Han Zheng cradled the plain little box he had just opened when suddenly the Taotie Furnace appeared out of nowhere and swallowed it in one gulp; its speed was so fast that Han Zheng didn't even have ti to react.
The next mont, the object inside the box was still there, but it seed to have lost so of its charm.
It was only then that Han Zheng noticed what was actually inside the box.
The object inside was odd—neither stone nor wood—palm-sized, and it appeared to be a fragnt of an elliptical thing.
[Obtained special item: Fragnt of the Way; by collecting Fragnts of the Way to complete the Way, planting it within the soul and nurturing it with Origin Power, you can bear the Supre Tao Fruit.]
Han Zheng exhaled a long breath and squinted at the Fragnt of the Way in his hand.
The charm of this thing had already been consud by the Taotie Furnace, leaving it a re empty shell, so Han Zheng could easily hand it over to the Demon Cleansing Bureau.
However, what the Taotie Furnace ntioned was ambiguous—what exactly was this Way, and what might the Tao Fruit entail?
Even though Han Zheng didn't know these details, he was certain that this item was an extrely precious treasure!
Most of the ti, the Taotie Furnace simply signaled to Han Zheng what could be used for sacrifice.
Only when the item was extrely valuable, coveted to the point of desperation by the Taotie Furnace, would It actively appear to consu it.
The last ti was the Nine Heavens Ape Demon Star Picking Map; this ti, it was this Fragnt of the Way.
Moreover, because of this object, the Blood Wolf Thieves—a force powerful enough to trouble the Court—were annihilated.
Even the Sll Fragrance Sect did not care about the fierce battle with the Court and decisively divided their forces to slaughter the Blood Wolf Thieves, evidencing the item's preciousness.
After restoring the now-empty shell of the Fragnt of the Way back into the box and tossing it into the Qiankun Bag, Han Zheng dragged Chou Jingxiao's corpse out of the Li Family estate.
At that mont, the sound of whooshing True Qi ca from outside. It was Wen Tingyun arriving with more than a dozen Xuanjia Guards.
Looking at the corpse of Chou Jingxiao beside Han Zheng, Wen Tingyun asked in surprise, "You actually managed to slay Chou Jingxiao?"
Although Wen Tingyun was aware of Han Zheng's strength and had estimated that a worn-down Chou Jingxiao would be a fair match for Han Zheng, seeing Han Zheng slay Chou Jingxiao with her own eyes still seed incredible.
"Thanks to Colonel Wen pushing Chou Jingxiao to use the Blood Demon Escape Shadow Technique, he was already at the end of his rope, which allowed to kill him. This is the Qiankun Bag found on Chou Jingxiao. Please take a look, Colonel."
Wen Tingyun glanced at the things in the Qiankun Bag and opened the box to examine it.
She had never seen the Way itself, yet the fragnt matched exactly with the descriptions of the Way.
After infusing a thread of True Yuan into it, it vanished instantly, as if swallowed by an abyss.
All of this matched the descriptions related to the Fragnt of the Way. The one carried by Chou Jingxiao was indeed a Fragnt of the Way!
Wen Tingyun's gaze towards Han Zheng was now filled with even more satisfaction.
Although Han Zheng was powerful, he had not allowed greed to blind him.
Despite the incalculable value of the Way, it had no use for an Innate Martial Artist like Han Zheng.
In fact, not only Han Zheng, but even Wen Tingyun herself would find it useless to possess it.
But Han Zheng didn't know this. Normally, he would only think of such an item as a secret treasure of imnse worth.
It was rare to remain clear-headed and not succumb to greed in the presence of such treasured artifacts.
"Han Zheng, well done. Once you return to the Demon Cleansing Bureau, you will be allowed to choose any Xuan Gang Realm Cultivation Technique from the inner chamber."
The surrounding Xuanjia Guards looked at Han Zheng with eyes full of envy.
Cultivation Techniques of the Xuan Gang Realm, let alone now, would require a Demon Sweeping Captain in the first stages of the Xuan Gang Realm to accumulate enough rit Points over ti to afford.
Even the cheapest Xuan Gang Realm Technique required rit Points ten tis more than those for an Innate Realm Technique.
And now Han Zheng had obtained it so easily; how could they not be envious?
Of course, while they envied him, no one was foolish enough to feel jealous.
They had seen Chou Jingxiao's strength for themselves, and though they had never fought him directly, they had clashed with other Blood Wolf Thieves.
It was hard enough to slay those thieves; imagine trying to kill their leader, Chou Jingxiao.
After all, Chou Jingxiao was a formidable man who had managed to escape from the likes of Wen Tingyun and two other peak Xuan Gang Realm experts.
Wen Tingyun put away the box containing the Way and tossed the Qiankun Bag to Han Zheng.
"Except for the contents of this box, which the upper echelons have specifically requested, all other items are to be counted as your spoils of war."
