Chapter 364

The Hua family's main camp.

A large force had already gone over a thousand li away, opening up a subsidiary camp to survey the mineral veins; only several hundred Hua family guards remained in the main camp to protect Hua Xinxin, and at that moment they were sitting around the campfire eating and drinking.

Several hundred Ren clan servants attentively waited on the side, roasting meat, slicing meat, opening jugs, pouring wine, serving the Hua family gentlemen so comfortably that they couldn't praise them enough.

Outside Hua Xinxin's tent, more than ten Hua family guards stood in a line; from inside the tent came occasional sounds of light clouds and fine rain, and the guards would from time to time pinch their noses and make faces, envying their young master's fortunate blessings.

Inside the tent, on a thick animal-skin mat, Hua Xinxin lay sprawled, his face pallid, eyes ringed with black like a giant panda, drenched in sweat and constantly gasping for breath.

Two women of the Ren clan clung to him.

Hua Xinxin hurriedly pushed them away: 'No, no… let me, the young master, catch my breath… these past two months, even though I am vigorous as a dragon and tiger, I can't go on… ah, ah, alas, I really ought to switch to body cultivation.'

A strange glint flashed in his eyes as he murmured: 'I've heard that body cultivators are the most formidable in bed, capable of storming cities and seizing strongholds, unstoppable… I, the young master, am truly envious.'

A Ren clan woman smiled coquettishly as she approached, her right hand's two scallion‑like slender, jade‑white fingers delicately holding a pale‑gold pellet.

'Young Master Xin, take this Dragon Tiger Pellet, and you too can be overwhelmingly mighty, capable of storming cities and seizing strongholds… hehe.'

A flicker of fear crossed Hua Xinxin's face as he shook his head repeatedly: 'No, no… although the Dragon Tiger Pellet is powerful… I… my waist hurts terribly, ah, you bunch of enchantresses, quickly get me something to eat and drink—this body of mine is utterly exhausted.'

Several Ren clan women laughed and clung to Hua Xinxin, forcibly bringing the Dragon Tiger Pellet to his lips.

'Young Master Xin, take this Dragon Tiger Pellet first, enjoy yourself a bit, then go eat and drink…'

Hua Xinxin rolled his eyes, clamped his mouth shut refusing to swallow the pellet; several Ren clan women used their slender jade fingers to pinch and pry at his chin, trying to force his mouth open to feed him the medicine.

Hua Xinxin shook his head hard, continually emitting a 'wu-wu' sound of struggle.

Suddenly, the lamp light inside the tent swayed, a wisp of cold wind blew in, and a figure appeared out of thin air within the tent.

More than ten Ren clan women opened their mouths to cry out, but the figure let out a soft hum; the women rolled their eyes, went limp, and collapsed onto the animal‑skin mat, completely unconscious.

Hua Xinxin bared his teeth in a grin at the figure, his hands trembling as he managed to pull a long robe around himself.

'Ancestor!' Hua Xinxin staggered to his feet and gave the figure a playful greeting.

'Having fun?' The ancestor whom Hua Xinxin spoke of had a dignified appearance, looking about forty, with a purple‑toned face bearing a thick beard, a tall and stalwart build, and an imposing presence.

'It's agony, it's agony, Ancestor!' Hua Xinxin's body trembled slightly as tears welled in his eyes: 'These girls treat me like a stud‑horse, using me day and night, over and over; if it weren't for my extraordinary talent, my valiant vigor, my unyielding hardness… Ancestor, you wouldn't see your grandson at all!'

The purple‑faced man's mouth twitched slightly, and he said calmly: 'That… is also the case; you've worked hard.'

He produced a thumb‑sized white pellet exuding a pure fragrance and tossed it to Hua Xinxin; the purple‑faced man said in a deep voice: 'That Lu Huang, indeed, has borrowed our Hua family's strength to plot treachery… Hey, we have served him for over three hundred sixty years, being thorough, devoted, and righteous—who would have thought he harbored malicious intent.'

Hua Xinxin swiftly swallowed the pellet; a stream of blood‑qi spread across his pallid face, the darkness around his eyes quickly fading, the essence lost from his nightly exertions rapidly replenished; he moved his body a little, and immediately his joints all over emitted a solid 'ka‑ba' sound.

He stared excitedly at the purple‑faced man: 'Ancestor, have they made a move?'

The purple‑faced man finally showed a hint of a smile: 'Exactly, they have acted… heh, hehe, this time we might not do badly—our Hua family could stand to gain a lot.'

