Volume 1, Chapter 296 – Longevity

When the topic turned to cultivation methods, even someone as shrewd as Liang Yunnan felt a little embarrassed.

There was a reason the few of them had already stepped into the third tier yet were still scraping by in human-rank worlds.

For the time being, Shi Lan had no plans to ask about it. Lingyang Realm was not lacking in cultivation methods, and besides, as a third-rank Demon-Suppressing General, if she had enough battle merits, she could even exchange them for an Emperor Scripture from the Battle Merit Hall.

There was no rush.

…

…

Boom!

The hotel room door was kicked flying with a single kick, and even the doorframe was torn out along with it.

Shi Lan entered first, with Liang Yunnan and the other three following close behind.

Lin Mo, who was sitting on the bed, slowly opened his eyes. He did not seem surprised in the slightest by Shi Lan’s arrival.

Shi Lan walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down, then looked up at Lin Mo. Only a few days had passed since they last met, yet Lin Mo had already stepped onto the path of cultivation, and his strength was not weak. At the very least, he was in the Bone-Forging Realm.

“Did you take the item?”

“Yes.”

Lin Mo’s frankness took Shi Lan slightly by surprise.

“What exactly is it? A treasure?”

Shi Lan was a little curious. Anything that could drive people this mad should not be simple.

“The key to a treasure trove.”

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Lin Mo answered honestly, one question at a time.

“What’s inside the treasure trove?”

“Wealth, cultivation methods, and the Longevity Spring.”

“The Longevity Spring?”

Shi Lan repeated it once, then suddenly reacted.

“How do you know that? Have you already gotten the treasure?”

Lin Mo shook his head slightly and said,

“I’ve answered so many of your questions. Now it’s my turn to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

Shi Lan was not especially anxious at the moment. Liang Yunnan and the other three also said nothing, standing quietly behind her like four door gods.

“What exactly are you people?”

Lin Mo voiced the doubt in his heart.

“We’re not from this world.”

“Then can you take me away from here?”

A glimmer of light appeared in Lin Mo’s eyes, and his expression grew faintly excited.

Shi Lan did not answer. She turned and looked at Liang Yunnan. Liang Yunnan said nothing either, only shook his head gently.

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Clearly, they could not.

The light in Lin Mo’s eyes dimmed, and in a somewhat low voice, he said,

“Then… do you have the ability to kill me for good?”

“What do you mean?”

Shi Lan narrowed her eyes slightly.

Lin Mo explained the situation he was in now. He did not want to keep repeating, day after day, a life he had already lived through countless times.

Though he was still alive, such a life was no different from death. His time had already stopped.

“We can try. But before that, I want to go see the treasure first.”

Shi Lan clapped her hands and stood up. By now, the whole sequence of events was clear. Lin Mo had long known that these martial artists would come. She had quite obviously taken a massive fall for him.

But Shi Lan no longer cared much about any of that. Since she was already carrying the blame, she might as well make it real. What interested her now was the Longevity Spring inside that treasure.

Longevity was undoubtedly a highly tempting word.

In Shi Lan’s understanding, even the ancient Great Emperors would not dare claim that they could achieve everlasting life and eternal indestructibility. Their lifespans still had an end, and they could not escape the suffering of reincarnation.

Since this spring dared call itself Longevity, it had to possess some wondrous property.

Tap, tap-tap…

The hotel security staff, arriving belatedly, knocked on what remained of the broken doorframe. When he saw the four imposing figures behind Shi Lan, he gave an awkward smile.

“Any damage to the facilities must be compensated at full price…”

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…

…

A few days later, in a stretch of barren mountains in the north of the Nanhao Kingdom, a fully armed six-person team was making its way along a narrow, steep mountain path toward the depths of the range.

After leaving the hotel that day, Shi Lan had informed Ning Kangping and Qin Yinhua, then immediately set out with Lin Mo straight for the treasure’s location.

Along the way, Shi Lan had kept asking Lin Mo about the so-called Longevity Spring. But in Lin Mo’s view, there was nothing especially miraculous about it. It merely made cultivation much faster while one was inside it, and it could also slow the aging of one’s appearance. Other than that, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.

“How much longer?”

Looking at the mountain range, which stretched on without end, Shi Lan could not help frowning. Fortunately, all of them had cultivation, so crossing mountains and rivers was like walking on flat ground. An ordinary person would never have been able to reach this place.

“Almost there.”

Lin Mo replied and continued leading the way.

A few hours later, the group finally arrived before a somewhat dim canyon.

“Quiet.”

Lin Mo made a hand signal, lightened his footsteps, and slowly entered the canyon.

The canyon was extremely narrow. The sun above was no longer visible, leaving only a bright thin line.

After adjusting for a moment, Shi Lan took in the sight within the canyon, and surprise flashed through her eyes.

Countless enormous strange beasts hung upside down from both sides of the cliff walls. They resembled bats and were all asleep. The auras coming from their bodies were all powerful. Nearly every single one possessed strength above the Bone-Forging Realm, and among them were even some auras no weaker than those of Blood Transformation Realm grandmasters.

Ancient murals were also carved into both cliff faces. The group remained quiet, passed through the canyon, and after twisting through several turns, arrived before an utterly unremarkable stone wall.

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Lin Mo raised a hand and sliced open a wound at the back of his neck. From within it, he took out a transparent sliver, then placed that sliver into the stone wall before him.

The entire wall began to tremble slightly, dropping clouds of dust as it slowly split apart and revealed an ancient green-bronze gate.

Rumble…

The heavy ancient gate slowly opened. The moment a crack appeared, a strand of light shone through, and right after that, Shi Lan caught the scent of an intoxicating fragrance.

Lin Mo pushed the gate open and went in first. Shi Lan and the others followed close behind. Once all of them had entered, the ancient gate slowly closed again.

Behind the gate was a stone cave abode. Gold, silver, and jewels covered the floor, and the gleaming treasure-light they cast made the rather plain cave abode look resplendent and magnificent.

“You seem very familiar with this place. What are those strange beasts outside?”

Shi Lan only glanced at the wealth on the ground before looking away. To her now, such things were no different from dirt.

“I’ve been here at least twenty times.”

Lin Mo answered casually.

“As for those strange beasts, they seem to be ancient surviving variants. There are no fewer than a hundred thousand of them in that canyon.”

A hundred thousand Bone-Forging Realm creatures, and even some at the Blood Transformation Realm. Setting aside ultimate weapons, that kind of force would be enough to trample the three great nations flat.

Lin Mo had an extremely deep impression of those strange beasts. In one previous cycle, the key to the treasure had fallen into the hands of the National Security Bureau. When the National Security Bureau sent people to that canyon, they suffered heavy losses, with no fewer than six Blood Transformation Realm grandmasters dying there.

In the end, nearly all the strange beasts were awakened, and there were even signs that they would spread outward into the outside world. Left with no other choice, the Nanhao Kingdom used an ultimate weapon to erase the entire mountain range.

Shi Lan was not very interested in any of that. She simply asked,

“Where is the Longevity Spring?”