Urban Extraordinary Immortal Doctor
Chapter 1148: The Back Mountain

Chapter 1148: Chapter 1148: The Back Mountain

Fang Bai’s refusal left several loose cultivator alliances wanting to enlist his team greatly disappointed and also made them wary of his seven-member team, which, despite its small size, was notably strong.

The seven of them soon arrived at the foot of Dragon Tiger Mountain. At the mountain gate, several sect forces and loose cultivator alliances were standing off against the Dragon Tiger Palace disciples guarding the gate. Although neither side had come to blows yet, the atmosphere was highly tense, and a fight seemed imminent.

In fact, by now, the morale within Dragon Tiger Palace was waning, and most of the disciples who wanted to leave had already left. Those who remained were loyal to the Dragon Tiger Palace, sworn to share its fate.

The number of Dragon Tiger Palace disciples guarding the mountain gate was not large, suggesting they were aware they could not hold the gate. The majority of the palace disciples had gathered near Dragon Peak and Tiger Peak, the palace’s two main peaks, ready to fight to the death.

This only further convinced the martial artists present that Dragon Tiger Palace’s treasures must be within the great halls on Dragon Peak and Tiger Peak.

"Let’s go to the back mountain," Fang Bai observed for a moment, then suddenly his eyes shifted as he spoke softly to Zhuge Lian and the others.

Zhuge Lian and the rest were startled, wondering why they would not head for Dragon Peak and Tiger Peak if they were here for cultivation resources. What would they do on the back mountain?

Many sects built into mountains typically referred to their back mountain as the most northerly and peripheral area, not only remote but the essence energy here was much thinner compared to the central area of the sect. Usually, only sect disciples who had committed significant errors were relegated to the back mountain for reflection.

Dragon Tiger Palace consisted of dozens of peaks; its back mountain was at the furthest end of these numerous peaks.

Although Zhuge Lian and others did not understand Fang Bai’s purpose in heading for the back mountain, they followed him, trusting his judgment.

The seven of them filed out, leaving the mountain gate of Dragon Tiger Palace. This confused some martial artists who were watching them, but with the looming battle, they were too preoccupied with the tempting martial arts techniques and substantial cultivation resources within Dragon Tiger Palace to continue monitoring Fang Bai and his team.

"Brother Fang, could it be that Dragon Tiger Palace’s treasures are all hidden in the back mountain?" Among them, Linghu Baimei knew Fang Bai best, aware that he never acted without a purpose. After they had gotten far from the mountain gate and ensured no outsiders were around, she couldn’t help but ask.

Fang Bai gave Linghu Baimei a thumbs-up and chuckled, "You know me well, Baimei. Indeed, my intuition tells me there’s something good in the back mountain."

Fang Bai was exceptionally sensitive to the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy. When he had diffused his divine sense in all directions earlier, he suddenly captured a strand of essence energy coming from the direction of the back mountain. The purity and richness of this strand were far superior to that near the mountain gate, but it was very faint, so no one other than Fang Bai could detect it.

For Fang Bai, cultivation resources in the world, such as Essence Stones, could hardly avoid leaking their Essence Energy even when deeply buried underground. As long as there was a leak, he had a chance of finding them.

Hearing Fang Bai’s surety, Linghu Baimei and the others became excited. If the back mountain of Dragon Tiger Palace truly held an abundance of cultivation resources, they could avoid competing against thousands of martial artists for their share. That would be optimal.

Employing their movement techniques, the seven swiftly navigated past the myriad peaks forming Dragon Tiger Palace and reached the back mountain.

At this moment, the back mountain was deserted. The Dragon Tiger Palace disciples responsible for its defense had left days ago – some had deserted, and others scattered, while the remaining disciples of the palace had no time to attend to this area, leaving the back mountain neglected.

Following Fang Bai, the seven ascended a peak on the back mountain and looked down to see a tranquil and spacious valley before them. Green trees shaded the valley, and flowers and herbs were everywhere, with some emitting a faint Essence Energy – clearly, they were spiritual medicines, though not old enough to pique the interest of Fang Bai and his team.

This valley in the back mountain of Dragon Tiger Palace was similar to Reflection Valley of the Xuannv Sect, also set with restrictive spells. Martial artists who did not know the method to break these would find it very difficult to enter and exit.

However, such restrictions were child’s play for Fang Bai, hardly worth mentioning.

Fang Bai led Zhuge Lian and the others down the mountain peak, casually breaking the formations and restrictions set around the valley as they entered. It was only then that they discovered there were water pools, stone houses, and such within the valley; when they had overlooked it from the mountain peak earlier, the view had been obscured by the dense forest, and they hadn’t seen these features.

"Brother Fang, are the good things you mentioned... right here?"

Linghu Baimei’s gaze wandered, sizing up the valley’s surroundings, feeling that this place was only slightly better than Xuannv Sect’s Reflection Valley, and besides that, there was nothing special about it.

Fang Bai’s Divine Sense had already spread out, searching for that trace of pure yet faint Essence Energy. Hearing Linghu Baimei’s question, he pointed towards the largest stone house and said, "Let’s take a look over there."

The seven of them filed into the large stone house and saw that inside there was only a bed, a table, and a chair, extremely sparse. Moreover, whether it was the bed, the table, the chair, or the ground itself, everything was coated in a thick layer of dust. There were spider webs of various sizes in the corners, clearly indicating that no one had cleaned this place for a long time, exuding an aura of decay and antiquity.

"This stone house is so dirty..."

Linghu Qian Jiao, a person who greatly cherished cleanliness, frowned deeply at the sight of the grubby stone house.

"The stone house is dirty, but there’s one spot that’s clean; have you all noticed it?"

Fang Bai’s eyes sparkled as he swept a glance across the stone house, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

Hearing this, Zhuge Lian and the other five knew that Fang Bai wouldn’t say such a thing without reason, it must be related to the "good things" of Dragon Tiger Palace. They couldn’t help but become energized, their eyes searching all around.

"That stone brick!"

Zhuge Lian suddenly exclaimed excitedly, pointing to a foot-long stone brick in the corner of the wall: "The entire floor of the stone house is covered in dust, only that stone brick is clean!"

At Linghu Baimei and the others’ gaze, indeed, there was hardly any dust on that brick. However, this brick was located in the most corner of the house, and in the dim light, one would not notice it without looking closely.

"A clean brick suggests someone often moves it..."

Linghu Baimei, a very smart woman herself, muttered, her beautiful eyes suddenly lighting up: "A mechanism?"

Fang Bai nodded with a smile: "More or less! I’m thinking... if there’s an Underground Palace beneath here, could it be that this brick is the key to opening it?"

Hu Ren said, "But... isn’t that unlikely? Usually, a Sect’s Cultivation Resources would be stored near the residences of the higher-ups of the Sect, to prevent any accidents. The upper echelons of Dragon Tiger Palace live on Dragon Peak and Tiger Peak, so the Cultivation Resources of Dragon Tiger Palace should be in that area."

Fang Bai smiled and said, "Hu Ren, there are exceptions to everything. Let’s go have a look first!"

"Right, let’s look first! Maybe there will be surprises?"

Zhuge Lian bent down as she spoke, reaching her hand towards the clean stone brick.

"Be careful!"

Fang Bai suddenly shouted out loud.