Chapter 494 - 215: Great Treasure
Chen Qing heard the commotion and followed the sound, observing from a distance.
He saw three people ganging up on one. Several corpses already lay on the ground, their attire similar to the one being attacked, clearly indicating they were all from the same faction.
The three wore black robes and conical hats, obscuring their faces. They coordinated seamlessly, their ruthless experience evident in the flurry of flashing blades.
Two of them were Early-stage Astral Force Martial Artists. One wielded a pair of Poisoned Short Blades, his techniques sinister and cunning, aimed exclusively at his opponent’s lower body. The other brandished a narrow Curved Saber, his slashes incredibly swift.
However, the most noteworthy of them was the Mid-stage Astral Force expert.
His Profound Iron Heavy Sword looked plain and unadorned, but every swing was imbued with an incomparably dense, pale-gold True Astral. The force of his slashes gouged deep trenches in the ground and pulverized the surrounding vegetation.
It was clearly a Gold Attribute True Astral, and an extremely potent and solid one at that.
"The Bai Family... will never let you get away with this!" the man under siege hissed, his voice full of hatred.
"The Bai Family? Hmph. Once your bones have turned to dust on Luoxing Slope, how will the Bai Family know it was us?"
The voice of the Mid-stage Astral Force expert was old and hoarse, but his attacks only grew more ferocious.
Chen Qing, hidden in the shadows, scanned the battlefield, utterly unfazed.
He was well aware that in such a perilous place, killing for treasure was the norm.
These specialists in dirty work were experienced and cautious. They picked only easy targets and would typically lie low for years after a single job, making them incredibly difficult to track.
He had no intention of getting involved in these troubled waters. His only purpose on this trip was to earn Contribution Points; inviting unnecessary complications was by no means a wise move.
Holding his breath, he focused his senses and retreated silently, distancing himself from the conflict.
With practiced movements, the three attackers quickly began to search the bodies of the Bai Family members.
The man with the Curved Saber pulled a palm-sized Jade Box from the last Bai Family disciple to fall. He opened it, and his eyes instantly lit up with ecstatic joy.
"Big Brother, quick, look! This is great stuff!" His voice was filled with joy.
The other man also found some Ore and a few stalks of Treasure Medicine on the bodies, quickly stuffing them into his robes.
The Mid-stage Astral Force expert snatched the Jade Box. After a careful inspection, a satisfied smile appeared on his withered face, only to be immediately replaced by even greater vigilance.
His turbid yet sharp eyes quickly swept over the silent surrounding woods as he strained his ears to listen.
"Erase our tracks. Let’s go, now!"
He barked in a low voice, immediately tucking the Jade Box securely against his body.
Hearing this, the joy on the other two men’s faces vanished instantly. Not daring to delay another moment, they quickly erased their tracks.
Once they finished, the three said no more and quickly vanished from the spot.
.....
For the next few days, Chen Qing operated on the outskirts of Luoxing Slope, looking for opportunities.
At night, a strange light shot up into the sky from the core region of Luoxing Slope, accompanied by a powerful, heart-palpitating aura.
Chen Qing did not venture deeper to investigate, confining his activities to the outer regions.
Overall, he had some minor gains. In the Blazing Fire Ore area, he found a stalk of Ghostly Shadow Grass that gave off a faint, shimmering light. It was a full ten years old, a supplementary ingredient for refining various Elixirs, and could be exchanged for forty Contribution Points.
In addition, he successfully hunted and killed a lone Stone Lion, retrieving the precious Meteorite Iron Core from its body.
Chen Qing’s application of his Five Elements True Astral also grew more and more skillful.
Unlike Chen Qing, who dared to venture deep alone and hunt Stone Lions, the outskirts of Luoxing Slope were frequented by many experts at the Embracing Pill Force level.
They mostly moved in groups of three to five, cautiously avoiding the territories of Exotic Beasts like the Stone Lion while searching for valuable scattered Ore like Blazing Fire Ore and Broken Star Iron.
If they encountered a Stone Lion, the only option for these Embracing Pill Force teams was to flee; they would not entertain the slightest thought of fighting.
Some of the more cautious Embracing Pill Force experts would even flee instantly upon seeing Chen Qing.
During this period, he also spotted Zhu Yu and a few other geniuses from the Hundred Sects of Xu Wang Mountain, who seemed to have come as a team.
Besides Zhu Yu, Chen Qing also recognized Kong Yian from the Bitaomen Sect. The other two appeared to be disciples from other prefectures who had ranked in the middle during the selection.
The team’s rapport seemed quite good; they were clearly not a hastily assembled group.
Chen Qing’s gaze shifted slightly, but he chose not to go over and greet them.
Although he was acquainted with Zhu Yu and Kong Yian, having met them a few times on Guest Welcoming Peak, their relationship was still shallow—far from the point where he could casually join their team.
Showing himself rashly might cause unnecessary misunderstandings or awkwardness.
On one occasion, Chen Qing even came across a gathering of three Stone Lions. He did not engage, instead using his Body Technique to retreat quietly.
It wasn’t a matter of insufficient strength. Rather, dealing with three of the thick-skinned Exotic Beasts simultaneously would inevitably drain his energy. In a place like Luoxing Slope, fraught with danger at every turn, preserving his peak condition was the only way to survive.
This day, Chen Qing was secretly calculating his gains from the trip: ’The Ghostly Shadow Grass is forty points, the new Meteorite Iron Core is three hundred, and the Blazing Fire Ore is fifty... Add that to what I already had, and if I get the spoils from about three more Stone Lions, plus my monthly stipend, I’ll have enough Contribution Points for the High-quality Quenching Gang Pills.’
As long as he had enough High-quality Quenching Gang Pills, he could reach Mid-stage Astral Force before the six-month assessment.
Just as he was lost in thought, a bird’s cry from high in the sky broke his train of thought.
Immediately after, a drop of liquid carrying a thick, bloody stench fell with a SPLAT onto a rock in front of him. It actually burned a small pit into the hard rock’s surface, letting out a faint SIZZLE.
Chen Qing snapped his head up and saw an enormous Golden Feathered Eagle streaking unsteadily across the sky. Its flight was extremely erratic, a clear sign that it was severely injured.