Chapter 197 - 194: A Dream (Part 1)
Chapter 197: Chapter 194: A Dream (Part 1)
Biluo Mountain’s terrain was treacherous and covered in dense jungle. Ancient, towering trees formed a thick canopy of branches and leaves that blotted out the sky.
It was now afternoon, and a few rays of sunlight struggled to pierce the canopy, making the forest feel hot and muggy.
"Damn it! That Shi Bolang can really run. How are we supposed to find him now that he’s fled deep into these ancient woods?"
"Exactly! Biluo Mountain is huge. It’ll take forever to find him!"
"What’s there to be afraid of? It’s not just us. There are hundreds of people out here conducting a grid search. We’ll definitely find that Shi Bolang in less than three days."
"You’re right. That son of a bitch Shi Bolang is despicable, making us suffer out here in this heat. Once I find him, I’m not just taking his Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill—I’m going to tear him limb from limb!"
Throughout the forest, groups of Martial Artists searched for any sign of Shi Bolang, moving in pairs and small parties.
Dressed in green robes, Ye Xing was also searching for Shi Bolang’s whereabouts, a pack on his back and his Cyan Blade Treasure Sword in hand.
But with the dense foliage providing so much cover, finding one person in this vast mountain forest was incredibly difficult. Still, even an aimless search was better than idly waiting.
All the main passes of Biluo Mountain had long been sealed off, with many Martial Artists lying in ambush at the trailheads. Shi Bolang was essentially trapped on the mountain. Now, it was just a matter of time and seeing which lucky Martial Artist would find him first and seize the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill.
The search continued from afternoon until dusk. As the sun set in the west, the sky rapidly grew dark.
Darkness enveloped all of Biluo Mountain.
’I’ve been searching for half the day with nothing to show for it. If the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill wasn’t so precious and couldn’t drastically raise my Cultivation, there’s no way I’d be wasting my time here! If only I could just buy one... I’d just throw money at the problem. How much simpler would that be?’ Ye Xing shook his head, then kicked off the ground and leaped into a large tree.
The Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill was a rare and precious Elixir, one that seldom appeared in the martial world. Of course, Medicine King Valley had them, but they almost never sold them. And no one dared to cause trouble at a top-tier faction like Medicine King Valley. Now, news of an Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill had finally surfaced, and since Shi Bolang was no great master, countless Martial Artists had naturally swarmed here to seize it.
After searching for most of the day, the sky had now gone completely dark, which made finding anyone very inconvenient. Searching at night was bound to be inefficient.
Late at night and now tired, Ye Xing simply flew up and leaned against a tree branch to rest.
He took out his phone and read a novel for a bit. He soon felt drowsy, closed his eyes, and quickly drifted off to sleep.
The wind rustled the leaves.
The night passed in a flash. The sky brightened, and the morning sun, filtering through the trees, felt slightly dazzling on his face. Ye Xing woke up and gazed at the sky through the web of branches and leaves.
It was now early morning.
Suddenly, Ye Xing’s ears twitched. His keen hearing, honed as a Martial Artist, quickly picked up faint sounds coming from the woods to his left.
Mixed in with the sounds of footsteps were urgent shouts.
"Hurry, pick up the pace! Shi Bolang is in the forest up ahead! Someone’s already found him!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! If we’re late, someone else will snatch the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill!"
Urgent shouts echoed from the woods to his left, accompanied by the sound of rapid, heavy footsteps.
’Someone found a trace of Shi Bolang?’ Ye Xing’s eyes flashed. With a WHOOSH, he immediately leaped down from the tree. He activated his Lightweight Skill, using Wind Shadow Step to transform into a green blur and dart into the woods to his left.
In the woods to his left were twenty or thirty Martial Artists, all using their Lightweight Skills to madly rush forward as if their lives depended on it.
Ye Xing immediately fell in behind them, rushing forward as well.
He ran like the wind, the trees on either side of him blurring as they flew past.
After running for three or four hundred paces, he could see more and more Martial Artists rushing ahead. The group had swelled from twenty or thirty people to eighty or ninety, and the numbers were still growing. They were converging from all directions; clearly, other Martial Artists had also gotten the news. With a commotion this large, it was impossible to keep it a secret.
After another hundred paces, he could faintly hear harsh shouts and the sounds of fighting from the forest ahead.
Two breaths later, Ye Xing arrived at the scene.
He saw a clearing in the forest packed with Martial Artists, surrounding something in layer upon layer of tightly packed rings. The air was filled with a chaotic, deafening roar of voices.
There were at least several hundred, perhaps even a thousand Martial Artists, making it impossible to see what was happening in the center.
WHOOSH!
Ye Xing leaped, landing directly on the branch of a large tree. He then leaped again, bounding from branch to branch until, after a few more jumps, he reached the highest one. Perched on that bough, he peered down at the scene below.
In the center of the crowd was a middle-aged man with a big beard. He was covered in blood, clearly gravely injured, and was holding a Jade Box high above his head.
The Jade Box was only the size of a man’s palm. It was carved from Top-Grade Warm Jade, and its surface shimmered with a faint green light. One glance at the box alone was enough to tell it was priceless.
"Shi Bolang, hand over the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill!"
"Treasures and Spirit Pills belong to the worthy! You, Shi Bolang, are not fit to possess it!"
"Hand over the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill if you want to live!"
"Shi Bolang, you vile bandit! I, a great hero, will eliminate you today. If you hand over the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill, I will see it as a sign of your repentance and may consider sparing your life!"
"Why are you all wasting your breath on him? Just kill him and take the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill!"
Countless pairs of greedy, bloodshot eyes were fixed on the Jade Box in Shi Bolang’s hand. Many of the more impatient Martial Artists were already gripping their Weapons, slowly closing in on him.
"Don’t come any closer! If any of you takes another step, I’ll destroy this box of Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pills! None of you will get it!" the middle-aged man shrieked, his terrified gaze sweeping across the crowd. His eyes held a crazed light.
........................
"Shi Bolang, hand over the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill!"
"Treasures and Spirit Pills belong to the worthy! You, Shi Bolang, are not fit to possess it!"
"Hand over the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill if you want to live!"
"Shi Bolang, you vile bandit! I, a great hero, will eliminate you today. If you hand over the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill, I will see it as a sign of your repentance and may consider sparing your life!"
"Why are you all wasting your breath on him? Just kill him and take the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill!"
Countless pairs of greedy, bloodshot eyes were fixed on the Jade Box in Shi Bolang’s hand. Many of the more impatient Martial Artists were already gripping their Weapons, slowly closing in on him.
"Don’t come any closer! If any of you takes another step, I’ll destroy this box of Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pills! None of you will get it!" the middle-aged man shrieked, his terrified gaze sweeping across the crowd. His eyes held a crazed light.
The Martial Artists who had been closing in to snatch the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill immediately stopped in their tracks, not daring to press him too hard. They worried Shi Bolang would rather destroy the pill than let them have it, a last desperate act of defiance. Then all their efforts would have been for nothing.
"Shi Bolang, don’t do anything rash!"
"If you dare destroy the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill, you’re a dead man, Shi Bolang!"
The crowd of Martial Artists roared.
"Then stay back! Whoever dares to kill me can forget about getting the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill!"
"So what if we kill you?" one Martial Artist called out. "Who knows if the Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill is even in that Jade Box? You probably hid it somewhere else."
"That’s right! The Eight Treasures Profound Spirit Pill probably isn’t in the box. Let’s grab him first, then torture him for the location."
As some Martial Artists voiced their doubts, others began to press forward again, step by step.