C16 Death Valley Treasure Hunt

The mountain's cliff face was sheer, with jagged rocks jutting out, making it a treacherous climb. Occasionally, people and animals would tumble down from above.

At the thousand-meter mark, the climbers' true strength began to show. Leading the pack was a man dressed in black who ascended with ease, his feet barely touching the rocks, his pace unrelenting.

Trailing him were disciples from various sects, their martial arts training giving them an edge in physical fitness, with a handful of particularly strong individuals keeping up.

Chu Xing hadn't expected to run into Duan Dezhang, whom he had previously met, yet there he was, keeping pace. Further back, the group spread out, grappling with the difficult ascent. Wang Liang, Lin Miaoke, Zhao Chunyang, and other nobles followed, escorted by their guards.

Chu Xing's mechanical clone, tethered to him by a rope, ensured he wasn't left behind, maintaining a position in the second group. Thanks to the clone's endless stamina, Chu Xing avoided falling to the rear. Duan Dezhang cast several wary glances at the mechanical doppelganger.

Past the two-thousand-meter point, the mountainside revealed houses. Wooden structures had decayed into ruins, while the stone buildings remained intact, albeit stripped of any valuables.

Another two thousand meters up, a grand stone palace emerged, imposing and robust.

Chu Xing and his mechanical clone each headed for a different part of the palace. Chu Xing reached a side hall where Duan Dezhang was already present. In the center, on a stone dais, lay three swords. As Chu Xing reached for them, Duan Dezhang lunged, his blade aimed at Chu Xing's back. Dodging swiftly, Chu Xing countered with a thrust of his own sword's tip, sending Duan Dezhang's weapon flying and claiming one of the treasured swords for himself.

Chu Xing summoned the Fire Talisman Treasure, unleashing a fire dragon at Duan Dezhang, who narrowly avoided it. Seizing the moment, Chu Xing grabbed one of the treasured swords. As he went for the second, Duan Dezhang attacked with a fierce slash. Chu Xing parried with the broken sword, but the force of the blow pushed him back.

Chu Xing unleashed a fire dragon and charged at Duan Dezhang, who quickly raised a large shield to protect himself, effectively blocking the fire dragon.

Seizing the moment, Duan Dezhang advanced and snatched the remaining sword.

Chu Xing pocketed the Fire Talisman Treasure, cast a fleeting glance at Duan Dezhang, and withdrew from the area.

Simultaneously, his clone, along with four others, reached a grand hall. At its center stood a pill furnace, with a skeleton seated cross-legged beside it, a storage bag resting on its thigh.

The furnace, as tall as a man, was adorned with intricate designs. Three individuals made a beeline for it, while the mechanical clone aimed for the storage bag. As he extended his hand to grab it...

"Drop it!" came a thunderous command, and a sword thrust swiftly at the clone's back. Unfazed by the incoming blade, the clone swiftly secured the storage bag, even as his garment was pierced, using the momentum to roll forward.

His assailant, a disciple clad in gray, was from an unknown sect to Chu Xing. Meanwhile, a skirmish had erupted elsewhere.

"Release the storage bag," the gray-clothed figure demanded, sword in hand, launching an assault. The sword danced with lethal precision, leaving the clone no chance to evade. Shreds of fabric fluttered in the air, revealing the clone's metallic silver body beneath.

"An inner armor?" The attacker paused, taken aback, then resumed the onslaught with renewed vigor.

The mechanical clone produced a metal rod, transforming it into a bar. Despite taking several sword hits, he managed to entangle the bar around his adversary, immobilizing him, and made a break for it.

"Senior Brother, block him!"

As the clone made for the exit, another gray-clad figure stepped in his way. Chu Xing, observing that the others were still vying for the pill furnace, didn't hesitate. He charged straight at the furnace.

The pill furnace was solid; the collision sent the clone tumbling, and the furnace crashed to the ground, spilling a dozen pills. The gray-clothed man, too preoccupied with the clone to chase after the pills, missed his chance. The clone snatched up two pills that had rolled his way and dashed out swiftly.

The mechanical clone burst forth, sprinting straight for the mountain's rear.

Before long, it encountered a swath of animals grazing on the mountain's vegetation, amidst which the black-clad figure Chu Xing recognized was simultaneously slaughtering the creatures and swiftly harvesting the sparse remaining plants.

Realizing these were medicinal herbs, Chu Xing wasted no time in dashing forward. His broken sword sent several monkeys scattering as he uprooted a stalk of herbs, soil clinging to its roots. Eager to find more, his clone was suddenly bowled over by a tiger. In response, the clone's left hand morphed into a spike, plunging into the tiger. Once the beast lay still, the clone resumed its frantic search.

Soon, the mountain's back was stripped bare, the animals, devoid of a target, mostly scattered downhill, while a few turned their aggression towards the black-clothed man and the mechanical clone.

