Chapter 56

"We're rich, hehe..."

Sha Lifei was sweating profusely as he carried the box, his face full of silly smiles.

Li Yan turned his head helplessly. "Uncle Sha, we could just bury the box and pick it up on the way back. Why waste the effort?"

The box was not large, but it was filled with high-quality gold bars, and the weight was not light. Even with Sha Lifei carrying it, it was a bit strenuous.

"How could that work!"

Upon hearing this, Sha Lifei's eyes widened. "Old Sha has never seen so much money in his life. What if there's a mishap and it gets lost?"

"From now on, I'm sleeping with it in my arms. No one stop me!"

"Fine, fine, fine..."

Li Yan and Wang Fu smiled at each other.

No one expected that going up the mountain tonight would have such a harvest.

Even if the four of them split it equally, they would have enough money to build the temple.

A windfall from heaven—it couldn't be stopped even if you wanted to.

Of course, collecting the lightning-struck jujube wood was still the main task.

Knowing that the bandit lair had been destroyed, the group felt much more relaxed. They walked along the mountain road, heading toward Leopard Gully in the West Mountain.

Along the way, it wasn't as if no wild beasts were coveting them.

The power of the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins was demonstrated at this time. Li Yan only had to activate it slightly, and the wolf pack hidden in the dark woods was startled and retreated.

He stole a glance at Zhao Zhao Lu Zi and found that the other man was not surprised.

Li Yan knew that treasure seekers of the Mountain-Driving lineage walked the mountains and forests year-round and must have techniques to avoid fierce beasts.

Just like how this fellow had no scent on him—he didn't know how he did it. If they weren't traveling together, he feared even wild wolves wouldn't be able to discover his tracks.

Half an hour later, the group finally arrived at Leopard Gully.

"No, I can't carry it anymore."

Sha Lifei was already sweating profusely from exhaustion; he hugged the box and sat on the ground with a *thump*.

"Shh!"

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi hurriedly made a gesture for silence, then crouched down and waved for the group to follow.

The group followed him as he climbed onto a mountain ridge, looking toward the distance through the grass. A bizarre scene suddenly appeared before their eyes.

Leopard Gully was not large, but it was rarely visited by people. The woods were dense, and the wild grass grew half a person high. If one looked from the outside, there was simply no path to take.

And at this moment, under the moonlight, there was a faint, shimmering light in the middle of the woods. It was blurry and not very bright, but because it flickered incessantly, it looked like a bolt of lightning.

Li Yan had already witnessed it once and knew that heavenly and earthly treasures must have strange phenomena, but they did not manifest before ordinary people. Moreover, without the method to take the treasure, forcibly seizing it would cause the good fortune to dissipate.

Of course, his Great Luo Dharma Body was an exception.

He only needed contact to plunder the good fortune.

But this thing was to be used to craft a ritual implement, so naturally, he couldn't mess around.

Under Zhao Zhao Lu Zi's signal, the group retreated carefully, and only then did Li Yan ask, "Brother Zhao, how should this treasure be taken?"

Every kind of heavenly and earthly treasure had a specific method of restraint.

What was more troublesome was that there were many kinds of heavenly and earthly treasures; perhaps the same treasure ginseng, because of the growth area and the evolution of the five elements, would have different things that restrained it.

Knowledge, experience, and techniques—none could be lacking.

This was the foundation of the treasure-seeking lineage passed down to this day.

"It's very simple."

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi was naturally not good with words and had initially been wary of the group, but Li Yan had spoken nicely along the way and was even willing to share the gold they found with him, which had long since made this young man completely convinced.

Therefore, he did not hide anything and explained the key points.

"Lightning-struck jujube wood belongs to the Wood element in the five elements and needs Metal to restrain it. But if an ordinary person only sees this point, they are fated not to have the treasure. Even if they find it, it will be no different from ordinary lightning-struck wood."

Wang Fu looked at the sky, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "And the lightning from heaven!"

"Exactly!"

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi nodded. "The reason this thing became a heavenly and earthly treasure is inseparable from the words 'Heavenly Spirit'."

"The lightning of heaven governs the order of heaven, operates the four seasons, generates all things, protects against calamities, slays heavenly demons, sweeps away plagues, and captures heavenly monsters—all difficult-to-treat evils."

"Whether or not it has this bolt of heavenly lightning *gang* energy makes a world of difference!"

"Therefore, this treasure belongs to the Wood of Heaven and needs the Metal of Earth to restrain it so that the treasure can be taken out completely."

Li Yan praised, "I've truly learned something. What is this Metal of Earth?"

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi glanced in the direction of the lightning-struck jujube wood and said in a low voice, "Generally speaking, there are two kinds of Metal of Earth. One is another heavenly and earthly treasure, the gold, silver, and copper treasures born from underground mineral veins, respectively called Spring Jade Spring, Bound Youth, and Thunder Sound Urgent—all are very precious and hard to find."

"The other is based on the Dao of Yin and Yang. Where poisonous snakes appear, there must be an antidote; near heavenly and earthly treasures, there must also be something that restrains them."

"If I were alone, I fear it would take me more than half a month to find it, but with the help of you two, it will be easy to get."

"Daoist Wang, since you are skilled in *feng shui*, please help me see where the Metal position of the Nine Palaces is."

"Brother Li, you have the Nose Supernatural Ability. That thing shouldn't be hidden too deep, so I'll rely on you."

"Hero Sha, there are leopards hidden in Leopard Gully that are very fierce. If anyone approaches the lightning-struck jujube wood, they will attack. You must block them and don't let them get in the way."

