"Damn it, my fourth-rank official seal!" General Quentin Shaw's face changed drastically. He hurriedly reached for his waist, but the seal was gone, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Losing the official seal was serious, but as the Imperial Preceptor's disciple, he could suppress the matter for now. What truly terrified him was that he hadn't noticed at all when Crippled Joe stole the seal—if Crippled Joe had chosen to stab him in the back instead of stealing...
He couldn't help but shiver.
Lord Marcus's cheeks flushed red. She hugged her chest, surrounded by a crowd of palace maids, forming an impenetrable wall.
Just now, Crippled Joe had swiped several treasures from her, and only discovered she was a woman when he accidentally took her chest wrap.
Crippled Joe hates touching women while stealing; only then did he slip up, giving Quentin a chance to act, forcing him to make a quick escape.
"That Crippled Joe is the legendary thief who infiltrated the imperial palace and stole the Imperial Disc—the Thief Who Robs Heaven!"
Quentin forced down his shock. Seeing Lord Marcus unharmed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "My... my lord, forgive me. I was incompetent..."
Encased in black ice, Leonard Goodwin was even more stunned—Crippled Joe had stolen the scabbard of his Grand Guardian's Sword right from his side!
Not just the scabbard—even the Black Banner in his other hand had been stolen by Crippled Joe!
At this moment, Leonard Goodwin was sealed inside the black ice—so cold and hard that even a master like him was frozen solid, unable to escape. Back when Quinn tricked him into exhausting his yuanqi, only then did Leonard manage to send the Grand Guardian's Sword hilt out of the ice.
But this cripple simply ignored the black ice. With a casual touch—like the hand of a ghost—Crippled Joe swiped both his Black Banner and sword scabbard!
"Lord Goodwin, that cripple once strolled right into the imperial palace treasury in front of all the inner court experts. The palace was filled with deadly traps and killing formations, but none could stop him—he stole the Imperial Disc and not a soul could block his way."
Quentin Shaw added, "Luckily the Imperial Preceptor intervened and managed to sever one of his divine legs. But even so, the Imperial Preceptor couldn't keep him—he escaped with the Imperial Disc and vanished without a trace."
Leonard Goodwin was aghast, silent for a long moment before murmuring, "He lost a leg, yet his hands are still so deft? Is it his divine leg, or his divine hand?"
Suddenly, a mournful roar echoed from the front of the warship. Quentin's heart leapt—he rushed to the bow and his pupils shrank. Ahead, a spider web stretched across the entire river, locking more than ten li of the waterway in place!
The towing beast crashed into the web and struggled, unable to break free. The river parted, and a colossal spider emerged from the depths, dragging the beast onto the web. It began spinning silk, then sank its fangs deep into the creature's body.
Even as the soldiers on board unleashed swords with yuanqi and cast divine arts, none could drive away the giant spider—the web could not be cut at all!
Soon, the beast shriveled up, leaving only a dry husk behind.
Quentin's body trembled, and even the hand gripping his sword was shaking. He wanted to strike down the giant spider, but didn't dare move.
He saw, standing on the riverbank, an Apothecary with a medicine basket on his back. Dressed in plain green, he looked ordinary—except his face was twisted and monstrous, utterly inhuman.
The Apothecary beckoned casually, and the giant spider began to reel in its web. Along a single strand, it crawled toward him, shrinking as it went until it was no bigger than a thumb, finally slipping into the Apothecary's basket.
With the spider web gone, the warship could drift downstream again. Quentin faintly heard a voice on the wind: "Tell the Imperial Preceptor not to get any crooked ideas about the Great Ruins, or he might provoke us old cripples..."
Encased in black ice, Leonard Goodwin trembled and whispered, "It's the Poison King..."
Quentin forced down his dread, steadied himself, and barked, "All hands, ready your oars! Turn the ship around—back to Everpeace!"
After the ship had traveled two or three li, a soldier stammered, "General Quentin, there's someone on the river!"
Quentin gritted his teeth, his face dark as iron. "What kind of monster dares block my ship? Do they think I'm made of mud? Ram them!"
He had just finished speaking when he saw the figure on the river—a person with only an upper body, the lower half severed cleanly at the waist.
The strange figure stood on a river rock, wielding two massive, twisted sabers.
Suddenly, saber-light tore through the sky with earth-shaking force. Quentin looked up to see the clouds overhead split apart by that terrifying blade aura!
Then that saber-light came crashing down, slashing straight toward the warship!
Whoosh—
The waters of the Yong River split to either side—the whole river was cleaved in two by that single strike!
"Seven Stars Treasury, open!"
