Han Qingwen was even more determined to seize the ancient cultivator's estate discovered by the Su family. The more cautious the other side acted, the more it proved the estate's value in his eyes, so he sped up his journey toward the gates of Xiao Long City.
According to the intel Zhuge Muyu had sent back, the two people from the Su family had already entered the inner region of the Wolong Mountain Range. They still needed time to locate the exact position of the estate within the inner region of the vast peaks. After all, the Wolong Mountain Range was massive, and they couldn't afford to waste any more time.
After receiving the order to immediately transfer via teleportation array, Jin Xiu's eyes flashed with an icy blue sheen that momentarily brightened. He turned on his heel and went off to notify the disciples in the building.
-
Yixian Gate remained still in the cool night air.
Xia Yiwan had been back at the sect for three days now. During those three days, she had only shown her face briefly when she returned, submitted her mission report, and accepted a few routine alchemy tasks. After that, she had stayed holed up in the quiet shadows of her own cave dwelling.
She was waiting for Elder Liang Xiao to come knocking on her door. This plan of using herself as bait had been decided after secret discussions with Yun Po Zūnshàng and Ran Xi Zūnshàng. She was never going to let Liang Xiao off for his betrayal. It was obvious who had sent the high-level cultivator that knocked her out back then. If they had just killed her, she knew the matter would have ended there.
But Liang Xiao was far too ruthless in his dealings. He had sent her to an evil cultivator to be possessed by a foreign spirit. If this ever came to light in the future, she would not only become Liang Xiao's scapegoat, she would also implicate her own master in the scandal. So she would rather let the evil soul temporarily control her body if it meant dragging Liang Xiao out into the open for all to see.
When the moon reached its zenith that night, casting long shadows over the peaks, someone knocked on the entrance of her cave dwelling. The person who appeared before her was someone she had not expected to see.
"Martial Uncle Huo, what brings you here so late at night?"
Huo Chongshan swept a glance over her, then flashed straight into the cave dwelling in a blur of motion.
Xia Yiwan only frowned slightly at the intrusion. She reset the restriction with a wave of her hand and followed him inside.
Huo Chongshan was already seated in the main position of the chamber. He spoke coldly, "This Lord has received word. You're to cooperate in stirring up chaos within Yixian Gate and take the opportunity to steal the Undying Tree."
She shook her head, her expression steady. "The order Tower Master Han gave me was to create disorder and tie down the sect's high-level cultivators while they have other actions planned. I was never told to assist you in stealing the Undying Tree."
After hearing her words, his expression eased somewhat. Once he confirmed she was indeed one of their own, his tone grew a bit more casual.
"This plan was meant to kill two birds with one stone anyway. You just need to cooperate with the arrangements."
Xia Yiwan cupped her hands in a respectful gesture. "Martial Uncle Huo, I will definitely assist you in this matter, but I can't expose myself for now. I still have other tasks to complete."
She made it clear that she would only do what was within her role, ensuring Han Qingwen could succeed in his goals. She would do nothing more than that.
He narrowed his eyes at her. Still, he knew they were all acting independently. If this mission hadn't been somewhat complicated, he would never have sought out the newly joined Xia Yiwan for help.
So he said coldly, "As long as this mission goes smoothly, we will have chances to work together in the future. Don't think you can stay out of it. The Undying Tree is extremely important to the evil god. We must take it."
Faced with the blatant threat, she lowered her gaze to the floor. "Yes. Yiwan understands."
An hour later, he finally left her cave dwelling and vanished into the night.
After setting down the restriction once more, Xia Yiwan sat down cross-legged to cultivate. At the same time, she used the Ice Soul Cold Cicada to send the message to her master, Yun Po.
Yun Po was teasing Li Li when he received the news. She hadn't expected there to be more than one evil cultivator infiltrating Yixian Gate. She immediately scooped up the small white beast and went to find Yunxi.
Yunxi was carving the final array plate, her focus intense. Because of his interruption, the last plate cracked with a sharp sound and shattered into eight pieces on the table. She shot her a resentful look.
Yun Po rubbed her nose, embarrassed by the clumsy entrance. "Hehe, that's my fault. I was just in a hurry to share the news Xia Yiwan sent back."
