Chapter 515 - 511: Treasures Everywhere
Chapter 515: Chapter 511: Treasures Everywhere
"What’s going on?"
Fang Han was startled and quickly looked down toward the source of the light.
The glow wasn’t coming from his body, but from within his robes.
He reached into his collar and pulled out the glowing object. It was the Treasure Map.
At this moment, the map, made from a pale brown beast hide, was emitting a soft and brilliant golden light.
On the surface of the hide, the once-faint lines lit up one by one, transforming into golden runes that Fang Han had never seen before.
Fang Han glanced at the Treasure Map in his hand, then raised his head to look at the wall just inches away.
Golden runes began to light up on the wall as well.
The runes appeared from nothing, brightening from dim to radiant. Like long-slumbering stars being awakened one by one, they traced out vast patterns across the grayish-white stone.
Fang Han looked up and saw that the entire wall was now covered in golden runes. They weren’t arranged chaotically; instead, they faintly formed some kind of incredibly profound pattern.
Under the cold glow of the Luminous Pearl, they flowed with a mesmerizing, mystical radiance.
Immediately after, the wall rippled like the surface of water, sending out concentric circles.
The ripples were gentle and silent, yet they caused the entire wall to become hazy.
’Could it be...?’
Fang Han took a deep breath. He placed his right hand on his sword’s hilt and, holding the still-glowing Treasure Map in his left, slowly took a step forward.
He extended his left hand, cautiously reaching toward the watery wall.
The moment his fingertips touched the wall, a gentle yet immense suction force suddenly surged out from it.
The force wasn’t a brutish pull, but more like being swept up in a current, naturally drawing his body forward.
"HUMMM!"
Fang Han didn’t resist, allowing the suction to envelop him.
His entire body submerged into the wall.
First, his vision was filled with a vast expanse of golden light. Then the world spun, and his consciousness plunged into chaos.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a vast, wild forest.
Sunlight filtered through the dense layers of leaves, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow on the ground.
The air was damp and fresh, carrying the mixed scent of plants and earth.
Ancient trees towered all around, their canopies forming a continuous green dome that sliced the sky into countless shattered fragments.
The crisp, lingering calls of birds could be faintly heard in the distance.
’Where is this place?’
Fang Han was filled with bewildered uncertainty. His body twitched as he was about to leap to the treetops to survey the terrain, but at that exact moment, a stream of information poured into his mind out of thin air.
The information wasn’t in words or sounds, but was transmitted in a much more profound way—
it was as if someone had directly imprinted a pre-written passage into his sea of consciousness.
This was a Secret Realm, a space created by a mighty cultivator from ancient times.
The token to enter this Secret Realm was the Treasure Map in his hand.
The holder of the token could stay in the Secret Realm for three days each year. After three days, they would be automatically expelled by the realm itself.
The information ended abruptly, followed by silence.
’A mighty cultivator who could create a Secret Realm?’
Fang Han stood his ground, mulling over the information in his mind several times to ensure he hadn’t missed anything, before slowly exhaling a turbid breath.
A token, a Secret Realm, a three-day limit per year—some of the mystery was solved, but it only brought forth more questions.
Just what kind of mighty cultivator could actually create a Secret Realm?
’Was it a cultivator of the immortal path?’
But even they probably wouldn’t have such tremendous power, right?
’Unless they were a true Immortal!’
Suppressing these thoughts, Fang Han looked around, preparing to explore the Secret Realm.
He put the still faintly glowing Treasure Map back into his Storage Ring, took a deep breath, and pushed down the swirling thoughts in his mind.
’This isn’t the time to investigate the origin of the Secret Realm.’
’Three days.’
’The token only allows me to stay in the Secret Realm for three days a year. Time is tight, and every second is precious.’
He picked a random direction and started walking.
The forest floor was covered with a thick layer of decaying leaves, soft and silent to step on.
The canopies of the towering ancient trees filtered the sunlight into countless tiny specks, casting hazy beams of light through the damp air.
It was so tranquil it didn’t feel like a real world.
’It’s too quiet!’
Fang Han’s steps faltered slightly, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
This forest had no birdsong, no chirping insects. Even the sound of the wind seemed to have been devoured by some invisible force.
The dead silence was like a heavy, formless blanket, wrapping the entire world in its suffocating embrace.
This was not normal.
"HUMMM—"
With a flicker of his thoughts, Fang Han fully activated the "Thousand Mile Soul Lock."
The Tracking Secret Technique, at the Realm of Perfection, was unleashed without reservation, his perception spreading outwards.
Within a ten-li radius, the auras of all things were under his control.
However, when his perception reached its limit, his brow furrowed even more tightly.
Nothing.
Within his ten-li perception range, there was not a single living creature’s aura.
No Demon Beasts, no wild animals, not even the aura of a small creature.
This forest was dead.
This dead silence was too abnormal, and a sense of vigilance rose in his heart.
’This feels very wrong. I need to be careful!’
Fang Han started walking again, keeping his pace to that of a normal stroll. Each step was extremely steady and light, the soles of his boots making only the faintest rustling sound on the decaying leaves.
His right hand never left the hilt of his Cloud Splitting Sword, ready to draw it and face an enemy at any moment.
