Chapter 10: The Commotion Caused by the Treasure

In a place surrounded by towering mountains, a stretch of ancient, ruined walls emerged; desolate and ancient, they had stood there for who knows how many years.

This ruin was vast and boundless, with rubble covering the ground; it was a relic from the primordial era.

When Mengchen entered this place, a group of geniuses from powerful races had already broken in, and subsequently, a tide of people surged in after them.

"Swish."

Upon arriving, before Mengchen could even begin to understand the situation, a golden light shot up from the ruins, like a golden thread, rapidly piercing through the air and flying away; it gave him a start, and he immediately assumed a defensive stance, thinking someone had unleashed a treasure and he had encountered another surprise attack, as it had flown past him by a hair's breadth.

"Another sentient treasure, chase it!"

A large group of geniuses who had entered before Mengchen shouted, surging forward frantically in the direction the golden thread had vanished into the sky.

That was a sentient treasure, worth a king's ransom.

Clearly, they already had some understanding of this place, unlike Mengchen, who had just arrived and was startled by the sentient treasure brushing past him.

"There are ownerless sentient treasures in these ruins?" Mengchen found it hard to believe; since they were sentient, how could they be willing to remain buried beneath the ruins?

He saw clearly that the golden thread from just now was a long spear, which had not corroded despite the passage of long ages, its cold glint sharp and full of spirit.

"These treasures have life; they don't hide in one place, but often change positions and can appear anywhere. Everyone, split up and search," a black tiger urged not far away.

Following this, the large group of creatures around the black tiger dispersed and began digging through the ruins, searching for treasures.

It seemed this group of Primordial Remnants all looked to the black tiger as their leader.

Except for Mengchen, everyone here was a Primordial Remnant, possessing great strength; ordinary people would not dare to come near.

This ruin was extremely vast, stretching to the end of the earth; besides rubble, there were broken mountains in the distance, as well as huge scorched trees and withered wood, with treasure light shooting up from different directions from time to time before quickly vanishing.

Mengchen also slowly ventured deeper, his footsteps crunching on the remaining rubble.

He picked up a piece of withered wood from the ground and kept poking around in the ruins, hoping to poke out a sentient treasure.

"Woo-woo..."

A mass of black energy steamed and surged, emitting a whimpering sound; another treasure, a black beast horn, exploded out from a broken wall and flew toward the distance.

"A sentient treasure has appeared, chase it!"

The group of Primordial Remnants was already green with envy; this black horn was definitely no ordinary item, its sound like a demonic incantation that made one's primordial spirit feel as if it were splitting, surely a rare treasure.

Mengchen was also among this group; in his urgency, he threw the withered wood in his hand, which shot toward the beast horn like an arrow.

"Boom!"

It actually hit, but the black beast horn was unharmed, and black energy continued to surge and permeate the air.

The withered wood was shattered into dust and scattered among the ruins.

"Everyone, attack together!"

Those Primordial Remnants moved out together, Runes filling the sky as they moved to envelop the beast horn.

At the same time, they moved at high speed, circling around to flank it, clearly determined to capture this sentient treasure.

"Woo-woo..."

The black beast horn surged with black light and emitted a demonic sound, actually breaking through the sky-filling Runes that were closing in, and the vibrating demonic sound rapidly spread, forcing the group of Primordial Remnants back.

Afterward, it vanished in the blink of an eye, its speed astonishing.

"So strong!"

"This must be a relic of some ancient sage, full of spirit and possessing heaven-defying power; it's fortunate it didn't actively attack, otherwise the consequences would be unpredictable."

Although the group of Primordial Remnants felt regretful, they were open-minded; the loss of the treasure did not make them overly reluctant.

Mengchen also stopped and watched, shaking his head with a slight sigh.

Just as he turned to continue searching elsewhere, with a "hum," the void trembled slightly, and a streak of light shot over, aimed directly at the back of his head.

This terrifying streak of light was meant to blow his head off. Sensing the danger, he dodged quickly; the streak of light was as fast as lightning, brushing past his ear and piercing through a massive broken mountain in front, leaving a clear hole.

This strike was incredibly sharp and terrifyingly keen; had he been hit, his head would have been instantly shattered into slag.

"Who is it that doesn't fear death and dares to ambush me?"

A fierce glint appeared in Mengchen's eyes, and he swore to find the culprit.

"It is I, your Tiger Lord!" A black tiger stood out; its build was robust, and its four limbs looked full of power.

Following this, the large group of Primordial Remnants around them stepped forward, trailing behind the black tiger.

They each spoke: "If you hadn't thrown that broken stick and startled the treasure, we would have already obtained it. It is all because of you, you damned bald human, that we lost the treasure."

"You ruined our opportunity; how can we let you leave safely?"

"If you want to leave, you can, as long as you leave behind the good things on your person; we will let you go safely."

"If you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, we will chop you up and eat you!"

"I suddenly remember, I haven't eaten human flesh for a long time; that is the finest of delicacies!" Many Primordial Remnants looked at Mengchen, already drooling.

...! "Hmph! As expected, things that don't grow human brains always look at things so one-sidedly. Do I look like the type of person who is easy to bully?"

"Isn't it just that you see I am weak, so you want to bully the few with the many and rob me while I'm down? Come ahead, show your ugly faces! This monk will take it all."

Mengchen let out a cold snort; it was clearly they who had startled the treasure away, yet now they were blaming it on him.

Of course, their blame was fake, and robbery was the truth.

"We have heard that there is an orange-clad bald man who has been notorious lately; it seems it is you!" The black tiger scrutinized Mengchen and said, "Meeting me today, your notoriety has reached its end."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Mengchen realized they wanted to use him as a stepping stone to rise in status.

"Very well, I see that you, black cat, look quite fierce; you are barely qualified, so I can take you as a mount."

"Bald human, you are bold, die!" Hearing the word 'mount', the black tiger roared in instant fury and charged to kill.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, sparks flew everywhere; Mengchen's fist, wrapped in shining Runes, collided violently with the black tiger, emitting a deafening roar.

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and attack!"

Seeing that Mengchen could stand on equal footing with it, the Black Tiger shouted to the many Primordial Remnants behind it.

Those Primordial Remnants were extremely fast; no sooner had the Black Tiger's shout fallen than they arrived, all unleashing thunderous methods to blast Mengchen.

Facing the siege of the many Primordial Remnants, Mengchen chose to avoid their sharp edge for the moment and withdrew.

"Roar..."

The Black Tiger let out a great roar, its tiger voice shaking Heaven Domain, its spirit swallowing mountains and rivers, as black Runes surged like a tidal wave, billowing toward the retreating Mengchen.

The Primordial Remnants, having missed their first round of attacks, once again unleashed astonishing methods.

"Caw!"

It was a large fire-red bird; it opened its beak and shrieked, its sound ominous, yet it stirred up endless terrestrial fire that boiled up from beneath the ground, instantly enveloping Mengchen within it.

Another young genius of the Three-Eyed Race opened wide the center of his brow, and divine light flew out from his third eye, shooting toward Mengchen within the terrestrial fire, causing a clanging sound to ring out for a time.

A massive creature resembling a hedgehog also struck rapidly, its entire body emitting bursts of black-light Runes, and the dense, packed quills on its back stood erect in an instant, finally exploding outward like a rain of arrows, covering the sky and earth.

Afterward, the crowd of creatures followed suit, intending to kill Mengchen in one blow.

(End of this chapter)