Chapter 680
The Master Mingde spoke up, “Zheng Fa might have had an encounter with Luo Sanxian from Haori Mountain. We need them to investigate the situation, ideally locating both of them and clarifying the outcome.”
The Enlightened One’s hand trembled, nearly dropping the Tongjian (通鉴, a magical artifact for communication and information sharing) on the ground. He quickly grasped it and, regaining his composure, asked, “Zheng Fa? How dare he…”
Master Mingde stepped out of the waterside pavilion, gazing toward Haori Mountain, his expression tinged with confusion.
He shook his head and murmured, “Xuanwei, things are about to change.”
…
Zheng Fa checked Luo Sanxian’s name in the Zao Hua Yu Die (造化玉牒, a record of celestial events and beings) and found that many cultivators had indeed mentioned this person recently.
As the most active Dao Fruit cultivator from Haori Mountain, Luo Sanxian was known for his conspicuous travels, his escape light (遁光, a technique for rapid movement) well recognized by others.
Currently, the number of Tongjian produced by the Jiushan Sect had approached ten thousand, with nearly half in the hands of Jiushan disciples.
The rest, a significant portion, had actually fallen into the Xuanwei realm.
Of these, fifty percent were purchased by cultivators from the Baixian Alliance (百仙盟, a coalition of cultivators).
Outside the Baixian Alliance, there were only a few thousand Tongjian left.
While this number might seem small, many had indeed seen Luo Sanxian.
Zheng Fa found this puzzling and, fearing something was amiss, delved deeper into the matter to uncover the reasons.
The first reason was that these individuals were not lacking in cultivation.
In fact, the farther one was from the Jiushan realm, the higher the average cultivation level of the Tongjian holders.
Currently, every Qi Refining disciple in the Jiushan realm possessed a Tongjian.
In the Baixian Alliance, only Foundation Establishment cultivators could afford one.
Beyond the Baixian Alliance, about eighty percent of Tongjian holders were at the Golden Core level or above.
Zheng Fa quickly understood the logic behind this:
With the Tongjian being so sought after and the Jiushan Sect’s production capacity limited, once they reached outside the Baixian Alliance, the price would naturally skyrocket—doubling, tripling, or even increasing tenfold or twentyfold.
Thus, for the vast majority of cultivators, it was a luxury item.
Moreover, the external version of the Tongjian was almost entirely for entertainment purposes, making it unaffordable for those with lower cultivation levels.
As a result, the Tongjian, which nearly every Jiushan disciple possessed, had become a symbol of status in the outside world, and the external versions were heavily stripped down.
These cultivators were powerful, and their perception and spiritual sensing abilities were naturally far superior to ordinary people—one Golden Core cultivator could cover a range of at least a hundred miles, akin to a super camera.
Of course, this was just one reason:
After all, the Xuanwei realm was vast, and a hundred miles was not a particularly large area; it was unlikely to encounter Luo Sanxian by chance.
Yet, Luo Sanxian was indeed somewhat unfortunate:
As Zheng Fa raised his eyes toward the Haori Mountain region, he saw beams of treasure light flickering above the collapsed peaks, with cultivators densely packed below.
Some were searching for something among the ruins, while others seemed to have spotted Zheng Fa and were gazing in his direction.
Counting casually, the number of cultivators here was several times greater than before the earthquake.
The reason for this was somewhat related to Zheng Fa:
The explosion of two spirit veins at Haori Mountain had a significant impact.
Initially, no cultivators dared to investigate, but now that the tremors had ceased and everything seemed normal, they could no longer contain their curiosity and flocked to the area.
According to the content of these spiritual messages, the intentions of these cultivators were quite simple:
First, they wanted to ascertain the current situation and the truth.
Among them were many disciples from Haori Mountain.
Another group was naturally preparing to profit from the sect’s misfortune.
Most spirit veins were originally located at sect bases.
Some even belonged to Haori Mountain’s branches—these branches primarily collected spiritual materials and other resources from various sects.
Now that the spirit veins were destroyed, these sects and branch members had suffered heavy losses, but the spiritual materials, elixirs, and magical artifacts in their storerooms remained largely intact, needing someone to guard them.
Initially, only a few cultivators had stumbled upon some treasures.
But as word spread, nearby cultivators heard about it and couldn’t resist their greed, wanting to get a piece of the pie.
Thus, at the border between Haori Mountain and the Jiushan Sect, the number of cultivators surged, especially since Haori Mountain bordered the Baixian Alliance, with many Tongjian flowing into it.
Particularly for those cultivators near the Baixian Alliance border, acquiring a Tongjian was easier than for others.
