Chapter 514 - 510: Arriving at Wangxi County
Chapter 514: Chapter 510: Arriving at Wangxi County
Ten days later. Wangxi County.
Fang Han stood atop a low hill, his gaze sweeping over layers of a verdant sea of trees toward the distant silhouette of a city, faintly visible in the morning mist.
’So this is Wangxi County.’
From what he had learned before setting out, the power structure in Wangxi County was quite peculiar, unlike that of Qingyang County.
The entire county was home to dozens of powers, large and small, that were constantly fighting amongst themselves. Yet, not a single one had ever managed to become dominant and ascend to the status of a true top-level influence.
It wasn’t because the Martial Artists of Wangxi County were less talented than those in other counties. On the contrary, the martial spirit in Wangxi County was exceptionally strong, and the county was teeming with experts. In terms of the number of Martial Artists at the Third Grade and above, it was by no means inferior to Qingyang County.
The reason was simple: the Celestial Essence Sect would not allow it.
This Overlord-level Influence, presided over by a Great Grandmaster, had a sphere of influence that covered five surrounding counties, and Wangxi County was one of them.
The Celestial Essence Sect did not want another top-level influence rising up in its own backyard. Thus, whenever a power in Wangxi County showed the potential to dominate the county, the Celestial Essence Sect would step in and suppress it.
Those powers with the potential to reach the top level were either divided and dismantled, absorbed and annexed, or simply vanished overnight.
Because of this, Wangxi County had remained in a chaotic state of warring factions for decades.
For the Celestial Essence Sect, this was undoubtedly the easiest state to control.
After ten straight days of travel, even with Fang Han’s current Cultivation and physique, he couldn’t help but feel a bit mentally exhausted.
This exhaustion didn’t stem from physical exertion, but from the mental drain of maintaining high alert for an extended period while traversing mountains and forests.
Fang Han decided to find a place to rest first.
WHOOSH!
Getting his bearings, Fang Han’s figure flickered and shot toward the city like a streak of moonlight-white light.
The city was called An City, and it was the largest city in northwestern Wangxi County.
After entering the city, Fang Han didn’t wander around. He went straight to a relatively clean inn he found by the main street.
He requested a superior room, had the attendant bring hot water and a meal, and after washing up and eating, he collapsed onto the bed. The moment his head hit the pillow, drowsiness washed over him.
He slept very deeply, from the afternoon all the way until dawn the next day—a full sixteen to eighteen hours.
When he awoke, morning light was filtering into the room through the paper window.
Fang Han lay with his eyes open for a moment, feeling the renewed energy coursing through his body, before finally sitting up.
The fatigue accumulated from ten days of travel had finally, completely dissipated after that long, deep sleep.
He got up, washed up simply, changed into a clean white robe, settled the bill, and left the inn, heading for the city gates.
After another two days of travel, crossing several mountain ridges and passing through a few ancient forests, the lake from the Treasure Map finally appeared before him.
The lake was vast, a boundless expanse of Bibo waves. As the morning breeze swept across its surface, it created layers of fine, silvery scales.
On the northern shore of the lake was a stretch of rolling hills, covered in dense woods and hanging vines.
’This is the place.’
Standing on a protruding green rock on the lakeshore, Fang Han compared the Treasure Map with the terrain before him, verifying it piece by piece.
The shape of the lake, the direction of the mountain range, the stream that meandered into the water—every detail matched the map.
He followed the lakeshore north for about an hour, entering a valley rarely touched by human feet.
Ancient trees in the valley towered into the sky, their branches and leaves obscuring the sun and making the light as dim as twilight.
Countless years of decaying leaves covered the ground, soft and silent underfoot.
The surrounding mountain walls were covered in moss, with vines hanging down like waterfalls.
Fang Han searched carefully through the valley, his gaze sweeping inch by inch over the moss-covered cliff faces.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, his gaze landed on a particular section of the cliff face.
At first glance, this part of the cliff seemed no different from its surroundings, equally covered in moss and obscured by vines.
But upon closer inspection, one could see that the surface of this cliff was too smooth—far too smooth to be the result of thousands of years of wind and water erosion.
Fang Han drew his sword and scraped away a patch of moss from the cliff’s surface, revealing a smooth stone wall beneath—
It was a type of stone he had never seen before, grayish-white in color, with a fine texture that was cool to the touch.
He took two steps back, drew a deep breath, and placed his right hand on the hilt of his Wind Shocking Sword.
The Inner Qi from his Cyan Profound Technique erupted within him. He unreservedly activated the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Mastery Realm, and his Wind Sword Intent solidified as he slashed out with his sword.
Not even an ordinary First Grade Martial Artist would dare to receive such a blow head-on.
CLANG—!
The sound of metal striking metal exploded through the valley, startling countless birds into flight.
A shower of sparks flew from the cliff face. Fang Han felt a tremendous force rebound through the blade, making his arm go slightly numb.
He steadied himself and looked up, his pupils constricting slightly.
On the cliff face, there was only a shallow white mark.
"It really is no ordinary material!"
Fang Han fell silent.
With his current strength, that one strike should have been enough to level a small hill, yet it had only left a white mark on this cliff face.
