Chapter 136: The Maw (Two-in-One, Requesting Monthly Votes)

Yan Yuanfeng was stunned, his mouth hanging open instinctively.

Whoosh!

A figure shot out from behind him—it was Zhao Zhongyi.

With a flash of movement, Zhao Zhongyi reached the side of the dark shadow. He lowered his head to inspect it and exclaimed, "It really is Shi Jinnian!"

Swish, swish.

Li Lilou, Zhou Wencen, and the others drifted over using their respective movement techniques.

"Heh, it truly is Shi Jinnian," Zhou Wencen narrowed his eyes.

"Where did Guest Elder Lin kill him?" Li Lilou pondered, looking up at the sky.

"Right, right. Wasn't Shi Jinnian still in the Shi family compound? How is this possible?" Yan Yuanfeng recovered his senses, equally curious.

"No need to ask. It's obvious Shi Jinnian ran out early through an underground tunnel," Zhao Zhongyi analyzed in a deep voice. "It’s just that his luck was poor; he was caught by Guest Elder Lin before he could even leave the city!"

"More or less."

Standing on the rooftop, Su Jingxing said calmly, "Shi Jinnian and the last of the Shi family's elite tried to escape via an underground tunnel. I discovered them and sent them to meet their ancestors. I’ve already disposed of the corpses; I kept Shi Jinnian’s head as proof."

"Rest assured, Guest Elder Lin, we will gather your share immediately and ensure it is deposited into your account within three days," Li Lilou replied tactfully.

"That's good." Su Jingxing did not linger. "In that case, I shall take my leave."

With those words, he flashed into motion, soared into the sky, and vanished into the horizon.

"Hey, wait!"

Yan Yuanfeng shouted, wanting to say something, but it was too late. He could only watch as Su Jingxing flew into the veil of night.

"What, Sect Leader Yan, do you want to invite Guest Elder Lin to join you?" Li Lilou chuckled upon seeing this.

"As if you don't," Yan Yuanfeng shot him a disdainful look.

"..." Li Lilou sighed. "You're right. I wanted to invite him too, but as you can see, Guest Elder Lin has no intention of joining any faction. I fear any words would be wasted."

"Ha, if you don't say anything, he’ll have even less of an intention," Yan Yuanfeng scoffed.

"Enough," Zhou Wencen interrupted. "Guest Elder Lin has already dealt with Shi Jinnian. What do we do now? Should we continue the suppression?"

"Suppress what? The old, the weak, the women, and children in the Shi compound?" Yan Yuanfeng mocked. "Chief Constable Li is watching right there. Do you dare to charge in and start a massacre?"

"We don't have to kill, but the people still need to be dealt with," Zhao Zhongyi said gravely. "The Martial Suppression Office is only responsible for peace and the big picture. The Shi family’s assets still need to be handled."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Yan Yuanfeng picked up Shi Jinnian’s head and said sternly, "With Shi Jinnian dead, the remaining Shi family members are not worth worrying about. I think it’s quite good to take over the Shi family’s assets without drawing weapons or seeing more corpses."

"Seems... that's true."

...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

In the night sky, Su Jingxing flickered, walking through the air as if on flat ground.

Deploying the "Eight Steps of the Rising Dragon" and fueled by his true energy, he sped toward Taiming Mountain, ten miles outside the city.

The entrance to the Jin Mushen treasure was located in a cave beneath the northwest corner of the Taiming Mountain reservoir.

This information had arrived just in time.

After resolving the matter of Shi Jinnian and the Shi family, Su Jingxing did not stop to rest, rushing toward the location at full speed.

The exploration team sent by the Shi family was still following Shi Jinnian’s orders, waiting by the reservoir shore.

If Su Jingxing didn't hurry and eliminate them, news of the Jin Mushen treasure entrance might leak.

If that happened, a swarm of people would break into the underground cave to dig for treasure and fight over the loot.

That was not something Su Jingxing wanted to see.

As long as he wiped out the Shi family’s exploration team, he would be the only one who knew about the entrance.

Su Jingxing had plenty of time to explore it slowly.

For this reason, Su Jingxing did not conserve his true energy, flying at maximum speed until he reached Taiming Mountain and arrived above the reservoir.

Under the cover of night, a group of people stood at the northwest corner of the reservoir shore. Some held flashlights, others carried firearms, standing in the night wind with vigilance, waiting quietly.

Swish!

Su Jingxing didn't bother hiding, descending directly from the sky to the shore, ten meters away from the group.

"Who's there!"

The waiting Shi family exploration team detected the movement. The lead man spun around, glared at Su Jingxing’s position, and barked, "Hands in the air!"

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The others raised their guns and weapons toward Su Jingxing.

