Chapter 38: Time
"Is this part of the ancient map?"
Seeing the familiar material and familiar patterns, Huo Chuan suddenly reached out and pulled the ancient map straight into his hand.
Skin at the Tribulation Transcendence realm couldn't be imitated. With just a touch, Huo Chuan could tell the ancient map was real.
"Could it be that this Hu Da is Dongfang Bubai? How does he have the ancient map? Where did Zhang Xiansheng and the others go?" These questions flashed through Huo Chuan's mind for only a moment. In the next instant, his doubt was overwhelmed by the joy of obtaining the map. "It must be the one from the ancient tomb. I didn't expect to get it so easily, looks like even the heavens want to bestow this opportunity on me."
Huo Chuan was feeling smug and was about to put the ancient map away when he suddenly noticed that in Hu Da's arms, there seemed to be another familiar-looking diagram. He drew the talisman formation set up by Lu You into his hand. The moment he touched it, Huo Chuan realized this one was real too. "What's going on? How did he obtain so many ancient maps? Could it be that Dongfang Bubai has been collecting them for a long time?"
Getting two ancient maps at once made Huo Chuan's eyes burn with excitement.
These ancient maps were incredibly precious. Each one recorded a portion of the Jade Toad Swallows the Moon Technique. Once all were gathered, one could obtain the complete cultivation method—capable of devouring heaven and swallowing the moon, advancing one's cultivation by leaps and bounds. Moreover, each ancient map also recorded part of a map; when pieced together, they could lead to the cave abode of a Tribulation Transcendence realm expert, where one might gain precious experience on resisting heavenly tribulations.
Huo Chuan had only ever seen such an ancient map in the hands of Wu Hao, a Nascent Soul cultivator—Wu Tong's grandfather. He never imagined he'd obtain two at once. With two layers of the Jade Toad Swallows the Moon Technique recorded on these maps, Huo Chuan was confident that it wouldn't take long for his cultivation to catch up to Wu Hao's—perhaps even surpass it.
Before he could even check the cultivation method recorded on the maps, Huo Chuan suddenly noticed that another one had unexpectedly slipped out from Hu Da's robes.
"Just how many ancient maps did this Dongfang Bubai obtain?"
Both delighted and shocked, Huo Chuan stopped taking them out one by one. He directly lifted Hu Da's corpse into the air, then tore open his clothes and pulled out more than a dozen talismans in one go.
"They're all real! I've struck it rich—struck it rich! I got more than a dozen ancient maps in one shot!" Huo Chuan's eyes gleamed with excitement. With over a dozen ancient maps, he could obtain most of the Jade Toad Swallows the Moon Technique. Even if he didn't share them with Wu Hao and kept them to cultivate in secret, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage wouldn't be difficult.
"Hahahaha! This Dongfang Bubai schemed so cleverly in the end, and still ended up sewing the wedding dress for me. Fate is on my side, fortune is on my side!" Huo Chuan threw back his head and laughed loudly, brimming with heroic pride. He couldn't care less about Zhang Xiansheng and the others anymore and impatiently picked up the ancient maps to examine them.
"Huh?"
Looking closely this time, Huo Chuan sensed something was off. Why were the map lines in all the ancient maps exactly the same? Instinctively, he flipped all the ancient maps over together. Huh? Who had smeared out the cultivation technique and drawn talisman patterns over it?
Who on earth did this? Who would deface a Tribulation Transcendence realm cultivation technique like the Jade Toad Swallows the Moon Technique and paint first-tier talismans over it? Was Dongfang Bubai an idiot—to waste such a priceless treasure?
Wait, talismans?
His emotions swung wildly between joy and rage. Stunned for a brief second, Huo Chuan only snapped back to his senses when he felt the spiritual energy of the talismans beginning to activate.
Boom!
More than a dozen Thunder Technique Talismans exploded in Huo Chuan's hands at the same time, letting out an ear-splitting roar. Purple lightning coiled around his palm, countless arcs of electricity converging into a rapidly spinning ring of lightning. The stench of scorched flesh instantly rose from his hand.
