Chapter 332: Chapter 164: Netherworld (Part 3)
With weapons pointed at her from all sides, a strange, cold smile appeared on the young woman’s face. Her voice, however, was still that of a clear-toned woman. "Heh, there are so many of you, but I only have one Treasure Pearl. Who should I give it to?"
Her words were clearly meant to sow discord.
Yu Jiayao immediately snapped, "I don’t want the Treasure Pearl! Hand over the incomplete *Thick Earth Treasure Technique*!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Yaoyang flew into a rage. He stepped forward, his Geng Metal True Qi faintly circulating, and bellowed, "You two! Zhu Yi is a wanted criminal that our Four Cloud Forest Sects are jointly hunting! You’re from Lin’an Prefecture. This blatant robbery... aren’t you crossing a line!?"
"Pah!"
Lu Da of the Earth Element Sect spat, the fat on his face jiggling with anger. "You little whelp from the Wutai Sect, stop trying to scare us by hiding behind the Four Great Sects! I’m not falling for that crap!"
Yu Jiayao immediately nodded in agreement, her tone icy. "Everyone has the right to eliminate the remnants of the Demon Sect! As for the treasures, it’s finders keepers, naturally!"
The two factions, antagonists just moments ago, instantly became allies when faced with a common interest and an external foe.
Chen Qing slowly rose to his feet, his calm gaze sweeping over the arguing crowd. He spoke faintly, "Zhu Yi isn’t dead yet, and no one has the treasures. If you all start fighting now, aren’t you afraid you’ll end up with nothing?"
His voice wasn’t loud, but it reached every ear, carrying a quiet, compelling authority.
Lu Da snorted. Though he was still resentful, he knew Chen Qing had a point.
Yu Jiayao also reined in her impatience and turned her icy gaze back to Zhu Yi.
In an instant, all the pressure converged on Zhu Yi once more.
A desperate glint appeared in Zhu Yi’s eyes. Knowing he was out of options, he suddenly gave a tragic smile. "Since you all want them, then it’s every man for himself!"
The words had barely left his lips when he whipped three items out from his robes and, without a second glance, hurled them in three different directions!
A yellowed, tattered Booklet was thrown toward Lu Da of the Earth Element Sect!
A longan-sized pearl, emitting a faint yellow glow, was tossed toward Yan Yaoyang!
And a bulging silk bundle was thrown toward Yu Jiayao of Golden Sand Castle!
His actions took everyone completely by surprise!
No one had expected Zhu Yi to be so decisive, to simply toss aside the treasures everyone coveted without the slightest hesitation!
For a fleeting moment, a dead silence fell over the inn. Every eye instinctively followed the three items as they flew through the air.
But in the next instant, an even greater chaos erupted!
The three items had been thrown to the three factions, but no one had received the item they desired most!
"Hand over the Treasure Pearl!"
Lu Da’s portly frame exploded forward with a speed that defied his size. The Earth Element True Qi in his body erupted, and an aura as heavy as a mountain instantly filled the inn!
BOOM!
His True Qi surged, coalescing into a massive, ochre Palm Seal. With a deafening roar, it shot forward—not toward the pearl, but directly at Yan Yaoyang, who had just caught it, and at Chen Qing and Li Lei beside him!
He was going to take it by force!
"You think I’m scared of you?"
Yan Yaoyang roared in fury. He clenched his fist, and his Geng Metal True Qi instantly converged on his Fist Edge. A dazzling golden light flared as he met the attack head-on with the Vajra Armor-Breaking Fist!
BANG!!!
The two furious streams of True Qi slammed into each other, letting out an ear-splitting roar!
The Qi Force exploded outward like a physical shockwave. Nearby tables and benches were instantly blasted to smithereens, the splintered wood dissolving into a fine powder that covered the floor.
At almost the same moment Lu Da attacked, Stone Dragon’s figure blurred. He shot toward Li Lei like a cheetah, intending to keep him occupied.
In the midst of the chaos, Yan Yaoyang felt the fierce, overbearing power of Lu Da’s palm strike. Seeing Stone Dragon also launch a swift attack, his heart tightened.
He could hold his own against one of them, but fighting two experts who had opened all Eleven Orthodox Meridians at once would be more than he could handle.
In his desperation, he was about to toss the Treasure Pearl he had just caught to someone behind him. But just then, another of Lu Da’s palm strikes came whistling down. Caught off guard, Yan Yaoyang lost his grip, and the Treasure Pearl shot from his hand!
A faintly glowing yellow arc sliced through the chaotic air, flying unerringly toward Chen Qing.
He instinctively reached out and caught the so-called "Earth Essence Marrow Pearl."
The pearl was cool in his hand, but the instant it made contact, Chen Qing’s brow furrowed.
’Something’s wrong!’
He practiced the *Eight Desolates Mountain-Suppressing Technique*, and having cultivated his Earth True Qi to the Third Layer, he was extremely sensitive to Earth Element Elemental Power.
If this were truly the "Earth Essence Marrow Pearl," an Exotic Treasure condensed from Earth Essence Qi, the Earth True Qi in his Dantian would have resonated strongly, circulating actively on its own.
Yet now, the Earth True Qi in his body was perfectly still. Aside from being slightly heavy, the pearl in his hand emitted no fluctuations of pure Earth Element Elemental Power whatsoever.
’This Treasure Pearl is a fake!’
’That old fox, Zhu Yi, had a trick up his sleeve after all!’
’What he threw was nothing but a decoy to draw everyone’s fire!’
When Yu Jiayao saw Chen Qing catch the Treasure Pearl, greed flared in her eyes.
Although she already had the incomplete *Thick Earth Treasure Technique*, if she could also get the Earth Essence Marrow Pearl, their complementary effects would be more than just doubled.
She let out a sharp cry, "Disciples of Golden Sand Castle, on my order! Take him down and seize the Treasure Pearl!"
Before the words had even faded, she was already charging Chen Qing, blade first. Several Golden Sand Castle experts moved in response, forming an encirclement.
Chen Qing swung his spear to parry. As the Cloud-Coiling Spear danced, it knocked aside two or three weapons, but he deliberately revealed an opening, making himself appear hard-pressed and his breathing slightly ragged.
"Hmph. So this is the great Chief of the Wutai Sect? Nothing special!"
