"Got rich, heh heh…"
Sha Lifei, drenched in sweat, hefted the chest on his shoulder, his face split with a foolish grin.
Li Yan turned his head helplessly and said, "Uncle Sha, we can bury the chest and pick it up on our way back. Why go through all this trouble?"
The chest wasn't large, but it was filled with top-quality gold bars, heavy enough that even Sha Lifei, carrying it, was straining.
"No way that'll do!"
Sha Lifei's eyes widened at the suggestion. "Old Sha's never seen this much money in his life. What if something goes wrong and we lose it?"
"From now on, I'm sleeping with this thing, and nobody's stopping me!"
"Alright, alright…"
Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan exchanged a smile.
No one had expected such a haul from tonight's mountain trip.
Even split four ways, they'd have enough to build their observatory.
A windfall from the heavens—nothing could stop it.
Of course, their primary task was still to collect the lightning-struck jujube wood.
Knowing the bandit stronghold had been destroyed, the group felt much lighter. They pressed forward along the mountain path toward Leopard Gully in the western hills.
The journey wasn't without its dangers.
The power of the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin shone through here. With just a slight activation from Li Yan, the wolf pack lurking in the dark forest retreated in fright.
He stole a glance at Zhao Donkey, noticing the man wasn't surprised.
Li Yan knew that treasure hunters of the mountain-walking lineage, who roamed the wilds year-round, surely had techniques to evade ferocious beasts.
For instance, Zhao Donkey carried no scent whatsoever—Li Yan had no idea how he managed it. Without their group, wolves likely wouldn't even notice his presence.
Half an hour later, they finally reached Leopard Gully.
"Can't carry it anymore."
Sha Lifei, soaked in sweat, collapsed onto the ground, clutching the chest.
"Shh!"
Zhao Donkey quickly gestured for silence, then crouched low, waving for the others to follow.
The group climbed a ridge with him, peering through the grass into the distance. A strange sight greeted them.
Leopard Gully wasn't large, but it was desolate, with dense trees and waist-high wild grass, making it seem impassable from the outside.
Yet, under the moonlight, a faint glimmer flickered in the heart of the forest—hazy, not bright, but shimmering erratically, like a streak of lightning.
Li Yan had seen this once before and knew that heavenly treasures always bore strange phenomena, hidden from ordinary eyes. Without the proper method to retrieve them, forcibly taking such treasures would dissipate their blessed fortune.
Of course, his Great Luo Dharma Body was an exception.
A mere touch could seize that fortune.
But this treasure was meant for crafting a magical artifact, so they couldn't act recklessly.
At Zhao Donkey's signal, they cautiously retreated. Only then did Li Yan ask, "Brother Zhao, how do we retrieve this treasure?"
Every heavenly treasure had its specific counter.
The trouble was, heavenly treasures varied widely. Even ginseng of the same type might require different counters depending on its region and the five elements' transformations.
Knowledge, experience, and techniques—all were indispensable.
This was the foundation of the treasure hunters' enduring legacy.
"Simple."
Zhao Donkey was naturally taciturn and initially wary of the group. But Li Yan's kind words along the way, plus his willingness to share the gold, had fully won the young man's trust.
So, he held nothing back, explaining the key points.
"Lightning-struck jujube wood belongs to the wood element, countered by metal. But if ordinary people only see this, they'll miss the treasure. Even if they find it, it's no different from common lightning-struck wood."
Wang Daoxuan glanced at the sky, a glint flashing in his eyes. "And the thunder of the heavens!"
"Exactly!"
Zhao Donkey nodded. "This object is a heavenly treasure precisely because of those two words: 'heavenly spirit.'"
"The thunder of the heavens governs the order of the cosmos, regulates the four seasons, nurtures all life, controls calamities, slays celestial demons, purges plagues, and subdues all intractable evils."
"Whether it carries the aura of heavenly thunder makes all the difference!"
"Thus, this treasure is heavenly wood, requiring earthly gold to counter it in order to retrieve it whole."
Li Yan praised, "Truly eye-opening. What is this earthly gold?"
Zhao Donkey glanced toward the lightning-struck jujube wood and lowered his voice. "Generally, earthly gold comes in two forms. One is another heavenly treasure—gold, silver, or copper born from underground veins, called Spring Jade Spring, Bound Youth, or Thunder's Rush. Each can transform into a spirit, making them rare and hard to find."
"The other follows the way of yin and yang: where venomous snakes roam, antidotes grow nearby. Likewise, a heavenly treasure's counter is always close by."
"If I were alone, it'd take me half a month to find it. But with you two helping, it'll be easy."
"Daoist Wang, since you're skilled in feng shui, help me determine where the Dui metal position lies in the nine palaces of this area."
