Chapter 135: Returning Home Laden with Spoils (Two Chapters Combined)

The third treasure vault is dangerous?

Su Jingxing was surprised. A treasure vault could be dangerous? What kind of treasure could pose a threat to him? Some sort of toxic gas? A lethal pathogen? A biochemical bomb?

Su Jingxing couldn't fathom it. He stepped back twice and carefully examined the alloy door of the third vault. Upon closer inspection, he discovered something unusual: the alloy door was exceptionally thick, and the viewing port on the door panel was remarkably small. It wasn't covered by glass, but was instead an openwork grid with tiny holes.

Air could circulate between the inside and the outside? This indicated that whatever was stored inside wasn't a toxic gas or a pathogen. At the very least, it wasn't a gas or a small trinket, but something substantial.

Something substantial... "Could it be a savage beast?"

Su Jingxing pondered. A powerful savage beast could indeed threaten him. Even ignoring the middle-tier martial artists, there were savage beasts that even top-tier martial artists could not kill. If the Shi family had truly raised a savage beast and kept it in a treasure vault... Wait!

"No, that's not right. A savage beast is still a living creature; it can't have no heartbeat or breathing."

Su Jingxing’s "Auditory Perception" secret technique had been active the entire time, constantly listening for movements in the surroundings. If there were a savage beast in the third vault, it would be impossible not to hear its heartbeat or breathing. Unless... "It's dead!"

Su Jingxing’s expression shifted. He retreated two more steps, then threw a punch, striking the alloy door. A terrifying force violently forced the alloy door open. The empty environment of the treasure vault was instantly revealed to Su Jingxing. Standing directly outside, he saw nothing at first. The darkness did not affect his vision.

"There's nothing inside?" Su Jingxing raised an eyebrow.

Just then—

Whoosh!

A foul wind, carrying a bloody, malevolent aura, suddenly swept out from the third vault. It moved with incredible speed; the moment it lunged from the darkness, there wasn't even a shadow to be seen. Or rather, it was a shadow itself!

"Boom!"

The air exploded, and energy surged wildly. Having been prepared, Su Jingxing threw a punch head-on. With a million jin of force, he struck the incoming black shadow. With a dull thud, the shadow was smashed backward, shattering into several pieces as it hit the ground.

[Companion Insect Zombie discovered. Would you like to pick it up?]

"Yes!"

Su Jingxing responded inwardly. Standing outside the door, he felt both stunned and gratified. A Corpse Puppet! The "treasure" kept in the third vault was actually a Corpse Puppet. The Shi family truly lived up to their reputation as madmen; they even dared to tame Corpse Puppets.

Although Corpse Puppets could be artificially created, this type of variant, controlled by otherworldly demonic insects, was neither a savage beast nor a spirit beast; it could never be tamed. The only way was to forcibly imprison and control it. If any slip-up occurred, not only would the opponent die, but the person who created it would suffer a horrific end.

The Shi family were complete lunatics. Forcibly imprisoning a Corpse Puppet was one thing, but to keep it in a base and place it in a treasure vault? What, were they using the Corpse Puppet as a security guard for the vault? If an outside enemy invaded, they would release the Corpse Puppet to attack?

Su Jingxing couldn't accept it. The only explanation for the Shi family daring to keep a Corpse Puppet in a treasure vault was that they were sufficiently overconfident. No wonder he hadn't heard any breathing or heartbeats; it turned out that what was stored in the third vault were Corpse Puppets!

"Whoosh!"

Another foul wind suddenly erupted, flashing out of the treasure vault like lightning, lunging at Su Jingxing.

Boom!

Su Jingxing still struck with a punch, unleashing over a hundred years of True Energy cultivation, releasing a million jin of force to strike the incoming black shadow. With a dull thud, the shadow was smashed to pieces, falling to the ground in several chunks.

Su Jingxing picked up the card. Another Corpse Puppet! There were two in the third vault...

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Foul winds raged, tearing through the air. From the open vault, two more black shadows flew out, lunging at Su Jingxing like lightning. The acrid, bloody scent, accompanied by a manic aura, enveloped him.

"Boom!" "Boom!"

Dull, explosive sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

Just like before, the two black shadows, facing the violent impact of a million jin of force, shattered on the spot, breaking into several pieces and falling to the ground.

Su Jingxing picked up the cards, feeling inexplicably satisfied. The madness of the Shi family had worked in his favor today. Corpse Puppets were indeed a huge threat; if one escaped, the damage caused to ordinary people and lower-tier martial artists would be unimaginable. However, since the Corpse Puppets had died at Su Jingxing's hands, the cards he picked up were highly likely to be Martial Practice Cards.

Martial Practice Cards were excellent items, and Su Jingxing was currently in need of them. The more Corpse Puppets imprisoned in the third vault, the higher the chance Su Jingxing would harvest Martial Practice Cards. This was like delivering benefits and warmth directly to him. Su Jingxing would have loved to kill a dozen or even dozens of them. Unfortunately, after waiting for a moment outside the door, no more Corpse Puppets lunged out.

