Chapter Nine: The Jade Herb

The evening glow burned like fire, igniting half the sky. Chen Xuan guided the bronze horse with sharp eyes, stepping lightly through the air.

“Whistle!”

Within Peach Town, the four-eyed deity standing atop a bronze carriage saw this and placed two fingers to his mouth, letting out a piercing whistle.

“Bang!”

Chen Xuan struck the restless bronze horse’s head beneath him with a firm punch, scolding, “I am your master!”

“Woo!”

The bronze horse winced in pain but resolutely abandoned its previous allegiance, obeying Chen Xuan’s command as it flew toward the town’s center.

At the heart of the town, the ground had burst open into a great chasm, resembling the entrance to an underground palace.

This was the lair of the four-eyed deity, faint orange light spilling from the entrance.

“Fence-sitters never have a good end—the first to be dealt with.”

Chen Xuan gripped the bronze horse’s neck, earnestly reasoning with it.

“Woo!”

The horse dared not hesitate and summoned all its strength to dash toward the subterranean palace.

The four-eyed deity finally realized the danger, shouting as he leapt down from his carriage, vaulting a terrifying distance of several tens of meters in pursuit.

“Boom!”

Midway, the deity hurled his bronze halberd like a meteor streaking across the sky, its force so great the very air seemed to tear apart.

“Whoosh!”

The bronze horse was highly alert, seemingly anticipating this move, and descended early to evade.

“Good horse!”

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but praise. The bronze horse skimmed close to the ground, gliding into the palace entrance. Without the need for Chen Xuan or Chu Huogun to search, it instinctively led them deeper into the treasure-filled depths.

The underground palace was vast, with many corridors lined by ancient bronze lamps flickering with firelight, illuminating the path ahead.

“Click! Click!”

Entering a large, dim chamber, Chen Xuan saw rows upon rows of bronze armored soldiers and warhorses, numbering in the hundreds—a grand scale.

At the sound, their eyes snapped open in unison, all gazing sharply toward them, the scene chilling to the core.

A den full of bronze beasts!

Chen Xuan’s heart tightened, hastily patting the bronze horse’s back. “Brother Horse!”

“Awooo!”

The horse immediately raised its neck, roaring with an imposing dominance, as if a eunuch scolding lowly servants.

The bronze beasts fell silent, closing their eyes, too intimidated to look.

“Brother Horse holds a high rank,” Chen Xuan thought.

Soon, the bronze horse brought them into the largest chamber, stopping before a colossal bronze coffin.

“The terrestrial treasure tree must be hidden inside, right?”

Chen Xuan exchanged a glance with Chu Huogun.

The coffin was enormous, over ten feet long, engraved with patterns of mountains, rivers, plants, birds, beasts, and insects. Within, Chen Xuan glimpsed ancient, savage beasts resembling dragons, serpents, birds, and winds—wild and primeval.

“Bang!”

The bronze horse nudged the coffin lid halfway open, turning its head to signal Chen Xuan to quickly retrieve the treasure. “Woo, woo.”

“All right.”

Chen Xuan immediately dismounted, instructing Chu Huogun to bite the horse’s neck to keep it in check, then hurried toward the half-open coffin.

Peering inside, his eyes froze, a chill crawling over him.

“Xiao Wang, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up, grab the treasure and get out!”

Chu Huogun urged anxiously, the underground palace a den of bronze beasts that unsettled the heart.

---

Chen Xuan turned, staring at the insistent Chu Huogun and the bronze horse.

“This treasure…”

Inside the coffin lay a corpse.

A woman rested within, her black hair coiled into a bun, lips red as if tinged with blood, her swan-like neck pale as snow. She wore an ancient garment woven with golden threads, her reclining form tracing graceful curves like distant mountains.

A bronze coffin, a beautiful female corpse...

Chen Xuan found the scene deeply unsettling.

Was she a Qi cultivator among men, or a specter from the mountains and marshes?

Was this underground palace her eternal resting place?

“But her body looks full and well-preserved, as if recently deceased…”

Chen Xuan speculated, then noticed beside her a palm-sized white lingzhi mushroom.

Its roots embedded into the bronze coffin’s base, topped with several golden flowers and small silk-like fruits, radiating pure white light and a faint herbal fragrance.

The terrestrial treasure tree!

“Well, we’re here now.”

Although startled at first, Chen Xuan, a warrior, could not truly be afraid. He steadied his mind and quickly climbed into the coffin, crouching in the cramped space to search.

“There’s a faint fragrance emanating from her body too…”

As he crawled forward, he caught a scent similar to the white lingzhi—was it marinated?

“Pfft!”

Soon, Chen Xuan uprooted the lingzhi mushroom beside the woman.

“Obtaining this terrestrial treasure tree will surely raise the limits of my transformation.”

