When Xiao Chen’s group arrived at the treasure mountain, thousands of cultivators crowded the surrounding area. Even more had entered the treasure mountain already.
Xiao Chen looked at the treasure mountain. Close to ten kilometers of it stuck out of the water.
However, this was just the tip of the iceberg for the treasure mountain. The part of the treasure mountain underwater was even larger and vaster, its main body stretching all the way to the legendary heart of the ocean. That place was even more mysterious and tempting.
However, even Martial Emperors did not dare to enter that place casually, as it reached the heart of the sea at its deepest. Even Sovereign Martial Emperors needed to be careful.
Most cultivators would explore only the area of the treasure mountain above the water.
Even though everyone knew that no one normally went to the depths of the ocean, where the Remnants were perfect and complete and would yield a much greater harvest, no one took the risk.
This was because those people who had risked going were all dead.
The crowd surged with all sorts of lights flas.h.i.+ng. The manager said, “There really is an extraordinary number of people. If we were to try our luck and searched for Spirit Herbs outside, we would not be able to get much.”
Needless to say, aside from the six great loose cultivators of the Cloud Sea Domain that had rushed over first, simply too many people had come right after. All the good things would have been taken already.
For example, an herb field. If one person monopolized it, that person would receive a startling amount of benefits. However, if ten thousand people competed for it and ended up splitting it equally, its value would be significantly diminished.
Mu Qinghan smiled and said, “That is why I was never interested in the treasure mountain. If not for the coincidental opportunity, gaining news of the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion, I would not have come and joined in the liveliness.”
Coincidental opportunity?
Xiao Chen silently laughed in his heart. What would Mu Qinghan feel if he knew that this so-called coincidental opportunity was merely something Mo Chen arranged?
However, even if Mu Qinghan knew, it was not a problem. The two had different targets and would not clash. At most, there would just be some unhappiness.
Mu Qinghan turned to say to Xiao Chen, “Brother Wen, this time, our opponent, the people from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, invited two people from the Cyclic Astral Palace.
“If my guess is not wrong, they should be elite disciples from the Cyclic Astral Palace’s top palace, the Sun Palace. At that time, we will rely on you. If we should show ourselves to be too weak, the other party would definitely not mind chasing us out.”
Xiao Chen said, “What if they show themselves to be too weak?”
Mu Qinghan shook his head and said, “The possibility of that was not high. If it was just one Sun Palace disciple, I might be tempted. However, there are two. I hope that they will be able to consider the big picture. If both sides end up in a life-and-death struggle, it would not be good for anyone.”
Clearly, Mu Qinghan still has some doubts about Xiao Chen’s strength. After all, Xiao Chen’s cultivation just reached Inferior Grade Martial Sage.
As for the elite disciples of the Cyclic Astral Palace, they were all talented individuals capable of fighting above their cultivation level. As grandmaster-level Martial Sages, they could take on great grandmaster-level Martial Sages.
In Mu Qinghan’s eyes, as the personal disciple of the Saber Sovereign Wu Xiaotian, Xiao Chen would have a sixty percent chance of defeating two Sun Palace elite disciples if he was not injured.
However, Xiao Chen was currently injured and had not recovered his strength. His chances of victory should only be even.
This level would be more than enough to be a threat to the other party, deterring them from entertaining any malicious thoughts. However, it would still be far from suppressing the other side.
In reality, Mu Qinghan’s guess was fairly accurate. However, Xiao Chen was not Wen Ziran; his background was even greater than Wen Ziran’s.
Xiao Chen smiled and did not argue.
“Let’s go!”
Mu Qinghan led the way through the thick fog. Then, they gently floated over and landed on the treasure mountain.
They kept away from the crowd, taking a small desolate path.
Holes dotted the narrow mountain path where Spirit Herbs had been pulled up by the roots with nothing left behind.
All sorts of Fire Li Sect Remnants and palaces were visible on both sides, sprawling over the mountain. As the group walked, they could distinctly feel the heavy sense of history that time brought.
Clearly, Mu Qinghan intentionally avoided the crowd, not going to the popular herb fields or the relatively complete palaces.
However, things did not always go the way one wanted. Along the way, the four met a silver-haired youth with a fiendish aura.
The silver-haired youth looked extremely relaxed. He seemed to have arrived before everyone and had indeed gained a great harvest.
Now, this silver-haired youth was currently casually wandering around, seeing if he would get lucky and find some Spirit Herbs or hidden pa.s.sageways.
“Hey, isn’t this the Nine Cauldron Merchant a.s.sociation’s Young Master?” The silver-haired youth’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw Mu Qinghan.
He swept his gaze through the four. Seeing no one strong, he revealed a malicious expression.
Mu Qinghan frowned slightly. He had not expected to meet with this silver-haired youth, the Silver Shark Swordsman, who was one of the Cloud Sea Domain’s six great loose cultivators.
“Go farther away. I’ll pretend that I did not see you,” Mu Qinghan said coldly.
Mu Qinghan did not speak politely to loose cultivators. The more polite he was, the more it said that he did not have any trump cards. That would only incite the loose cultivators to be even more fearless.
The Silver Shark Swordsman’s gaze swept through the four, and what he saw gave him confidence. Mu Qinghan and the manager were just grandmaster-level Martial Sages.
The veiled girl was only a Medial Grade Martial Sage, and the remaining youth was even more ordinary, an Inferior Grade Martial Sage.
The two grandmaster-level Martial Sages are somewhat problematic. However, if I finish off these two shrimps first and no one interferes, I will be able to deal with the two grandmaster-level Martial Sages quietly within one hundred moves without causing any problems.
