Zhao Lei and Du Xugang almost inhaled sharply at the exact same moment. While their reactions weren't as exaggerated as Long Jiang's, they were still thoroughly stunned by the sight before them.

Who had ever seen a tree growing attached to its roots?

And who had ever seen a peach tree growing downwards, inverted?

This inverted peach tree was lush and leafy, emitting a soft, golden radiance, as if a thin veil had gently draped itself over the branches. Every fork in the tree was exceptionally conspicuous in the dim, pitch-black underground space. Each branch appeared as slender, long, smooth, and delicate as the arm of a girl in her late teens.

Surrounding the golden peach tree, the Heaven and Earth energy—which was previously intangible—and the abundant spiritual Qi spontaneously materialized, forming layers of pure white mist that enveloped it. It was as if it were the ten-thousand-year PeTao Tree, rumored to grow above the Nine Heavens, planted by the Queen Mother of the West herself.

A reddish, almost fully ripened PeTao hung precariously among the branches, on the verge of falling.

This alone indicated that the ten-thousand-year PeTao could mature and emerge at any moment.

“Brother Zhao, Brother Du, I, Long Jiang, promised you earlier that as long as you helped me deal with the Long family, I would take you to where the ten-thousand-year PeTao is located. Now that it’s right here, what are you two waiting for?”

Long Jiang calmed his own agitated spirit and, striving to control his emotions, spoke to Zhao Lei and Du Xugang, who were still completely shocked.

“Ah!”

Zhao Lei and Du Xugang snapped out of their shock. Following this, their eyes were instantly filled with a fiery greed for that ten-thousand-year PeTao!

The three of them were currently standing on a high slope; they still had some distance to descend toward the underground lake where the PeTao resided.

The two of them simultaneously took a step forward and sprinted toward the underground lake. Long Jiang curled his lips into a cold smile and followed close behind!

However, before reaching the edge of the underground lake, the three stopped abruptly almost at the same moment. The greedy fire in Zhao Lei and Du Xugang's eyes was nearly extinguished!

Long Jiang, following behind them, had barely descended the slope when he saw a monk sitting by the shore of the underground lake, and a golden spirit beast resembling a giant dog curled up on the ground, twitching intermittently, looking extremely pained. On its forehead was a slightly open slit, within which rested a grayish-white eyeball.

The Three-Eyed Beast!

Long Jiang recognized the spirit beast instantly and exclaimed in surprise!

“The spirit beast guarding this ten-thousand-year PeTao is actually a Three-Eyed Beast!”

“That’s, that’s, Master Shi Ming…”

However, Zhao Lei and Du Xugang were pointing at the cross-legged monk sitting next to the Three-Eyed Beast, shouting in horror. Upon seeing Master Shi Ming there, they shivered uncontrollably, their speech becoming stammered!

Master Shi Ming, a Great Perfection stage expert from Shaolin!

They had long heard tales of him, and the last time they were on the Long Family Plains, they had the good fortune to glimpse him from afar. They were profoundly impressed by this Shaolin Great Perfection expert, which is why they recognized him immediately!

A Three-Eyed Beast, and a Shaolin Great Perfection master... Zhao Lei and Du Xugang simultaneously felt the urge to retreat, turning to leave!

“What are you two doing!”

Fortunately, Long Jiang was right behind them, stopping these two figures who were about to flee in time.

“Haven’t you seen clearly? That is Master Shi Ming, the Shaolin Great Perfection expert! Even if the three of us, all at the Fourth Level of Inner Strength, joined forces, we couldn't possibly snatch the ten-thousand-year PeTao from him, let alone with that golden Three-Eyed Beast guarding it!”

Du Xugang, finding his escape route blocked by Long Jiang, immediately grew angry!

“Long Jiang, step aside! If Master Shi Ming discovers us, how can my Zhao family in the Northwest survive here in the future!”

Although Zhao Lei had chosen to cooperate with the Long family traitor, Long Jiang, out of greed for the PeTao, he had no confidence in snatching it from a Great Perfection expert. Upon seeing Master Shi Ming stationed here, his only thought was to flee.

As Du Xugang and Zhao Lei tried to bolt simultaneously, Long Jiang could only intercept them temporarily. After stating their piece, the two easily dodged past Long Jiang and retreated back the way they came.

“You two fools!”

Long Jiang could no longer tolerate their stupidity and cowardice, cursing loudly, “Do you two think that if you flee now, that bald donkey Shi Ming won’t know you were here with me?”

Zhao Lei and Du Xugang’s steps faltered. A chill instantly swept through their hearts. Long Jiang’s words were not unreasonable; Master Shi Ming, being a Shaolin Great Perfection expert, naturally possessed the ability to sense their arrival the moment they arrived.

