Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“I’ve long heard that the Great Mountain Alliance Leader is a rare young talent.”
“From the looks of it, you’re nothing much.”
“I heard you defeated Chunyang. My brother is out traveling and has not contacted us for some time. Do you have any news?”
The other party’s tone was not very good, and he started to question Jiang Li on the spot.
If not for the fact that there were many people around, he would definitely teach the other party what manners were.
However, he had to answer the other party’s question carefully.
Many people had seen that Mu Chunyang had once come to the Great Mountain Region to attempt to encroach on the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm. It could not be hidden.
Fortunately, only a few higher-ups of the Great Mountain Alliance knew about the capture of Mu Chunyang and Elder Mu.
The measures they took later should be considered clean. If they did not use brilliant deduction methods, it would not be easy to find them in a short period of time.
Jiang Li immediately acted very calm.
“This happened several months ago. After the meeting that day, we haven’t seen the Mu family’s flying ship again.”
“However, after that, we did find traces of a huge battle in an area of the Great Mountain Region. These things were left there and might be helpful to you.”
Jiang Li pretended to think for a moment, and then he took out a piece of wood and placed it on the table.
The expressions of the Mu family members changed drastically when they saw this piece of wood. Mu Chunyang was just a half-brother, so he was directly forgotten as their attention was completely diverted.
After Jiang Li reached the Core Formation realm, the aura in his body mixed with the power of chaos from the blood of madness, so it was already extremely difficult to detect the details of the cultivation method.
Therefore, this group of Mu family members only disliked him and did not attack him like they did back then.
However, the aura on this piece of wood was too eye-catching.
This was a fragment of the huge Nine Nether Wood.
To everyone who cultivated the Mu family’s cultivation method, this was the mortal enemy they yearned to destroy. They would definitely not mistake it.
Jiang Li roughly described the traces of the battle and the huge hole that he discovered in the Mother River.
The eyes of the Mu family flickered. Clearly, they had already thought of something.
His useless younger brother had obtained the news of the “Tree of Sin” from somewhere.
He had secretly mobilized his mother’s forces to kill the Nine Nether Wood and snatch the tree heart behind their backs.
From the description of this group of country bumpkins in the Great Mountain Region, they should have failed to capture the Tree of Sin that day.
No wonder he could not be contacted during this period of time. It was because he was afraid that they would fight over it!
This made sense. Damn it, they could not let him succeed.
This made Mu Chunkong feel a little anxious. If Chunyang, that stupid younger brother, snatched it away, then wouldn’t his hard-earned status be stepped on by that fool?
“Where is that battlefield! Tell me quickly!”
Mu Chunkong was trying hard to maintain a calm expression, but Jiang Li could still see the nervousness and excitement in his eyes.
If he could bring back the core of the Nine Nether Wood to his family, it would not only represent strength, but also greater importance and authority.
To them, the children of the family heads who might inherit the position in the future, this was really too important.
However, Jiang Li smiled and put away the fragment.
“Young Master Mu Chunkong, why don’t we find the missing people first?”
This young master of the Mu family had clearly forgotten why they were here.
Only after being reminded by Jiang Li did he realize that he had lost his composure.
However, he disliked Jiang Li even more because of this.
“Aunt, since you’ve already left the Mu family back then, it’s not good for us to mobilize the family’s power.”
“However, there are a few vassals in the family who are on good terms with me. You can use my personal orders to mobilize them.”
“In the area where Cousin Qiuhua disappeared, there happens to be a vassal family of my family. Perhaps they can help.”
The Mu family used the Longevity Peach to rope in a considerable number of vassals. It could be said that they had friends everywhere.
This was unlike Jiang Li, who could only secretly develop good friends.
A Great Mountain Alliance warship and a Mu family flying ship left the port side by side and slowly sailed along the route of the supply ship.
They searched for any clues below.
Jiang Li looked at the map. The location of the Great Mountain Alliance’s supplies ship was discovered with a red circle.
This route started from the Great Mountain Alliance’s encampment and followed the air route opened by the Divine Judgment Hall to the Mechanism City at the front line.
More than half of the routes were under the control of human cultivators. There were no brazen demonic cultivators blocking the path, and there was no situation of powerful demons blocking the way.
Jiang Li had originally thought that they had entered the back half of the Red Tree Forest’s wetland.
It was not impossible for the area that was considered a strategic area to be attacked by sea demons or even Armored Trolls.
However, this supply ship was stopped outside a mortal town.
