Chapter 120, Five Tokens and Rare Treasure

Translator: Raznick

 

The red-faced elder spoke words brimming with malice.

 

The three who had initially cooperated to obtain the treasure instantly turned on each other.

 

The grey-clad elder and the red-faced elder wanted blood. Zhou Chun had realized that long ago.

 

If not for the Heart Soul Fruit being truly important to him, he would not have partnered with these two.

 

Once he obtained the Heart Soul Fruit, he had no patience to continue with the pair, scheming and plotting against each other.

 

However, despite his harmless intentions, others harbored ill will toward him.

 

The grey-clad elder and the red-faced elder clearly did not want him to leave with the Heart Soul Fruit and coveted his possessions.

 

At this moment, seeing that he refused to be gullible, the two revealed their true colors and abandoned their disguises.

 

However, what the two did not anticipate was that as soon as they made a move, Zhou Chun gave them a great surprise.

 

As soon as the fight began, Zhou Chun reached into his spirit beast pouch and released the Rock Turtle.

 

The sudden appearance of this superior first-grade demon beast instantly made the grey-clad elder’s and the red-faced elder’s expressions incredibly unsightly.

 

They joined forces, confident that even with a Silver Thunder Python by his side, Zhou Chun stood no chance.

 

However, with the sudden appearance of a Rock Turtle, the situation took a turn for the worse for them.

 

“You little brat, I underestimated you. I never expected you to be hiding such an ace!”

 

The elder in gray robes looked at Zhou Chun with a look of shock and anger, deeply astonished.

 

Zhou Chun, however, looked at the two elders with a cold expression and said indifferently, “I never intended to cause trouble for you all; you brought this upon yourselves.”

 

He then ceased his words and focused entirely on battling the two elders alongside his spirit pet.

 

After a fierce battle, the three soon discovered that their opponents had not exerted their full strength when dealing with the Pale Ghost Ape, concealing their skill.

 

However, Zhou Chun was the one who concealed it the most deeply!

 

At this time, he not only released the Rock Turtle but also summoned the Two-pronged Flying Pole.

 

This artifact, which could release cold air to freeze enemies, was indeed an excellent artifact for dealing with enemies.

 

When Zhou Chun used it to battle the elder in gray robes, he quickly froze the black iron ruler artifact that the elder had summoned.

 

Then he used the Two-pronged Flying Pole and Shooting Moon Edge to strike the elder in gray robes, quickly shattering his protective artifact and shield.

 

“Whitey!”

 

Before the elder in gray robes could unleash another skill, Zhou Chun called out a sharp cry, and his Silver Thunder Python, who shared a connection with his mind, immediately reacted.

 

A flash of lightning, and a streak of silver-white lightning struck down directly, hitting the head of the gray-clad elder.

 

In an instant, his head exploded like a tree trunk blasted apart by lightning.

 

The red-faced elder was horrified by this scene and hastily invoked his flying artifact to ascend into the sky, attempting to escape from above.

 

But he had barely risen three hundred meters when three streaks of silver-white lightning suddenly descended from the sky, bombarding him down to the ground, instantly turning him into a pulpy mess.

 

“Indeed. Although the preparation took a bit long, the power of this Lightning Strike mystical art has truly surpassed that of an ordinary second-grade mystical art!”

 

Looking at the corpse on the ground, with shattered bones and ruined flesh, Zhou Chun couldn’t help but nod, astonished by the power of this mystical art awakened by the Silver Thunder Python upon reaching superior first-grade demon beast.

 

Generally, a demon beast’s mystical arts could be unleashed in an instant.

 

However, because of the immense power of this Lightning Strike mystical art, the current Silver Thunder Python must first charge it.

 

Moreover, when this technique was cast, it formed a cloud of lightning-charged clouds in the sky, which was very likely to be discovered and dodged.

 

Therefore, previously Zhou Chun did not allow the Silver Thunder Python to use this mystical art in combat.

 

However, now the valley was shrouded in mist, obscuring sight and perception, creating excellent conditions for the Silver Thunder Python to act.

 

If the red-faced elder had not tried to fly away, he might have been able to withstand a few lightning strikes and would not have died as tragically as he did now.

 

Zhou Chun looked at the two corpses and couldn’t help but shake his head, saying, “I have given you plenty of chances, but you only have yourselves to blame for letting greed consume you!”

 

Then he stepped forward to collect the items from the two men.

