Chapter 254: When Luck Arrives, There's No Stopping It!

"Where's the chest?"

The three men in black were a bit dumbfounded.

After reacting, one of them leapt into the air, released his spiritual sense outward to scan the surroundings, and in an instant took in every movement within several li around him.

Another, his feet barely touching the ground, flickered from place to place, leaving afterimages as he darted left and right around the courtyard like a ghost, circling twice before searching outward.

The last one surged his true essence, condensing it outward into blade Qi…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fierce true-Qi blades rained down like pile-drivers, madly gouging the ground; in just two breaths they had sliced out a pit.

And not just one—taking the spot where the pitch-black iron chest had sat a moment ago as the center, accompanied by dull booming sounds, ten pits appeared one after another in the courtyard, visible to the naked eye.

Among them, the pit at the chest's original position was the deepest, nearly one zhang.

Great quantities of dirt, rubble, grass roots, and tile shards sprayed everywhere as they dug, piling into several heaps.

But the iron chest—gone was gone.

Truly and completely vanished!

"How could this be?"

The black-clad man who stopped digging had a somewhat blank look in his eyes, unable to accept it.

They had spent so much effort, barely snatching the treasure, and now it was just… gone?

Gone!

……

……

Swish, swish, swish~

Beneath the ground, Chen Mu darted forward at top speed.

He burrowed along for over ten li in one breath before returning to the surface.

But he didn't stop, continuing to perform his lightness skill, skimming low over the ground at high speed.

Only after putting several dozen li between himself and the estate did he halt in a mountain hollow.

At the right moment, Chen Mu opened his palm-space and released the perfectly square, pitch-black iron chest.

"Let me see what treasures are inside."

Chen Mu's lips curved upward; he circled the iron chest once and found several mechanisms.

He probed with his spiritual sense, surged his true essence, released it outward as true Qi, and used the force of Qi to jolt the locks open.

Click~

The chest opened, and a wave of cold air rushed out at him first.

Inside the chest lay a large, seamless block of ice; atop the mist-wreathed ice sat three purple jades, each the size of a baby's palm and shaped like a flower.

The jade's surface was not very smooth—under the frost it was somewhat pitted and uneven—but it carried a strange, innate aura, and through its purple texture shone a mysterious hue; the moment one laid eyes on it, they couldn't bear to look away.

"This is… Soul Jade?"

Chen Mu's eyes lit up.

Soul Jade—a high-grade treasure that grows spiritual power and strengthens the divine soul!

In appearance like a flower, it comes in several colors.

Gray, blue, purple.

The purple Soul Jade is called "Purple Jade Soul Flower," and is the finest grade.

Top-quality goods!

Unless one's spiritual power is innately strong, it's very hard to grow it after birth.

Even taking a "Divine Essence Pill" only yields limited improvement, and it comes with pill-poison to boot.

High-grade pills with similar effects all inevitably carry pill-poison.

Only Chen Mu's Soul-Boosting Card has no side effects.

Soul Jade likewise has no side effects!

This thing only needs to be carried on one's person to nourish the divine soul and grow spiritual power.

It's a rare treasure indeed.

The Zhenwu Division's treasury also has Soul Jade.

But the merit points needed to exchange for a single piece are terrifyingly high.

Take this time—Chen Mu's work in Zhenzhou, cooperating with Zhao Fuzhou to expose the Jing'an King and wipe out the Hidden Sword Palace, the merit points earned still aren't enough to exchange for even one piece of the lowest-grade gray Soul Jade!

From this one can see how precious and scarce Soul Jade is.

Yet right here in this chest are three pieces of the finest-quality purple Soul Jade.

What a haul!

Snatched right out of the tiger's mouth.

Well worth it!

"Three top-grade Soul Jades are enough to cut ninety percent off the accumulation time."

Chen Mu took out the Soul Jades, held them in his palm, and examined them with satisfaction.

The Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown—the spirit is the hardest hurdle.

With three Purple Jade Soul Flowers, the efficiency of refining spirit to its peak will undoubtedly be greatly boosted.

"I wonder where these Cao Gang fellows got their hands on Soul Jade?"

After savoring the wonder of the Soul Jades for a while, Chen Mu stowed them all away for now and took out the cards he had picked up one by one.

Checking through them one by one—Qi Card, Inner Force Card, Skill Card, Equipment Card, Power Card, Memory Card…

A memory card discovered!

Chen Mu decisively used the card, "reading" the memory.

One glance through and he discovered it wasn't from the Canal Gang merchant caravan, but from one of the black-clothed attackers.

This black-clothed man who died in battle was also a member of the Canal Gang.

He and his companions had all been summoned by the Hall Master, joining forces with personnel from other powers to ambush Qili Lou's team together.

The target was the jet-black iron chest!

But what was inside the chest, they did not know.

Chen Mu quickly "watched" through the memories from the last three years of the man's life, with no extra gains.

So he continued to check the remaining cards.

Inner Force card, Inner Force card, Power card, Memory card…

Another Memory card!

He used it and browsed the memory.

This "look" finally yielded a discovery.

The merchant caravan Qili Lou belonged to was heading to Jinzhou in the Southeast Circuit to deliver a congratulatory gift.

The one behind it was his old man!

Logically speaking, for a Canal Gang team, the most convenient and quickest route would naturally be by water.

But this time they did the opposite, traveling by land.

All for the sake of secrecy!

To prevent any accidents.

The leader in charge of escorting the team was, on the surface, that expert at the Earth Altar Realm Divine Bridge cultivation.

In reality, it was the one hidden at the Earth Altar Realm Chaoyuan cultivation!

The latter, Qili Lou also did not know.

As for Boshan Su Jin, she was not Qili Lou's maidservant, nor had she joined the Canal Gang; she had a relationship with the surface leader at Earth Altar Realm Divine Bridge cultivation that Qili Lou was unaware of.

She was merely traveling the same route, also heading to the Southeast Circuit.

But Boshan Su Jin didn't want to eat for free, and with Qili Lou egging her on beside her, she temporarily filled in as a maidservant, specifically to protect Qili Lou.

"So it was the Canal Gang's own people playing tricks…"

After "watching" the memory, Chen Mu couldn't help but find it amusing.

Qili Lou's old man had guarded against everything, yet the information still leaked.

Before the team even entered the Southeast Circuit, they were ambushed and the Soul Jade was snatched away.

Coincidentally, the Sword-Form War Boots were treated as part of the congratulatory gift, sensed by Chen Mu, who chased after them all the way here.

In the end, these three "Purple Jade

"This is what they call, when luck comes, you can't stop it even if you try!"

Chen Mu's face was full of smiles.

After checking all the cards, he picked up the jet-black iron chest with the ice cubes inside, found a dark mountain gully, and tossed it in.

Then he rose into the air, adjusted his direction, and continued heading toward White Cloud City.

……

On the road.

He took out the three Soul Jades, carried them close to his body, sensing the constant clarity in his brain, his spirit weak but steadily and truly growing.

He crossed the Southeast Circuit in a straight line, only stopping at cities along the route to pick up cards.

He picked up cards all the way.

By the time he crossed the Southeast Circuit, the total number of Inner Force cards had reached a striking five hundred!

There were also over twenty True Qi cards, over a hundred Skill cards, mostly Acquired Martial Arts.

The number of Power cards was also considerable, nearly two hundred.

Chen Mu walked and used Power cards along the way, slightly strengthening his physique.

Finally, his physical body was tempered and advanced once more, stepping into Horizontal Refinement Third Cauldron Body!