chsdbacks Chapter 130 Treasure, I can take it all by myself.
Chapter 130 Treasure, I can take it all by myself.
Lin Yan stuffed the Crimson Essence Fruit into his bosom, sheathed the Zhenyue Blade, bent over, and launched himself into the dense forest to the west.
He channeled all the Qi from the Eight Meridians into his legs, and with the physical amplification brought by the third level of the Yan King's Heart Sutra, this leap was even three points faster than his previous full-force burst.
The wind whistled into my ears, and the trees and vines on both sides flew past like afterimages.
The roar of the giant blue-scaled beast behind them shook the entire forest. Not only was the creature enormous, but it was also incredibly fast, with the cracking sounds of trees snapping in mid-air echoing along its path.
Lin Yan knew without turning around that the thing was getting closer and closer to him.
In his perception of aura, the aura belonging to the Azure Scale Beast was approaching at an extremely fast speed. The gap between the two was shortening from two hundred steps to one hundred and fifty steps, then to one hundred steps, and eighty steps. As the distance closed, the skin on the back of Lin Yan's head began to tighten, and a chill crept up his spine.
That thing was far more ferocious than before; it must be the guardian beast of this Crimson Essence Fruit.
Lin Yan gritted his teeth and forced out another 20% of the true energy from his dantian, pouring it all into his legs. He leaped across a stream three zhang wide, and after landing, he darted off again without stopping.
But his speed still couldn't match that of the blue-scaled behemoth behind him.
As it grew increasingly violent, the dark red light within the tumor on its forehead pulsed like a throbbing pulse, and with each flash, Lin Yan's mind sank a little deeper.
At first, it was just a slight dizziness, but as the tumor swelled and contracted over several breaths, Lin Yan felt the dizziness in his head getting worse and worse, and blurry shadows began to appear at the edge of his vision. Even his perception of [Qi Observation] became dull.
What kind of tactic is this?
Lin Yan was startled and bit his tongue hard, the sharp pain briefly bringing him back to his senses.
But after only one breath, the dizziness returned, and it was even more intense than before.
He stumbled and nearly crashed into a dead tree lying across the road, but managed to dodge it by stepping aside.
The roar of the giant blue-scaled beast was getting closer behind them.
Lin Yan looked around, now somewhat disoriented.
Vision blurred, the world spinning. Just moments ago, I could use [Qi Observation] to perceive the situation within a hundred paces, but now my perception range has been reduced by nearly half, to less than fifty paces, and it is still shrinking.
Just when Lin Yan was about to give up, his eyes caught sight of an unusual terrain ahead: a sloping rock wall with a narrow crack at the bottom. Looking through the crack, it was pitch black and the depth was unclear. It was only about two feet wide, just enough for a person to squeeze in sideways.
He didn't have time to think about where he was or where the crevice led. He pushed the last bit of true energy in his dantian to its limit, and his whole body turned into a blur as he sped back towards the crevice.
Lin Yan turned to the side, tucking in his stomach, his shoulders pressed against the rough stone wall as he squeezed in. All that could be heard was the constant ripping sound of his clothes being torn by the rocks.
I had barely squeezed half my body in when I heard a dull thud behind me.
Bang!
The entire rock face was trembling.
Large and small pebbles rained down from above, hitting Lin Yan's body. Ignoring the pain, he continued to crawl deeper into the crevice. Only after he was completely inside did he lean against the inner rock wall, panting heavily, and look out of the crevice.
A thick, blue forepaw reached in through the crevice, frantically scratching at the rocks on either side, carving deep furrows into the stone walls.
Fortunately, he ran fast enough to escape the reach of the giant beast's claws.
Lin Yan shrank back, creating some distance between himself and the claw. He leaned against the rock wall, panting heavily. Only when he could no longer see the fleshy lump on the giant beast's head did the dizziness in his head slowly begin to subside.
Once his consciousness cleared, Lin Yan looked down at himself.
His official robe was tattered beyond recognition, and his left shoulder and right arm were covered in abrasions, with blood seeping out and staining half of the hem red.
He reached into his robes and touched it; the Crimson Fruit was still there, well protected by him, and had not been damaged.
Outside, the giant blue-scaled beast continued to ram against the rock wall, the dull thuds echoing through the stone walls and causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly.
But no matter how many times it crashes into the rock face, it only creates a bunch of holes in the rock wall in vain.
The gap is too narrow; it can't get in.
