Chapter 540: Final Location

It was the treasure map he had obtained when he destroyed the bandit stronghold.

The moment Zhuying Daoist saw the map, his pupils shrank sharply, and his breathing quickened.

She nearly lunged forward, carefully examining the torn edges, color, material, and the nearly blurred brushstrokes—identical in origin to her three maps.

"This… this is…"

Zhuying Daoist's voice trembled with uncontrollable excitement as he suddenly looked up at Chen Mu, his eyes filled with disbelieving joy.

"Young Master Chen! This—this is the missing fourth 'Four Seasons Beast Skin' map! Though damaged, the tear marks and residual patterns leave no doubt! Heaven above! It's in your hands! This is truly… truly fate! Wonderful!"

Ning Zhixi was stunned, glancing between the three relatively intact maps in Zhuying Daoist's hands, then at Chen Mu's unremarkable scrap, then at Zhuying Daoist's wildly emotional expression—she instantly understood.

The final missing piece of the puzzle had been on Chen Mu all along.

This coincidence was nothing short of fate's design.

"Senior Brother Chen, when… when did you acquire this?" Ning Zhixi asked, astonished.

"By chance." Chen Mu replied coolly, extending the scrap map.

Zhuying Daoist's hands trembling, he carefully took the scrap and carefully aligned it with his three maps.

The torn edges fitted perfectly.

Material, color, patterns—all seamlessly connected.

Though the scrap was badly damaged, the crucial connection point, located in the central blank area of the other three maps, lay precisely on this scrap.

The four maps united, revealing before them a complete, detailed, ancient map marked with countless mountains, rivers, and forbidden zones.

Yet though the map was now whole, it gave no specific location.

Zhuying Daoist tried infusing it with true qi, but the map remained inert.

"The map is complete, but it seems we're still missing the activation method…" Zhuying Daoist frowned.

"I know the activation method."

Chen Mu's gaze sharpened as he stepped forward, standing before the four assembled maps.

He did not touch the map, but slowly raised his right hand, fingers spread, facing the four beast-skin maps floating above the "metallic soil."

Shiiii~

A whistling sound arose.

Four strands of heavenly and earthly energy immediately gathered from the void, forming four slender threads of spirit-light, finer than hair yet condensed to perfection.

"Go." Chen Mu thought.

The four strands of spirit-light, as if alive, each slipped into one of the four corners of the assembled map—

Where, precisely, lay the seasonal directions represented by each original beast skin!

Green for the East (Spring), Red for the South (Summer), Gold for the West (Autumn), Black for the North (Winter).

Hum~

In the instant the four seasonal spirit-lights entered, the four ancient beast-skin maps erupted in dazzling, radiant four-colored light.

The light swirled, and in the next moment, the maps themselves turned semi-transparent, as if becoming four translucent crystal sheets.

Then, before the stunned gazes of Zhuying Daoist and Ning Zhixi, the four semi-transparent maps ignored physical barriers, slowly drew closer, overlapped, and fused perfectly together!

Ultimately forming a single map, thicker than any previous one, glowing with a swirling four-colored aura, radiating an ancient, vast, and primordial aura.

Hum—

On the fused map, light and shadow shifted, and a vast, majestic, ever-changing phantom of a palace complex suddenly materialized, hovering in midair.

The palace complex was divided into four distinct regions, each with unique architecture: one lush and verdant, brimming with life—Spring Palace.

One blazing with fire, golden and magnificent—Summer Palace.

One littered with falling leaves, armored and martial—Autumn Palace.

One frozen for miles, draped in silver—Winter Palace.

The four regions interwove yet harmonized, forming a complete, slowly rotating three-dimensional phantom, radiating an indescribable grandeur and mystery.

The phantom lasted roughly ten breaths, as if displaying the grandeur of the inheritance cave to the worthy.

Then, the phantom slowly faded, dissolving into specks of four-colored light rain that returned to the complete beast-skin map below.

The map returned to its original state, lying still on the ground.

But in the upper-left corner, a previously unseen circular pattern—about the size of a copper coin, woven from green, red, gold, and black—now clearly emerged.

Ning Zhixi hurried forward, carefully examining the position of the four-colored pattern, then comparing it to the surrounding terrain, mountain contours, and river markings.

"This is…"

After a moment, her eyes lit with realization; she looked up, voice laced with disbelief, "The border between Jiannan Dao and Hannan Dao? Judging by the terrain, deep within a range called the Changlong Mountains—this four-colored mark points to a hidden valley, extremely concealed."

"The border between Jiannan Dao and Hannan Dao? The Changlong Mountains?"

Zhuying Daoist leaned in to inspect, his face lighting with relief and joy, "So that's it. No wonder my Tianxin Temple ancestors' collected maps all pointed southwest or southern regions—even assuming the entrance lay in the southern Fireflow Wasteland—but the true entrance was here, in this eastern border mountain range."

"This setup is truly ingenious, blending truth and illusion. According to this map, the valley housing the entrance is extremely hidden, likely concealed by a natural maze—if not for this map, even knowing the general direction would make it impossible to find."

Chen Mu glanced at the map and nodded slightly.

This aligned with some of his earlier suspicions.

The final entrance to the "Four Seasons Secret Treasury" had been placed in a relatively ordinary region, yet one rendered easier to conceal by the convergence of two realms, complex terrain, and natural mist.

All other clues were likely mere decoys.

"Timing-wise, Shuangjiang falls in late September."

Chen Mu calculated, "From here to the border of Jiannan Dao and Hannan Dao, into the Changlong Mountains, to locate the hidden valley—we have enough time. We could even arrive early to scout the environment and prepare."

"Exactly!"

Zhuying Daoist beamed, "With the complete map guiding us, finding the entrance valley is certain. We only need to arrive on the day of Shuangjiang and use the Four Seasons Key to open the secret treasury!"

Ning Zhixi finally relaxed, a smile returning to her face.

The path twisted and turned, the willows darkened and the flowers brightened; the missing map was in Chen Mu's hands, the final destination now clear, the road ahead instantly revealed.

Chen Mu raised his hand, grasping through the air, and the complete map on the ground floated lightly up into his grasp.

The map felt slightly heavy in his hand, its material unusual, the four-color pattern upon it clearly visible.

"Let's go."

Chen Mu put away the map and turned to face the east.

"Back to Hannan Road."