Chapter 332: Don’t Leave Valuables Out In The Open
The mass slaughter taking place on the battlefield didn’t pose any hindrance to Xu Qing or the Captain. Despite being surrounded left and right by danger, they got closer and closer to the mansion grotto. As they did, Xu Qing’s eyes shone brightly, and the Captain’s gaze became one of fanaticism.
It was a given that the Captain had picked a perfect opportunity. Normally speaking, there was no way that any circumstance would allow Xu Qing, the Captain, and Yanyan to get anywhere near August Spirit Nethersprite’s mansion grotto. Before even getting close, they would have been forced to deal with all the countless Three-Spirits disciples. After that, they would have faced the warding spells protecting the huge mountain itself. And of course, the final obstacle would have been the terrifying August Spirit Nethersprite herself. Any single one of those would have led to the complete failure of the plan, and also the almost certain death of everyone involved.
But now, all of those obstacles disappeared like wisps of smoke. The Three-Spirits disciples were all locked in battle with the swordsages, allowing the three intruders easy access to the foot of the mountain. As for all the warding spells, and the pressure normally exuded by the mountain, they were almost completely destroyed by the swordsages. Though some remnants remained, they were like nothing compared to before. Beyond that, the collapse of the mountain had revealed the cave inside.
The terrain beneath their feet was rough and broken. What was more, through the cracks in the sides of the mountains, it was possible to see bolts of lightning streaking back and forth, as well as hosts of damaged magical symbols.
In a few places, smoke poured out. The mountain was badly damaged, to the point where all the trees on its surface were now withered. Boulders were smashed and cracked. The entire mountain seemed like it might collapse at any moment. There were corpses everywhere, as well as living Three-Spirits cultivators. The latter were scrambling to get out of the mountain, and those that did notice Xu Qing, Yanyan and the Captain didn’t bother them, and just continued fleeing.
Further up the mountain, inside the cave, it was possible to see the mansion grotto. All sorts of things were scattered on the floor.
When the Captain saw them, his eyes shone brightly. Xu Qing’s heart started to race. They saw the glittering light of treasures, as well as numerous items that seemed to be crafted from immortal jade. There were many other precious items; every piece of furniture seemed to be a high-level magical device.
The place was a total mess, and thanks to the attacks of the swordsage elders, there were even the corpses of nonhuman servants laying here and there.
The mess didn’t deter the Captain in the least. In fact, he accelerated. As for Xu Qing, though he was also captivated by the treasure, he noted the Captain’s sudden burst of speed.
Xu Qing already had three-palace battle prowess. And while the Captain didn’t seem to be in the Gold Core level yet, given his burst of speed, Xu Qing got the feeling he was roughly equivalent to that level. It wasn’t a surprise. In fact, it was almost predictable. Deciding not to worry about it, Xu Qing also accelerated, sticking close to the Captain as they closed in on the mansion grotto.
Though the warding spells protecting the place were mostly destroyed, they still contained deadly power. At a certain point, Xu Qing suddenly stopped and backed up. A black thread appeared in front of him, whipping through the air and carrying with it a strong mutagen aura.
Despite how quickly he had reacted, the black thread still managed to slice off a strand of his hair.
The Captain was moving too fast to dodge out of the way, and his right hand was cut clean off. He was a vicious fellow, though, and all he did was grab the severed hand and shove back into place on the stump. A moment later, he was back to normal.
“You think some crappy warding spell is going to stop me?” he shouted. However, a moment later, light glittered in front of them as over a hundred additional threads appeared, forming a huge net that raced toward them.
Intense mutagen spread out in all directions. The threads were obviously made from raw mutagen, and were clearly the handiwork of August Spirit Nethersprite. Most cultivators viewed mutagen as something to avoid, but she had used it to create a powerful warding item.
Xu Qing’s pupils constricted as the web of mutagen threads closed in. Without any hesitation, he sent his shadow out to stop it.
An instant later, the web hit the shadow.
The shadow shivered, then emitted emotional fluctuations of casual amusement. The web shivered, and then the section in front of Xu Qing vanished and he proceeded on his way. Yanyan followed in his tracks.
However, the Captain had been moving too quickly to dodge out of the way. That said, he had his own way of dealing with the situation. He just let the threads hit him and slice him into dozens of chunks. After they passed through him, the flesh and blood rapidly stitched back together. An instant later, the Captain was whole again.
“Hahaha! What do you think, little Ah Qing? My methods are so superior to yours that—” Then he noticed Xu Qing and Yanyan standing there completely unharmed. His jaw nearly dropped. “How’d you do that?”
Xu Qing blinked a few times, looked the Captain in the eyes, and shrugged. “The threads just broke. Maybe the warding spell was too badly damaged or something.”
The Captain looked at him silently, then glanced down at the red lines crisscrossing his own body. Suddenly feeling very tired, he walked over to stand next to Yanyan, behind Xu Qing. Clearing his throat, he said, “Shall we continue, little Junior Brother?”