"Is this everyone?"

Su Jingxing listened to the surroundings, confirming no one had been left out.

"What does that have to do with you?" the lead man growled, his eyes filled with wariness.

Su Jingxing had descended from the sky, meaning he was at least at the Sixth Grade, having mastered a high-level movement technique and the ability to fly using true energy.

The lead man was also a Sixth Grade martial artist, but he was *only* a Sixth Grade.

Su Jingxing, however, was an unknown variable.

In the middle of the night, a high-level martial artist descending from the sky to ask about their situation—even a fool would know their operation had been exposed.

Realizing this, the lead man gritted his teeth. "We are from the Shi family, you..."

"I know."

Su Jingxing cut him off. "I know you are from the Shi family, and I happen to have just come from there. Your family head, Shi Jinnian, is already dead."

"What?"

"Impossible!"

...

The group gasped in disbelief.

"You're lying!" the lead man snapped. "Our family head wouldn't die so easily. If you're going to lie, at least find something convincing."

"Heh, 'wouldn't die so easily'—is that because you know Shi Jinnian hid in a secret base?" Su Jingxing chuckled.

The lead man’s face turned ghastly, filled with shock and dread.

He knew!

Su Jingxing actually knew!

How could this be? How!

"Asking one more time..."

Whoosh!

Bang, bang, bang!

The sound of crossbow bolts whistling and pistols firing erupted suddenly.

Before Su Jingxing could finish, the lead man took the lead in launching a surprise attack.

Against anyone else, this might have actually succeeded. Many martial artists had died to such ambushes.

But Su Jingxing was different. He had been prepared; talking to the lead man was just a way to scan the surroundings, ensure no one was missed, and monitor the emotional fluctuations of the group.

The result was satisfactory: no one was hiding in the periphery. This effectively prevented any possibility of the news spreading further.

Right now, only these few people knew about the entrance to the Jin Mushen treasure.

Therefore—

Swish! Swish, swish!

"Boom! Boom!"

Su Jingxing flashed forward, throwing punches in rapid succession.

With his true energy projected, silver-black fist imprints surged with terrifying force—not the full million-catty power, but around 500,000 catties—shattering the air.

With just two strikes, he obliterated the lead man and his entire team.

He stepped forward, collected the cards, and looted the bodies, but found nothing of note.

Looking around, he saw two off-road vehicles parked on the outskirts of the reservoir entrance.

He flashed over instantly. After searching the vehicles, he found plenty of gear: weapons, firearms, explosives, fishing nets, spear guns, diving suits, and other tools.

Naturally, this included corpse-dissolving fluid.

When out on missions, such fluid was an essential item. It was specifically designed to dissolve bodies and was the best tool for destroying evidence.

Grabbing the fluid, he returned to the reservoir and disposed of the exploration team's remains.

Su Jingxing stored the remaining fluid, shrouded his body in true energy, and jumped into the water with a splash.

Holding his breath and activating his night-vision technique, he searched the bottom of the northwest corner and soon spotted an underground cave.

This cave was one of the sources of the reservoir's water.

The entrance was a little over a meter wide, just enough for one person to pass through.

Su Jingxing, even without a diving suit, slipped through with ease.

He followed the tunnel wall downward for less than twenty meters when he suddenly spotted an opening in the cave wall.

He easily changed direction and continued forward along the passage.

After twisting and turning for about fifty meters, a massive underwater grotto suddenly appeared above him.

A cave within the mountain?

A treasure entrance guarded by an aquatic spirit beast?

Su Jingxing observed it all, and without much hesitation, he slipped out of the final passage and into the grotto’s pool.

He floated to the surface, breaking the water.

Scanning the area, he discovered the pool was quite large.

The four sides were mostly cave walls, slick and damp with mist.

Above the pool, stalactites hung down.

In the northeast corner, there was a slope, and above the slope, an open doorway.

Through Su Jingxing’s night vision, he could see a stone path inside.

Where it led was currently unknown, but he assumed that behind that door lay the treasure of Jin Mushen.

With this thought, Su Jingxing leaped, clearing the water, and flew toward the slope.

In a flash, he arrived at the open doorway.

Standing there, Su Jingxing turned his head to scan the pool behind him one last time.

"Didn't they say there was a spirit beast in the water?"

The information the Shi family’s exploration team had reported to Shi Jinnian mentioned the presence of an aquatic spirit beast in this pool.

But here he was, already on the shore, and he hadn't seen a single beast.

Activating his "Sound of the Environment" technique, he didn't hear any unusual activity either.

"Could the spirit beast have just gone somewhere else?"

Su Jingxing retracted his gaze, turned around, and muttered to himself, preparing to walk into the doorway.

