Chapter 392: Chapter 180: Senior Brother

The moonlight shimmered through the ripples on the water’s surface, illuminating the pile of rocks below. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.

He resurfaced and wiped the water from his face, using the moonlight to examine the second treasure.

It was a silver metal vial, a Silver Bottle with a smooth surface, bearing no inscriptions or marks.

He held it and gave it a shake. A faint rolling sound came from within.

It must be a Pill.

The fact that this Pill could exert a Mental Gravity on him proved it was at least an Initial Tier Treasure Medicine.

However, its specific effects were still unknown for the time being.

’Eat it? Chen Cheng would never dare.’

Pills from these Evil Cults, especially one stored by itself like this, could be something bizarre and more dangerous than the most potent poison.

In fact, Chen Cheng had a Blood Pill from the Red Moon Sect in his large chest right now.

After taking one of those Blood Pills, the severely injured Qin Zhao had nearly mutated directly into a Cloth-Wrapped Demon.

For Chen Cheng, mere poison wasn’t much of a concern.

But if it was something bizarre and supernatural, he would have no way to deal with it.

He could only hide the Pill from the Silver Bottle away for now and try to figure it out later when an opportunity arose.

Chen Cheng’s gaze then fell upon the third treasure.

It was a piece of some unknown animal hide. It was old and yellowed, its edges frayed and tattered. A deep crease ran down the middle, looking as if it might split apart at any moment.

It looked the least like a treasure, yet it exerted the strongest Mental Gravity on him.

Chen Cheng examined it carefully under the moonlight.

A map was faintly drawn on the front of the hide.

It depicted a continuous mountain range, with dense diagonal lines indicating steep slopes. A winding coastline, marked by broken wavy lines, showed the border between water and land. There were even several reef clusters marked with circles, accompanied by simple symbols for aquatic plants.

After careful inspection, Chen Cheng realized the map depicted a corner of the Sea Marsh.

A conspicuous red dot was also marked on the map.

’...A Treasure Map?’

The judgment was almost instinctual.

After some careful thought, he realized it was logically sound.

’There must have been some immense prize attracting the Immortal Bone Sect and the Water Bandits from Giant Whale Stronghold, compelling them to risk entering the Mountain and Sea Sect’s territory.’

’And that prize, most likely, is located at the spot marked by the red dot.’

Chen Cheng then flipped the hide over to check the back. It was completely blank.

He sniffed it, but there was no unusual odor.

’I can safely put this away for now.’

’I’ll go treasure hunting once the heat from this incident has completely died down.’

He knew with crystal clarity that the four Divine Storage Realm powerhouses had most likely fought to the death tonight over this very Treasure Map.

Although his own strength was increasing rapidly, he had absolutely no chance of victory against a Divine Treasure Powerhouse.

Besides, Li Wenrou had told him clearly that below the level of Qi Force, the three strengths of Ming, Dark, and Transformation were all insignificant as ants.

For this reason, he couldn’t be too cautious when it came to the treasure hunt.

Otherwise, if he got caught up in the karma of a Divine Treasure Level conflict, he’d be crushed completely without the slightest chance to struggle.

Of course, there was a small chance that tonight’s bloody battle had been over the Pill in the Silver Bottle instead.

But regardless, now was absolutely not the time to act rashly.

...

「Three days later.」

At the crack of dawn, a knock sounded on the door of Guan Lan Pavilion.

Chen Cheng, who had been up practicing his techniques since before dawn, was now heartily devouring a bowl of Treasure Fish Soup.

The knocking was urgent. Chen Cheng put down his bowl and chopsticks to open the door, not even bothering to wipe the grease from his lips, simply licking it off.

"Steward Sun? What brings you here so early?"

Chen Cheng was a bit surprised. He wasn’t familiar with Steward Sun, and since the man always wore a stern, unsmiling expression, they had barely exchanged a few words.

"You have an urgent letter. It came by an official family’s carrier pigeon, sent overnight from Yunlei City."

As Steward Sun spoke, he handed over a bamboo tube, as thick as a little finger, its wax seal perfectly intact.

At the same time, his gaze drifted, intentionally or not, toward the courtyard, and his nose twitched.

"You rascal, you eat Treasure Fish every day. The smell is so strong... the whole bamboo forest reeks of it..."

As he spoke, his Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably.

"Have you eaten, Steward Sun? Why don’t you come in for a bite?"

Chen Cheng took the bamboo tube and made the polite, offhand offer.

"Really?"

Steward Sun’s eyes lit up, and his perpetually stern expression actually softened a bit.

"Heh, it’s no big deal. Of course, I’m serious!"

Chen Cheng smiled, stepping aside to let him into the courtyard and gesturing toward the dining hall.

"Go on in and have a seat. The Treasure Fish Soup in the pot is still hot. I’ll get you a bowl right now."

"Well then, don’t mind if I do."

Steward Sun went straight into the dining hall. On the table was the large, steaming bowl that Chen Cheng had been halfway through eating.

He pulled out a chair and sat down. His eyes fell on the half-eaten bowl of soup, then quickly darted away, as if he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from picking it up and drinking it.

Soon, Chen Cheng returned with an enormous bowl, filled so to the brim with Treasure Fish Soup that it was about to spill over.

"This is... so much..."

Steward Sun was stunned. He never would have expected Chen Cheng to be so generous.

He had thought he’d be lucky to scrounge a small bowl, but instead, Chen Cheng had brought out the largest one and filled it to heaping.

"I’ve had good luck the past few days and caught a few extra Treasure Fish."

Chen Cheng said with a smile,

"Go on, eat it while it’s hot."

Steward Sun nodded, and without any further pleasantries, began to eat.

Treasure Fish Soup had an overpowering, fishy smell and a terrible taste—enough to make an ordinary person gag.

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