Hundred Treasure Pouch
Early morning, just after sunrise.
Yan Jue woke in bed, washed up, changed into her daoist robe, then draped the Mitx Breath Cloak over herself before heading out.
Her destination was the cliff.
That day, when Bai Ying entered the cave, she discovered that the Demon Lord was dead.
Right now, the Demon Lord and the male lead were mainly communicating through sound transmission; presumably, he had only recently possessed another body, and he still couldn’t fully adapt.
If the male lead only entered that cave at night, then there should be no one there during the day.
Yan Jue wanted to see it for herself.
When she reached the cliff, she looked down.
At once, she spotted a barely noticeable bulge in the rock wall.
It was hidden by vines; without a careful search, it really would have been hard to notice.
A thin layer of cold sweat broke out on Yan Jue’s forehead. She reached out, grabbed the vines, and slid straight down, landing on a sturdy slab of rock.
In that instant, a dense sweep of divine sense unfolded. Yan Jue closed her eyes and carefully felt everything around her.
There was no one deep inside the cave.
So she simply ducked inside.
Just as she had seen through Bai Ying using her Heavenly Sight, it was a cave filled with the thick stench of blood, and it was extremely narrow.
Yan Jue braced her hands against the rock wall and walked forward for several dozen steps; then her forehead suddenly hit something hard, and she drew in a sharp breath.
It was actually this low here.
Rubbing her aching forehead, Yan Jue kept going. After a few more steps, the space around her suddenly opened up.
The cave was quiet; faintly, she could hear the sound of running water.
What came into view was a small waterfall, water spilling from the top of the cavern and forming a natural curtain.
Yan Jue’s heart was practically in her throat. She carefully passed through the water curtain and went behind it.
The blood smell around her grew even stronger, so strong it almost made her gag.
Sure enough, there was no one behind the waterfall.
Only a cold corpse.
The Demon Lord, with his ferocious face and hunched body, lay face-down on the ground; clearly, he was already dead.
Yan Jue quickly noticed that he was holding something.
A black beast egg, faintly glowing in the dark.
It was the only source of light in the cave; under that weak glow, one could make out fine cracks on its surface.
Yan Jue vaguely felt that this was no ordinary egg.
She remembered that in the original novel, the Demon Lord had a Hundred Treasure Pouch. If his soul had already abandoned this ruined body, who knew whether he had taken that Hundred Treasure Pouch with him?
If the Demon Lord’s soul had only transferred over in the past few days, then it meant he hadn’t had time to take it away at all.
And because this cave was so hidden, that meant he might have let his guard down.
Yan Jue took two steps forward and suddenly stepped on something.
A crisp sound rang beneath her feet; she froze at once.
In the dim light, Yan Jue saw that the thing under her foot was actually a broken piece of purple jade.
Her pupils contracted; she immediately crouched down, picked up the shard, then took out the two pieces of purple jade she had already collected from her Qiankun Bag.
As expected, the three pieces fit together seamlessly!
Judging by the outline, it was clearly a jade pendant, only it was still missing the final piece.
With these three pieces fitted together, Yan Jue could make out the top two characters: Jiu Xu.
After staring at it for a while, Yan Jue put the jade pendant back into her Qiankun Bag.
Then she continued searching for the Hundred Treasure Pouch.
The cave was simply too dark, so it wasn’t easy to find. Yan Jue groped around for a long time before finally finding a cold, hard box.
It seemed the Demon Lord had only left his soul behind; his true body had never been here.
Yan Jue touched the box and discovered a blue barrier laid over it.
Since returning from Fengxian Town last time, she had often gone to the Library Pavilion, so she at least had a rough grasp of how to break intermediate-level formations.
If she took this treasure box out, it would probably take ten days or half a month to unravel it...
After thinking about it, Yan Jue decided not to.
She put the treasure box back where it was, then withdrew from the cave.
-
The Five-Dragon Summit was still in full swing. In the blink of an eye, it was already the second day.
