Chapter 405: The Blind Box Competition

He could only muster his true qi and shout: "Danger, the Mount Fengmo is coming! If you don't want to die, hurry and stand near the stone carvings!" The wind carried his words downward, and the people below looked up in astonishment. Who was this person? Could his words be trusted? The quick-witted ones preferred to believe it, looking left and right as they searched the fields for stone carvings.

There was no harm in it, anyway.

But many others remained skeptical, looking at each other in confusion.

He He Lingchuan shouted a second time: "The Mount Fengmo is coming! If you don't want to be shredded by the gale, find a stone carving barrier! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

After saying this, He He Lingchuan had to find a hiding place himself, so he drove the rock sheep back into the Wind Earl's cave and made a quick turn.

Huh? The cave was completely empty.

Where had Second Master Shi run off to?

Just as the rock sheep came to a halt, the Mount Fengmo in the sky accelerated its descent toward the old site of the Profound Mist Sect, like a shooting star.

The spot it aimed for was, shockingly, the massive fissure in the mountainside! He He Lingchuan cautiously retreated into the Wind Lion's barrier, and then he heard a tremendous whistling sound.

It was not the sound of a living creature, but the roar of wind emanating from the fissure, growing ever more magnificent, like a rising tide.

The root ball fell to within a yard above the fissure and could go no further, spinning round and round.

The wind force below was powerful, easily buoying it up.

Immediately after, a violent gust erupted from the fissure, sounding like a thunderclap.

Following He He Lingchuan's two warnings, over forty people nearby scrambled into the Wind Lion's barrier, but four or five others lingered. By the time the gale arrived, it was too late for them to rush in.

The sound of the wind instantly drowned out their screams.

The gale struck their bodies like a thousand blades.

He He Lingchuan watched helplessly as the skin, muscle, and nerves were stripped from their bodies piece by piece, and even the last drop of blood on their bones was blown dry, leaving them stark white and clean.

This was what they called wind blades and frost swords, killing without a drop of blood.

The few skeletons maintained the posture of hands shielding their heads and faces for less than three seconds before being scattered by the hurricane, blown away to who knows where.

The people standing inside the barrier were stunned by this sight.

The hurricane emerging from the fissure turned half a circle before impatiently plunging into the root ball, merging with the Mount Fengmo.

Seeing this, He He Lingchuan knew he had guessed the origin of this storm correctly again:

The Zi-Wu Divine Wind.

Every day at the hours of Zi and Wu, the strongest gale from deep underground would surge up from here, circling Mount Fengmo Mountain.

It had just turned the hour of Wu.

The Mount Fengmo had brought the ball here specifically to recharge itself with the Zi-Wu Divine Wind.

Just then, the leader of the guard unit finally recited the incantation smoothly, from beginning to end, without a single word wrong.

The root ball contracted rapidly, completely isolating the Mount Fengmo from the outside world in an attempt to suppress it entirely.

Wind is formed by the movement of air; if the space inside the root ball were static, how much trouble could the Mount Fengmo stir up?

The many root balls suppressed beneath the main body by the Treasure Tree King were proof enough that this method was effective.

However, this place was far too distant from the great Demon King, and the Mount Fengmo had already consumed the Zi-Wu Divine Wind, causing its power to increase and its volume to swell.

Although the Treasure Tree King's demon power was profound and its demon arts formidable, how could they compare to the great power of nature? The root ball emitted cracking sounds, and the gaps between the roots were pulled wider and wider.

Even then, the Treasure Tree spirit seed wanted to make one last effort.

Unfortunately, heaven did not grant its wish.

The Mount Fengmo's color turned crimson, and after bulging twice, it suddenly expanded outward—

With a "pop," the root ball was burst, breaking into countless pieces.

The Mount Fengmo regained its freedom, let out a cry of satisfaction in mid-air, circled wantonly twice, and turned back to trouble the guard unit on the other side of the cliff.

He He Lingchuan, however, lay at the cave entrance, staring fixedly at the few things dancing in the air.

A great opportunity; he absolutely could not let it pass!

Once the Mount Fengmo left, the wind force here weakened instantly and could no longer harm anyone.

He He Lingchuan immediately drove the big-horned sheep to jump toward the mountainside.

What he was chasing were the fragments of the root ball burst open by the Mount Fengmo.

The spirit seed that the Divine Bone Necklace wanted must be among these fragments.

He He Lingchuan gripped the necklace and said: "It's up to you!"

The Divine Bone Necklace immediately emitted a red glow and gave him a fierce burn.

It was just as impatient.

At this moment, a figure also darted out from a nearby cave, snatched up a piece of the root ball fragment, and broke it into residue with bare hands.

Nothing; he continued to search for the next piece.

He actually had the same goal as He He Lingchuan and was doing the same thing—

Searching for the spirit seed.

He He Lingchuan's pupils shrank, because this person was Fu Fu Shanyue.

After abducting the envoy of the Chi Yan Kingdom, he hadn't immediately fled, but had instead snuck back to the Profound Mist Sect ruins, wanting to take advantage of the situation.

It was clear this man was an out-and-out opportunist; his goal for this trip had clearly been achieved, yet he still had his eye on the spirit seed, wanting to grab a little extra before leaving.

Fu Fu Shanyue, of course, also saw He He Lingchuan, but only kept him in the corner of his eye while he quickly chased after the next fragment.

After the root ball exploded, the fragments were blown everywhere by the strong wind.

The two competitors each picked a region, forming a strange, tacit understanding.

Neither had the intention to attack the other until the fragments were picked clean or the spirit seed was found.

He He Lingchuan casually dismantled a few root ball fragments on the sheep's back to put on a show, then headed straight for his target according to the Divine Bone Necklace's instructions.

