Chapter 405: The Blind-Box Scramble

He Lingchuan could only gather his true energy and roar at the top of his lungs, “Danger! The Wind Demon is coming! If you don’t want to die, get to the stone statues now!”

The wind carried his voice downward. The people below looked up in shock.

Who is that guy? Is anything he said even worth believing?

The sharper ones, however, figured it cost nothing to be cautious. They glanced around and headed into the fields to look for the stone statues.

After all, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Plenty of others hesitated, exchanging uncertain looks.

He Lingchuan shouted a second time, his voice even louder, “The Wind Demon is here! If you don’t want to be flayed alive by the gale, get to the stone-statue barriers now!”

After shouting that, he had to save himself as well. He urged the cliff ram back toward the wall recess or shallow cave of Wind Lord Cliff, circling it quickly.

Huh? The cave’s empty?

Where did Second Boss Shi go?

At the exact moment the cliff ram steadied its footing, the Wind Demon in the sky accelerated downward toward the ruins of the Ethereal Sect like a falling meteor.

Its target was unmistakable—the massive fissure that split the mountain’s belly.

He Lingchuan cautiously retreated back inside the Wind Lion Lords’ barrier. The next instant, a colossal howling filled the air.

This was no living creature’s howl.

It was the howl of wind erupting from the fissure itself, like a rising tide, growing ever more immense.

The root sphere descended to about three meters above the rift and could go no farther, spinning helplessly in place.

The wind surging up from below was powerful enough to hold it aloft with ease.

Then, with a sound like thunder splitting the sky, a violent gale blasted out of the rift.

Thanks to He Lingchuan’s two warnings, more than forty people nearby had already taken refuge inside a Wind Lion Lord barrier. But four or five laggards had still been dragging their feet. By the time the gale struck and they tried to rush in, it was too late.

Their screams were swallowed instantly by the wind.

The gale fell upon them like a thousand blades.

He Lingchuan watched silently as their skin, flesh, and nerves were shaved away layer by layer. Even the last traces of blood were scoured clean from their bones, leaving them stark white and horrifyingly pristine.

This was the very realization of the saying, the wind cutting like a knife and frost biting into one’s flesh like a sword. It was a slaughter that spilled no blood.

The skeletons, still frozen in the posture of shielding their heads with their arms, lasted less than three seconds before the hurricane tore them apart and scattered them to who knew where.

Everyone standing inside the barriers was petrified by the sight.

The gale that erupted from the rift made a half-circle, then plunged eagerly into the root sphere, merging completely with the Wind Demon.

Seeing this, He Lingchuan knew he had guessed right again about the storm’s origin: the North-South Divine Wind.

Every day at midnight and noon, the most violent underground gale erupted from here, spiraling around Mount Fengmo.

And now, it was exactly noon.

The Wind Demon had hauled the root sphere here precisely to absorb the North-South Divine Wind and recharge itself.

At last, the escort captain managed to complete the incantation flawlessly, from beginning to end, without missing a single syllable.

The root sphere contracted rapidly, finally cutting the Wind Demon off completely from the outside world, intent on sealing it for good.

Wind was born from moving air. If the space inside the root sphere could be made still, could the Wind Demon even still wreak havoc?

The countless root spheres that once bound other monsters beneath the Baoshu King itself were proof that this method worked.

But the Baoshu King was far away, and the Wind Demon had already devoured the North-South Divine Wind, its power surging and its form swelling dramatically.

The Baoshu King’s monster energy was vast, and its techniques formidable, but how could they rival the raw force of nature itself?

Cracking sounds rang out as the gaps between the roots were stretched wider and wider.

Even then, the spirit seed tried to push itself further.

Unfortunately, heaven did not side with it.

The Wind Demon’s color deepened to a furious crimson. After bulging twice, it suddenly forced itself outward—

Crack!

The root sphere shattered, exploding into countless fragments.

Freed once more, the Wind Demon let out an exultant cry, spun wildly through the air twice, then turned back toward the opposite cliff to harass the escort team again.

He Lingchuan, meanwhile, was sprawled at the cave entrance, staring fixedly at the objects flying through the air.

This is my chance!

With the Wind Demon gone, the wind here weakened instantly and was no longer lethal.

He Lingchuan immediately drove the cliff ram down into the mountain’s belly.

What he was chasing were the fragments of the shattered root sphere.

The spirit seed sought by the divine bone amulet had to be inside one of them.

Clutching the necklace, He Lingchuan muttered, “Your turn.”

The divine bone amulet flared red and scorched him again.

It was just as impatient as he was.

At that moment, a figure also burst out of a nearby cave, snatching up a fragment and crushing it to powder with bare hands.

Nothing. On to the next.

That man had the exact same objective as He Lingchuan, and he was doing the exact same thing: searching for the spirit seed.

He Lingchuan’s pupils shrank because that man was none other than Fushan Yue.

After abducting the Chiyan envoy, he had not fled far at all. Instead, he had snuck back to the ruins of the Ethereal Sect to try and squeeze out a little more profit.

It was obvious that he was a pure opportunist. His main objective had already been accomplished, yet he still had his eye on the spirit seed, hoping to snatch it as a bonus before leaving.

Fushan Yue naturally spotted He Lingchuan as well, but he only glanced at him from the corner of his eye before racing after another fragment.

After the root sphere exploded, fragments were scattered everywhere by the gale.

The two rivals tacitly divided the area between them, forming a strange, silent understanding.

Until the fragments were gone or the spirit seed was found, neither had any intention of making a move against the other.

