# Chapter 330: Treasure Mountain
Zhang Ruochen took out the dragon horn, held it in his palm, and said thoughtfully, "Since the Four-Winged Earth Dragon refined its own dragon horn into a key, it must be locking away something extremely valuable. What could be more precious than a dragon relic?"
Zi Qian nodded. "That's right, I think so too. So even if Di Yi went to the Divine Dragon Hall, without the dragon horn, he couldn't obtain the dragon relic. In that case, why should we go head-to-head with him?"
"Besides, the dragon relic might not even be in the Divine Dragon Hall."
Just then, a faint layer of light appeared on the surface of the dragon horn, flickered once, and specks of light flew out.
Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian both let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
What was happening?
"Could it be... the dragon horn is sensing something?" Zi Qian's beautiful eyes stared intently at the dragon horn, her pupils continuously dilating.
A moment later, the surface of the dragon horn flickered again, the light even stronger.
Zhang Ruochen said thoughtfully, "Let's follow the direction the dragon horn is sensing. We might discover something. But we need to wait for my friends first."
Soon after, Si Xingkong, Chang Qiqi, Huang Yanchen, Duanmu Xingling, Chen Xier, and Guo Guo emerged through the black mist and caught up. Seeing that Zhang Ruochen was still waiting for them, they were all deeply moved.
They all knew Zhang Ruochen had a dragon horn that could open an important treasure within the Dragon Palace.
Originally, they thought Zhang Ruochen had left ahead to claim the treasure for himself.
Only now did they realize Zhang Ruochen had truly just been clearing the path, eliminating dangers for them, not abandoning them.
Chang Qiqi sighed. "I'm so ashamed. I was just telling them that Junior Brother Zhang must have gone to get the treasure alone and abandoned us."
Zhang Ruochen smiled. "Since the six of us came together, we should search for treasures together. Only if all six of us return fully loaded will this expedition be considered a success."
Chang Qiqi felt even more ashamed. He slapped himself hard across the face, leaving a five-finger mark, then bowed deeply to Zhang Ruochen three times, filled with utmost admiration.
Before, he only admired Si Xingkong. Now, he admired Zhang Ruochen too.
If before Chang Qiqi only considered Zhang Ruochen a decent friend, now he regarded him as a brother to share both fortune and misfortune.
At this point, if Zhang Ruochen said the word, Chang Qiqi would go through fire and water without hesitation.
Chen Xier noticed Zi Qian standing beside Zhang Ruochen. With a *swish*, she immediately drew a brilliantly shining ancient sword and thrust it toward Zi Qian.
Chen Xier's cultivation had already broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm, greatly increasing her strength. Her sword strike was as fast as lightning, and in an instant, the sword tip reached Zi Qian's brow.
Zhang Ruochen struck out with his palm, deflecting Chen Xier's sword off course.
At the same time, he shifted his stance, positioning himself in front of Zi Qian.
Chen Xier's killing intent did not diminish. The sword light on her blade grew even brighter. "Zhang Ruochen, she's a Black Market assassin. Why are you protecting her?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "I know she's a Black Market assassin, but the dragon horn was found by her in the Chi Kong Secret Mansion. I promised to bring her along to search for treasures."
Chen Xier frowned, then looked at Huang Yanchen, Si Xingkong, and Chang Qiqi. "Do you all agree to let a Black Market assassin travel with us?"
Chang Qiqi said, "I trust Junior Brother Zhang. I support his decision."
Although Huang Yanchen disliked Zi Qian greatly, she still said, "The dragon horn was indeed found by Zi Qian."
"But she's from the Black Market..." Chen Xier said.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze turned stern, and he said forcefully, "This matter is settled. If anyone still has objections, they can leave. Senior Sister Chen, if you truly believe I have some collusion with the Black Market, you can report it to the Palace Master when we return."
Chen Xier stared into Zhang Ruochen's eyes, feeling an unprecedented domineering aura emanating from him, pressing down on her so much that she couldn't lift her head. Her legs trembled slightly, and she dared not meet Zhang Ruochen's gaze directly.
Chen Xier ultimately chose to compromise. There was no other choice—everyone present followed Zhang Ruochen's lead. Even if she strongly objected, no one would stand on her side.
This was true friendship through thick and thin. Even though they knew Zhang Ruochen's approach was somewhat inappropriate, they still supported him without hesitation, standing firmly on his side.
If it were before, Si Xingkong and Chang Qiqi would have already drawn their blades upon learning Zi Qian's identity, with no room for negotiation.
"Let's go."
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Zi Qian, held the dragon horn, and followed its guidance, quickly heading toward the northwest corner of the Dragon Palace.
The Dragon Palace was filled with many killing formations.
One wrong step into a killing formation meant certain death.
Zhang Ruochen had some knowledge of formations, so whenever he encountered a killing formation, he immediately took a detour.
About half an hour later, the group of seven arrived at the base of an underwater hill.
The dragon horn in Zhang Ruochen's hand emitted increasingly intense light and even began to tremble slightly. When he put the horn to his ear, he could even hear a low dragon roar coming from within.
"It should be here."
Zhang Ruochen stopped and looked at the underwater hill.
The hill was over five hundred meters tall, composed entirely of black rock and soil.
On the hill grew various spiritual herbs, radiating colorful light, giving it a treasure-laden appearance.