The ignorant citizens in the city even used a lot of incense papers and worshiped this empty ship for a few days before being discovered.
However, there were no signs of fighting on the ship. The array formation in the main control room of the flying ship was also normal. It did not seem to have been forcefully hijacked.
Jiang Li and the others’ flying ship landed, but they did not find anything suspicious on the way.
The bad thing was that after searching for so many days, they did not even find a clue.
The people on the same ship as Shenshan Qiuhua were all elders and disciples of the three major sects.
Although the strongest was only a Golden Core cultivator, they should not have disappeared so suddenly.
“Alliance Leader, the supply ship was discovered there.”
At this moment, a Hidden Rock cultivator stepped forward and pointed at an empty space below Jiang Li.
He was the captain of the Hidden Rock group who had led a team to search the area a few times in the past few days.
Not far away, there was a small town.
This place was too small and did not have the protection of any reliable forces. It looked like there was no abundant spiritual qi, yin qi, or even demonic qi gathered. It was only an ordinary town.
The terrain in the center of the Eastern Region was wide and flat. It was different from the strange peaks and treacherous mountains. The human gathering places here were not separated by vile terrain, and the gathering places were close together.
However, during the distance he flew just now, Jiang Li had already seen several hundred similar-sized towns below.
There was nothing special about this place.
“Let’s go down and take a look.”
The flying ship slowly landed. The group jumped down from the deck and looked around calmly. For a moment, they had no clue. Where should they start?
At this moment, not far away, a group of more than ten cultivators rode their spirit colts and came over in the dust.
“Wang Family’s Wang Biao greets Young Master Chunkong! Greetings, envoys.”
It turned out that this was a local vassal that Mu Chunkong had found. They ruled another larger town not far away, so even if they were only riding spirit colts, their speed was very fast.
“Yes, listen to their orders and cooperate with them.”
When Mu Chunkong spoke, the Wang family cultivators did not have any objections and directly agreed.
“Aunt, they are the local Wang family. No one knows all the movements in the nearby hundreds of miles better than them.”
“I still have something important to do, so I won’t stay long. If you need anything else, you can contact me at any time.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he looked at Jiang Li.
Jiang Li did not expect much from them to begin with. It was already very good that he could help and not drag them down.
Although this group of Wang family members were generally weak, what they needed the most now was a local force who could provide information and help.
He raised his hand and threw a jade slip with the location of the Mother River.
Mu Chunkong took the token and checked it before calling the elders and servants beside him. He hurriedly returned to his flying ship and rose into the sky.
He knew his younger brother, Mu Chunyang, well. If he had already obtained the Tree Heart, he would definitely return to the family and flaunt his strength.
If he did not return now, it meant that he had not succeeded. This was a chance given to him by the heavens!
“Lords, if there’s anything we can do for you, please let us know.”
After Mu Chunkong and the others left, these Wang Family cultivators turned to them with respectful expressions.
That was because one of them was called aunt by Mu Chunkong, and the others were all experts with cultivation levels that far surpassed theirs.
Jiang Li first asked if there were any rogue cultivators who would ambush the flying ship nearby.
However, the words of these few people were not much different from what the Great Mountain Alliance had discovered previously.
From the ease of the mortals in this region, it could be seen that under the supervision of the Divine Judgment Hall, as long as they did not actively provoke certain people, it should be relatively safe.
Strange, why did they suddenly disappear in such a safe situation? They did not even send a message back.
Jiang Li did not have a clue for a moment, so he decisively held a small meeting with the four parallel minds.
Gathering wisdom was better than thinking blindly.
The four parallel minds were all guys without much social experience. In terms of cultivation and fighting, they could do it, but they could not do anything about the investigation.
At this moment, Jiang Li recalled his new skill, Thousand Faces.
This skill simulated the situation of the Divine Statue clone. It could vividly imitate the mental state and habits of the former believers of the statue.
This skill might be useful here.
Activating it by feelings and instinct, countless thoughts appeared in his mind as spiritual lights collided at high speed.
The skill, Thousand Faces, allowed him to think from many different perspectives.
Although it did not increase his intelligence, it could also make him think more comprehensively.
Wait, Jiang Li suddenly thought of something.
The focus was not on the surrounding demonic cultivators and rogue cultivators.
The main point was, why did their supply transportation team suddenly stop here?
For safety’s sake, they should have been rushing to the front line to transport supplies.
What caused them to break the rules and stop the ship?
The reason might be in this city.
He turned to look at the town not far away and led his people straight in.