“The immortal energy might even be cultivated ahead of time!”

Practitioners from Red Crow City, Green Deer Mountain, and Wang Chan had traveled thousands of miles to the southern wilderness seeking such priceless treasures.

But now, Chen Xuan had secured one before them.

Excited, he extended his head out of the coffin, about to withdraw, when a sudden spark of insight struck him.

“Apologies for the intrusion.”

This ancient underground palace, with countless buried soldiers and servants, was governed by the highest order—one could hardly imagine the stature of the person interred here.

Even the accompanying soldiers and warhorses had gained sentience, becoming spectral beings!

There must be other treasures in the coffin!

“Xiao Wang, still not done? What are you doing in there?” Chu Huogun’s anxious voice came from outside, puzzled by Chen Xuan’s repeated entries and exits—had he found another treasure?

“Almost finished.”

Chen Xuan replied vaguely, then felt around the coffin several more times, turning it upside down before finally removing a hairpin from the woman’s bun.

Once removed, her soft black hair fell loose, revealing an enchanting beauty.

“Forgive me. You have long since passed, your beauty no longer for others to admire. This hairpin will be my keepsake.”

Chen Xuan silently apologized, sensing the golden-green hairpin was no ordinary item—the sharp tip could substitute for his small sword.

With sincere regret, he swiftly took it.

In fact, he even considered removing the exquisite golden ancient robe, soft and silky, untouched by time, clearly no ordinary garment.

But in the end, he refrained, leaving the woman dignity.

“Let’s go!”

Having gathered the spoils, Chen Xuan climbed out, closed the coffin, mounted the horse, and prepared to leave.

He did not wish to linger; a cold gaze seemed to watch him, making his skin crawl. The atmosphere of this underground palace was too eerie.

“[Yao Grass]!”

---

Chu Huogun’s eyes widened as he saw the white lingzhi in Chen Xuan’s hand, shouting:

“This is Resurrection Herb, said to only grow near the dead!”

Yao Grass is recorded in many ancient texts as an extremely precious terrestrial medicinal herb.

The oldest records trace back to the distant Age of Mountains and Seas.

Legend tells of an ancient mountain god who, after death, sprouted the first Yao Grass—a potion of immortality.

Though this white lingzhi could not compare to that legendary one, its very existence bore a sinister aura and potent medicinal energy.

Chen Xuan sighed silently, “If coffins don’t hold the dead, do they hold the living?”

“I didn’t mean that—I just didn’t expect it to be Resurrection Herb, that sort of terrestrial treasure tree.”

Chu Huogun grew increasingly fearful, trembling as he said, “The coffin’s occupant must have been extraordinary… Xiao Wang, you weren’t fooling around inside, were you? Be cautious—we don’t want a catastrophe.”

Either a mortal noble with royal blood, or a great cultivator of the Qi realm.

Resurrection Herb—meaning to bring the dead back to life!

“I’m careful, don’t exaggerate!”

Chen Xuan’s eyes twitched, chills creeping through him as he urged the bronze horse to speed away.

In truth, having witnessed the Small Underworld firsthand, he had developed some immunity.

No matter how strange this underground palace was, it couldn’t rival the Small Underworld.

Not to mention mortal nobles, even Qi cultivators, once dead, were but dust.

“Brother Horse, change course.”

Chen Xuan commanded to avoid retracing their path and being trapped by the four-eyed deity in the narrow corridors.

“Awooo!”

The horse, anxious and now fully loyal, bolted like a fiery wheel, leaving afterimages.

Moments later,

At the palace exit, they were still blocked by the four-eyed deity.

“Clever of you, blocking the exit.”

Chen Xuan’s palms began to sweat, no words came. This worst-case scenario had been anticipated.

“Haang!”

At the broad exit stood a majestic figure clad in bronze armor, over two meters tall, wielding a halberd, standing firm like a mountain blocking the way. Golden four eyes radiated divine light.

A four-eyed bronze beast!

A group of squat figures wearing strange masks, carrying flags and lanterns, focused their gaze on them.

“Y-You—”

The four-eyed deity raised his bronze halberd, lips parting to emit a hoarse, grating chant in an ancient tongue Chen Xuan could not understand:

“Traitor—”

“Attack!”

Chen Xuan violently flung Chu Huogun’s head forward. The old man’s head hovered midair, hair and beard standing on end, suddenly inhaling:

“Ancient divine concealment, fire virtue descends, decree of the fire bird—”

A trick!

“Boom!”

A raging torrent of red Qi flames burst from the old man’s mouth and nostrils like a river of fire, engulfing the entire palace entrance.

Chen Xuan followed swiftly, urging the horse forward.

“Slash!”

Ahead, the halberd’s gleam cut through the sea of flames!