Chapter 22: Chu Hao: Put Down My Treasure!

That very night, in Great Xia’s western outskirts.

The night was dark as ink.

Several figures moved across the wilderness like ghosts.

They were astonishingly fast, and not a sound came when they touched the ground.

The one in front wore Night-Raiding Garb and a black cloth over his face, revealing only a pair of eyes gleaming sharply.

It was none other than Chu Hao, operating under an assumed identity.

At the moment, he ought to be called… the Carefree Young Master.

Behind him followed several cultivators with formidable auras.

Though these people were dressed in all manner of styles and showed no real discipline or cohesion, every one of them possessed a heavy, restrained presence.

They were clearly all unaffiliated Arcane Dao cultivators with Third-Rank strength.

“Carefree Young Master, can you really pay the reward you promised?”

A burly man carrying a great saber spoke with some impatience:

“When you really get your hands on it, you’d better not go back on your word.”

Chu Hao curled his lip.

Inwardly, he was full of disdain, but outwardly he soothed them with a smile:

“Rest easy. The name of the Carefree Young Master was not made only today. All of you, stay sharp. Once we get the thing, none of you will be denied your share.”

“Many thanks, Carefree Young Master.”

The saber-bearing man cried out excitedly.

He tightened his grip on the saber in his hand, while greed filled his lowered eyes.

If there was truly some great treasure ahead, then everyone would rely on his own ability. Whoever seized it would keep it.

Another, younger wandering cultivator had eyes shining with excitement.

So many experts were moving together. The treasure had to be extraordinary.

He had only just slipped away from home, and already he had encountered such a great fortuitous opportunity.

Could it be that he truly was Heaven’s chosen one?

Chu Hao naturally knew full well what kind of people these wandering cultivators were.

Still, he had something to rely on.

If they got their hands on the treasure and these people behaved, then he could let them drink a little soup.

If they did not behave… then with the Old Grandpa at his side, this young master was second to none when it came to escaping with his life.

When the time came, no one would be able to stop him.

Just as this group, each harboring his own schemes, fumbled their way forward, an extremely faint series of footsteps suddenly came from ahead.

Both sides were moving rapidly through the darkness, and both had deliberately concealed their auras.

Together with the complicated terrain of the place, they actually rounded a corner and slammed straight into one another.

“Who’s there?”

“Who goes there?”

The two sharp cries rang out almost at the same instant.

Facing them was another group of black-clad, masked figures. They were carrying bags and bundles on their backs and moving in obvious haste.

They were none other than the core personnel of the Shan Kingdom, preparing to withdraw from the western outskirts.

For one brief instant, the two sides simply stared at one another wide-eyed.

Then the atmosphere froze to its utmost extreme.

The man leading the Shan Kingdom group was inwardly horrified.

These were Great Xia men. Could it be that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had not withdrawn at all and had instead secretly sent these experts here to lie in ambush? The secret here absolutely could not be exposed. Every last one of them had to be silenced.

As for the wandering cultivators on Chu Hao’s side, their eyes lit up.

Damn it! That bunch was carrying great bags and bundles. They were definitely here for the treasure too. Or perhaps they had already gotten it and were preparing to run. How could that possibly be tolerated?

Just then, the ancient voice inside Chu Hao’s mind suddenly shrieked:

“It’s on them! That scent… that’s Heavenly Dragon Fragrance, and it’s of the highest grade.”

“By the heavens… a National Fortune treasure. They truly do have guts.”

Afraid Chu Hao might not understand, the old man hurriedly explained:

“Nourished Heavenly Ginseng is a treasure that appears once in ten thousand years. At the beginning, however, it is only an embryo. It evolves according to the resources used to nurture it, and when it matures, it returns that nourishment a hundredfold.”

“These people actually dared to use Great Xia’s national fortune to nourish the Nourished Heavenly Ginseng.”

“And now it has become the highest possible form: Heavenly Dragon Ginseng.”

“It is a supreme treasure capable of infinitely raising the potential of the flesh.”

