Chapter 146 Three Treasure Hunting Paths
While the disciples were going about their own business, the masters also had their own interactions.
Sang Yunchu and Yuan Yifei would still exchange alchemy techniques from time to time, while Jiang Chongguang had also developed a relationship with Yuan Bing—a relationship formed during their sparring sessions.
Now that the group was about to leave, the city lord and his wife did not try to stop them, but personally saw them off.
Ji Ting and Mi Wanyue also saw Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan off.
Yuan Yifei said with feigned regret, "I don't know when we'll meet again."
Sang Yunchu chuckled softly, "If you really can't bear to part with me, why don't you come back with me?"
Yuan Yifei decisively replied, "There's no need for that."
Sang Yunchu then teased, "If I had known you couldn't bear to part with Brother Yuanbing, I shouldn't have forced you."
Yuan Yifei rolled his eyes and made a gesture to shoo him away.
Sang Yunchu laughed heartily, then turned around and led his senior brothers and disciples onto the flying boat.
He stood on the deck and casually waved to Yuan Yifei.
Yuan Yifei shook his head and laughed.
At that moment, Zhong Cai saw the relief in City Lord Yuan Bing's eyes.
Although I didn't look closely... the emotion he expressed at that moment was still quite obvious.
He seemed to dislike his master.
Zhong Cai thought about it and realized that it wasn't surprising that she disliked it.
His master really did always like to mess with Uncle Yuan...
·
The journey back was also very smooth.
Before long, they arrived at Azure Dragon Academy.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan bowed to their masters to say goodbye.
Sang Yunchu and Jiang Chongguang didn't give them any instructions, only telling them to continue their cultivation as before.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan then returned to Duobao Peak.
·
This time, the two did not stay in the mountains for long.
They first sorted out the pills that were not of the required grade and divided them into different channels, sending them to the appropriate places accordingly.
Zhong Cai also fed his Grade 3 Wood Fire with those Wood Fires that were not of a high enough grade. When it was about the best level, there were still one or two strands left, which he then put into the blind box for teleportation.
Next, the two found the key mirror again.
The search results still show no change whatsoever, even after checking the malicious activity list first.
The two then searched again for the route to the last water-attribute meteor hammer technique.
Although two months have passed, the route remains the same, indicating that no one else had searched for it before. They can still obtain the secret technique according to the original plan.
Zhong Cai pondered for a moment and said, "The route doesn't connect to the dark market, so there shouldn't be one there. But let's still go there and cancel the bounty."
Wu Shaogan smiled slightly and readily agreed, "Okay."
·
There are six routes for the Water Attribute Meteor Hammer Technique, but one of them leads directly to the lair of a seventh-tier savage beast, which is very dangerous for the two of them.
If no other hammering techniques were suitable, the two had no choice but to ask Master Jiang for help again—which was quite easy to obtain.
Of the other five routes, two lead to neighboring large states. The journeys are not so long that they would take too much time, and once you get there, they are easy to obtain.
There are also three routes within the state, and those meteor hammers are all unclaimed.
The first manual on hammer techniques originated from a long-lost tomb, from which outsiders could no longer find any trace of its origin.
The second book also comes from a mountain nest, but it's an abandoned nest. You'd probably have to dig three feet into the ground to find the treasures stored there—most of the secret techniques are mixed in there.
The third book came from an abandoned ruin that had long been looted, but it contained a rather hidden formation that concealed some treasures, preventing the looters from discovering them. Now, the formation has disappeared at some point, and no cultivators go there anymore.
·
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan quietly piloted their flying boat and left Canglong City.
They searched in order, starting with the tomb.
·
In a certain mountain range, in a desolate mountain.
Wu Shaogan took out a long spear and thrust it fiercely into a patch of wasteland. Then, his arm vibrated, unleashing tremendous power!
In an instant, as the spear tip trembled, a deep pit appeared, revealing the tomb entrance.
Wu Shao chuckled dryly: "Found it."
