Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Treasure Map
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In the opulent brothels of Ten Lakes, at Blossom Pavilion—the most expensive gisaeng house in the region—an incongruous scruffy fellow was guzzling booze like there was no tomorrow.
Ragged clothes, unkempt beard, grimy fingernails under caked dirt: everything about him screamed he didn't belong in a place like this, far from the upper crust who could afford such pleasures.
The grave robber Yung was tasting the liquors of Blossom Pavilion for the first time, so he was just stuffing his face indiscriminately, surrounded by women.
Groping a gisaeng's breasts while swigging his drink, Yung felt like an immortal himself—hands full of flowers, indulging in exotic delicacies and fine spirits.
And with one woman impaled on his cock to boot, it couldn't get any better.
"Ahh, sir. Try some of this too."
The gisaeng with her breasts bared clearly recoiled at Yung's filthy appearance, but armed with professional spirit, she cooed sweetly and fed him a morsel.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"
The gisaeng skewered on Yung's cock moaned as she bounced her hips furiously.
Creak!
The door slid open, and in walked another man dressed just as shabbily as Yung.
Unfamiliar with the place, he glanced around nervously until he spotted Yung and asked,
"Yung, what the hell are you doing in a fancy joint like this? Dragging me here too. Did you strike it rich or something?"
As the man entered, Yung—pretending to be a regular—nodded coolly and said,
"Heh heh, sit, sit. Sung, have a drink first. I won't make you pay."
"R-Really? You're buying? Did money really rain down on you?"
Money rain? You bet it did.
Just thinking about that windfall put Yung in high spirits.
Yung guffawed and jerked his chin toward a parchment on the table.
"Take a good look at that parchment. Remember what we dug up together last time? That crypt full of musty old parchments. We snagged one that looked like a map, right? Well, we got a translation."
We didn't know what the hell it was when we first found it—it looked like a map, but total gibberish.
The parchment bore some drawing composed of bizarre shapes and lines.
Sung, with years of tomb-robbing sharpening his eye, recognized its contents at a glance.
"...Isn't this a treasure map?"
"Bingo. Eh, nice. Take a closer look. Lift those hips higher, you slut."
Smack!
"Ahh! Sir, that feels so good."
Yung slapped the ass of the woman riding his cock and bucked his hips.
The gisaeng let out a sultry cry, twisting her waist to grind harder on his shaft, lifting and dropping her hips with practiced rhythm.
Yung groaned, helpless against the gisaeng's expert technique honed in the arts of sex. His body shuddered as he blew his load deep inside her pussy.
Feeling the warmth flood her belly, she pulled off his cock, gave her ass a playful wiggle, and sauntered out of the room.
Yung watched her go, then glanced at his limp dick before ordering another gisaeng to get it hard again.
After she stroked and sucked it to stiffness, Yung rammed it into yet another gisaeng.
Squelch!
Unlike his first go, the thrust lacked its earlier vigor, but Yung shook his hips with gusto anyway.
Sung shot a envious glance at the scene before burying his nose back in the parchment. Sex was great, but money first.
He needed to figure out where this cash cow was.
"This spot... looks like it's right on the edge of Radiant Moon Sect territory?"
"Strictly speaking, heh, half in and half out."
Yung paused mid-thrust as climax surged, groaning and pulling out. The gisaeng pressed her hips back with a coquettish whine, but Yung recoiled in panic, yanking away further.
The gisaengs' masterful sexual prowess was beyond what a mere grave robber like Yung could endure.
Their pussies writhed like they'd been trained for it, milking his cock; their asses and waists moved independently, like separate creatures designed solely to wring semen from a man's dick.
Yung cleared his throat awkwardly and pulled out completely. He'd yanked it free just shy of cumming, which felt embarrassing.
But there was no helping it. Even he, renowned among his peers for his stamina, wilted after two rounds straight. Three or more was superhuman.
Sung scratched his neck while eyeing the treasure map.
"So... should we sell this to Radiant Moon Sect?"
"Ugh! Yeah. To Radiant Moon Sect."
With his cock somewhat calmed, he shoved it back into the gisaeng bent over, ass up. The squirming grip made him groan again on entry.
"Wonder how much we'll get?"
"Hoo, a whole chest brimming with gold ingots, easy. It's a treasure map to an ancient ruin, after all."
"A chest of gold ingots? Whoa, we're rich!"
"Satisfied with chump change?"
"Then what?"
"Sell copies to the other great sects too."
"What? Is that safe?"
