Chapter 644: Town Suppression (Thanks to Lord Xu Xian)

Pure Nine Lanterns: 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9.

Yin Qingmei and Xie Yuntian departed discreetly soon after.

Chen Mobai, naturally, concealed his presence with the Art of Blinding Foliage and followed behind them.

Meanwhile, in Giantwood Ridge, his Formless Puppet appeared continuously for half a month in the Divine Wood Hall, handling various long-accumulated sect affairs with Yue Zutao.

This was to transmit false information to the mole.

Traveling from Jianguo to Hongguo required traversing more than half of the Eastern Wilderness. Even with the convenience of teleportation arrays, it still took Yin Qingmei and Xie Yuntian half a month to reach a border market town in Yanguo.

"This Ever-Revolving Mountain Market Town was developed and built by the Zhuang family, the first family to pledge allegiance after the Sect Master led the army into Yanguo territory," Xie Yuntian explained. "Because it's not far from two spirit stone mines, it previously attracted many cultivators and was quite bustling, but now it's no longer viable..."

Xie Yuntian led Yin Qingmei out of the Ever-Revolving Mountain Market Town's teleportation array, shaking his head as he observed the desolate and deserted surroundings.

The spirit stone mines here successively belonged to Trembling Mountain Peak, Divine Wood Sect, Southern Profound Sect, and finally reverted to the Divine Wood Sect.

After over a hundred years of excavation by these three major forces, they became depleted mines a decade ago.

A so-called depleted mine doesn't mean there are no spirit stones left.

Rather, all the spirit stones that were easy to excavate on a large scale have been emptied. What remains are scattered, low-value fragments buried deep within.

In the eyes of the Divine Wood Sect, the contribution points spent to excavate these spirit stones would even exceed the value of the spirit stones themselves. Therefore, they withdrew their personnel and allowed various rogue cultivators to excavate these depleted mines freely.

Regardless of how many spirit stones one excavated, they only needed to hand over half of their findings upon exiting the caves.

It was precisely for this reason that areas newly declared as depleted mines would quickly attract a large number of rogue cultivators.

This Ever-Revolving Mountain Market Town developed because of this.

At that time, cultivators dreaming of wealth crowded every passage within the mine caves.

Unfortunately, after ten years, ninety-nine percent of the remaining spirit stones within these depleted mines had also been excavated.

When it became possible to dig for a month and not even find a single spirit stone, these depleted mines were officially declared abandoned by rogue cultivators.

Consequently, the once bustling Ever-Revolving Mountain Market Town turned into its current state.

If it weren't for the teleportation array that the Divine Wood Sect had set up here originally for transporting spirit stones, Xie Yuntian and Yin Qingmei would not have stopped here for transit.

"So that's how it is," Yin Qingmei said, a look of sudden understanding on her face as she observed the dust-laden market town buildings around them. "Senior Brother Xie is truly knowledgeable."

She had long been protected and cultivated within Giantwood Ridge, having little to no contact with the outside world. The term "depleted mine" was also something she was hearing for the first time.

"What about the original owners of this Ever-Revolving Mountain Market Town, the Zhuang family?" Yin Qingmei asked again. "This is also a second-tier spiritual vein, which is a good cultivation spot for Qi Cultivation stage cultivators."

Yin Qingmei asked again, as in her view, an immortal cultivation family should not so easily abandon their ancestral lands.

"Junior Sister Yin, this Ever-Revolving Mountain was originally a third-tier low-grade spiritual vein," Xie Yuntian explained. "But as the spirit stone mines were excavated, its spiritual energy gradually weakened, eventually dropping to its current second-tier low-grade."

"The Old Ancestor of the Ever-Revolving Mountain Zhuang family naturally tried to find ways to save this ancestral land. They even invited Junior Brother Weng, a third-tier Geomancer, but it still couldn't prevent the spiritual vein from drying up."

"After their efforts proved futile, the Zhuang family's Old Ancestor led the family's elites to collectively migrate and settle in North Abyss City. However, there should still be guardians left by their family here."

As Xie Yuntian finished explaining, he suddenly noticed something amiss.

Although the spiritual vein of Ever-Revolving Mountain was continuously weakening, its second-tier spiritual energy concentration was still acceptable. Moreover, as it was the Zhuang family's ancestral land, there shouldn't be no one here.

Furthermore, because there was a transit teleportation array here, the Divine Wood Sect paid the Zhuang family one hundred spirit stones annually to help maintain and guard it.

Logically, as soon as they emerged from the teleportation array, they should have seen Qi Cultivation stage cultivators from the Zhuang family.

Thump!

A severed head was thrown from behind a nearby building, rolling to a stop in front of Xie Yuntian and Yin Qingmei.

Then, a mysterious figure completely shrouded in a black robe emerged from the shadows.

"Junior Sister Yin, be careful not to stray too far from me."

Xie Yuntian's pupils constricted when he saw the black-robed figure. He sensed spiritual energy fluctuations on this person that were almost identical to his own, and immediately transmitted a message to Yin Qingmei.