Zhong Cai immediately moved closer, grabbing Wu Shaogan's arm, her eyes bright: "Let the Daobing go down!"
Wu Shaogan nodded slightly and released a Dao soldier, ordering it to investigate.
Zhong Cai then pulled his old man Wu back quite a distance.
One hour later.
The Taoist priest handed a jade tablet to Zhong Cai.
This is the first water-attribute hammer technique.
Zhong Cai focused her mind on it, took a quick look, and felt it was not bad.
While it's not perfect, it's usable... Of course, it would be best to pick one more time.
Zhong Cai took out a key mirror, felt it, leaned against Wu Shaogan, and said excitedly, "Let's go! To the second route!"
Wu Shaogan smiled and said, "Okay."
During this period, Dao Bing also brought back a lot of other resources, but they were all of low quality and were all collected by Zhong Cai as miscellaneous resources, ending up being stuffed into blind boxes.
·
Another mountain range, Zhongwei.
The giant silver wolf weaved and slaughtered among more than ten third-tier savage beasts.
In just a breath or two, it had swiftly slaughtered them all, and only when it returned to its two masters did the corpses of those savage beasts finally collapse to the ground.
He's completely dead.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan were standing under a tree nearby when they reached out together and ruffled Qinghui's hair.
Qinghui let out a joyful wolf howl and lowered its body slightly.
The two landed together on Qinghui's back.
Following the path Zhong Cai pointed out, Qinghui continued running in a certain direction.
Before leaving, Wu Shaogan casually collected the corpses of these savage beasts.
Zhong Cai muttered to herself, "Qinghui's hunting skills are amazing. When we get back, we'll have the Daoist puppets or something dissect these savage beasts and stuff them into blind boxes. Business over there is booming; they sent back a lot of Xuanzhu last time..."
·
There are many wild beasts in the mountains, and Qinghui's fur is particularly eye-catching.
Therefore, various wild beasts often come to attack along the way.
At first, Qinghui would put the two masters in a safe place, but as time went on, Qinghui stopped doing so.
Because the savage beasts that appear in this area are at most only of the fourth rank.
Qinghui was also at the fourth rank, and his speed was incredibly terrifying.
Often, even when surrounded and attacked by a large number of savage beasts, Qinghui can resolve the situation in the blink of an eye—ensuring that its two masters never encounter any danger.
·
The abandoned nest was easy to find, but it was already dilapidated and mixed in with a pile of weeds and mud—if it weren't for the route, one would not even be able to recognize that it had once been the nest of a savage bird.
Therefore, it is indeed necessary to dig three feet into the ground.
However, this task still doesn't require Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan to do; simply releasing a few more Dao soldiers will suffice to complete the mission.
Perhaps this nest once belonged to a high-level savage bird. After digging quite deep, several dusty mustard seed rings were unearthed, each containing some usable resources.
Zhong Cai took them one by one, immersing herself in them with her mind to examine them, while muttering to herself:
“This is a very powerful savage bird. There are tens of thousands of Xuanzhu in this mustard seed ring. It must be at least a Xuanzhao Realm cultivator, right? And these resources are all level four, and there are even a few level five ones…” He handed the mustard seed ring to Wu Shaogan, “Old Wu, take this and sort it out first.”
Wu Shaogan did as instructed.
The two were sitting under a bare rock nearby. The area was relatively open, so if any wild beasts came to attack, they would immediately be able to detect it.
Moreover, Qinghui had been keeping watch nearby, so he wasn't afraid of any sudden danger.
Zhong Cai continued searching through the second mustard seed ring, a look of surprise on his face. He exclaimed, "This one's pretty amazing! It actually has several hundred low-grade mystic stones! Could it have belonged to a fusion cultivator back then?"
As he spoke, he quickly flipped through the books and found that none of the manuals and techniques were hammer techniques, so he tossed them to his old man, Wu.
Wu Shaogan also carried the sorting tools as usual.
The two worked together very well. They didn't need to discuss the sorting process with each other and could produce the most satisfactory results without any errors.
After all, ever since they got married, the other person has been absolutely involved in all their assets and plans.
