CHAPTER 18: HORSE-HUNTING SQUAD

In the days that followed, Lu Chen led a life of peace and leisure. During the day, he would check in on Jun Laoye to see how his injuries were healing. At night, he would cultivate inside the Twin-Fish Medallion. Life during this time was calm and comfortable.

One day, Lu Chen was wandering idly around the space within the Twin-Fish Medallion, admiring the treasures Feng Tiancheng had left him. He noticed a patch of spirit ginseng growing in a spirit farm. Feng Tiancheng was the one who planted them. All of them were at least a thousand years old, with some exceeding ten thousand.

Jun Laoye lost a lot of blood a few days ago. His wounds might've healed, but his vital essence still hasn't recovered.

With that in mind, Lu Chen casually picked one of the ginseng roots. Then he ran to the kitchen, brewed a bowl of soup, and brought it to Jun Laoye's room.

At the time, Jun Wudi was explaining cultivation concepts to Jun Laoye and Nantian Yijian. Seeing Lu Chen enter, Jun Laoye quickly waved him over to join the lecture.

Lu Chen sat beside Jun Laoye, scooped out a bowl of soup, and handed it to him. The room was instantly filled with a rich, fragrant aroma.

Lu Chen said, "Drink the soup while it's hot. I just finished simmering it."

Nantian Yijian rushed over. "It smells amazing! I want a bowl too! Hurry up and give me some!"

Lu Chen had no choice but to ladle out another bowl for Nantian Yijian. He then turned to Jun Wudi and asked, "Uncle Jun, would you like some too? I made it with spirit ginseng. It's really tasty."

"I'll pass. You all—" Jun Wudi was just about to decline, but stopped mid-sentence when he saw Jun Laoye collapse after finishing the bowl.

Startled, Nantian Yijian flung his bowl away and shouted, "There is poison in the soup!"

Jun Wudi rushed forward to examine Jun Laoye.

Just then, Jun Laoye's eyes suddenly flew open, and he shouted, "So hot! There's energy surging inside me!"

Then he fainted again.

Jun Wudi examined him closely, but other than an extra burst of pure energy within his body, he found nothing unusual.

Jun Wudi frowned, confused by the sudden appearance of this powerful energy. "What's going on? How did this happen?"

Lu Chen saw his reaction and thought the soup really was poisoned. He asked anxiously, "Uncle Jun, what's going on with Little Jun? Is it because of the soup I made with the spirit ginseng?"

"Spirit ginseng? Let me take a look. But even spirit ginseng shouldn't cause a reaction like this..."

Jun Wudi picked up the bowl of soup and took a closer look. The moment he saw it clearly, he burst into tears. "Lu Chen, you little prodigal! How could you use ten-thousand-year-old spirit ginseng to make soup? Do you know how many Small Heaven Restoration Pills you could refine with that?"

Jun Wudi wasn't really angry at Lu Chen. He was just heartbroken. In this era, spirit herbs were extremely precious, and using a ten-thousand-year-old ginseng to make soup was simply too much of a waste.

Lu Chen quickly explained, "I got it from a secret realm. There's still a bit left. Do you want some, Uncle Jun?"[1]

Jun Wudi looked at the spirit ginseng Lu Chen took out and quickly waved his hand. "Put it away, quickly! Don't let anyone see it. You either don't recognize its worth or you're a fool. Using a treasure like this to make soup... Unbelievable. Starting today, you're staying here. I need to teach you all the basics of cultivation across the continent."

Nantian Yijian stood by, sighing along with him. Having spent time in a sect, he knew just how valuable such herbs were.

Among the four of them, Lu Chen seemed to be the only one unaware of the value of spirit plants and herbs. With the Twin-Fish Medallion full of such herbs and Feng Tiancheng's long isolation creating a knowledge gap, Lu Chen had come to mistakenly believe these things were nothing special.

Eventually, Jun Laoye woke up. Upon hearing that Lu Chen had used a ten-thousand-year-old spirit ginseng to make soup, he joined in the chorus of sighs.