Yes, even in this situation, the Divine Bone Necklace could still precisely locate the treasure; the closer He He Lingchuan got to the spirit seed, the lower the necklace's heat became.

Soon, he caught up with three fragments dancing in the wind.

These three were connected by roots and tied in several knots.

When he grabbed one of them, a sudden chill struck his chest, making him shiver.

It seemed the necklace was afraid he would make a mistake and, no longer hinting, gave him a direct indication, accidentally using too much force.

What luck; the spirit seed happened to be near him. After getting it, He He Lingchuan didn't even break it open to check, but immediately stored it in his storage ring.

This action made Fu Fu Shanyue, who had been keeping an eye on him, pause.

Without checking, how would he know if there was a spirit seed inside? Without checking, how would he know whether to keep searching? But He He Lingchuan immediately went to chase other fragments, looking as if he intended to collect them all at once before opening the "blind boxes."

Fine, that was one way to do it. Fu Fu Shanyue cursed him as an idiot under his breath.

The two collected in silence, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense.

Because there were fewer and fewer root ball fragments in the mountainside.

Just then, Second Master Shi suddenly appeared in a stone cave and waved at He He Lingchuan: "Brother He, Brother He! I'm here!"

Naturally, he hadn't sensed the strange, heavy atmosphere on the scene.

He He Lingchuan rode the sheep over and hoisted the bruised and battered Second Master Shi onto his back: "Where did you run off to? I couldn't find you just now!"

He swore to heaven that he had indeed checked the place where Second Master Shi had been hiding earlier while picking up fragments, but it had been empty. He had assumed Second Master Shi had gone down the mountain on his own, never expecting this guy to appear from another stone cave beneath the mountainside.

Just as Second Master Shi was about to speak, he looked up and saw Fu Fu Shanyue opposite them, eyeing the two of them like a tiger, and swallowed his words: "It's a long story."

He He Lingchuan collected two more fragments, which happened to be close to the path down the mountain. Before Fu Fu Shanyue could react, the big-horned rock sheep turned its head, swished its tail, and suddenly charged into the path, disappearing from his sight in two leaps.

Fu Fu Shanyue was startled; he rushed over to look, but He He Lingchuan's back was already nearing the stone bridge.

The dilemma was now his: chase, or not chase?

If he chased, what about the remaining fragments flying in the mountainside? What if the spirit seed was still among them and the guy on the sheep had just given up?

If he didn't chase, would that brat have already obtained the spirit seed? Fu Fu Shanyue hesitated for a few breaths before deciding to continue picking up fragments.

Staying behind at least guaranteed a certain result; chasing was entirely unknown.

He didn't know that He He Lingchuan was sneering in his heart: I watched the whole battle, only sent out one evil ghost to do the work, yet I obtained the treasure silently and took advantage of the situation—I've already won big, why would I stay behind to fight you?...

As He He Lingchuan left Mount Fengmo Mountain, he looked down twice. The Treasure Tree Kingdom's guard unit had only about a hundred men left, showing that the Mount Fengmo, having received a refill of the Zi-Wu Divine Wind, had grown even stronger, and with the opponent having lost the spirit seed, they had no good way to deal with it.

The guard captain sent a few riders ahead as bait, hoping to lure the Mount Fengmo away, but unfortunately, the latter remained unmoved.

Clearly, it wasn't falling for it.

In the end, the guard captain had to grit his teeth, personally mount the sturdiest mule-beast, and keep firing arrows to provoke the Mount Fengmo, finally causing it to turn and chase him.

With its intelligence, it could indeed distinguish who the leader was and who was causing it the most damage.

Wind is usually faster than land creatures, but the Mount Fengmo had to tighten its wind circle to have power and couldn't be too scattered, so the actual forward speed of the tornado was only slightly faster than a galloping horse. It just so happened that after turning this mountain pass, the road ahead was relatively straight, unlike the twisted mountain roads before.

The Mount Fengmo chased in a fury, expanding the radius of its wind circle in an attempt to affect their mounts. One was indeed blown to the bottom of the mountain, but the captain continued to gallop his horse.

Taking advantage of the time it was lured away, the guard unit hurried forward, having to abandon their baggage and the like.

After running another two miles, there was a fork in the road ahead leading down the mountain, where they could take the opportunity to get away from the Mount Fengmo.

While the chase on the official road was unfolding, Second Master Shi, sitting on the back of the rock sheep, also said to He He Lingchuan:

"I wanted to go down the mountain just now, but I slipped into another stone cave and almost fell to my death." The wind at the hour of Wu was strong, blowing him off balance.

"But there was a fissure in that cave leading downward, and the sound coming up was 'woo-woo.' At first, I thought it was the wind, but listening carefully, it sounded like human voices, so I climbed down to take a look. Hey, there really was a person inside, their leg seemed to be broken, and they could only lie paralyzed on the ground." Second Master Shi said, "Guess who I saw?"

There was someone else hiding beneath the fissure in the stone cave, and their leg was broken? He He Lingchuan didn't even have to think: "The envoy of the Chi Yan Kingdom?"

"..." Second Master Shi choked, incredulous, "Brother He, you're a god! How did you guess that?"

Throughout this journey, He He Lingchuan's figure had gradually grown taller in his mind, especially today, when he seemed to be coated in a divine light! He He Lingchuan smiled without answering. When the Chi Yan envoy was abducted from the guard unit, Second Master Shi had been hiding in the mountainside and knew nothing of what had happened on the mountain road outside.

Second Master Shi continued: "The captive saw me too and kept begging me for help, but I heard a loud boom outside, so I, I came up."

(End of chapter)