Chapter 19

In the dilapidated hall, Old Li was staring at Ye Zhong with an expression of disbelief. Originally, he thought the most troublesome one would be Su Yu. The young man she brought along was at most at the third level of Body Tempering, and his few subordinates could easily take care of him! But he never expected that in just a few moments, his six capable subordinates would all be dead!

At this moment, Old Li's face turned pale to the extreme.

"Truly impressive!" Even Su Yu couldn't help but sigh when she glanced back. Although she wasn't afraid of those six people, it would be difficult for her to deal with them as cleanly and efficiently as Ye Zhong.

Therefore, Su Yu suddenly smiled and said, "Little Junior Brother Ye Zhong, if you can save me some effort, then the spirit points from before will be a free gift from me."

Hearing this, Ye Zhong nodded and slowly walked towards where Old Li was. Although Old Li seemed much tougher than his six subordinates, Ye Zhong wasn't too worried. On the contrary, solving him would earn another 2,500 spirit points, making this deal quite worthwhile.

"Su Yu, don't go too far!"

Old Li's body trembled slightly, his eyes twitching at Ye Zhong's indifferent demeanor. However, he was no ordinary person and quickly regained his composure, his face turning fierce as he spoke.

But Ye Zhong ignored his words, flipping his right hand to draw out a green steel longsword and advancing with it. To be honest, these ordinary weapons were not very handy for Ye Zhong, but he had no other choice and had to make do.

Seeing that Ye Zhong ignored his words and continued to approach, Old Li suddenly grabbed the sheepskin map in his hand and shouted, "Su Yu, if you try to double-cross me, I'll have time to destroy this map even if I die!"

"Hold it!" Su Yu paused for a moment, then waved her hand, frowning. If Old Li really destroyed the map, it would be quite troublesome for her.

"Su Yu, as long as you let me go, I'll leave the map behind. From then on, we'll have nothing to do with each other." Seeing Su Yu's change in expression, Old Li sensed a glimmer of hope and slowly moved towards the back hall.

"Alright, as long as you leave the map, I'll guarantee your safety." After a moment of hesitation, Su Yu frowned and said.

"I'll leave the map after I'm ten miles away!" A hint of resentment flashed in Old Li's eyes, and he forced a smile, speaking cautiously.

"Really let him go?" Ye Zhong stopped and looked at Su Yu.

"Our goal is the map of the Innate Holy Temple. If he destroys it, our mission will fail." Su Yu said calmly.

"That's true." Ye Zhong smiled and lowered the green steel longsword. "You can go."

With that, Ye Zhong turned to leave.

At this moment, a smile of relief appeared on Old Li's face, and he was about to dash out of the back hall.

But the moment he moved, Ye Zhong, who had lowered his sword, suddenly moved, his sword flashing at an incredible speed.

"You—"

Old Li's body froze mid-air, then he clutched his throat, his face filled with regret. The next moment, his body swayed and collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his throat.

"You really acted fast!" Su Yu was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, walked over, and carefully picked up the map from Old Li's body, tucking it away.

"You didn't really believe he would leave the map, did you?" Ye Zhong casually wiped the blood off the sword and said calmly. He had seen many people like Old Li in the past and knew that they had no sense of honor. Moreover, if he let him go today, it might cause trouble in the future. Ye Zhong didn't like to leave such a隐患.

"No, I didn't." After a moment of silence, Su Yu could only slowly shake her head. In front of this seemingly 13-14-year-old, yet extraordinary youth, she suddenly felt that her years of experience were for nothing. How could a young man's actions be more seasoned than hers?

As Su Yu sighed, Ye Zhong extended his hand and slowly opened it.

"What are you doing!?" Su Yu was slightly taken aback.

"The mission is completed, where are the spirit points?" Ye Zhong said calmly.

Seeing Ye Zhong's expression, Su Yu was speechless. She then sighed, "We have to wait until we return to the mission hall and complete the mission to get the spirit points. Where can I find them now... Besides, aren't you interested in the Innate Holy Temple?"

Su Yu waved the map in her hand and smiled.

