Chapter 237: The Sect Disciples' Treasure-Hunting Team

In the dense forest, the light was dim, and everywhere emanated a killing intent and chilling aura that made one's pores stand on end.

Ye Ling'er carefully pushed aside a clump of thorns and walked forward, with seven other young men and women surrounding her.

The eight of them did not belong to the same sect.

When they entered from the entrance above, originally each sect would enter in order, but after coming down, everyone discovered a strange matter——

All around were people from other sects, and there were only two or three hundred of them.

That is to say, when the disciples of the major sects came down, they were scattered by a mysterious force, and the other two thousand plus people, no one knows where they went.

But this did not affect everyone's eagerness to obtain a Fate Opportunity, after all this ruin is completely a treasure waiting to be developed.

Thus the crowd scattered in a rush, each seeking their own Fate Opportunity!

But after searching everywhere, combing through the nearby hundred li, they found not a single hair, and because they touched some strange ancient prohibitions, someone was severely injured and near death.

Everyone wanted to use jade slip messaging to summon their fellow sect members to gather, but discovered that here neither sound transmission nor jade slip messaging works.

So everyone simply gathered in small groups of three or five nearby, regardless of sect, to look out for each other.

Ye Ling'er teamed up with those seven people.

"Be careful!" At that moment, a male disciple of the Da Luo Holy Sect ahead turned back to warn.

This person is Liu Yuanfei, at Qi Hai Realm Sixfold, the highest cultivation here; the rest are at Qi Hai Realm Initial Stage and Condensing Qi Realm, for example Ye Ling'er, only at Qi Hai Realm Twofold.

So Liu Yuanfei naturally became the leader of the team.

"Yes!" Everyone replied in unison.

Continuing forward, after crossing a hillock, a female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect suddenly pointed ahead, her voice trembling: "I see a relic!"

Everyone focused their gaze and saw a thatched cottage courtyard beneath the hillock.

An outside courtyard is nothing unusual, but in this place, those are remnants left by ancient people from tens of thousands of years ago; who knows what treasures might lie inside!

Liu Yuanfei's eyes flashed with excitement as he panted, "Charge! Fate Opportunity knows no order—first come, first served!"

"Charge!"

The eight of them rushed down together, and in the blink of an eye they were at the courtyard gate.

Liu Yuanfei was in the lead, about to step into the courtyard, when he suddenly halted, a flash of shock in his eyes.

The group behind him looked up and also widened their eyes.

In the courtyard sat a woman washing clothes by the well!

It can be certain that this woman is absolutely not from any of the major sects; therefore…… she must be an ancient person from tens of thousands of years ago!

An ancient person who has lived this long—how terrifying must their cultivation be?

At that moment, the woman had her back to everyone, seemingly unaware of them.

Liu Yuanfei waved his hand, signaling everyone to retreat silently.

Ye Ling'er thought for a moment, then lowered her voice and said, "It's a corpse!"

Everyone involuntarily turned to look at her.

Ye Ling'er whispered an explanation: "I cultivate the Supreme Soul Controlling Technique, which can sense the presence of life; this person has no breath, heartbeat, or blood flow, and hasn't moved at all."

Liu Yuanfei said in a deep voice: "Really?"

Ye Ling'er nodded: "Really!"

Saying that, she took the lead and darted forward, landing lightly beside the woman in the courtyard.

Liu Yuanfei and the others then breathed a sigh of relief and followed her into the courtyard.

Upon arriving beside the woman and looking, sure enough! The woman retained the motion of washing clothes; her clothes and basin were still damp, but her body had become dry and stiff, dead for who knows how long.

A female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect clicked her tongue in wonder: "Tens of thousands of years have passed, yet her clothes and basin are still fresh, while this woman is dead—appearing to have died instantly; I wonder what happened back then? Truly amazing."

A male disciple of the Spirit Sword Sect laughed: "Never mind what happened; finding treasure is what matters!"

Everyone immediately began to search carefully around the woman—the basin, clothes, well, and her person—but found nothing.

However, they only found a hairpin and a thimble.

The hairpin was just an ordinary silver hairpin, and the thimble was simply iron, utterly worthless.

Everyone felt somewhat disappointed.

Liu Yuanfei said: "We got excited for nothing; perhaps this is just a farmer's home!"

"Let's go inside and have a look!" Two Overlord Sect disciples nearby pushed off with their feet and rushed straight for the thatched cottage.

"Wait..." Ye Ling'er reached out to stop them, but she was a beat too late.

Those two Overlord Sect disciples had just entered the door when they triggered a mechanism; instantly, ten arrows with a green glow shot out from the walls.

The two had no time to react before they were shot full of holes, and because the arrows' force was too fierce, they were pinned dead to the wall.

