Chapter 2040: Qi Ling's Hidden Treasure
Throughout this entire process, Han Li had remained completely undetected.
Meanwhile, Han Li was very intrigued by the two figures up ahead. He was able to disregard the restrictions on the city wall with his immense powers, but those two were clearly far less powerful than he was, yet they were still able to pass through the restrictions with ease.
This indicated that they either possess some type of special treasures, or they were important figures in the city that could grant themselves passage through the restrictions.
Thus, Han Li continued to follow the two streaks of light, all the way to a vast expanse of rugged rocks close to 10,000 feet away from the city.
All of a sudden, the streak of green light descended onto the rocks down below, and the streak of grey light immediately followed suit.
The grey light faded to reveal a grey-robed elderly man, who immediately inspected his surroundings with a menacing expression.
"Hmm? Isn't that the Blood Crow City Lord?"
A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he appraised the elderly man from above.
The Blood Crow City Lord naturally failed to discover the concealed Han Li, and he harrumphed coldly before flipping a hand over to produce a small black umbrella, which he tossed up into the air while chanting an incantation.
The small umbrella immediately swelled to around 10 feet in size and hovered in mid-air while releasing a vast expanse of black light, which encompassed an area of several acres down below.
A muffled thump rang out from a giant rock several hundred feet away from the elderly man, and a faint blue humanoid stumbled out into the open.
This was a mundane-looking blue-robed middle-aged man who wore a completely calm expression, seemingly having already anticipated that he was going to be exposed.
Han Li cast his gaze toward the middle-aged man and discovered that this was none other than Old Man Yang, who had secured the holy brick during the auction.
As soon as he was forced to reveal himself, the Blood Crow City let loose a low cry before sweeping a hand through the air.
A streak of crimson light that was over 100 feet long swept forth in a flash, slicing the giant rock in front of Old Man Yang in half amid a resounding boom.
However, Old Man Yang instantly vanished, and the streak of crimson light missed its target as a result.
A massive trench that was over 100 feet in length was immediately sliced into the ground.
Old Man Yang then reappeared some distance away from the trench with his arms crossed, and he chuckled with a mocking sneer, "Hehe, are you really planning to kill me over something like this, Fellow Daoist Bing?"
He seemed to be completely fearless in the face of the Body Integration Stage Blood Crow City Lord.
"You've succeeded in luring me out of the city; if you have any allies, then feel free to call for them," the Blood Crow City said with a cold look in his eyes.
"Allies? Why would you assume that I have allies, Fellow Daoist Bing? There's no one else here aside from you and me," Old Man Yang said with a smile.
"You're just a Spatial Tempering Stage being; how would you dare to oppose me if you didn't have any allies?" Bing Qianren asked in a cold voice.
"I can't convince you of anything if you refuse to believe me. However, the fact of the matter is that I bear no ill will; I only want to discuss a mutually beneficial deal with you," Old Man Yang replied in a nonchalant manner.
"I'm open to a deal, but you have to show me that you have what it takes to negotiate a deal with me. I can get what I want after I kill you, so why would I negotiate a deal with you?" Bing Qianren guffawed as he abruptly stepped forward, then instantly vanished amid a flash of crimson light.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations behind Old Man Yang, and Bing Qianren reappeared in a wraith-like manner before conjuring up a giant crimson hand that came crashing down toward Old Man Yang's head.
The Blood Crow City Lord was sweeping aside Old Man Yang's proposal for a negotiation and was aiming to kill him on the spot!
Old Man Yang's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he thrust a hand backward without even turning his head.
A giant inky-black hand emerged amid a ghostly howl, and an earth-shattering boom erupted as the two massive palms clashed, following which both sides shot back in unison.
"This is mid-Body Integration Stage power! You're not Old Man Yang!" Bing Qianren exclaimed as his face paled slightly.
Indeed, the spiritual pressure emanating from the middle-aged man's body had swelled drastically to the mid-Body Integration Stage.
"Is that really important? Besides, who says I'm not Old Man Yang?" A peculiar look appeared on Old Man Yang's face.
Bing Qianren scrutinized Old Man Yang for a moment before asking in a cold voice, "Are you one of the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea or someone from the Heavenly Abode Mountain?"