After yesterday’s first round, nearly half the people in the arena had been eliminated.
By the time Yan Jue arrived at Five Dragons Square, it was already packed shoulder to shoulder.
She had just been about to move forward when she suddenly saw a large group of people rushing toward the same direction.
“The first match today is a spar between Lord Meng Heng and Senior Sister Yunjie! This is way too exciting!”
“What? We already get to see this in the second round? Shouldn’t a duel between two big shots be saved for the finale?”
“Remember last year, when Senior Sister faced Yunjie? They went into two overtime rounds before Senior Sister won. This year both of them have improved; this match is definitely going to be amazing!”
Yan Jue paused slightly.
The first match today was actually Qi Xianqing versus Yun Jie.
She made her way to the first martial stage and stood with her arms folded, looking up.
Yun Jie was already onstage; Qi Xianqing was nowhere to be seen yet.
Yun Jie was the Mystic Escape Sect’s chief disciple; she excelled in every respect.
More importantly, she was the eldest daughter of the Cangtan Yun family. She had been raised in an immortal cultivation environment since childhood and joined the mountain when she was five.
Gifted beyond compare, she was loved by every elder in the sect.
But all of that changed the day Qi Xianqing came up the mountain.
Yun Jie still remembered the scene.
That day, Qi Xianqing had just arrived on the mountain, wearing a plain daoist robe. Her brows and eyes were cool and distant as she stood beside Yun Zhen, those clear peach blossom eyes fixed on her without blinking.
She had clearly been brought back after being picked up, but Yun Jie never expected Qi Xianqing to be so neither humble nor overbearing.
From that point on, every day was a nightmare for her.
Her own reputation as a genius had been shattered by Qi Xianqing. Every class test, every lecture on the Dao, Qi Xianqing could crush her with outrageously good results.
At first, Yun Jie refused to accept it; she could still beat Qi Xianqing soundly during the sect’s martial competition.
Qi Xianqing was thrown to the ground every time, her whole body covered in injuries, but not once did fear show on her face.
Later, after she turned twelve, Yun Jie could no longer beat Qi Xianqing.
Her master said that Qi Xianqing possessed a special constitution, which was why she was so gifted in cultivation.
Yun Jie swore she would definitely surpass Qi Xianqing.
One day, she would take her superior cultivation and better results, slam them all in Qi Xianqing’s face, and curse, “So what if you’ve got a good constitution? I’m still stronger than you!”
A melodious bell rang; a snow-white figure slowly stepped onto the martial stage.
Today Qi Xianqing wore a pale cloud-colored layered skirt with a crossed collar and narrow sleeves. Her long black hair was pinned up with a jade hairpin, and on her back she carried the pitch-black immortal sword Zhuying. Her slender frame seemed to contain boundless explosive power.
The sunlight was perfect, making her skin look even whiter than snow, and those peach blossom eyes were dark yet clear.
At the same time, cheers erupted from below the stage.
“These past few days at the Five-Dragon Summit, I feel like I’ve seen every fairy I wanted to see...”
“To be able to see Lord Meng Heng two days in a row is unprecedented.”
“The jade gambling table over there is taking bets! I’m betting on Lord Meng Heng. What about you all?”
The Heavenly Deduction Triple-Absolute Formation activated.
On Qi Xianqing’s martial stage, the weather was actually hot and sunny.
Yan Jue frowned slightly; this should have been a relatively good outcome. Hot weather wasn’t a disadvantage for Qi Xianqing.
Yun Jie cupped her hands toward Qi Xianqing, and in the next moment, she charged at her with a divination token!
Most Five Dragons disciples trained in swordsmanship, but Yun Jie was from the Mystic Escape Sect, so she usually didn’t practice with a sword.
Instead, like her master Mu Zhongzi, she controlled divination tokens.
There were many kinds of divination tokens.
Ice tokens, water tokens, fire tokens...
At the Open Light stage, one could begin learning the Five Dragons Sect’s immortal arts: turning wooden tokens into people.
