Chapter 650 - 311: Going for a Big Score

The Fog Concealment Cave Mansion was much larger than other such abodes, containing countless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. However, this senior was a Martial Fool who only knew cultivation. He had occupied a region around an Array Hub, yet he turned a blind eye to the wealth of treasures around him.

To not go out and plunder them would be a profligate waste of heaven's gifts—far too wasteful.

After all, there were at least dozens, if not hundreds, of Martial Artists who had entered the cave mansion. Even if this place spanned two to three thousand li, if it were divided up evenly, each person would only occupy a territory of twenty to thirty li.

But in the cave mansion, everything was decided by strength. An even distribution was clearly impossible.

Those with formidable Martial Arts Power were bound to seize the vast majority of the resources.

The territories around the various Array Hubs would have been almost completely divided up by the experts.

If Xiao Yingluo were with her companions from the Great Dao Sect, they too could have occupied an Array Hub. But as it stood, she was too far from the others; she couldn't even sense them with her Identity Jade Token.

Even if she hurried to rendezvous with her sect members now, it would likely be difficult to obtain many resources.

Besides, moving about on her own, she was bound to encounter danger.

'In this cave mansion, others might not be as kind-hearted as this hammer-wielding senior!'

As for why Xiao Yingluo felt this senior was kind, it was based on her intuition.

She had a feeling that as long as she behaved obediently, this senior wouldn't kill her. After all, if he had wanted to, he would have done it long ago.

Over the past few days, she had hardly even seen the senior, which only strengthened this intuition of hers.

'Rather than leave Lake Heart Island to face all sorts of unknown dangers, I might as well stay obediently by this senior's side and wait for support from the Great Dao Sect.'

Deep in her heart, Xiao Yingluo couldn't help but feel that the senior's favorable treatment of her was likely due in part to her own peerless beauty.

What young maiden doesn't dream of romance? In truth, Xiao Yingluo had been secretly observing this senior all along.

Although the man's face was masked with black cloth, revealing only his eyes, and he always referred to himself as "this old man," Xiao Yingluo's feminine intuition told her he wasn't some century-old Innate Realm monster nearing the end of his life.

'Even if he is a bit older, this senior shouldn't be more than sixty.'

For an Innate Realm Expert, who could live up to one hundred and fifty years, sixty was merely their prime!

To have reached the Innate Realm before the age of sixty, this senior's Martial Arts Talent must be absolutely astonishing.

'If he were to truly fall in love with me and not just seduce and abandon me, I could consider it. As long as it's a proper marriage, the elders of the Xiao Family would surely agree gladly.'

At the thought of potentially becoming the wife of an Innate Realm Expert, Xiao Yingluo had, on more than one occasion, secretly pledged her heart to him.

After all, even though she was a True Disciple of the Great Dao Sect, she was not certain she herself could ever reach the Innate Realm.

Of course, in Xiao Yingluo's view, the thing that truly captivated her heart was the senior's aura—an air of looking down upon the world, of pride demanding respect, all while exuding a wild, domineering presence.

'Only a heroic figure with such bone-deep pride would let me move about freely, utterly unconcerned that I might escape.'

"This senior is definitely no nameless nobody. His true identity must be legendary, his bearing unmatched!"

Lost in her wandering thoughts, Xiao Yingluo arrived back at the cave, her cheeks feeling slightly hot.

She casually plucked some leaves and crushed them into a pulp. Walking over to a corner, she smeared the juice on her face to make her complexion look less fair.

It was an act done on a strange impulse, the goal being to prevent the senior from seeing her beauty and getting any wicked ideas or improper designs on her.

'Secretly pledging my heart to the senior is one thing, but remaining chaste is another matter entirely. How can I be casual about such things before we are married?'

'Then again, this senior might not be as peerless and dashing as I've imagined.'

...

The thunder in the sky suddenly fell silent.

Lake Heart Island was instantly plunged into silence.

Chen Cheng stopped his Cultivation and summoned his interface to check it.

[Skills: Nine Heavens Thunder Shocking Hammer Technique (Perfection) (Ultimate Mystical Technique: Hammer Fall Punishment, Thunder Shocking the Universe 369/1000)]

'In another half a month, I should be able to bring the Ultimate Mystical Technique of the Nine Heavens Thunder Shocking Hammer Technique to Perfection. My combat prowess will increase dramatically.

Not bad at all!'

With a faint smile, Chen Cheng stepped on a Thunder Arc. With a few leaps of his figure, he was on the stone cliff in front of the cave.

"Senior!" Xiao Yingluo said, bowing respectfully.

Beside her, two Demon Rats also stood upright, placing their paws together before their chests and bowing toward Chen Cheng.

The two Demon Rats had undoubtedly learned this habit from Xiao Yingluo!

"No need for ceremony," Chen Cheng said with a slight nod.

Xiao Yingluo took the bundle from her waist and said earnestly, "Senior, while patrolling Lake Heart Island, I discovered several stalks of five-hundred-year-old Ice Heart Grass, a seven- or eight-hundred-year-old black fish ginseng, and I also slew a Black-winged Demon Python, from which I obtained a Tier Five Demon Heart."

Every time she returned from a treasure hunt, Xiao Yingluo would turn over some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

Of course, she had naturally hidden the majority of her haul in her Hidden Void Robe.

The Hidden Void Robe, a Pseudo-Spiritual Artifact, could not only conceal one's tracks but also block the auras of all sorts of treasures.

However, she was clearly overthinking it; Chen Cheng had never once taken the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures she offered.

It wasn't that Chen Cheng looked down on them. It was just that taking one or two items at a time was honestly too much trouble.

'When the Central Palace of the cave mansion's Array opens up later, all the Martial Artists will gather in one place. I'll just rob them all at once and get my fill!'

In the parlance of bandits, it's "go big or go home!"

To use a cruder street saying, "Three balls aren't worth one bang."

"A Tier Five Demon Heart?"

Chen Cheng leaped down from the cliff. He took the bundle, removed the Demon Heart, and weighed it in his hand.

"Well done! This old man will accept this Demon Heart."

Chen Cheng nodded slightly, giving Xiao Yingluo an approving glance. He tossed the rest of the bundle back to her and headed for the cave.