Chapter 629: Chapter 91: The Willing Ones Take the Bait
Three thousand four hundred li south of White River City in Lan State lies Mount Changbai.
Mount Changbai is a series of continuous mountain ranges, with its main peak covered in white pumice stones and snow.
According to the local sayings, there is “a millennia of snow and evergreen pines, leading straight up to Lan State’s highest peak.”
Due to the emergence of the rumor about the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing,’ many cultivators have come from afar in recent days, making Mount Changbai much busier than before.
In fact, not to mention whether the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing’ truly exists, even if it did, the profound principle of causality is so obscure and difficult to understand that other than a few cultivators, what use would it be to most people?
Besides, according to the rumors, the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing’ is a spirited spiritual object, which means it can move and hide on its own; with Mount Changbai being so vast, how could one search for it? Isn’t this just a waste of time for something useless?
Therefore, at the beginning, although the rumor of the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing’ emerged, not many were truly moved to come to Mount Changbai in search of treasure, as truly obtuse cultivators were after all, in the minority.
Until a few days ago, something happened: a loose cultivator encountered the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing’ in Mount Changbai. Although he failed to capture it, he managed to snatch a ginseng whisker from it.
And this ginseng whisker was quickly purchased for a high price by another middle-aged cultivator.
While others might not have seen the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing,’ the scene of the middle-aged cultivator spending a lot of money to buy the ginseng whisker was witnessed by many.
This incident confirmed two pieces of news:
First, the existence of the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing’ in Mount Changbai is true because what ginseng whisker from spiritual medicine could be so valuable other than the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing’s’ own?
Second, although the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing’ itself might be useless to oneself, with the precedent of the middle-aged cultivator’s ‘spending a fortune for the horse’s bones,’ everyone understood that as long as they could catch it, surely someone would be willing to pay a high price for it, and there would be no worries about not making a profit.
So now, many people could not sit still and came to Mount Changbai to hunt for treasure.
In the midst of the fervent search for treasure by the populace, Lu Qingshan, using the Ancient Jade of Night Travel to change his appearance, entered the territory of Mount Changbai without a sound.
To improve one’s intent, it is not something that can be solved by seclusion; it is inevitable to travel outside, in search of opportunities and what they call epiphanies.
Since he was traveling anyway, and since the news of the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing,’ which contains the profound principle of causality, had appeared in Mount Changbai, why not come and see for himself?
At the foot of Mount Changbai, there is a small town built on the only path leading into the mountain.
The town was initially developed due to the relatively rich resources of spiritual medicine in Mount Changbai, serving specifically for cultivators who entered the mountain to gather medicine.
Looking for the ‘Golden Well Jade Railing,’ one naturally can’t be like a headless fly, blindly rushing in.
It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack; too foolish.
Therefore, the first thing Lu Qingshan did after entering the territory of Mount Changbai was to go into the particularly bustling town to inquire about the news of the Golden Well Jade Railing.
What he didn’t notice was that among the many checkpoints in this small town, there were cultivators with normal expressions but hiding ancient bronze mirrors in their bosom.
Shortly after he entered the town, a cultivator quietly took out a message transmitting artifact and began to convey some message.
In a secluded hall within the town,
“How is it?” The cultivator from Life-Reaping Department from Yin Du looked at his subordinate who had just come in and asked with a cold hum.
“My lord, through the surveillance of the Illuminating Cultivation Mirror, there have been a total of twelve Nascent Soul Perfection cultivators who came to Mount Changbai in the past ten days. We have investigated them all, and none are Lu Qingshan…” Ming Yuanzi answered with utmost respect.
This time, their tactic in action was extremely similar to the last time in the Netherworld from the Western Domain, using the Illuminating Cultivation Mirror to start with the cultivation realm—Lu Qingshan’s appearance may change in a thousand ways, but now his cultivation realm, due to his intent, is stuck at Nascent Soul Perfection, which cannot change.
Therefore, they simply need to investigate cultivators with a cultivation realm of Nascent Soul Perfection, saving effort while ensuring that no mistakes would occur.
Ming Yuanzi hesitated for a moment, then asked, “My lord, will the commotion we’ve caused really lure Lu Qingshan here? I always feel that this man is not so easy to fool…”
“We only need to complete the task assigned from above,” Yin Du said nonchalantly, then reminded, “Make sure everyone is ready, okay?
This Lu Qingshan has managed to slip through the fingers of both the Eastern and Western domains repeatedly, which is no small feat. If he escapes due to your negligence, you know what the consequences will be….”
“Rest assured, my lord, everyone is on high alert. The moment Lu Qingshan shows up, he’ll be caught in an inescapable net, and he won’t escape with his life!” Ming Yuanzi, feeling uneasy, hastily assured, thumping his chest: “Moreover, the measures we’ve taken this time are so extensive that they can’t possibly compare to the arrogance of the Eastern and Western domains. It’s almost a sure thing!”
Yin Du glanced over his overly confident subordinates and said coldly, “That’s good.”
Just as Ming Yuanzi was about to take his leave with a bow, his expression suddenly changed. The Message Transmitting Artifact hanging at his waist had just received a new message.
Ming Yuanzi said hastily, “My lord, Lu Qingshan has really appeared!”
This startling announcement caught even the usually stoic Yin Du off guard, displaying a hint of astonishment.
Could it be that they really lured Lu Qingshan here?
The next moment, Yin Du snapped back to reality and stood up abruptly. “Then what are we waiting for? Victory will be ours in this battle.
Everyone mobilize immediately, fight swiftly and decisively. Once we capture Lu Qingshan, transfer him through the Teleportation Array at once!”
“Yes, my lord!” Ming Yuanzi said excitedly.
This could be a contribution beyond imagination!
The small town was bustling due to the appearance of the Ancient Jade Well, allowing many merchants to make a small fortune.
They were the only group of cultivators in the town who hoped that the Ancient Jade Well would prove to be more cunning, last a bit longer, and ideally, never be caught.
Ma Yun was one of these merchants.
He ran a miscellaneous goods shop which included maps of Mount Changbai for sale.
These maps were the first items the incoming cultivators needed to buy if they wished to treasure hunt in the mountains, so his business had been thriving recently.
In high spirits, Ma Yun was chatting leisurely with a middle-aged cultivator who had just come in to buy a map.
Suddenly, a loud noise erupted, and a black light struck, flipping his miscellaneous shop over.
Ma Yun, uncertain of what had happened, looked up with a confused expression.
Immediately after, he saw dozens of black shadows speeding towards his overturned shop from all around the town.
At the same time, dozens of unmistakable auras erupted from these shadows.
Ma Yun’s heart trembled.
Those were the auras of Void Refining Cultivators!
Dozens of Void Refining Cultivators! What in the world was happening?!
The town was small, and for Void Refining Cultivators, this distance was negligible, merely a step away.
Thus, the encirclement was instantly formed. Dozens of Void Refining Cultivators surrounded the shop in multiple layers, forming a seemingly impenetrable barrier.
The leader, wearing a blood-red robe, landed in the front, his gaze frosty.
Ma Yun’s legs shook, his mind blank. “Such a huge mobilization just to rob my modest shop?”
“You never thought we’d create so much momentum and take such drastic measures just to deal with one Nascent Soul Cultivator….” Yin Du looked at Lu Qingshan, disguised as a middle-aged cultivator, and said with a sinister tone, revealing a vicious smile: “Lu Qingshan, this is called…”