Chaotic Times and Disasters: I Hunt Down Martial Arts Masters and Become a God

...

At the foot of Cangwu Mountain, the armies of the Jing and Kang states gathered in front of the Stone Gate.

Seven people arrived from Jingguo's side. Fu Qing hung his cold iron sword at his waist, and An Sheng stood beside him with a twelve-foot silver spear. The oil freshly applied to the spear tip shone dazzlingly in the sunlight.

The Seventh Prince, Ling Yuxi, dressed in a black close-fitting outfit, was looking up at the dense ancient runes on the stone gate. He was originally unable to enter at the Gangqi Realm, but he used a royal secret technique to seal part of his cultivation, saying that he still needed to hone his skills.

Su Wen, carrying a medicine box twice the size of an ordinary medicine box, stood expressionless next to Fu Qing, occasionally glancing at the stone gate before lowering her head to continue flipping through the pharmacopoeia in her hand.

Yu Fu carried a bundle larger than himself, his round face beaming with excitement.

"Brother Fu, my dad stuffed all the protective amulets he could carry into this bag. There are over a dozen Buddhist Vajra talismans, several Confucian scrolls, and even a heart lamp that a Taoist master once used!"

"The Heart Lamp?" Song Zhiwen, dressed in a scholar's robe and holding a scroll of bamboo slips, turned his head upon hearing this.

"Junior Brother Yu, what are you doing with so much stuff?"

"Senior Brother Song, you don't understand. My dad said there's everything in the secret realm, even talking trees! It never hurts to be well-prepared."

Su Xue stood next to Su Wen, carrying her medicine pouch, and glanced at her cold-faced junior sister. "Junior sister, what's in your medicine pouch?"

"Medicine." Suwen didn't even look up.

"...What medicine?"

"Medicine for wounds, antidotes, and food for him." Su Wen tilted her chin at Fu Qing.

Su Xue followed her gaze to Fu Qing, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Just for him to eat?"

"The poison he carries is more troublesome than all of yours combined."

Suwen turned a page of the pharmacopoeia, "If you also want to take it, I can prescribe a dose for you."

"No, no." Su Xue quickly waved her hand.

There were only three people on Kangguo's side.

Yunnan changed into a sharp, dark purple outfit, with a short sword hanging at her waist. She looked less elegant at the banquet and more dashing.

She stopped in front of the stone gate, nodded slightly to Fu Qing, and said, "General Fu, we meet again."

"Is Your Highness Yun dressed like this for a fight?"

"It's not like Jingjing in the secret realm; wearing a skirt is inconvenient."

Yunnan pulled at his wrist guard. "And General Fu, has your injury healed?"

"Your Highness, I'm all better now."

Xiahou Jun stood behind Yunnan, carrying two newly forged golden maces. When he saw Fu Qing, he hesitated for a moment, but still clasped his hands in a salute and said, "General Fu."

Fu Qing returned the greeting, "Brother Xiahou's new maces are quite nice; they look much heavier than the last pair."

Xiahou Jun grinned and patted his mace.

"Thanks to General Fu, the last pair was cut in half, and it took the best blacksmith in Kang Kingdom half a month to forge a new pair."

Gongsun Ming remained calm and composed, holding a sheepskin map in his hand, comparing it with the runes on the stone gate.

An Sheng glanced at him. "Mr. Gongsun, is your map accurate?"

"This map was drawn by three generations of people from Kangguo who explored the secret realm, and the error is no more than three zhang."

Gongsun Ming stroked his beard, then changed the subject.

"However, the terrain changes every time the secret realm opens, so it may not be accurate."

"...Then what are you going to do with it?"

"Just for peace of mind."

An Sheng's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything more.

...

When the appointed time arrived, the ancient runes carved on the stone gate for thousands of years suddenly lit up one by one, spreading out in circles like water. The stone gate burst open with a roar, and the white light surging out from inside engulfed everyone.

When Fu Qing opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a vast valley. There was no sky above him, only a layer of pale golden light, like an inverted giant bowl covering the entire valley.

Not far to his left front, Suwen had already picked up a spiritual herb with a pale blue halo from the ground and held it up to his eyes to examine it carefully in the light shining through the light screen.

"This is a thousand-year-old Azure Grass."

Suwen put the elixir into the jade box, saying, "Its effects are at least ten times stronger than those outside."

"How much is it worth?" Yu Fu leaned closer.

"priceless."

"What is priceless?"

It means you can't afford it.

Suwen closed the jade box. "Yufu, no matter how rich your family is, you can't buy this. This thing has disappeared from the outside world."

"Dr. Su has a good eye..."

Yunnan and Kang Guo walked over from the right.