Having said that, he looked at the sky. "We don't have much time. Once the midnight hour passes, the lightning-struck jujube wood will hide again. If we fail and startle the treasure, I fear it won't come out again for more than half a year."

"Taking the treasure at other times will cause its good fortune to dissipate."

"No time to lose, let's do it!"

After setting the plan, the group did not hesitate and acted immediately.

Wang Fu took out his compass, climbed to a nearby high ground, examined the terrain by the moonlight, muttered words, and made marks in several areas, digging to taste the soil. Looking at the *feng shui* terrain required having a grasp of both the big and small picture. Fortunately, Wang Fu was cautious and had already recorded the terrain layout of Mount Yetai during the day.

In less than half a stick of incense, Wang Fu pointed to the southwest side:

"It's right over there!"

The group hurriedly looked up.

That was an area near the woods, bordering the cliff wall. The surrounding grass and trees were sparse, and it was bare, which was different from the surroundings.

What was even better was that it was still some distance from the lightning-struck jujube wood. He estimated that no matter how much commotion they made, it wouldn't startle the treasure.

Li Yan did not waste words; he tiptoed and trotted over.

He had already activated his Nose Supernatural Ability, but he didn't smell any abnormal scent.

Li Yan's heart stirred. He pinched the Yang Seal, focused his mind, concentrated all his spirit, and took a deep breath.

In an instant, more scents from the area flooded into his nasal cavity.

This was the benefit of having his supernatural ability under control.

!.

Closing it on ordinary days was like conserving energy; when he needed to use it, he could explode with it temporarily without damaging his spirit.

Soon, he smelled a strange odor.

This scent was very strange. Two meters underground, it had both a metallic smell and a kind of rotten, moldy odor.

Although he wasn't clear what it was, the only metal nearby was this. Li Yan immediately swung his iron shovel and dug fiercely with Zhao Zhao Lu Zi, who had rushed over.

Both of them were martial practitioners and had considerable strength. Before long, they had dug a two-meter-deep pit. Below, it was pitch black, looking like a moldy spider web.

"Slow down, let me!"

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi gave a low cry, signaling Li Yan to step back.

As for himself, he took off a pair of deerskin gloves from his waist, carefully brushed away the floating soil, and only after this thing was completely revealed did he find a corner and gently rubbed it with both hands, turning it into a black rope.

"What is this thing?"

Li Yan asked curiously.

This thing was buried deep underground and had gathered some yin-evil energy from the earth's veins, but it was very thin and couldn't be refined into any evil-suppressing ritual implement.

"This is Iron Clothing."

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi explained, "It's somewhat similar to things getting moldy, but it's formed by iron ore. There must be a mineral vein below, and it can only be seen under special circumstances."

"Some insects that drill into the ground love to eat this thing. Once it comes into contact with human *qi*, it becomes numb and soft, and cannot be rubbed into a rope..."

"Oh, so that's how it is."

Li Yan had a realization. This thing was mostly a kind of iron-eating mold that could only form under special circumstances, so ordinary people wouldn't recognize it.

I fear only these treasure seekers wouldn't be mistaken.

After rubbing the Iron Clothing into a rope, Zhao Zhao Lu Zi said, "I'm going to snare the treasure. You all have the scent of living people, so don't get close. Wait for my signal!"

Having said that, he tiptoed into the woods.

Li Yan suddenly realized.

No wonder there was no scent on the other man. He must have used some method specifically for treasure seeking so as not to startle the heavenly and earthly treasure.

Just at this moment, he frowned, suddenly looked toward the southeast side of the mountain forest, and snatched the sheepskin bag from Sha Lifei's waist.

After untying it, he threw and scattered all the meat balls soaked in pig blood.

In an instant, the surroundings were filled with the smell of blood.

"They're here?"

Sha Lifei hurriedly asked.

Li Yan nodded and slowly drew his blade. "There are two of them, and they aren't small. Let's lure them away; don't interfere with Brother Zhao!"

*Whoosh~*

As he spoke, the fishy wind had already arrived from the dense forest.

Two pairs of eyes as big as copper bells appeared in the darkness of the dense forest, emitting a faint green glow, approaching slowly from both sides.

Emerging from the dense forest, under the moonlight, they were indeed two leopards.

Leopards are extremely fierce by nature.

Although their combat power couldn't compare to tigers, they felt more agile and nimble. When they went crazy, they would dare to go up and fight even if they encountered a tiger.

That's why describing someone as bold is called "having eaten a leopard's gall."

And these two leopards were not only larger in size but also very shrewd. After sniffing the meat caltrops a few times, they ignored them and stared at the group, baring their ferocious fangs.

Moreover, one of them had a clear scar from a blade on its face.

"Be careful, I fear these two have almost developed spirituality!"

Wang Fu's expression was solemn as he hurriedly reminded them in a low voice.

Once they had spirituality, the next step was to have cultivation.

Having been injured and not eating the meat caltrops meant they had suffered losses before.

"It must have been that gang of bandits."

Sha Lifei cursed under his breath and also held his blade, guarding in front of Wang Fu.

His martial arts were average, and he hadn't practiced dark energy for many years, but after all, he had been wandering the martial world for years, and he had a trick or two when it came to playing with blades.

Seeing the leopards getting closer and closer, Li Yan frowned slightly, focused his mind, and the tassel of the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins swayed left and right.

It would be best if he could startle them away; he had no interest in fighting wild beasts.

However, feeling the aura of the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins, the two leopards went crazy instead, leaped, and pounced fiercely...

(End of chapter)