novelraw Chapter 123
Chapter 123
After checking Old Ning’s storage pouch once more and finding nothing new, Wang Yu began to inspect the spoils of battle.
The belongings of seven late-stage Qi Refining cultivators contained spirit stones far fewer than Old Ning’s savings, only about eighteen thousand. However, the number of magical artifacts, pills, and talismans used for various situations was extremely large, totaling over a hundred.
The combined value of these items reached twenty thousand spirit stones.
It looked wealthy, but in truth, it was quite average.
After all, these were seven late-stage Qi Refining elites. By rights, they should have already begun stockpiling resources for breaking through to Foundation Establishment. But living in the Taihu Spiritual Domain was simply too dangerous.
Most of their true savings were probably stored somewhere in their sect, and they carried at most one-third with them.
In addition, there were some spell manuals they had gathered while on missions. Many were duplicates, likely shared among themselves.
They were roughly divided into five types, with only a few useful to him.
Thousand Mile Divine Travel, Floating Technique, Breath Concealment Technique, Tortoise Breath Secret Method, Five Element Arts: Qi Refining.
The high-grade spell Thousand Mile Divine Travel was an excellent method for rushing over long distances, precisely filling Wang Yu’s weakness in endurance.Normally, a cultivator had to break through to Foundation Establishment before being able to study movement techniques. Those were true aerial combat arts, ones that would accompany a cultivator for their entire life.
Among the rest, only the Tortoise Breath Secret Method might be useful in certain situations. Floating Technique and Breath Concealment Technique had little use for him. As for Five Element Arts, it recorded small spells related to the five elements.
All of them were first-rank low-grade spells. They offered almost no help in improving combat strength but could be very convenient in daily life.
This was essentially a low-grade spell compendium. When placed into his idle slot for comprehension, a single spell required fifteen days to perfect. It was impossible to comprehend the entire book at once.
Wang Yu prepared to select a few with strong practical value to study.
After all, he possessed Five Element Spiritual Roots, which were quite balanced. Cultivating and using five-element spells was done at normal efficiency. He neither gained extra benefits from spiritual root bonuses nor faced difficulty from incompatible attributes.
It was simply average.
Sometimes he wondered. If his Five Element Spiritual Roots had reached the level of a Heavenly Spiritual Root, perhaps he would have become a natural Five Element Spiritual Body. Unfortunately, his roots were too short, inferior even to the length of a low-grade spiritual root.
“Almost enough.”
Gathering his thoughts, Wang Yu once again set up the Eight Directions Bewildering Spirit Formation near Stone Lake. He had not forgotten that when the team first entered the Taihu Spiritual Domain, six people had gone north and vanished.
Perhaps they would return, perhaps not, but proper preparations had to be made. Better safe than sorry.
Next, he planned to remain hidden in Stone Lake to cultivate quietly, waiting for Wang Wu’s return. He had already arranged everything regarding the Wang Manor. Once those two first-stage Qi Refining cultivators made contact with Wang Wu, he would know immediately.
Flipping through the many storage pouches, Wang Yu found several bottles of pills. They contained a spirit pill called Water-Avoiding Pill. Its effect was simple.
It granted the ability to breathe underwater. If one remained still, its medicinal effect could last for ten days.
Using an alchemy imprint to verify, he confirmed the pills had no poison. Only then did he swallow one and sink directly into the depths of the lake, vanishing without a trace.
Who would have thought he would remain like that for three months.
…
…
Stone Lake City, City Lord’s Manor.
Ever since the incident three months ago, when Qi Refining late-stage cultivators fought within the city, the entire manor has been under strict lockdown, to the point where even the wind and grass seemed filled with alarm.
At the four city gates, cultivators skilled in the art of detection were hidden, attempting to uncover the troublemakers.
The new City Lord’s surname was Yuan. He was not very old, having just passed his sixtieth birthday. He came from the same lineage as the former City Lord and was somewhat well-known within the Spirit Vulture Sect.
His cultivation had only just reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining. Although this level appeared low, it was already quite decent, especially since the Spirit Vulture Sect was only a small sect with its peak no higher than Foundation Establishment.
If he strove hard, by around one hundred years of age he might have a chance to attack the Foundation Establishment realm.
To achieve this goal, he required a vast supply of resources.
A small city like Stone Lake was far from sufficient. The resources generated by its spiritual vein were not enough to let him advance quickly. Thus, it was obvious that he turned his attention toward people.
As a result, a secret trade spanning two regions officially began. Selling youths with Wasted Spiritual Roots was only one aspect. The greater profit lay in a deeper plan.
He was working for the Blood Reversal Sect, specifically for a certain elder from Cold Blood Peak. There might even have been other demonic sects involved, dragging the entire Spirit Vulture Sect into muddy waters.
Not long after Old Ning completed a transaction with him, a battle broke out inside the city. Aside from leftover bloodstains, almost no clues were left behind.
Even the traces of spiritual power lingering in the air had been deliberately scattered.
Yuan Qu was very worried about being discovered. Within the Taihu Spiritual Domain, there were seven Nascent Soul-level orthodox lineages. Besides Biyun Sect, Thunderfire Temple, and Moon-Observing Palace, which were near the Demonic Domain, there were also Crane-Return Valley, Blazing Sun Sect, Heavenly Void Sword Sect, and Northern Suppression Tower. Among these seven, the Heavenly Void Sword Sect was the leader of the righteous path. It had more than twenty Nascent Soul cultivators, with a well-ordered inheritance and countless emerging geniuses.
It had already stood on this land for more than ten thousand years, truly an ancient orthodoxy.
What Yuan Qu feared most were the disciples of the Sword Sect. Within the Heavenly Void Sword Sect there existed a special institution known as the Institute of Righteous Qi. Only the most exceptional cultivators could enter, whether their talent lay in comprehension, aptitude, temperament, or fortune.
After completing twenty years of study, they would become Walkers of the World. Their number was not fixed. It was said that inside the institute there was a currency system called Dao Merit.
The Walkers roamed throughout the Taihu Spiritual Domain, eliminating demons and maintaining justice, cleansing the world of disorder. Once their Dao Merit accumulated to a certain amount, they could return to the sect and be accepted as true disciples, directly apprenticed under a Nascent Soul cultivator.
From this perspective, the true disciples of the Sword Sect were even more significant and outstanding than those of the Blood Reversal Sect.
In short, the Sword Sect’s Walkers were like a blade of judgment.
They could appear anywhere, and their numbers were constantly increasing.
The incident within Stone Lake City strongly resembled the style of the Walkers. Once they discovered someone violating the principles of the righteous path, they would strike down without mercy.
Now Old Ning’s life or death was uncertain. Yuan Qu feared that he had been captured alive. If he was interrogated and more information was exposed, Yuan Qu himself would suffer. Still, he harbored a sliver of luck.
“What if, just what if, it was the demonic path’s own people tearing at each other?”
“Or perhaps something else happened.”
Internal strife was normal in the demonic path, as normal as mortals drinking water or eating food each day. It was not surprising at all.
Three months had passed with no reaction. The chance that it was the Sword Sect’s Walkers grew lower and lower. It was time to continue advancing the plan.
The Spirit Vulture Sect seemed to share the same opinion.
Thus, today, another group secretly entered the city.