"Your reactions are truly remarkable, Fellow Daoist Bing; I am indeed from the Lightning Sea, but I'm merely a vagrant cultivator, not one of the seven scourges. During the battle between the seven scourges and the Heavenly Abode Mountain, you looted the place where Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling passed away and stole three of the four holy bricks. As a result, the seven scourges and the people from the Heavenly Abode Mountain ended up fighting for nothing while you came all the way here to become a city lord. Tsk tsk, I wonder if there'll be anywhere you can stay in our holy realm if the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea or the Heavenly Abode Mountain were to learn of this."
"Hmph, looks like you've dug up quite a bit of my past. In that case, the holy brick on that auction must be a counterfeit that you made," Bing Qianren harrumphed coldly.
"How could it be a counterfeit? The item was appraised by the auction house; I merely destroyed some of the mantras within it. Didn't you pursue me all the way here for the fourth hoy brick?" Old Man Yang flipped a hand over to reveal a green wooden box as he spoke.
Bing Qianren stared at the wooden box with a dark expression for a while before continuing, "I don't care who you are; this fourth holy brick is something I'm determined to obtain. What deal do you want to propose?"
"You sure are a straightforward man, Brother Bing. In that case, I won't drag this out any longer, either. You and I are both aware that this fourth holy brick is related to the legendary hidden treasure left behind by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling. It's said that when all four holy bricks are gathered, not only will one obtain all of Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's abilities, they'll also obtain the map to the secret treasures drawn up by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling himself. Setting aside everything else, just the Holy Inkspirit Canoe, one of the top three flying treasures of our holy realm, is already an extremely prized asset. If someone like you or I were to obtain it, even the average Sacred Ancestor would find it very difficult to kill us. I want to combine our four holy bricks to secure the map and split the treasures evenly; what do you say?" Old Man Yang proposed with a smile.
"I have three holy bricks, yet you only have three, and you want to split the treasures evenly?" Bing Qianren sneered coldly, seemingly having already foreseen this response.
"If you ask me, there's no difference between having one holy brick and having three. If you could piece together the map with the three holy bricks in your possession, then you wouldn’t have cowered in this Blood Crow City for so many years. As such, I think it's only right that we split the treasures evenly," Old Man Yang said in a determined manner.
Bing Qianren thought about this for a moment before replying, "This is an important matter, so I need time to consider it. Prior to that, I need to verify the authenticity of your holy brick."
A hint of wariness appeared on Old Man Yang's face upon hearing this. "How do you plan to do that? You're not expecting me to just hand over the holy brick, are you?"
"Of course not. All you have to do is activate the holy brick with your spiritual power, and I'll be able to use a secret technique to verify its authenticity," Bing Qianren replied.
Old Man Yang hesitated for a long while before finally reluctantly nodding in response. "I see. In that case, I'll make an exception just this once."
Bing Qianren was naturally ecstatic to hear this. "I can see that you were truly sincere in your proposal for collaboration."
He had thought that a dispute would arise from this, but to his surprise, Old Man Yang agreed without posing any opposition.
"Take a good look, Fellow Daoist." Old Man Yang laid a hand onto the wooden box, and the lid flew off on its own, following which a long translucent brick emerged out of the box.
Old Man Yang then pointed a finger toward it before injecting a burst of magic power into the brick.
Bing Qianren immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and silver light flashed through his eyes as he stared intently at the translucent brick.
At the same time, a burst of powerful spiritual sense was released out of his glabella, and it instantly enveloped the brick.
However, right at this moment, a speck of silver light suddenly appeared at the center of the brick, and it abruptly exploded into specks of white light.
The speck of silver light then swelled drastically in size and began to suck in all of the spiritual sense in the nearby area.
"Crap!"
A layer of crimson light instantly appeared over Bing Qianren's body, and at the same time, he tilted back slightly.
Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed above his head, and a streak of golden light shot forth out of thin air before binding toward his neck like lightning.
At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted behind Old Man Yang, and a pale ghostly hand reached out in a completely silent manner before reaching viciously toward Old Man Yang's back with its five blade-like fingers.
Both of them were being struck by lethal surprise attacks at the same time!