Flame-Flame Fruit

Seeing that the scar-faced mercenary and his companions had blocked Nalan Sheng's path, Mu Li finally emerged from the woods behind him with two more mercenaries, sneering.

"Kid, hand over your Storage Ring obediently, and perhaps this young master will leave your corpse in one-"

Bang!!!

Before Mu Li could finish, a thunderous report cut him off.

Under the incredulous gazes of the scar-faced mercenary and his companions, a bloody hole appeared in Mu Li's head. His eyes bulged as he fell to the ground, dying with his eyes still open.

"Young captain!"

"Damn it, run-"

Bang, bang, bang...

Having blown Mu Li's head open with one shot, Nalan Sheng gave the other four mercenaries no chance to escape. He mercilessly raised the Desert Eagle and swiftly put a bullet through each of their heads.

"A bunch of idiots!"

Looking at Mu Li's corpse, its eyes still wide open, Nalan Sheng said disdainfully, "Did you really think this young master hadn't noticed you?"

In truth, Nalan Sheng had long since discovered that Mu Li and his men were watching him. He simply hadn't let on!

Clap, clap!

After putting away the Desert Eagle, Nalan Sheng raised his hands and clapped twice.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The five Shadow Ninjas tasked with scouting immediately leaped down from the surrounding trees and knelt on one knee before Nalan Sheng.

"Search them thoroughly and see if they have anything valuable."

At Nalan Sheng's command, the Shadow Ninjas hurried over to the corpses of Mu Li and his men and began searching them carefully.

In the end, the Shadow Ninjas found several hundred gold and silver coins on their bodies.

"Pah!"

Taking the spoils handed over by the Shadow Ninjas, Nalan Sheng said with utter contempt, "A bunch of broke bastards, wasting this young master's time!"

Nalan Sheng casually put the spoils into his Storage Ring, then ordered the Shadow Ninjas to continue scouting ahead and followed them toward the cliff where the Dou Wang's cave abode lay.

About an incense stick's worth of time later, more than twenty mercenaries led by Mu She arrived, following the trail markers Mu Li and his men had left behind.

"Li'er!!!"

When Mu She saw Mu Li's body, which had yet to turn cold, his eyes instantly went bloodshot, and he let out a piercing wail of grief.

Mu Li had been Mu She's only son, so he had always doted on him. Never had he imagined that one day the white-haired would have to bury the black-haired.

"Find him! Find that little bastard right now!"

Mu She's eyes nearly split with rage. "I'll rip out his bones, flay his skin, and hack his corpse into ten thousand pieces!!!"

Hearing this, the mercenaries hurriedly scattered in groups of three or five, searching for any traces Nalan Sheng had left behind.

Meanwhile, guided by the Shadow Ninjas, Nalan Sheng had reached the cliff where the Dou Wang's cave abode was located.

Standing at the edge and looking down, Nalan Sheng spotted a section of the sheer rock face concealed by wooden crosspieces.

By the slanting sunlight, he could just make out a pitch-black opening through the gaps between the timbers.

Looks like this should be the place.

Nalan Sheng nodded slightly, then took out the rope he had prepared beforehand. He tied one end to a nearby tree and secured the other around his waist before sliding down toward the cave midway down the cliff.

Whoosh!

Just as Nalan Sheng came within several dozen feet of the cave, a faint sound suddenly sliced through the air.

His expression shifted slightly. Without hesitation, he unleashed Benlei Palm, striking toward the source of the sound.

Boom!!!

With a thunderous rumble, blue-white lightning erupted from Nalan Sheng's palm and blasted his attacker into a length of charcoal.

It was a length of charcoal because the creature that had ambushed him was a Rock Snake.

Rock Snakes were serpentine magical beasts that favored cliff faces and were fairly common first-rank magical beasts.

Though their offensive power was nothing impressive, their bodies were as hard as stone, making them difficult to injure with ordinary swords or sabers.

Had Nalan Sheng not yet taken the Yellow Dragon Pill, killing a Rock Snake with his One-Star Dou Zhe cultivation would have taken some effort.

But Nalan Sheng was now a Five-Star Dou Zhe, and the power of his Benlei Palm had increased severalfold. Instantly killing a Rock Snake was well within his capabilities.

After disposing of the Rock Snake that had courted death, Nalan Sheng soon reached the dark cave entrance.

He first had the Shadow Ninjas clear away the timbers outside the entrance, then walked into the cave at an unhurried pace.

After a short walk along the narrow passage, a stone gate emitting a faint yellow glow appeared before him.

Nalan Sheng showed no surprise at the sight and simply ordered the Shadow Ninjas to search beneath the stone gate.

They soon found the hidden mechanism below it and pressed firmly on a small protrusion.

Rumble...

With the low rumbling of machinery, the stone gate blocking Nalan Sheng's path slowly began to rise.

As it rose, a stone chamber as bright as daylight came into view.

A flicker of excitement crossed Nalan Sheng's eyes, and he hurried inside with the Shadow Ninjas.

The chamber was spacious, with Moonlight Stones set into its walls for illumination.

A chair stood in the center of the chamber, with a skeleton seated upon it.

Directly in front of the skeleton stood a bluestone platform bearing three locked Stone Boxes.

The chamber's four corners also held piles of various things.

Three of the corners were piled with assorted treasures and gold coins.

In the last corner was a small flower bed built from heaped soil, planted with several dozen precious medicinal herbs.

After sweeping his gaze over the herbs and valuables, Nalan Sheng quickly looked away and walked toward the skeleton.

At his signal, two Shadow Ninjas dismantled the skeleton, eventually finding three keys and a fragment of a map on it.

Nalan Sheng took the map fragment they handed him, gave it a cursory look, and put it into his Storage Ring.

[Ding! The host has intercepted the destined male protagonist's Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map. Reward: 100,000 villain points!]

Whoosh!!!

Hearing the system notification sound in his ears, Nalan Sheng's eyes instantly lit up, and an expression of wild delight spread across his face.

That said-

Nalan Sheng had guessed that the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame Fragment Map would be valuable, but he had never imagined it would be worth this much.

After all, it was only a map fragment, not the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame itself.

With a fortune of one hundred thousand villain points in hand, Nalan Sheng no longer bothered looting the other treasures in the chamber. Instead, he immediately summoned the System Shop.

System, I want to buy the Flame-Flame Fruit!

As Nalan Sheng silently spoke those words, a strange fruit resembling a dragon fruit, its surface covered in flame patterns, appeared out of thin air in his hand.