·
In total, the Taoist soldiers found fifteen mustard seed rings, but the number of mustard seed bags was actually less, only eight.
It is estimated that all the mustard seed rings belong to at least those of cultivators of the Suspended Illumination Realm, and there is one with an exceptionally large internal space and abundant resources, which most likely comes from cultivators of the Palace Construction Realm.
The resources in the mustard seed bag are less, and it can be seen that most of them belong to enlightened cultivators, while a very few have almost nothing, possibly belonging to palace-opening cultivators.
The total value of the other miscellaneous resources is hard to estimate, but they range from level two to level six!
Apart from some items that have become unusable over time, the rest are still a considerable fortune.
Just talking about Xuanzhu and Xuanshi, the total number of Xuanzhu is over 1.53 million, and the number of low-grade Xuanshi is around 50,000 to 60,000.
The hammer technique that Zhong Cai needed was also found. It wasn't the highest-grade Mustard Seed Ring, but rather something that had once been collected by a Fusion cultivator.
·
Zhong Cai flipped through the hammering manual, her eyes bright, and smiled as she said to Wu Shaogan, "This is already very good, better than the previous one."
Wu Shaogan took it, looked at it as well, and nodded, saying, "It's similar to the other four sects."
·
The four techniques Zhong Cai obtained before were not exactly the same in strength; some were slightly rougher, but overall they were roughly equal. This slight difference was insignificant, and Zhong Cai would automatically understand and adjust them as he progressed in his cultivation.
When selecting these skills, the most important thing is that they have equal potential, and it is best if there is no difference in their level.
The items we dug out of the tomb before were usable, but they felt like something was missing.
The current system doesn't have this subtle feeling.
Of course, Zhong Cai still wanted to go to the third place.
If we can find something more refined, that would be great. But if it's just similar, that's fine too; it's just another option.
·
Zhong Cai carefully stored the hammer technique in the ancient city, and then picked up a few jade tablets and several booklets of varying thicknesses.
He sighed, "That savage bird must have eaten quite a few cultivators back then. Judging from the level of these mustard seed rings... it must have been at least a sixth-order beast. I wonder how it built its nest in the mountains."
Wu Shaogan nodded in agreement, then smiled and asked, "What does A-Cai plan to do with these booklets?"
Zhong Cai thought for a moment, then pushed them all to Wu Shaogan, saying, "Keep the best ones for the academy, and put the rest into blind boxes."
Wu Shaogan agreed, "Okay."
·
When the disciples of the academy travel, they often have many adventures, and it is common for them to trade anything they don't need to the academy.
Many of the techniques and secret skills in the Myriad Classics Pagoda originated from this.
Although Zhong Cai has a blind box shop and has obtained ancient martial arts techniques, she could actually fit them all into the blind boxes, and there is no need to use the academy as a channel.
However, the Azure Dragon Academy treated them well.
Their two masters were both from the academy, and they treated them very well and had a deep affection for the academy.
Zhong Cai glanced at it casually and could roughly tell that the cultivator who built the palace had a very high-level cultivation technique in his mustard seed ring.
They might as well send it to the Tower of Myriad Classics for comparison. If the academy hasn't accepted it, they can make a deal; if the academy has already accepted it, they can simply find a nearby dark market to sell it; or they can send it to an auction.
This can be considered a small return to the academy.
·
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan exchanged a smile.
At this moment, Wu Shaogan had also properly categorized and processed all the resources.
Zhong Cai and he brought resources and entered the ancient city together, then filled the blind boxes together.
The blind box shop is shipping more and more boxes. If you want to keep stocking up, you really need to make more blind boxes whenever you have free time.
·
The last route leads to abandoned ruins in the wilderness.
The ruins were originally filled with all sorts of restrictions, formations, and mechanisms, but countless years have passed, and these former dangers have long since faded away, leaving a desolate atmosphere everywhere.
Qinghui stood at the edge of the ruins.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan rode on the silver wolf and looked up at the ruins.
