NOVPUB
Chapter 741: Chapter 747: Zombie
In a realm where Qi Cultivators were the majority, Foundation Establishment Cultivators were rare, and Golden Core Cultivators were the stuff of legends, their reaction was hardly surprising.
After all, if they accidentally offended the other party, or even just looked at them the wrong way, they could be killed with a flick of the wrist.
Upon seeing this, Xiaoqing’s face darkened. He had never imagined that one day, people would avoid him like the plague.
If it weren’t for Li Zhirui signaling him not to act rashly, Xiaoqing would have loved to grab those people and demand to know why they were so afraid.
Li Zhirui had thought that the strength of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was low enough not to cause panic among these minor cultivators, but it seemed he had miscalculated.
Even the server bringing the Spiritual Wine was trembling and didn’t dare to look up as he walked.
"Wait a moment."
As the server set down the Spiritual Wine and made to run away, Li Zhirui stopped him and asked, "I have heard of a great river here that produces pearls. Why can’t it be found anymore?"
Strictly speaking, these pearls were not Spiritual Objects; they were merely touched by some Spiritual Energy. Nevertheless, they were quite popular among lower-order female cultivators.
The pearls were affordable and reputed to have good effects on skin whitening and nourishment, so they enjoyed some fame among the Loose Cultivators in the vicinity.
"The senior may not be aware, but about a hundred years ago, the White Jade Sect discovered a Spirit Stone Vein in the Bailang River. To better exploit the vein, they cut off the river flow upstream."
"After decades of mining Spirit Stones, they discovered that the river channels on both sides of the mine had been filled in, and gradually the entire river disappeared," the server hastily explained, fearing that any delay might displease the Foundation Establishment senior.
Li Zhirui frowned upon hearing this. So it was for that reason? "Do you still remember the location of the river channel?"
While it might have seemed odd for him to inquire about pearls earlier, at least there was a pretext, but now that the river was gone and the clams with it, his insistence on digging deeper stirred curiosity and speculation among many cultivators.
’Could it be that there are other treasures in the Bailang River?’ That was the majority’s thought, but with Li Zhirui present, they dared not discuss it aloud.
"Yes, I have a map from a hundred years ago. If the senior needs it, I will fetch it immediately," the Shopkeeper said as he hurried over, his voice respectful.
At that moment, the Shopkeeper was both nervous and excited. Who would have thought that a tattered, unwanted map could earn the favor of a ’Foundation Establishment Cultivator’?
However, when Li Zhirui received the map, the Shopkeeper was disappointed. Thinking a mere map could win his favor seemed far too easy! Thus, after giving the Shopkeeper a few hundred Spirit Stones, he left the tavern straightaway.
"Jiu, I didn’t even finish that Spiritual Wine!" Xiaoqing complained as soon as they stepped outside.
"To think you actually enjoyed that low-order Spiritual Wine."
Li Zhirui uttered casually before changing the subject, "Our appearance has been rather conspicuous, so we should hurry to the source and find the treasure site."
With that, the three of them swiftly departed.
After their departure, the tavern became even livelier than before, with everyone discussing the purpose of Li Zhirui and his companions.
"They must be off to hunt for treasure; why else would they suddenly inquire about the river course of the Bailang River?"
"But what good is treasure hunting? We’d be courting death to follow a Foundation Establishment Cultivator."
"With so many of us, maybe we could snatch a treasure or two from the Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s hands; we’d be made then."
"Heh, just don’t end up dead outside."
Despite the danger, the lure of treasure was too strong, and in the end, many cultivators took the risk and left for the Bailang River channel, ready to try their luck.
----
"This is the place!"
Xiaoqing surveyed the surroundings and found they matched the treasure map quite closely; one could even say that apart from the absent river, there were no differences at all—the source was still a deep pool.
"I really can’t see anything special about this place," he admitted, struggling to understand why someone would hide a spiritual object here.
The trio explored within the depths of the pool, and it wasn’t long before they located their destination.
A cavern at the bottom of the pool, tightly concealed by mud!
It took considerable effort for the three of them to reveal its true appearance. No wonder it had remained undiscovered for so many years; the mud even had the ability to deceive divine sense.
It was quite the treasure in itself and was promptly collected.
Li Zhirui faced the pitch-black cave, just large enough for one person, with extreme caution. In such a cramped space, if an emergency occurred, there would be no room for fighting!
But the treasure was inside, and he was reluctant to turn back now.
"Jiu, shall we go in and take a look first?"
Da Qing offered, "I have formidable defensive strength; I’ll take the lead."
"No need, I’ll go first. If there’s danger, I can hide in my space immediately," Li Zhirui refused Da Qing’s suggestion and immediately stepped towards the cave.
The tunnel widened the further they went, eventually leading into a rather large space.
There was no danger inside, nor any treasure in sight, only a massive coffin at the center, surrounded by dense and seemingly profound array patterns.
"Could there be a high-order zombie inside that coffin?" Xiaoqing speculated.
After all, the surroundings made it hard not to think of zombies.
"Be on your guard!"
Li Zhirui warned his companions, then hastened the growth of vines to pry open the coffin; having come this far, he too wanted to see what kind of demon or ghost was inside.
"Hahahaha, I have finally been resurrected!" roared a zombie with a green face and sharp fangs as it leaped out, but its high level of spiritual intelligence made it seem unlike a zombie.
Zombies with spiritual intelligence were known to be difficult to create. Even after breaking through to the third order, they would only possess faint spiritual intelligence. It wasn’t until they reached the fifth order that their intelligence could be comparable to a normal person’s.
"Boy, tell me what year it is now," the zombie commanded unceremoniously, not taking Li Zhirui seriously at all.
"Hmph!"
Li Zhirui said coldly, "A mere fourth-order zombie dares to bark orders at me? You truly have a death wish."
With Da Qing and Xiaoqing at his side, he had unparalleled confidence in his power!
"Very well, let me see just how I have a death wish," the zombie retorted as if he had heard the funniest joke ever, an obvious sneer of mockery and derision on its stiff face.
Bang!
A vine suddenly shot up from the ground, whipping around with fearsome force as it smashed toward the zombie.
However, the creature remained unmoved, and the vine snapping back betrayed the futility of the attack!
"Hahahahaha, is that all the strength you have? Are you trying to tickle me?"
