Chapter 364: 百鸣谷之行

"The Hidden Dragon Treasure, which publicly appears to be my husband's private treasury, is actually where the Flame Kingdom's true great legacy secret lies. I don't know exactly what is hidden inside; only the successive monarchs of the Flame Kingdom have the right to know. However, I am aware of the treasure's exact location."

As the Queen spoke, she imprinted a fragment of her soul into Xu Yang's mind. The precise location of the Hidden Dragon Treasure was immediately shared with Xu Yang and Wushuang, naturally preventing anyone else nearby from knowing the secret.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Now that I know this secret, I will naturally protect the Flame Kingdom. You can leave the task of finding the Old King to me."

The Queen nodded gravely. "My Flame Kingdom has never wished for an all-out continental war with the Divine Kingdom. Doing so would be meaningless and would only plunge our world into ruin. Our true goal is peaceful coexistence."

Xu Yang nodded. "By the way, Your Majesty, do you know anything about the current new king of the Flame Kingdom?"

The Queen shook her head helplessly. "Not just me, but I'm afraid no one in the entire Flame Kingdom, apart from my missing husband, knows the true identity of that new king. Even Black Rose, the Shadow Sect's Vice-Leader who pledges her life to him, has likely never met him."

Xu Yang and Wushuang exchanged glances, involuntarily drawing a sharp breath.

To be able to control the fate of the entire Flame Kingdom without ever appearing, this person must be incredibly formidable.

"From today onwards, the dozen or so Shadow Sect elites under my command will protect your safety and provide cover for you. For a short period, no Shadow Sect forces will threaten you. Based on my deduction, the Hidden Dragon Treasure is likely where the Old King is currently located. As long as he hasn't lost his freedom of movement, the treasure's location will be the safest place."

The Queen and the others nodded in agreement.

After parting ways, Xu Yang and Wushuang returned to the Shadow Sect, intending to inform Black Rose of the approximate location of the treasure.

"You're planning to lure them into a trap?"

Xu Yang smiled and nodded. "Exactly. Since we need to eliminate them, the Hidden Dragon Treasure is undoubtedly the best location. Once we wipe out the Shadow Sect's main forces, our only remaining opponent will be the new king behind the Flame Kingdom, and the situation will become much clearer."

Wushuang also agreed with Xu Yang's plan. Although it was somewhat risky, as the saying goes, "nothing ventured, nothing gained." Without taking a big risk, how could they possibly capture an entrenched organization like the Shadow Sect in one fell swoop?

"Reporting, my Lord, the task is complete. This is the compiled location of the treasure."

After receiving the treasure's location, Black Rose gave Xu Yang a meaningful look.

"You've done very well. However, I'd like to hear how you propose we proceed with the follow-up work concerning the Hidden Dragon Treasure."

Xu Yang and Wushuang exchanged glances, then spoke in a low voice. "In our humble opinion, we should concentrate the Shadow Sect's full power and proceed to this location. Making the excavation of the Hidden Dragon Treasure our immediate core objective, because according to the Queen, this treasure doesn't just contain mere riches; it conceals the greatest secret of the entire Flame Kingdom's legacy."

"Oh? So... the great Asura secret controlled by the Flame Kingdom's royal family might also be hidden there?"

Asura??

Upon hearing that name, Xu Yang and Wushuang instinctively felt a jolt. Xu Yang, in particular, had previously deduced that the Third Prince's abilities were likely a derivative of Asura power. Now, it seemed his conjecture was confirmed.

"Perhaps... Vice-Commander, your subordinates suggest that the fewer people who know this secret, the better. We will certainly assist you with all our might to secure this legacy."

Xu Yang's meaning was clear: he was hinting to Black Rose that such a powerful legacy should be kept for herself, not offered to the new king.

"Hehehe, I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Regardless, we all serve the new king. Don't publicize this matter for now. As for the specific steps, await my subsequent orders to all divisions of the Shadow Sect."

"Understood!"

Xu Yang and Wushuang withdrew one after another, but both understood that it was impossible for Black Rose not to covet the Asura power legacy.

The reason was simple: if she truly had no such ambitions, she would have attacked Xu Yang just now. This proved that the woman was also ambitious and had no intention of easily becoming a mere pawn for the Flame Kingdom's new king.

Two days later, operational orders were issued to all twenty divisions of the Shadow Sect. All five hundred core members of the Shadow Sect set off towards Baiming Valley, southwest of the Flame Kingdom.

And Baiming Valley was precisely the location of the Hidden Dragon Treasure.

Since the orders for this mission were relayed by division commanders to their members down the ranks, Xu Yang and Wushuang, upon receiving the command, cleverly knocked out Elder Eleven and handed him over to the dozen or so guards from Squad Eleven who were protecting the Queen. They instructed them that a major upheaval was about to occur within the Shadow Sect and warned them not to leave their base camp without orders from Xu Yang and Wushuang.

It was thanks to Elder Eleven's care that Xu Yang and Wushuang were able to infiltrate the Shadow Sect so smoothly. Now that the Shadow Sect was on the verge of collapse, they did not want Elder Eleven to suffer the same fate.

Three days later, all branches of the Shadow Sect converged on Baiming Valley. This was likely the most complete gathering of Shadow Sect members since the end of the trials.

Black Rose appeared with the Divine Archer as her guard, issuing orders to all Shadow Sect disciples.

"You have only one mission: find the entrance to the Hidden Dragon Treasure, then report back immediately! The one who finds it will be rewarded with a thousand households!"

"Understood!"

Everyone dispersed, almost tearing Baiming Valley apart in their desperate search for the entrance. Alas, if it were that easy to find, it wouldn't be worthy of being called the Flame Kingdom's greatest secret.

Xu Yang and Wushuang separated from the main group early on and headed towards a relatively secluded part of the valley.

Using their usual method, Wushuang employed her powerful mental energy and the power of light to begin restoring traces of the past in the surroundings.

However, this time, Wushuang uncharacteristically failed.

"It's strange... there seems to be a very powerful restriction hidden beneath Baiming Valley. When my power of light attempts to guide divine power to replicate traces, it's strongly absorbed by a mysterious underground force, preventing me from achieving my goal."

Xu Yang fell into thought. "If that's the case, then there must be a core of a formation beneath Baiming Valley. If we can locate the point where the formation's power is strongest, wouldn't we be able to roughly determine the treasure's approximate location? That would certainly be more effective than aimlessly wandering around!"

It must be said that Xu Yang's wisdom was far beyond ordinary. After his guidance, Wushuang had a sudden realization.

"Watch me!"

This time, Xu Yang summoned the Asura Sword and began attempting to communicate with the underground energy using his own Asura origin.