That meant transforming a tiny wooden token into token soldiers, token generals, even a token king.
Their power was enormous.
And now, with a cold face, Yun Jie directly flung a fire token at Qi Xianqing!
The wooden token, wreathed in flames, shot toward Qi Xianqing with thunderous force; in midair it transformed into a coiling dragon, exploding into scorching sparks before her.
Clang!
Qi Xianqing reversed her grip on the sword; the searing flames collided with Zhuying and were instantly forced back.
A huge surge of spiritual power burst outward; the terrifying pressure of two Fusion Realm experts clashing spread across the square.
The surrounding spectators fell silent at once. Everyone’s faces turned grave; after all, they were all cultivators, and no one would feel comfortable under that kind of pressure.
Yun Jie flicked her hand and sent out another wooden token. It hit the ground and expanded into a huge token general; the general raised both hands high, and a massive water sphere appeared between them.
The water sphere spun wildly beneath the sunlight, splashing everywhere; in an instant, heavy rain fell over the martial stage.
Yun Jie’s move actually simulated real weather, directly overriding the weather created by the Heavenly Deduction Triple-Absolute Formation.
Yan Jue watched from below the stage and couldn’t help frowning.
This was undoubtedly extremely unfavorable to Qi Xianqing.
Yun Jie flung out another token.
With a sharp crack, the wooden token slammed to the ground and transformed into two fish, one black and one white. The two fish seemed to grow wings in the air as they flew rapidly toward Qi Xianqing.
With a cold face, Yun Jie slapped down yet another token. Qi Xianqing took a step back and discovered that a huge net had appeared around her without her noticing; she was actually trapped inside a small Qiankun Formation.
A tengshe carrying the force of vegetation came right after.
A fire token and an ice token launched at the same time.
In front of her were the yin-yang fish; behind her was water. She couldn’t move.
Murmurs started up from below the stage.
“Starting out this intense? Looks like Senior Sister Yun is really serious about deciding the winner against Lord Meng Heng this time.”
“This is the strength of the Mystic Escape Sect, sob sob sob. They actually disposed of their opponent within ten breaths; it’s insane.”
At this moment, Yun Jie was not feeling relaxed at all. Even though her esoteric formation skills were already very polished and she had forced Qi Xianqing into a two-front assault in such a short time, she couldn’t smile at all.
Because Qi Xianqing looked up at the net she had laid, her robes snapping in the fierce wind, her expression calm.
There was no extra emotion at all on her face.
Yun Jie couldn’t help feeling a little panicked. Could Qi Xianqing still turn the tables in such a situation?
Water, fire, and ice surrounded her.
In front were the yin-yang fish.
Behind was the tengshe.
All four directions were attacking her at once.
...
When sword cultivators spar, they usually summon their long swords, but Qi Xianqing didn’t much like summoning hers. If circumstances allowed, she preferred to hold it in her hand.
That suited Zhuying better; it felt more real.
A searing heat surged over. The tengshe’s sharp teeth had already touched her skin, and sparks from the yin-yang fish had already splashed onto Qi Xianqing’s skirt. At this critical moment, Qi Xianqing held Zhuying in both hands and suddenly leapt into the air, avoiding every attack from above.
A deafening explosion rang out; the tengshe and yin-yang fish crashed viciously into each other!
The martial stage had a restricting formation, so cultivators couldn’t fly above it. Qi Xianqing was actually able to jump that high; this showed just how deep her inner force was!
Qi Xianqing’s expression was cold; that was the look she wore whenever she was truly serious. In the rain, she held her sword aloft with both hands, her skirt whipping around her.
Then she brought both hands down; her body tensed; she struck with all her strength.
Yun Jie froze. In the next instant, she saw a massive wave of blue-green sword qi and a huge crescent-shaped sword glow; overwhelming spiritual power rushed straight at her.
In an instant, the formation made from wooden tokens began to shatter!
As the formation broke, Qi Xianqing’s movement restrictions were automatically lifted.
