“Someone has been here before us.” Mingzhu’s brow furrowed, his face suddenly clouding with suspicion.

“You mean someone else received the same commission?” Something stirred in Yue Yang’s mind. If he and Mingzhu could receive the commission, then others certainly had the chance as well. This kind of task should be a competitive type, the sort that had existed since ancient times — a challenge any outstanding wanderer was qualified to attempt, much like raising war beasts in Beast Valley, rather than a private errand for the three white-clad maidens alone.

“I’m picking up residual traces left in the earth after a powerful consciousness conducted a search. This person’s mental force was extraordinarily strong, near-divine — it should be Ji Wuri.” Mingzhu nodded, giving Yue Yang a definitive answer.

“Ji Wuri was here?” Only now did Yue Yang realize his own perceptive ability actually fell short of Mingzhu’s.

If he fully unleashed his hidden strength, deployed the full power of his Heaven’s Eye without reservation, and combined his supreme Sovereign Intent with the power of minor laws to sweep the entire Eastern Peak, Yue Yang estimated he’d perform no worse than Mingzhu — perhaps considerably better, even. But in his ordinary, unexerted state, he genuinely did fall short.

Mingzhu’s everyday perceptive ability surpassed Yue Yang’s; aside from Princess Qianqian with her Six Senses Gift, probably no one else could match it.

Having sensed traces of Ji Wuri’s passage, Mingzhu’s expression tightened slightly, bracing himself as though facing a formidable enemy, as if Ji Wuri might leap out and attack them at any moment. Yue Yang, by contrast, was rather calm. If Ji Wuri were still here, it would already be too late to leave anyway — and besides, a direct fight wasn’t out of the question. This was, after all, the Ancient Pavilion Terrace of Human Valley’s Heaven Plain Peak; however great Ji Wuri’s abilities, he couldn’t deploy them here. If it came down to construct against construct, the current Yue Yang could thump his chest and declare: Bring it on. Who’s afraid of whom?

Most importantly, Yue Yang trusted that however dulled his perception might be, he wouldn’t let Ji Wuri creep up beside him entirely undetected. The residual energy traces from Ji Wuri’s mental search of the Eastern Peak were simply too faint — Yue Yang hadn’t paid attention and so hadn’t sensed them. But if Ji Wuri were lurking somewhere, gathering strength to strike, Yue Yang’s battlefield crisis-sense — no weaker than Qianqian’s Six Senses Gift in combat — would have registered it instantly.

So Ji Wuri was certainly not on the Eastern Peak now.

And since he wasn’t here, what did Yue Yang have to fear?

“Beyond Ji Wuri’s residual mental force, there’s the residue of another unfamiliar powerhouse’s consciousness.” Mingzhu sounded slightly uncertain. Who else could possibly possess strength comparable to Ji Wuri’s?

“I know who that is.” Yue Yang didn’t need to think about it.

The Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord.

Were it not for his grimoire, divine consciousness, and life-guardian war beasts still sealed away in the Demon God Hall of Demon Valley, the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord would have been far more powerful than Ji Wuri — this so-called nearest-to-the-divine Hall Master of the Holy Hall. Back when the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord was rampaging unchecked across the Heavenly Realm, Ji Wuri hadn’t even been born yet. Of course, the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord was now only half-freed from his seal, his strength greatly diminished — not enough even for Yue Yang to take down, and naturally somewhat inferior to Ji Wuri at his peak.

The mere fact that he’d escaped an ancient seal entirely under his own power was proof of just how formidable the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord was.

Among the supreme powerhouses who’d been similarly sealed, none could have managed it alone — not the Demon Dragon with its three-hundred-billion bounty in the Heavenly Realm, not the Peerless Emperor Juedai, not Conquering Empress Vivienne.

Granted, each person’s seal varied in strength. The seals binding Empress Vivienne and the Demon Dragon were the most despair-inducing. But the seals binding the Peerless Emperor Juedai and the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord were probably not all that different.

And yet, among those four supreme powerhouses, only the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord had broken free alone — and with such resolve, willing to sacrifice his divine consciousness and grimoire to obtain his freedom. That alone was further proof of just how powerful he was. Without his grimoire, without his divine consciousness and life-guardian war beasts, he’d still fought Yue Yang to a draw in Demon Valley. Put anyone else in that position — including the current Ji Wuri — and it absolutely couldn’t have been done.

Without his grimoire, divine consciousness, and life-guardian war beasts to support him, if Ji Wuri genuinely dared to go to war with Yue Yang, he was guaranteed to be thoroughly routed on the spot. He’d lose so badly he wouldn’t even be able to pull his trousers back up.

