Chapter 1811: How Could This Happen

Zuan had originally expected a fierce battle, hoping that both sides would be severely wounded, allowing him to reap the spoils. But was this all there was to it?

Zang Ao was truly too useless, wasn't he?

He found that things had not gone his way since arriving at the great tomb. He had hoped Zhao Hao and the Ghost King would be mutually wounded, but that hadn't happened. Now, he'd hoped Sun En and Zang Ao would both be injured, only for it to be another one-sided defeat. It was truly frustrating.

Could Zang Ao have been faking it? How did he just give up so easily?

Sun En harbored the same suspicion and sent several more bolts of lightning at Zang Ao from a distance. Zang Ao's corpse showed no reaction beyond a few more wisps of smoke, clearly indicating he was completely dead.

Still uneasy, Sun En approached Zang Ao's body, examined it, and finally let out a sigh of relief. "He's truly dead," he muttered, "dying so easily is a mercy you didn't deserve."

Given his cultivation level, it was impossible for him to be mistaken about someone's death.

The Four Elders of Liangshan, who had still held some hope, were utterly devastated upon hearing this, as if they had lost their parents. With their leader dead, what hope did they have left?

Unable to maintain their formation any longer, they scattered and fled.

Sun En snorted coldly, pointed his hand, and a bolt of lightning struck several of them.

The Four Elders of Liangshan screamed, stumbled, and fell to the ground, quickly surrounded by the pursuing Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

They had only been able to hold their ground by relying on their combined attack technique. Now, with their escape formation broken and their bodies paralyzed by the lightning, they were unable to resist and were quickly hacked to pieces.

Wang Youjun felt a tightening in his throat. Each of the Four Elders of Liangshan had a status in the martial world comparable to his own. He never imagined they would die so easily here.

Seeing that Zang Ao and his group had been dealt with, Sun En let out a breath of relief. He then turned to Jing Teng and the others. "Miss Jing," he said, "I've avenged you. It's time to hand over the immortal fortune to me, isn't it?"

Jing Teng's gaze fell upon Zang Ao's charred corpse, her expression unreadable. "Brother Zu already told you," she said, "the immortal fortune was taken by Zhao Hao. If you pursue him now, you might still have a chance to catch up. Any later, and it will be truly gone."

Sun En shook his finger with a smile. "Miss Jing, that's unfair. I helped you get your revenge, and now you're trying to deceive me. To my knowledge, the 'Baopu True Scripture' is divided into an Inner Volume and an Outer Volume. The Outer Volume merely contains teachings on promoting goodwill and the principles of statecraft. Unless I'm mistaken, what Zhao Hao took must have been the Outer Volume."

"The true Inner Volume, however, should still be here."

"How did you know?" Jing Teng's expression finally shifted.

Qiu Honglei, Chu Chuyan, and the other women were startled, finally understanding why Jing Teng had seemed unconcerned from the very beginning.

Qiu Honglei tugged at Zuan's sleeve. "Did you know this all along?"

Zuan nodded. "When we passed the Earth Flame Demon, I offered to help Miss Jing fly over the lava, remember? We took that chance to communicate by writing on each other's palms. I warned her never to lead Zhao Hao to the immortal fortune, or we'd all be doomed."

"She reassured me, and since she said that, I naturally chose to trust her."

At the time, Zhao Hao's attention was focused on detecting if anyone was using vital energy for communication, so he never anticipated them resorting to such a primitive method.

Qiu Honglei felt relieved. It seemed she had completely misjudged him earlier. How embarrassing!

But if someone just says that, you choose to believe them? Who is she to you anyway?

Qiu Honglei's rage value: 232,323…

Sensing her resentment, Zuan chuckled, "Is it clear now? Otherwise, would you truly have thought I offered to help her because I was lustful?"

"And wasn't it?" Qiu Honglei's expression stiffened, her gaze falling on their intertwined fingers. He had even held her close!

Qiu Honglei's rage value: 233,233,233…

Fortunately, Sun En's words provided Zuan with an escape. "This was something Zang Ao mentioned inadvertently when we were chatting years ago," Sun En said. "In fact, you were the one who revealed it to him."

Jing Teng's face paled. "Indeed, I was a poor judge of character back then. I had merely mentioned inadvertently that the Immortal Lord was preparing to write a book in two volumes, inner and outer. I never imagined he would pay such close attention and even deduce so quickly that Zhao Hao had taken the Outer Volume."

In those days, Immortal Lord Baopu perceived the wickedness in the hearts of people across the land, noting that nearly everyone was cruel and bloodthirsty. This had led to demons running rampant in the world. He understood that relying solely on individual martial prowess could not fundamentally alter this. Only by bringing stability and peace to the world, and then educating its populace, could this world gradually be transformed.