The wooden tokens flickered in Yun Jie’s hands; borrowing the power of the sun overhead, a huge wall of light appeared before her in an instant.
Yun Jie had never dreamed that the gap between small realms within the Fusion Realm would be this enormous.
Qi Xianqing was already in the late Fusion Realm!
Qi Xianqing flashed forward, her right foot stepping out as she directly crossed through the fire sea before her. Under the sunlight, her expression was murderous and icy; she turned into a vague afterimage in midair.
She actually dared to pass through the fire sea with her bare body!
Yun Jie formed a seal with her left hand; in a split second, the hand seal completed, and the sea of fire beneath Qi Xianqing’s feet instantly surged up to the height of two people.
Qi Xianqing still wore that detached, indifferent look, those pitch-black, unfathomably deep eyes calmly watching her. In the blink of an eye, she had already reached her.
Realizing this, Yun Jie immediately raised a huge shield token in front of her.
Crack—
A clear, crisp sound of breaking rang out.
Zhuying roared in like a coiling dragon, directly piercing through the shield. Yun Jie abruptly reached out with her right hand and used a wooden token to block.
With a thunderous boom, the mountain seemed to split and the earth to crack!
Qi Xianqing leapt into the air, the sword tip spinning downward as she viciously swept upward.
Her arm strength was actually this terrifying; the wooden token curved through the air before plunging straight down.
Yun Jie’s pupils contracted. Just one step more and Qi Xianqing’s sword tip would have pierced her throat. Qi Xianqing always had this ability; whenever someone faced her, it no longer felt like a spar, but like a life-or-death duel. Zhuying flashed with a blue light; Yun Jie immediately flipped backward dozens of steps.
By the time she recovered, she was already outside the martial stage.
Applause burst out from below the stage. “Ahhhhh I won!”
“Tch, it was our Lord Meng Heng who won!”
Yan Jue froze. She saw Qi Xianqing slowly walk down from the stage, a faint red mark on the back of her hand; it should have been burned by the tengshe just now. As Qi Xianqing passed by her, they were about to brush shoulders.
Yan Jue looked at the wound on the back of her hand and frowned.
Qi Xianqing suddenly said, “How was it?”
Yan Jue: “Huh?”
The sunlight was very good; the girl lowered her eyes to look at her, and the ice mountains in them were melting.
This was the first time she had ever asked someone what they thought of her spar.
Yan Jue met her gaze, and her face suddenly grew hot. She sincerely exclaimed, “It was amazing. You were incredible, Senior Sister.”
Other than being a little ruthless, a little crazy, everything else was truly perfect.
Qi Xianqing smiled and turned to leave.
-
For Yan Jue, the second day’s matches really didn’t have much worth mentioning.
She faced an ordinary junior disciple she didn’t know very well; after an intense but ultimately safe spar, she still won and advanced to tomorrow’s third round.
The matches ended quickly; they were already over by the afternoon.
After that came free time for disciples of the various sects.
As one of the righteous immortal sects, the Five Dragons Sect had scenery and buildings that could be opened up and treated like attractions without issue.
Naturally, disciples from all the sects went to visit different peaks.
Even the usually deserted Valley of a Hundred Flowers was packed with people; however, the Five Dragons Sect had specially sent disciples to guard the valley so that no one would seize the chance to steal the sect’s resources.
Sightseeing was fine; stealing resources was absolutely not.
By the time Yan Jue arrived at Thunderflame Sect, Qi Xianqing was in the dormitory.
At this moment, it was a rare moment of leisure for Qi Xianqing at the Five-Dragon Summit.
Yan Jue walked closer and saw Qi Xianqing sitting at the table, holding two strands of grass in her hands.
She was expressionlessly weaving the grass. The two originally thin strands quickly took on entirely different shapes in her hands, and she even reinforced them with a layer of spiritual power.
A great many woven items were already laid out on Qi Xianqing’s table.
Little rabbits, little mice, little elephants... They were arranged neatly across the table and looked very cute.
“...”
