Chapter 24: Who was it?!

　　Wang Tengfei looked so excited that if anyone could have seen him, they would have been shocked. No one had ever seen such an expression appear on his face.

　　To other people, Wang Tengfei was a Chosen, with a mild expression, amiable smile, and beautiful appearance, perfect in every way.

　　But at the moment, he could not help but show his excitement. He had prepared for this moment for years, had spent so many resources, all to get to this point, a point he had looked forward to for years. He would finally have a treasure he could carry with him for his entire life. His heart nearly burst with frenzied excitement.

　　One of the main reasons he had joined the Reliance Sect to begin with was to acquire this treasure.

　　Moving as fast as he could, he entered the cave. When he caught sight of the massive, frightening corpse, he let out a loud laugh and his eyes glowed. He dashed toward the creature’s tail, the part that had turned into the Demonic python. He searched about for a while, whereupon a look of confusion appeared on his face. His eyes widened. After looking across the entire corpse, he stood there looking dumbstruck.

　　“What’s going on…? It can’t be. The treasure can only be acquired after the python sheds its skin. The only safe time to enter is right now. How could it not be here? It’s impossible!” A heinous look filled his eyes, and his head spun. He searched the corpse again, seeking out the place where he remembered the sword should have been sticking out. When he found it, it was clear that the sword had already been taken. Wang Tengfei’s body began to shake, and an unbelievable fury appeared in his eyes. He let out a howl that shook the entire black mountain.

　　That was when he noticed that the corpse’s head had been split open and the Demonic Core removed. When he saw the skeleton, his mood sank even deeper, and he barely even looked at it.

　　His whole person appeared savage with fury. He dashed outside and pulled up his sleeve, hoping to get some reaction from the Blood Drop on his arm. But there was no reaction whatsoever. In fact, it was as if the Blood Drop had been wiped away!

　　He searched the black mountain high and low but found nothing.

　　In the end, he returned dumbly to the cave and looked at the creature’s corpse. He let out another shrill shriek.

　　“I spent three years searching the ancient texts. Three years, with no time for Cultivation! I spent hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones before I found the clue from two hundred years ago that led me to the Flying Rain-Dragon!” His body trembled, and his face contorted. Any beauty at all in him was gone, replaced by madness.

　　“I spent a year searching throughout the State of Zhao, in the mountains and the wilds. I went everywhere, all the districts. The reactions of the Blood Drop finally led me here!” His eyes red, he clenched his fists angrily. Anyone who saw him like this would surely be shocked in the extreme.

　　“For the treasure, I deigned to begin my spiritual studies in this damned Reliance Sect. Dammit, Dammit! I’ve had to endure for nearly three years already!!!” His heart ached, as if it had been stabbed with an invisible sword that smashed his arrogance to pieces. Up until now, he really had never believed that he could possibly fail.

　　“To prepare the spell to suppress the dragon, I spent all my remaining Spirit Stones!! I used some precious influence from my Clan to suppress information about the ancient Flying Rain-Dragon from getting out. I even refused the aid of my Clan-members because I wanted the treasure and the Legacy to be the true starting point of my training!

　　“Who was it? Who took my treasure!?” His body trembled violently, his head buzzed, and his blood roiled. He had spent so much, and someone else had benefited. He spit out a mouthful of blood onto his white robe, staining it red.

　　It was like a man in the mortal world who paid the bride-price, bought a luxuriously decorated mansion, found the most beautiful bride, then arranged an amazing wedding feast to which he invited countless friends and family. Then, in front of everyone’s eyes, filled with anticipation, he entered the nuptial chamber and saw his beautiful, blushing bride in her red wedding gauzes, then threw himself upon her…

　　Only to suddenly find he had become a different person. Everything that belonged to him was suddenly being enjoyed by some other bloke. Even his face had been taken away!

　　“Who took my ancient Cultivation sword!?” Wang Tengfei again shouted mournfully, then spit out another mouthful of blood. He staggered backward a few paces, his face pale, his eyes burning with madness. He couldn’t accept it, not at all. Never before had he failed, ever. This, coupled with his arrogance, caused his heart to be filled with a powerful, humiliated fury.

　　“Who stole the treasure I planned to use to rebuke the Cultivation world!?” As he thought about the price he had paid to reach this point, he coughed up another mouthful of blood. His robe was now almost completely red as he staggered backward.

　　“You didn’t just take the treasure, you took the Demonic Core. Without that, I can’t break through to the seventh level! Who are you?! Who are you who took away my fortune! That was my treasure, that was my Demonic Core!!” His face twisted with madness as he continued his search, but to no avail.

　　His miserable roars reached Meng Hao’s ears as he fled for his life. His eyes glittered excitedly, and he ran even faster.

