Chapter 157: Jiang Baishan In Peril
Black Stone Mountain Range was also a very famous mountain range within Great Yan territory. Deep within it existed powerful Beast Kings, so ordinary martial artists had to tread carefully when entering.
But to Ning Qi, it was nothing.
Now, the only existences that could make him fearful were those at the Beast Emperor level.
Ning Qi casually walked along the street. No one noticed this youth passing by. He had concealed his aura, making his presence extremely low. Sometimes, people only vaguely noticed after he passed, but upon careful recollection, they couldn’t remember the specific appearance of the person who had just walked by, only feeling extremely astonished.
Ning Qi naturally wasn’t wandering aimlessly.
Just now in the inn, he had already perceived the several suspicious figures mentioned in the intelligence. Now sensing them fleeing into the Black Stone Mountain Range, he immediately followed.
Ahead were three people in total: two men and one woman, all middle-aged, chatting and laughing, looking no different from ordinary adventurous martial artists entering the Black Stone Mountain Range.
But once they entered the Black Stone Mountain Range, the three’s demeanors changed. The originally seemingly equal-status trio immediately became led by the woman.
“Lord, what do we do now?” the two men asked.
The woman replied:
“Follow the old rules!”
Ning Qi listened and couldn’t help but feel a jolt of excitement.
He circulated the Silent Art and silently followed behind. He saw the three circling around, occasionally encountering exotic beasts, but all were handled by one of the men wearing metal gauntlets. This man’s cultivation wasn’t low; it was actually higher than the intelligence indicated, clearly having reached the Core Elixir Realm.
Afterward, the three stopped in a valley.
A low shout came from within the valley:
“State your code.”
The leading woman solemnly replied:
“Southern Border’s Point Red. Which brother from the Sacred Sect has come?”
“Sacred Sect Wind Character Hall’s North Wind Pass. Greetings, Lord Hong.”
“You’re too polite.”
After the two groups met, they exchanged pleasantries. Ning Qi then discovered numerous corpses hidden in the valley. It was easy to see that these corpses had been powerful martial artists in life. He raised an eyebrow, feeling this scene somewhat familiar.
He realized that the Demonic Sect was assisting Southern Border in collecting martial artist corpses, shifting as much as possible from quantity to quality to avoid detection.
Under the guidance of the previous Southern Border trio, the Demonic Sect congregation carried the corpses and continuously advanced through the Black Stone Mountain Range.
There was almost no conversation during this time.
After circling like this for a while, they stopped in a forest. The Southern Border trio turned around with a smile:
“Brothers from the Sacred Sect, you’ve worked hard. We’ll see you off here.”
The Demonic Sect leader didn’t waste words. With a wave of his hand, the congregation placed all the corpses at their feet, then said:
“Lord Hong, until we meet again!”
With that, the group departed together.
Ning Qi secretly praised their decisiveness, but he also attached strands of aura to them. Although the strongest among them was only at the Gang Yuan Realm, since they were confirmed as Demonic Sect people, they were clues.
He roughly figured out that the Demonic Sect sent completely different people each time to deliver the corpses.
He felt some anticipation.
This handover was so cautious and orderly; this stronghold was very likely real.
He hadn’t expected to gain something from the very first place he chose after descending the mountain. Ning Qi was in a good mood. As long as he obtained one more Blood King Gu, he could start investigating if he could detect other Blood King Gu existences and preemptively eliminate this Southern Border threat.
He waited silently.
Once he confirmed the Demonic Sect group had left, the Southern Border leading woman took out a small box from her bosom. Then, a red unidentified gu worm crawled out and flew high with vibrating wings.
Not long after.
Martial artists carrying wooden boxes appeared from afar.
“Lord Hong, this harvest is impressive. Those Demonic Sect people still keep their promises.” The arrivals cheerfully packed the corpses into wooden boxes.
The leading woman just let out a slight hum:
“If we weren’t helping them too, would they do this? In the end, it’s just mutual benefit.”
Although they didn’t know the purpose of collecting corpses from above, they figured the Demonic Sect wouldn’t help casually. They had vaguely heard that the Demonic Sect sought something in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. It was all just mutual utilization.
Soon.
The corpses were loaded. The congregation shouldered the wooden boxes and swiftly departed. Under Ning Qi’s watch, they stopped before another valley.
Another round of strict inspection.
Even from one person’s low complaint, Ning Qi learned that the code changed every time they entered or exited, seemingly combined with traits of the arrivals themselves. This made impersonation extremely difficult.
Ning Qi vaguely felt this might be related to the Qingzhou stronghold he had previously destroyed, as if deliberately guarding against disguise experts.
Southern Border must have reviewed afterward and considered this possibility, thus targeting it.
Fortunately.
The current Ning Qi was no longer comparable to back then.
After stepping into the Heavenly Human Realm, his methods had become even richer.
At this moment.
He seized the opportunity and silently entered the valley. The martial artists’ perceptions failed directly before him.
“A Heavenly Human Realm? And more than one?” Ning Qi was startled inwardly. He detected perceptions containing heaven and earth power sweeping over his hiding spot, and not just one—fully four. For an ordinary person to sneak in would be impossible.
He vaguely felt something off.
So many experts at one stronghold?
Even if Southern Border and Demonic Sect had deep foundations, they wouldn’t be this extravagant, right?
As martial artists carrying wooden boxes advanced one by one.
Ning Qi finally stopped before a palace.
His expression was slightly complex, somewhat self-mocking.
He didn’t even need to enter to know he had been thrilled for nothing.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of Blood Pool aura inside the palace, nor any residual Blood King Gu aura. Instead, the auras of those several Heavenly Human Realm martial artists were extremely prominent, as if poised to strike.
