"We're rich! Heh heh..."
Drenched in sweat, Sha Lifei hauled the heavy chest on his shoulder, a goofy grin plastered across his face.
Li Yan looked back helplessly. "Uncle Sha, why don't we just bury the chest and fetch it on our way back? Why wear yourself out like this?"
The chest was not large, but it was packed with fine gold ingots. Its weight was considerable, and even someone of Sha Lifei's strength found it grueling work.
"No way!" Sha Lifei's eyes went wide. "Old Sha hasn't seen this much silver and gold in his whole life! What if something goes wrong and it goes missing? From now on, I'm sleeping with my arms wrapped around it. Nobody try to stop me!"
"Fine, fine..."
Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan exchanged an amused smile.
Neither of them had imagined such a harvest when heading up the mountain tonight. Even split four ways, their share was more than enough to fund the rituals to build their towers. When a windfall fell from the heavens, nothing could hold it back.
Of course, collecting the lightning-struck jujube wood remained their primary task.
Knowing the bandit lair was already wiped out put everyone far more at ease. They advanced steadily along the mountain path, heading toward Leopard Gully on the western slopes.
Wild beasts certainly eyed them along the way. That was where the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins proved their worth; with just a slight nudge of Li Yan's intent, a pack of wolves lurking in the shadowed woods scattered in fright.
He stole a glance at Zhao Lvzi and saw no surprise on the young man's face.
Li Yan knew that treasure stalkers of the mountain-driving lineage spent their lives roaming the wilderness, so they surely possessed arts to evade predators. For instance, this fellow carried no scent at all, though heaven only knew how he managed it. Had they not been traveling together, even wild wolves would never have noticed his presence.
Half a shichen later, the group finally arrived at Leopard Gully.
"No... can't carry it another step."
Soaked in sweat, Sha Lifei slumped onto the dirt, hugging the chest tight.
"Shh!"
Zhao Lvzi quickly raised a finger to his lips, dropped low, and waved for the others to follow.
They crept up a ridge behind him and peered out through the tall grass, only for an eerie sight to unfold before their eyes.
Leopard Gully was not particularly large, but it was desolate and overgrown with thick woods. Weeds grew half as high as a man, giving the impression from the outside that no path existed at all.
Now, under the moonlight, a faint light drifted through the heart of the woods. It was hazy and dim, but its erratic flickering made it resemble a lingering streak of lightning.
Having witnessed such phenomena before, Li Yan knew that every heavenly spirit earthly treasure possessed an extraordinary manifestation, hidden from ordinary mortals. Without the proper method to collect it, any attempt to force the issue would only scatter its blessed fortune.
Of course, his Daluo Dharma Body was an exception. A mere touch was enough to plunder its fortune.
Yet since this material was meant to craft a dharma artifact, he clearly could not be reckless.
At Zhao Lvzi's signal, the group carefully retreated before Li Yan asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhao, how should this treasure be retrieved?"
Every heavenly spirit earthly treasure had a specific counter that subdued it. To make matters worse, their varieties were vast; even two instances of the same treasure ginseng might require entirely different counters depending on where they grew and how the Five Elements had evolved within them. Knowledge, experience, and mystic arts were all indispensable. That was the very foundation that had kept the treasure stalkers' heritage alive to this day.
"It's simple."
Zhao Lvzi was taciturn by nature and had initially harbored doubts about the group. But along the way, Li Yan had spoken fairly and even offered him an equal share of the gold they found, completely winning over the young man. Thus, he held nothing back as he explained the inner workings.
"Lightning-struck jujube wood belongs to the wood element in the Five Elements, so it must be countered by metal. But if ordinary folk see only that, they have no destiny with the treasure. Even if they find it, it would be no different from ordinary lightning-struck wood."
Wang Daoxuan glanced up at the night sky, a glint in his eyes. "There is also Heaven's thunder!"
"Precisely!" Zhao Lvzi nodded. "The reason this object qualifies as a heavenly spirit earthly treasure lies entirely in those two words: 'heavenly spirit.' Heaven's thunder rectifies the celestial order, turns the four seasons, gives life to all things, wards off calamities, decapitates celestial fiends, purges plagues, and captures every untreatable pestilence of celestial demons. Whether it possesses that astral qi of heavenly thunder makes all the difference in the world! Therefore, this treasure belongs to Heaven's Wood, and it requires Earth's Metal to subdue it before it can be harvested intact."
Li Yan praised, "I've truly broadened my horizons tonight. And what, then, is this Earth's Metal?"
Zhao Lvzi glanced in the direction of the jujube wood and lowered his voice. "Generally speaking, there are two kinds of Earth's Metal. The first is another heavenly spirit earthly treasure—the three treasures of gold, silver, and copper born of subterranean ore veins, named Spring Jade Spring, Youth's Tether, and Rushing Thunder. All three can transform into spirits, making them exceedingly rare and precious.
"The other kind follows the Dao of Yin and Yang: wherever venomous snakes roam, the antidote grows nearby. Close to any heavenly spirit earthly treasure, there is bound to be the thing that subdues it.
"If I were alone, it would take me the better part of a month to find it. But with your help, it will be effortless.
"Daoist Wang, since you excel in feng shui, help me look over the terrain. If this place were divided by the Nine Palaces, where would the Dui Metal position lie?
"Brother Li, you possess the divine nose power. That thing shouldn't be buried deep, so we'll rely on you.
"Hero Sha, leopards hide in this Leopard Gully, and they are exceedingly fierce. The moment anyone approaches the lightning-struck wood, they attack. You must hold them back so they don't get in the way."
