This vast expanse of a room at the end of the southern path had neither traps nor hidden weapons lurking in wait. Instead, thereâs only a massive circular bead embedded onto the roof thatâs giving off a faint glowing light. Just standing in this seems to wash away the fatigue in these tired individuals.
Then looking to the sides, the place was surrounded by a large number of shelves, each neatly aligned with hundreds of books about alchemy and such. If one didnât know better, they might assume the place was constantly being cleaned by a caretaker.
âUnbelievable! Thereâs so much alchemic recipes here and many is even said to be long lost in the outside world as well!â
Itâs a grand harvest by any means; however, most of the attendees are martialists at their core and didnât have a clue about their value. That unfortunately greatly reduced their significance, the only exception being Xia Hou Qi and Manager Chou.
Even so, itâs not like thereâs nothing of value for the others here. Littered across the floor were plenty of fifth to sixth grade Dan pills. Though these items are of no value while inside the Star Cave, itâs a whole different story once brought to the outside world. Even one, just one, would fetch thousands of gold easily once auctioned off!
As a result of this temptation, Feng Xue and the others were quickly pulled into picking up the pills in quick succession. The few who didnât were only Hong Ming Yue and Luo Song. The two are members of the Three Life Valley, they naturally wouldnât care for these things. The only goal they have in mind was the Ninth Realm Reincarnation Dan pill that could help further their familyâs status.
Not everyone has the knowledge of what lies ahead of a reincarnation master, but those that do definitely understands the importance of such an opportunity. Forget about merely being untouching. If Hong Qing Yun were to advance into the Avatar Realm, the man could be like the nine great sects and begin taking in disciples and such!
Furthermore, due to Ling Yueâs meddling a while back, the old grandfather has become wary of her son and daughter-in-law, thatâs why this would be the perfect opportunity to mend the damaged bond
Upon thinking up to here, Hong Ming Yueâs beautiful eye immediately began scanning the stone chamber for the prized pill.
âLiu Cheng, hurry and help me move this lid off of the cauldron, itâs too heavy for me.â Feng Xue had just gotten her hands on several Dan pills when she noticed a good smelling aroma coming off of a huge bronze cauldron thatâs lying around.
They didnât think much of it at first, but the smell was strangely fragrant upon their success of removing the obstacle. Which also ended up causing the pair to freeze up on the spot because what seems to be nothing but a humble looking container actually held dozens of reincarnation pills from within. And as if that wasnât shocking enough, entire room actually shook at that moment due to the force of the Ninth Realm Reincarnation Dan pill shooting out of it!
Since Feng Xue was the closest to the strange item thatâs hovering around her vicinity, the girlâs hand instinctively wanted to catch it. But before she could make contact, a powerful gust of wind had come blowing over and knocking her hand out of reach, thus leaving a deep wound in the process.
âWhat are you doing Hong Ming Yue!â Liu Cheng saw it all. The one attacking was the girl using her Three Life Flute.
âWhat are we doing? Feng Xue, you should know your own capabilities first before trying to take all those reincarnation pills for yourself!â Hong Yu Ying (half-sister) also noticed the cauldron of pills by now. Giving a wink to her brother, she and Hong Yu Long (half-brother) immediately moved up to secure the bronze cauldron for themselves and pushed the interlopers back.
Itâs not like the pair of siblings didnât notice the container before, in fact, they were one of the first to walk past it. The only reason why they didnât bother to examine the content was their ego, believing such a mundane looking thing was beneath themselves and couldnât possibly hold anything of value.
âWhat are you all doing?! When entering the Star Cave, weâve all agreed to share the bounty.â Darkening in his face, Xia Hou Qi didnât like where things are heading.
Besides, thereâs a saying of favoring those close to the one you care for so he would of course want to help Ling Yueâs friends. Itâs not like he doesnât have good reasons here either, the members of the Hong House have gone too far to ignore.
âPrince Hou Qi, what you are saying is not right there. Itâs true we agreed to share in the spoils, but we never agreed on the number of shares each should get. I and my junior sister did most of the work during the sword array trap back there, so, I believe we should retain sixty percent of the loots while the rest goes to the others. The alchemic recipes are yours to keep and we will take the Dan pills instead.â Luo Song proudly states his claim.
âYes, this distribution method is quite fair if I do say so myself.â Manager Chou hurried to echo his support, leaving the other members of the Da Xia team following suit under the threatening gazes of the members of the Hong House.
This undoubtedly aggravated Prince Hou Qi since the members of his nation should be supporting him. After all, heâs royalty and their supposed ruler while the Hong House should be considered his subject. But more than being displeased, a sense of danger swiftly seeped into his bones because its obvious to him the Hong House has become a true threat to the crown. If he said it bluntly, treason wouldnât be out of the question at this stage in time.
âForget it Your Highness, itâs not worth the trouble.â Feng Xue knew all along this would happen. The prince may be unaware of what their true faces were but sheâs not. During their journey right from the start, these people have never given her any good faces and went out of their way to exclude her.
âHong Ming Yue, you will one day regret for your transgression today.â Understanding he wonât get anywhere like this, Xia Hou Qi had no choice but to back down.
But thatâs obviously not going to bold well for the target of that threat. From the ice beautyâs eye, a gleam of murderous intent quickly flashed by and rescinded back into the shadows once her mind was made.
The Ninth Realm Reincarnation Dan pill was already in sight. Once she has it and gives it to her grandfather Hong Qing Yun, it would mean the ascension of the Hong House. By then, a mere small kingdom like Da Xia could hardly be a threat. If thatâs the case, why not just kill off this prince to avoid future trouble?
âBrother Luo.â
Getting the idea as well, Luo Song was just about to make a move when Xia Hou Qi beat him to the punch. In a blur of reality, the prince, the girl and her close friend Liu Cheng had disappeared in a flash of light.
âDamn it!â Hong Ming Yue roared, enraged by the loss opportunity.
Right before the pair disappeared into nothingness, she had managed to get a glimpse of that jade tablet with the number five in the princeâs hand. This could only mean one thing, Xia Hou Qiâs been looking for the key to the next cave tunnel while they were busy looting the room!
Damn him, heâs never trusted us from the start. Thatâs why he prepared ahead of time!
After the incident, Manager Chou then quickly scoured the room for another key piece. This time instead of the number âfiveâ though, itâs the number âthreeâ. This indicated their next destination for the Star Cave Venture lies in the third cave tunnel while the two escapees are heading to the lower level.
For every cave tunnel that each team went into, there are always two jade tablets awaiting them at the end of each intersection. This it allows everyone to explore further if they wish, or to retreat to a lower tunnel if they find it too difficult to pursue better treasures.