　　“I’m rich. Really, really rich.” His heart raced and his mouth felt dry, and his speed increased until it far exceeded his previous speed limitation. Only a short time passed before he reached the Immortal’s Cave on the South Mountain.

　　He had guessed that the treasures he’d taken were very important to Wang Tengfei. Since he had virtually stolen them, he could not very well announce their existence publicly. He wanted to hide himself away as well, but if he did so, it would only attract more attention to himself. Instead, he should place himself in the open and attach himself to a position of reason, be bold and assured, with justice on his side.

　　He licked his lips, and his eyes fairly shone. Even though Fatty still had the jade slip that opened the Immortal’s Cave, Meng Hao still had another jade slip given to him by Elder Sister Xu, which he knew could open the door. If there were only one key, how could she have opened the door when he sat counting his Spirit Stones that one time?

　　When he entered the Immortal’s Cave, he didn’t see Fatty. At first, he was worried. But then he realized that even though Fatty looked naive, he was actually quite clever, and wouldn’t let himself be taken advantage of. Not thinking about it any further, he sat down cross-legged, took a deep breath and pulled out the golden bag of holding. He grew even happier at the sight of it, and when he opened it, he started to murmur softly to himself.

　　“It’s so big. It seems it can hold… what?” Before he even finished his sentence, his body grew stiff, and he sucked in another breath. When he looked in the bag of holding, his mind went blank, then began to buzz.

　　“Holy crap! Holy crap! I really am rich!!” His hands trembled as they gripped the bag of holding. It took a few moments for him to get his thoughts in order again. He pulled out a Spirit Stone with a shaky hand.

　　The Spirit Stones in the bag were not quite the same as his other Spirit Stones. About as big as a finger, the Spiritual energy which swirled about in them was not dense, and they also contained a strange swirling mist inside. And the sheer amount… inside the bag of holding were over two thousand Spirit Stones!

　　He had never seen such a vast amount of wealth in his entire life. He could not even breathe for a moment. His body trembled, and he stared blankly. Other than the Spirit Stones, the only things in the bag were some articles of clothing and a few other miscellaneous items.

　　Sweat began to drip down Meng Hao’s forehead. It wasn’t hot inside the Immortal’s Cave, but his body felt as if it were burning. After a bit of time went by, he began to laugh, a hearty laughter filled with joy.

　　“These Spirit Stones are strange. They’re big, but their spiritual energy is just average. But the quantity, hahaha…” After some time passed, he got himself under control. Licking his lips, he pulled out another of the objects he had acquired, the withered Demonic Core. He looked at it, his eyes gleaming intensely. He took a deep breath.

　　“That gigantic Demonic beast must have been dead for many years. Eventually, its tail transformed into a Demonic python. It must have been incredibly powerful when it was alive. And its Demonic Core…” Meng Hao’s breathing grew ragged as he looked at the hard, dried out Core. He brought out the copper mirror, intending to make some duplicates.

　　Almost as soon as he pulled it out, and before he could even place the Demonic Core on its surface, the mirror suddenly began to burn so hotly that it almost injured Meng Hao’s hand. An invisible force burst out from the mirror, charging toward the Demonic Core.

　　A bang sounded out as the Core in Meng Hao’s hand was struck by the invisible attack. In an instant, another invisible force shot out from the copper mirror and struck out at the Demonic Core. It was as if the Demonic Core had suddenly turned into a long-furred Demonic creature, and the copper mirror had gone mad with the desire to destroy it.

　　Meng Hao was dumbstruck. He instantly grabbed the mirror, and, enduring the pain, shoved it back into his bag of holding. The Demonic Core dropped to the ground with a thump, a multitude of small cracks now visible on its withered surface.

　　“Dammit. This is a Demonic Core, not a furred Demonic beast.” Meng Hao painfully hurried to pick up the Core.

　　It was a good thing the withered Demonic Core had a tough outer crust. The copper mirror’s violent attack had damaged its surface, and now, a small gleaming pellet was visible, from which wafted the aroma of dense spiritual energy. It instantly filled the Immortal’s Cave and caused his eyes to glitter. Considering the violent reaction of the copper mirror, he didn’t dare to attempt to duplicate it. He hesitated for a moment, then stored it away.

　　After taking another deep breath, he pulled out the third of his acquisitions, the small, primitive-looking sword. Holding in front of him, he smiled.

　　“This sword is incredibly sharp. It could stab into the Demonic python, and was even able to split that giant demon’s head open. It’s definitely something special.” He looked at the small sword in his hand. It was made not of gold or iron, but wood. On its surface were some faint lines of gold that seemed to have some sort of magical properties. Even though it seemed primitive, even just thinking about the wooden flying sword and its incredible sharpness made Meng Hao incredibly excited.