"Brother Li, with your nose's divine ability, the item shouldn't be buried deep. It's up to you."
"Hero Sha, Leopard Gully hides fierce leopards. They'll attack anyone nearing the jujube wood. You must hold them off and keep them from interfering."
He glanced at the sky. "We don't have much time. After midnight, the jujube wood will hide again. If we fail and startle the treasure, it might not reappear for half a year."
"Taking it at other times would scatter its fortune."
"No time to waste—let's move!"
With the plan set, the group acted without hesitation.
Wang Daoxuan took out his compass and climbed to a nearby high point. By moonlight, he studied the terrain, muttering incantations and marking several spots, even tasting the soil.
To read feng shui, one must grasp both the broader and finer patterns. Fortunately, Wang Daoxuan was meticulous, having memorized the terrain of Yatai Mountain during the day.
In less than half a stick of incense, he pointed to the southwest.
"There!"
The group looked up.
It was an area near the forest, bordering a cliff, with sparse grass and bare ground, distinct from its surroundings.
Better yet, it was far enough from the jujube wood that their actions likely wouldn't disturb the treasure.
Li Yan didn't waste words. He crept forward quietly.
His nose's divine ability was active, but he detected no unusual scents.
A thought struck him. He formed a yang gesture, focused his mind, and took a deep breath.
Instantly, scents from a wider area flooded his senses.
This was the benefit of controlling his divine ability.
Normally suppressed to conserve energy, it could burst forth when needed without harming his spirit.
Soon, he caught a strange odor.
It was odd, two meters underground, a mix of metallic tang and something rotten and moldy.
Though unsure what it was, it was the only metallic scent nearby. Li Yan grabbed a shovel, and with Zhao Donkey joining him, they dug furiously.
Both were trained, with no small strength. In no time, they unearthed a two-meter pit, revealing a black, moldy mass resembling spider webs.
"Slow down, let me handle it!"
Zhao Donkey called softly, signaling Li Yan to step back.
He donned deerhide gloves and carefully cleared the loose soil. Once the object was fully exposed, he found its edge and gently kneaded it into a black rope.
"What is this?" Li Yan asked, curious.
Buried deep, it held faint yin energy from the earth's veins, but too weak to craft into a demon-suppressing artifact.
"It's iron mold," Zhao Donkey explained. "Similar to mold on objects, but formed from iron ore. There must be a vein below, visible only under specific conditions."
"Certain burrowing insects love eating this. Once it touches human breath, it turns brittle and soft, impossible to shape into a rope…"
"I see," Li Yan said, understanding.
It was likely an iron-eating fungus, formed under rare conditions, unknown to most.
Only treasure hunters wouldn't overlook it.
After shaping the iron mold into a rope, Zhao Donkey said, "I'll go bind the treasure. Your human scent might disturb it, so stay back until my signal!"
With that, he slipped silently into the forest.
Li Yan suddenly realized why Zhao Donkey had no scent—likely a technique tailored for treasure hunting to avoid startling heavenly treasures.
Just then, his brow furrowed. He glanced toward the southeast forest, swiftly grabbing the sheepskin bag from Sha Lifei's waist.
Opening it, he scattered the blood-soaked meat pellets.
Instantly, the air reeked of blood.
"They're here?" Sha Lifei asked urgently.
Li Yan nodded, slowly drawing his blade. "Two of them, big ones. We'll lure them away to avoid disturbing Brother Zhao!"
*Whoosh~*
A foul wind stirred the dense forest.
Two pairs of bell-sized eyes appeared in the darkness, glowing faintly green, approaching slowly from both sides.
Emerging into the moonlight, they were revealed as two leopards.
Leopards, also called money leopards, were fiercely aggressive.
Though less powerful than tigers, they were agile and bold, daring to challenge even a tiger in a frenzy.
Hence the saying: bold as a leopard's gall.
These two were larger than usual and cunning, ignoring the meat pellets after a sniff, baring their fangs at the group.
One bore a scar from a blade across its face.
"Careful, these two are close to gaining sentience!" Wang Daoxuan warned gravely.
Sentience was a step toward cultivation.
Having been injured and avoiding the meat pellets showed they'd learned from past encounters.
"Must be those bandits' doing," Sha Lifei cursed under his breath, gripping his blade to shield Wang Daoxuan.
His skills were average, never having mastered hidden strength, but years on the road gave him some proficiency with a blade.
As the leopards drew closer, Li Yan frowned, focusing his mind. The tassel of his Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin swayed.
If he could scare them off, he'd prefer to avoid a fight.
But sensing the coin's aura, the leopards grew frenzied, leaping forward in a fierce pounce…
**(End of Chapter)**