He hadn't expected that someone would actually be so foolish as to dare attack a Heavenly Spirit Root disciple of their Divine Wood Sect in the Eastern Wilderness.

Anger surged in his heart, but Xie Yuntian's rich combat experience didn't let him lose his composure. Instead, he began to observe the surroundings.

But immediately, a situation arose that caused his heart to sink!

Thump, thump, thump!

Three more severed heads were thrown out, followed by three more black-robed cultivators stepping out from buildings in different directions.

Although their spiritual energy fluctuations were not as strong as the first one, they were all in the Foundation Establishment realm.

"Senior Brother Xie, I can handle two!"

Although Yin Qingmei had little combat experience, she was, after all, an Eastern Wilderness cultivator and showed no fear. After drawing her Divine Wood Sword and Divine Wood Shield, her right hand secretly held the Haotian Mirror within her storage bag, ready to deploy this third-tier magic artifact gifted by her foster father should the situation turn unfavorable!

"Junior Sister Yin, the person in front of us is a cultivator at the perfected Foundation Establishment stage," Xie Yuntian said. "While I am confident I can slay him, it might consume a lot of my spiritual energy. If that happens, find a way to escape first, don't worry about me."

Although Xie Yuntian was confident that with his perfected Sword Fiend, he was unmatched among Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Eastern Wilderness, he also knew that two fists are no match for four hands.

Since the enemy could accurately grasp that they would come here, and even set an ambush in advance, it was clear they knew the strength of both of them.

Under these circumstances, daring to send only four people must mean they are confident in capturing them with this lineup.

"Senior Brother Xie, don't worry about me," Yin Qingmei said. "I have a life-saving method gifted by the Old Ancestor."

Compared to Xie Yuntian's caution, Yin Qingmei appeared much calmer.

However, inwardly, she was thinking: *Why hasn't Foster Father appeared yet?*

"Alright!"

After hearing Yin Qingmei's words, Xie Yuntian no longer had any misgivings. He immediately opened his mouth and spat out a stream of cyan-blue light. His diligently cultivated Post-Natal Fire Spirit Body, combined with this Azure Flame Sword Fiend, already possessed sixty percent of the power Chen Mobai wielded during his own Foundation Establishment!

The black-robed mystic at the perfected Foundation Establishment stage, caught off guard, was actually sliced into two halves by this Sword Fiend!

"Senior Brother Xie is amazing!"

Yin Qingmei couldn't help but cheer upon seeing this.

But soon, Xie Yuntian's expression slightly changed, as he realized his Sword Fiend did not seem to have sliced through a human body!

At this moment, an extremely bizarre, eerie cold burst forth from the other three Foundation Establishment cultivators. They then produced a set of black array flags, which transformed into a surging cold tide, sweeping towards Xie Yuntian and Yin Qingmei.

Yin Qingmei immediately deployed her Divine Wood Shield, which transformed into a green light shield enveloping both of them.

Seeing this, Xie Yuntian stopped releasing his Spirit Leaf Talisman from his palm.

Just as he was about to control his sword to slay the three Foundation Establishment cultivators forming the array, the ground suddenly collapsed with a rumble!

Although both of them flew up in time, dark yellow sandy-rock hands extended from the ground, grabbing their feet and dragging them downwards into the collapsing earth.

At the same time, the Meridian Cold Tide Array erupted to its peak, freezing a layer of frost onto Yin Qingmei's Divine Wood Shield.

The green light shield immediately cracked!

Xie Yuntian wielded his sword to cut off the sandy-rock hands at their feet, then crushed the Spirit Leaf Talisman in his palm!

But just as he broke free, the mysterious figure he had sliced in half with his Azure Flame Sword Fiend suddenly stood up, transforming into two pitch-black puppet snakes made of stacked wooden blocks, which crossed into a scissor-like motion and lunged at him.

Left with no choice, Xie Yuntian could only once again open his mouth and spit out an Azure Flame Sword Fiend, shattering this wave of attacks.

But then something unbelievable occurred: the two puppet snakes, engulfed by the Sword Fiend, suddenly shed their outer wooden blocks, revealing two even more intricate and lifelike long sand snakes beneath.

At this moment, Xie Yuntian's Spirit Leaf Talisman was also coincidentally shattered by the Meridian Cold Tide.

The two long sand snakes burrowed through the dissipating cracks like ropes, binding Xie Yuntian and Yin Qingmei.

"Hmph, trying to trap me..."

Xie Yuntian snorted in anger, activating the last Azure Flame Sword Fiend from his Dantian Sea of Qi, sending it flying out to melt the sand snakes.

But at this moment, the Meridian Cold Tide descended, forcibly suppressing the Azure Flame Sword Fiend for a mere blink of an eye.

Subsequently, a black nail was spat out from the mouth of the long snake on Xie Yuntian's body, piercing into his Dantian Sea of Qi.

In an instant, the Azure Flame Sword Fiend completely dissipated!

