When he received this assignment, Huo Ziqi secretly rejoiced.
Now that the Immortal Alliance was fighting on two fronts against demonic cultivators and the demonic path, staying in Kunwu meant inevitably getting dragged into the conflict. Especially since the Spirit Beast Sect only had three Nascent Soul cultivators, and he was the lowest in cultivation, always tasked with being cannon fodder.
Now, not only could he legitimately leave Kunwu Mountain and distance himself from danger, but he might also gain an opportunity from this to advance his realm in one fell swoop.
Coincidentally, the one assigned to this task with him was Zong Si, whom he had known for several years and shared a good rapport with.
On the surface, he and Zong Si didn't seem to have much in common. One was a Nascent Soul Ancestor from a major sect with tens of thousands of years of heritage; the other was a Nascent Soul cultivator who had barely advanced and was struggling to maintain his lineage from a small-to-medium sect. One was still young with a bright future; the other was nearing the end of his lifespan, his immortal path already at its limit.
But in reality, Huo Ziqi felt their situations weren't that different.
He was indeed not old, but not young either—over seven hundred years old. More than half of a Nascent Soul cultivator's lifespan had passed, and he was still stuck at the Early-Nascent Soul stage. Forget advancing to the next stage; even reaching the peak of the early stage seemed a distant dream. To help his natal spirit beast advance... Advancement was already difficult for Spirit Beast Sect cultivators. Many talented seniors had halted at the Early-Nascent Soul stage, let alone him, whose own aptitude was only considered above average. His advancement to Nascent Soul had surprised many of his fellow disciples.
With ordinary aptitude and his cultivation stagnating for the past two hundred years, although he was a revered Supreme Elder within the Spirit Beast Sect, in the eyes of the First Seat Ancestor Lingyun, he was no different from the sect master who handled miscellaneous affairs—just with higher cultivation and more presentable.
If nothing unexpected happened, the remaining five or six hundred years would likely be just like this: halting at the Early-Nascent Soul stage like most Nascent Soul cultivators, until his lifespan ended.
But how could he be content with that? Given any opportunity, even at the risk of falling, he wanted to advance further, to reach the mid-stage.
In this regard, Zong Si, with only two or three hundred years of lifespan left, was the same as him—perhaps even more desperate.
So, as soon as they accepted this task, both of them thought the same thing. The secret treasury of an ancient sect—this opportunity was too rare. In the past, obtaining such information required paying a great price. Now, they had gotten a clue for nothing.
To others, that map was too vague, making it hard to find the treasure location. The Extreme West was desolate, without even a spiritual vein. This really didn't seem like a good assignment. But he and Zong Si had other thoughts. The Extreme West was vast. If they truly couldn't find concrete clues, they would just treat it as avoiding disaster—no loss. If they found something, that would be their great opportunity.
With this mindset, they came to the Extreme West.
Unexpectedly, this time, heaven truly favored them.
They stopped at an oasis midway and accidentally discovered the meditation site of an ancient cultivator. On that ancient senior's body, they found a complete map. Comparing this map with the incomplete one in their hands, the two discovered that this secret treasury was located in Wind-Sand City.
When leaving, they took everything from the temporary cave dwelling. Unexpectedly, the spirit beast pouch of this ancient senior preserved a strange insect species that had survived to this day. Hundreds of flying insects swarmed out, chasing the two until they were covered in dust and dirt.
Fleeing in disarray to the vicinity of Wind-Sand City, they finally shook off the strange insects. They had just settled in a nearby small town, restored their spiritual qi, and prepared to explore according to the map when they coincidentally ran into Qin Shoujing and Mo Qingwei of the Xuanqing Sect.
Towards these two, he harbored jealousy—or rather, few cultivators in the Tianji Region didn't envy them. Their immortal cultivation paths had been so smooth it was impossible not to envy. At a young age, they had already advanced to Nascent Soul. Especially Qin Shoujing, who, like him, had dual spiritual roots, actually succeeded in forming his Nascent Soul around two hundred years old, and had already advanced to the mid-stage early on. With a thousand years of lifespan remaining, he might even have a chance to attempt Human Transformation.
If possible, he really didn't want to reveal this matter to them. But, considering that among those who seized the map from the demonic cultivators was Perfected One Xuanyin of the Xuanqing Sect, he and Zong Si ultimately decided to bring them into the fold. From another perspective, Qin Shoujing possessed extraordinary divine abilities. With him joining, they gained an extra measure of confidence.
Upon entering Wind-Sand City and discovering that the grand formation inside was merely difficult to crack without posing any substantial danger, he immediately proposed the idea of splitting up. If they could handle it themselves, there was no need to share the treasures with these two. If it exceeded their capabilities, they could send a message then. And even if discovered midway, they could use the excuse of having just found the entrance.
But he never expected that just as he and Zong Si were preparing to break the formation, the demonic cultivators Qin Shoujing and the others had encountered actually appeared.
That pale-skinned male cultivator seemed to look down on them completely, merely ordering his maidservant to attack. Huo Ziqi was furious, not only because this person had exterminated his spirit beast, the Spirit-Seeking Butterfly, but also because of their contempt.
The Golden-Winged Roc let out a cry. That demonic cultivator woman named Hongxiao snorted disdainfully. The strange weapon in her hand, shaped like a windmill, began to spin as she pounced towards the Golden-Winged Roc.
Huo Ziqi sneered, his whip lashing out, continuously lengthening as it coiled towards Hongxiao.
Hongxiao didn't even glance at it. Her figure shifted unpredictably, passing through the whip's path. The twin-bladed dagger in her hand stabbed viciously towards the Golden-Winged Roc.
The Golden-Winged Roc opened its beak, and a bolt of lightning shot towards Hongxiao.
