Chapter Thirteen: The Treasure Snatcher

  Although Xiaodongzhou is named as "small", its area is actually much larger than Dongzhou. However, Dongzhou borders the sea and is located in the far east, making Xiaodongzhou's name not entirely accurate. Nevertheless, it is still referred to as Xiaodongzhou due to its eastern location. Within Xiaodongzhou, there are over a dozen rivers, with flat terrain that is conducive to agriculture, earning it the reputation of being the "granary of the world".

  Xiaodongzhou is surrounded by water on three sides and mountains on one side. It is also a major grain-producing region. In times of great turmoil, war, and chaos, it has always been a place that must be conquered by the ruler. For thousands of years, wars have never stopped, but Xiaodongzhou has never fallen. Apart from its natural defenses of mountains and water, Xiaodongzhou's navy is also famous throughout the land.

  As soon as you enter Xiaodongzhou, you can see the Long River. On the Long River, soldiers are driving boats and exercising. The Emperor of Dongzhou once gathered 50,000 fishing boats, claiming to have a million-strong army departing from Dongzhou. Meanwhile, the Xiaodongzhou Navy dispatched 5,000 ships and annihilated all the troops crossing the river in Daduhe. From then on, the relationship between Dongzhou and Xiaodongzhou was harmonious, with neither side invading each other. And how many unjust souls are there under this Daduhe River?

  Bai Mu walked up to the shore and watched the naval troops drill, saying: "This can truly be called a fine army with good generals."

  Lin Fan asked: "Do you understand this too?"

  "Majestic and powerful, advancing and retreating with rhythm, advancing at the sound of drums, retreating at the sound of gongs."

  Lin Fan smiled and said: "If I were the commander of the water army, I would not have placed my elite soldiers in this place. There are many people coming and going here, who knows if there are spies from other continents."

  Bai Mu nodded thoughtfully: "Makes sense."

  When they arrived at a deserted place, the four of them showed off their magical powers. Gu Yan led the way, and they flew towards Jiulang Mountain. As they flew away, Xi Men Commander fell back down to the ground, looking at the four black dots in the distance, thinking deeply for a moment before slowly following them with his乾坤圈 (a magical circle). He had just retrieved his ancient sword, but the humiliation he suffered was still unbearable. Especially being ambushed by Gui Shui Yin Lei made him feel quite uneasy afterwards. He didn't believe that these four people were capable of summoning Gui Shui Yin Lei, so there must be a powerful master hiding in the vicinity. Therefore, he decided to pursue them and see who this powerful master was. For this reason, he didn't even have the heart to continue chasing after the Palace Master.

  Looking at the direction of flight of the four people, Ximen Shuai asked in doubt: "Are they also going to Jiulang Mountain?" Hehe, Jiulang Mountain is getting more and more lively.

  ……

  Four people flying, to the south side a group of five people tread on swords and fly, both sides getting closer and closer, sizing each other up. These five people are also dressed as Taoists, but Gu Yan warned: "These five people are probably scattered people."

  Scattered practitioners are a term for cultivators who do not belong to any sect. Some people disdain opening mountains and establishing sects, while others leave their cultivation sects. These individuals and the disciples they accept are referred to as scattered practitioners. Although scattered practitioners also cultivate the Dao, it is difficult to distinguish between right and wrong, and many of them are neither purely good nor evil, acting according to their whims. They differ from evil sects, which have evil foundational principles and employ unorthodox methods in their cultivation. Many scattered practitioners cannot escape the two branches of the demonic path, but due to the lack of sect rules and disciplinary codes, some individuals' conduct is more similar to that of evil sects. In Eastern Continent, there was once a place called Sorrow Cloud Cave, where Sorrow Cloud True Person accepted seven disciples who were eccentric and prone to provoking trouble. Cloud Clear Mountain initially tolerated them until they coveted the treasures of a Southern Continent cultivator who came to Eastern Continent, using their numbers to bully and kill him for his treasure. This enraged Cloud Clear Mountain, which dispatched high-ranking experts to destroy Sorrow Cloud Cave and behead Sorrow Cloud True Person along with his seven disciples.

  Individuals can be tolerated, but if they act like an evil sect, they must be eliminated. This is the common understanding of all continents' Xian Tian door schools.

  The five men were led by a burly man in his thirties, who approached the four and bowed politely: "Greetings, fellow Taoists."

