Chapter 390: Chapter 221: Raising an Exotic Beast

After listening to Luo Dingran’s brief account, Cheng Zongyang glanced at the Tokens and said:

"Since this belongs to the Huangfu Family, the hidden treasure must be more than just this. For half the fortune of a super Gate Valve, anything less than ten million taels would be absurd."

Just then, a Soul Slave came in carrying four cleaned Weapons and handed them to Luo Dingran.

Luo Dingran received them, handed one to Cheng Zongyang for inspection, and said,

"A family’s greatest strength and heritage isn’t money, but Martial Arts Techniques, Martial Arts, Elixirs, medicinal formulas, secret recipes, and the like. With these, even if the family has fallen, a few determined descendants can stage a comeback.

"My Lord, I suspect that this ’half of the treasure’ consists mostly of these resources, with very little actual money. It’s even possible that everything is already right here."

While listening, Cheng Zongyang appraised the Weapon in his hand.

——

[Hundred-Forged Cutting Blade]

Description: Forged from Celestial Meteorite Iron and several other metals using a special Secret Technique, then completed with a blood sacrifice.

Grade: White Level

Durability: 138/500

Points: 30

——

’It really is White Level.’ 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Cheng Zongyang placed it on the table, uninterested. With its Durability down to just over a hundred, its internal structure was already severely degraded.

Even the Refined Long Blades used by Ma San and his men had only lost a few points of Durability so far. Wearing down five hundred points would take a long, long time.

Still, they were good enough for the Soul Slaves to use. He figured the Weapons and Armor in the other chests weren’t even Entry Grade Level.

Cheng Zongyang looked at Luo Dingran, returning to their previous topic, and said,

"Regardless of whether there are clues to other treasures, this is already a huge gain. If there is more, it shouldn’t be a problem for the Mole Beast to find it. Start sorting through all this, especially the documents—see if there’s anything valuable. As for the Gold and silver, take an inventory and then report back to me."

Luo Dingran cupped his hands. "Yes, My Lord."

Cheng Zongyang glanced at the men busy sorting things outside. Deciding not to wait around idly, he headed back out to check on the situation.

There would be plenty of time to examine the goods after they were all sorted and brought out.

The cave.

As Cheng Zongyang emerged, his eyes stung from the abrupt change in light. Still, the darkness of the main cave was more comfortable than the bright lamps of the treasure room.

A moment later, once his eyes adjusted to the torchlight, Cheng Zongyang looked at the Mole Beast’s progress and couldn’t help but smile.

A hole had been bored through the center of the stone door, and the Mole Beast was currently widening the opening.

"Little Mole, let me give it a try," Cheng Zongyang said, walking over.

The Mole Beast heard him and seemed reluctant to stop, but its absolute obedience to Cheng Zongyang won out, and it moved to the side.

Standing before the stone door, Cheng Zongyang circulated his True Qi once more, channeling it into his right palm. He eyed the edge of the opening, then suddenly struck!

BANG!

BOOM!!

The stone door instantly shattered under the force of the blow, exploding outward and ripping away the vegetation that concealed the cave entrance.

Dust billowed as rubble rained down from above.

Neither Cheng Zongyang nor the Mole Beast paid any mind to the falling debris. He waved away the dust in front of his face and squinted, peering outside.

The sky outside was already bright. He wasn’t in a hurry to leave, instead collecting the fragments of the stone door from the ground and storing them in his Wilderness World.

’Since the Mole Beast likes it so much, I’ll let it keep these as a scratching post,’ he mused.

"I’ve put them away for you. You can use them to sharpen your claws later," Cheng Zongyang said to the Mole Beast with a laugh.

"SQUEAK~" The Mole Beast seemed to nod happily before following Cheng Zongyang outside. It wasn’t every day one found such a challenging stone.

Once outside, Cheng Zongyang turned to look back. The cave entrance was draped with thick vegetation, mostly climbing vines, which covered nearly half the cliff face.

The surface of the stone door he’d just collected had been covered in moss. Worn down by countless years of wind and rain, its color had become indistinguishable from the surrounding cliff. With the added camouflage of the climbing vines, who would have ever guessed this was a treasure vault of the Huangfu Family?

The cave entrance, it turned out, was located right next to a stream. The stream was quite wide, and the current was swift and turbulent.

’This couldn’t be the river that marks the border between the Inner and Outer Mountains, could it?’

Cheng Zongyang dismissed the thought. He had traveled deep into the Inner Mountain; this had to be a stream flowing through its depths. Besides, the volume of water was far greater than that of the boundary river.

"SQUEAK!" Suddenly, the Mole Beast’s small eyes locked onto the water’s surface, and it began to chitter with alarm.

Cheng Zongyang snapped his gaze back to the water. The very next instant, a giant water python shot out of the river like an arrow, its cavernous maw wide as it lunged for him!

"SQUEAL!!" The Mole Beast was enraged. How dare it ignore the Mole Beast and attack its master!

Its powerful body moved in front of Cheng Zongyang, shielding him just as the giant python reached them.

But against the Mole Beast’s superior senses of smell and hearing, the python’s speed and surprise attack were utterly useless!

It instantly raised its thickly muscled claws, easily seizing the giant python’s head. The next second, it slammed the serpent’s head into the ground.

THUD! The python’s head slammed into the ground, its body flipping over as its tail crashed into the water, sending up a massive spray.

Cheng Zongyang, who had already retreated a safe distance, simply smiled at the sight.

The nearly three-hundred-pound Mole Beast possessed the Beast Power Talent, allowing it to lift 35 times its own Weight. As large as the giant python was, it was no match for the Mole Beast’s Power.