Thanks to Jun Wudi's lessons, Lu Chen finally developed a more grounded understanding of cultivation knowledge. Unlike in Feng Tiancheng's era, the spirit qi in the world was no longer as dense, so high-year spirit herbs were incredibly rare and costly. The same applied to other cultivation resources.

After learning all this, Lu Chen felt guilty about his earlier carelessness and began wallowing in regret.

Then Nantian Yijian stormed in, grumbling and cursing. "Damn it, damn it, damn it all! It's just playing the guqin! It's fine if you can't appreciate it, but why do you have to insult me?! Damn it!"

It turned out that every time Nantian Yijian played his guqin, people gathered around. Since they didn't dare to lay a hand on him, they hurled insults instead. After a few days, he was utterly fed up with it.

Nantian Yijian suddenly suggested, "Little Lu, Little Jun, let's become sworn brothers. We'll form a small squad, and once you both join, we'll specialize in hunting down those people. The squad's name will be Horse-Hunting Squad!"

Jun Laoye had always wanted to be an older brother, so he agreed immediately. "That's a great idea! I'm in! I want to be the eldest brother!"

Without waiting for Lu Chen's response, Nantian Yijian dragged both of them to their knees and hastily recited the oath.

By the time Lu Chen realized what was going on, Nantian Yijian had already finished the whole ceremony and stood up proudly. "From now on, the Horse-Hunting Squad is officially established! You two will be the big brothers, and I'll be the little brother. Since I'm the youngest, you guys have to protect me. I'd like to see if anyone dares to curse at me again!"

It was only then that Lu Chen realized Nantian Yijian had tricked him into becoming his personal bodyguard. He was enraged and raised his fists to rush over to give him a good beating.

But Jun Laoye stepped in behind Nantian Yijian and declared, "I'm the oldest, so I'll be Big Brother. Little Lu, you're younger than me, so you'll be Second Brother."

Lu Chen was speechless. How did I end up with these two clowns? Sworn brotherhood isn't supposed to be this sloppy.

No matter how much he argued, the two insisted the Horse-Hunting Squad had already been founded and couldn't be changed.

"Horse-Hunting Squad!"

"Horse-Hunting Squad!"

"Hors—"

And just like that, Lu Chen was forced to go along with them.

***

Another day passed. The three of them were learning how to control spirit qi when a cheer erupted from outside the tent. The three rushed out and saw that the green-blue light in the sky had faded. The entrance to the secret realm had fully emerged.

Lu Chen looked at the massive pit and noticed a stone stele had appeared beside the entrance.

As he stared at the stone stele, his heart began to pound. He could hear a voice calling to him from within.

Etched on the surface was the figure of a person, with five beasts depicted behind it. Lu Chen recognized the figure. To confirm it, he focused his consciousness and entered the Twin-Fish Medallion to retrieve the Green Emperor's identity token.

Lu Chen stared at the identity token in his hand. By doing so, he confirmed that the figure on the stone stele was indeed the Green Emperor. However, compared to the real person, the silhouette on the stone stele exuded a far sharper and more murderous aura.

At that moment, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, "The secret realm is opening! I'm going to strike it rich!"

"You? Strike it rich? Look at your cultivation realm. Who do you think you are, someone from the Heavenly Mandate Hall or the Herb King Manor? You're completely overestimating yourself. Watch out, once you're inside, someone might kill you on the spot."

"Who the hell are you talking about? Just wait. The moment we enter, I'll be the first to kill you."

"Bring it on. Let's see who dies first."

In an instant, the atmosphere around the secret realm exploded with tension. Verbal clashes broke out one after another, but with major sects present, no one dared to make the first move.

Just then, Jun Wudi appeared in front of the crowd. The moment he came into view, the commotion instantly died down.

Facing the direction of the Herb King Manor and the Violet Flame Fortress, Jun Wudi raised his voice and called out, "Herb King Yao Buting, Violet Flame Heaven Lord Zi Long, is either of you here? If so, please come out."

As soon as he finished speaking, an old man appeared from the direction of the Herb King Manor. He had the appearance of an immortal and spoke with a calm air, "Hehe, I am here. Greetings, Divine Jun."