He Lingchuan casually cracked open a few fragments atop the ram to keep up appearances, then followed the divine bone amulet’s guidance straight toward the real target.

Yes, even under these circumstances, the amulet could still pinpoint the treasure with uncanny precision. The closer He Lingchuan got to the spirit seed, the less heat the necklace emitted.

Soon, he caught up to three fragments tumbling together in the wind.

They were still connected by fibrous strands, tangled into knots.

The moment he grabbed one, an icy chill surged through his chest, making him shudder violently.

It seemed the amulet feared he might miss it. Dispensing with hints, it delivered a direct signal and used a bit too much force.

His luck was excellent. The spirit seed was right there. Without even checking, He Lingchuan immediately stowed it in his storage ring.

That single action made the ever-watchful Fushan Yue pause.

He didn’t even check. How does he know that the spirit seed’s inside? How does he know that he doesn’t need to chase other fragments?

But then, He Lingchuan immediately went back to chasing other fragments, as though he planned to collect them all and open the “blind boxes” at once.

Fine, I guess that’s a strategy too.

Fushan Yue cursed him as an idiot under his breath.

The two continued collecting in silence, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense as fewer and fewer fragments were left in the mountain’s belly.

Just then, Second Boss Shi suddenly appeared in a cave and waved frantically at He Lingchuan.

“Brother He! Brother He! I’m over here!”

He was completely oblivious to the bizarre, taut tension in the area.

He Lingchuan rode over and hauled the battered, bruised Second Boss Shi up onto the ram behind him. “Where did you run off to? I couldn’t find you earlier!”

He could swear to the heavens that he had really checked the spot where Second Boss Shi had been hiding while collecting fragments. It had been completely empty. He had assumed the man had already gone down the mountain. Who would have thought that he would pop out from another cave deep in the mountain’s belly?

Second Boss Shi was about to explain, but when he lifted his head and saw Fushan Yue glaring at the two of them like a tiger eyeing prey, he swallowed his words and simply said, “It’s a long story.”

He Lingchuan scooped up two more fragments. They happened to be near the downhill path.

Before Fushan Yue could react, the bighorn cliff ram twisted its head and rear, suddenly charging into the side path. Two bounding leaps later, they vanished from sight.

Fushan Yue was startled. He rushed over, only to see He Lingchuan’s back already nearing the stone ridge.

A dilemma hit him square in the face: to chase or not to chase?

If he chased, what about the remaining fragments still flying around the mountain’s belly? What if the spirit seed was still among them, and the guy on the ram had simply given up?

But if he did not chase, then what if that bastard had already gotten the seed?

After hesitating for a few breaths, Fushan Yue chose to keep collecting fragments.

Staying meant at least one definite outcome. Chasing meant plunging into complete uncertainty.

What he did not know was that He Lingchuan was sneering inwardly.

I watched the whole fight, sent out a single evil ghost to do the work, and quietly walked away with the prize. I’ve already won so hard it hurts. Why would I stay behind and brawl with you?

* * *

As He Lingchuan left Mount Fengmo, he glanced downward. The State of Baoshu’s escort unit was down to barely a hundred men. Clearly, the Wind Demon, who was now fully recharged with the North-South Divine Wind, had grown even stronger, while its enemies had lost the spirit seed and had no good way to deal with it.

The escort captain sent several riders ahead as bait, hoping to draw the Wind Demon away, but it ignored them completely.

It was obvious that such a trick would not work.

In the end, the captain clenched his teeth and personally mounted the strongest bo beast, firing arrows nonstop to provoke the Wind Demon. At last, it turned and gave chase.

With its intelligence, it could clearly identify the leader and the greatest threat.

Creatures of the air usually moved faster than those of the land, but the Wind Demon needed to keep its wind ring compressed to maintain power. That meant the tornado’s actual forward speed was only slightly faster than a galloping mount. After rounding this bend, the road ahead straightened out, unlike the earlier twisting mountain paths.

The Wind Demon chased in a fury, expanding its wind ring in an attempt to disrupt the mounts. One rider was indeed swept straight down the mountain, but the escort captain kept riding without pause.

Seizing the opportunity, the rest of the escort unit pressed forward at full speed, abandoning their supplies entirely.

Another kilometer ahead, a sloping fork branched downward. They could use it to finally put distance between themselves and the Wind Demon.

As the chase played out on the official road, Second Boss Shi, who was clinging to the back of the cliff ram, finally spoke to He Lingchuan, “I tried to head down the mountain earlier, but slipped into another cave and nearly killed myself.” The noon winds had been so strong he could barely keep his footing.

“But inside that cave, there was a crack leading downward. The sounds coming up were all woo-woo. At first, I thought it was just wind, but the more I listened, the more it sounded like a person. So I climbed down a bit to take a look. And damn, there really was someone there. It looked like his leg was broken, just sprawled on the ground.” Second Boss Shi continued, “Guess who I saw?”

Someone hidden beneath a cave fissure with a broken leg?

He Lingchuan did not even take a second to think before saying, “The Chiyan envoy?”

“...!” Second Boss Shi choked, staring at him in disbelief. “Brother He, you’re unreal! How did you guess that?”

Along the journey, He Lingchuan’s image in his mind had grown taller and taller. Today especially, he seemed practically haloed in divine light.

He Lingchuan just smiled and said nothing. When the Chiyan envoy had been snatched from the escort unit, Second Boss Shi had been hiding in the mountain’s belly, completely unaware of what had happened on the road above.

Second Boss Shi continued, “That captive saw me too and kept begging me to save him, but then I heard a massive boom outside, and I... Well, I just climbed back up.”