  Four people return gift: "Brother Dao has etiquette."

  "Are you going to Jiulang Mountain?"

  Gu Yan nodded: "Exactly, who are you?"

  "We are disciples of Luo Yangshan, I am called Liang Zhen, and we have been ordered by our master to go to Jiulang Mountain to seize the treasure."

  Bai Mu said in a low voice, "Luo Yang Mountain has twelve disciples, the sect leader is Luo Yang Zhen Ren, within the borders of Dong Zhou, and has dealings with my Yun Qing Men, it's for the sake of the righteous path of scattered immortals."

  Lin Fan is more concerned: "Treasure snatch?"

  Liang Zhenyi was taken aback: "Is it? Don't you know?"

  Gu Yan was also stunned: "Shi Men said..."

  "We certainly know." Lin was annoyed in his heart, cursing the Palm Gate for deceiving their disciples. They knew that Jiulang Mountain had a treasure emerging, but they lied and said that there were strange movements on Jiulang Mountain. Was it necessary to deceive people? If you say that there is a treasure emerging, everyone will go.

  Head of the sect: That's right, you said it, I'll tell the truth. The Nine Lao Mountain has a treasure that will be born, and everyone will go there. Once we arrive, the various sects will unite and start competing with each other. Even if we successfully obtain the treasure, who should this treasure be divided among? We didn't ask you to bring back the treasure, just let you see more people and gain more experience.

  At the same time, Lin was suddenly enlightened. How could Ximen Commander appear nearby? He must have also come to steal the treasure. Since there's still some time left, he might as well go and visit the Demon Sect Master. Spicy chicken, this sect master is not honest. She came from Western Continent, thousands of miles away, to Little Eastern Continent, probably 80% or 90% for the purpose of stealing the treasure, but she didn't mention a word about it.

  Buddhism emphasizes affinity, Taoism talks about creation, the meaning is the same, looking at faces. The so-called treasure snatch is that a high-ranking person calculates that there is a treasure born in a certain place, and then everyone goes together to try their luck. As for the scene, it depends on the quality of the cultivators participating, in most cases where the righteous path is dominant, the treasure belongs to who, everyone looks at faces. In most cases where scattered people are dominant, it usually comes down to who has the better cultivation and looking at faces. Due to treasure snatching, there are often situations where the enemies of the cultivator's sect die.

  There are various sources of treasures. The first type is left behind by high-level cultivators who have achieved great accomplishments, generally with restrictive controls, but as time passes, the treasure breaks free from these restrictions and appears. The second type is naturally born treasures, a piece of ordinary iron that absorbs the essence of the sun and moon, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and after a long period of time, it ripens and falls to the ground, bursting out of the earth. The third type is the best but also the most dangerous, high-grade treasures, known as "earthly vessels" or "heavenly vessels", given by heaven and earth. Some treasures have spiritual consciousness, after going through a process of thousands of years, they cultivate themselves into shape. This kind of treasure is what all cultivators envy, however, to obtain this kind of treasure, one must not only look at their face but also their cultivation level. Just like taming a horse, a person rides and subdues a wild horse until the horse cannot escape human control, only then will it acknowledge its master. Earthly vessels are the same, they will not willingly acknowledge a master, even if someone's cultivation is currently high, if they encounter an earthly vessel being born, even with a good face, they still can't obtain the treasure. Moreover, whether or not they can keep their life is still unknown.

  Lin Fan listened to Liang Zhen's introduction and muttered in his heart. According to the records, there were usually not many people who knew about the treasure, or even only one person, or a group of people who knew that the treasure had been born. But now, it seems that not only the people of Dongzhou know, but also the Western Magic Sect from thousands of miles away knows about this matter. Could it be the mole?

  Two factions or two sworn enemies would often engage in a fierce battle, resulting in one death and one injury. If the deceased had precious artifacts or treasures of the "Fa Bao" level, they would temporarily fall dormant after losing their owner and scatter around the battlefield. This led to the emergence of the profession known as "Di Shu" (literally "earth mouse"). Di Shu is not a person or a group of people, but rather an action. Anyone can become a Di Shu, but some people disdain it, some do it casually, and others pursue it aggressively. They create opportunities for battles to occur, then lurk nearby, waiting to scavenge for treasures. After collecting the treasures, some are exchanged with others at the annual "Xiu Zhen" market, while others are kept for personal use after being refined and absorbed through meditation.