They had to keep going forward, otherwise, with the beast's hysterical attacks, their current position would soon be completely buried by rubble.
Lin Yan stood up, supported by the rock wall, and walked deeper into the crevice.
There was no light in the crevice, it was pitch black. He activated [Qi Observation] to explore the way, and his perception had recovered to a range of about sixty or seventy steps. This crevice was much deeper than he had imagined. The further he went in, the wider it became. The rock walls on both sides gradually expanded from two feet wide to more than ten feet wide. The ground under his feet also changed from gravel to large stone slabs, which felt much more solid underfoot.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a sliver of light suddenly appeared ahead.
Lin Yan quickened his pace and walked about a hundred steps more before a clear view opened up before him.
The exit of the crevice is a hidden valley.
The valley is surrounded by towering cliffs on all sides. The center of the valley is covered with waist-high wild grass. At the front of the valley, there is a stone staircase that winds its way up to a cave entrance halfway up the cliff.
The stone steps were covered with withered leaves and dust, clearly indicating that no one had walked this path for a long time.
Lin Yan looked around and, not sensing any demonic beasts, breathed a sigh of relief and walked up the stone steps.
At the end of the stone steps is a stone cave. The entrance is not large, but the space inside is very spacious.
He entered the cave and found nothing on the cave walls except for some chisel marks. This place must have been a temporary cultivation place left by a senior cultivator.
Judging by the time, almost an hour has passed since he ran into that crevice.
If Sun Laoqi and Shi Gan had gone smoothly, they should have already reached the western mountain stream. Lin Yan knew that he couldn't go back anytime soon, as the giant blue-scaled beast was still blocking the entrance to the crevice. Returning the way he came was unrealistic, so he had to find another way out from here.
He took out a map from his pocket and carefully compared the directions in the light filtering down from above.
This hidden valley was not marked on the map, but he deduced from the terrain that he was probably still in the inner area, in the southwest direction.
Lin Yan closed the map, walked out of the cave, and circled the cliff face.
There is a low gap on the south side of the valley. If you go over the gap, you should be able to circle back to the area near the ravine on the west side of the inner perimeter.
He decided to climb out from here first, then go around to the other side of the mountain stream to meet up with Wu Meng and the others.
Lin Yan climbed up the low gap, used both hands and feet to flip over the cliff, and after landing, ran towards the mountain stream in the southwest direction.
Meanwhile, at the foot of a rock wall in the mountain stream, Wu Meng and Shi Gan were sitting on the ground, panting heavily.
Sun Laoqi leaned against a rock, his fingers still trembling, unable to even hold the bow. He was clearly terrified by the giant blue-scaled beast.
"Where's Boss Lin? Have you seen him?" Wu Meng wiped the sweat from his face and looked around.
His right arm was badly injured, and blood was still seeping out, staining a section of the heavy axe handle red.
"We're not there yet." Shi Gan shook his head. "We arrived first, with Sun Laoqi following behind me, less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea."
"Where's Yang Tie? He runs faster than all of us, so he should have arrived here by now."
"I haven't seen Lord Yang either. Could something have happened to him on the way?"
"That shouldn't be the case. What could possibly happen to a third-rank rank like him in such a short time?" Wu Meng frowned, glanced back in the direction they had come from a few more times, and muttered, "Could this kid have abandoned us and run away on his own?"
As Wu Meng was speaking, he heard footsteps coming from the woods where they had come from.
The three of them looked over at the same time and saw Yang Tie emerge from behind a big tree. He was clean and tidy, except for some mud spots on his trouser legs.
With a long staff slung across his back, his face remained calm, showing no signs of fatigue, and he did not appear to be fleeing for his life in a panic.
"Yang Tie, you've finally arrived! Where's Boss Lin? Have you seen him?" Wu Meng stood up and went to greet him.
Yang Tie walked to the middle of the three, glanced around, and asked, "Lin Yan isn't with you?"
"No, the boss was chased west by that beast." Wu Meng scratched his head. "With the boss's abilities, he should be able to escape. We can just wait here."
Yang Tie nodded. "He ran west?"
"Yes, he told us to meet at this mountain stream and wait for an hour. If we didn't come in an hour, we were to leave on our own."
"Is that so..."
Yang Tie lowered his eyes, as if he was thinking about something.
A moment later, he raised his head, his face still expressionless, but his tone of voice had become even colder than before.
"Since Lin Yan hasn't returned yet, let's get down to business."
"Important business?" Wu Meng was taken aback. Before he could ask what important business it was, Yang Tie had already made his move.