This was also his purpose in writing the 'Outer Volume.' In his mind, the 'Outer Volume' was no less valuable than the 'Inner Volume.' After all, the 'Inner Volume' only offered salvation to an individual, whereas the 'Outer Volume' could offer salvation to everyone under heaven.

Previously, the lingering spirit of Immortal Lord Baopu had sensed the imperial aura emanating from Zhao Hao, believing him to be a newly emerged emperor destined to unify the land. Consequently, he had not attacked Zhao Hao and had even tacitly allowed the 'Outer Volume' to be transmitted to him.

Little did he know, however, that Zhao Hao had absolutely no interest in the arts of governance and statecraft. What he truly desired was the 'Inner Volume,' for personal cultivation!

Meanwhile, after snatching the 'Baopu True Scripture,' Zhao Hao fled outwards at high speed. With the immortal fortune in hand, why would he linger in such a dangerous great tomb?

Along the way, after effortlessly dispatching a monster and a group of clueless cultivators, he successfully exited the great tomb. He quickly found a secluded spot and eagerly opened the immortal fortune he had acquired.

As he gazed at the pure immortal aura emanating from each page, Zhao Hao's entire body trembled.

With trembling hands, he opened the 'Baopu True Scripture,' reading its words with an almost worshipful reverence.

Unexpectedly, the content was not as profound and abstruse as he had imagined. On the contrary, he found that he could grasp and extrapolate from it with ease.

He grew increasingly excited. It truly seemed he possessed an immortal fortune. Perhaps this book would appear as an incomprehensible scripture to others, yet he found it remarkably easy to understand.

He quickly suppressed his excitement and continued to read reverently.

The more he read, the more he nodded in approval, and in many passages, he even felt a sense of kinship with the author.

With his current cultivation, he could typically read a hundred lines at a glance. However, this time, fearing he might miss a single clue, he meticulously pondered every word and phrase.

As time passed, his initially excited expression gradually gave way to a hint of suspicion.

Why did it feel like this 'Baopu True Scripture' was about governing a nation?

As an emperor, he naturally found the content easy to grasp. The text contained many methods he had never conceived of before, particularly certain educational strategies that, while imaginative, offered significant scope for implementation.

But I wasn't here seeking strategies for governance this time. I was here for immortal fortune, damn it!

Unable to restrain himself any longer, he quickly flipped through the pages, only to find that the entire book contained no methods for achieving immortality as he had imagined.

"What's going on?"

Zhao Hao was aghast, but quickly muttered to himself, "Don't panic. Perhaps this scripture holds another secret, and these surface words are just a diversion."

Given his extensive knowledge, such a tactic was perfectly normal.

This thought reassured him, and he began to examine the entire book for hidden compartments or similar features.

After searching for half the day, he found no hidden compartments. He even resorted to wetting and heating the book, no longer concerned about potentially damaging the scripture.

Yet, after trying every method, no hidden text appeared anywhere in the book.

"How could this be?"

Zhao Hao's mind went completely blank. Never in his life had he been so flustered.

He was so enraged he wanted to tear the scripture to shreds, but as he raised his hand, a thought suddenly struck him. The 'Baopu True Scripture,' both in its material and every character upon its pages, exuded an ethereal immortal aura. This could not be faked; it proved the item was indeed personally penned by Immortal Lord Baopu. If that were the case...

"This must be a test for me," he thought. "Achieving immortality is never easy; it naturally requires trials and tribulations."

With this thought, he gradually calmed down. Since there were no hidden compartments or concealed text, the secret must be embedded within the scripture itself, likely requiring some pattern for deciphering.

He reopened the 'Baopu True Scripture' and began to study it, looking for connections: connecting the first and last characters, linking characters diagonally, or reading in a skip-pattern...

Initially, the characters he found seemed chaotic, yet he also had a vague sense of their profound mystery.

He tried various decryption methods, uncovering numerous possibilities, as if countless secrets lay hidden within.

This immediately piqued his interest, and he began to meticulously scrutinize and analyze every word.

Just then, a sudden palm strike came. Because he was so engrossed, he only realized it as it reached him, hurriedly dodging aside.

Even so, he couldn't fully evade it, and half of his body went numb.

"Such power..." Zhao Hao looked up abruptly.

The long-robed elder opposite him seemed surprised. "Huh, your vigilance is quite low. What exactly are you looking at?"

As he spoke, his gaze landed on the 'Baopu True Scripture' in Zhao Hao's hand.

Zhao Hao's expression shifted slightly, and he quickly tucked the 'Baopu True Scripture' into his robes. "For a revered Libationer to launch a sneak attack from behind," he said, "if word of this gets out, it will surely be a laughingstock."