Thunder-based spells were the most formidable among all elemental spells, especially since this Golden-Winged Roc was already eighth-rank. Unable to dodge in time, Hongxiao gripped the middle of her twin-bladed dagger and pulled. It separated back into two daggers. Then, crossing her hands, the crossed daggers easily blocked the lightning.
Huo Ziqi's face darkened. He had originally thought that since both he and Zong Si were Early-Nascent Soul, and these two demonic cultivators were also at the early stage, they might not necessarily be weaker. Only now did he realize he had underestimated demonic cultivators.
Kunwu almost had no true demonic cultivators, including that perverse Songfeng Shangren, who wasn't a pure demonic cultivator either. For tens of thousands of years, demonic cultivators had been confined north of the Tianmo Mountains, which led them to underestimate the strength of demonic cultivators. In reality, in terms of one-on-one combat, demonic cultivators' strength surpassed theirs. It was only because demonic cultivators were few in number that they had been suppressed all along.
"Brother Zong!" Huo Ziqi was about to call for Zong Si to attack when a sweep of his gaze revealed Zong Si locked in combat with entangling demonic qi. The Five Elements Banner and the demonic qi were tangled together, unable to break free. And that male demonic cultivator was still just standing to the side, coldly watching his fight with Hongxiao.
His heart turned cold. Only now did he understand what Qin Shoujing meant by 'mysterious and unpredictable divine abilities.' This male cultivator seemed to only have early-stage cultivation, but his strength far surpassed his and Zong Si's. He couldn't help but regret: why had he wanted to monopolize the treasure and sent Qin Shoujing and the other away? If the four of them had joined forces, they definitely could have defeated these two.
But regret was too late now. He could only hope that Qin Shoujing and Mo Qingwei would detect the spiritual qi fluctuations and arrive in time.
Just as he was thinking this, a sudden pain shot through his chest, and his spiritual breath became chaotic. His natal spirit beast, the Golden-Winged Roc, had been stabbed by Hongxiao.
With its wing pierced by the dagger, the Golden-Winged Roc tumbled from the air, barely stabilizing itself before letting out a cry towards Huo Ziqi. An eighth-rank spirit beast already possessed intelligence. The Golden-Winged Roc was calling for his help.
Seeing his spirit beast injured and unable to fight back, Huo Ziqi lashed out with his whip, coiling it towards Hongxiao.
Under his interference, Hongxiao was forced to retreat. At that moment, the male cultivator who had been standing in mid-air the whole time suddenly looked north. "We can't delay any longer." With that, his silver-white false hand suddenly expanded, reaching towards Zong Si.
"Ah!" Hearing the scream, Huo Ziqi turned his head. His face changed drastically.
That male cultivator's false hand had just crushed Zong Si's head with brute force, not even allowing his Nascent Soul to escape!
Fear surged in his heart. Without time to think, he teleported to the Golden-Winged Roc's side, stored it in his spirit beast pouch, transformed into a streak of escaping light, and fled into the distance.
"Trying to escape?" The male cultivator snorted coldly. A giant hand suddenly appeared in mid-air, viciously grabbing towards Huo Ziqi.
"Ah!" This time, it was Huo Ziqi's scream. His physical body was crushed into a pile of flesh. Even his Nascent Soul, which had just fled, had no time to escape before being crushed into a bloody mist.
As the bloody mist dispersed, the male cultivator wiped his retrieved false hand, cleaning off the bloodstains.
"Young Master." The maidservant Hongxiao had already picked up the two men's belongings, presenting the sheepskin scroll.
The male cultivator took the sheepskin scroll. "Let's go!"
Not long after they left, two streaks of escaping light appeared on the horizon, quickly descending. Seeing the flesh and blood scattered everywhere, along with Zong Si's headless corpse, Qin Xi frowned. "We're too late."
Sensing the spiritual qi fluctuations, the two of them had immediately rushed over. But Wind-Sand City was neither too big nor too small. Even at their maximum escape speed, it took them nearly half an hour to reach the location of the fluctuations. By then, Huo Ziqi and Zong Si had already perished.
Looking at the scattered flesh on the ground, Mo Tiange suppressed her nausea. "These two, their methods are truly ruthless."
She had seen many corpses, but rarely one this disgusting. People she had been laughing and talking with just days ago had now become piles of flesh.
Qin Xi scanned the area, bent down, and picked up a palm-sized metal fragment from the sand. He weighed it in his hand. "This is Black Gold."
"Black Gold?" Mo Tiange was surprised. Black Gold was a precious material for artifact forging, especially suitable for sword casting. It was more common in ancient times but rare now. For sword cultivators, obtaining even a small amount was difficult. They had seen it before in the secret land of the Guixu Sea, used by ancient major sect cultivators to make mechanisms. Something this precious, just casually found like this?
"It seems to be something belonging to those two," Qin Xi said. This piece of Black Gold was shiny and gleaming, hardly looking like something left over from ancient times.
Mo Tiange took the Black Gold Fragment from his hand and examined it carefully. "This piece of Black Gold is cut very neatly, with almost no impurities. It doesn't seem to be just raw material."
"Hmm. If it's material, it might be from an ancient cultivator," Qin Xi said. Suddenly noticing Mo Tiange's expression had become very strange, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Mo Tiange handed the Black Gold Fragment back to him. "Feel it."
Qin Xi touched it and only then discovered that the surface of the Black Gold Fragment had very fine engraved lines.
The two exchanged a glance. Mo Tiange took out an ink box from her Qiankun Bag, stained the Black Gold Fragment with ink, and pressed it against the back of her hand.
Removing the fragment, the lines on her hand formed a chaotic, intricate pattern.
Seeing this pattern, the two looked up at each other and exclaimed simultaneously, "A map!"