At this point, how could he not understand.
This was a trap.
Clearly set for fishing.
If the Imperial Court’s people recklessly charged in, they’d likely be pitted to death. For a stronghold of this scale, the Imperial Court sending two Heavenly Human Realm experts would already be quite good. After all, the Imperial Court had too many places needing manpower. Unless there was precise intel, they wouldn’t casually send many experts to just any spot.
“Indeed, they can’t be underestimated.” Ning Qi sighed softly, dispelling the slight underestimation he had before descending the mountain.
With his abilities, even he had thought this was truly a Blood King Gu cultivation stronghold at the start, let alone others.
Someone had already detected Ning Qi’s existence.
“Who!”
An angry shout rang from deep within the palace. Layered heaven and earth power erupted. A blue-haired figure shot into the sky, followed by three more figures with powerful auras rushing out, instantly surrounding Ning Qi.
The many martial artists in the stronghold all ferociously charged out.
The others were somewhat bewildered but still joined in surrounding Ning Qi.
The blue-haired elder looked at the young Ning Qi with some disappointment:
“Just this little shrimp? What are you all doing, letting someone reach here undetected?”
Though he said this, Ning Qi’s Illusion Breaking Golden Eye had already detected him secretly gathering power fully, clearly knowing that someone who could sneak here alone was no pushover.
Ning Qi’s expression was calm.
He had deliberately released his aura.
He was already here. Though not a Blood King Gu stronghold, killing some Southern Border people would still reduce the threat a bit.
Sensing the movements around him, he said indifferently:
“Very good. None can be missed.”
The several Heavenly Human Realm experts were about to berate Ning Qi for his arrogance, but the next instant, they all froze in place. They only felt vast ocean-like heaven and earth power converging, making breathing difficult. That sense of oppression made their souls tremble.
Ning Qi slowly rose into the air, forming a fist seal.
He didn’t want to use Sword Intent. After thinking, he still felt King Zhenbei’s Heaven Suppressing Fist quite handy.
Heaven and earth power suppressed everything. The massive fist seal came like a mountain.
Everything was crushed like dry weeds and rotting wood.
Within the valley.
Battle erupted.
Heaven and earth power fluctuated, screams often cutting off abruptly.
Moments later.
Ning Qi turned and left.
Only a scene of devastation remained.
After using Soul Capturing Eye Technique to interrogate, the several Heavenly Human Realm experts didn’t know more. Their only mission being sent here was to ambush any possible arriving Imperial Court experts and pit the Imperial Court hard.
Moreover, Ning Qi discovered that these Heavenly Human Realm experts had a special gu worm in their bodies that stabilized their minds, resisting his Soul Capturing Eye Technique. Clearly, Southern Border had guarded against this too.
Slightly silent, then Ning Qi let out a long breath.
Since there were no traces here, he’d go to the next. He refused to believe there wouldn’t be any clues.
As for cleanup here, leave it to the Imperial Court.
Ning Qi returned to Black Stone City.
His mood was slightly depressed. After all, he had thought there was a gain at first, only to be bluffed.
This made him realize the matter might not be as simple as he had thought. He had witnessed the Demonic Sect and Southern Border’s
power without a target was futile.
If the Demonic Sect and Southern Border hid wholeheartedly, they really wouldn’t be easy to find.
“But even if no traces are found, I must delay their steps. If truly undiscoverable, then return to the mountain and fully enhance my own strength!” Ning Qi resolved inwardly.
Though he still went to the High Heavens daily to cultivate Three Flowers outside, it wasted much enlightenment time after all.
“Two months as the limit. If not found, no more wasting time.”
Ning Qi slowly exhaled, calming his mood.
Half a day later.
Ning Qi set off for another suspicious location recorded in the intelligence.
…
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, over a month had gone by.
During this time.
Ning Qi’s footprints covered lands of five or six prefectures. He followed Luo Wentian’s intelligence onward, but regrettably, it was almost a complete harvest of nothing. Without exception, either traps or decoys.
It was as if Southern Border had long stopped cultivating Blood King Gu within Great Yan territory.
Repeated misses frustrated even Ning Qi’s temperament.
The only gain was destroying several ambush sites, fully killing nine Southern Border and Demonic Sect Heavenly Human Realm experts. The Demonic Sect and Southern Border now knew a peerless Imperial Court expert was investigating the traps and had become much more restrained. This was perhaps the greatest consolation.
But for Ning Qi, the most important was still finding the Martial Saint secret land. Otherwise, killing more Heavenly Human Realm was meaningless, as he couldn’t slaughter all Demonic Sect Southern Border Heavenly Human Realm experts.
“A few days ago, Senior Disciple Brother sent word that King Zhenbei has dispatched elites to investigate Northern Barbarians. Can only wait to see if there’s news from there.”
Repeated misses led the congregation to suspect Southern Border had already moved Blood King Gu cultivation to Northern Barbarians or elsewhere.
But that wasn’t Great Yan territory, making investigation much harder.
Ning Qi took a small sip of wine.
He sat in a daze at the restaurant.
Suddenly.
His body shook, pupils slightly contracting. He couldn’t help looking toward the south.
“This is… the fluctuation of the Gang Yuan Sword Seed!”
He was currently in Cangzhou. If his perception was correct, the fluctuation came from… Lei Prefecture.
Ning Qi’s mind tightened.
When Jiang Baishan and Lin Ruhua descended the mountain back then, he had gifted them a pair of mandarin duck jade pendants, within which was hidden a Gang Yuan Sword Seed. If encountering crisis, it could erupt. Now that the sword seed had erupted, didn’t that mean the Jiang Baishan couple had met danger?
He immediately couldn’t sit still.
