After a brief moment of excitement, Qin Fang let out a long breath and slowly calmed himself.

’This Treasure Fish is truly miraculous... Ordinary fishermen can catch it with nets, and Ordinary People can eat it raw. Yet, when I, a Late Anjin Stage Martial Artist, ate it, it still had such a powerful effect?’

Qin Fang frowned, feeling that this truly defied common sense.

He had found it strange before. The Treasure Fish could be caught by fishermen and had such amazing effects, so did that mean the fish, shrimp, turtles, and crabs in the river had no interest in it whatsoever?

Yet, the moment the Treasure Fish started bleeding, it was like chum in the water, instantly sending the river’s fish into a frenzy... This proved the Treasure Fish was obviously irresistibly alluring to other fish as well.

But before the Treasure Fish bled, it was true that no other fish seemed to pay it any mind.

’So it seems it does have a way to protect itself, but... is that ability only effective against schools of fish, or rather, animals of low intelligence? And ineffective against humans, or beings of high intelligence?’

’And it doesn’t seem to be an ability that directly kills its enemies...’

’What kind of ability could it be, then?’

’Besides, in the natural world, isn’t the most effective defense the ability to kill your enemies?’

’Failing that, it should at least have some form of extreme stealth.’

But this Treasure Fish was gorgeous and dazzlingly bright. The moment it surfaced, it could be spotted from hundreds of meters away, as if it were afraid no one would see it.

To possess such astonishing effects, yet have no commensurate ability to defend itself...

That just didn’t add up.

How could a Treasure Fish like this even exist?

And how is it that it was only discovered so recently?

After all, before this, the people of True Martial had never heard of any "Treasure Fish"...

Qin Fang couldn’t quite figure it out.

But after thinking for a while and still failing to find an answer, Qin Fang could only shake his head and set the puzzle aside for the time being.

Then, his thoughts turned to the True Martial Boxing Hall.

...The second surprise of this trip was running into people from the True Martial Boxing Hall.

There were survivors from True Martial.

He’d seen many people swept up by the gales that day.

That meant there were quite a few clever people.

...Even if Ganlu Hall hadn’t revealed its hand, there were people cautious enough to escape the calamity.

Since people from the True Martial Boxing Hall survived...

Does that mean other people also survived?

For example, the County Magistrate and such?

...But when he and his senior brother went there last time, they had indeed seen the bodies of many True Martial Guards.

And afterward, when the Mysterious Power was scrawling its marks all over the county town, no one seemed to appear to stop them...

...

’Then again, who would dare? A seven or eight-meter-tall monster... even a Huajin powerhouse would be hard-pressed to fight it...’

He could choose to be pragmatic and save himself.

The other survivors were obviously not stupid either.

After pondering for a while, Qin Fang shook his head.

’Whatever. It has nothing to do with me anyway.’

In any case, he hadn’t seen anyone from the Mysterious Power since that ’natural disaster’...

Even if some survivors were left in True Martial now, they would probably leave one by one... Rebuilding True Martial would require the Court to send people.

The remaining survivors would most certainly choose to leave first and figure things out later.

’I’m not far from the Huajin realm now... I shouldn’t overthink things. I need to break through to Huajin as soon as possible, then go to the Prefecture City to find Master and the others... The mysteries here in True Martial have nothing to do with me anymore...’

There are still many mysteries here in True Martial.

For example, what was the Mysterious Power’s ultimate goal in gathering so much blood fodder and raising so many monsters?

The voice that resounded in his ears that day, making him cough up blood, who did it belong to?

Did they act this way because they never expected a Great Power to intervene... or was there some other hidden reason?

In the end, did the Great Power really completely annihilate that Mysterious Power?

’...Chen Shanhe seemed to have mentioned the Blood Luo Sect... That must be the name of the Mysterious Power...’

After all, the only ones who would be looking for a mysterious Expert in Hidden Weapons after Wang Hu’s death would be that Mysterious Power.

’Then... how did a survivor like Chen Shanhe know their secrets?’

The incident seemed to be over, but in truth, too many mysteries remained.

Fortunately, Qin Fang had never been particularly curious. His only thought now was to quickly reach the Huajin realm, head to the Prefecture City, and leave this troubled land far behind.

...As for these mysteries.

As long as he was alive, he believed he would eventually figure it all out...

With this resolve, Qin Fang stayed put for the next while.

...He had obtained the Treasure Fish and killed the disciple of a Huajin Powerhouse; naturally, he didn’t dare to wander about anymore.

Even though Xile was fast... the power of a Huajin Powerhouse had truly startled him. If he ran into one, his only option would be to flee for his life.

He was close to a breakthrough, so it was not a good time to stir up more trouble.

Otherwise, if by some chance he provoked Chen Shanhe again, although he couldn’t catch him for the time being... what if he discovered Old Ox Back?

Old Ox Back can’t run.

And the Giant Bees and other various Treasures on it were all exceptionally precious resources!

If Chen Shanhe accidentally found Old Ox Back and took it over, Qin Fang would really have no tears left to cry.

Therefore, he resolved not to leave the mountain until he reached the Huajin realm!

...In fact, he felt that even if he reached Huajin, he might not be able to defeat Chen Shanhe.

After all, that man had been immersed in the Huajin realm for many years; who knew what kind of techniques he had up his sleeve?

For instance, that technique from last time: the man had spoken from several hundred meters away, and though his voice wasn’t loud, it had traveled directly into Qin Fang’s ears... That was a skill he did not possess.

...Although Huajin was a single realm, unlike ’Mingjin’ and ’Anjin’ which were divided into three distinct stages.

But there was clearly a vast difference between someone who had just entered the realm and someone who had been immersed in it for years.

「Time passed day by day, and at last, the heavy snow began to fall once more.」