The one thing the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord truly couldn’t overcome was fate — not the current Yue Yang, nor Ji Wuri, who held a temporary edge over him.

Hearing Yue Yang explain all this, Mingzhu nodded slightly. He seemed to have heard something of the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord’s story before, and knew the general outline. Though the greatly weakened Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord had become a “toothless tiger,” he was absolutely not someone to provoke lightly.

Mingzhu wholeheartedly agreed with Yue Yang’s caution.

“If both Ji Wuri and the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord have already been here, then there’s no point in us searching.” Yue Yang didn’t believe that trailing behind those two could turn up any ancient relic. If neither Ji Wuri nor the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord could find it, then he and Mingzhu needn’t waste their energy — they certainly wouldn’t find it either. And if those two had already found it, what point was there in wasting time here?

“But…” Mingzhu felt it was rather a shame to simply leave like this.

“Let me think.” Yue Yang carefully recalled the three white-clad maidens’ words. If the relic had already been found, they certainly wouldn’t have set him searching — it must not yet have been found. Conversely, if the relic truly existed here on the Eastern Peak, there was no reason figures like Ji Wuri and the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord couldn’t find it.

“Have you thought of anything? The sea they mentioned — could it be a sea of trees? There’s a vast forest here; you could call it a sea of trees.” Mingzhu offered this analysis.

“No.” Yue Yang shook his head. It absolutely wouldn’t be that simple. If it were that simple, would Ji Wuri and the Heavens-Splitting Demon Lord have come away empty-handed?

Yue Yang set his mind seriously to work, sinking into deep contemplation, searching for an answer.

He thought for half an hour. Nothing.

Mingzhu hurried to console him. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll certainly find the ancient relic — there’s still time, no need to rush. And this is the secluded Eastern Peak; unless someone issues a challenge and chooses the Eastern Peak as their battlefield, no one will come here to disturb us. Take your time thinking, no hurry. I’ll help too. We’ll work at it together. Even if someone does enter to duel, the transport gate will flash with light first — we’ll have plenty of time to hide. Absolutely no one will interfere with our treasure hunt.”

Yue Yang didn’t care about being consoled, but he accepted Mingzhu’s gesture of goodwill. Getting comfort out of this Mingzhu — who flew into rages at the slightest provocation and loved bludgeoning people with that golden hammer — was no easy thing.

He was about to speak when a flash of inspiration lit up his mind. Yue Yang gripped Mingzhu’s shoulders tightly and cried out, “What did you say? Just now — you said transport gate?”

Mingzhu, startled by Yue Yang’s action, replied, “I said if someone enters, the transport gate gives a warning, it flashes—”

“Yes — that’s it!” Yue Yang, beside himself with excitement, embraced Mingzhu, holding on tight and refusing to let go.

Mingzhu was thoroughly dazed. What was going on? What did this have to do with the transport gate? Even if there was a connection, that was no reason to cling to him like this.

Yue Yang not only held on but thumped Mingzhu’s back forcefully, laughing aloud. Just as Mingzhu was preparing to use the golden hammer to clear the kid’s head, Yue Yang suddenly let go and sprinted off toward the distant transport gate.

By the time Mingzhu caught up to the gate, Yue Yang had already removed a piece of “Divine Stone” from the transport gate’s base.

“You’re not about to tell me this is the ancient relic?” Mingzhu seemed to half-grasp it.

“Divine Stone — this Endless Energy Source certainly existed when Human Valley first formed. It may even have been made by the ancient deities themselves; at the very least, some ancient predecessor placed it within this transport array to serve as the energy stone aiding transport. How could it not count as an ancient relic?” Yue Yang argued with conviction.

“But Human Valley has no shortage of Divine Stones — this isn’t the only one. Forget the Eastern Peak; the Southern, Western, and Northern Peaks have them too.” Mingzhu still couldn’t quite see it.

“Collect every last one!” Yue Yang deliberately stored this particular “Divine Stone” in an empty, otherwise-vacant storage ring.

“Stop dragging me!” Mingzhu’s hand was caught in Yue Yang’s grip, pulled along behind him, looking thoroughly unaccustomed to it. He struggled a few times but couldn’t break free of that large hand, and could only roll his eyes helplessly, letting himself be dragged, quickening his pace to keep up.

