"Take your time." The innkeeper looked at Li Lin and Lan Ling, a knowing smile in his eyes as he left, thinking that the bed in this room would need a thorough cleaning tomorrow.
The two had not had a good meal in a long time, and immediately began to satisfy their hunger, quelling the desire that had been stirred in Li Lin. For safety, he kept a distance from the enchanting Lan Ling.
"How much longer until we reach the treasure mountain range?" Li Lin asked while eating. They had been traveling for seven days, constantly on guard against the members of the Savage Wolf Mercenary Group, which was quite nerve-wracking.
"Not much longer, if I read the map correctly, we should arrive in two days," Lan Ling said.
After eating their fill, Lan Ling quickly made her way to the bed, lazily stretching and teasingly asked, "Do you want to come up?"
Li Lin ignored the enchantment, sitting cross-legged on the ground and began to meditate, refining the Qi energy he had absorbed in the past few days, continuously strengthening his cultivation.
He did not want to expose the little dragon. Whenever the little dragon was hungry, he fed it the empowerment pills, having consumed all that he had during this period.
Glancing at Li Lin, Lan Ling smiled slightly, secretly letting go of some of her caution, then also sat cross-legged to meditate and heal the injuries she had not fully recovered from, hindered by Li Lin along the way.
Inside Li Lin, the Qi energy was continuously refined into pure Qi, enhancing his strength gradually approaching the late stage of a level six warrior. The speed was extremely fast, but Li Lin dared not be too impatient. After all, absorbing others' Qi to improve his cultivation required complete refinement to stabilize his foundation, crucial for his future cultivation.
The night passed without words, but outside, noises were heard all night. Both were in a meditative state, blocking out the sounds.
With a long exhale, Li Lin opened his eyes the next morning, his aura fully retracted.
"What cultivation technique are you practicing? I can't seem to gauge your strength, which is really strange," Lan Ling stopped her meditation, her complexion rosy, her injuries significantly healed.
"Let's go, we should hurry to the mountain range," Li Lin didn't answer Lan Ling, preferring to reach the treasure location sooner.
After packing up, they continued on their journey to the treasure mountain range. In the valley, many men lay on the ground, snoring loudly, while some were meditating.
With the sky just beginning to lighten, they left the valley and entered the forested mountains, where dewdrops occasionally slid off leaves, the morning air significantly fresher.
Walking through the mountains, they were constantly on guard for the presence of demonic beasts. In the past few days, Li Lin witnessed Lan Ling capturing two second-tier demonic beasts into her beast bag.
Deep within a mountain range, towering trees blocked the sky, morning sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting speckled light and shadows, with mist slowly rising.
Dozens of figures appeared, belonging to the Savage Wolf Mercenary Group.
"Big brother, do you think the three who escaped from the Myriad Beasts Sect will come here?" the second in command with an axe asked.
"I've seen the map; the White Wolf Mercenary Group's treasure is near this mountain range. Those three escapees from the Myriad Beasts Sect will definitely come, unless they don't want the treasure. Once here, we'll deal with them and get the White Wolf Mercenary Group's treasure," the giant leader of the group said coldly.
"We must capture that bitch alive; I want to have my way with her a hundred times to avenge my severed arm," said the third in command, his expression dark with rage, his arm already lost.
"Don't worry, third brother, we will avenge you," the axe-wielding second in command reassured.
"Let's stay around here. I don't believe they won't come," the giant leader said coldly.
"Li Lin, we're about to find the treasure. How shall we divide it when we do?" Lan Ling, leading the way, asked Li Lin at her side.
"We agreed, half each," Li Lin said lightly.
"You're not planning any tricks, are you?" Lan Ling asked with a meaningful look.
"As long as you don't play any tricks," Li Lin knew to be wary of this woman at all times.
"It's just ahead. We've found it!" Lan Ling exclaimed excitedly, walking past a series of mountains to a large peak covered with towering trees above and a gorge below, with layers of green stones and moss covering it.
Li Lin observed the mountain peak, comparing it to the map. It matched the location marked on the map.
"We've arrived," Li Lin then said to Lan Ling, "Be careful, let's find the treasure first."
"According to the map, the White Wolf Mercenary Group's treasure should be below this peak, but the exact location is unknown," Lan Ling said.
"We'll find it if we search carefully," Li Lin said.
