Chapter 3871: The Fourth Peak

Ling Lan had thought of asking Lu Yin for help some time ago, but she had a major problem of how to contact him, as she was in the West Domain. Additionally, what sort of price would Lu Yin demand from the Spirit Treasure Guild?

Since Lu Yin had suddenly arrived in Spirit Treasure City and was immediately asking for Ling Kui, Ling Lan instantly understood the situation.

Lu Yin was not searching for Ling Kui, but rather for information.

Regardless of who Lu Yin wanted information about, or who might be offended by providing him with that information, the Spirit Treasure Guild would unquestionably help Lu Yin. This was their best opportunity, and if they did not seize it, their vast organization would slowly rot away.

Of course, there was another reason: could the Spirit Treasure Guild even afford to deny Lu Yin’s request?

The Autumnspring Slip had been far more powerful than the Spirit Treasure Guild.

Since refusal was not an option, they might as well completely support Lu Yin.

No cultivator was downright stupid.

“It seems that you are only the second-in-command at the Spirit Treasure Guild. Is that right?” Lu Yin asked.

Ling Lan replied, “I have the authority to make a decision on this matter.”

“Even if I am one day besieged by the entire Nine Odysseys Megaverse?”

A tremor ran through Ling Lan’s body, and she stared at Lu Yin in shock.

He met her stare with a small smile.

The woman’s thoughts fell into chaos. Besieged by the entire megaverse? She had never considered such a possibility, due to the fact that Lu Yin had emerged from the Sea of Karma.

He was a Tianyuan cultivator who had emerged from the Sea of Karma and freely roamed about the Nine Odysseys Megaverse. He had even sent characters soaring through the sky and made a bold declaration, but he had never been held accountable by the Greater Sancti. It was only natural that Ling Lan had associated Lu Yin with the Sea of Karma.

His question rang through in her mind like a morning bell or an evening drum, leaving her stunned.

Did the mere fact that he had emerged from the Sea of Karma really mean that he would never become an enemy of their megaverse?

Greater Sancte Green Lotus had never explicitly accepted this man as a disciple, and in the end, he was from the Tianyuan Megaverse.

There was no denying that the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s major factions looked down on the lower three megaverses. If Lu Yin did something significant, it was quite possible for him to end up being targeted by everyone.

Si Jiushi looked at Ling Lan with sympathy. He had tried everything to escape from Lu Yin, while the Spirit Treasure Guild had actually sought Lu Yin out of their own accord. They were basically asking for trouble.

Lu Yin continued to smirk. Ling Lan was smart and also showed a bit of boldness. She was willing to cooperate with him in order to preserve her Spirit Treasure Guild, even at the risk of becoming enemies with the Cheng family. However, she was not quite bold enough.

In the world of cultivators, if one did not risk their very life, how bold could they really be?

“The Spirit Treasure Guild is a business, so let’s make a deal,” Lu Yin said. When Ling Lan gave him a puzzled look, he slowly explained, “I can have the Luo family open the Skyward Gate and allow you free access to the Spirit Nidus, but in return, I need you to do something for me.”

This was what Ling Lan wanted to hear. “Please, tell me, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. “I need you to keep an eye on someone for me: Lan.”

Ling Lan was surprised. “Lan from the Ascendant Hall in the Spirit Nidus?”

“You know her?”

“Yes. Lan has been part of the Ascendant Hall for many years. She’s also a disciple of Hui, who is the leader of the entire Spirit Coalition.”

Lu Yin raised an eyebrow. “The leader of the Spirit Coalition?”

Ling Lan nodded. “Hui leads the Spirit Coalition, and she was also the previous steward of the Spirit Nidus’s Ascendant Hall. After entering the Nine Odysseys, she built alliances and sought out individuals from foreign megaverses that have been destroyed by the Nine Odysseys and formed the Spirit Coalition. While they don’t possess any truly notable strength, their numbers alone make them a force to be reckoned with in the West Domain. Hui herself is also not very powerful, but her organizational skills are exceptional.”

The Spirit Coalition? Lu Yin had not expected to learn this surprising piece of information.

Lan was the last of Aeternus’s Three Pillars and Six Skies, and she had been in the Spirit Nidus for a very long time. In that case, did Hui know about Lan’s relationship with Yong Heng? Was it possible that Hui was also a part of Aeternus?

Yong Heng had done some things in the Nine Odysseys Megaverse long ago that had caused Yue Ya to see the man as an enemy. Unfortunately, Lu Yin had never managed to learn anything about Yong Heng’s past from Yue Ya, and no one else seemed to know of the man.