Seeing that they had stopped their flight, Long Jiang immediately caught up and faced them, saying, “Haven’t you noticed that this Three-Eyed Beast and the monk Shi Ming look very strange!”

Zhao Lei and Du Xugang exchanged glances. Upon seeing Master Shi Ming, they had only thought of escape and nothing else. But now, pausing to listen to Long Jiang, they both detected something unusual.

They turned back to look at the golden Three-Eyed Beast and Master Shi Ming. Only then did they notice that the golden Three-Eyed Beast was curled up, convulsing in agony. They couldn't sense the powerful aura that a Three-Eyed Beast should possess emanating from it at all.

As for Master Shi Ming, he had remained sitting motionless since they arrived. Although a smile touched his face, his eyes were tightly shut, giving the impression of a mere statue of Buddha.

Long Jiang breathed a sigh of relief, then pointed to the surrounding pitted and uneven ground, continuing, “You two blockheads! I told you long ago that there must have been a battle between several Great Perfection experts last night, and what’s before our eyes proves it!”

Although a flash of anger crossed Zhao Lei and Du Xugang’s faces at being called fools by Long Jiang, they remained relatively calm. Looking around, they confirmed that the path from the high slope downward was indeed riddled with uneven ground and signs of intense past combat. Furthermore, nearby lay the corpses of several Fourth Level Spirit Monkeys.

Long Jiang walked over to one of the Fourth Level Spirit Monkey corpses, squatted down to examine it himself, then looked up and said to the two, “These Spirit Monkeys are already Fourth Level spirit beasts. From their corpses, we can roughly tell they have been dead for some time, yet their vital essence blood has not been extracted. What does that tell you?”

Seeing the Spirit Monkey corpses, Zhao Lei and Du Xugang immediately understood why that other Spirit Monkey had fled earlier instead of trying to seize the PeTao. But after hearing Long Jiang’s words, they developed the same question.

Long Jiang sighed. He was utterly disappointed in these two, yet for the sake of his plan, he had to patiently explain, “Don’t forget, Zhang Yang is the successor of the Medical Saint Zhang family, and that includes their other Great Perfection expert, Zhang Pinglu. Don’t they know how precious the vital essence blood within these Spirit Monkeys is as medicinal material?”

“The fact that they didn't take this essence blood is enough to show that they left in a hurry. This also explains why the Zhou, Hua, Li families, Wudang, and the Demonic Sect—five major forces—all left Kunlun this morning, while the Medical Saint Zhang family directly invited Shaolin to settle on the Long Family Plains!”

As Long Jiang spoke, excitement flickered constantly in his eyes. He gazed at the closed-eyed Master Shi Ming, his body trembling slightly, and said, “Look at that bald donkey Shi Ming; he must have suffered severe injuries in last night's battle and needs to sit here to recover. The three of us joining forces need not fear him at all. As for that golden Three-Eyed Beast guarding the PeTao, look at its current state—it can’t even spare us a glance. Do you still need to fear it?”

Long Jiang’s analysis was coherent and logical. Zhao Lei and Du Xugang were not fools; the meaning was immediately clear. Based on the current situation, the true facts were unlikely to deviate much. At this point, all their fear and worry vanished, and the greedy desire for the ten-thousand-year PeTao surged back into their hearts!

Who could face a treasure like the ten-thousand-year PeTao and remain unmoved?

Zhao Lei believed no one could. When he had first seen Zhang Yang on the Long Family Plains, he was shaken by Zhang Yang’s youth. Though he never said it aloud, Zhang Yang’s innate talent and brilliance had deeply impacted him.

Never before had Zhao Lei felt such an intense desire to reach the Great Perfection stage, such a strong yearning to be as high and mighty as Zhang Yang. It was this desire that allowed him to break through his years-long bottleneck and finally reach the late Fourth Level.

After all, among the Xuanyuan Long family, who else had managed to cultivate to the late Fourth Level of Inner Strength?

But having reached the late Fourth Level, surely the advancement to the Great Perfection stage was not far off?

If not for this desire dominating his heart, Zhao Lei would never have been persuaded by Long Jiang’s few words to wager his entire Northwest Zhao family on this gamble.

Now, this massive gamble had apparently reached the final moment of decision. As long as they obtained that one ten-thousand-year PeTao, even if his cooperation with Long Jiang were exposed later, no one would dare threaten the Northwest Zhao family, who would possess a Great Perfection expert!

Zhao Lei took a step forward, then without hesitation plunged downward, suddenly leaping up and charging directly toward the golden peach tree in the air!

Du Xugang was not to be outdone. After racing forward, the two of them took flight, soaring together toward that ten-thousand-year PeTao.

The closed-eyed Master Shi Ming finally opened his eyes and slowly rose to his feet. But just then—

“Brother Zhao, Brother Du, we had an agreement beforehand: I, Long Jiang, will absolutely not interfere or participate in obtaining this ten-thousand-year PeTao. Why don’t you two take advantage of that bald donkey Shi Ming while he hasn’t recovered and seize the PeTao quickly?”