"Big brother, those two have gone up the mountain," a skinny man with a severed arm said from within a concealed dense forest.
"Everyone, conceal your presence. Don't startle them. Let's wait for them to find the treasure before we make our move," the giant leader of the group commanded.
Several hours later, at the top of the mountain, with a gorge and oddly shaped rocks on one side, Li Lin and Lan Ling looked around, but after several hours, they still hadn't found the location of the treasure.
"Looking at the mark on the map, the treasure should be buried underground, but we can't possibly dig up this entire mountain, can we?" Lan Ling said, looking at Li Lin.
"Buried underground is obviously impossible. Even if we had the ability to dig up the mountain top, it wouldn't be easy. The White Wolf Mercenary Group wouldn't make such a big movement to bury the treasure; it would be like telling everyone they're burying treasure," Li Lin pondered, thinking it unlikely to be buried underground.
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"Underground, the gorge." Li Lin's gaze inadvertently fell on the surrounding gorge, and a light bulb went off — if it were under the mountain, there was only one possibility: there was another world beneath the gorge.
"Do you have a rope?" Li Lin asked.
"No, why would I carry a rope around for no reason?" Lan Ling asked, puzzled.
"Wait here." Li Lin glanced back at the forest behind them and then cut down many vines from within the forest.
He tied the vines together, making a rope hundreds of meters long, and tied one end to a large rock protruding from the edge of the gorge.
"Do you think the treasure is beneath this gorge?" Lan Ling asked in surprise.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Li Lin glanced at Lan Ling and then, with a flick of his Qi, lightly stepped forward, holding the vine and moving down into the gorge.
Lan Ling looked down into the gorge, not knowing how deep it was, saw a cliff with steep walls below, and clouds drifting around. After hesitating, she followed, jumping down the gorge along the vine.
The stone walls of the gorge were uneven with many large rocks, making it not easy to descend. Li Lin carefully searched as he went down.
"This gorge should have a cave," Li Lin thought to himself.
Hundreds of meters down, they reached below the clouds, and Lan Ling followed without saying much, scanning the surroundings.
"Found it, is it really here?" At that moment, through the clouds, a flat stone wall appeared in front of Li Lin, and below, surprisingly, was a not-so-narrow flat ground, covered by clouds and invisible from above.
As Li Lin landed, dozens of figures appeared above the gorge, belonging to the Savage Wolf Mercenary Group.
"The treasure is below, let's go down," said the axe-wielding second in command.
"Be careful, it looks like these two have found the treasure," the giant leader sneered.
"How many caves are there, and which one is it?" Below the gorge, Lan Ling landed next to Li Lin, seeing about twenty caves in the stone wall in front of them, all looking identical.
Li Lin also saw this scene, certain that only one of the twenty caves contained the treasure.
"We'll search them one by one, we'll find it," Lan Ling said.
"Wait, with so many identical cave entrances, it seems someone did this on purpose, probably to set traps. The caves without treasures might be dangerous," Li Lin said gravely, then took out a second treasure map.
The second treasure map was made of the same material as the first, with a pale yellow color. It had many irregular black circles drawn on it, but only one was red.
Li Lin examined it closely, a hint of doubt crossing his mind. Looking at the caves in front of him and then at the treasure map, something felt off. He then turned the map upside down and smiled.
After reversing the treasure map, he saw that the arrangement of black circles matched the arrangement of the caves on the gorge's stone wall. After a brief consideration, Li Lin guessed that the cave marked by the red circle contained the treasure.
The caves were arranged in an irregular pattern, making it hard to find direction, but the map marked the cave as the third one on the right.
"That's the one, let's go," Li Lin said with a determined expression, now trusting the treasure map.
They approached the third cave on the right, located on the stone wall outside the ground level, reachable only by stepping on dozens of protruding stones, spanning a distance of hundreds of meters, likely impassable for those below the level of Martial Soul.
"Be careful," Li Lin said, noting some red dots on the side of the map: "Some of these stones might not be safe to step on."
As he finished speaking, Li Lin picked up a palm-sized stone from the ground and threw it at one of the protruding stones, estimating the force to be similar to the weight of a person.
With a loud crash, the stone hit the protruding rock, causing two of them to fall into the gorge below, its depth unknown. Without the ability to fly and low strength, it would surely be fatal.
