"Senior Zhao Min, I have offended you greatly. I did this for the great development and progress of the archaeological industry. Please bear with me. Once I retrieve the Nine Yang Divine Art, I will erect a cenotaph for your son next to you as an apology!"
After digging open the burial mound, revealing the coffin inside, Wang Hao clasped his hands together and bowed.
After all, he was a senior, and he really liked the character Zhao Min when he watched the TV series. It's a pity that he was born in the era of the Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Proud Wanderer; he was born at the wrong time!
With a sigh, Wang Hao pried open the coffin and waited for the lingering scent inside to dissipate before looking up.
Inside was a skeleton dressed in the distinctive attire of the nomadic people, yet it was exceptionally exquisite. The hair that fell from the top of the skeleton was still jet black, without a single white hair. Clearly, this female protagonist from the era of Heaven-Reliant Saber did not die of old age.
No matter how beautiful you are, you cannot escape the erosion of time; in the end, you are nothing but a pile of withered bones!
With another sigh, Wang Hao took out a stone box from inside the coffin and then resealed the coffin lid.
Instead of immediately opening the stone box to see the Nine Yang Divine Art inside, Wang Hao used his Shameless Greatsword to dig a large pit next to Zhao Min's coffin, cut down a large tree nearby, hollowed out a section of the trunk, and made a simple coffin.
They placed a set of Yuanyuan Temur's clothes, which they had found in the previous hut, inside the coffin, sealed the lid, and buried it next to Zhao Min's coffin.
Regardless of his previous hostile relationship with Yuanyuan Temur, this guy is a filial son, and besides, he took Zhao Min's secret manual, so he should make some compensation.
Let the mother and child be buried together!
This was because Yuanyuan Temur's previous attack, "Jade and Stone Burn Together," was too Tyrannical Dao and ruthless, leaving no trace of the body, so this was the only option left—a cenotaph.
After repairing the grave, Wang Hao engraved Yuanyuan Temur's name on the tombstone, and then he was done.
"Is it raining?"
Looking up at the raindrops falling from the sky, Wang Hao hurriedly went into the cave next to him, placed the stone box in front of him, and rubbed his hands together excitedly.
" Nine Yang Divine Art, here I come!"
He carefully opened the stone box, and inside was indeed a yellowed manual. But when he saw the four large characters on the cover, Wang Hao almost wanted to curse.
Those four characters were not the Nine Yang Divine Art, but rather...
" Xiao Mengmeng, how can this be the Xuanming Divine Palm!"
Looking at the Xuanming Divine Palm manual lying inside the stone box, Wang Hao didn't know how to even begin to comment.
While the Xuanming Divine Palm is decent, it's a level below the Nine Yang Divine Art. At best, it's a martial art at the Half-step Innate level.
"Uncle, they didn't say the only reward this time was the Nine Yang Divine Art!"
The Xiao Mengmeng in the System Space couldn't help but roll her eyes, then continued to watch the bear Kuma playing on the TV in front of her with great concentration.
"Could it be that..."
Wang Hao was taken aback at first, then overjoyed. He carefully picked up the Xuanming Divine Palm manual, which looked quite fragile, and sure enough, he found a second manual underneath, but it was still not the Nine Yang Divine Art.
" Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art? That makes sense. This skill originally originated from the martial arts of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands. As a high-ranking official in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Min certainly deserves to possess this divine skill."
Nodding, Wang Hao carefully took out the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art manual and looked at the third manual below, but it was still not the Nine Yang Divine Art.
" Vajra Indestructible Divine Art? Isn't that Shaolin Temple's ultimate technique? How did it end up here? Is this the Burning Wood Saber Technique? Great Shifting Movement Method, Great Strength Vajra Palm, Dragon Claw Hand, Seven Injuries Fist Manual Reverse Two Forms Saber Technique Manual, Purple Cloud Divine Art, Reverse Yin-Yang Saber Technique, Two Forms Sword Manual, Extermination Swordsmanship Sword Technique, Buddha's Light Shines Everywhere Illumination, True Martial Seven Interception Formation, Medical Classic, Poison Classic, and finally, Nine Yang Divine Art!"
Wang Hao took out several manuals in a row, and only found the Nine Yang Divine Art in the last one.
" The Nine Yang Divine Art and the Medical Classic Poison Classic were probably buried here by Zhang Wuji. The other martial arts techniques should be related to Zhao Min."
