Chapter 158: Emptying the Treasure Vault, Wuxiang Tongkui

Diaodayi died without ever knowing that the "Yan Ping" before him was Zhou You in disguise.

Zhou You caught up to Yan Ping at the back mountain, and taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he unleashed his Poison Palm and Feather Qi to the fullest, finally managing to kill him after a strenuous effort.

While looting the corpse, he discovered a ring hidden inside the key, so he decided to risk entering the stronghold.

That was how the previous events came to pass.

The greater the risk, the greater the reward; he was finally standing in the Armory of the Moyun Stronghold.

"Time is tight!" Zhou You's gaze swept across the Armory; with so many items, he could only choose a few.

The upper echelons of the Moyun Stronghold had been wiped out, and Commander Chen's army was about to break in; there was no time for him to move all these things.

Gold bricks were the least valuable, and he couldn't carry away many of the jewels, jade, or pearls either.

"These pieces of trash, couldn't they have held out for just another moment!"

Zhou You felt deep resentment; if he had been given some time, he could have at least moved away seventy or eighty percent.

His gaze swept over the Armory and landed on the sandalwood desk in the very center.

This desk was already a priceless treasure, and the items placed upon it were clearly not ordinary objects.

A palm-sized bronze figure, covered in dense lines and white dots, seemed to have light shimmering across it under the lamp.

"Armory can store this, will you store it?"

The panel suddenly issued a reminder; this bronze figure was indeed no ordinary object.

"Store!"

"Storage successful, Wuxiang Tongkui of the Armory, function: deduce cultivation techniques."

"Status: Deducing, technique unnamed."

This bronze figure was a priceless treasure; one could input the trajectory of a technique's operation, merge different techniques, and perform upgrades and combinations.

After obtaining this treasure, the five stronghold leaders of the Moyun Stronghold had studied it for many years, inputting their respective unique skills into it in an attempt to create an unprecedented fist technique to break through to the Strong Martial realm.

Zhou You let out a breath; excellent, all the gold, silver, and jewelry in the Armory combined could not compare to this tiny bronze figure.

His ears twitched, and he heard the sound of the stronghold gate being broken and walls collapsing; the army had already slaughtered its way into the stronghold.

Amidst the wails of the bandits, they were killed or captured; it could be said that their defeat was like a collapsing mountain.

Time was pressing.

His gaze scanned every corner of the Armory; there were also quite a few bottles and jars containing Secret Medicine.

Do not underestimate these pills; their value was more precious than an equal weight of gold or silver.

For those who practice martial arts, they are indispensable for training and healing wounds; sometimes, even with money, one cannot buy such medicine.

"Go for it!"

Zhou You stuffed all the Secret Medicine into his bosom, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.

He picked up Diaodayi's corpse, his fingernails sharp as knives, and slashed through the clothes, cutting open the chest and abdomen.

He hollowed out the internal organs to stuff things inside; it was a bit disgusting, but it could Zang things!

Before long, Diaodayi's corpse was filled, and he carried it to the edge of the cliff at the back mountain, aimed, and threw it down.

He then retrieved another corpse and repeated the above steps...

Who knows how much time had passed! A young general with a precious saber at his waist arrived at the center of the stronghold, surrounded by many soldiers.

"Young General, this place is the Armory where the bandits hid their loot, here is the key!"

The young general was named Chen Yang; young as he was, he was already at the Martial Master level, and he was the foster son of Commander Chen.

If Zhou You were present, he would be able to see that his precious saber perfectly matched the wounds on Yan Ping's body.

The Third Leader of the Moyun Stronghold had been wounded by him earlier.

Chen Yang ordered the Armory to be opened, and after confirming there were no mechanisms or traps, he led his men inside.

The soldiers were full of anticipation; their comrades had suffered heavy casualties in this battle, and they needed the wealth accumulated by the Moyun Stronghold over the years as a reward.

The group stepped into the Armory and stood there, stunned.

It was as desolate as a branch swept by the autumn wind; empty boxes were everywhere in the Armory, having long since been looted clean.

Seeing this scene, how could they not understand? Someone had already arrived first and moved away all the treasure.

"There were 5 bandit leaders, who else has not been brought to justice?" "The Third Leader, Kaibeishou Yan Ping."

Chen Yang rushed to the back mountain of the stronghold and saw the huge hole blasted through the stronghold wall.