·
It can be seen that there were once many buildings here, which should be the site of a sect or faction.
I don't know what happened in the past, but it's likely that all the cultivators in the entire force were wiped out or escaped. That's why the ruins still have many defensive measures left behind. If you want to go in and search for resources, you'll have to work harder to break through them.
Now, having lost most of their protection, many buildings have decayed in the wind over time, leaving only ruins.
Zhong Cai took out a mirror and touched herself.
The route is stable and is guided by a red line.
Zhong Cai let out a breath, suppressing the unfounded sigh, and patted Qinghui's head with a smile. Pointing in the direction of the red line, she said, "Qinghui, let's go that way!"
Wu Shaogan supported Zhong Cai's waist, allowing her to lean steadily against him.
Upon receiving the order, Qinghui immediately dashed out!
The speed was so fast that only a streak of silver light could be seen! It was impossible to tell what kind of rare beast was running wildly!
·
The ruins are quite large, but the two people and the wolf have a clear objective.
In just a few breaths, Qinghui stopped in front of... a pillar.
The wooden pillars, made from some ancient tree, were mostly rotten, with only a small, dark, and hole-ridden wooden stump remaining.
You can barely recognize that it used to be a pillar.
Zhong Cai stared at the wooden stake, her expression somewhat complicated.
The red line points to one of the holes in the wood.
Wu Shaogan summoned a Taoist soldier and gestured for him to go and search.
The Taoist soldier, being the most obedient to orders, immediately stepped forward and reached his arm into the tree hole.
They successfully retrieved a formation plate.
The array plate was also broken, but many of the patterns engraved on it were very special, giving it a strange and mysterious feel.
The Taoist soldier rummaged around inside again, but couldn't find anything else. He then carried the array plate to the two city lords.
Zhong Cai looked down.
Wu Shaogan also took a look.
Then the two looked at each other, both of them looking a little bewildered.
Zhong Cai: "...I don't understand."
Wu Shaogan: "Same as above."
Zhong Cai glanced at her husband with amusement. Ever since he learned these random things, he's been using them to make fun of people, hasn't he?
Wu Shaogan smiled slightly.
Neither of them really knew much about formations; their knowledge was basically limited to obtaining and using formation plates without any in-depth study.
So they really didn't recognize this array plate, and couldn't understand the purpose of those patterns.
Zhong Cai pondered for a moment and said, "Let's try infusing it with Xuan power first."
Wu Shaogan hesitated for a moment, then had the Dao soldiers move the array plate further away, and raised his hand to release a stream of profound energy into the array plate.
The next moment, the array plate trembled, as if emitting a faint light, but it immediately went out.
At the same time, several mustard seed bags were spat out from the array plate.
The Dao soldier did not encounter any danger. After waiting for a while and finding that the array plate had no other reaction, he picked up the mustard seed bag and handed it to the two city lords of the ancient city.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan naturally still conducted a thorough inspection.
Then, they all showed a look of surprise!
Three bags of mustard seeds.
The first one contained a full one million low-grade mystic stones!
The second one contains all sorts of refining materials, many of which have Yin-Yang and Five Elements attributes, and many of them are very balanced and of excellent quality.
The third item contains scattered resources—including cultivation techniques, tightly sealed rare and precious materials, and other cultivation resources.
Neither of them could have imagined that such a dilapidated tree hole and such an inconspicuous broken array plate would contain so many good things!
·
Zhong Cai's lips twitched slightly: "If we pick through these materials, we can at least gather half of the materials needed to upgrade the quality of the ancient city."
Wu Shaogan nodded: "Indeed."
This is really unexpected; the two of them just wanted to come here to find a secret technique!
Although they had expected to obtain other resources, they did not expect there to be so many!
Of course, for a sect or powerful organization, it's really just a drop in the ocean.
But for a lone cultivator...
Even if a cultivator who has achieved fusion obtains these resources, they will not lack anything for many years.
It can even be of great help to those who build palaces!
·
After her initial surprise, Zhong Cai beamed with joy.
