A troop of heavily armored soldiers escorted nine hunters through the Great Yan Mountain, their passage shaking residual snow from the thorns and weeds, causing it to occasionally fall.

"Aoo~~"

A few distant wolf howls drifted faintly through the air.

"Those beasts have certainly suffered," Teng Yongxiang remarked with a smile. Teng Yongfan echoed the sentiment, gripping his iron spear, though his mind was calculating: "Previously, when the hunters were gathered, Qinghu Island rounded up a full 180 of them. Capturing three from each village accounts for nearly sixty villages! Now, nine hunters and fifty Silver Jiao Army soldiers form one squad—that means twenty squads in total."

At this moment, within the Great Yan Mountain, these twenty squads were scattered in their search.

It wasn't just them; thousands of Silver Jiao Army soldiers, grouped in teams of three or five, were also spread throughout the mountain range searching. Unfortunately, the Great Yan Mountain was vastly larger than the Blazing Mountain. Without local guides, searching was like being blind; who knew how long it would take.

"Fifty heavily armored soldiers escorting nine hunters. Escape will be difficult!" Teng Yongfan mused inwardly.

"You nine, how much further to that 'Bottomless Pit' you mentioned?" the burly man leading the fifty Silver Jiao Army soldiers barked impatiently. He was built like a black bear.

The nine hunters, along with the six from other villages, naturally looked to the Teng Family Village hunter for guidance.

"Sir," Teng Qinghao immediately responded, "following the mountain paths, the Bottomless Pit is about twenty li away from us. We should certainly reach it before dusk." In these mountains, two points might seem close in a straight line, but the paths were treacherous, occasionally interrupted by ravines, forcing significant detours.

"Hurry up, you few, stop lagging behind," the black-bear-like strongman yelled before continuing forward.

"Brother Qinghao, do you think the people from Qinghu Island will kill us?" one of the hunters from another village whispered, approaching Teng Qinghao.

"We'll take it one step at a time," Teng Qinghao murmured back.

Teng Yongfan, however, recalled the scene when all 180 hunters were assembled and questioned by 'Gu Yong,' the Island Master of Qinghu Island: "The Island Master first asked if we had seen any ancient, large palaces within the mountains. We all said no. Then, he asked what kinds of caves, deep pools, or sinkholes we had discovered..."

"Clearly, Qinghu Island is searching for some ancient palace! And this ancient palace must be underground in the Great Yan Mountain!" Teng Yongfan deduced easily.

"An ancient palace beneath the Great Yan Mountain?" Teng Yongfan thought, unable to fully process it.

...

Deep within the Great Yan Mountain, in an open area beside a small stream, a large encampment was set up.

Inside a major tent.

Thirteen Innate Realm experts were seated.

"The twenty squads and nine thousand Silver Jiao Army soldiers have been searching for two hours without any news?" The purple-robed woman frowned. The force sent for the search consisted of the twenty squads—one thousand Silver Jiao Army soldiers—plus the scattered nine thousand, totaling a full ten thousand soldiers scouring the area.

"Don't worry. We should have news before nightfall."

Most of the elders sipped their tea leisurely.

"Island Master," Zhao Danchen looked toward Gu Yong, who was resting with his eyes closed. Gu Yong opened them, and Zhao Danchen continued, "We have stationed thirty thousand troops here in the Great Yan Mountain... If this news spreads, won't it draw unwanted attention?"

A faint smile touched Gu Yong's lips. He chuckled lightly and said, "Elder Zhao, so what if it attracts attention? My Qinghu Island army first destroyed the Iron-Clad Sect, and now we are preparing to attack the Guiyuan Sect... Setting up camp here in the Great Yan Mountain—what does that matter now? Even if other sects find out, at most they will wonder why we are camped here. Surely, they won't connect it to the Yu Emperor's Treasure?"

"If all of you elders saw the Carefree Palace suddenly stationing its army on a mountain, what would you suspect?" Gu Yong looked around at the assembly.

"I suspect we would think the Carefree Palace found some massive mineral deposit on the mountain and intends to claim it," Zhao Danchen laughed.

The elders chuckled upon hearing this.

These thirteen people knew about the 'Yu Emperor's Treasure,' which was why they felt slightly uneasy, worried about arousing suspicion. But operating so openly, stationing a large army here...

Almost every sect would probably assume—perhaps they discovered a major mineral reserve and want to control it!

"The Yu Emperor's Treasure hasn't been found for thousands of years; no one would ever think we came here for that," Gu Yong smiled reassuringly. Beneath his surface calm, however, Gu Yong still harbored a slight worry: "Could the remnants of the Iron-Clad Sect know this secret?"

Despite this concern, Gu Yong felt he had no choice. Eradicating a sect that had existed for a millennium could never be done with absolute thoroughness, wiping out every single person. Just like the Iron-Clad Sect, which had over a hundred thousand disciples and soldiers in Chu Prefecture alone, with garrisons scattered elsewhere. No matter how powerful a sect, it was impossible to kill every last disciple of the deeply entrenched Iron-Clad Sect! Therefore, destroying such a sect meant eliminating the core strength and all the Innate experts—that was sufficient.

