Han Chen took out the Divine Wind Boat and pulled Xiao Yi Xian aboard.
"Little White, Little Jade, we're leaving."
Hearing Han Chen's call, the two Blood Jade Spiders locked in battle hurriedly spat out two strands of silk, then streaked back into the Spirit Beast Bag.
After ordering the puppet to self-destruct, Han Chen steered the Divine Wind Boat away from the woods.
Seeing the prey already at its beak fly away, the Swift Rain Swallow let out a piercing screech and dove after them.
But halfway through its dive, the puppet, its body riddled with cracks, wrapped its arms around it. A dazzling light immediately burst from the puppet.
A sense of mortal danger surged through the Swift Rain Swallow. Blue light swiftly spread over its body, and its feathers became as hard as steel, pressing tightly against its skin.
Boom!
A blinding blaze engulfed the Swift Rain Swallow. Behind Han Chen, Xiao Yi Xian stared dazedly at the distant flames.
Everything had happened in the flash of lightning and the spark of flint. She was still bewildered, and only when the cool wind brushed her face did her shaken heart settle somewhat.
"Just now... what was that thing that looked like a person?"
"A puppet. I can't explain it in a sentence or two. Let's find somewhere safe first. That blast probably won't kill it. With its speed, it'll catch up to us in no time."
Han Chen was so busy that sweat covered his forehead. He could only give Xiao Yi Xian a quick answer before starting to search for somewhere hidden.
"Huh? Surely not. We're flying pretty fast too."
Hearing Han Chen say that the Swift Rain Swallow would soon catch up, Xiao Yi Xian looked at him in confusion.
"Come on, I'm only a Dou Zhe. Even with pills replenishing my energy, I can't keep this up."
"Bleh~"
At that, Xiao Yi Xian sheepishly stuck out her tongue.
After the two left, a fierce gust extinguished the raging flames. The Swift Rain Swallow appeared in the air, brutality flashing through its bloodred eyes. Seeing that Han Chen had vanished, it grew furious.
Just as it prepared to continue the chase, voices sounded in the distance, accompanied by a dozen or so approaching torches.
"What was that noise just now?"
"Hurry up and search! It must be Xiao Yi Xian and the others. They can't have gone far."
Seeing the members of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group below, the Swift Rain Swallow dove straight at them. A chorus of screams followed.
After flying some distance aboard the Divine Wind Boat, Han Chen and Xiao Yi Xian spotted a cliff.
Han Chen's gaze shifted at the sight of the cliff. Xiao Yi Xian noticed where he was looking too. Seeing the cliff below, she said:
"Isn't that the cliff I saw last time? Now that I think about it, I hadn't noticed how close it is to where we gather herbs."
Hearing Xiao Yi Xian's words, Han Chen formed a plan and immediately flew down.
"Hold on tight. This is exactly the place I was looking for."
Han Chen had no intention of testing the waters. Knowing full well that a Rock Snake lurked inside, he wasn't about to blunder in. He simply raised his hand and swept the area with a dozen streaks of sword light, bombarding the cliff.
After that barrage, a pitch-black Rock Snake fell from the cliff face, plunging straight into the depths below.
"Why was there a Rock Snake here?"
"Who cares? Let's go inside first."
Han Chen flew straight to a hidden cave in the cliff face, then pushed aside the weeds with practiced ease.
Watching Han Chen act as though he were coming home, Xiao Yi Xian stood beside him, dumbfounded.
"Have you been here before?"
"No."
"Then why are you so familiar with it? It's like you're coming home."
"Haven't you read storybooks? Isn't this how it always goes in those books? Come on, it's time to split the treasure."
Once inside the cave, Han Chen raised his hand. Tiandu corpse fire appeared in his palm, illuminating the dim cavern.
At the end, they found a stone door. With a thrust of the sword light in his hand, he blasted it apart.
"Cough, cough, cough! You're way too rough."
The dust rushing into her face sent Xiao Yi Xian into a fit of coughing, and she couldn't help complaining to Han Chen.
Han Chen ignored Xiao Yi Xian and carefully examined the cave instead. It was much like its depiction in the original story. Mountainlike heaps of gold coins lined the edges of the stone chamber, along with an herb garden.
Most striking of all was the chair atop the steps in the very center of the chamber, and the black-robed skeleton seated on it.
"Wow! There are so many gold coins here, and so many medicinal herbs!"
Once Xiao Yi Xian saw what lay inside, she was so delighted that she couldn't close her mouth. Even though she often ventured into the mountains to gather herbs, she had never seen so many gold coins or such precious medicinal plants.
"Ice spirit flame grass! It's growing so well."
Hearing that, Han Chen glanced toward Xiao Yi Xian's corner, then walked over to the skeleton. He slowly crouched down and reached out to stroke its arm.
"You... you aren't... with that skeleton..."
After taking stock of the herbs, Xiao Yi Xian had intended to share them with Han Chen. After all, he deserved all the credit for their reaching this place. Besides, he was an Alchemist, so these herbs would be more useful to him.
Yet the moment she turned around, she saw Han Chen gazing tenderly at the skeleton in the chair. Goosebumps immediately rose all over her body, and she looked at him with some trepidation.
She had heard that gifted geniuses often had little quirks unknown to others. Han Chen hadn't looked at her like that earlier, yet now he was gazing at a pile of bones with such affection...
"Tsk, can't you be quiet for a bit? You've been shouting and making a fuss ever since we came in. Apart from these three stone boxes and those few pots of rarer medicinal herbs, which I'm taking, everything else is yours. Help yourself."
As he spoke, Han Chen tossed her a cloth bag.
Pouting, Xiao Yi Xian caught it. She had seen the Spirit Beast Bag Han Chen used to hold Little White and Little Jade, so she also knew how to use a storage bag. She went off on her own to collect the gold coins.
After sending Xiao Yi Xian away, Han Chen returned his attention to the skeleton's arm. He pressed his hand against it, but stopped as soon as he applied any force.
His gaze flickered. In the end, he didn't pull the arm off, instead silently saying to himself:
System, check in!
Ding! Check-in successful. Congratulations, host, on checking in at the cliffside cave. Rewards: Giant Sword Art, purple monkey flower seeds ×10, demon-luring grass seeds ×10, Void Sky Fragment Map ×1, Form-Changing Art.
Hearing the system's rewards, Han Chen's eyes gleamed, and the corners of his mouth curled upward.
I've hit the jackpot. With demon-luring grass, Little White and Little Jade can break through faster, and the Form-Changing Art will solve my identity problem when I'm out in the world later.
But... the Void Sky Fragment Map? Why did this turn up? System, what's going on?
He could understand all the other rewards, but what was the deal with the Void Sky Fragment Map?
Ding! The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map records the location of the purifying lotus demon flame, the Heavenly Flame ranked third on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. It also contains a remnant soul of the Purifying Lotus Demon Saint. Its value goes without saying. The grade of treasures awarded by the system depends not only on the check-in location, but is also closely tied to the value of the item involved in the check-in. That is why you received a Void Sky Fragment Map.
As it spoke, the system generated a screen before Han Chen, displaying the outer hall of the Void Sky Hall, one of the greatest opportunities in the mortal realm arc of A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality.
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