 

To Zhou Chun’s surprise, they actually possessed three Heaven Spirit Orders, as well as a few extra artifacts.

 

This indicated that they had previously killed another trial participant and stolen the items from them.

 

This brought the number of Heaven Spirit Orders on Zhou Chun to five.

 

Based on this calculation, if he was lucky, he only needed to kill one more person to collect seven Heaven Spirit Orders.

 

“Indeed, there’s no gain without risk!”

 

After tallying his spoils, Zhou Chun let out a sigh of feeling.

 

After obtaining the items from the gray-clothed elder and the red-faced elder, and including the three Heart Soul Fruits, even without calculating the value of the Heaven Spirit Order, the gains he had from this Heaven Spirit Trial were probably approaching ten thousand spirit coins!

 

It was unimaginable that he could have such a great harvest in just a few days.

 

Such a harvest would probably make some cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment Stage jealous.

 

After all, even they would need six or seven years of hard work and good luck to earn ten thousand spirit coins, not to mention any major expenses.

 

However, gains and risk were related.

 

Now Zhou Chun was the victor, so it didn’t matter how he felt.

 

But if he were the loser, the others would be monologuing by his corpse instead.

 

He wasn’t blinded by the immense gains but remained more alert than ever.

 

The red-faced elder was right about one thing.

 

Zhou Chun not wanting to form a team with others didn’t mean other competitors wouldn’t.

 

Although Zhou Chun’s strength was extraordinary, if he encountered three or more competitor teams, the chances were high he could die.

 

“It seems I need to change my strategy now.

 

“Ideally, I should first find a way to gather all seven Heaven Spirit Orders, then wait outside for the last day of the trial before going to the high tower to pick treasures!”

 

Zhou Chun stroked his chin, quickly having a new idea.

 

Then he glanced at the remaining two immature Heart Soul Fruit and shook his head slightly. He didn’t destroy the fruit and simply left the valley.

 

A spiritual fruit like the Heart Soul Fruit had strict requirements for the growing environment and only grew in an area with such concentrated yin.

 

Furthermore, to blossom and bear fruit, it also requires the nourishment of strange beasts like the Pale Ghost Ape.

 

So not only could Zhou Chun not bring the fruit tree out now, but even if he had the means to do so, there was nowhere to plant it.

 

It would be better to remember this place and wait to see if later clan members could have the opportunity to come back and seize the spiritual fruit.

 

After leaving the valley, Zhou Chun continued to cautiously explore the mountains.

 

Half a day later, Zhou Chun suddenly heard fierce sounds of magical contention and fighting.

 

When he quietly arrived at the nearby area, he saw a scorched earth.

 

After those two days, although he did not encounter any other trial participants, Zhou Chun repeatedly heard the sounds of cultivators battling each other.

 

Clearly, as time passed, the cultivator gradually approaching the seven-story tower was increasingly likely to meet.

 

Under the special rules of this place, encountering each other meant a life-or-death battle was almost inevitable.

 

One day, Zhou Chun discovered a remarkably rare Musk Spirit Stag in the forest.

 

To pursue the startled stag that fled, he even risked flying with his artifact for a considerable distance!

 

It was not surprising that he took such a risk, because the spiritual musk on the stag was incredibly rare.

 

This kind of demon beast was difficult to find in the outside world and was often captured and killed for its musk once found.

 

The spiritual musk on the Musk Spirit Stag is a priceless treasure.

 

It had many uses, but for a cultivator, its most beneficial effect was to eliminate Savage Qi.

 

It removed the Savage Qi that contaminated a cultivator’s body!

 

Just this one effect made the spiritual musk on the Musk Spirit Stag even more valuable, making it an even more precious thing than a Foundation Establishment Pill.

 

Savage Qi at a low cultivation had little impact when absorbed.

 

But when the cultivation reached the Violet Palace Stage or above, especially for those preparing to open their Violet Palace, it became an obstacle.

 

An analogy would be someone with a blocked nose being locked outside a latrine. Because the nose was blocked and the eyes couldn’t see, even knowing the smell inside the latrine was especially pungent, it may not be particularly uncomfortable.

 

However, someone with a sense of smell that was much more sensitive than normal was locked there. Even if the stench would not be deadly, problems with their minds might appear given time.

 

For cultivators preparing to open a Violet Palace, the presence of Savage Qi within their bodies could, at a crucial moment, lead to their breakthrough failure, even demonic possession.