Seeing Zhong Cai so happy, Wu Shaogan's expression softened unconsciously.
He loved seeing Ah Cai's joyful expression every time she made a great achievement; it was just so adorable!
·
The two quickly gathered these resources together.
Mystic stones are naturally the absolute reserve, but the others will have to be selected carefully.
There were indeed some suitable items to trade with the academy, and after thinking it over, the two decided to trade with the academy as well.
The two treated the relatively common resources as blind boxes, but the thirteen kinds of rare and precious materials... required more consideration.
In fact, these rare and precious materials were useless to the two of them.
Zhong Cai frowned in thought, then slowly said, "They are all ancient resources, and it seems that three of them are almost impossible to find now, they are extremely rare..."
Seeing Zhong Cai's expression, Wu Shaogan understood his meaning and continued, "Then, of these three types, we'll trade two to the academy, and use the remaining one to enhance the foundation of our blind box shop. As for the other ten ancient treasures, we'll put two into the blind boxes, and trade the other eight to the academy as well. What do you think, Cai?"
Zhong Cai smiled brightly: "Okay!"
Resources that are useless to them may be needed by some of the academy's disciples.
After the transaction is completed, it might be possible to add more powerful figures to the academy at some point.
·
Once the two agreed, the resources were quickly sorted out.
However, they did not rush to leave. Instead, they dispatched several Dao soldiers to search in all directions.
Meanwhile, the two also started using the key mirror again.
After all, it can not only find secret techniques, but also other treasures.
This time, Zhong Cai didn't add too many restrictions; she simply focused her mind and asked the mirror to search the vicinity.
Before long, some more routes appeared on the mirror.
The soldiers followed the directions on these routes and searched in various places. Before long, they all brought back some resources.
Among them are mustard seed bags and mustard seed rings, as well as many scattered resources.
But no matter which Dao soldier brought back, it was not as much as the contents of the three mustard seed bags from before.
Its overall value is even less.
However, it still added to their savings.
There are still two or three items that would be suitable to be sold to the college.
·
Qinghui sped along the road and soon ran out of the wilderness.
Zhong took out the flying boat and changed modes of transportation with his old man, Wu.
Qinghui didn't want to go back to the ancient city, so she lay down beside the two of them.
The two leaned against Qinghui and talked comfortably.
Zhong Cai said, "Those few storage bags contain so many materials. Could it be that the previous generation of this force was skilled in weapon crafting?"
Wu Shaogan said, "It's not impossible."
Zhong Cai flipped through the third secret technique she had found and said in a good mood, "This secret technique has high potential and is more refined. When I practice it later, I've decided to choose it!"
Wu Shaogan naturally had no objections, and only encouraged her, "A-Cai has now collected all five secret techniques. After practicing them all, she can integrate more rare and precious materials to enhance her combat power."
Zhong Cai thought so too, especially when he imagined himself becoming "powerful and imposing" in the future, he became even more smug.
"Just you wait, old Wu! After I consecrate it, I'll quickly create an avatar too! My combat power will double!"
"When that time comes, let's fight together!"
Wu Shaogan smiled, his eyes also brimming with undisguised joy: "Okay."
·
After returning to Canglong Academy, the two went to see Sang Yunchu together.
The original purpose was to ask Master Sang to take a look at the array.
What exactly is the meaning of the patterns on this ancient array plate?
As for why he didn't go to see Jiang Chongguang...
It's probably because the two of them always felt that Master Sang was smarter.
·
Sang Yunchu looked at the array plate and recognized it.
He lightly touched the patterns with his finger and smiled, "Space, defense, concealment... it's definitely an ancient array plate."
However, Sang Yunchu had only seen it in ancient books, but had never studied it.
Sang Yunchu said, "The array plate is quite special; there should be several instructors in the academy who like it. If Cai'er is willing to make a move, I can negotiate a good price for you."
Zhong Cai replied without hesitation, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Master!"
Sang Yunchu put away the array plate, patted Zhong Cai's head, and said, "Don't worry."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com