Chapter 974
, Second Fragment
This Treasure-Hunting Rat has a pure bloodline, far surpassing the one in Song Youfu's hands. Its special talent of ignoring arrays and barriers allows it to freely roam through the treasure vaults of various families, wreaking havoc on the assets of many powerful forces.
This forced these forces to use large quantities of rare metals to rebuild their treasure vaults.
In a flash, Song Changsheng arrived at the desolate mountain from back then. After entering the treasure's storage room, he found the jade bottle he had left behind. Inside, he could still faintly detect a trace of the essence of the [Thunder Law].
Judging from the traces left at the scene, this should have happened in the last few years.
This little mouse was very clever. It didn't return to the crime scene for a very long time after committing the crime, so that Song Changsheng, the bait, was never used for decades.
However, it ultimately could not resist the temptation of the essence of the [Thunder Law]. After decades, it thought it was safe and came back to devour it, never expecting to fall directly into its trap.
From the moment the essence of the [Thunder Law] entered the body, an indelible mark was imprinted on the little mouse's body. He could clearly sense that it was nearby.
The Treasure-Hunting Rat has an extremely keen sense of danger and may have already discovered its presence.
"Let me see where you're hiding."
After confirming the specific direction, Song Changsheng appeared in a flash on a plain a hundred miles away. This was a vast plain sandwiched between two great rivers, inhabited by herds of Horned Scale Horses.
This is a peculiar monster covered in white scales and with a single horn on its head. As one of the few herbivorous monsters, it has always been at the bottom of the food chain.
In order to survive in the mouths of other monsters, their bloodline endowed them with speeds far exceeding those of monsters of the same level.
It was among the first batch of demonic beasts domesticated by humans, and was generally used as a mount for cultivators below the Purple Mansion stage.
Although Foundation Establishment cultivators can fly on swords, prolonged sword flight consumes a great deal of their spiritual energy. If they need to travel long distances, a mount is still very necessary.
The terrain of the Eastern Heaven Cultivation Realm is mainly plains, and it has a very long history of taming [Horned Scale Horses]. Any power with resources will try to tame them, and even those without resources can purchase them at extremely low prices.
Almost one in every few people uses a [Horned Scale Horse] for transportation, which is a unique feature of the Eastern Heaven cultivation world.
These wild horned-scaled horses are not free-range by any particular faction, but rather deliberately preserved. This method makes it easier to breed a leader horse with ancestral bloodlines, which can also be called a horse king.
The Horned Scale Horse is a descendant of the Unicorn Pegasus. When its bloodline concentration reaches the required level, it can awaken its bloodline upon breaking through to the third tier, and wings will grow from its back, granting it the ability to soar through the sky.
The Tier 3 Horned Scale Horse has few rivals in terms of speed, making it an excellent mount for transportation.
On this plain, at least a thousand horned horses can be seen, divided into several groups, each led by a different lead horse.
The largest herd of horses was exceptionally handsome, several times larger than the other horse kings. Its bloodline concentration was likely quite high, giving it the potential to break through to the third tier.
"It's a pity that this trip is not very convenient, otherwise I could have brought him back to the family," Song Changsheng thought to himself, feeling regretful.
After inheriting the legacy of the Chen family of Dongtian, the Song family has achieved considerable success in the breeding of spirit beasts in recent years, thanks to the Chen family's unique skill, the "Spirit Control Manual," including the "Horned Scale Horse."
However, the breeding horses of the Song family's [Horned Scale Horses] come from the Ten Thousand Mountains, and their bloodline is relatively thin. If this horse king can be brought back, it will undoubtedly greatly improve the bloodline of the next generation of [Horned Scale Horses].
Just then, he suddenly noticed that a mare in the herd was giving birth.
Among horses, the king of horses often has priority mating rights, so if this is the king's offspring, it would be convenient to take it out.
Thinking of this, Song Changsheng's mind immediately became active. He concealed his presence and entered the herd of horses, discovering that the foal had been born successfully and was trying its best to learn to stand.
With just one glance, he could tell that this [Horned Scale Horse] inherited the bloodline of the Horse King, and its spirit was completely different from the other foals in the herd.
"Meeting is fate." Song Changsheng waved his sleeve and put the foal into his arms. Then he took out a [Thousand Beast Pill] that helps demon beasts grow and fed it to the mare. He flicked his finger to help her digest it and then disappeared in a flash.