Su Jingxing walked in slowly. With his night-vision secret technique, the situation in the secret chamber was clear at a glance. There were indeed only four Corpse Puppets. These four had likely been restrained by chains or hand-fixation devices before. On the wall to the left of the chamber, four sets of alloy shackles were installed, capable of separately securing a Corpse Puppet's head and limbs.

Now that the restraints were open, it must have been Shi Zhiluo's doing. Before Su Jingxing had descended to the third level of the base, he had already unlocked the restraints. If Su Jingxing hadn't been vigilant and entered the vault immediately, he would have been at least slightly injured by the Corpse Puppet's ambush.

Ruthless! The people of the Shi family were truly all fanatics. Su Jingxing scanned the entire chamber, carefully checking every corner to ensure nothing was missed or left undiscovered, before turning to leave.

As he walked, he took out the four cards he had just picked up, held them in his hand, and read the information.

Martial Practice Card! Martial Practice Card! Martial Practice Card! Martial Practice Card!

Very good. All four cards were Martial Practice Cards, and each had a high lifespan value, all exceeding ten years. Clearly, the Shi family had been imprisoning and controlling these four Corpse Puppets for quite some time. Shi Zhiluo had tried to drag Su Jingxing down with him before he died; it could only be said that his calculations had failed.

Four Martial Practice Cards would allow Su Jingxing to master quite a few martial arts. Thus, the third treasure vault had yielded a good harvest.

The next was the fourth treasure vault. To be safe, Su Jingxing first listened for any movement inside, then kept a distance before brute-forcing the door panel open. After waiting for a moment and hearing no movement, he walked in slowly.

He looked up and scanned the room, seeing only specially made bookshelves. However, there were very few books on the shelves. Su Jingxing walked over, picked up the few that were there, and opened them to look.

Martial arts—they were all martial arts! The fourth vault contained martial arts manuals. Although the quantity wasn't large, only about twenty, these martial arts were all quite good. Among them were the unique skills of the Shi family: "Cold Smoke Technique," "Shattering Eagle Claw," and "Nine Yin Soul-Severing Sword." These three manuals were complete versions.

Su Jingxing flipped through them casually and, satisfied, stored them all in his palm space. Even though he didn't practice these cold-attribute martial arts, it didn't hurt for him to use them for reference. So far, Su Jingxing had collected quite a few martial arts. Previously, he had just been collecting them subconsciously, but thinking about it carefully now, perhaps he could integrate them all and create a martial art unique to himself.

Although the hope wasn't very high, what if it happened? What if he succeeded? Su Jingxing hadn't forgotten about the existence of deduction-type function cards. As long as he created a complete martial arts theory, then used a deduction card to refine it, there was a high chance of success!

Therefore, as long as the martial arts manuals were complete, Su Jingxing took them all. Whether he would use them or not was another matter; he would take them first anyway.

All the martial arts the Shi family had stored in the secret chamber were moved into his palm space. Finally, in a hidden compartment, Su Jingxing found a preciously protected manual. He opened it and looked...

"Blood Drop Demonic Art?"

A demonic art! Su Jingxing narrowed his eyes, picked up the dark red-covered manual, held his breath, and opened it to examine. A moment later, his breathing became slightly rapid.

Indeed, this "Blood Drop Demonic Art" was a demonic art, the one practiced by Shi Zhinie. Using blood as a guide, once successfully refined, one could condense the True Intent of a Blood Flood Dragon and advance to the third rank. Shi Zhinie had practiced it, which was why he had killed so many people and possessed such terrifying power.

However! This "Blood Drop Demonic Art" was not complete; it was fragmented. A fragmented martial art, even if it was truly exquisite and terrifying in power—once successfully practiced, the body would possess terrifying vitality and an absurdly high self-healing ability—was still incomplete.

The "Blood Drop Demonic Art" itself had flaws. Because it relied on absorbing blood energy to practice, there was a seventy percent chance it would lead to a drastic change in personality, causing bloodthirst, mania, and extreme cruelty. It was even more likely to lead to "Qi Deviation," causing the practitioner to lose their sanity and become a complete demon. A killing machine!

And yet, Shi Zhinie had still practiced it. For his sake, the Shi family had consumed a vast amount of resources and killed thousands of people.

Lunatics! Su Jingxing could only conclude that everyone in the Shi family was a lunatic. If the "Blood Drop Demonic Art" had been complete, it would have been a unique skill on the same level as "Nine Steps to Heaven." Since it was fragmented, Su Jingxing took it anyway.

Not for any other reason, but for some of the theories within it; if used correctly, they could exert immense power.

Thus, the fourth treasure vault was a fruitful haul.