Lu Yin had never forgotten about Yong Heng.

Even if the High Seraph could be ignored, Yong Heng could not.

Yong Heng had been sealed by the Great Sovereign in her Six Paths of Reincarnation Realm, only to rebuild his entire cultivation with the help of a mirebound artifact spirit seed. Additionally, he had not cultivated using the Spirit Nidus’s method, but rather the Nine Odysseys Megaverse’s.

The man was no longer the same, and the Nine Odysseys Megaverse would not recognize him anymore. He also was not the same man who had been active in the Tianyuan.

What remained unknown was whether Yong Heng had returned to the Spirit Nidus to join with Lan, what the current situation in the Spirit Nidus was, as well as what kind of relationship Yong Heng might have with Master Qing Cao.

Having the Spirit Treasure Guild look into such matters was not a bad idea.

A short time later, Lu Yin took Si Jiushi away, and they both left Spirit Treasure City to go to Senluo City. As for Ling Lan, she contacted the Skyward Gate’s Luo family.

Lu Yin had told the woman to speak directly with the Luo family. This was enough for Ling Lan to understand that the Luo family would certainly show Lu Yin respect.

Senluo City was just one of the countless cities that floated above the yellow sands of the West Domain. It was not a remarkable place, though it was very important. According to the Spirit Treasure Guild’s operations, Senluo City was located at the very center of a region, which made it convenient for coordinating logistics.

While Senluo City was a great distance from Spirit Treasure City, Lu Yin’s speed meant that the two men arrived in just moments.

They went straight to the Spirit Treasure Guild’s Senluo City branch, but they did not find Ling Kui there. The people in the branch headquarters also did not know where Ling Kui had gone, only that he was still somewhere in the city.

“All of these people are Ling Kui’s subordinates, which means that they aren’t qualified to track his whereabouts,” said Si Jiushi.

Lu Yin looked at Senluo City and then suddenly released his consciousness, instantly enveloping the entire city.

Senluo City was shrouded by his consciousness, startling the cultivators there. For them, it felt as though some terrifying power was causing the universe to collapse upon them.

In one corner of Senluo City, Ling Kui suddenly looked up from where he had been relaxing in a luxurious courtyard. Where had such a terrifying consciousness come from?

Behind him, a pair of eyes also looked up, and a voice asked, “What’s going on?”

Another voice replied, “Go.”

Ling Kui was taken aback. Were there two people? All along, he had believed that there was only one person in the courtyard watching him. Luckily, he had not tried to do anything.

“Are they looking for us?”

“I don’t know, but we should leave first.” With that, Ling Kui suddenly felt a tremendous power grab his body. The void tore open behind him, and he was about to be dragged through the tear.

At that moment, a broadsword swept through the air, brushing past Ling Kui’s neck as it attacked the person behind him.

Blood splattered onto Ling Kui’s face. He slowly turned his head and saw that the person who had grabbed him had been stabbed through the shoulder, forcing them to release him. The sword was wielded by a young man in unmistakable clothing: he was from Deathmound’s Fourth Peak.

A metal clang rang out from the impact, and the sword swept sideways, knocking Ling Kui away. As that happened, the edge of the blade tore through the man standing behind Ling Kui to point at someone who stood farther away.

There was no time for Ling Kui to see clearly before blood spilled onto the ground again. The broadsword slashed through the ground, producing another metallic ring. “Pretty tough. Are you trying to run?”

Ling Kui’s scalp suddenly went numb as he was surrounded by sequence particles. He had no idea if they belonged to the man from Deathmound or one of the mysterious figures. Regardless, Ling Kui only wanted to run away. He had done something forbidden, and even if he had been forced to do it, Deathmound would never spare him. Neither would those mysterious people.

Ling Kui suppressed his aura to hide his presence and then fled. He needed to escape.

Just as he reached the courtyard’s gate, two people appeared and blocked his path.

Ling Kui looked at them and shouted, “Si Jiushi?”

Si Jiushi ignored Ling Kui and focused on the inside of the courtyard. Two people were fighting. One wielded a broadsword, sweeping it about in bold, sweeping arcs. The other moved about with a strange, elusive style as they repeatedly tried to escape, only to always end up with the broadsword blocking their path. Another person lay on the floor of the courtyard. That man’s body had been cleaved in two, and he looked to be in bad shape.

Ling Kui had no time to bother with Si Jiushi and simply tried to run past the fat man.