What Yue Yang and Mingzhu didn’t know was that, ten minutes after the two of them left, Zhonghua — the Hall of Light Master who, in Human Valley, held the identity of the Silver Maple City Lord’s tenth son — along with Ren Tiange, the Silver-Eyed Great Sage, the Ghost King Phantom, the Flayer King Blood Shave, the Skeleton King Golden Bones, and other supreme powerhouses, were transported one after another to the Eastern Peak as well. Clearly, they too had received the commission to find the ancient relic. As they entered the sea of trees to search, wary of their competitors, several more students arrived — including Hauge, Qingmo, and a handful of Human Valley’s elite students, such as Junior City Lord Jinji, who claimed to have created the Strong Magnetic Battle Construct.

After Hauge entered, he let out a great laugh. “How shameless. The three envoys commissioned my brother to find the relic, and you all came trailing after us. The nerve.”

Yangping, the elite student from Flame Sun City, changed color, snorting heavily — but didn’t argue back.

The arrogant Jinji, by contrast, sneered repeatedly in cold retort. “Filthy commoner — what makes you few broken-down mercenaries qualified to take the commission while we elite nobles aren’t? We accepted the task of our own initiative, and didn’t the three envoys agree to it? That proves we noble-born are the ones with real ability, the ones more fit to complete such an important charge. With us here, you garbage mercenaries can go home. There’s no way you’ll find the ancient relic — never, not ever!”

“Hm?” The masked Qingmo seemed to sense some kind of presence, and actually turned and walked off without lingering a single second.

“Hey, hey — only you are qualified to take the commission, and you’re just walking off like that? What a waste.” Hauge broke into a sweat, though he was long accustomed to Qingmo’s temperament. With Yue Yang absent, he simply deferred to Qingmo — following the smart one was never a mistake.

“Worthless garbage mercenaries!” Jinji spat onto the ground.

“They must be afraid we’ll join forces to attack them,” Yangping analyzed.

“Right, right — here on the Eastern Peak, attacking is permitted!” Jinji’s face filled with chagrin. Why hadn’t he just used his construct to wipe out those two penniless mercenaries a moment ago?

At this moment, Yue Yang and Mingzhu were already on the Northern Peak.

In a span of barely ten-some minutes, the two had circled from the Eastern Peak, through the Southern Peak, past the Western Peak, and on to the Northern Peak.

To collect the Divine Stones from all four locations, Yue Yang had paid the “challenge honor” of three consecutive defeats. Without the scroll, entering each region required issuing a challenge and arranging a duel in a designated zone before transport in. The disgrace of three straight losses naturally couldn’t be allowed to fall on Mingzhu’s shoulders, so Yue Yang — channeling the great revolutionary spirit of a true man pressing forward fearlessly, undaunted by sacrifice, surmounting every obstacle — voluntarily shouldered the result of “three consecutive defeats.”

When Mingzhu tried to console him, Yue Yang magnanimously declared it was nothing.

How had Beggar Su of legend done it back in the day? Dying for the girl, living for the girl, traveling to the capital to sit the imperial exam for the girl — storming the capital despite not even being able to write his own name. What kind of fearless courage was that? What lofty ambition?

And there had been another great figure who once penned the immortal words: Wooing has not yet succeeded; comrades must still strive… — a revolutionary slogan Yue Yang had, in his student days, pasted at the head of his bed as his personal motto, ever encouraging himself to advance steadfastly along the revolutionary ideals and path of his predecessors.

Hearing this twisted nonsense, Mingzhu flushed red with anger.

He snatched up that golden hammer, very nearly snapping all four of Yue Yang’s limbs the way Beggar Su’s had been broken — fortunately, Yue Yang let out a yelp: “Don’t force me to practice my Sleeping Arhat Fist, or I’ll meet you in your dreams every single night.”

This so startled Mingzhu that his hand trembled, the hammer dropping to the ground before he relented.

The laughing and bickering done, with the four Divine Stones of east, south, west, and north now gathered together, Yue Yang didn’t rush to bring them back to the three white-clad maidens. Instead, working from the runes engraved upon the Divine Stones, he drew out an enormous rune array, linking all four together perfectly. Four streams of energy radiance spilled from the Divine Stones, converging at the center of the rune array, interweaving into a pillar of light that shot skyward.

Yue Yang charged toward the pillar of light. Seeing that the kid wasn’t bringing him along, Mingzhu grew anxious and rushed forward, gripping his hand tightly. “Don’t you dare think about abandoning me here alone!”

In an instant, the pillar of light transported them both away.

By the time the two of them regained awareness, they found themselves standing on a tiny island, surrounded on all sides by a boundless expanse of sea.

(End of Chapter)