Quentin Shaw roared, and one after another, his Divine Treasuries burst open inside him. Terrifying yuanqi erupted, transforming into twin dragons that slammed into the ship's flank, kicking the warship sideways by a hundred zhang!
The saber-light grazed the ship and continued upstream, splitting the Yong River for more than ten li before finally closing up behind the half-bodied figure.
"Heh, fighting the Imperial Preceptor's disciple is boring. Fighting the Imperial Preceptor himself would be fun..."
The strange man on the river rock sheathed his sabers, planted both hands on the stone, and with a sudden burst of strength, leapt high into the sky—vanishing from sight.
Quentin forced his trembling legs to steady and shouted, "Hold the ship steady—steady..."
His voice shook so much he could barely hear himself. He sat down to catch his breath, but his heart was still in chaos.
Leonard Goodwin was even more terrified, his voice trembling: "Heaven Saber! The one who once raised his blade against the heavens and died at the hands of the gods—Heaven Saber is still alive..."
Quentin's face was clouded with uncertainty. "How could such a small, obscure village in the Great Ruins gather so many monsters? Divine Spear, Heaven Saber, Thief Who Robs Heaven, Poison King... Who else is hiding in that village?"
He glanced at his Yong River map—the one he'd painstakingly drawn along the way was still aboard; none of those fearsome old monsters had bothered to destroy it, which gave him a small measure of relief.
"Wait, that's not right!"
Suddenly he realized—their failure to destroy the map wasn't mercy, but contempt.
Those old monsters were so confident that even if he brought the map back, the Imperial Preceptor would never dare invade the Great Ruins!
"Why didn't they just kill us?" asked Lord Marcus, still disguised as a young lord.
"Disdain."
Quentin replied bitterly, "They disdained to kill us—probably because we're simply too insignificant..."
A bitter taste filled Quentin's heart. As the Imperial Preceptor's disciple, he'd always held himself in high regard, his reputation echoing throughout the court. Yet a single journey through the Great Ruins had shattered all his arrogance—he'd never imagined he'd encounter such powerful beings.
At first, facing Grandpa Blind, he'd still clung to some pride. Even though Blind had shaken him, his backbone remained. But then came Crippled Joe, the shadowy Apothecary, and the ruthless Butcher—each encounter stripped away his pride and courage, leaving nothing but fear.
"Nothing can stop the Imperial Preceptor. Nothing can frighten the Imperial Preceptor!"
Quentin thought of his master, the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor, and his unease melted away. His gaze hardened, and he muttered, "Those old geezers in the Great Ruins think they can block a chariot with a mantis arm—they'll just get smashed to bits!"
The warship drifted downstream. Suddenly, Quentin froze—there should have been an oasis ahead, with an ancient temple atop it, but now the oasis had vanished!
He'd always thought the ancient temple was a bit uncanny, so he hadn't dared enter, but he'd marked it on the Yong River map. Now, returning, both the temple and oasis were gone without a trace.
"Open your eyes!"
Quentin whispered, his eyes flashing with light as he peered beneath the water. What he saw made his heart lurch—the oasis was still there, but it had been flattened by some overwhelming force, and the ancient temple had sunk to the riverbed!
"Great Ruins..."
He steadied himself and ordered the soldiers to channel their yuanqi and row, eager to get away from this place as quickly as possible.
Just as the warship left, the river split open and a bronze Buddha, shackled in chains, slowly rose from the depths. Though massive, the Buddha seemed utterly weightless, standing with both feet atop the water's surface.
"The old monsters in Oldridge Village are stronger than I thought—they won't be easy to handle..."
The bronze Buddha gazed toward Oldridge, then stomped and dashed up the riverbank, racing away at full speed.
"Stealing my merit—this won't end so easily. But with the Imperial Preceptor itching to invade the Great Ruins, I'll just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight! When they've torn each other to pieces, Thunder Chant Temple will reap all the rewards!"
Outside Oldridge, Quinn ran into Crippled Joe, who tossed him an object. Quinn caught it—it was a sword scabbard, a perfect match for the Young Protector's Sword.
Quinn blinked, about to ask where Crippled Joe had gotten it, when the old thief shoved another item into his arms.
Quinn pulled it out for a look—a creamy white cloth embroidered with pink peonies, about a foot wide and long as a sash, carrying a delicate fragrance.
"Grandpa Cripple, what is this?" Quinn asked, puzzled.
Crippled Joe's smile stiffened. He grumbled, "A sweat towel. You can use it to wipe your brow. Bad luck, really—just my luck to grab this sort of thing. Touch a woman's stuff and you're cursed for three years..."