After walking for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the terrain ahead gradually flattened out, and a slope of scattered rocks came into view.
Broken rocks of all sizes were strewn about, their surfaces covered in moss, clearly having lain in this forest for countless years.
Fang Han’s gaze casually swept over the rocky slope. Just as he was about to look away, his eyes froze.
In the center of the slope, a rock about the size of a human head was half-buried in the dirt.
The rock’s surface was covered with moss, but in a few cracks where the moss had peeled away, a strange luster faintly shone through.
The luster was dark red, and under the sunlight filtering through the leaves, it had a cold, metallic sheen.
Fang Han walked over and used his hand to scrape off a piece of the moss from the rock’s surface.
The moss flaked off with a rustle, revealing the dark red body beneath—no, it wasn’t a rock at all.
It was an exposed metallic ore.
The entire ore was dark red, its surface covered in fine, natural patterns like fish scales. It gave off a cold, heavy luster in the sunlight.
He reached out and tapped it lightly. The ore produced a dull, solid sound, as if he had tapped a piece of refined iron that had been hammered a thousand times.
"Red Scale Ore."
Fang Han whispered the three words, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes.
He had seen records of this ore in the Sect’s archives—Red Scale Ore, named for the fish-scale-like patterns on its surface.
Its quality far surpassed ordinary metals, and it had excellent conductivity for all types of Inner Qi, making it a superior material for crafting Magical Soldiers.
In Qingyang County, a fist-sized piece of Red Scale Ore was enough to make several minor factions fight to the death for it.
And the one before him was as big as a human head, weighing at least several dozen jin.
’I didn’t expect to have such a great find so soon after entering the Secret Realm.’
A faint smile touched the corners of Fang Han’s mouth. With a flicker of his thoughts, he summoned the system panel that only he could see.
A translucent screen of light appeared before his eyes.
[Host: Fang Han]
[Root Bone Talent Amplification: 256x (Ninth Level Amplification requires 10,000,000 Gold)]
[Swordsmanship Talent Amplification: 256x (Ninth Level Amplification requires 10,000,000 Gold)]
[Stepping Talent Amplification: 128x (Level 8 Amplification requires 1,000,000 Gold)]
[Secret Technique Talent Amplification: 128x (Level 8 Amplification requires 1,000,000 Gold)]
[Horizontal Training Talent Amplification: 128x (Level 8 Amplification requires 1,000,000 Gold)]
[Wealth: 520,000 Gold]
He placed his hand on the Red Scale Ore, his intent focused.
"Deposit."
The Red Scale Ore vanished in an instant, as if wiped away by an invisible hand, and the number on the system panel jumped.
[Wealth: 520,000 Gold → 550,000 Gold]
’Thirty thousand gold.’
Fang Han’s gaze lingered on the line of numbers for a moment, and he felt quite satisfied.
Although the Red Scale Ore was the size of a human head, it was, after all, unrefined raw ore. For it to be worth 30,000 gold was quite good.
Withdrawing his hand, Fang Han continued onward.
With the precedent of the Red Scale Ore, Fang Han’s search of the forest became even more meticulous.
His gaze no longer just swept across the landscape; instead, he searched inch by inch, not letting any potential treasure-hiding corner escape his notice.
After walking for several li, he passed through a dense thicket of thorns, and the trees ahead suddenly thinned out.
A relatively open clearing appeared in his vision. A few large boulders were scattered around its edges, with weeds growing in the cracks between them.
Just as Fang Han was about to look away, his gaze was suddenly captivated by a strange gleam at the edge of the clearing.
It was a skeleton.
Its size was astonishing. Over five zhang long from head to tail, it lay prostrate on the ground like a small mountain of white bone.
Its thick limb bones were like temple pillars, each as thick as a grown man’s waist;
The vertebrae of its spine were linked together, curving in a ferocious arc.
Its long, thick tailbone was coiled to the side, the joints fitting together seamlessly.
Its massive skull was half-buried in the dirt, its empty eye sockets staring straight up at the gloomy gray sky, as if it were still gazing at something even in death.
After countless years, the skeleton had become covered in mottled moss, and vines twined and climbed through the gaps in its ribs, merging the entire skeleton with the forest.
’What a massive skeleton. What kind of Demon’s skeleton is this?’
Fang Han’s gaze fell upon the skeleton, and he walked toward it.
Sunlight slanted through the gaps in the leaves, spilling onto the skeleton.
On the surface of the pillar-like bones, a faint, almost imperceptible luster could be seen.
It wasn’t the grayish-white of ordinary dry bones, but a richer, more restrained, jade-like texture.
’The bones are actually jade-colored?’
Fang Han’s pupils contracted slightly.
Jade-like bones. He had seen them before.
On Cyan Cliff Mountain, the skeleton of the Black-Scaled Demon Tiger, which had been slain by the combined efforts of three Grandmasters, had been this same jade color.
This was very likely the skeleton of a Grandmaster Level Demon!
’The skeleton of a Grandmaster Level Demon?!’
Slightly alarmed, Fang Han quickened his pace toward the skeleton.
In the outside world, Grandmaster Level Demons were exceedingly rare. In all of Qingyang County, only one had ever appeared.
He never would have thought that he would discover the skeleton of a Grandmaster Demon so soon after entering this Secret Realm.