After all, only a few Post-Natal experts would remain. Could dozens of Post-Natal masters truly destroy Qinghu Island? If Qinghu Island were that easy to destroy, it wouldn't have survived for so many years.

"Find the Yu Emperor's Treasure as soon as possible and secure it!" Gu Yong thought.

"Island Master! Island Master!"

An excited shout suddenly came from outside, and a figure burst in without waiting for announcement.

"Island Master, we've found underground lake water!" the middle-aged man exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Hoo!"

All thirteen Innate experts stood up almost simultaneously. Gu Yong stared intently at him. "Quickly, detail the situation thoroughly."

"Yes, Island Master," the middle-aged man took a deep breath. "This is what happened: one of the search teams from the twentieth squad located a bottomless deep hole amidst some weeds. The hunters claimed the hole was unfathomably deep and dared not enter. So, twenty Silver Jiao Army soldiers used ropes, vines, and other means to descend slowly. After nearly half an hour, several soldiers fled the deep hole in terror, and accompanying their escape was a demonic beast!"

"A demonic beast?"

Gu Yong and the thirteen others’ eyes brightened. They already knew that where the Yu Emperor's Treasure lay, the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy would certainly be abundant, leading to unusual phenomena. A demonic beast appearing wasn't surprising; its presence suggested... they had very likely found the right place.

"It was a 'Stone-Piercing Beast,' nearly ten zhang long. During the fight between the beast and the soldiers, it attracted surrounding Silver Jiao Army troops, and a large number converged to attack it. The Stone-Piercing Beast eventually fled back into the deep hole. In the skirmish, four hunters were killed by the beast, sixty-eight Silver Jiao Army soldiers perished, and over twenty were injured."

"It seems this Stone-Piercing Beast hasn't fully matured yet," Gu Yong commented. The Stone-Piercing Beast, covered in scales, possessed claws and teeth capable of easily boring through rock—a creature native to the underground. Facing such a creature was the Silver Jiao Army's bane, as they could easily tear through heavy armor.

"The two surviving Silver Jiao Army soldiers who escaped from below reported that at a depth of about eighty zhang, they discovered underground lake water. The lake underground was vast! At least several dozen zhang wide was water! Since there was no light underground, they dared not swim far and immediately ascended. But on their way up, they were attacked by the Stone-Piercing Beast."

At these words, Gu Yong and the others felt a surge of joy.

"The original great lake spanned dozens of li in circumference," Gu Yong recalled from historical records. "For a lake that large to collapse underground and be covered by rock—I didn't expect so much water to remain."

"Lead the way," Gu Yong commanded.

Immediately, the thirteen Innate experts swiftly departed toward the location where the deep hole was discovered.

...

Hundreds of Silver Jiao Army soldiers were already gathered here. As Gu Yong and the thirteen Innate experts arrived, everyone parted way.

"Island Master, this is the deep hole leading underground," Gu Yong was guided to the edge of the chasm. The surrounding weeds had been cleared away, revealing the dark, gaping hole, three to four zhang wide, with its bottom invisible. On the earth beside the hole were traces of dark blood, even fragments of flesh, and deep gouges scored into the ground—evidence of a fierce battle.

"Very good." Gu Yong nodded.

"Sect Master, what about those hunters?" General Lan whispered.

Gu Yong turned, glanced at him, and stated flatly, "Execute them all!" The hunters knew Qinghu Island was searching for a mysterious palace and knew about the deep holes and pools leading underground... thus, they could not be left alive! Although other major sects didn't yet know Qinghu Island was seeking the Yu Emperor's Treasure, given Gu Yong's nature... caution was best.

"Yes," General Lan acknowledged.

"Also, issue an order: have the Silver Jiao Army soldiers encamp within a five or six li radius centered on this deep hole." Gu Yong understood that thirty thousand men could not possibly blockade the entire Great Yan Mountain, so the sealing circle had to be tightened.

"Issue the assembly order and the execution order." Gu Yong issued several commands in quick succession.

...

"This deep pool is truly cold. It's already cold in the dead of winter, but this pool is even colder." Several Silver Jiao Army soldiers searching the deep hole and pool stood by the Bihan Pool, feeling the biting cold with their hands, yet none dared to enter.

"Swoosh!"

A sharp, piercing sound echoed across the sky.

These soldiers looked up.

"Assembly Order. Go, stop searching, and gather quickly." The Silver Jiao Army soldiers immediately started moving toward the sound.

...

According to the standing regulation, once an assembly signal was given, all squads ceased searching and converged toward the source of the signal. Moments after the assembly order was issued—

"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"

Three sharp cries followed in quick succession, piercing the heavens. This was the signal to execute all the hunters!