Long Jiang suddenly stepped back, shouting loudly to Zhao Lei and Du Xugang. After shouting, he did not forget to add, “Even if one ten-thousand-year PeTao hasn't fully ripened, it’s enough for one of you to achieve the Great Perfection stage!”

The heat in Zhao Lei’s eyes did not diminish in the slightest. However, the very moment Long Jiang finished speaking, he suddenly attacked, drawing his weapon and directly ambushing Du Xugang, who had just leaped up and was preparing to advance through the air!

A long sword plunged directly through Du Xugang’s back, piercing clean through his abdomen!

Du Xugang had only just advanced to the early Fourth Level, while Zhao Lei possessed the strength of the late Fourth Level, coupled with the advantage of a sneak attack—how could he possibly dodge?

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, Du Xugang fell to the ground, knowing his end was near as he looked at the sword point piercing his belly.

“Dog of a Zhao Lei, you traitor! I, Du, will drag you down even in death!”

With a wretched cry, Zhao Lei violently raised his hand, ignoring the injury to his abdomen, and unleashed a hammer-shaped hidden weapon with all his might!

Before Zhao Lei could rejoice over his successful sneak attack, he felt a sharp cramping pain in his abdomen, and then he too fell from the air. It was then he realized that, at some unknown point, he had been struck by the deadly hidden weapon of the Central Plains Du family: the Three-Inch Nail!

The famous hidden weapon of the Central Plains Du family, the Three-Inch Nail, was a hammer-shaped projectile about three inches long. Legend claimed that each one had to be tempered with hundreds of toxins, making the cost of production immense. Even the Central Plains Du family possessed only a few.

Seeing that Zhao Lei hadn't dodged his hidden weapon, Du Xugang laughed wildly, and as the cramping in his abdomen intensified, he spat out another mouthful of blood!

Neither of them managed to get within a step of the ten-thousand-year PeTao before they brought about mutual destruction.

Witnessing this sudden turn of events, Shi Ming softly sighed and shook his head.

As a practitioner of Buddhism, he possessed compassion. He had refrained from acting, hoping to give these people one last chance. But now, he didn't need to intervene.

With the slightest movement of Master Shi Ming’s hands and feet, not even a gentle breeze was stirred. Naturally, Long Jiang and the other two did not notice that Master Shi Ming, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, had already opened them and stood up.

Watching Zhao Lei fall back to the ground after being struck by the severely wounded Du Xugang, Long Jiang suddenly accelerated his pace. Before Zhao Lei could even get up, he rushed over and slammed a palm strike into his chest!

Puff!

Although the Du family’s Three-Inch Nail was infamous, it wasn't enough to immediately incapacitate Zhao Lei or cause him to die from the poison. He still had the strength to fight for the PeTao, and he knew well that the medicinal properties of the PeTao could surely suppress the potent poison of the Three-Inch Nail. But Long Jiang’s palm strike completely shattered his last hope.

Puff!

Thud!

Zhao Lei spat several mouthfuls of blood, flying to the ground like a kite with a broken string, landing with enough force to create a crater—this demonstrated the full power of Long Jiang’s strike.

“You did that on purpose!”

Zhao Lei had never been slow-witted. Seeing the burning intensity in Long Jiang’s eyes, he finally understood. Long Jiang’s previous statement was deliberately intended to incite him to attack Du Xugang, and Du Xugang, after all, was a Fourth Level expert; this fatal blow couldn't have left him unharmed!

Du Xugang’s abdomen seized with throbbing pain. Although he understood, he couldn't utter a single word.

“Hahahaha!”

Amidst his laughter, Long Jiang didn't rush to seize the ten-thousand-year PeTao. Instead, he walked over, lifted the injured Zhao Lei, whom he had struck, and dumped him next to Du Xugang, tossing the two of them together.

“What exactly do you want to do…”

Zhao Lei ground his teeth, glaring fiercely at Long Jiang. Greed had been his undoing; he had ultimately fallen for Long Jiang’s trap.

“I told you long ago, the 'oriole' who ultimately obtains this ten-thousand-year PeTao will be me!”

Long Jiang spread his arms wide, unable to conceal his excitement any longer, laughing madly.

“You think this ten-thousand-year PeTao is yours?”

A voice devoid of any emotion suddenly rang out. Long Jiang’s smile froze instantly upon his face, and the pupils of his eyes contracted sharply.

Turning his head, he saw Zhang Yang and Elder Zhang Pinglu appearing in the underground area, accompanied by Long Haotian. The one who had spoken was the leader, Zhang Yang.

“Amitabha!”

At some unknown time, the previously closed-eyed Master Shi Ming was already standing behind him.