The king horse in the herd was still leisurely grazing on the tender grass, completely unaware that a "horse thief" had passed through its herd.
After leaving the herd of horses, Song Changsheng quickly located the location of the [Treasure-Seeking Rat].
It was running for its life several feet underground in this plain, with a jet-black snake demon in hot pursuit behind it.
Song Changsheng raised an eyebrow. The Treasure-Seeking Rat doesn't have many natural enemies underground, but the snake demon is definitely one of them.
No wonder he sensed that the "treasure-hunting rat" was running around non-stop; it was trying to escape for its life.
The Treasure-Hunting Rat is almost non-aggressive below the fourth rank. Despite being a high-grade third rank, it was chased all over the place by a low-grade third rank snake demon.
These kinds of snake demons usually don't stray too far from their territory. The fact that they're chasing after it so relentlessly means that the [treasure hunter] has taken something it shouldn't have.
A quick scan with his divine sense revealed that the Treasure-Hunting Rat's cheeks were bulging, as if it were holding something in its mouth, indirectly confirming his guess.
The Treasure-Hunting Rat is quite capable of surviving. If it can't catch the snake demon in a while, it will probably give up. However, since it has seen it, it will naturally teach this guy who digs up other people's treasures a lesson.
With a flick of its finger, the soil in front of the Treasure-Seeking Rat suddenly became harder than steel, and the rat crashed into it, leaving it dizzy and disoriented.
"What did you run into, Rat Lord?" [Treasure-Seeking Rat] clutched his head, a look of human-like pain on his face.
This slight delay allowed the snake demon behind them to quickly catch up.
"sizzle"
Sensing the chilling aura behind it, the Treasure-Seeking Rat couldn't help but shiver. It turned around and met the snake demon's gaze. The distance between them was less than ten feet.
For a third-tier great demon, this is practically the same as being glued together.
The Treasure-Hunting Rat let out a loud "whoosh" and spat out a huge demon core, fawningly saying, "Brother Snake, Grandpa Snake, I was just joking with you, please don't be angry."
Looking at the demon core still covered in saliva, a chilling killing intent flashed in the snake demon's eyes, and the two sharp fangs in its blood-red maw gleamed with a cold, eerie light.
At this moment, it was extremely angry.
This demon core came from its ancestor and was the key to its breakthrough to the Demon King level. If it hadn't been discovered early, it would have been taken away by this stinky rat. It couldn't quell the anger in its heart without devouring it!
"hiss"
Just as it was about to put its plan into action, a loud bang came from above, and the soil above was suddenly ripped open by a force, exposing the snake and the rat directly to the sunlight.
Song Changsheng stood suspended in mid-air, emanating an invisible pressure that pressed down on them like a mountain. "Hiss hiss hiss..."
The snake demon's scales opened and closed with its breath, and its body kept moving backward. It felt an unprecedented sense of crisis from this human.
Song Changsheng could easily destroy a third-tier snake demon with a flick of his finger, but he had no interest in it today. He said in a deep voice, "Leave your demon core, and I'll spare your life. Step back."
The snake demon glanced unwillingly at the demon core in the treasure-hunting rat's hand, then turned and left without looking back. It was already a stroke of luck for it to have escaped with its life.
"Sir... what's your name?"
The Treasure-Hunting Rat held its paws in a very respectable manner, speaking in an extremely obsequious tone. If you only listened to it speaking, no one would guess that it was a rat demon.
Song Changsheng's gaze was also full of scrutiny. It was common knowledge that the Treasure-Seeking Rat was highly intelligent, so he was not surprised. However, this one had a rather strong "human scent" on it, even stronger than the one next to Song Youfu. It seemed to have an owner.
"If you continue to play dumb in front of me, I won't mind making you that snake demon's dinner," Song Changsheng said calmly.
The Treasure-Hunting Rat shuddered and cried out, "Sir, please let me go! I didn't do anything!"
Do you know how I found you?
"I know." The Treasure-Hunting Rat nodded dejectedly. Even now, it wanted to slap itself for being so greedy.
"Then you should remember what you did in there. In a sense, you took my things. I used the essence of the Thunder Law as bait to find you. Now you say you did nothing?" Song Changsheng reached out and grabbed its tail and lifted it up. He knew better than anyone how many treasures were in the Chen family's treasury, but this guy beat him to it.