Xu Qing looked at the Captain. The Captain looked back at him.
Without another word, Xu Qing continued toward the mansion grotto. This time, the Captain didn’t compete to be first inside. Instead, he obediently followed along with Yanyan.
And thus, the three of them moved rapidly, but also cautiously, toward the mansion grotto.
They ran into more warding spells, but managed to go around most of them. Those that they couldn’t go around were full of powerful mutagen. Therefore... the shadow was able to just consume them.
Before long, the three of them were right in front of the cave. From that position, they could already smell the fragrant aroma of perfume coming from the mansion grotto.
The battle high in the sky had reached a fever pitch. Howls of rage echoed out from the first mountain peak. The skeletal spirit on the second mountain peak was evenly matched with his opponent. As for August Spirit Nethersprite, her three clones were suffering setback after setback, provoking desperate shrieks.
“We have to hurry,” Xu Qing said. “If we’re still here after they’re done fighting, we—” Before he could finish speaking, the Captain rushed past him into the cave with eyes shining.
Xu Qing could only watch as the Captain zipped toward a statue of an immortal crane in the corner, carved from pure jade. It was glittering and resplendent, making it obvious it was no ordinary item. Opening his mouth, the Captain bit off the crane’s head and swallowed it.
“This thingy is made from immortal jade! So extravagant! You couldn’t buy it for 1,000,000 spirit stones!” The Captain excitedly stuffed the headless immortal crane into his bag of holding.
Xu Qing rushed into the mansion grotto as well. Waving his hand, he caused all of the lamps to fly toward him. All of them were clearly extraordinary, and emanated powerful fluctuations. They weren’t life lamps, but they were still precious items.
It was no surprise to Xu Qing that the mansion grotto of a Void Returning cultivator would contain so many treasures. However, time was limited, and he didn’t have time to go around examining everything. Therefore, he just grabbed what he could. After taking all the lamps, he started snatching pieces of furniture.
Meanwhile, the Captain went around prying out all of the pearls that were inset into the walls. Upon seeing what Xu Qing was doing with the furniture, he grinned proudly. Xu Qing didn’t measure up to him in understanding the value of things, as the items inset into the walls were clearly more valuable than the furniture.
Eyebrows shooting up, Xu Qing rushed into one of the nearby sitting rooms and took the divan from against the wall. Then he started snatching all the other random things he saw and putting them into his bag of holding.
Normally speaking, the owner of a house would put their nicest things in the sitting room, so Xu Qing was convinced that he was getting some good things.
The Captain blinked a few times and then went to another of the sitting rooms. He also had a clone start grabbing things, putting his overall looting speed above Xu Qing’s.
The mansion grotto was so huge that it seemed unlikely they could go through the whole thing in such a short time. Therefore, they just grabbed whatever they found. Even still, the Captain was very pleased.
Ohhhh, little Ah Qing. Back in Seazombie territory, you absorbed that elixir much faster than me. This time, I’m going to come out on top!
The Captain was in a great mood. Ever since the Seazombie heist, he had been forced to think repeatedly about how Xu Qing had absorbed more of that elixir than him. But now he was obviously going much faster than Xu Qing.
Xu Qing noticed how fast the Captain was going, but he remained calm and collected. Looking around, he noticed Yanyan, who had just arrived.
Yanyan took in the empty space in front of her, and the Captain busy at work, and she hesitated, not really sure of what to grab.
That was when Xu Qing approached.
“Yanyan, what part of a mansion grotto would be the most important to a female cultivator?”
“Her makeup table,” Yanyan replied immediately.
Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he looked around, then rushed toward one of the side rooms.
After bursting inside, his willpower evaded him and he gasped loudly.
The side room was full of an assortment of mirrors, large and small. Each of them emanated powerful fluctuations that pegged them as amazing items. What was more, there were countless small bottles and containers, all of which emanated the fragrance of medicinal items and immortal energy. Further inside, there was a wardrobe full of precious garments that all emanated terrifying auras. Any single one of those garments there was enough to make Xu Qing have trouble breathing steadily. All in all, it made his illusory heavenly palaces tremble, giving him the distinct impression that these items could help him rapidly turn heavenly palaces corporeal.
On the floor beneath him, his shadow stared excitedly at the bottles and containers; apparently they contained things that would be very useful to the shadow as well.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was staring at the mirrors. His intuition was telling him that the mirrors had spirit automatons sealed in them, and that if he devoured them, his own cultivation base would rise. It would be even more effective than devouring souls.
Xu Qing inhaled sharply and, without another word, waved his hand, causing mirrors, bottles, and containers to fly over to him. Yanyan helped.
Unfortunately, the strange garments were too large and couldn’t fit into his bag of holding.
That was when the Captain suddenly sensed something and rushed in. Before he could assess the situation, Xu Qing pointed at the wardrobe.
“Eldest Brother, the precious garments are right there!”