Yan Jue stopped at Qi Xianqing’s door and knocked. “Senior Sister.”
Qi Xianqing looked up and glanced at her. “Mm.”
The air fell into a brief silence.
Yan Jue’s awkwardness flared up again. She tried to make conversation. “What are you doing? Why are you weaving so many things?”
Qi Xianqing set the freshly woven little pig on the table, her beautiful peach blossom eyes lifting as she said lazily, “Preparing these for my family’s baby.”
Yan Jue: “?”
Yan Jue’s heart pounded like a drum; at a time like this, she had to say something. Thinking of the fact that she had nearly exposed her identity a few days ago, Yan Jue asked stiffly, “Baby? You have a child?”
Qi Xianqing: “...”
Yan Jue immediately got to the point. “Senior Sister, I happened to discover a place. I’d like to ask you to come take a look with me.”
-
Yan Jue and Qi Xianqing arrived at the cliff together.
Cold breezes gusted past, whipping people’s hair wildly.
Below the cliff lay clouds and mist so deep they seemed bottomless.
Qi Xianqing paused, not understanding what Yan Jue intended to do, only to see Yan Jue grab the vines and slide straight down the rock wall.
Absurd. That was the first word that appeared in Qi Xianqing’s mind.
Even so, Qi Xianqing still followed after Yan Jue and jumped down.
Yan Jue quickly stepped onto that bulge, steadied herself, and then ducked into the cave.
Qi Xianqing followed closely behind her.
The light inside the cave was dim.
Yan Jue had, after all, used Bai Ying’s eyes to come to this cave several times.
She knew where every pit and hole in this cave was.
No matter how powerful Qi Xianqing’s divine sense was, it could only detect living things.
Feeling Qi Xianqing’s footsteps behind her, Yan Jue subconsciously reached out and held her sleeve, worried she might fall.
Qi Xianqing paused slightly.
After taking a few steps, Yan Jue suddenly felt her whole body go numb.
The girl behind her let her cool hand slide down and hook around her fingers.
Yan Jue’s heartbeat was so fast it felt as if it might leap out of her chest. She hesitated for a few seconds, then came to a conclusion.
Qi Xianqing was afraid of the dark, so she was reaching for her hand.
It had to be that.
They were both women, and Qi Xianqing was an absolute straight girl.
What was strange about that?
Nothing.
After walking a few more steps and reaching a narrower passage, Yan Jue suddenly remembered that when she came this morning, she had been knocked on the head there.
Yan Jue hurriedly turned back and put her hand above her.
In the darkness, Qi Xianqing’s lips curved before she could stop them. Although she didn’t know what was inside here, seeing Yan Jue like this made her feel very good.
But when she first entered the cave, she had already used her divine sense to explore it a little; this cave didn’t seem to have anything strange about it.
Yan Jue quickly led Qi Xianqing out of the narrow passage. What met their eyes was still that huge water curtain; behind it, something emitted a faint, glowing light.
Yan Jue came to the other side of the waterfall and turned to Qi Xianqing. “I found this this morning.”
Qi Xianqing was slightly stunned.
Behind the water curtain, there was actually a corpse lying there; it was a man with white hair and a hunched body.
The man was holding a pitch-black beast egg. The egg glowed in the dark; when one approached it, one could faintly feel spiritual fluctuations.
Yan Jue dragged the Hundred Treasure Pouch out from the very back of the cave.
Qi Xianqing frowned slightly. “Is this a treasure-seeking cave?”
She knew that many great experts, upon reaching the end of their lifespan, would seek out a hidden cave.
That way, their treasures could not be easily found by others.
Such caves were also called treasure-seeking caves by cultivators. The three elements that made one up were usually a great expert’s corpse, a pile of treasures, and a formation.
Looking at the corpse on the ground again, it wasn’t hard for her to make that judgment. But the blood scent was especially strong from the moment they stepped into the cave, making Qi Xianqing suspect that this cave was not so simple.
Yan Jue: “There are quite a few treasures in this cave. Let’s leave first.”