Hearing this, Ye Zhong frowned slightly. The Innate Holy Temple was highly attractive in the Great Zhou Dynasty, causing a great stir. Many families and forces were involved. It was said that the most important part of the Innate Holy Temple's legacy was a special spirit technique that could greatly increase the chances of advancing to the next major realm, the Innate Martial Realm. This was extremely attractive to most forces and experts. However, for Ye Zhong, it wasn't very appealing. After all, he was cultivating the Body Tempering Divine Technique, and he had already advanced to the Innate Martial Realm, so he didn't find it particularly difficult. Therefore, he wasn't very interested in the Innate Holy Temple, which seemed like a mere accessory. He was more interested in the Purple Wood Spirit Root.

Seeing Ye Zhong's indifferent expression, Su Yu's eyes twitched slightly. However, she had already understood his indifferent nature. She knew that unless there was enough benefit, this little junior brother wouldn't do anything for free.

"That day in the mission hall, besides accepting this intermediate mission and getting the map, I also accepted the advanced mission to explore the Innate Holy Temple's ruins. If we can complete this mission, the reward is 50,000 spirit points." Su Yu said calmly, "Moreover, it's said that the Innate Holy Temple's ruins are somewhat special. The entire temple was destroyed due to an accident, but the ruins should still contain many spirit techniques, spirit medicines, and spirit artifacts. Of course, the most important thing is the legacy of the Innate Holy Temple. If we can obtain it, our chances of advancing to the Innate Martial Realm will greatly increase."

"Then what?" Ye Zhong didn't seem moved at all.

Su Yu's smile froze for a moment before she continued, "If we can obtain the legacy of the Innate Holy Temple and complete the mission, I'll give you half the spirit points. As for the items we find, we'll split them equally. How about that?"

"I want half the spirit points, the legacy of the Innate Holy Temple goes to you, and you can choose the spirit techniques first. But the spirit medicines and spirit artifacts must be chosen by me first. How about that?" Ye Zhong shrugged.

To be honest, Ye Zhong had a legacy from his sect, so he wasn't very interested in the legacy of the Innate Holy Temple. As for the spirit techniques, unless they were extremely special, he wouldn't be interested. What he lacked most were spirit medicines and spirit artifacts. For the next stage of cultivating the Six Paths Burial Sword Technique, he needed rare spirit medicines. Spirit artifacts, unlike ordinary weapons, were crafted by spirit artifact masters and included various items such as weapons, protective gear, and all sorts of strange artifacts. He was in dire need of these. If he could get suitable spirit artifacts, his combat power would significantly increase.

However, this was unavoidable. Ye Zhong estimated that even the Ye family didn't have many spirit artifacts, and as a collateral descendant, it would be extremely difficult for him to obtain them.

"Alright, I agree." Su Yu looked at Ye Zhong strangely but nodded. Most people valued the legacy and spirit techniques the most, but Ye Zhong seemed to care less about them.

However, recalling the body tempering spirit technique that seemed even stronger than the Star Formation Body Tempering Technique, Su Yu was thoughtful. It seemed that Ye Zhong had some extraordinary encounters, but since it involved personal secrets, she wouldn't pry.

"However, there's another issue." Ye Zhong's gaze fell on the bodies on the ground. "If even these people have the map of the Innate Holy Temple and know about it, it's likely that the map you have isn't the only one."

Hearing this, Su Yu's expression changed slightly. She had considered this possibility. After all, the Innate Holy Temple had once been extremely influential in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and many forces and experts had always been interested in it. The appearance of the map of the Innate Holy Temple's ruins was probably not a coincidence.

"So, what do you suggest?" Unconsciously, Su Yu now regarded Ye Zhong as an equal, no longer underestimating him because of his age and appearance.

"What else can we do?" Ye Zhong shrugged. "Now that we have the map, we can only hurry to the location marked on it. If we're lucky and no one else has the news of the Innate Holy Temple's appearance, we can do as we please. But if we find that others are already watching, with our limited strength, we'll have to act according to the situation."

Ye Zhong was being honest. Su Yu's fourth level of Body Tempering and Ye Zhong's third level were quite strong compared to their peers. However, if they wanted to compete for the legacy of the Innate Holy Temple, their opponents wouldn't just be their peers. If major forces and families all got involved, the situation would be extremely complicated.

"Thinking about it now is useless. Let's go." Seeing Su Yu's beautiful face fall, Ye Zhong smiled. "So, Senior Sister Su Yu, where are we going next?"

Su Yu studied the map for a long time before frowning. "Qing Shan Town."