A middle-aged man exuding a sinister, demonic aura descended from the direction of the Violet Flame Fortress. Sweeping his gaze over the crowd, he said, "Divine Jun, let's just get this started already. I've waited long enough."

Seeing that all three major sects had arrived, the crowd erupted with excitement once more.

"Divine Jun, let's get started already. We can't wait any longer!"

"Yes, please start. We promise we won't cause any trouble."

"Yeah, start it now... start it."

Jun Wudi signalled for the crowd to quiet down. Once silence returned, he said, "Two months ago, we received word that someone had obtained top-grade material, the Yin-Yang Sand, within the borders of the Heavenly Mandate Hall. After thorough investigation, we finally uncovered this secret realm. Do any of you know whose secret realm this is?"

"Divine Jun, we've already heard some things. Please continue, don't keep us hanging!"

"Yes, just tell us! I'm dying to know."

Seeing the eager expressions on everyone's faces, Jun Wudi continued, "Our investigations revealed that this secret realm was left behind by the legendary Heavenly Emperor in his early years. That's why we spread the word and sincerely invited all of you here."

As soon as they heard this, the crowd burst into a frenzy.

"The Heavenly Emperor? You mean the Green Emperor, the one who outshone all his peers and was the first to open a path to the outer domains and ascend?"

"Damn, we're about to strike it rich! Even the tiniest remnant would be a priceless treasure to us!"

"The Heavenly Mandate Hall is so generous. Divine Jun, you are truly invincible!"

Watching the crowd's growing excitement, Jun Wudi added, "The gate to the secret realm has now appeared. However, it requires an immense amount of power to unlock. So next, we need everyone to contribute. Once the gate is open, whatever treasures lie within will be up to each of you to claim through your own fortune and strength."

The moment he mentioned the Heavenly Emperor's treasure being up for grabs, the crowd turned into eager hounds, each one trying to show their loyalty.

"Divine Jun, rest assured. We'll pour all our cultivation into this!"

"From this day on, anyone who disrespects the Heavenly Mandate Hall will have to answer to me!"

"Count me in!"

"Me too!"

Watching their enthusiastic response, Jun Wudi decided it was time to begin.

"Since everyone's so eager to enter the secret realm, I won't waste any more words. In a moment, each of you must pour all your spirit qi into the stone stele. Don't hold back, we can only enter the secret realm once we unlock this door."

As he spoke, Jun Wudi turned to look at Yao Buting and Zi Long. The three of them had the highest cultivation among everyone present. He whispered to the two of them, "Brothers, be sure to give it your all. I've consulted ancient texts and discovered that deep inside this place, there's a demonic beast guarding the weapon once used by the Heavenly Emperor. Let's head straight for that beast and seize the treasure."

Yao Buting and Zi Long had already heard about this beforehand. The three of them had conspired to leak news of the secret realm in order to lure a large number of cultivators. Their plan was to let these people serve as bait to distract the beast, giving them the chance to snatch the ultimate prize.

The two exchanged a glance and said, "Divine Jun, since we're helping the Heavenly Mandate Hall, we want half of the final treasure."

Jun Wudi's face darkened. The two were shamelessly trying to increase their share at the last moment. Since there was something inside the secret realm he absolutely had to obtain, the particular treasure hunt had to be carried out in secret.

Jun Wudi had already used up the full strength of his sect to enter the secret realm once before, but the beast inside had proven too powerful. That's why he was now collaborating with the other two sects to hold this so-called "Secret Realm Assembly."

"You're asking for too much," he said, clearly frustrated.

Zi Long replied, "You're free to refuse. But keep in mind, you're the only one here from the Heavenly Mandate Hall. If our two sects join forces, who do you think will end up on the losing side?"

Jun Wudi stared at the two of them. In the past, he would have ignored their threats, but now that he was seriously injured and it involved something he couldn't afford to lose, he had no choice.

After weighing the options, Jun Wudi had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree, for now. "Fine, half it is. That's still better than walking away with nothing. But I ask both of you to go all out. Once we're out, we'll divide the treasure equally."

As for settling the score, that could wait until later.

1. Lu Chen was lying about the secret realm. He didn't want to reveal the secrets about the Twin-Fish Medallion just yet. ☜