"Sir, if I had known it was yours, I definitely wouldn't have dared to touch it! I know I was wrong, please forgive me! I can compensate you, I'm willing to pay with my life!" The Treasure-Hunting Rat struggled and begged for mercy.
"Buy my life? Sure, but where's your lair? Take me there."
“A nest? Only fools would hide their treasures in a cave. I always carry my treasures with me. Sir, put me down and let me show you my treasures.”
Song Changsheng raised an eyebrow and put it down as instructed.
After landing, the Treasure-Hunting Rat opened its mouth and spat out a storage bag full of the marks of time, then presented it to Song Changsheng like a treasure.
"His belly holds a universe?" Song Changsheng frowned slightly. He had some doubts before, but he didn't expect it to be true.
The Treasure-Hunting Rat clan does not possess this talent, so is this one also a hybrid?
Upon opening the storage bag, even he was moved. The standard-sized storage space was completely crammed full, and he wondered how many powerful forces' treasures it had emptied.
【Treasure-hunting Mouse】 likes to find and store treasures, but usually only keeps the most precious items. This is the first time I've seen a mouse that carries back everything.
The storage bag contained numerous magical artifacts and scriptures, things that demons rarely used in their cultivation and were hardly considered treasures, yet it took them all without missing a single one.
Because there were so many things, he was momentarily overwhelmed.
Just then, Song Changsheng suddenly noticed that something inside seemed to be vibrating incessantly.
After searching for a while, he finally took out a bronze-colored fragment about three fingers wide.
"Ok?"
Song Changsheng quickly took out the fragment that Mingtai Zhenren had given him from his storage bag.
In terms of material, the two fragments are exactly the same, but their gaps do not match, and the newly obtained fragment has a thicker lace trim around its edge.
There was clearly some connection between them; they vibrated incessantly inside the storage bag and were even a little hot to the touch.
"Where did you get this?"
The Treasure-Hunting Mouse glanced at it and quickly replied, "From the sky, this thing fell from the sky."
"The fragments are so scattered." Song Changsheng frowned slightly. This place is located in the heart of the Eastern Heaven Cultivation World, which is extremely far away from the Chaotic Ancient Domain, let alone the Rock City.
Currently, not only is the location of the fragments uncertain, but even the number of fragments cannot be determined.
However, obtaining the second fragment so quickly was an unexpected surprise for him.
"Can you find the remaining fragments?" Song Changsheng asked, waving the fragments in front of the Treasure-Hunting Rat.
"Sir, this...this thing fell from the sky, it's scattered here and there, it's hard to find."
"So you can find it. Now I'm giving you two choices: come with me or stay here and find the rest of the fragments for me. Which path do you want to take?"
The Treasure-Hunting Rat's eyes darted around, and it quickly said, "Since you need this fragment, I'll leave it here for you to find."
"Alright." Song Changsheng reached out and patted its head, smiling mockingly, "I've planted a restriction in your sea of consciousness. No matter where you are, as long as I have a thought, your soul will be obliterated."
Since you've chosen to stay, then you should honestly do my job and not try anything funny.
If you can find all the remaining fragments for me, I will definitely not treat you unfairly.
Upon hearing this, the Treasure-Hunting Mouse, who had originally wanted to run away, felt its heart sink. However, it dared not show it and could only respond with tears in its eyes.
"I hope you'll have learned something when I see you next time."
After saying this, Song Changsheng transformed into a wisp of green smoke and merged into the void, officially embarking on his journey back to the Great Zhen Immortal Dynasty.
This treasure-hunting rat has a hidden secret; its bloodline is extraordinary, and its value is immeasurable.
He originally intended to take it as a spirit pet, but he sensed a blood pact within it, indicating that its master was still alive. He just didn't know why it was allowed to roam freely outside.
It's better to avoid trouble. Taking someone back without knowing their background is just asking for trouble. Exploiting them a little might be acceptable.
The Treasure-Hunting Rat peered around cautiously, and after confirming that Song Changsheng had indeed left, it opened its mouth and spat out an exquisite spatial ring. A sly glint flashed in its eyes as it said smugly, "Hey, you're still too green to compete with me, Rat Master."
...(End of this chapter)