Li Li rolled its small eyes, jumped back into Yunxi's arms, used its fluffy tail as a pillow, closed its eyes, and went to sleep. Ever since entering the Wolong Mountain Range, it had been constantly drowsy. Being forced to play with Yun Po earlier had already made it very unhappy.
Yunxi put away the broken fragments and asked, "What kind of important news made you interrupt my array carving?"
Yun Po explained, "The traitor inside Yixian Gate isn't just Liang Xiao. There's another cultivator named Huo Chongshan. He went to see Xia Yiwan and claimed to be her Martial Uncle. He will cooperate with Xia Yiwan to cause trouble inside the sect, but his real target is Yixian Gate's Undying Tree. He is probably planning to steal it and use it to revive the evil god."
When she heard this, her hand paused as she stroked Li Li's fur. No wonder the evil cultivators had been relentlessly targeting her from the beginning. So they had their eyes on the Undying Tree. That was likely Yixian Gate's sect-guarding spiritual plant. Trying to kill two birds with one stone like this was pure wishful thinking on their part.
She asked bluntly, "How strong is Yixian Gate's Mahayana Zhēnzūn?"
Yun Po shook her head, her expression grim. "Yixian Gate's Chen Yebai Zhēnzūn walks the Dao through medicine. He is great at healing and saving people, but he is terrible at fighting. Otherwise, Yixian Gate wouldn't have sent so few disciples into the ancient battlefield, and most of them would not have stayed in the rear refining pills and medicines. Why do you ask?"
Yunxi thought for a moment. "What about Chen Yebai Zhēnzūn's poison arts?"
Yun Po shook her head again. "As far as I know, Chen Yebai Zhēnzūn doesn't cultivate poison arts."
Yunxi said helplessly, "Yixian Gate's inheritance includes a branch dedicated to poison cultivation. That's meant for self-protection. Have they abandoned it? Then what about their dedicated guards?"
Yun Po chuckled, though there was no humor in it. "Yixian Gate does have people who cultivate poison, but since it isn't mainstream, it never formed a proper branch. As for dedicated guards, they don't have any. They have always cooperated with the Loose Cultivator Alliance. When important disciples go out to train, they spend spirit stones to hire cultivators from the alliance to secretly protect them."
Hearing this made Yunxi want to press a hand to her forehead. The situation at Yixian Gate in the Spirit Realm was even worse than she had imagined in her mind.
Yun Po could also tell things were not looking good. Still, the two of them couldn't go to Yixian Gate right now. The moment they showed up, the evil cultivators hiding inside would sense something, and their plan might be exposed. They had worked hard to set a trap for Dengyun Tower. The plan couldn't stop now.
After thinking it over, she said, "I will spread the news and look for nearby high-level cultivators to help. No matter what, we can't let Yixian Gate's sect-guarding treasure be stolen."
Yunxi nodded after some thought. "I will send a message to Ancestor Hao Ran and see if he is able to step in. He used to be an elder of the Loose Cultivator Alliance. We can delay things on our side for another two days. That should be enough time."
"Alright. We will split up."
After he went back, he used the Cicada King to pass on messages to his contacts. Yunxi sent a flying sword message into the sky to Hao Ran Zhēnzūn.
Three days later, Han Qingwen arrived at Xiao Long City. He didn't even stop to rest his weary body. He immediately led his people into the Wolong Mountain Range, rushing toward the coordinates Zhuge Muyu had sent.
Just as Han Qingwen stepped into the Wolong Mountain Range, he saw tribulation thunder forming in the dark clouds above the inner region. Someone was clearly undergoing tribulation.
Sure enough, a quarter hour later, the tribulation thunder came crashing down with a deafening roar. Jin Xiu leaned over and said, "Tower Master, could the estate have appeared? Is the Su family using a disciple's tribulation as cover to hide the opening?"
Han Qingwen narrowed his eyes at the flashing horizon. He didn't reply, but inwardly he leaned toward Jin Xiu's guess. He issued an order at once. "Move to the inner region immediately. Don't waste time."
"Yes!"
The disciples of Dengyun Tower rushed into the Wolong Mountain Range, their figures moving swiftly through the dense trees. And the one undergoing tribulation in the inner region at that very moment was Li Li.