Yan Jue put the black beast egg into her Qiankun Bag, then picked up the Hundred Treasure Pouch and left the cave with Qi Xianqing.
-
By the time they emerged, it was nearly dusk.
Qi Xianqing came to Yan Jue’s dormitory.
The moment Du Ying saw Qi Xianqing, her eyes went wide. “Yan Jue, you...”
Qi Xianqing stood with her hands behind her back behind Yan Jue and gave Du Ying a slight nod, her dignity and nobility fully on display.
Du Ying was so frightened that she immediately bent and scraped before the impeccably elegant Lord Meng Heng. “Hello, Senior Sister; welcome, Senior Sister, to my humble home.”
Secretly, she made frantic faces at Yan Jue; how did you go and bring the Senior Sister herself here...
Yan Jue gave an embarrassed smile.
Originally, when they came out of the cave just now, she had wanted Qi Xianqing to go to the Thunderflame Sect dormitory.
But Qi Xianqing insisted on coming to see her dormitory. No one knew what was wrong with her.
...
This was Qi Xianqing’s first time coming to the place where Yan Jue lived.
The environment of Watercloud Sect had always been good; the entire peak was surrounded by flowing streams.
As the sun set, fiery clouds draped a dreamlike sheen across the sky.
Paths crisscrossed; the sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard.
A white fox was lazily lying there, basking in the evening sun. When it saw them arrive, it immediately got up and ran off.
Bai Ying was still a little afraid of Qi Xianqing.
Yan Jue and Qi Xianqing entered the room. Just as they were closing the door, Du Ying followed behind in utter shock. “Yan Jue, what do you want to do to Senior Sister?”
And you’re shutting the door with her in the room...
Yan Jue: “We have something very important to discuss.”
Du Ying: “What could you possibly have to discuss with Senior Sister? Don’t tell me you’re planning to kill her when she isn’t paying attention.”
Yan Jue: “...”
Yan Jue simply closed the door.
Her room was very small, with nowhere much to sit; there was only a single chair by the desk. Yan Jue pulled it out and invited Qi Xianqing to sit down, then sat on the bed herself.
Yan Jue put the Hundred Treasure Pouch on the table and asked earnestly, “Senior Sister, how do you break this formation?”
The room was filled with the scent of Yan Jue herself; it was a very pleasant milky fragrance, like a clear, sunny morning with no lessons, sunlight spilling into the room.
Sniffing the surrounding scent, Qi Xianqing couldn’t help but feel a little dazed.
She saw Yan Jue handing over the wooden box, and said, “Try and see how you break it.”
Yan Jue used two low-grade Spirit Stones the size of her thumbs as formation-breaking catalysts and struck them against both ends of the treasure box.
The blue barrier on the box surface suddenly trembled.
Qi Xianqing supported her chin and watched for a while before picking up the Spirit Stone on the ground and tapping once; the box’s barrier was broken.
Yan Jue didn’t open it first. Instead, she pushed the Hundred Treasure Pouch over. “Senior Sister, want to see what treasures are inside?”
Qi Xianqing looked at Yan Jue for a long time, then suddenly understood what she meant.
It was probably some stroke of luck; Yan Jue had known about the things in that cave all along.
Yan Jue had deliberately brought her to that cave; all this winding around was simply because she wanted to share the resources with her.
...
If Yan Jue remembered correctly, the Demon Lord’s Hundred Treasure Pouch contained many good treasures.
When Yan Jue said those words, she was still a little uneasy, because she knew Qi Xianqing had always looked down on these outside resources.
She was the chief disciple of Thunderflame Sect; she never lacked resources, and whatever she wanted, Immortal Lady Yun Zhen would give her.
How could she possibly take a liking to these things?
Her own behavior was just too...
She was lost in thought when Qi Xianqing, sitting upright before the treasure box, smiled. “Thank you.”
There wasn’t the slightest trace of impatience in Qi Xianqing. Instead, she directly reached into the Hundred Treasure Box and took out something from inside.