Seeing this, Lan Ling was stunned, looking at Li Lin with a bit of gratitude. If Li Lin had intended to harm her by letting her step on those stones, she would have been in big trouble, and the outcome would be obvious.
"Be careful where you step," Li Lin memorized the stepping points marked on the treasure map, his Qi trembling under his feet as he leaped into the air with a hint of trepidation, soon landing on the second protruding stone.
The stone remained stable, not falling off, allowing Li Lin to breathe a sigh of relief. Following the marked stepping points, he leaped across several stones, quickly reaching the entrance of the cave, finally taking a long breath. Any mistake just now would have been troublesome.
"Swoosh..."
Lan Ling followed behind Li Lin, her figure drawing a beautiful arc, landing beside Li Lin.
"Let's go in," Li Lin steadied his breath and headed towards the cave. Just entering the cave, Li Lin wasn't yet accustomed to it; inside, there were objects emitting a soft glow similar to night pearls, but far less intense than the strong light outside. The cave, perhaps due to long passage of time, was filled with a strange, pungent, corrosive smell.
The cave was spacious, to Li Lin's surprise. Observing the cave, it seemed to be a natural formation, with uneven stone walls that didn't appear to be man-made.
"There's one last danger," Li Lin put away the treasure map, noting the series of red dots inside the cave marked on it, representing some kind of danger.
"The White Wolf Mercenary Group really is cautious, arranging everything so meticulously," Lan Ling exclaimed in surprise.
Over the days, from Lan Ling, Li Lin learned about the White Wolf Mercenary Group. Decades ago, this group was a famous large mercenary group in the Misty Mountain Range, with over a thousand members. The leader, White Wolf, had reached the peak of martial mastery, and the group included spirit practitioners and strong warriors at the levels of Martial Spirit and Martial Master.
Later, for some unknown reason, the entire White Wolf Mercenary Group was annihilated overnight, shaking the entire Misty Mountain Range. Rumors said the group offended one of the Three Sects and Four Halls, who then dispatched strong individuals to kill them all. However, these were just rumors, and no one from the Three Sects and Four Halls came forward to admit to this.
Looking into the cave of unknown length, Li Lin picked up several stones, rolling them along the cave floor, watching ahead, seemingly no danger in sight.
"Should be no danger now, right?" Lan Ling said.
Li Lin's expression darkened, according to the marks on the treasure map, there should still be a danger within the cave. The map had been accurate so far, and it was unlikely to be wrong now.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."
Suddenly, a barrage of crossbow bolts whistled through the air ahead, with countless sharp arrows shooting out from the stone walls on both sides, from top to bottom, and even the ground and ceiling, filling the space with arrows.
The half-meter-long arrows, strong enough to penetrate a general Martial Master's Qi barrier, shot into the stone walls, making them look like a hedgehog stuck in the cave.
"That was close," Lan Ling gasped, realizing the consequences of falling into such a trap.
Li Lin was also surprised; navigating through such an intricate mechanism without the treasure map would have been nearly impossible.
The two made their way through the arrows, and after about ten minutes, a light appeared ahead. Inside the cave, there was a spacious area, glittering with gold and splendor.
At this moment, Li Lin and Lan Ling were unaware that outside, dozens of figures appeared, belonging to the Rampaging Wolf Mercenary Group.
"This is it, the treasure is here, we're going to be rich," a burly man laughed. With the treasure of the White Wolf Mercenary Group, he wouldn't have to live a dangerous life in the Misty Mountain Range anymore.
"Big brother, with so many caves, which one did those two enter?" the second-in-command, wielding an axe, asked.
"You, each enter a cave, and report back immediately if you find the real one," the burly man instructed about twenty warriors with martial disciple strength, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He was aware of the dangers inside the cave but for the sake of the treasure, was willing to sacrifice some men.
"Yes," the twenty or so martial disciples proceeded, each heading towards a cave, excited about their potential fortune.
"So many gold coins," at this moment, in front of Li Lin and Lan Ling, the spacious area inside the cave was filled with gold coins, piled up to half a person's height, dazzling with golden light.
"There must be no less than a million gold coins," Li Lin sighed inwardly. So many gold coins not stored on jade crystal cards made him dizzy. A million gold coins was a huge sum, it was questionable if the Li family could come up with that much. A second-grade pill only cost two to three hundred gold coins, so the significance of a million gold coins was imaginable.
At this moment, Lan Ling was also shocked, seeing so many gold coins for the first time.