"Wa..."

  Thorn's warning only got out one word before it stopped abruptly. He stared at the Blade Beast in Chen Yue's hand in astonishment, his eyes full of disbelief.

  Although the dark shadow had been cut into two halves, it was still easy to recognize that it was a third-order magical beast that was extremely good at lurking and launching sneak attacks. It was a third-order magical beast! Even someone as powerful as a fifth-order fighter like Thorn didn't have the certainty to kill it with one strike. What's more, in such a dangerous situation, it would have been quite good if he could exert half of his strength to repel it in an instant.

  However, in such an extremely unfavorable situation, this third-order magical beast was killed with just one sword strike.

  Instant kill?

  These two words popped up in Chen Yue's mind. Could the first ability of the Blade Beast be instant kill?

  This... This was too exaggerated.

  However, Chen Yue then shook his head vigorously, shaking off this absurd speculation.

  Even if there really was such an abnormal ability as instant kill, it couldn't possibly appear on a mere two-star Blade Beast.

  But, if it were true...

  The scene in the Spirit Realm when the Blade Beast didn't flinch at all under the coercion of the eight-star summoned beast flashed through Chen Yue's mind. Thinking of this, he suddenly became a bit excited.

  His eyes kept scanning around. What Chen Yue wanted to do most now was to use more magical beasts to verify his idea. Unfortunately, they had already retreated a long way. In a short time, except for this unexpectedly appeared third-order magical beast, there wasn't another magical beast within a hundred meters nearby.

  Chen Yue smacked his lips, looking a bit reluctant. But Thorn grabbed him and pulled him back. It wasn't safe here. Soon, the two of them returned to the original camp of the Snow Goose Mercenary Group.

  The mercenary group had retreated in a hurry, and many large items had been left behind. The two of them casually found a place to sit down and waited for the others to arrive.

  After that trip just now, due to the inside story that Thorn didn't know, the distribution of the magical beast group had already changed a lot. The magical beasts from the other three directions had gathered here. At this time, the magical beast group was concentrated as never before. Probably less than one percent of them would still chase after the Snow Goose Mercenary Group, and it no longer threatened the safety of the whole group.

  Thorn's eyes wandered over the Blade Beast several times, and his eyes became hot, with a bit of struggle in them. He could tell that it was this strange weapon that had killed that third-order magical beast in an instant. He didn't know the identity of the Blade Beast as a summoned beast, but he naturally thought of another possibility: a powerful and magical weapon.

  Perhaps only these powerful weapons could easily kill a third-order magical beast.

  Thinking of this, it was impossible for Thorn not to be envious. If he got this powerful and magical weapon, he was confident that he would even have the strength to fight against a sixth-order fighter.

  However, to lay hands on his own people...

  All kinds of thoughts were fiercely clashing in his mind. After a long while, Thorn let out a long sigh with an unclear meaning and resolutely looked away, never looking at the extremely tempting Blade Beast again.

  A silent smile appeared at the corner of Chen Yue's mouth. His fingers gripping the Blade Beast loosened a bit, and a big stone in his heart suddenly fell.

  He had noticed Thorn's gaze on the Blade Beast at the first time and had already prepared his body to respond at any time. He hadn't recovered to his best state yet. If Thorn had really made up his mind to kill and seize the treasure, then he would have had no choice but to fight to the death.

  Fortunately, Thorn finally chose to give up.

  "Good brother." In Chen Yue's mind, Thorn's status had risen to be just below that of Ling Yue'er, Vinia and others, and he was truly included in the group of people he could trust.

  You should know that Chen Yue wasn't his member at all, and Thorn had even saved his life. Even though Chen Yue's reminder had saved the lives of most people before, strictly speaking, it was just a mutual offset. If he really wanted to do something, he wouldn't have any psychological burden at all.

  "No wonder the people in the Snow Goose Mercenary Group respect him so much." This test made Chen Yue understand Thorn's temperament a bit more: "Should I hide it from him?"

  Chen Yue hesitated.

  "Thorn..."

  "Hmm?"

  Shaking his head, Chen Yue suppressed the sudden thought. Different from the Blade Beast that might only be a powerful and magical weapon, he knew how tempting it was for other professionals to know that a low-level apostle appeared far away from the Free Capital. Given how much the Apostle Association valued each apostle, if handled properly, there was a high possibility of getting a sum of money from the Apostle Association. If Thorn really knew his identity, it was hard to guarantee that he could resist such a huge temptation.

  There was no need for such a test at all.

  After a pause, Chen Yue casually picked a topic: "Thorn, why did your Snow Goose Mercenary Group come to the Ace Mountains?"

  As soon as the words came out, Chen Yue regretted it. He had already decided to leave after this. This was just looking for trouble. With his identity as an apostle, it would be easy for him to repay the Snow Goose Mercenary Group in the future. There was no need to get involved in the current treasure event at all. Saying this at this time was likely to cause misunderstandings.

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  "You don't know?" Thorn looked at Chen Yue in extreme surprise: "Then why are you in the Ace Mountains?"

  "Uh, I'm here to practice in order to make a breakthrough. Moreover, I came in half a year ago and haven't gone out since then." Considering that he had also avoided people when he came, Chen Yue changed the time of entering to half a year ago.

  "Practice?" Hearing this, Thorn muttered to himself a few times. No wonder Chen Yue didn't want the fighting spirit secrets he offered. It turned out that he already had something better.

  The previous doubts had reasonable explanations.