Living in the cultivation world of the Eastern Region, they naturally had more opportunities to see cultivators. They did not treat them as immortals, but they also displayed the highest level of reverence.
Wherever they passed, the streets immediately became silent to the point where one could hear a pin drop. Everyone took the initiative to move aside.
“Wang Biao, are there cultivators living in seclusion in this city?”
“Lord, there was a Foundation Establishment senior who lived here more than ten years ago, but that senior has already passed away. As far as I know, there are no other cultivators here.”
Jiang Li listened to Wang Biao address a Foundation Establishment cultivator as senior. With his current level, he more or less felt weird hearing that.
There were no cultivators in the city. His mental strength, mixed with the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra, had already thoroughly explored this town. It was indeed as he had said.
However, he also observed a strange situation.
“Has there been any auspicious occasions in this town recently? Why is everyone dressed up?”
“Lord, you might not know this, but a few days ago, an Immortal Opportunity Convoy came here and picked many cultivation seedlings.”
“These mortals were all very happy to know that their children could cultivate in the future. Naturally, all their homes were decorated with lanterns and bright colors.”
So that was it… Eh?
Jiang Li, who was still in the state of Thousand Faces, suddenly sensed that something was wrong from the other party’s words.
“Every home was decorated with lanterns and bright colors?”
Human emotions were not so simple. If a small number of families gained such an opportunity, the others should be jealous instead of celebrating together.
Therefore…
“How can the birth rate of spiritual roots in this town be so high?”
There were more than 50% of families in this town with lanterns and red lights. Although the probability of spiritual root aptitude appearing was rising year by year as spiritual qi recovered, this number was too exaggerated.
Jiang Li recalled the incident in the Southern Seal Kingdom all those years ago. Could it be that another Nine Nether Wood was causing trouble?
No, he did not sense the aura of his own kind.
“Yes, it’s like this. Every few years, some small sects’ Immortal Opportunity Convoys will come to our area.”
“Their aptitude requirements for cultivation seedlings are lower than the Divine Judgment Hall. Every time they go to a place, many children will be taken away. According to their talent, they will also give their families a certain amount of financial compensation.”
“Therefore, compared to the Divine Judgment Hall’s Immortal Opportunity Test, they prefer to encounter these carriages.”
Jiang Li frowned. This should not be the case.
Even the worst inferior-grade spiritual root could not account for so many.
Jiang Li multi-tasked and used his hearing to investigate the city.
A large portion of the families that did not have lanterns did not even have children of suitable age. In other words, the spiritual root detection rate here was higher than 50%.
This was definitely not normal. Even if the cultivation world of the Eastern Region did have some medicine that could allow a mortal to have some spiritual qi in their body, it only allowed ordinary mortal martial artists to roughly have the strength of Qi Refinement realm cultivators. Moreover, that was not a spiritual root and could not be cultivated.
After bringing back so many ordinary children, no sect would really accept them as disciples. The gains would not make up for the losses, it was meaningless.
Something was amiss. Perhaps this was the problem.
“Wang Biao, do you know which town that Immortal Opportunity Convoy will go to next?”
“They… they didn’t tell me, but they’re probably only in the nearby towns. With so many children, they shouldn’t be too fast.”
As they spoke, they saw a dirty woman wandering from the end of the street.
She carried an equally dirty straw doll in her arms and kept muttering something.
With Jiang Li’s hearing, he could barely hear it.
“It’s gone, haha, it’s gone. It’s all gone. I saw it, it’s all gone… Hahaha… it’s gone…”
That woman’s eyes were lifeless as she cried and laughed at the same time. She walked past Jiang Li and the others crazily. Clearly, she was a lunatic.
“Crazy woman, how dare you dirty our eyes!”
Wang Biao who was at the side originally intended to make a move and make this woman leave, but he was stopped by Jiang Li.
“It’s fine.”
“Auntie Mu, continue to ask around using the portraits. I still have a few ghosts here who are good at reading people’s minds.”
“Stay in this town and check if that woman and the other residents have seen Qiuhua and the others.”
“I suspect that Qiuhua and the others’ disappearance might be related to that Immortal Opportunity Convoy. I’m fast, so I’ll go take a look nearby.”
He handed over a few ghosts. Elder Mu wanted to say that she was also a sword cultivator and that her speed was not slow, so she wanted to find them with Jiang Li.
However, Jiang Li had already transformed into a sword rainbow and vanished into the horizon in the blink of an eye.
He was so fast that she could not even see the afterimage clearly.
Seeing this speed and aura, had he broken through again?