He smiled composedly, then said coldly: 'They want to borrow a chicken to lay eggs… but alas, our Hua family is no chicken. Old Nine?'

The purple‑faced man gave a soft shout; the shadow inside the tent shifted, and the Hua family steward Ninth, who had been publicly slain in Insect‑Swarm City and whose body and soul had been obliterated by a heavenly thunderbolt, appeared silently.

'Ancestor.' The white‑haired Ninth Steward bowed with a pleasant smile toward the purple‑faced man.

'Begin.' The purple‑faced man waved his hand: 'Do it cleanly.'

Outside the tent, by the campfire, all the Hua family guards suddenly ceased their actions, each turning an ear to listen.

Several hundred Ren clan servants froze at once; a few particularly sharp‑eyed men and women narrowed their gazes and instinctively slipped their hands into their sleeves.

Countless figures flickered into existence in the void; behind each Ren clan servant a twisted black shadow flashed and vanished.

Dim cold lights swept across the Ren clan servants' necks, spraying great clouds of blood mist; hundreds died instantly, their bodies collapsing heavily to the ground.

The Hua family guards rose to their feet together, tossing the roasted meat and fine wine they held onto the ground.

On the watchtowers surrounding the main camp…… the sentries, boldly, were all Ren clan guards.

These guards simultaneously saw the anomaly in the main camp, but before they could react, streams of flowing light shot forth, instantly piercing their brows, shattering their life pools and souls alike.

One by one, the Ren clan guards toppled from the high watchtowers; outside the camp, in the forest, ranks of vigorous cultivators marched in.

The purple‑faced Hua family ancestor, hands behind his back, stepped out of the tent with a steady, measured pace.

'Come, let's go check that subsidiary camp; I'm curious what treasure they've found… Old Nine, you personally lead men to purge this mountain forest. No matter whose forces they are, exterminate them all!'

Hua Xinxin's gaze flickered, and he said in a low voice: 'Ancestor, in Insect‑Swarm City there is a Divine Martial Army Colonel named Huo Xiong; I don't know whether he's truly a greenhorn or genuinely talented, having uncovered some clues… but I think he's not bad.'

The Hua family ancestor narrowed his eyes and slowly nodded: 'Those who need silencing must be silenced… at most we could keep that Huo Xiong. If he is willing to become our Hua family's hound, we keep him; if not… a mere Colonel is nothing but a beast—kill him, just kill him.'

He raised his hand and patted Hua Xinxin's shoulder, the Hua family ancestor sighing: 'No wonder you are our Hua family's most outstanding son; these years of posing as a foppish noble have worn you out… otherwise, how could we have let them act so boldly, so assuredly?'

Hua Xinxin gave a modest smile and said nothing.

Posing as a foppish noble… you ask if it's tiring, it is a bit tiring; but if you ask how truly exhausting it is, he actually enjoys it quite a bit.

Instinctively, Hua Xinxin rubbed his waist. Although his lost essence had been replenished, his waist really ached. He couldn't help but look up at the sky, wondering whether he really ought to switch to body cultivation.

This role of a foppish noble, he will have to play for many years to come, many years indeed.

Deep in the underground cavern, a black‑clad old man flipped his palm and produced a crystal cover that shimmered with iridescent light.

With a 'hum', the crystal cover expanded, becoming a round canopy ten zhang in diameter, enveloping everyone, together with the Wu Tie that had secretly fallen onto Lu Huang's hair.

The crystal cover spewed rosy light, merging tightly with the ground below.

The black‑clad old man waved his hand: 'Move, use brute force, break it.'

Lu Huang nodded, drew a deep breath, his body like an iron ingot swelling abruptly; his right fist expanded to three times its normal size, then he slammed a punch onto the black‑and‑red intertwined ground.

With a 'crack‑crack‑crack', accompanied by faint shattering sounds, the semi‑transparent ground several zhang thick was shattered by that punch into countless fine fissures.

A low moan rose; vast amounts of black‑and‑red intertwined water‑fire lethal qi erupted from underground, instantly filling the crystal cover. Everyone was submerged in the water‑fire lethal qi, and the cover itself was shaken, its light rippling, emitting a continual low hum.

Yet this crystal cover is extraordinarily sturdy; despite the water‑fire lethal qi's impact, not a trace of breath leaked out.

The two black‑clad elders remained unmoving; Lu Huang's muscles twitched slightly all over, relying on his immensely powerful flesh, he too endured the water‑fire lethal qi's onslaught.