After exiting the secret chamber, Su Jingxing arrived at the final treasure vault. He again listened for a moment, confirmed there was no movement, kept a distance, and used brute force to open the door. He waited a moment before walking in.

He quickly scanned the entire space, finding that in the empty chamber, there was only an alloy platform in the center. Su Jingxing walked over to the platform and saw that it had a recessed area, topped with a layer of transparent glass. Under the glass, palm-sized, translucent white jade stones filled the bottom of the pit, stacked half a meter high. The quantity was estimated to be around a hundred.

The question was, what kind of treasure were these jade stones? Su Jingxing had never seen anything like them, nor had he ever heard of them.

Hmm, wait! "I think I have heard of them!" Su Jingxing mused. "Who did I hear it from..."

"Right, the Jinghong Sword Immortal!"

It was the Jinghong Sword Immortal who, while guiding Su Jingxing, had mentioned a miraculous treasure. It was one of the treasures of heaven and earth: Energy-Gathering Stones. As the name suggested, these were stones capable of gathering the energy of heaven and earth. As long as they were arranged according to certain patterns, they could collect the energy of heaven and earth for one's own cultivation.

To put it plainly, it was like setting up an array. It wasn't a full "Energy-Gathering Array"—those were extremely complex and nearly impossible to set up unless one was an ancient power with a thousand-year heritage, not to mention that the diagrams for such arrays had been lost. Relatively speaking, gathering the energy of heaven and earth through Energy-Gathering Stones was simpler. As long as one set up a basic array formation, it could continuously gather the energy of heaven and earth.

This meant one wouldn't have to go to dangerous wilderness areas or deadly sites like the Qingyun Mountain Range to break through cultivation realms. The Shi family had collected these Energy-Gathering Stones, and since there were so many in this base, it was clear that there were many Energy-Gathering training rooms in the Shi family estate.

Energy-Gathering training rooms were a condition for cultivation that only major powers possessed. This was one of the benefits of having an organization and powerful backing. In these training rooms, one could break through cultivation realms.

Su Jingxing naturally took the hundred or so Energy-Gathering Stones into his palm space. Although he didn't know how to set up arrays, arrays could be learned, while Energy-Gathering Stones were hard to come by. Su Jingxing took all the good things the Shi family had left behind without hesitation.

After leaving the treasure vault, he generously took out two buckets of corpse-dissolving fluid, turning all the corpses into a pool of liquid. As for the four shattered Corpse Puppets, he packed them into a box and carried it with him, intending to deliver them to the Martial Suppression Bureau for them to handle once he was out.

Well, when disposing of Shi Jinnian's body, he would leave the head behind. Because it was useful.

This secret base of the Shi family, being used as a fallback, naturally lacked nothing in terms of food and living supplies. After finding the warehouse, Su Jingxing took a batch, saving him from having to buy them.

With everything settled, Su Jingxing returned the way he came, arriving at the room with the partition wall on the surface. He opened the mechanism from the inside, revealing the entrance.

Coming out of the entrance, the guy he had knocked out was still unconscious. Su Jingxing didn't stand on ceremony; he killed him directly and picked up the card. Then, he used the remaining corpse-dissolving fluid to turn the body into a pool of liquid. He closed the mechanism and sealed the entrance to the base.

If nothing went wrong, this underground base would likely not be discovered by anyone for a long time. This suited Su Jingxing's intentions perfectly.

The Shi family, from this point on, was finally dealt with. As for the old, weak, women, and children left in the Shi family residential area, there was no need for Su Jingxing to bother with them. The branch family members scattered across other cities and small towns would be dealt with by the Li and Zhou families.

Returning fully loaded, Su Jingxing traveled under the cover of night, first heading to the headquarters of the Martial Suppression Bureau to leave the box containing the four shattered Corpse Puppets at the entrance. Afterward, he flew directly from the air to the Shi family estate, finding Li Lilou, Yan Yuanfeng, and the others waiting outside.

...

"Has Guest Elder Lin not arrived yet?"

On a street outside the Shi family residential area, Li Lilou, Zhou Wencen, and Yan Yuanfeng stood in a corner, looking up at the sky or peering down the street corner.

Yan Yuanfeng scanned the area, frowned, and said, "It's almost time, why hasn't he arrived yet?"

"What's the rush?" Li Lilou replied calmly. "Even if Guest Elder Lin doesn't come, we can still handle Shi Jinnian."

"That's not what I meant." Yan Yuanfeng waved his hand. "I just thought..."

Whoosh!

A piercing sound of something cutting through the air suddenly rang out, interrupting Yan Yuanfeng.

"Who's there!"

Yan Yuanfeng stepped back, True Energy swirling in his palm.

Whoosh!

Thud!

A black shadow fell from the sky, landing on the ground three meters away from him, rolled twice, and stopped.

"This is... what is it?" Yan Yuanfeng asked, bewildered.

"Shi Jinnian's head." Su Jingxing's voice echoed from the air.

What?