The man in black, with formidable strength, dispatched the animals with ease, felling each with a single strike. Casting a glance at the mechanical clone, he strode onward.

The clone, peering at the three herbs secured in the storage ring, reluctantly followed suit.

Meanwhile, Chu Xing's true self explored several more rooms, finding them emptied, the echoes of combat resounding throughout.

Surveying the mountain, Chu Xing noted over a dozen stone dwellings and a central clearing that resembled a training ground.

Upon this field, he discovered inscriptions akin to traditional characters: "The return path is sealed, the Spiritual Qi vanished. Unable to cultivate, here we shall perish."

Chu Xing mulled over the message, musing, "It appears Earth's Spiritual Qi vanished for some mysterious reason. Now that it has returned, could the path be reopening?" Lost in thought, Chu Xing's contemplation deepened.

Just then, as the mechanical clone reached the mountain's base, it was confronted by the returning man in black. "Hand over those herbs," he demanded coolly.

Incapable of speech, the clone conveyed Chu Xing's defiance with a simple shake of its head: "Why should I give you what I've obtained?"

The man in black raised his sword and declared, "Then I shall dispense with courtesy." With that, he lunged at the clone, blade first. The mechanical clone parried with a broken sword, nearly losing its grip as a powerful force sent it stumbling backward.

Undeterred, the black-clad assailant leaped forward, his left fist crackling with lightning, and struck at the clone's abdomen. Sparks danced across the mechanical clone's body, and hairline fractures began to spiderweb through its metallic skin.

Thankfully, the clone was impervious to pain. Seizing a moment of distraction, it unleashed a sword talisman, sending it flying toward the man in black before turning to flee down the mountain.

The man in black, confident of his impending victory, was caught off guard by the clone's immunity to the lightning. By the time he reacted, slicing through the Flying Sword, the clone was already making its escape. He gave chase without hesitation.

"Where did this creature come from? What level has his Qi Training reached? And a lightning spiritual root to boot. It's a good thing the clone is metallic," Chu Xing mused anxiously, peering down the mountain, eager to provide assistance.

Meanwhile, the mountain summit bustled with activity. Those arriving later scoured the rooms in frustration, taking out their irritation on any animals that lingered.

Lin Miaoke arrived late, her mood sour as she surveyed her surroundings. Zhao Chunyang's expression was unreadable, but he likely shared her sentiments.

Wang Liang was in the midst of a tirade. Lee Zhi, speaking cautiously at his side, seemed to notice Chu Xing and gestured towards him, whispering something. Wang Liang's response was a chilling smile directed at Chu Xing.

"We need to get out of here, now," Chu Xing thought, his brow furrowed.

Just then, a squad of cultivators clad in uniforms emblazoned with 'Dragon Group' ascended the mountain. Their leader bellowed, "Do not damage the buildings; they hold research value. The nation has granted you the opportunity to vie for treasures to enhance your strength. We hope you appreciate the country's earnest intentions and refrain from killing. Those interested in joining the Dragon Group are welcome at any time; we offer excellent benefits. If you've no further business, descend the mountain promptly."

At that moment, the man in black relentlessly pursued the mechanical clone, his speed astonishingly fast. The clone was battered to the point of tumbling down the mountainside. Luckily, it was resilient enough to withstand the beating, although it did lose half an arm to the cliff's edge before regenerating a new one. Now, the clone was left with only a few tattered strips of cloth, its body gleaming with a silvery light.

"Which race do you belong to? Are you new to Earth, or have you been here since your awakening?" the man in black called out from behind.

Chu Xing was taken aback, thinking to himself, "This man must have stumbled upon incredible luck."

He wasn't wrong. The man in black, named Ouyang Chong, was a miner working in the remote mountains, fresh out of college. During a cataclysmic shift on Earth, he was fortuitously in an underground mine where he inherited the legacy of a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage.

Having rolled down the mountain, the mechanical clone hastily mounted its motorcycle and sped off, with Ouyang Chong in close pursuit, levitating a meter above the ground on a disc.

Chu Xing poured every ounce of his energy into the chase, his clone's innate connection to the motorcycle making it surge forward as if in flight.

An hour later, Ouyang Chong seemed to run low on energy. He retracted the disc and switched to an off-road vehicle to continue the pursuit.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Chu Xing thought, "I was expecting you to keep flying indefinitely. You dare to challenge me with a car? I'll have to teach you a lesson."

The clone decelerated just enough for the car to catch up. With a single touch, the clone transformed the vehicle into a spherical cage, trapping the man in black inside. Chu Xing wasted no time and darted away.

The man in black managed to blast his way out of the spherical trap using his spiritual energy, but he could only gaze helplessly at Chu Xing's retreating figure.

Chu Xing, the original, quickly descended the mountain and, following his senses, retrieved the clone's severed arm from the base of the cliff. He then hopped on his motorcycle and set off in pursuit of the clone. It wasn't long before an off-road vehicle caught up to him, blocking his path.