"What's unsafe about it? We're just selling maps. Quit yapping and copy it already. You wanna make money or not?"
"Y-Yeah, hell yes."
"Unh, unh! You loosen up first, then we'll work."
Yung gripped the gisaeng's slender waist and pistoned his thick hips relentlessly.
Thwack! Thwack!
"Ah! Aah! Sir, sir!"
The gisaeng cried out in ecstasy, rolling her hips. Yung's rhythm slowed to match, syncing perfectly. Wet slaps echoed through the room.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Catching the vibe, Sung grabbed a nearby gisaeng and stripped her clothes off.
"Sir, you're too hasty. Slow down."
"Heh heh heh, slow? We're already behind schedule. This sir's about to be filthy rich—the kind you girls love. Don't you wanna hurry up and fuck?"
Sung yanked, and her clothes slid off in a rustle.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Qi Gathering Festival was right around the corner.
The excited buzz leading up to it showed no signs of dying down.
No matter the dangers, it was an event where one could achieve Qi Gathering Realm through the ritual pill. All eyes were on it.
"I'll definitely join next year's festival."
"Me too!"
"As if you lot will ever make it. Focus on cultivating and raising your realms."
Thus, the festival served as fine motivation for Response Qi disciples.
While everyone buzzed with joy, only Yuk-gyeong—who couldn't attend—kicked idly at a rock, grumbling.
Radiant Moon Sect's leadership was abuzz too.
Not just the festival, but for another reason.
Main Hall.
Elders of all factions had gathered here for a meeting, regardless of alliances. The hall thrummed with uncharacteristic heat.
At the central table lay an aged parchment.
Twisting lines, patterns, symbols: it appeared to be a treasure map.
The elders had already verified its authenticity via preliminary scouting.
"The treasure map those grave robbers brought is legit. Something's definitely there at the marked spot."
"Is it definitely an ancient ruin? If it's a bust, we're in trouble. Festival's almost here."
"Judging by scale and form, eighty percent chance it's an ancient site."
Yoon Elder, ever the nitpicker, piped up.
"Eighty percent? What's the other twenty?"
"Probably nothing major. Anyway, let's focus on it being an ancient ruin with eighty-plus percent odds."
Why hadn't Radiant Moon Sect spotted it on their border? It was near the main sect.
One elder scrutinized the map and nodded in realization.
"That direction... I see. Near the forbidden zone. That's why we missed it."
Another nodded and analyzed coolly.
"We must be careful with personnel allocation. Can't empty the main sect—vital guards must stay. After assigning festival attendees from the rest, we'll be short for excavation. Only enough Qi Gathering disciples to fill quotas; manpower's thin."
"So what? Can't pull from main sect. Skimp on Mountain Protection Array guards, and it's as good as empty."
No alternatives. Scrape together every spare body after minimal array defenders.
"Then we'll have to mobilize Response Qi disciples too. If it's truly ancient, Radiant Moon Sect must go all-in."
"What's an ancient ruin worth betting the main sect's fate on?"
Huang Elder, a fresh face to elder duties, spoke up. His first ruin dig, so ignorance was excusable.
"Ancient sites hold lost techniques, rare elixirs and herbs unavailable today, talismans galore. True treasure troves."
First: economic gain.
Ancient cultivators trained amid denser spiritual energy; their civilizations rivaled today's in splendor.
Teeming with spirit herbs, wielding bizarre, potent spells—the ancients' lives lingered vivid in such ruins.
Securing one meant a massive boon for the entire sect.
"Worse... if there's a teleport array inside, problems arise. Being near our border, failing to claim it could breed disaster. Worst case, destroy the array even if we can't take the site."
Second: security.
Ancient cultivators popularized teleport arrays; nearly every ruin had one.
Modern ones required paired arrays to function, but ancients' didn't.
Somehow, unpaired ones linked up—even to freshly made singles.
The principle eluded discovery, but high-realm cultivators roughly grasped the method.
Thus, ancient teleports were boon and bane.
One wrong link, and it became an enemy backdoor.
Hence, sects swarmed ruin digs like frenzied wolves.
Radiant Moon Sect's hypersensitivity stemmed from this.
Headache. The sect leader rubbed his temples and appointed an elder to lead the excavation.
"Jade Maiden Peak's Han Elder will handle the ruin dig."
From the table's edge, a veiled woman who had sat silently till now replied.
"Yes, as you command."
Even in the Main Hall, her face stayed shrouded in gauze. No one commented; it was just how things were.
One elder, deeming matters settled, stood and swept out.
The meeting concluded, and the hall emptied.