A dark mass of vultures circled in the air, fighting over human hands, feet, and internal organs; the scene was bloody.

He raised his hand and swung his saber; the brilliant blade light slashed out 100 meters, shredding countless vultures into pieces, and suddenly a rain of mixed feathers and flesh fell.

"Young General, Yan Ping enjoyed torturing and killing Commoners, and he would discard the corpses in the valley to feed the mountain birds."

"These vultures and crows all gather here to forage, and they never disperse even after many years."

On the mountain rocks, there were traces of the mess left by Kaibeishou's blasts everywhere, and the wreckage of a siege engine stood amidst a cluster of chaotic stones.

Beneath his feet, clouds and mist churned, and countless white bones and rotting mud mixed into a mass, floating up with colorful miasma.

Chen Yang looked out into the vast surroundings; where could there be any trace of Yan Ping?

Zhou You left the back mountain and returned along the original path, finding his scattered fellow disciples one after another on the way.

The Tiger-Subduing Fist practiced by the Apprentices was like a fish in water in the mountainous terrain; they had scattered during the earlier chaotic battle and took advantage of the chaos to escape down the mountain.

"Senior Brother Jiang, your wounds?"

When Zhou You saw Jiang Hua again, this Senior Brother's face was as white as paper, yet he walked as usual, and most of the wounds all over his body had also disappeared.

The healing power is terrifyingly strong; this Blood Sand Palm is truly evil!

"Where is Yan Ping?"

Zhou You shook his head, "I don't know; once Cloud-Touching Stronghold was breached, he turned and left."

This explanation was very reasonable; when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter, and Yan Ping would certainly have packed his valuables to run at the first opportunity, making it impossible for him to keep his eyes fixed on them.

Jiang Hua smiled bitterly, "To have escaped from the hands of a Martial Master, you and I were both lucky."

They pooled together the Secret Medicine for treating wounds from their bodies and distributed it to their fellow disciples to use; upon counting the casualties, they discovered that 3 Apprentices had died.

The remaining few, including the team leaders Zhou You and Jiang Hua, were all wounded and starving with hunger.

"With Cloud-Touching Stronghold destroyed, we can go back and report."

Jiang Hua sighed endlessly; this time, the martial arts school had sacrificed too much for Commander Chen.

They sought out a mountain spring to wash their hands and faces, and after eating dry rations and drinking water, they hurried toward the stronghold to rendezvous with the main army.

Inside the stronghold...

Standing before Commander Chen were three Captains and his foster son Chen Yang; the few of them wore expressions of shame and remained silently indifferent.

Although the battle was won, the stronghold was breached, and the bandit leader, the Great Chieftain, was captured alive, the once-illustrious Cloud-Touching Stronghold was declared destroyed.

However, the Third Chieftain Yan Ping was on the run, having emptied the treasury of all its treasures before leaving.

It was like a small flaw on a piece of fine jade, making this great victory leave a bad taste.

"Why are you all looking so dejected? Looking at your expressions, those who didn't know would think we had lost the battle."

"By breaching Cloud-Touching Stronghold, the grain, livestock, and medicinal materials can supply our army's consumption for 3 years; we still made a huge profit."

"Yan Ping is a lonely ghost; he won't get far with the treasures, so we will deal with him slowly in the future."

Commander Chen did not blame his subordinates, but instead spoke to soothe them, "I have noted all of your merits, and you shall be heavily rewarded."

Chen Yang cupped his hands to request orders, "Foster father, your child requests to pursue and kill Yan Ping to retrieve the treasures."

"You stay behind, count the supplies in the stronghold, and send men to escort them back to the camp."

At this moment, a Captain spoke up, "General, that tiger skin is a priceless treasure; how about adding it as a rug for your military tent?"

"..."

At the same time, Zhou You and Jiang Hua arrived to report their mission.

They recounted firing cannons at the back mountain, blasting through the rear wall of Cloud-Touching Stronghold, encountering an ambush by Yan Ping, and escaping after suffering heavy casualties.

Commander Chen nodded repeatedly as he listened, looking at Zhou You and Jiang Hua with surprise.

To be able to withstand several rounds under Yan Ping and not die—these two are talents!

"The two of you, don't leave yet; there is a victory celebration tonight where everyone will be rewarded based on their merits, and tomorrow I will see you off."

(End of chapter)