Xiuying Ten Jiang 13 - Treasure-Hunting in the Secret Realm
Xiuying had spent about a fortnight serving out dozens upon dozens of noodle dishes to the hungry visitors of the Qiguai Secret Realm. During this time, she amassed a considerable amount of herbs that were often used in medicine or alchemy as well as a good deal of money as well. She also received a great deal of information about places of interest in the secret realm and possible locations of treasures that had yet to be claimed. She had also garnered a good reputation amongst even those who longstanding animosity towards the Golden Devil Clan.
Unfortunately for the cultivators staying at the encampment, it was about time for Xiuying to resume her exploration efforts and find something that could help her become stronger. The day before she was to set off, she sold more noodles than usual thanks to many customers opting to buy the noodle cart's special takeaway boxes to keep their noodle soup fresh and warm for future meals. Others had tried to convince her to join their party and work together but Xiuying was adamant about going at it alone. Huoying had warned Xiuying that she should find her fortune by herself because more often than not, it was easy for a group to devolve into violence and betrayal when a great treasure was found and only one could obtain it.
Xiuying also didn't like the way some of the people who offered to party up with her were looking at her. Xiuying might be an idiot but she was no moron.
That was why, at the crack of dawn, Xiuying left the encampment. To avoid too much hassle, the swordswoman shifted her cart into its miniature form and headed out on foot. She had arrived at the encampment inside the self-moving food wagon and had made a large impression on those who saw her enter so those who might try and pursue her would most likely be looking out for her food cart, after having seen some of its functions. It was simple to change her clothes to something a little bit fancier. She'd worn mostly her work clothes during the last couple of weeks so it was easy to change her appearance to avoid being called out when she left.
Once she was a far distance away from the encampment, Xiuying brought out her food cart and headed inside to figure out where she would go first. Xiuying had received a great deal of information about the Secret Realm and possible locations of mysterious treasures as well.
Somewhere in the Secret Realm, there was a lake of sparkling water with healing properties. Bathing in it would help soothe one's injuries and relieve fatigue. However, one needed to be careful when bathing in it for it was very deep, and there was a strange current that would drag anyone careless enough to submerge themselves into its dark depth, never to be seen again. Rumour has it that a powerful artifact was hidden at the bottom of the aquatic abyss but no-one had yet to ever confirm this rumour with most of those who tried diving into the depths never surfacing ever again.
Elsewhere, there was a vast underground cavern that was home to a bloated beast. Too big to escape through the passageways leading to and from the cavern, the beast learnt how to lure in fresh prey using many different tactics. While extremely dangerous, the beast was said to have an interest in objects that could be considered valuable and had a small hoard of treasures located within this cavern. If one was to obtain this treasure hoard, they would surely become rich beyond imagining.
In another place in the Secret Realm, it was said that hidden in a cursed forest full of gigantic ancient dead trees was a mystical spring from which grew the sole living tree in that forest. This tree would bear fruit for a very short amount of time every century and this rare fruit was said to grant great insight into one's cultivation among other things. However, to reach this spring, one would have to make their way through the cursed forest which slowly drained the qi of all who entered. With a natural array that made almost every location in the forest look almost the same, it was all too easy to get lost within the accursed forest and wither away into nothing.
While it was impossible for Xiuying to determine whether the information she'd received as payment were true or not, it was much better than her previous situation where she had no idea what she was supposed to be keeping an eye out for. The only way she would be able to figure out what was true or not was to go check out the sites in person. She'd also received information about common spirit herbs and other kinds of easily-obtained valuable material so this time she would definitely be able to gather some decent stuff for trading at least.
Her teacher had often told her stories about their own adventures through weird and amazing places filled with both danger and treasures.
Now it was time for her to go make her own story of adventure and fortune.
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There were many stories about how The Black Banshee Swamp got its name. The most well-known story was about a princess who had eloped with her lover, only to be betrayed and left sinking to her doom in the depth of the swamp. Her vengeful ghost is said to still be heard wailing in hate and grief throughout the swamplands. To be honest, a lot of the stories that Xiuying heard about the origins of the Black Banshee Swamp tend to have a woman or more drown in the swamp for one reason or another and their ghosts being the cause of the terribly wailing sound that could be heard whenever someone travelled through the swamp.
In Xiuying's opinion, the Black Banshee Swamp was called as such because of all the bloody screeching birds that were hidden in the mangrove trees. According to the information, the swamp used to be the territory of some powerful demon beast that had killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of cultivators before a large group of hunters managed to bring it down. In-fighting between the hunters resulted in its core being lost somewhere in the swamp, along with a good deal of its body parts.
Xiuying's current goal was to find this particular core but as her exploration moved forwards, she was having seconds thought about coming to the swamp. It certainly didn't help that her pants and boots were now filled with mud. While it would have been easy to walk on top of the swamp, it was frankly a waste of qi. And if the Core did still exist, it would have sunk into the mud.
Unfortunately for Xiuying though, after about a day crawling through mud, the swordswoman managed to find the beast core when some giant frog-mudfish thing suddenly snatched it out of her hands with its tongue before swiftly swimming away through mud. Being knee-deep in mud and caught off-guard, Xiuying was unable to pursue the thieving beast. Tired of being covered in mud, Xiuying gave up on the beast core.
Though disappointing that some weird frogfish thing had stolen the core right from her grasp, Xiuying was not disheartened however as the fact that the beast core did actually exist meant that there was a good chance that the rest of the information that she had were usable. Optimism was one of her stronger traits after all. Falling into despair after a set-back like this wasn't in her. Hopefully, the next location would prove more fruitful.