The moment Chu Hao heard that, his eyes instantly turned red.

A National Fortune treasure?

Something that could infinitely raise the potential of the flesh?

Would that not mean one could become a saint in the flesh?

How could he possibly let that escape?

“Attack! The treasure is on them!”

With a great roar, Chu Hao charged first.

The wandering cultivators behind him heard the word “treasure” and immediately howled as they lunged forward.

“You are courting death.”

The leader on the Shan Kingdom side changed expression, and his heart gave a jolt.

“So we really have been exposed.”

The short spike in his hand flipped over, a cold gleam flashing.

“Kill them all.”

Boom!

The two sides instantly fell into fierce combat.

The moment they exchanged blows, both sides were shocked.

Chu Hao was shaken inwardly.

As expected of a National Fortune treasure. The ones who had reached it first were truly formidable.

And every single one of them attacked with killing blows, without leaving the slightest room to spare.

They were fighting with their lives on the line.

The more desperately the other side fought, the more excited Chu Hao became.

This was the kind of allure a supreme treasure ought to have.

As for the Shan Kingdom side, they were even more shaken.

This group from Great Xia had clearly come prepared.

And the moment they arrived, they had shouted about the treasure, proving they knew the inside details.

That made it even more impossible to let anyone on the other side leave alive.

The battle instantly entered a white-hot stage.

Spiritual energy surged, blades flashed, and swords flickered, blasting apart the surrounding trees and rocks.

……

And hidden not far away, Su Can sat astride a black horse, looking at the battle erupting in the distance, his eyes full of confusion.

He had absolutely no idea who either side was, or what they were trying to do.

Nor did he understand why they had suddenly begun fighting one another to the death.

But one thing he did know:

not a single person here could be allowed to escape.

He waved a hand.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard behind him silently spread out, forming a vast encirclement.

“Pass the order. Have the City Guard Army move in and reinforce us.”

“Tonight, not even a fly is leaving this place.”

……

At the center of the battlefield, Chu Hao’s side was, after all, made up of wandering cultivators. Their coordination was worse.

But they had greater numbers, and their overall strength was higher, so they gradually began to gain the upper hand.

Bang!

With a palm strike, Chu Hao forced back one of the Shan Kingdom warriors and roared:

“My friends, your strength is not weak. To die here would not be worth it. As long as you put down the treasure, we will withdraw and let you leave.”

“We want wealth, not lives.”

Hearing those words, the Shan Kingdom experts only grew more desperate.

Put down the treasure?

That treasure concerned the fortune of their nation.

If they lost the treasure, then even if they returned alive, they would still be beheaded.

How was that any different from asking for their lives?

These Great Xia people were truly killing the heart as well as the body.

“In your dreams.”

The leader of the Shan Kingdom group shouted sharply, blood qi erupting from his body.

“Break out with everything you have! Fight them to the death and bring the treasure back!”

The Shan Kingdom side also understood that there was no retreat left. Each of them unleashed his qi and blood, no longer caring about concealing his identity.

“Damn it, they’re people of the Shan Kingdom.”

Chu Hao was startled at once, and inwardly he grew even more certain.

So it was true!

That damned Second Prince of the Shan Kingdom really had come for my treasure.

With a furious roar, Chu Hao’s eyes seemed to spit fire:

“A treasure of Great Xia will not be touched by barbarians like you!”

The battle between the two sides instantly turned into a struggle of life and death.

Some of the wandering cultivators on Chu Hao’s side, seeing that things were turning bad, tried to retreat, only to be forced back into the fight by the desperate, life-risking style of the Shan Kingdom side.

They could only curse those madmen inwardly and throw themselves back into battle.

At last, that bloody struggle neared its end.

Both sides had paid a grievous price, and several corpses already lay on the ground.

Those who remained were all wounded and panting heavily as they confronted one another.

Just as Chu Hao was preparing to say something triumphant and force the other side to hand over the treasure—Clap. Clap. Clap.

A crisp round of applause came from the darkness.