His movements were incredibly fast.
One moment they were standing three steps away, the next they were right in front of Wu Meng.
Yang Tie's right hand emerged from behind him, his five fingers spread, and a faint vortex of bluish-gray true energy could be seen condensing in his palm.
The calloused hand made almost no sound when it struck Wu Meng's chest.
Wu Meng was completely unprepared. When he saw Yang Tie's palm strike, he could only widen his eyes in surprise.
Bang!
A muffled thud.
Wu Meng was sent flying backward, his back slamming into the rock wall. Gravel and dust rained down, leaving a shallow crater in the rock face.
He slid down the rock face, knelt on the ground, and looked down at his chest, where his robes were shattered into powder, his chest was completely caved in, his ribs were almost all broken, and a clear handprint was imprinted on his flesh.
"You..." Wu Meng choked on his words, blood gushing from his mouth, his voice broken and choked, "Yang Tie...you...were really good at hiding your true intentions..."
He finally figured it out.
When Yang Tie struck with his palm, the sheer volume of his true energy far surpassed that of an early-stage third-rank cultivator.
This person's cultivation level is not at all at the early stage of the third rank; it is at least at the middle stage of the third rank, and may even have touched the threshold of the late stage of the third rank.
Moreover, this person's real skill lies in his palm strikes.
The long stick he carried along the way was just a pretense to conceal his true abilities.
Yang Tie ignored Wu Meng's words, withdrew his palm, turned around, and locked his gaze on Shi Gan, who was closest to him.
The moment Shi Gan saw Wu Meng fly backward, he drew his short sword from his waist, let out a low roar, and pounced on Yang Tie, the tip of his sword aimed straight for his throat.
Yang Tie sidestepped the sword's edge, reached out with his left hand to grab Shi Gan's wrist holding the sword, and with a gentle twist, Shi Gan's wrist snapped at an odd angle, and the short sword fell to the ground.
Yang Tie's right palm pressed down on Shi Gan's abdomen. The palm technique seemed light and powerless, but as soon as the palm touched Shi Gan's clothes, a dull force spread out like ripples on water.
Shi Gan's body was curled up like a shrimp, and he fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood and foam, his eyes rolling back.
Sun Laoqi reacted faster than Shi Gan.
He had already drawn his bowstring when Yang Tie knocked Wu Meng away, and the arrow was aimed at Yang Tie's back.
But his fingers, which were gripping the bowstring, were trembling. From the moment Xue Li was slapped to death by the Azure Scale Beast to the moment he witnessed Wu Meng and Shi Gan fall to the ground one after another, his mind went blank.
Yang Tie turned around and glanced at him.
Sun Laoqi gritted his teeth and released the bowstring.
The arrow left the bowstring and flew out.
Yang Tie raised his hand, and bluish-gray true energy overflowed from his palm. The moment the arrow tip struck the metal, it stopped as if nailed to an iron plate. The arrow shaft bent into an arc and finally broke into two pieces, falling to the ground.
"You... why did you..." Old Seven Sun took two steps back, his bow fell to the ground, he leaned against the rock wall, his face was pale, and his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground.
Yang Tie walked up to him, looking down at him. "The treasure is enough for me to handle alone."
After he finished speaking, he gently placed his right hand on Sun Laoqi's crown.
After a soft cracking sound, Sun Laoqi's body slumped to the ground.
The mountain stream fell silent.
Yang Tie withdrew his hand, looked around, and after confirming that no one had been left alive, he squatted down and began to search the three people's belongings.
He put all the demon cores, animal hides, pills, and silver notes he had collected in recent days into his pocket.
After doing all this, he stood up and picked up his long stick from the ground.
This time, instead of carrying the long staff on his back as before, he casually stuck it into a pile of rubble in the mountain stream, then dusted off his palms and glanced back in the direction he had come from.
"Lin Yan..." he murmured the name, "What a pity about this Crimson Essence Fruit. You'd better not die too soon."
Yang Tie turned around and walked back towards the dense forest he had come from.
Only three corpses and a long stick stuck in the rubble remained in the mountain stream.
The wind blew through the valley, dispelling the last trace of bloody stench in the mountain stream.
Several miles away, Lin Yan was climbing over the last mountain ridge along the cliff face and standing on high ground, looking southwest.
The outline of the mountain stream was already faintly visible at the edge of his field of vision. He quickened his pace and ran towards the stream, completely unaware of what awaited him ahead.