Zheng Fa calculated quietly and estimated that there were now about one to two thousand Tongjian in this area…
“Junior Brother?” Seeing Zheng Fa lost in thought, Senior Sister Zhang couldn’t help but ask, “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing…” Zheng Fa looked up at Haori Mountain and suddenly sighed, “I’m just admiring the spirit of the great internet.”
“?”
Senior Sister Zhang and the others were even more puzzled, unsure of what Zheng Fa meant.
Zheng Fa was genuinely impressed by the mutual assistance spirit among these cultivators.
The motives of these cultivators were not pure, and they naturally feared trouble from Haori Mountain. Recognizing Luo Sanxian only heightened their apprehension.
Those who held Tongjian were already powerful and could easily gather information, yet many of them had been communicating through the Tongjian—he had even seen them exchanging messages, warning each other not to provoke this Dao Fruit cultivator.
Luo Sanxian not only had a particularly swift escape light but also had to stop and use secret techniques to disrupt his aura every so often.
While he was cautious, the widespread fluctuations in his aura were easily detectable by surrounding cultivators.
Although not every location he visited was witnessed, Zheng Fa pieced together the spiritual messages from dozens or even hundreds of cultivators, not only figuring out the twists and turns Luo Sanxian had taken but also summarizing a pattern to his escape…
Hearing this, Senior Sister Zhang and the others were left speechless. Xie Qingxue murmured, “Who would have thought that Luo Sanxian would expose his trail because of this?”
Senior Sister Zhang shook her head and laughed, “Let’s not talk about him. Who could have predicted this in the Xuanwei realm? Who could escape? They never expected someone could figure out this information so quickly.”
Zheng Fa also felt that Luo Sanxian was somewhat unfortunate, or rather, he hadn’t realized the terror of being under constant surveillance.
To be honest, it wasn’t that Luo Sanxian was not cautious; it was just that ordinary cultivators fleeing wouldn’t think to hide from every single cultivator along the way.
Without the Tongjian network, Zheng Fa would have needed an immense amount of time to interrogate each cultivator to determine Luo Sanxian’s whereabouts.
By that time, Luo Sanxian would have likely returned to his lair at Haori Mountain.
But with the Tongjian, everything was different.
Luo Sanxian simply couldn’t comprehend what it meant to live a life without an audience while being surrounded by cameras…
…
Luo Sanxian truly hadn’t considered this point. He had not only slowed down his escape light but also felt much more relaxed.
He even felt a bit self-deprecating, thinking he had been overly cautious:
Whether Zheng Fa was pursuing him was still uncertain, and besides, he had already reached the Haori Mountain territory and had used his secret techniques eight or nine times. Anyone else would have long lost track of him.
His gaze fell on a collapsed spirit vein below, and he frowned, pondering:
“Earlier, when passing the boundary of the two sects, it seemed that some spirit veins on the Baixian Alliance side were also damaged, but the extent was not as severe as my Haori Mountain’s…”
“Could this matter somehow be related to Zheng Fa?”
Luo Sanxian had actually thought this over several times and still couldn’t figure out how Zheng Fa had managed it.
“If this gets out, it would be Haori Mountain in the wrong, and I wouldn’t even have evidence…” As he thought of this, he suddenly smiled, “But so what if we’re in the wrong? What does it matter if there’s no evidence?”
“With the chaos in the Tianhe Sect, it’s clear that a great battle is brewing in the Xuanwei realm. It’s time to cut through the confusion. Since the Xianjian (仙剑, a legendary sword) has encountered problems, I might as well ask Brother Yun to come to the Baixian Alliance first and capture it.”
With this thought, he couldn’t help but glance back toward the Jiushan Sect, his gaze distant:
“It’s a pity that if Brother Lu had not yet achieved the Golden Immortal status and hadn’t returned from Leiyin Temple, Haori Mountain wouldn’t have to be so restrained.”
Thinking of this, he shook his head and chuckled to himself, “But with Brother Yun being a True Immortal, along with me, that should be enough.”
Collecting his thoughts, he turned to head back toward Haori Mountain when his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure:
“Zheng Fa?” He stood there in shock, almost exclaiming, “What are you doing here?”
Zheng Fa looked at him, slowly drawing out the Qingping Sword (青萍剑), his expression one of reproach, as if saying, “You’re too slow, Luo Sanxian. I’ve been waiting for you.”
(End of this chapter)
**Chapter 476: Thoughts from All Directions, One Sword Slays the Immortal**
Luo Sanxian gazed at Zheng Fa, his lips pressed together, his eyes still filled with doubt, yet he didn’t ask another question.
He didn’t know how Zheng Fa had unraveled his concealment techniques.
He didn’t know how Zheng Fa had managed to keep up with him despite his multiple changes in direction.
Nor did he understand how Zheng Fa had arrived here before him.
But seeing Zheng Fa draw the Qingping Sword, he realized that these questions no longer needed to be asked.
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