In the blink of an eye, the two fell silent; their flesh slowly withered and turned bluish, exuding a stench as if from ten thousand years ago.

It all happened far too quickly!

Liu Yuanfei, Ye Ling'er, and the others had no time to rescue them, and stood frozen on the spot.

Just then, a low growl suddenly came from beneath their feet, followed by a slight tremor of the ground, as if something were about to burst out.

"Retreat!"

Several people brandished their spiritual weapons, retreating while watching the ground.

"Boom!"

The ground suddenly rolled open, and two monsters burrowed out.

One was one zhang long and half a person tall, resembling a woodlouse, but its back was covered in red eyes and dripping slime.

The other was one zhang tall, with a serpent's body, yet bore a pair of powerful, martial claws.

Facing them, the six people instantly became tiny specks.

As soon as the two monsters appeared, they seemed to harbor a blood-deep grudge against everyone, reeking of fishy odor as they roared and lunged.

It's too late to run.

Liu Yuanfei shouted loudly: "Kill them!"

The six waved their spiritual artifacts, leapt into the air, and three went to meet a monster.

The two monsters possessed tremendous strength and seemed to be highly toxic, though their movements were somewhat sluggish; Ye Ling'er and her five companions were all elite disciples of their respective sects, and within the time it took to burn half an incense stick, they had slain both monsters on the ground.

Looking at the two monsters' corpses and the bloodstains spread across the ground, a female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect let out a sigh: "These monsters from tens of thousands of years ago, with their strange appearances, are truly disgusting!"

"It's just a pity for the two junior brothers of the Hegemon Sect!" Liu Yuanfei wiped the sweat from his forehead, gazed at the two corpses on the thatch hut's wall, and said: "There's a mechanism on the door, and a beast guarding it; inside there should be a spiritual treasure!"

The few felt encouraged, quietly approached the thatch hut, after repeatedly confirming there were no seals or mechanism notices inside, they glanced pitifully at the corpses of the two Hegemon Sect disciples, then rushed into the house.

After half an incense stick's time, the six walked out of the door, exchanged glances, and their faces were not looking good.

Liu Yuanfei said: "There's nothing valuable; let's take everything out and add it up together!"

Each of the six produced their "spoils," laying them out on the ground, totaling: one worthless wooden comb, three earthenware jars, one iron horse-cutting saber, one bronze kitchen knife, one damaged wooden umbrella, two metal knife-shaped coins, and a small bottle of gray liquid.

The six squatted in a circle, furrowing their brows tightly.

The male disciple of the Spirit Sword Sect said: "It's certain these things added together aren't worth ten low-grade spirit crystals, less valuable than the possessions of my widowed sister-in-law back in my hometown!"

"The metaphor isn't quite appropriate, but that's the idea!" said the female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect.

Liu Yuanfei glanced at the woman's corpse behind him and couldn't help cursing: "The two Hegemon Sect junior brothers died for nothing; this shabby hut has both a mechanism notice and a ferocious beast guarding it—what's wrong with it?"

Ye Ling'er picked up the bottle of gray liquid and asked: "Could this be somewhat precious?"

A young monk from the Amitabha Temple shook his head and said: "Since ancient times, good things are refined into pills; this kind of liquid easily dissipates its medicinal properties, so it couldn't have any effect. I just tasted a bit—it smells awful; it's likely the perfume that woman used tens of thousands of years ago."

The few became even more disappointed.

Ye Ling'er looked around and said: "Don't be discouraged; this is ultimately the ruins of an ancient super sect. We merely happened to fall outside the ruins. Right now, the urgent task is to go out and find the super sect ruins!"

"That's right!"

The few rekindled their fighting spirit, casually took along the "spoils" as a memento, then solemnly glanced at the corpses of the two Hegemon Sect disciples and headed straight for the courtyard exit.

Just as they stepped out of the courtyard, the courtyard behind them, the corpses, and the house instantly turned to dust.

"Um, how should this be explained? Triggered the mechanism, weathered?" the female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect stared blankly for a moment.

"That must be it! Let's go!" Liu Yuanfei called out, and the few tapped their feet and rushed straight toward the distance.

Walking and stopping, they ran a full forty or fifty li; in the middle they encountered a patch of "dust," presumably also a weathered ancient site that had been disturbed—apart from that, there was nothing else.

After running another ten-plus li, with nothing but woods all around, the six simply rested beneath an ancient tree.

"I really don't know how our elders determined this place is the ruins of an ancient super sect; clearly there's nothing here at all," complained the female disciple of the Great Expansion Sect.

The Spirit Sword Sect disciple said: "I'm even more curious about just how big this place is; we've circled a radius of a hundred li, and yet there are only the eight of us… ah!"

He hadn't finished speaking when a sudden scream rang out.

(End of chapter)