"Spirit-Sealing Nail?"

Xie Yuntian's expression drastically changed, but it was already too late to fight for his life.

All the spiritual energy within his body had been sealed.

The sand snake binding Yin Qingmei also spat out such a black nail from its mouth, but she blocked it with an antique bronze mirror.

Then, the power of the third-tier magic artifact erupted, carrying Yin Qingmei as she broke free from her restraints and flew into mid-air.

The Meridian Cold Tide surged forth again, attempting to suppress Yin Qingmei!

But the Haotian Mirror erupted with Pure Yang Fire, instantly shattering this power.

"Chen Laomo's Six Yang Divine Fire Mirror! He actually dared to give you this treasure for protection, hehe, well, today's harvest is bountiful, not only your Heavenly Spirit Root body but also a third-tier magic artifact..."

A sinister voice echoed erratically. Only then did Xie Yuntian realize that what he had been fighting against all along seemed to be an opponent's puppet artifact!

"Which one of the Six Armor Mountain are you?"

In the Eastern Wilderness, apart from the Divine Wood Sect's Puppet Department, only Six Armor Mountain could possess such profound puppetry skills.

"Although Six Armor Mountain's puppetry is decent, it cannot be compared with our Restoration Society at all. Don't try to probe further. The President has ordered that the Heavenly Spirit Root be captured alive; everyone else is to be killed without mercy. You are certainly going to die today!"

The sinister words echoed again. Then, a sand flying sword condensed before Xie Yuntian's glabella, and with a flash of spiritual light, it was about to pierce through the glabella of the Divine Wood Sect's top Foundation Establishment cultivator.

A streak of Pure Yang spiritual light descended from the sky; it was Yin Qingmei making her move.

"Junior Sister Yin, you should have escaped!"

Seeing this scene, Xie Yuntian let out a long sigh.

With the Sect Master's magic artifact protecting her, Yin Qingmei could at least break free from this encirclement. Even if she were pursued later, she could buy some time, perhaps finding a chance to survive.

"Senior Brother Xie, you overestimate me too much," Yin Qingmei said with a faint smile, clutching the Haotian Mirror, her complexion slightly pale. "After activating the Sect Master's magic artifact, my spiritual energy is exhausted. I can't run far!"

Both Xie Yuntian and the surrounding attackers found it very strange that she was smiling.

Why could she still smile at such a critical moment of life and death?!

*To avoid complications, let's kill Xie Yuntian first!*

Xu Shengbing, hidden in the shadows and controlling the puppets, slightly frowned and was about to activate his sand flying sword.

A sound of footsteps came from behind him.

"Did you only send four Foundation Establishment cultivators? Not even enough to stretch my muscles."

The voice from behind sent shivers down Xu Shengbing's spine. He abruptly turned around and saw a long-robed youth with a disappointed expression, looking refreshed and refined.

"You... shouldn't you be in Giantwood Ridge...?"

Xu Shengbing saw Chen Mobai's face and spoke in disbelief.

"Oh, you mean that? That's just one of my puppet bodies."

Chen Mobai's words made Xu Shengbing's eyes widen, and he kept shaking his head.

"That's impossible. If you were a puppet body, you couldn't have fooled Junior Brother."

"My puppetry skills might be a little beyond your world's imagination, you know?"

Chen Mobai said with a smile. Meanwhile, Xu Shengbing's entire body erupted in burning vital blood, unleashing all his spiritual energy in an instant, attempting to cast the Blood-Burning Escape Art to flee for his life.

But just as he thought of flying up, he found his body incredibly heavy, as if burdened by a thousand jin, his feet unable to leave the ground.

He looked down and saw that, at some unknown moment, strands of five-colored misty aura, like ribbons, had completely bound his body.

Even the Blood-Burning Escape Art, purported to triple one's speed in a short period, was still unable to break any of the five-colored misty threads.

The Scarlet Cloud Mist Net, a third-tier magic artifact, might have little presence when facing Golden Core cultivators, but suppressing Foundation Establishment cultivators was effortless for it.

"Who is the mole in my sect?"

Chen Mobai asked, and at the same time, uncorked the yellow gourd at his waist. Amidst the flashing orange-red brilliant light, blood-red light surged forth.

It had already severed the array flags in the hands of the three ghost cultivators nearby and pierced through their Dantian Seas of Qi.

"Haha, do you think I'll tell you?"

Xu Shengbing said miserably, then his eyes widened, and his entire body suddenly swelled up. The terrifying restriction hidden within him erupted, igniting his entire essence, qi, and spirit, transforming into a Blood Curse Thunder Art powerful enough to destroy half of the Ever-Revolving Mountain Market Town.

Chen Mobai frowned, and with a grip of his right hand, the Scarlet Cloud Mist Net transformed into a five-colored sphere of light, completely enveloping Xu Shengbing.

This Blood Curse Thunder Art, which he considered his last trump card, merely resulted in a muffled thud, only slightly distorting the five-colored sphere of light.