But the moment he stepped into the entrance, a sharp warning bell rang in his heart.

It was almost instantaneous—he recoiled with lightning speed.

And at the exact moment Su Jingxing retreated, a giant mouth abruptly appeared in the area of the doorway where there had been nothing before.

A giant mouth that had just snapped shut!

"Pfft!"

The mouth, having bitten into nothingness, made a strange sound, and a large spray of saliva splattered everywhere.

Su Jingxing retreated further, finally getting a full look at the creature.

A crocodile!

It was a massive, semi-transparent crocodile!

Its tail extended more than twenty meters, with half of it still around the corner.

Its open eyes, like gemstones, were flashing.

Its mouth, when opened, was over two meters high, matching the size of the doorway.

Remarkably, there was no foul odor from its mouth, nor was there any stench on its body.

At first glance, it looked like a cartoonish, super-sized crocodile crouching behind the door, revealing absolutely no aura.

Heartbeat, breathing, energy signatures—all were completely masked.

Su Jingxing’s "Sound of the Environment" technique hadn't picked up a thing.

A giant crocodile that could mask its aura, heartbeat, and even turn invisible.

No wonder the Shi family’s exploration team had to flee immediately upon arriving here.

If the tunnel beneath the pool hadn't been too small for this giant crocodile to pass through, the Shi family's exploration team probably wouldn't have escaped at all.

And with the stimulation from their earlier visit, this giant crocodile had left the pool to wait at the doorway.

It opened its jaws and turned invisible, waiting for prey to walk straight into its mouth!

Although Su Jingxing’s physical body had reached the human limit and his protective true energy had strong defensive capabilities, if he had truly walked into that mouth and been bitten, even if it hadn't severed him on the spot, his skin would have been torn and his bones would have certainly broken.

A crocodile’s bite force was already terrifying, let alone one that had become a spirit beast!

"Damn it, almost got caught..."

Breaking into a cold sweat, Su Jingxing’s eyes filled with murderous intent.

He had thought that with over three hundred years of cultivation, as long as no top-tier martial artist appeared, he wouldn't need to fear anyone.

He hadn't expected this treasure hunt to almost end with him becoming crocodile food.

Compared to human martial artists, the threat of spirit beasts was undoubtedly greater.

A crocodile that could turn invisible, mask its aura, and hide its heartbeat—he hadn't even heard of such a thing, let alone seen one!

"ROAR!"

As Su Jingxing stood on guard, the giant crocodile, having missed its prey, could no longer restrain itself. It let out a roar, and its massive, semi-transparent body charged out of the doorway.

Whoosh!

A fierce gale accompanied by a massive spray of water erupted from the crocodile’s maw, and an invisible force instantly filled the air above the pool.

In an instant, as Su Jingxing felt the air lock up, a tremendous pressure bore down on his shoulders and head, forcing him to sink toward the water.

"BOOM!"

Without a second thought, sensing the abnormality, Su Jingxing braced against the pressure, mobilized his three hundred years of true energy, and unleashed a punch with terrifying force, slamming it into the giant crocodile charging at him.

A silver-black fist imprint formed in the air, carrying immense power. It pierced through the air and struck the giant crocodile with precision, sending it flying backward. In mid-air, it exploded with a thunderous "BANG!"

Blood, shredded flesh, and viscera sprayed everywhere, with most of it falling into the water.

[Spirit beast corpse detected. Collect?]

"Yes!"

Su Jingxing responded, exhaling as he hovered in mid-air.

It was within his expectations that the giant crocodile would be blown apart by a punch powered by his full strength.

What surprised Su Jingxing was that the shredded flesh of the giant crocodile turned transparent even after death as it sank into the water.

"Could it be that this thing becomes a transparent species after turning into a spirit beast?"

Su Jingxing murmured.

After some thought, he scooped up a few pieces of the meat and stored them in his palm space. He would try cooking and tasting them when he got back.

Spirit beast meat was highly nutritious and a great help for initial strength training and body tempering.

For someone at Su Jingxing’s level—the human limit—the benefits were limited, but still useful.

That was why Su Jingxing only took a few pieces and didn't collect the rest.

Just to taste it; a few pieces were enough.

After a brief rest, he continued onward.

But this time, before stepping into the doorway, Su Jingxing first threw out his precious flying knives to scout the path ahead, ensuring he wouldn't accidentally stumble into another trap.

Swish, swish, swish!

The three flying knives darted ahead, and Su Jingxing followed behind.

Walking through the winding tunnel for about five minutes, a massive underground cavern suddenly came into view.

The moment he stepped out of the tunnel, Su Jingxing’s eyes widened!