In front of a small hill, Bai Peng, wearing a cloak of fiery gold, was standing there, holding a book that had long been worn out from being flipped through. The book in his hand barely had any intact pages.
Yet even so, he was immensely focused as he flipped through it.
Beside him stood an elder with a long beard, hands behind his back, with an expression of utter calmness. His gaze exuded a sense of arrogance as he looked upon the land, as if overlooking all beings from above.
This elder’s name was Han Zhan!
He was the Sect Leader of the previous generation of Extreme Realm Mountain and the grandfather of the current Sect Leader of Extreme Realm Mountain, as well as the guardian of the sect’s powerful force. Because of his presence, Extreme Realm Mountain could firmly hold its seat at the Giant Level position.
Thirty years ago, Han Zhan had already reached the Upper Profound Realm.
After 30 years of seclusion, his power must have improved even more.
At this moment, Han Zhan suddenly asked, "Have you found it?"
Bai Peng quickly replied, "Old Sect Leader, according to the records in the Donghu Chronicles, the Secret Treasure is most likely hidden behind that hundred-foot waterfall. However, when I sensed through it, I didn’t find any cave or anything like that."
"The Donghu Chronicles won’t be wrong, because it was written by the person who hid the Secret Treasure. If it wasn’t true, he wouldn’t have divided the information into three types and thrown out nine portions. Since we now know two of them, we should take the risk."
"Alright, I’ll go scout ahead."
With that, Bai Peng headed toward the waterfall, starting to climb up along the slippery green stones against the waterfall. Water continuously splashed against his face and eyes, causing him to move in stops and starts.
However, when he reached the middle, he discovered a cave within the waterfall.
It was a cave just the size of a five or six-year-old child. Although water was splashing against it, its sides hadn’t been smoothed out by the water. On both sides of the cave entrance, there were also some fine Secret Patterns.
The words of Harmony House were of one type!
They were all Dragon Wall Texts!
After half a stick of incense, Bai Peng descended the waterfall and spoke to Han Zhan, who had been waiting there, "Old Sect Leader, we have found the entrance."
"Hmm, how long until Han Yun arrives?"
"Elder Han Yun should be almost here. It’s been five hours since I sent the signal. With Elder Han Yun’s Great Demon speed of the Wing Race, he should already be on his way to us now."
As he spoke, Bai Peng pulled out a sheepskin scroll from his coat.
The sheepskin scroll had a few black dots on it.
Two representing them, the other two representing Shan Long and Han Yun.
Unbeknownst to them, at the top of the waterfall, a man who seemed no more than forty was crouched in the water. The clear water, as if appearing out of nowhere, just covered his chest.
This man was none other than the Upper Profound Realm expert of Flying Fish Island.
The former Patriarch of the Qin Family.
Upon seeing Bai Peng descend the waterfall, he immediately jumped down towards the waterfall.
A breath after he started falling, he vanished as if he had evaporated into thin air.
By some inexplicable means, he was suddenly standing inside the cave where he slowly unfolded the sheepskin scroll in his hand.
After glancing at the text on it, a smile curled at the corner of his mouth, "Looks like they didn’t gather the fourth piece. The only way into the cave is through jumping... this elder is truly interesting."
He wasn’t concerned about whether Flying Fish Island was part of the Hundred Sects Alliance. The key was to obtain the Secret Treasure left by the Divine Profound Upper Realm. As long as he got it, nobody could be his enemy in East Lake.
Of course, this was his conservative estimate.
To make the Divine Profound Upper Realm go through such trouble to set up a thousand-year puzzle, the Secret Treasure must be stronger.
Driven by this, he was ready to confront the Hundred Sects Alliance head-on.
After entering the cave, Qin Tian took out a Moonlight Stone, illuminating half of the small stone cave before walking forward slowly. In the cave, there was an intermittent dripping sound, as if someone was following behind.
Eventually, the stone cave became narrower and narrower.
He finally stopped outside a stone chamber.
Upon entering the stone chamber, Qin Tian saw a wooden box that had decayed to an unrecognizable state after a millennium. But what was inside the box remained eternal, and Qin Tian immediately reached out to push away the wooden fragments.
Just as he was about to take the withered object inside, a voice came through.
"Qin Tian, thank you."
Qin Tian’s expression changed at once, not having time to see what the object was. He immediately stored it in his Storage Ring.
After storing it in the Storage Ring, he grabbed his long blade and rushed out of the stone cave.
He knew he couldn’t be trapped, once trapped, it would mean certain death.
At this moment, at the entrance of the stone cave, a man in white robes stood holding a sword along with Bai Peng, Shan Long, and Han Zhan. All four were smiling, waiting for Qin Tian to emerge, as if all of this had been premeditated.
When Qin Tian emerged, Shan Long was the first to speak, "Elder Qin, please hand over the item. Offering it will be a great contribution to the Alliance, and the Hundred Sects Alliance will surely give you substantial compensation."
Qin Tian didn’t respond but instead asked, "You planned all this in advance?"
Shan Long coldly said, "Of course, although Bai Peng didn’t have the fourth piece, our Hundred Sects Alliance does."
"To make me hand it over, you’ll have to kill me first."
Qin Tian understood, knowing now he had no way to escape.
Since his little scheme had been seen through by the members of the Hundred Sects Alliance, he had no need to pretend. As long as he brought them back and undertook some cultivation, nobody in East Lake would be a match for him.
With those words, the Vibrating Vein Sound echoed.
The long blade in Qin Tian’s hand suddenly surged with overwhelming Sword Intent, the blue hue gathering on the blade edge, slashing towards Han Zhan who blocked the way.
"I’m just afraid you won’t make a move!"
Han Zhan smiled, opened his Meridian Gate with a bang, and punched towards Qin Tian’s incoming blade.
In the blink of an eye, the blade and the fist collided,
In the next moment, Qin Tian stepped back a few steps, while Han Zhan remained unmoved.
Qin Tian was slightly surprised.
Han Zhan chuckled, saying, "Didn’t expect this, over the years, my strength has grown faster than yours. In fact, I’ve been waiting for the day to compete with you for years, today we can finally settle this."
"You’ve reached Half-Step Divine Profound?"
"Close enough, but it’s enough to kill you."
With a cold laugh, Han Zhan’s fist trembled, and Vein Qi surged outward from around his fist. Instantly, Han Zhan rushed forward again, his fist aiming ferociously at Qin Tian.
Upon seeing this, Qin Tian was terrified and immediately raised his blade.
With one slash, the blade’s Sword Intent, like a gust of wind, directly struck towards Han Zhan. As the second and third slashes were made, Han Zhan was no longer at his original spot. Dodging the Sword Intent, he was already at Qin Tian’s front, fists clenched tightly.
Just as the punch was about to hit his chest, Qin Tian seemingly accepted defeat, choosing to close his eyes and give up.
But just as the punch was about to land, Qin Tian suddenly vanished from his spot, while Bai Peng and the others could only see a Black Shadow rushing out of the cave, crashing through the small child-sized cave entrance.