The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

"What are you afraid of, Sister? If we get the treasure, we'll share it. The Xuanwu Sect and the Beijing Chen Family have always been on good terms, and I've even met Chen Dong once. Besides, he's the Patriarch of the Chen Family now. With that connection, I wouldn't dare double-cross you!" Xiao Yu continued coaxingly.

Murong Qing frowned and asked, "I can see your Outer Appearance isn't very solid. You must have broken through recently. How did you manage to get your hands on that treasure with so many experts around?"

Speaking of which, Xiao Yu grew excited. "At the epicenter of the earthquake, ten huge mountain ranges that weren't there before just appeared! A whole horde of Martial Artists gathered there to hunt for treasure. Everyone was digging and searching, and to our surprise, they actually found something. The scene was spectacular! Dozens of golden lights shot into the sky in an instant, and all the Inner Realm Martial Artists present immediately took off after them!"

Murong Qing's brow furrowed. "Inner Realm? There were Inner Realm experts there? Was Chen Dong among them?"

Xiao Yu shook her head. "I didn't see Chen Dong! But the crucial part is coming up, so don't interrupt."

Then, gesturing as she spoke, she said, "As soon as those Inner Realm Powerhouses left, I figured the real treasure must have been left behind. I crawled toward the original source of the light and, just as I expected, after searching the giant crater for a bit, the mountains suddenly shook and the ground split open! A Cyan Jade Light Ruler slowly floated up. I immediately lunged forward, grabbed the ruler, and ran for it! Guess what happened next?"

Murong Qing raised an eyebrow. "What else? You were obviously ambushed by a mob of people who had the same idea."

Xiao Yu shook her head and sighed. "That's about the size of it. Those people are monsters, every last one of them ridiculously sneaky! I mean, it's common sense that ownerless treasures go to whoever is fated to find them. Finders keepers! But they have no honor—they all ganged up to rob me! I barely fought my way out, and then there was another one waiting in ambush up ahead. Ugh!"

Murong Qing shook her head. "That's far too brutal. I'm not going!" In truth, she was already tempted, but she knew her own limits. Her current cultivation was only at the Middle to Late Stage of Celestial Spirit, making it incredibly difficult to fight even one Outer Appearance expert, let alone a whole group of them. She could only curse her own low cultivation level; otherwise, she would have definitely tried to experience the glory of snatching a treasure from a thousand rivals.

Xiao Yu sighed again. "Sigh! If you don't go, I'm too weak to accomplish anything by myself. Forget it! What a waste of a great treasure. It has the words 'Celestial Measuring' inscribed on it. Just from the name, you can tell it's incredible—the Celestial Measuring Ruler! If I got my hands on that, I could spank any man I wanted, whenever I wanted. Wouldn't that be fun!"

Murong Qing's face flushed red, a little thrill running through her at the thought of spanking Chen Dong.

Just then, Li Qinghe, who had been engrossed in watching the fight, yelled, "Run! They're coming this way!"

The words had barely left his mouth when a streak of green light flew past and embedded itself in the ground right in front of Li Huiran. It was a ruler, just over three feet long and entirely emerald green. Inscribed on it were the words "Celestial Measuring"—it was the very one Xiao Yu had been talking about!

Li Huiran swallowed hard. She wanted to pick it up but managed to resist the urge. Even if this was the ruler of her dreams, grabbing it now would be suicide.

She immediately jumped up, kicked off her high heels, and started running away barefoot. She had only taken a couple of steps before Murong Qing scooped her up. Compared to a Martial Artist, she was far too slow.

Soon, Xiao Yu was right behind them, but now she was holding the Celestial Measuring Ruler.

Murong Qing snapped coldly, "Why did you pick that up? Drop it, now!"

Xiao Yu pouted and shook her head. "No way! The treasure literally fell at my feet, and you want me to throw it away? This is fate! My lucky day has come!"

Panicked, Murong Qing thought, 'This woman values treasure more than her own life!' She immediately changed direction, trying to put some distance between herself and Xiao Yu.

But Xiao Yu insisted on following her.

Even more anxious, Murong Qing said coldly, "Why are you following me? Take your treasure and run!"

"It's safer with you! There's strength in numbers!"

Murong Qing was so exasperated she wanted to hit the woman with a couple of Ice Swords. But before she could act on the impulse, the Outer Appearance experts caught up.

Deafening roars, amplified by True Qi, echoed from behind them. "You lot, stop running!"

"Leave the treasure behind!"

"A few little wenches think they can get their hands on the treasure? You're courting death!"

Murong Qing glanced back and did a quick count. 'Two, four, six... hell.' There were a good thirteen and a half "Outer Appearance giants" chasing them. One was missing a hand and a foot, so she mentally counted it as half. 'To think that someone with such a physical defect could still cultivate to the Outer Appearance realm...' Murong Qing couldn't help but be impressed.

As if reading Murong Qing's mind, Xiao Yu offered an explanation. "That's the One-legged Zhenren from Ten Thousand Miles Tower. I don't think he came to snatch the treasure at first. He wanted to see if the red light in Jiangzhou could heal his injuries, but somehow he got dragged into this!"

Murong Qing roared, "Well, *I* don't want to be involved! So get the hell away from me!"

Xiao Yu, still behind her, made a face. "Nope!"

"Hand over the treasure, now!"

"Don't let me catch you, or I'll show you the meaning of fear!"

The Outer Appearance experts continued their roars as they chased relentlessly.

Partway through his escape, Li Qinghe was surprised to find that no one was chasing him. The beautiful Li Manor, however, looked as if it had been ravaged by a demonic beast. It was utterly devastated, though thankfully, the main villa in the center had been spared.

Hearing the roars, Murong Qing, running at the very front, looked down at Li Huiran in her arms. 'If she counts as a treasure,' she thought, 'I'm tempted to drop this one, too!'