  However, what kind of fighting spirit cultivation method could train the physical strength to such an extent? Thorn really couldn't figure it out. Coupled with the Blade Beast that was suspected to be a powerful and magical weapon, Chen Yue's origin became even more mysterious in his eyes.

  Such a person should be befriended and must not be offended.

  With this understanding, Thorn answered very readily.

  "Actually, it's not a big secret. I'm afraid many people know it. Since you've been practicing here for half a year, Chen Yue, you should have seen quite a number of adventurers, right?"

  Chen Yue nodded and described the tragic scene of corpses lying everywhere in the snow, which made Thorn sigh with emotion.

  Clearing his throat, Thorn began to tell the story: "The whole thing started a month ago..."

  Just as Chen Yue had guessed, treasures had been unearthed in the Ace Mountains.

  A month ago, an adventurer came to the city closest to the Ace Mountains. He was a member of a very famous mercenary group, and many people knew him. So he quickly got medical treatment. However, he still couldn't be saved in the end due to his serious injuries. Then, something strange happened. For three consecutive days, no one came to claim his belongings.

  You should know that the scale of the adventurer's mercenary group was not small. Generally speaking, such an embarrassing situation like this should never happen.

  Unless something had happened.

  Several mercenary groups that were in a competitive relationship with them secretly inquired about the news and then found out that three months ago, all the members of this mercenary group had gone out to carry out a mysterious task. No matter what methods they used, they couldn't find out the content of the task. Originally, the matter would have ended there.

  However, a week later, a sensational news came back that the whole mercenary group had been wiped out.

  There were as many as three fifth-order powerhouses in that mercenary group, and the lowest level of its members was the third order. Such a powerful strength was quite significant in any city. When people first heard this news, no one believed it was true.

  What kind of task could make such a powerful force disappear completely?

  Almost everyone's attention was focused on the belongings of the only adventurer who had come back alive. Unfortunately, they paid attention too late. Ten days was enough for a lot of things to happen, and the belongings were gone.

  Shortly after the news of the wipeout came, a piece of news spread that there were astonishing treasures hidden in the Ace Mountains. Even getting a small part of them could make a penniless person instantly as rich as a country. Many adventurers couldn't resist the temptation and rushed towards the Ace Mountains without verifying the authenticity of the news.

  This first wave of people was the ones who died outside the core area. Most of them were dazzled by the benefits and didn't understand the horror of the Ace Mountains at all. Very few of them could return alive.

  Several large mercenary groups joined forces to arrest the rumor spreader and found the missing inheritance from his residence. Then, everything came to light.

  "There was indeed a treasure map in it." Thorn smiled, his eyes a bit desolate: "However, it's not an ordinary treasure map. The people who got it at first didn't understand these. I'm afraid few of the people who came to the Ace Mountains knew its real value. The Snow Goose had good luck and participated in the analysis of that treasure map. Then, we got an astonishing secret. Speaking of which, the Radiant Sun Mercenary Group didn't die in vain for getting this treasure map."

  The Radiant Sun Mercenary Group was exactly the large mercenary group that had been wiped out.

  Chen Yue pursed his lips. He didn't want to listen anymore. He knew that since it was an astonishing secret, it was probably only in the hands of a few people. Thorn might know it, but he didn't have to tell it to himself.

  "If Brother Chen Yue is interested, I'm willing to share this secret with you."

  "What?" Chen Yue was shocked and stared at Thorn, who had a calm expression on his face. Then, his eyelids slightly narrowed: "Why are you willing to share it with me?"

  "Because I've lost confidence." Thorn smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Don't laugh at me. The incident of the magical beast group just now made me wake up. In a place like the Ace Mountains, having a large number of people isn't the key. In our group, I'm the only one who can move around here freely with some difficulty. But the ones who agreed to come and dig for treasures together aren't just our Snow Goose. If I rely solely on myself, I'm afraid I won't get much benefit."

  He looked directly into Chen Yue's eyes and said in a deep voice: "I need helpers, so I'm willing to share it with you."

  Chen Yue smiled bitterly. The vision of a fifth-order fighter was really extraordinary. He had already seen that Chen Yue's real strength was above the fourth order. Coupled with the Blade Beast that was suspected to have the ability of instant kill, he probably had already regarded Chen Yue as an equal.

  Of course, after the second transformation, as long as he recovered to his best state in two days, Chen Yue was also confident that he wouldn't be inferior to any fifth-order professional. With the Blade Beast, his chances of winning were even greater.

  "I can consider it. Go ahead." After pondering for a moment, Chen Yue nodded.

  When hearing this sentence, Thorn had a strange feeling, as if the other party was giving orders from a superior position instead of standing on an equal footing.

  Shaking his head strangely, it was Thorn's turn to hesitate this time. Chen Yue's ambiguous attitude made him very embarrassed. What if he told the secret but Chen Yue didn't agree?

  "Don't worry. If I'm not interested in the secret you said, I'll compensate you with something of equal value." Seeing Thorn's hesitation, Chen Yue said directly.

  Hearing this, Thorn felt relieved. He thought he was very good at judging people and knew Chen Yue's character. Since he had said so, he would definitely do it. Moreover, he was very confident in that secret and wasn't afraid that Chen Yue wouldn't be interested.

  "Of course I trust Brother Chen Yue. However, before telling the secret, there's one point I must make clear. This is also the unanimous decision of the people who participated in the analysis of the treasure map." Slowly, Thorn's face became extremely serious.

  "What decision?" Chen Yue asked curiously.

  "This decision is..." Thorn said solemnly, word by word:

  "Absolutely don't let the apostles know."

  In an instant, Chen Yue's expression became extremely strange.

  ...