Once they reached the guest area and were seated with tea, Fang Qingyuan exchanged a few pleasantries before stating his purpose. He wanted to ask Chu River to use his divination arts to deduce the whereabouts of the Pig-faced and Bull-faced Cultivators.
During their previous battle, the Pig-faced and Bull-faced Cultivators had left behind nurous traces. The bloodstains on the ground alone were enough for Chu River to perform his divination.
Chu River did not refuse Fang Qingyuan’s request. He owned a share of Red Lotus Square, so it was only right that he get involved.
After taking the small vial from Fang Qingyuan, Chu River poured a few drops of fresh blood into a bronze water basin. As Chu River perford his technique, blurry human figures gradually materialized on the water’s clear surface.
In addition to the image, a faint voice could be heard:
"It won’t be too late to seek revenge after you’ve recovered from your injuries. But if you dare cause trouble in the pleasure district for no reason again, even I won’t be able to protect you..."
The speaker was wearing a dragon mask, and the perspective of the scene in the basin seed to be that of the Bull-faced Cultivator.
As the Bull-faced Cultivator nodded repeatedly, the Dragon-faced cultivator’s tone softened. He continued:
"The new Dog-faced cultivator has been chosen. While you two are recovering, use the free ti to teach him the rules, lest he... Who dares to spy!?"
With the Dragon-faced cultivator’s explosive shout, the image in the bronze basin before Fang Qingyuan vanished completely. Chu River let out a stifled groan, clearly suffering so backlash.
After a few monts, once Chu River had recovered his breath, he said:
"They should be hiding about eight hundred li to the west. However, by the ti you arrive, they will have either moved to a new location or prepared an ambush. My alliance is short-staffed at the mont, as we’re in a standoff with Da Zui Hall. I cannot spare any n to help you. I hope you understand."
Chu River had made his stance clear: he would help with the divination, but providing n was out of the question. Fang Qingyuan was not surprised. Chu River had his own concerns, and besides, he hadn’t been counting on help from outsiders anyway.
"Just knowing the location is a great help. Thank you for your assistance this ti, Alliance Leader Chu. I will pay you another visit once this matter is resolved."
Fang Qingyuan turned to leave as soon as he finished speaking. It was a race against ti, and not a mont could be wasted.
But just then, Chu River called out to stop him. He took a Gilded Copper Mirror from his storage bag and handed it to Fang Qingyuan, saying:
"This Soul-Searching Mirror will help you better sense the Bull-faced Cultivator’s location. You only need to sar his blood on the mirror’s surface, and it will point you in the right direction. It’s a small token of my goodwill. Please, accept it."
Fang Qingyuan accepted the mirror, thanked him once more, and then left the headquarters of the Gua Talisman Alliance with Situ Jingyu.
After Fang Qingyuan’s party left, one of Chu River’s subordinates asked in confusion:
"Alliance Leader, why did you give him the Soul-Searching Mirror? That Magical Artifact may not be high-grade, but it’s difficult to make, extrely valuable, and we’re unlikely to get another one."
Chu River glared at the man. ’As if I don’t know that?’ he thought. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, a lingering fear in his heart. Just as Fang Qingyuan had been about to leave, he had suddenly felt an intense killing intent aid at his neck. His very soul felt like it had been plunged into an ice pit, yet he had been completely unable to sense the source.
He was already a Late-stage Foundation Establishnt Cultivator. To be affected like that, the person had to be a Golden Core Cultivator. And for that killing intent to appear at that precise mont, not a second sooner or later, made the cultivator right in front of him highly suspicious.
So, Chu River had acted decisively, hastily offering the Soul-Searching Mirror to appease this veritable god of plague. And just as he had expected, the killing intent vanished the mont he handed over the Magical Artifact, as if it had never existed.
Thinking of this, Chu River said to the people beside him:
"I’m going into seclusion. If that man cos again, just tell him I’m in seclusion and treat him with due courtesy."
With that, Chu River ignored the looks on the faces of those around him and strode quickly toward the Quiet Chamber to enter seclusion.
...
A journey of eight hundred li would take a Qi Cultivation Cultivator an entire day, and a Foundation Establishnt Cultivator two to four hours. But for a Golden Core Demon Beast like Heiye, it took only half an hour to forty-five minutes to reach the destination.