After reviewing these manuals, Wang Hao guessed that they were likely left behind by Zhao Min, because the handwriting was elegant, yet it also subtly carried the ruggedness of the grassland script. Only Zhao Min, a remarkable woman who was proficient in both cultures, could have written them.
Most importantly, these martial arts techniques basically belong to the six major sects of the Heaven-Reliant Saber era, and coincidentally, Zhao Min once captured the masters of the six major sects and forced them to write down their sect's secret techniques, so these martial arts techniques may have been obtained at that time.
"This time we really hit the jackpot!"
Wang Hao rubbed his hands together excitedly as he neatly laid out the manuals.
These manuals are all at least Grandmaster level martial arts, and there are several Half-step Innate martial arts. Among them, the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art and the Nine Yang Divine Art are genuine Innate martial arts.
He already possessed the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Art; otherwise, sending it to Dongfang Bai would have brought in another thousand Fortune Points.
After his initial excitement subsided, Wang Hao put the manuals back into the stone box and sealed it. He glanced at the rain outside, which had stopped, and was about to get up and walk towards the spirit peach tree when his gaze inadvertently swept over the inside of the cave and noticed something unusual.
"This is..."
Turning around, I carefully examined the characters carved on the cave wall. These characters were carved in a very messy manner, with some Chinese characters and some grassland characters, and they were all jumbled upside down, as if the carver was in a very chaotic state of mind.
After looking at it for a while, Wang Hao's expression turned strange. The words "Zhang Wuji," "heartless man," "scoundrel," and "Zhou Zhiruo " appeared repeatedly on it, revealing a clear sense of resentment and hatred.
"Could it be that Zhang Wuji ended up provoking Zhou Zhiruo again, and Zhao Min found out, leading to her running away from home with her child and eventually living in seclusion here?"
Looking at the writing on the cave walls, Wang Hao's mind raced. Recalling Yuanyuan Temur's excited reaction when he mentioned Zhang Wuji, he immediately confirmed his guess.
"Comrade Zhang is a real scoundrel! Zhao Min abandoned her country and family for you, and you're such a womanizer, even driving away her and her widow! What a scumbag!"
Thinking about this, Wang Hao felt indignant on Zhao Min's behalf. Regardless of Zhao Min's background, her feelings for Comrade Zhang were genuinely sincere. But Comrade Zhang, on the contrary, pulled this stunt.
What a complete scumbag!
" Profound Ice Blazing Fire Palm?"
Turning to look at the other side of the cave wall, Wang Hao's pupils suddenly contracted.
The writing on this side is completely different from that on the other side; it is much rougher and is entirely in grassland script. It records the first draft of a palm technique.
Although it appears quite chaotic, it is clear that this is an extremely sophisticated palm technique, having reached the level of Half-step Innate. The palm force alternates between hot and cold, which should be the Profound Ice Blazing Fire Palm that Yuanyuan Temur used before.
Without daring to delay, Wang Hao focused on reviewing the memories, reading them dozens of times until he had completely memorized them before he stopped.
After confirming that nothing was missing, Wang Hao walked towards the open space where the spirit peach tree was located.
Secret manuals can be comprehended at any time, but this spirit peach tree is a great treasure, probably the only Third Tier spirit tree in the Smiling Proud Wanderer World.
But when he returned to that open space, what he saw made Wang Hao's Instinct pressure spike.
The spirit peach tree was bare and stood there forlornly, with all thirty-two spirit peaches that had once been on it now fallen to the ground, leaving only nine on the ground; the rest had vanished without a trace.
But Wangcai lay there lazily basking in the sun, his belly bulging out like a big ball.
The whereabouts of those twenty-three spirit peaches are self-evident.
"You Master Hao! Tonight, I'm going to heat up some oil and stew you!"
Seeing this, Wang Hao was furious. He strode over and grabbed Wangcai by the neck, wanting to strangle the guy to death right there.
This guy is such a jerk!
"Old Z will kill you sooner or later!"
After punishing the guy for a while, Wang Hao finally sat down to the side and glared angrily at the troublemaker.
Wangcai seemed to realize he had done something wrong, and quickly lay down on the ground with his paws on his head, looking like he was admitting his mistake.
" Xiao Mengmeng, do you think it's possible for this spirit peach tree to be transplanted?"
Looking at the pitiful state of the spirit peach tree, which had been ravaged by Wangcai, Wang Hao rubbed his chin, preparing to pack it up and take it away.