As the silver-hair youth thought to himself, he showed a smile and said, “Well said. Since Young Master Mu asked, I will leave.”
Mu Qinghan released his bated breath. This kind of loose cultivator did not fear anything, even daring to challenge the City Lord’s Residence. If not for them having more people on their side, preventing this loose cultivator from being able to finish them off quickly, the loose cultivator would not have stepped back readily.
“Hu chi!”
However, in the time it took for a spark to fly, without any warning, a wind blew and clouds surged. The silver-haired youth spun around and attacked at lightning speed. As he flew over, he transformed into a large Silver Shark and opened his jaws wide, charging at Xiao Chen, who had the lowest cultivation.
The silver-haired youth was incredibly fast. It would be hard to antic.i.p.ate that he would attack in the next moment, before his smile even faded.
Xiao Chen’s lips curled up. This method might be effective on inexperienced cultivators who had just left their sects. However, it was useless on him.
Since the silver-haired youth’s arrival, Xiao Chen had not let down his guard at all.
Do you think that I am a pushover that you can bully any time?
Kun Peng Fist, hating the sky when it spreads its wings!
A colossal shadow suddenly appeared, covering the sky. Xiao Chen gave off a king’s aura from his body and a sense of hating the sky for being too low.
In the instant the Kun Peng spread its wings, Xiao Chen soared into the air with his arms wide. A strong wind blew everywhere, scattering the clouds.
Instead of retreating, Xiao Chen stepped forward. Despite attacking later, his attack arrived first. He suppressed his opponent with his aura and punched.
“Bang!”
Fist and palm met. Cracks bloomed on the ground. Rocks flew everywhere. The entire mountain trembled.
The silver-haired youth landed unstably and took ten steps back. Blood leaked out of a corner of his lips—the result of underestimating his enemy.
Xiao Chen somersaulted three times and landed firmly. The instant his feet touched the ground, the shaking mountain steadied.
“Haha! That was just a joke. Little friend, you are pretty strong; your Vital Qi is startling. I’ll take my leave first.” The silver-haired youth had suffered a disadvantage. He had not expected Xiao Chen to be a hidden expert, so he backed off, thinking of leaving.
However, this silver-haired youth was crafty and meticulous in thought. Despite suffering from this disadvantage, he immediately calmed himself and stopped attacking, trying to make other plans.
Xiao Chen watched coldly as this person left, not saying much.
“Young Master Wen, unexpectedly, your Fist Technique is close to being a Profound Martial Technique. It even managed to repulse the Silver Shark Swordsman.”
Upon seeing Xiao Chen force back the silver-haired youth with one punch, Mu Qinghan was both startled and happy. That silver-haired youth was one of the infamous six great loose cultivators of the Cloud Sea Domain. Mu Qinghan felt like he had found a treasure.
Xiao Chen’s gaze remained calm, and he shook his head. “That person only underestimated me and was not severely injured.”
“Haha! No matter what, I am now even more confident about the trip to the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion,” Mu Qinghan laughed, his face filled with joy.
As the group continued forward, Xiao Chen kept an eye out, extending his Spiritual Sense.
Indeed, that silver-haired youth had not left. A communication talisman appeared on his hand like he was summoning people.
Xiao Chen withdrew his Spiritual Sense. It looked like the Nine Cauldron Merchant a.s.sociation and the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion would not be able to split the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion among themselves.
After some thought, he told Mu Qinghan everything he saw.
After all, Xiao Chen was grateful to Mu Qinghan. If they continued with their original plans, then when the Silver Shark Swordsman summoned people, not only would they not obtain the treasures, but they might also end up losing their lives.
When Mu Qinghan heard this, his expression changed drastically, becoming alarmed. He asked, “Brother Wen, are you sure about that?”
Knowing that the other party would be suspicious, Xiao Chen replied calmly, “I guarantee that it is true. There is no benefit in lying to you about it. I’m sure you know that.”
“d.a.m.n it! That Silver Shark Swordsman must be summoning the other five great loose cultivators. He must think that we still have the experts of my Nine Cauldron Merchant a.s.sociation, so he would not be a match for us by himself,” Mu Qinghan said hatefully, looking extremely depressed.
Mu Qinghan could only blame himself for being too unlucky. Of all the people to meet, he met the Silver Shark Swordsman, one of the Cloud Sea Domain’s six great loose cultivators. If it was someone else, he could kill them in order to prevent any leakage of information; it would not be as problematic as this.
“What should we do? If we continue onwards, we will expose the location of the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion. Then, the six great loose cultivators will get everything, and we will end up with nothing.”
For a moment, Mu Qinghan could not think of any ideas. The expression on his face turned anxious.
Mo Chen suggested softly, “How about this: spread out information about the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion. That will cause all the thousands of cultivators on the treasure mountain to rush over there. Young Master Mu can then call the other team over. With a great grandmaster-level Martial Sage around, you should be able to gain some benefits.
“Amid the chaos, the threat of the six great loose cultivators will be much lower. Furthermore, these loose cultivators are unruly and fear nothing; they won’t submit to anyone. When they see a treasure that interests them, they will surely fight each other, crumbling apart. You will definitely stand a chance.”
“How can we do that? For the sake of obtaining the information about the Ten Thousand Treasure Pavilion’s entrance, we put in a lot of effort. How can we just give it away to others for nothing?”
The moment Mo Chen made her suggestion, the manager immediately rejected it.