Although Heiye was carrying Fang Qingyuan, Jinbao, and Situ Jingyu, which slowed him down slightly, the Dragon-faced cultivator could never have anticipated that they would arrive so quickly.
Over a distance of eight hundred li, even a slight directional error could lead one far astray. But thanks to the Soul-Searching Mirror from Chu River, finding the target was much easier.
Fang Qingyuan took the collected blood of the Bull-faced Cultivator and carefully sared it across the Soul-Searching Mirror’s surface, simultaneously infusing it with Magical Power. Instantly, the thin film of blood began to give off a faint, fluorescent glow. The outermost layer of blood swirled on the mirror, seemingly guided by so unseen force, until it condensed into a levitating droplet the size of a date pit.
As Fang Qingyuan poured more Magical Power into the mirror, the droplet of blood stretched and transford in midair, becoming a sharp, thorn-like point, angled toward their right.
"There!"
Fang Qingyuan called out in a low voice. Heiye’s form materialized from the shadows, and a gust of wind swept up Fang Qingyuan and his companions, whisking them silently in the direction indicated by the Soul-Searching Mirror.
They arrived at a subterranean labyrinth. Aboveground was a vast, unremarkable expanse of Black Sand. The underground terrain was surprisingly similar to that of Situ Jingyu’s sect, only without the churning subterranean magma.
It was likely part natural formation, part artificial construction. The Twelve Elental Beast Cultivators were hidden here, in what must be one of their many nests.
Heiye led them underground. His intention was for Fang Qingyuan and Situ Jingyu to stay behind while he handled things himself.
But Situ Jingyu felt she had to participate to earn the Spirit Stones Fang Qingyuan had given her. Fang Qingyuan, for his part, considered this his Foundation Establishnt Opportunity and worried that his absence might have unforeseen negative consequences. Even if he only played a minor role and stayed on the sidelines, it was better than doing nothing at all.
Thus, Heiye infiltrated first, while Fang Qingyuan, Situ Jingyu, and Jinbao followed together, watching each other’s backs.
But shortly after Fang Qingyuan and Situ Jingyu’s group entered the caves, they heard a series of screams from deeper inside. When they followed the sound and arrived, they found an open cavern where several Cultivators lay dead, the ground soaked with their blood.
These Cultivators were all wearing different elental beast masks and still clutched various Magical Artifacts and Talismans in their hands. It looked like they had been lying in ambush. Fang Qingyuan looked at their masks, identifying them as Horse, Goat, Monkey, Dog, Rooster, and Snake—six beasts in total.
These six Cultivators were all at the Qi Cultivation level, so naturally, they couldn’t withstand a single claw from Heiye. The poor Dog-faced cultivator had just been inducted, only to et such a violent end. His luck was truly abysmal.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyuan hurried forward to search their storage bags. All six were sealed with restrictive spells, but with Situ Jingyu right there, he asked for her help. Within monts, she had opened them all.
RATTLE! Fang Qingyuan dumped the contents of all the storage bags onto the ground. With a sense of trepidation, he began to sift through the pile, searching for what he needed.
Just as he’d hoped, Fang Qingyuan found four black daggers, each carved with a different Seal Script. Looking at them, he felt a little more at ease.
’Including the ones I took from the Rooster and Snake cultivators before, I now have six daggers,’ he thought. ’The other six must be here, too.’
He found it strange, however, that the storage bags of the new Rooster and Snake cultivators at his feet didn’t contain any black daggers. He couldn’t figure out why.
Mulling this over, Fang Qingyuan casually swept the items from the ground into his own storage bag. He then collected the bodies of the Tribulation Cultivators into a separate, clean storage bag before carefully following Situ Jingyu deeper into the caverns.
A few monts later, Fang Qingyuan found the corpses of four more cultivators: Bull, Tiger, Pig, and Rabbit. All four were Foundation Establishnt Cultivators. The Rabbit-faced Cultivator had a tall, slender build and was clearly a Female Cultivator.
Of the four, the Tiger-faced Cultivator had the highest cultivation, having reached Mid-stage Foundation Establishnt. Yet he had been utterly powerless against Heiye’s claws. This poor fellow had suffered the most grueso death, his body torn limb from limb. It seed he had managed to anger Heiye.
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