This kind of treasure shouldn't be left in the wild. What if another troublemaker like Wangcai comes along and ruins it?
Therefore, it's best to remove and protect it, so that you can have plenty of spirit peaches to eat in the future.
"You'd better move it quickly. Peach trees are associated with the water element, and they only thrive in places with plenty of moisture. The environment here is severely limiting the growth of this spirit peach tree."
Xiao Mengmeng gave a serious warning, clearly agreeing with Wang Hao's opinion.
"A place with lots of moisture? Looks like we'll have to find a suitable island in the sea!"
Wang Hao seemed to be deep in thought, and quickly made a decision.
The ocean is undoubtedly the place with the most abundant moisture, but we can't just plant this spirit peach tree directly in the sea, so we have to find a suitable island.
" Mengmeng, how much lifespan do you think this spirit peach can increase?"
Wang Hao shifted his gaze from the withered spirit peach tree to the nine spirit peaches on the ground, curious about their effects.
He had only taken this thing to practice his skills, treating it as a pure elixir, and had not experienced any effect of increasing his lifespan, so he really didn't know how much lifespan one pill could increase.
"For beings below the Fourth Tier, each of these spiritual peaches should increase their lifespan by ten years. However, after consuming this spiritual fruit, the human body will develop great resistance, and the effect will gradually decrease until it has no effect. Roughly speaking, it should increase lifespan by one hundred and fifty years, and it can also keep the user young forever."
"Of course, if you can complete the main quest and push this world to its Breaking the Limit, this spirit peach tree should also improve, and its medicinal effects will be even stronger."
Xiao Mengmeng did some estimation and gave a precise figure.
"A lifespan of one hundred and fifty years, plus eternal youth, is not bad at all. I'll take these nine peaches to my wife first."
Nodding, Wang Hao got to work.
First, they crawled out of the sinkhole, ran for over a hundred miles, cut down a strange, large tree that emitted a special fragrance, and then carried the enormous tree back.
This large tree is no ordinary tree; it's called Yinmu, a relatively precious type of wood with extremely strong preservative properties. It was often used by ancient emperors to make coffins, and it's said that coffins made from this wood could preserve corpses for hundreds of years without decaying.
At the same time, the leaves of this yin tree are also a precious medicinal material, which is recorded in the medical books passed down by Eastern Heretic, so he was able to recognize it.
He had spotted this shady tree on his way to Bright Peak and had taken a closer look out of curiosity; now it came in handy.
What he needs to do now is to use the preservative properties of this Yin wood to preserve the nine spirit peaches and then Dongfang Bai.
This is something I definitely want to share with my wife.
Of course, this is mainly because he can no longer enhance his Divine Sense by consuming spirit peaches; it seems he has reached a limit to his ability to improve.
Without this effect, the Spirit Peach would only serve to increase his Innate Qi cultivation and restore the depletion of his Bloodline Power.
However, after consuming those spirit peaches, not only was his Bloodline Power fully restored, but his internal injuries had also completely healed, so he no longer needed them for the time being.
As for Innate Qi...
After glancing at the 100% progress mark next to Innate Qi on the attribute panel, Wang Hao shook his head, clearly indicating that he didn't need it anymore.
So for now, this spirit peach is just a useless piece of meat to him—tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away. There's nothing wrong with giving it to his wife to try.
The trunk of the Yin Wood was hollowed out, lined with a layer of soft leaves to form a buffer, and then the remaining nine spirit peaches were placed inside before being sealed.
Fortunately, these peaches are quite firm, similar to apples, so with these cushioning layers, you don't have to worry about bumps on the road.
Moreover, he did not intend to travel by land, but rather by water.
After sealing the spirit peaches and digging out the spirit peach tree, Wang Hao carried it out of the sinkhole, determined the direction, and headed east.
After running for several days, Wang Hao finally entered a relatively calm section of the Yangtze River. He found a large boat, bought a high-quality Ganoderma lucidum that he had casually dug up in the mountains, made some simple modifications, put the spirit peach tree and the yin wood that sealed the spirit peach inside, and then raised the sail and sailed down the river.
Fortunately, a westerly wind had been blowing recently, so the boats moved extremely fast and soon arrived in the Jingzhou area, from where they continued down the river.
What Wang Hao didn't know was that when he was about to arrive in Hangzhou by boat, an old man with white hair and a youthful face suddenly appeared in Peach Valley. It was Zhang Wuji, who had returned from overseas.