"This secret realm is said to be the cave dwelling of that Dharma Aspect Realm expert. It is full of spiritual roots and medicinal herbs that have long been extinct in the outside world, most of which he brought in from various places a thousand years ago."

She walked over to a glowing mushroom, squatted down to look at it, then stood up again.

"Kangguo has come many times, and each time he has been able to collect a lot of thousand-year-old spiritual herbs. However, the true core of the secret realm has not yet been found. But these spiritual herbs alone are enough for countries to fight tooth and nail for."

Ling Yuxi looked around and said, "Your Highness, I suggest that the two teams act together so that they can look out for each other. The secret realm is full of unknown dangers, and cooperation will benefit both sides."

"Can."

Yunnan patted the dirt off his hands, "But the treasures are up to each person's ability; whoever gets them first gets them."

It's a deal.

Although they were traveling together, they maintained a subtle distance from each other. Xiahou Jun and An Sheng exchanged a glance, but neither of them spoke first.

"How much heavier is your new mace compared to the last one?" An Sheng broke the silence first.

"Not many, just two hundred catties of elite cold iron."

Xiahou Jun weighed the golden mace in his hand. "I specially added something to it. I originally planned to try it out next time I fought you, but this time we'll be joining forces."

"Go outside and fight again."

"OK."

...

After exploring for half a day, the group came to a fork in the road, where two different landscapes appeared – a gravel beach on the left and a dense forest on the right.

But what stopped everyone was not the road, but the lone herb growing in the cracks of the gravel in the middle of the road.

It is pure white, with its roots twisted together like human bones, and a small, pale blue flower the size of a fingernail blooms at the top, with a drop of dew clinging to its petals.

"Beautiful bones!"

Su Xue exclaimed, "A thousand-year-old beauty bone! A thumb-sized piece of this thing can sell for thousands of taels of silver in Jingjing. How much would this whole thing be worth?"

"This isn't about money."

Su Wen rarely spoke first, but he squatted down and leaned closer to examine her closely.

"The Regenerating Pill made from the Beauty Bone can even regenerate broken flesh and bone. It's priceless. I want this one."

"Dr. Su, this isn't quite right."

Xiahou Jun had already drawn his golden mace. "Treasures are up to each individual's ability. Whoever gets it first gets it. This is the rule we agreed on before we came in."

"General Xiahou, please don't be in a hurry."

An Sheng slammed his silver spear on the ground. "Let me ask you first, can you beat Fu Qing?"

"We can't beat them."

"Then why are you robbing it?"

Even if you can't beat them, you have to steal them.

Xiahou Jun clashed his double maces. "We can't go back empty-handed just because we can't win. An Sheng, you lost to me in the arena. Want to try again?"

"You beat me in the ring, but you didn't beat Fu Qing."

An Sheng sneered, "He's standing right here. Do you want to fight him again?"

"An Sheng, don't try to scare me with Fu Qing. I'm not afraid of him!"

That's enough.

Yunnan raised his hand to stop Xiahou Jun, "General Fu—"

Before he could finish speaking, Fu Qing had already moved, rushing towards the beauty bone.

Xiahou Jun reacted extremely quickly, wielding both maces simultaneously in a horizontal sweep, the golden mace striking towards Fu Qing's waist.

Just as the mace was about to strike him, Fu Qing ducked down, his knees sliding along the ground, his waist almost brushing against the mace.

During his slide, he swung his sword backhand and struck the intersection of Xiahou Jun's double maces.

"So fast!" Gongsun Ming blurted out.

Xiahou Jun grunted and took half a step back.

In the brief moment of retreat, Yu Fu had already rushed to the side of the beautiful bone, squatted down, took out a jade shovel from his bundle, and carefully began to dig the soil.

"Fatty, be gentle!"

Suwen squatted down beside him, "The roots of the Beauty Bone must not be broken, otherwise the medicinal properties will be lost! Dig to the left... yes, along the direction of the roots, don't pull it out forcefully!"

"Sister Suwen, could you please stop shouting in my ear? My hands are shaking!"

Su Xue also came over and used her medicinal aura to protect the soil around the beauty bone. "I'll stabilize the roots, you guys hurry up."

Xiahou Jun steadied himself and wanted to move again, but Yunnan Zhi raised his hand to stop him.

She looked at Fu Qing standing before her, leaning on his knife, and remained silent for a few moments.

"They're just serving their own masters, General Fu, don't take it to heart."

She turned to the two men from Kangguo and said, "It seems that the so-called alliance is meaningless. Let's go."

"Princess—" Xiahou Jun said somewhat unwillingly.

"Continuing to drag this out will benefit no one."

Yunnan didn't even turn his head back, saying, "There are still many hidden places to explore, don't waste your energy here."