Lu Huang had brought seven disciples to dig the cavern; three of them were slightly weaker in cultivation, and when the water‑fire lethal qi erupted, their bodies blew up with a 'bang' into dust.

The other four disciples struggled to hold on; their skin cracked in many places, and then blood began to spurt.

The black‑clad elder gave a cold snort, pointed his finger, and the four Lu Huang disciples were shot out of the crystal cover, slamming heavily against the outer cavern wall. He said coldly: 'Enough; you don't have the fortune to witness such a treasure firsthand. Guard the outside well—this merit will not be lacking for you.'

The two black‑clad elders leapt one after another into the gap blown by Lu Huang's punch, following the surging earth‑vein lethal qi and quickly vanished.

Lu Yan took a deep breath, then gritted his teeth and dove straight in.

The black-and-red viscous torrent surged rapidly through the earth veins; enormous pressure came from all directions. The black-and-red airflow: black was the innate earth lung water line absolute killing, red the innate earth lung fire line absolute killing. The water and fire forces intertwined, and in the torrent the temperature could at times melt metal, at times freeze and shatter even diamond...

The water and air perfectly merged, yet they constantly collided and permeated, giving rise to a wisp of innate water-fire absolute killing yin thunder qi. This yin thunder was soundless and traceless, yet it incessantly struck Lu Yan's body, making him tremble all over as large patches of skin continually cracked and fell away, exposing bloody flesh.

However, as Lu Yan said, this is the main trunk of the place where that treasure is nurtured, extremely close to the treasure's nurturing ground.

After tumbling several somersaults in the torrent, only three or five breaths later Lu Yan rolled along with the current into a vast underground space.

All around were thick slabs of semi-transparent crystal, black and red intertwined.

On the crystal wall there were thirty-six huge openings, seventy-two medium-sized ones, and three hundred sixty tiny ones.

Lu Yan flew through the thickest of the thirty-six openings, each at least over ten li in diameter, into this underground space nearly a thousand li in diameter.

From the four hundred and eight openings of various sizes, strands of water-fire absolute killing power of varying thickness roared out; upon entering the space they suddenly collapsed, turning into countless fine black-and-red light mists that slowly drifted toward the center, where an object flickering with a faint light gathered.

Two black-clothed elders hovered in midair, eyes wide, staring fixedly at that glimmer.

Wu Tie hid atop Lu Yan's head and likewise saw the treasure.

It was an enormous vine, its black-and-red stems covered with black and red leaves; the main trunk rose straight from the ground like a heaven‑supporting pillar, firmly propping up the rock wall above.

At the waist of the main trunk, a thin vine swayed on its own, fluttering lightly in the air.

On this thumb‑thick vine hung a fist‑sized gourd. The gourd would at times be jet black, at times fiery red; when black and red interchanged, a deep, tsunami‑like thunder rumbled from within.

This tiny gourd was exquisitely crafted, beautifully ornate, truly a natural creation of heaven and earth; its graceful lines pleased the eye at first glance, and a sense of comfort emanated from the soul.

Beyond that comfort lay an overwhelming, terrifying pressure.

Though it was only fist‑sized, it felt as if it filled the entire thousand‑li space, like a primordial beast coiled silently there, ready to erupt and kill at the slightest disturbance.

It was a murderous weapon.

Upon seeing the gourd, Wu Tie instantly understood its true nature.

Moreover, Wu Tie gained a crystal‑clear impression: this gourd had condensed from nothing into substance in this cavern, taken root, devoured the earth‑vein water‑fire absolute killing power to grow, and had been nurturing for over a hundred million years; now he needed only a little more effort to bring it to full completion.

Specifically, it lacked twenty‑three days, seven double hours, and half a quarter‑hour.

No wonder the ancestor of the two black‑clothed elders would give such precise information about the water‑fire gourd maturing in a thousand years.

With only twenty‑odd days left until full maturity, Wu Tie glanced around and looked at the main body of the water‑fire gourd's vine. At that sight he jumped in alarm.

This enormous vine was itself a priceless rare treasure, truly the mother of an innate spiritual treasure, precious to the utmost degree.

Especially for cultivators of water and fire arts, each leaf on this giant vine bore a clear imprint of a thread of the innate water‑fire great dao; obtaining even a single leaf would greatly enhance their comprehension of that dao.

Moreover, due to the interaction of water and fire, some of the black‑and‑red mottled leaves even gave off traces of yin‑thunder law qi.

These leaves also provided excellent assistance for thunder techniques.