 

Based on this, any cultivator aspiring to open a Violet Palace, if they had Savage Qi within their body that had not been purged, would develop an unwavering desire for the spiritual musk produced by Musk Spirit Stag.

 

Therefore, Zhou Chun now also had an unwavering desire for it.

 

He himself had a jar for purification, so he didn’t need the spiritual musk.

 

However, the problem was that he absolutely couldn’t expose the Spiritual Water produced by the purification jar to anyone, rendering it impossible to exchange for anything.

 

But the spiritual musk produced by Musk Spirit Stag was different. That thing could not only be taken out and sold openly, but its price was also very high, worth over a thousand spirit coins for just a quarter kilogram!

 

Therefore, he was determined to catch that Musk Spirit Stag today.

 

Two-legged creatures couldn’t outrun four-legged creatures, and four-legged creatures couldn’t outrun those with wings.

 

After deploying the flying artifact, the Iridiscent Ruler, even if the Musk Spirit Stag’s speed was extraordinarily swift, it could not escape him.

 

Zhou Chun waved and tossed the Binding Golden Hoop, precisely ensnaring the head of the Musk Spirit Stag as it ran.

 

The creature was about the size of a deer, without horns, so it was easy to capture.

 

As Zhou Chun stimulated his spiritual power, the Musk Spirit Stag quickly had its neck restrained, and it collapsed onto the ground, its four legs still kicking in defiance.

 

“Whitey, calm it down.”

 

After Zhou Chun landed, he reached into his spirit beast pouch and released Whitey.

 

Upon hearing his command, the Silver Thunder Python immediately spat a silver-white bolt of lightning that struck the Musk Spirit Stag.

 

It convulsed, soiling itself, before quickly falling unconscious.

 

This violent electric shock incapacitation method, cultivated through previous uses on the Eight Antlers Stag, had become quite familiar to Whitey.

 

After incapacitating the Musk Spirit Stag, Zhou Chun had Whitey stand guard while he stepped forward to extract the spiritual musk from the scent gland sac within its belly.

 

The scent gland sac was located in front of the Musk Spirit Stag’s little guy, concealed beneath the skin, revealing no scent beforehand.

 

However, as Zhou Chun used his fingernails to pry open the skin, a captivating fragrance permeated from within.

 

The fragrance, upon being inhaled by humans, granted clarity of mind, but Whitey, upon smelling it, reacted as if it smelled foul waste, contorting its body in immense discomfort and moving away.

 

It wasn’t just Whitey that reacted this way; all the creatures within a three hundred meter radius surrounding the spiritual musk were fleeing, avoiding the area.

 

It turned out that the Musk Spirit Stag enjoyed eating snakes and insects, and its spiritual musk was also nurtured and brewed from the essence of snakes and insects—a natural medicinal herb to repel snakes.

 

Any snake or insect that smelled this fragrance would avoid it.

 

“Indeed a naturally born spiritual musk, with extraordinary characteristics!”

 

With an exclamation of admiration, Zhou Chun quickly extended three fingers and inserted them into the sac, extracting all the spiritual musk accumulated over many years.

 

The spiritual musk obtained finally weighed half a vial!

 

Whitey suddenly let out a rapid hiss of warning.

 

This made him change his expression, and he quickly stood up and took out an artifact to prepare for the battle while letting Whitey return to his side.

 

Then, after a moment’s consideration, he used the spirit beast pouch he had obtained from the gray-clad elder to put the unconscious Musk Spirit Stag inside.

 

Just as he had done these things, a black-clad, hunched-back elder with an ugly face suddenly walked out of the mountains and forests, leaning on a walking stick.

 

The hunchbacked elder first glanced at Whitey, the Silver Thunder Python coiled beside Zhou Chun, and then gazed at Zhou Chun with fiery eyes. “Young man,” he said, “hand over the Musk Spirit Stag and the spiritual musk, and I might let you live.”

 

He had sensed the Musk Spirit Stag through Divine Sense before Zhou Chun put it away.

 

Furthermore, the lingering scent that had not yet dissipated was enough for him to deduce what demon beast the Musk Spirit Stag was.

 

However, his tone made Zhou Chun feel uncomfortable.

 

Immediately, he replied coldly, “You sure talk big!”

 

He followed up with a sneer, “And if I refuse to hand them over?”

 

“Then I shall send you to the hereafter!”

 

With a low growl, the hunchbacked elder waved his walking stick made of brass and struck at Zhou Chun.