"Where did you two obtain this thing?" the male cultivator asked coldly.
The old man laughed. "It seems you have a piece as well?"
The male cultivator didn't speak, merely staring at them icily.
The old man put away the Black Gold Fragment, his smile vanishing as he eyed them sidelong. "Do you intend to snatch it by force?"
Before his words had fully faded, the male cultivator's False Hand suddenly expanded, lunging to grab the old man.
In an instant, the old man transformed into a mass of demonic qi, vanishing from his spot and reappearing ten zhang away.
With a clear *shing*, the sword cultivator's blade leaped from behind his back, slashing toward the giant hand.
The male cultivator snorted coldly, ignoring the sword, and continued reaching for the old man. The next moment, the sword blade struck the giant hand, emitting a sharp, grating sound.
The male cultivator's expression changed. He immediately retracted his hand, staring at the sword cultivator in shock.
The sword cultivator wore a faint, ambiguous smile. With a flick of his arm, he recalled his flying sword and said leisurely, "Fellow Daoist, it's been a long time."
The male cultivator stared at him intently for a while, showing slight surprise. "You..."
"I am Jian Xin," said the sword cultivator, his face gaunt and angular, his eyes sparkling like peach blossoms when he smiled. "Over eighty years ago, I had the fortune of meeting you once."
The male cultivator stared at them, silent. Jian Xin smiled, stroking his sword as he spoke. "You seem to overestimate yourself, Fellow Daoist. Killing to seize treasures is not such an easy task."
The male cultivator clenched both fists. Upon closer inspection, one could see the hand Jian Xin had struck trembling slightly. After a long pause, he finally asked with a dark expression, "What do you want?"
"We don't want anything," replied the old man, who had slowly walked to Jian Xin's side. His face twitched slightly. "We all hail from Yunzhong. To meet here in the Tianji Region is truly fate. Why not take out your piece, Fellow Daoist, and we can cooperate?"
The male cultivator's face remained gloomy as he stared fixedly at the two, silent for a long while.
"Fellow Daoist," the old man said again, narrowing his eyes, "if you harbor doubts, we have nothing more to say. Farewell."
The two turned to leave.
"Wait." The male cultivator finally spoke. "How would we cooperate?"
The old man smiled. "You must know this map is not a single piece. With just your own fragment, finding the treasure is difficult. If we combine our two pieces, our chances will increase greatly."
The male cultivator's gaze shifted. "How would we divide the spoils?"
"There are two of you, two of us. All four are at the Early Nascent Soul stage. Naturally, we split it equally."
"..."
The male cultivator didn't answer immediately, and the old man and Jian Xin didn't press him.
After a good while, the male cultivator finally said, "Fine."
"Decisive!" The old man took out the Black Gold Fragment again. "Will you show us yours now?"
The male cultivator silently retrieved an identically shaped Black Gold Fragment from his Qiankun Bag, waving it slightly to show he wasn't deceiving them.
The old man and Jian Xin exchanged a glance, nodding to each other.
The old man raised his hand in a salute. "This humble one is called Heipao, an obscure loose cultivator from Yunzhong." He pointed at Jian Xin. "This is Fellow Daoist Jian Xin. You seem to know him, so no introduction is needed."
The male cultivator nodded stiffly. "I am Tian Xuan. This is my maidservant, Hongxiao. We hail from Yexiao City."
"Nascent Soul cultivators from Yexiao City. Your statuses are extraordinary," Heipao said with a beaming smile. Among the demonic cities of Yunzhong, unlike sects, typically only the city lord was a Nascent Soul cultivator. If there were others, they were usually successors or had an extraordinary relationship with the city lord.
The male cultivator named Tian Xuan curled the corner of his mouth slightly, remaining silent, appearing rather uncommunicative.
Heipao and Jian Xin didn't mind, beginning to discuss the details of cooperation with Tian Xuan.
"Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan..."
"Wait," Tian Xuan said, looking at them. "Might I ask where you obtained your Black Gold Fragment?"
Heipao grinned, answering with a question. "A few months ago, the Yuan Prefecture Trade Alliance held an auction in Yunyi City. Did you attend, Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan?"
Hearing this, a glint flashed in Tian Xuan's eyes. "Indeed." The Black Gold Fragment in his possession was precisely what he had won at that auction. After the world's upheaval, the Yunzhong branch of the Yuan Prefecture Trade Alliance, to raise funds for searching for Yuan Prefecture, had auctioned off many treasured items. This Black Gold Fragment was one of them.
Tian Xuan stared at them. "It seems you also attended that auction."
"Exactly. If not for that, this humble one wouldn't have known what purpose this Black Gold Fragment served."
Tian Xuan narrowed his eyes, not understanding his meaning. "Fellow Daoist Heipao still hasn't said where your Black Gold Fragment came from."
"Heh heh," Heipao chuckled twice. "I'm not as wealthy as you, Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan. Three million spirit stones—my entire fortune isn't enough. Otherwise, I would have exhausted my savings to obtain the fragment in your hands."
