"It is said it guards the secrets of an earth-shattering mystery, an unimaginably immense treasure..."

"Right."

The nearby Guardian Ying also hurriedly echoed, "Many people within our alliance are searching for this stone slab, which we found by accident. We wanted to present it to the Demon Emperor immediately, but we didn't expect to run into trouble on the way..."

While saying this, he turned and angrily blamed the middle-aged man with a horse-like face beside him, "It's all your fault, you dimwit!"

The latter looked resentful but didn't dare to utter a word.

Secret... Treasure...

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered slightly. He picked up the stone slab and questioned the three, "Do you recognize these characters on it?"

Guardian Ying and Guardian Xiang shook their heads, but Guardian Lin, the middle-aged man with a horse-like face who had been holding his tongue the entire time, finally saw an opportunity to speak.

"While I don't know the meaning behind the characters on the stone slab, I know what the symbols on the back of the slab represent."

"Speak."

Lu Yuan stared at him calmly.

Without any unnecessary delay, the middle-aged man swiftly revealed, "It is the Feathered Serpent God, the symbol of Sky Evil. This stone slab was accidentally discovered by the Previous Demon Emperor in the ruins of a Feathered Serpent God cult..."

Before Lu Yuan could even respond, Guardian Ying looked at Guardian Lin incredulously and asked, "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"Are the two of you even worthy of knowing this?"

The middle-aged man with a horse-like face glanced at Guardian Ying and replied indifferently, "This slab is to be presented to the Demon Emperor. Naturally, only he has the right to know its secrets."

"You..."

Guardian Ying was so angry he gritted his teeth. But in front of Lu Yuan, he couldn't find any reason for rebuttal and instead questioned suspiciously, "Where did you hear this information?"

The middle-aged man spoke casually, "The Previous Demon Emperor had a favored woman before he died. She knew many of the Previous Demon Emperor's secrets. She revealed all these secrets to me... Otherwise, how could we have found this slab when everyone in the alliance was looking for it? Do you really think we were just lucky?"

Guardian Ying looked bewildered, but he refused to believe it. He instinctively asked, "Why would the Previous Emperor's concubine tell you such important secrets? What could you possibly offer her?"

"Offer her? Why?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man, all too ready to show off, swayed his body theatrically and chuckled. "Because despite my surname being Lin and not using weapons, people still admire me enough to nickname me 'God Spear Guardian Ma'!"

"..."

While the three of them bickered below, Lu Yuan didn't take in a single word they said.

He copied the strange text and patterns from the slab and input them into the Yellow Bear's internal database to search for related information.

The information regarding the "Sky Evil" and "Feathered Serpent God" stone slab, along with its connection to some secret treasure, was all an unexpected bonus.

Lu Yuan hadn't forgotten his true purpose for seeking out these three this time.

Nonchalantly setting down the stone slab, Lu Yuan looked down from above at the three of them. His four wings spread out, and an enormous amount of Death Qi was released.

It transformed into a colossal black flame, obscuring the full moon above and nearly half the sky behind.

An invisible pressure descended upon the three, and their previous squabbling instantly fell silent.

The faces of the three men turned pallid, and they all bowed their heads deeply.

The three were unsure why Lu Yuan suddenly displayed his power.

All they felt was a tremendous pressure pervading heaven and earth, like waves from a colossal tsunami, dozens of meters high, crashing down on them, instilling a suffocating sense of oppression.

Darkness spread everywhere. Just as the three had nearly resigned themselves to being crushed to dust by Lu Yuan in the next second, his calm and indifferent voice echoed in their ears.

"I have a grand plan that could benefit the whole Evil Martial Association, but I need your full cooperation..."

* * *

Dragon Peace is a small county located in a remote area.

It is adjacent to the Dragon Peace Mountain Range. A journey of less than five kilometers inward would take you deep into the old-growth forest.

While it normally attracted many tourists, their numbers dwindled as winter set in.

「This day, at Dragon Peace County's high-speed railway station.」

A high-speed train arrived.

A tall old man, wearing a peaked cap, sunglasses, a suit, and a scarf, emerged with the crowd from the train.

The old man exuded an impressive aura; his every gesture reflected the demeanor of someone in a high position.

Wherever he went, the crowd naturally parted. Even those with their backs to him would unconsciously make way.

Carrying a simple, small suitcase, the old man left the platform, hailed a taxi, stated his destination, and then settled comfortably into the back seat.

The taxi driver tried to make small talk with the old man, but he remained as silent as if his mouth had been stitched shut.

Getting no response, the driver soon gave up and focused on driving.

The car gradually left the county's urban area and headed towards the distant Dragon Peace Mountain Range.

After an unknown amount of time, the car suddenly screeched to a halt on the side of a desolate road.

Winter had set in deeply in the mountains, and both sides of the road were already covered in a thin layer of snow.

The driver cursed under his breath, opened the car door, and stepped out into the cold air.

After a quick check, the driver knocked on the rear window, signaling the old man to get out.

"The car's broken down. You'll have to find another way to get there. I can't drive any further..."

The old man in sunglasses finally reacted.

He glanced at the driver through the car window, then opened the car door and got out.

"Actually, it's not too far. Just walk a few kilometers along this road..."

The driver, his breath misting in the cold air, pointed out the direction with his left hand.

Just as the driver sensed the old man was paying attention, his expression suddenly changed. A malicious look crossed his face as his right hand, hidden in his jacket pocket, shot out like a venomous snake.

A glint of cold steel from his hand, dazzlingly sharp, stabbed straight for the old man's throat.

This sudden, insidious assassination attempt was, in theory, impossible to dodge.

But the driver quickly discovered, to his horror, that his thrusting dagger stopped dead about ten centimeters from the old man's neck, unable to advance even a fraction of an inch.

His right arm strained, the bulging muscles almost tearing the sleeve of his leather jacket.

Veins bulged on his face, and a white glow of Vigor flickered rapidly between his fingers.

But no matter how much force he exerted, he couldn't push the dagger in his hand forward even a millimeter.

It was as if an invisible, strange magnetic field surrounded the old man, firmly resisting his attack.

The driver gritted his teeth and soon felt his body go numb.

Then, to his horror, he saw faint purple sparks dancing on the tip of the dagger. This purple lightning instantly leaped onto his body and rapidly swelled into electric serpents as thick as two fingers.

In no time, the driver was engulfed in a torrent of electricity and, amidst his screams, turned into a charred corpse.

"Lei Fusheng, you deserve to die!"

The moment the driver fell, an ancient, cold voice, heavy with killing intent, echoed through the mountain wilderness.

Almost immediately, a dozen or so figures descended as swiftly as hawks, landing around the old man and surrounding him.

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