This was definitely not ordinary stone.
And such a setup only further proved that this place was extraordinary.
He sheathed his sword, walked forward, and began to carefully feel around on the cliff face.
The moss flaked away, revealing the smooth stone surface underneath, which felt cool and fine to the touch.
His fingertips slid inch by inch over the surface of the grayish-white stone when suddenly, he felt a nearly imperceptible indentation.
The indentation was so small that it would have been impossible to notice without carefully feeling for it.
His heart stirred, and he gently pressed his fingertip into the indentation.
CLICK—
A crisp mechanical click echoed from deep within the cliff. The sound was extremely faint, yet it was extraordinarily clear in the dead-silent valley.
Immediately after, the entire cliff face began to tremble slightly. The moss and vines clinging to it rustled and fell away as spiderweb-like cracks spread across the stone surface.
Fang Han took several steps back, his right hand subconsciously moving to his sword hilt.
The next moment, the cliff face, several zhang high, began to descend like a giant door pushed by an invisible hand.
With a dull RUMBLE, the cliff face sank inch by inch into the ground. Rubble rustled down from above as dust filled the air, obscuring his vision.
When the rumbling finally stopped and the dust gradually settled, a wide passage appeared before Fang Han.
The passage was rectangular, about two zhang high and wide enough for several people to walk side-by-side.
The walls and floor were all paved with the same grayish-white stone, identical in material to the cliff face.
Every few zhang, a fist-sized Luminous Pearl was embedded in the ceiling, emitting a cool yet bright glow that illuminated the entire passage as if it were daytime.
The luster of the Luminous Pearls was gentle and soft. Despite being in this sealed passage for who knows how many ages, they hadn’t dimmed in the slightest.
Fang Han looked away and stepped into the passage.
The soles of his boots landed on the stone slabs, creating low footfalls that echoed faintly in the empty passage.
Behind him, the cliff face rose again with a dull RUMBLE, sealing the entrance perfectly shut.
’I’m not going to be trapped in here, am I?’
Fang Han’s heart tightened. He turned to look at the sealed cliff face, walked over, and began searching it carefully from the inside.
’Since this Treasure Storage was left for posterity, there has to be a way out.’
Sure enough, near the bottom-right corner on the inside of the cliff face, he found another, almost identical indentation.
Feeling slightly relieved, Fang Han committed the indentation’s location to memory before turning around and continuing down the passage.
The passage was very long, winding its way downward as if leading deep into the mountain’s core.
There were no extra decorations on the walls, only the Luminous Pearls emitting their constant, unchanging light.
It was so quiet that only the sounds of his own footsteps and breathing echoed repeatedly in the deep, dark passage.
After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Fang Han’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
He stopped and crouched down.
The floor of the passage was covered in a thin layer of accumulated dust—fine powder that had flaked off the stone walls over long ages, evenly coating every inch of the ground.
And just a short distance ahead, clearly visible in that layer of dust, was a shallow footprint.
’Someone’s been here!’
Fang Han’s gaze fell upon the footprint, and his brows furrowed slightly.
’This wasn’t a print left a long time ago. A footprint from ages past would have been covered by dust again, becoming faint and indistinct. But the edges of this footprint are clear and its outline is distinct; the dust hasn’t yet resettled over it. Based on my experience, this footprint can’t be more than a few months old. Someone was here within the last few months. Before me.’
’Someone beat me to it!’
Fang Han’s heart sank.
He stood up and hurried forward along the passage.
Along the way, he found several more similar footprints of varying depths.
A moment later, the passage suddenly opened up, and Fang Han rushed into a massive subterranean hall.
The design of this hall was remarkably similar to the one in the Ancient Ruins he had entered before—a high, vaulted ceiling, with four smooth, flat walls built from grayish-white stone.
Embedded in the ceiling were Luminous Pearls even larger than the ones in the passage, casting a cold, clear light that brightly illuminated the entire hall.
However, unlike the hall in the Ancient Ruins, this one was completely empty.
There were no passages for trials, no puppets guarding the ruins, and as for the treasure Fang Han had been dreaming of, that was also nowhere to be found.
The entire space felt desolate, exuding an indescribable emptiness.
"Someone definitely beat me to it!"
Fang Han’s heart sank as he surveyed his surroundings.
’This Treasure Storage marked on the Treasure Map most likely held something extremely valuable. But now, it’s highly likely those things have already been taken. What I can’t figure out is who that person was, and how they knew about this Treasure Storage. Could there be more than one copy of the Treasure Map?’
"Let’s see if there’s anything valuable left!"
After a moment of silence, Fang Han suppressed his disappointment and resumed his search of the hall.
’I hope I can find some hidden compartment in a corner, so this trip won’t be a complete waste.’
KNOCK KNOCK—
He walked slowly along the four walls of the hall, his gaze sweeping inch by inch over the smooth surfaces, occasionally rapping his knuckles against them to listen for any hollow spaces behind.
He went from the east wall to the south, and from the south wall to the west. As he approached the innermost wall of the hall, something unexpected happened.
A ball of golden light suddenly flared up on his body.