The lightning technique pierced through Huo Chuan's protective spiritual energy in an instant. Because his mind had been completely drawn to the ancient maps, by the time Huo Chuan reacted, it was already too late. When he finally mobilized the spiritual energy within his body, both of his hands were already blown bloody and mangled.
Fortunately, Huo Chuan was a late–stage Golden Core cultivator. His spiritual energy automatically formed a protective barrier, blocking part of the damage. Even so, his right hand still had its thumb blown off.
"Aaaah! Dongfang Bubai, how dare you deceive me, you wretch!" In pain and fury, Huo Chuan now realized he had been tricked. He was also certain that Zhang Xiansheng and the others must have already been killed by Dongfang Bubai. These injuries meant little to him— even with his thumb blown off, applying spirit medicine back at the sect would let it recover in a month or two. What truly humiliated him was being hurt by such a simple trap; he felt as though his centuries of life had been lived in vain.
"Dongfang Bubai—even if I have to dig three feet into the ground, I will drag you out!" Huo Chuan hurled Hu Da's corpse heavily to the ground, then slashed out with his hand. Terrifying golden light burst forth out of thin air, grinding Hu Da's body into pulp. He then mounted his flying sword and, seething with rage, flew back toward the Verdant Cloud Sect.
"Master, you're...?" Wu Tong had been waiting in the main hall. When he saw Huo Chuan return and was about to step forward to greet him, he caught sight of Huo Chuan's blood-soaked hands.
"Hmph. That brat Dongfang Bubai is somewhat troublesome. I don't know what secret technique she used, but she actually reached the peak of the Golden Core stage. Even so, she's still no match for your master." Huo Chuan snorted through his nose as he stared at Wu Tong. "She's more badly injured than I am now, hiding somewhere and clinging to life. Also, bring me all the information on the cultivators who entered the legacy tomb. We'll investigate them one by one, I will definitely dig this Dongfang Bubai out!"
"Master, should I notify Grandpa?"
"What, do you think your master is no match for Dongfang Bubai?" Hatred burned in Huo Chuan's eyes, but his mind was already churning with calculations. This Dongfang Bubai could forge such convincing fakes—especially more than a dozen pieces of skin from a Tribulation Transcendence realm cultivator. Clearly, Dongfang Bubai had some extraordinary opportunity, perhaps even possession of a Tribulation Transcendence realm cultivator's corpse.
Moreover, Dongfang Bubai had avoided direct confrontation and hadn't launched a sneak attack while he was injured. It was very possible that Dongfang Bubai wasn't even in the Golden Core realm at all.
The moment he thought of the treasures Dongfang Bubai possessed, Huo Chuan no longer felt pain in his wounds—his eyes filled only with greed.
. . .
On the other side, in Lu You's wooden hut.
Zeng Yan stared with an ugly expression at the treasured artifact longsword planted in the middle of the courtyard.
After Lu You lost to Hu Da, Zeng Yan had gone to the inner sect at once, swallowing his pride to discuss with Bai Zihua whether Lu You could be given a post in the outer sect. Since Lu You had once used ungraded talismans to help her organize her spiritual fields, Zeng Yan had even specially mentioned to Bai Zihua that Lu You was skilled in talismans.
Unfortunately, when Bai Zihua heard that Lu You had still lost despite wielding a treasured artifact, he couldn't be bothered to arrange anything for Lu You. He directly pushed Zeng Yan off to the talisman master at the Deep Literary Pavilion. When the talisman master heard that Lu You's so-called "skill with talismans" amounted to nothing more than ungraded talismans, he gave a snort of disdain and rejected Zeng Yan's request.
Looking at the empty courtyard and the treasured artifact stuck in the ground, Zeng Yan murmured, "Junior brother, is this how you return the longsword? It seems you no longer wish to see me again."
Lonely, she pulled the longsword out and sat cross-legged on the ground. "Junior brother, I'm reporting to the inner sect tomorrow morning. I'll wait for you until then. If you still avoid me, I'll take it as our fate having ended. From then on, we'll forget each other."
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