu Zhou: "..."

The good news was that the Demonic Flame Remnant Map had indeed triggered a response from the Firmament Ledger.

The bad news was that a single Demonic Flame Remnant Map did not count as a complete clue.

He needed to gather all the Demonic Flame Remnant Maps to receive the "first" reward.

At the same time, the reward he had imagined for being "the first to snatch an opportunity from a child of destiny" had not appeared either.

Apparently, opportunities belonged to no one until claimed. Whoever obtained them owned them; their ownership had not been predetermined.

"But this is a clue to a ninth-tier expert's legacy... one of them, anyway. Isn't there any reward at all?"

Chu Zhou thought the Firmament Ledger was rather stingy.

But the next moment, a voice sounded in his mind.

[You have received a milestone hidden reward bestowed by the Firmament Ledger]: Demon Saint Space

Chu Zhou: !!!