Si Jiushi reached out and grabbed Ling Kui, which caused a tremendous force to latch onto the man’s shoulder. He was practically picked up into the air.

“Si Jiushi, let go of me! Run!” Ling Kui hissed.

Si Jiushi turned to look at Lu Yin.

Only then did Ling Kui notice the second man standing in the gate; Lu Yin’s presence was completely undetectable. Upon seeing the unknown man, Ling Kui did not know why, but despite the man’s complete lack of an aura, he caused Ling Kui’s heart to tremble. He felt as though he was facing the unimaginable power of the universe itself.

Bang!

The sword crashed down. The man who had been moving about strangely failed to dodge this attack, and his head was struck by the blade, causing him to smash into the ground.

The swordsman let out a breath before quickly looking around for Ling Kui. Only then did he notice that Lu Yin and two others were standing in the courtyard’s gate, with Si Jiushi holding Ling Kui in place. The swordsman laughed. “Aren’t you Si Jiushi? Weren’t you just playing around in the East Domain? When did you come back to the West Domain?”

Si Jiushi frowned in confusion. “Do we know each other?”

The man rested his sword on his shoulder as he smiled. “Deathmound’s Fourth Peak: Kou Feng.”

Si Jiushi shouted, “You’re Kou Feng?”

“That’s me.”

Si Jiushi looked Kou Feng up and down. “I’ve heard about you. There have been rumors that you joined Deathmound. I see that it’s true.”

Kou Feng grinned. “When I was a boy, I saw my father’s spirit seed getting stolen from him. After that, I no longer had any standing in the Kou family and was constantly bullied. The heavens took pity on me, and I stumbled upon a spirit seed and was able to gain my current strength by accepting it as a Seed Transfusion. Then, I joined Deathmound. I swore to wipe out all of these law-breaking scum.”

As the man spoke, his sword rose up, only to drop back down and point at Si Jiushi across the courtyard. “Give me Ling Kui. Since we’re fellow countrymen, I’ll report this matter to the peak lord and give you some of the credit.”

Ling Kui’s face turned ashen. It was over. His life was finished if he was caught by Deathmound.

Si Jiushi let out a helpless sigh. “I’d like to hand him over to you, but you’ll have to see if this senior agrees.”

Kou Feng looked at Lu Yin and frowned. “You look familiar. Are you also from this area?”

Lu Yin glanced at Kou Feng. “You can have him, but only after I finish asking my questions.”

Kou Feng shook his head. “I can’t accept that. Ling Kui has broken the law, so he needs to be interrogated immediately so that we can find out whoever’s behind him and capture them. How could I possibly allow you to have him?

“What information are you seeking, Senior? I know it! I know everything! Please, save me from Deathmound, and I’ll do anything for you!” Ling Kui shouted, begging Lu Yin with his eyes.

Kou Feng sneered. “Dream on! No one Deathmound wants has ever been taken away.”

At that moment, the two men that Kou Feng had left gravely wounded both died, and their bodies shattered. All that was left behind were their spirit seeds.

Lu Yin was surprised. Suicide? These men were quite decisive.

Kou Feng noticed what had happened and gave Ling Kui a helpless look. “You see that? Those two are now dead, which makes you even more important.”

Ling Kui wailed, “But I don’t know anything! They simply forced me to give them information so that they knew which cultivators to target! I really don’t know anything!”

“Whether you do or don’t isn’t up to me to decide; only the peak lord can. Come with me to Deathmound.” Kou Feng stepped closer to Lu Yin, clenching the hilt of his sword tightly, clearly ready to take action at a moment’s notice.

Si Jiushi rolled his eyes. “Kou brat, I suggest that you don’t act rashly. In front of this senior, forget you, as even your peak lord would be outmatched.”

Kou Feng paused, but he did not argue. Such discussions were pointless. Besides that, just looking at Lu Yin made Kou Feng nervous, especially after that overwhelming consciousness had swept across the city just a few moments earlier. This man might very well have been the cause of that incident.

This man really does look familiar... Where have I seen him before?

“An interrogation’s not necessary. Neither Ling Kui nor the two who just died know anything,” Lu Yin stated bluntly.

Kou Feng’s eyes narrowed. “And how would you know that?”

Lu Yin glanced at the ground. Naturally, he had just used the power of karma to investigate the two dead men’s connections to Ling Kui. The results had shown nothing, which meant that no one had ever appeared to give the two men orders. At most, intermediaries had been used as messengers or implanted thoughts had been employed.

Their mission had already reached its final stage. There were no longer any leads to follow.

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