Seeing Tian Xuan growing impatient, Heipao got to the point. "I obtained this thing by chance several hundred years ago. I never knew its use and didn't pay it much mind. It wasn't until a few months ago, when I went to Yunyi City for the auction, that I learned this item was related to an ancient treasure site. Unfortunately, my funds were insufficient, and I failed to win the fragment you hold. Afterwards, I bribed a steward of the Yuan Prefecture Trade Alliance to obtain the treasure location information that came with the Black Gold Fragment."
"So that's how it is." Confirming it had nothing to do with the Yuan Prefecture Trade Alliance's deliberate actions, Tian Xuan's expression eased. If the alliance had intentionally split and sold the pieces, he would have had to seek trouble with them later.
Heipao asked, "Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan, you arrived before us. Have you found any clues?"
Tian Xuan shook his head. "Earlier, we encountered four Daoist cultivators. We killed two of them. The other two were quite powerful, so we fled here to rest for now."
"There are actually others." Heipao frowned, then said, "Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan, could you take out the map on your Black Gold Fragment to compare and confirm?"
Tian Xuan pondered briefly, then took out a scroll of paper from his robes. "The map is here."
Heipao also produced a piece of beast hide. The two stepped forward, aligning their maps. Both were taken aback. "They don't match?"
They stared at each other, wide-eyed, both surprised. Their Black Gold Fragments were identical in size and style, yet the maps didn't align.
"You two," said Jian Xin, who was leaning on his sword to the side, "look at these maps. The scale and brushstrokes are completely identical. They should be part of the same map."
Heipao turned to him. "What do you mean, Fellow Daoist Jian Xin?"
"Heh heh." Jian Xin raised his sword, tapping the hilt between the paper and the beast hide. "A piece is missing in the middle. That's why they don't match."
Heipao and Tian Xuan thought for a moment, then both nodded in agreement.
"It seems those Daoist cultivators must have another piece of the map," Heipao said, then asked Tian Xuan, "Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan, are they from the Tianji Region?"
"Correct," Tian Xuan nodded.
"That's a bit troublesome," Heipao said, stroking his sparse beard. "Cultivators from Tianji might not be willing to cooperate with us!"
"Hmph!" Tian Xuan said. "Only two of them remain now. There are four of us. Let's just seize it. What cooperation?"
Hearing this, Heipao raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "Well said." After a pause, he asked, "Since we're cooperating, what should our next step be? Do you have any suggestions, Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan?"
"Naturally, seize the map first," Tian Xuan said expressionlessly. "Only when the three map pieces are combined will treasure hunting be more assured."
"A reasonable point, Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan. Shall we go find those two Daoist cultivators first?"
"Mn." Tian Xuan's eyes flickered. "This Wind-Sand City is not small, and these sand dunes are quite strange. Finding two people won't be easy."
"Then what do you suggest, Fellow Daoist Tian Xuan?"
"Let's split up and search," Tian Xuan said. "Once found, we regroup."
Heipao thought for a moment, then nodded. "Agreed."
Thus decided, the two sides exchanged communication jade tokens, then parted ways, one going left, the other right.
A quarter of an hour later, when they could no longer sense each other's auras, the silent Hongxiao asked doubtfully, "Young Master, we already know the entrance to the treasure site. Why cooperate with them?"
Tian Xuan's expression was grave. "Those two are exceptionally powerful. If we don't cooperate with them, should we fight to the death?"
"But at that time, weren't they about to leave?"
"Do you really believe they would simply leave?" Tian Xuan glanced at her. "Hmph! Don't think of Nascent Soul cultivators as too simple. If we hadn't agreed then, they would have surely plotted against us in secret."
"..."
"Rather than constantly guarding against their schemes, it's better to agree first. That way, as long as they aren't confident of defeating me, they won't act recklessly."
"This servant understands," Hongxiao said. "Young Master is doing this to buy time. Once the City Lord arrives, we can simply eliminate them all."
"Correct. You're not too foolish."
Hongxiao bit her lip, lowering her head to follow silently behind him.
After walking a distance, Tian Xuan finally sighed. "I underestimated others. That Tianji Region cultivator is one thing, but even Yunzhong has such deeply concealed Early Stage cultivators. That Jian Xin... it's only been over eighty years, yet he's grown so much stronger..."
On the other side, Heipao and Jian Xin also had a conversation.
"Why cooperate with them?" Jian Xin said, frowning. "Those two are from Yexiao City. It's highly likely Demon Lord Yeshuang is behind them. When she arrives, how can we contend against a late-stage great cultivator? By then, we'll have to hand over our map obediently, and our lives might be in danger too."
"You think I didn't consider that?" Heipao's voice changed. "They want to buy time, which means Demon Lord Yeshuang won't arrive immediately. I know where the treasure entrance is. Why not go along with their plan, also buying time? By the time Demon Lord Yeshuang comes, we'll have already taken the treasure. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"This..." Jian Xin thought carefully. It indeed made sense. That Tian Xuan was formidable, with an Early Nascent Soul maidservant by his side. Rather than both sides suffering losses in a fight, it was better to be clever. Even if Demon Lord Yeshuang arrived, with only one-third of the map, finding the entrance wouldn't be quick, right?