The Xuanjia Guards around them imdiately showed envious glances when they heard this.
That was the accumulation of a life's work of a Xuan Gang Realm Peak expert.
Not only that, but Chou Jingxiao's Qiankun Bag itself was a treasure.
Han Zheng held the Qiankun Bag with a wry smile, "Lord Wen, what's inside here is just so gold, can I exchange it for Elental Crystals?"
Han Zheng said this on purpose.
Otherwise, others might really think he had obtained a vast amount of treasures.
Wen Tingyun shook her head, "That won't do, you can use Elental Crystals to exchange for gold and silver, but exchanging gold for Elental Crystals is not that simple. I didn't expect you to regard money as dirt."
"It's not that I regard money as dirt, but I value power more. Without power, no matter how much gold you have, you won't be able to protect it."
Wen Tingyun nodded in approval.
The fact that Han Zheng had such an awareness ant that he could go much further.
With the Blood Wolf Thieves entirely wiped out, Wen Tingyun led the people of the Demon Cleansing Departnt back to Kai Ping Prefecture.
Xu Cunbao had been garrisoning the headquarters all these days, even without sleeping. It was only when he saw Wen Tingyun return with the people that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"How are the losses? Did anything unexpected happen?"
Wen Tingyun sighed softly, "Seventeen died, which isn't much usually, but at this ti, it's a bit severe."
"The Xuanyang Martial Sect and the Pang Family indeed made their moves, they just didn't know that Chou Jingxiao had a piece of a Taoist seed, so they didn't send a large number of people to snatch it."
"Speaking of which, it was Han Zheng who made great contributions this ti, killing Chou Jingxiao who was depleted of his Qi and blood."
For the Southern Mountain Demon Cleansing Departnt, the death of seventeen Xuanjia Guards wasn't a big deal.
But now, eighty percent of the strength of the Southern Mountain Demon Cleansing Departnt was in Huainan Road, so the forces in the Southern Mountain area were severely insufficient. Even the death of one person would affect the Demon Cleansing Bureau.
Hearing that it was Han Zheng who had killed Chou Jingxiao, Xu Cunbao's eyes revealed a hint of surprise, "Zhang Tianyang actually recomnded a good seedling. Han Zheng has only been in the Southern Mountain for a few days, but the rits he's made are significant."
"With proper training, he could even be stronger than Su Wuming, after all, he doesn't carry the sa bad luck as Su Wuming."
Xu Cunbao looked at the fragnt of the Taoist seed in the box and sighed, "It's acceptable to lose these elites of the Blood Wolf Thieves who managed to escape from the Sll Fragrance Sect and survive the crossing of the Tiancang Mountain Range."
"However, if we could squeeze out a few more people, maybe the losses could have been less."
"Anyway, it's good to have brought back this fragnt of the Taoist seed, at least we have sothing to show the higher-ups."
Wen Tingyun showed a hint of puzzlent, "Report to the higher-ups? Why should we report to them about the fragnt of the Taoist seed that we fought bloodily for and obtained?"
Xu Cunbao was taken aback by her words, "What do you an, Little Wen? That's specifically requested by those in the Capital City."
"I an exactly what the words imply."
Wen Tingyun said indifferently, "Chen Zhenfu has no foundation in the headquarters. With his personality, he never knows how to bow his head. During his last visit to the Capital City, he even made enmities with He Tianxiong, the Commander of the Southwest."
"Of the six Commanders at the headquarters, Chen Zhenfu isn't anyone's man, the Grand Commander definitely can't use this Taoist seed fragnt, and in the end, it will fall into their pockets, right?"
"We might at most get a verbal comndation. They will not rember our good deeds."
"We fight and bleed here, risking our brothers' lives to get this fragnt of the Taoist seed, they just move their lips and casually give out verbal praise and then take the benefit, how can it be so easy?"
"But how are we to explain it to the higher-ups?"
Wen Tingyun said quietly, "Just tell them directly that the fragnt of the Taoist seed is fake, that the piece Chou Jingxiao had was taken by the Sll Fragrance Sect long ago, only then could he escape from them."
"After all, Chou Jingxiao is dead, are they going to confront the Sll Fragrance Sect?"
The fragnt of the Taoist seed had only passed through three hands.
Chou Jingxiao, Han Zheng, and Wen Tingyun.
Chou Jingxiao was dead, and where would an Innate Martial Artist like Han Zheng know how to distinguish between real and fake Taoist seed fragnts?
So, of course, what they say goes.
Xu Cunbao was clearly sowhat unable to accept Wen Tingyun's way of deceiving those above and below them.
Looking at the piece of the Taoist seed, Xu Cunbao said with a wry smile, "Then we'll keep it for now, not handing it over to the higher-ups for the ti being, and make a decision when Chen Zhenfu cos back."
Wen Tingyun nodded.
Xu Cunbao was older, his personality more stable.
But she believed that when Chen Zhenfu returned, he would do the sa.
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