With that, he looked at the sky. "We don't have much time. Once the Zi hour passes, the lightning-struck wood will conceal itself again. If we fail and spook the treasure, it won't emerge for at least half a year. Harvesting it at any other time will cause its fortune to scatter. There is no time to lose—let's move!"
With their plan set, the group hesitated no longer and sprang into action.
Wang Daoxuan took out his luopan and climbed to a nearby rise. Using the moonlight to survey the terrain, he murmured incantations under his breath, marked several spots, and even dug up pinches of soil to taste. Reading feng shui and topography required an understanding of both the grand design and the local flow. Fortunately, Wang Daoxuan was thorough; he had already committed Yetai Mountain's overall layout to memory during the day.
In less than half an incense stick of time, Wang Daoxuan pointed toward the southwest.
"Right over there!"
The others quickly looked up.
That area bordered the forest and a rocky cliff. The surrounding vegetation was sparse and barren, distinct from everything around it. Better yet, it was a good distance from the lightning-struck jujube wood, so no amount of noise made there would disturb the treasure.
Li Yan wasted no words, trotting over on light, stealthy feet.
He had already activated his divine nose power, yet he smelled nothing unusual. With a thought, he formed the Yang seal, focused his mind through spirit preservation, gathered his full concentration, and drew a deep breath.
In an instant, scents from a much wider radius flooded his nasal cavity.
This was the advantage of having mastered the divine ability. Keeping it closed in ordinary times preserved his spirit, while unleashing it at critical moments would not harm his soul.
Soon, an odd smell reached him. It drifted from two meters underground—a strange blend of cold metallic tang and something rotting and moldy.
Though he did not know precisely what it was, it was the only metal within range. Li Yan swung his spade immediately, digging furiously alongside the arriving Zhao Lvzi.
Both were trained martial artists endowed with substantial strength, and before long, they excavated a pit two meters deep. At the bottom lay a black mass resembling a mildewed spiderweb.
"Easy now, let me handle it!" Zhao Lvzi called in a low voice, signaling Li Yan to step back.
Taking a pair of deerskin gloves from his belt, Zhao Lvzi gently brushed away the loose earth until the entire growth was exposed. He found an edge and rubbed it between his palms, carefully fashioning it into a black cord.
"What is this?" Li Yan asked curiously.
Buried deep beneath the earth, the material had accumulated some subterranean yin baleful qi, but it was far too thin to refine into any evil-quelling dharma artifact.
"This is iron mantle," Zhao Lvzi explained. "It looks like mold, but it's formed from iron deposits. There's bound to be an ore vein beneath it, and it only appears under very specific conditions. Certain burrowing insects love to feed on it. Once it touches living human breath, it turns crumbly and soft, making it impossible to roll into cord..."
"Ah, I see."
Li Yan understood. The substance was likely an iron-consuming fungus that only formed under rare circumstances, which was why ordinary people never recognized it. Perhaps only treasure stalkers possessed the eye to spot such a thing.
Once the iron mantle was twisted into a cord, Zhao Lvzi said, "I'll go snare the treasure. You carry the scent of the living, so do not draw close. Wait for my signal!"
With that, he slipped stealthily into the woods.
Only then did Li Yan realize why Zhao Lvzi had masked his scent—it was a technique specifically honed for treasure stalking, ensuring he would never disturb heavenly spirit earthly treasures.
Just then, Li Yan's brow furrowed. He whipped his head toward the southeast side of the mountain forest, snatched the sheepskin pouch from Sha Lifei's waist, untied the knot, and scattered all the pig-blood-soaked meatballs inside onto the ground.
In an instant, the sharp stench of blood saturated the air.
"Are they here?" Sha Lifei asked urgently.
Li Yan nodded, drawing his blade smoothly. "Two of them. Big ones. Let's draw them away so they don't disturb Brother Zhao!"
*Whoosh!*
Even as he spoke, a foul gust blew from the dense woods.
Two pairs of eyes as large as bronze bells glowed with a faint green light in the darkness, flanking them slowly from left and right.
As they stepped into the moonlight, two leopards came into view. Also known as money leopards, their kind was exceedingly fierce. Though not equal to a tiger in raw power, they were far more agile and nimble; once enraged, they would dare to attack even a tiger. That was why having great courage was called having the gall of a leopard.
These two were not only larger than normal, but also remarkably cunning. After sniffing the meat caltrops a few times, they ignored the bait completely and bared their vicious fangs at the intruders.
Across the face of one leopard, a conspicuous saber scar was carved deep into the flesh.
"Careful. These two might be close to developing spiritual awareness!" Wang Daoxuan warned in a grave whisper.
Once a beast developed spiritual awareness, the next step was attaining a cultivation base. The scar and their refusal to eat the meat caltrops proved they had suffered at human hands before.
"Must have been those bandits," Sha Lifei cursed under his breath, raising his blade to guard Wang Daoxuan. Though his martial skills were average and he had never developed hidden jin over the years, he was an old hand of the jianghu who knew a trick or two with a blade.
Seeing the leopards stalk closer, Li Yan frowned slightly. Focusing his intent through spirit preservation, he caused the tassel of the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins on his pommel to sway left and right.
Scaring them off would be best; he had no desire to brawl with wild beasts.
Yet the moment they sensed the aura of the Three Powers Demon-Suppressing Coins, the two leopards seemed to lose their minds. With a ferocious bound, they lunged forward...
Chapter 56