"Heavens! This is practically an underwater treasure mountain! Look, that blood coral is three feet tall and at least a thousand years old. If I could refine it, I'm sure I could break through two realms within a year and reach the late Heavenly Extreme Realm."
Chang Qiqi trembled with excitement, rubbing his hands together, ready to charge toward the hill.
Zi Qian's eyes also sparkled with unusual light. "There are fourteen Purple Qi Dragon Grasses growing on the hill. If I could get just one, I could cultivate the *Purple Cloud Divine Illumination Technique* to the seventh level and break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm in one go. If I could harvest all fourteen, I might even reach the eighth level."
In the Demon Ridge, not a single Purple Qi Dragon Grass could be found. Here, on just one hill, there were fourteen. How could Zi Qian not be excited?
Zhang Ruochen held back Zi Qian and Chang Qiqi, stopping them from charging onto the hill. His expression turned serious. "Don't rush. Look at the ground."
Everyone's gaze shifted to the base of the hill, where piles of white bones lay scattered—both human skeletons and beast skeletons.
Among them were some fresh corpses, clearly from Black Market martial artists who had tried to approach the hill earlier but had died inexplicably at its base.
Too eerie!
Seeing those corpses, everyone's excitement immediately cooled, replaced by fear.
"There might be some kind of killing formation around the hill. Anyone who gets close will be crushed by it," Huang Yanchen speculated.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "I've already checked. There are no traces of formation inscriptions around the hill."
"How is that possible? Those martial artists and beasts couldn't have just crashed into the hill and died, could they?" Chang Qiqi rubbed his chin, looking troubled.
"That's exactly what's so strange. How did those humans and beasts die?" Zhang Ruochen frowned.
Having reached the treasure mountain but only being able to stare at it—this feeling was incredibly frustrating.
Chang Qiqi tried several times to rush forward recklessly, but each time Zhang Ruochen and Si Xingkong pulled him back.
"Maybe I can try using my martial soul," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Zhang Ruochen immediately sat cross-legged, secretly releasing his martial soul, carefully approaching the hill.
"Roar!"
His martial soul had only advanced a dozen steps when suddenly a dragon roar erupted from within the hill, nearly scattering Zhang Ruochen's martial soul.
Zhang Ruochen immediately withdrew his martial soul. His mind went dark, a sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Such terrifying power.
Zhang Ruochen's martial soul had been severely injured. His head throbbed with pain. Fortunately, he had triggered the resonance of the gods twice, and the divine shadows in his Qi Lake had helped block part of the force. Otherwise, Zhang Ruochen would have suffered more than just spitting blood.
"Zhang Ruochen, what's wrong?"
Zi Qian immediately pressed her palm against Zhang Ruochen's back, channeling a stream of true qi into his body.
Huang Yanchen had also rushed over, but Zi Qian had gotten there first.
Seeing how intimate Zi Qian was with Zhang Ruochen, Huang Yanchen was naturally displeased. Her eyes were cold. She walked over, grabbed Zi Qian's wrist, pulled her hand away from Zhang Ruochen's back, and pushed her aside. "Your cultivation is too weak. Let me help him heal."
With that, Huang Yanchen sat down behind Zhang Ruochen, channeled thick true qi from her Qi Sea through her palms, and pressed them against Zhang Ruochen's back.
Zi Qian clenched her fists, furious. How could there be such an unreasonable woman?
But when she remembered that Huang Yanchen was Zhang Ruochen's fiancée, she suppressed her anger. There was nothing she could do—the other woman was his fiancée. What status did she have?
Moreover, Huang Yanchen had already broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm. Her martial cultivation was indeed far superior to Zi Qian's. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't afford to provoke Huang Yanchen.
Earlier, everyone had only seen Zhang Ruochen sit down; they didn't know he had released his martial soul. Nor did they realize that Zhang Ruochen wasn't physically injured but had suffered damage to his martial soul.
A wounded martial soul could only be healed slowly. External true qi infusion was useless.
After suppressing the damage to his martial soul, Zhang Ruochen opened his eyes. Apart from some stabbing pain in his head, he felt no other discomfort.
"It seems I won't be able to use my martial soul for a while."
Without his martial soul, he couldn't mobilize the world's spiritual energy or deploy his Space Domain. This would significantly reduce Zhang Ruochen's strength.
Although his martial soul was injured, Zhang Ruochen had gained a lot. He now knew how to enter that hill.
"Senior Sister Huang, I'm fine now," Zhang Ruochen said.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen awake, Huang Yanchen was overjoyed. She immediately withdrew her palms and asked with concern, "Zhang Ruochen, what happened to you just now? Why did you suddenly spit blood?"
Chang Qiqi looked around warily and said darkly, "It couldn't be haunted, could it?"
Zhang Ruochen stood up and smiled. "There aren't that many ghosts in the world. I was just using a secret technique to probe that hill, but I was struck by a powerful force, which is why I got injured."
Duanmu Xingling asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Of course I did."
Zhang Ruochen gazed at the several-hundred-meter hill, gesturing with his fingers. After a long while, he withdrew his hand and nodded slightly. "The dragon's nest generates life, but death qi surges to the heavens. If I'm not mistaken, this isn't a hill at all—it's a tomb."
"A tomb? Who would build a tomb this big?" Chang Qiqi asked.
"A dragon."
Zhang Ruochen added, "A dragon's tomb."
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