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Xiuying grimaced as she found herself looking down into the chasm below her once again, as she inches across the ledge. As per her master's advice, she'd brought a very long length of mundane but strong rope and was using it to secure herself as she searched for her target. According to the information one of her customers had given her, the chasm she was in right now was a place where one could find rare herbs and possibly lightning swiftlet nests.
However, the bottom of the chasm was covered in thick mists and all kinds of dangerous demon beasts made this place their home. Though it was said there were many riches in this place, it was notoriously difficult to search for even a single misstep that would alert the creatures of this place and draw their ire. Those who had flying artifacts who tried to simply search from the air would immediately find themselves assaulted and torn apart from all sides by angry flying and very territorial demon beasts.
Only with patience and stealth could one sidle across the cliff face and seek out treasure unmolested by the beasts of the chasm.
Misfortune struck Xiuying again however when a cliff-fanger suddenly popped its head out from its cave that Xiuying had not noticed in time and spotted her when it turned to look to its right. The moment it spotted her, it had let out a deafening screech, alerting its pack and completely ruining her attempt to explore the cliffside.
Xiuying was forced to flee the chasm, beheading a number of demon beasts that she regrettably could not dismantle as she ran. She did manage to demonstrate one of the precepts of Sword Law, successfully running along the wall in complete disregard to gravity. She'd almost slip and fell into the chasm when she ran out of qi near the exit.
With the demon beasts of the chasm agitated and alert, it was no longer possible for Xiuying to explore the chasm for a good long time. That was another target gone and time wasted. Xiuying let out a sigh when she was safe and away from the chasm of death and doom. Hopefully, the next place will have treasure that she can get without much hassle.
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Xiuying glared at the bustling group of cultivators who were in the midst of dismantling what had once been a tomb holding the legacy of a nascent soul cultivator. Whatever legacy or treasures that the tomb once held had already been pilfered by whoever was leading this group of cultivators. With the main treasure gone, these cultivators were now taking away literally everything they could get their hands on that wasn't nailed down - which was pretty much everything.
She'd heard how some desperate or obsessive people would go as far and to take even the material that tombs and legacy sites were made from. Not a bad idea since the material to protect and maintain such legacy and treasures had to be top quality stuff. Dismantling a tomb and other such places was something that only a large-scale expedition could accomplish. A singular adventurer seeking treasure would not have the time, manpower, or storage capacity to accomplish such a feat of engineering and deconstruction.
Xiuying ended up spending a couple of days at the site, selling noodles to help soothe her frustrations after several failures to capitalise on the information she'd receive in payment for her noodles back at the encampment. Though there was some initial hostility from the cultivators, suspicious of outsiders, Xiuying's noodles quickly won them over and soon she was receiving both minor treasures and valuable information from her new customers. She even got to take a qi-infused brick as a gift from one weird stuttering red-faced fellow. What a strange person.
After having sold noodles for a while, Xiuying headed off to the next location. At this point, Xiuying was just hoping for even some half-finished or semi-rare treasure to be found.
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The path to the hidden grove was filled with many beasts. Unlike the chasm where a single misstep would have her plummeting into the mists to her death, Xiuying now had more than enough space to swing her blade without a care in the world. Together with a serving of Thousand-Year heavenly Noodles, Xiuying cut a path through the long grass, cutting down all beasts that blocked her path.
Just as her master taught her, Xiuying's mind was empty of all thought, her body infused with her will - her desire to cut, as she encountered one beast after another. For it is not the sword that cuts. It is want that separates flesh from bone, not sinew and steel. Packs of beasts were decapitated, usually several at the same time in a single swing. Soon, the beasts and monsters that lived in the forest began fleeing from the practitioner of Sword Law as they realised that they could not stop such a terrible being.
Xiuying's consciousness flickered in and out of awareness as her body cut through the beasts. Unfortunate beasts that managed to meet her eyes would find themselves staring into dark empty pools that showed no light within them. By the time she reached the dilapidated cabin in the hidden grove, Xiuying's clothes were splattered in the blood of spirit animals and her strength almost at their limits, the power of the heavenly noodles having expired only minutes ago.
"...Please let this one be the one," Xiuying murmured as she approached the cabin. Up till now, almost every place that she was told had treasure or rare resources were either too dangerous, already been picked clean, or otherwise a complete dud. Eventually, she was gonna run out of time and be forced to leave the Secret Realm or else something bad would happen to her. She couldn't afford to waste any more time.
Entering the cabin, Xiuying's shoulders slumped as she took in the ruined state of the place. It had definitely not been used in a long time. It was dusty and the walls were filled with holes. The wooden furniture looked like they could crumble the moment someone touched them and as far as she could see, there was no sign of any valuables in the place. Xiuying felt her heart sink before she caught herself and slapped her cheeks.
She had yet to actually give the place a proper search. She needed to do that at least before falling into despair.
After spending around an hour carefully looking through the cabin, she finally found something interesting. She'd found a large sealed pot that was strangely in good condition in comparison to the rest of the building. Breaking the seal, Xiuying found what looked like a sheaf of wheat. However, the moment she'd opened the pot, a golden light had almost blinded her, illuminating the dim cabin.
Even with her relatively weak level of cultivation, Xiuying could feel the potent qi in the wheat. She'd finally found it. She had found a suitable treasure to aid in her cultivation. Looking at the golden wheat, Xiuying licked her lips.
With such high-quality wheat in her hands, there was only one thing a noodle vendor such as herself could do.
Time to make some noodles!
