At the foot of Xiao Huan Mountain, Xu Ji stood still, his youthful features framed by the breeze as he gazed up at the mountain that had been completely renewed.
Towering transplanted trees dotted the landscape, a small lake mirrored the blue skies and drifting clouds above, while halfway up the mountain, faint outlines of pavilions and towers emerged through the mist.
“Luo Tian Society?” he murmured under his breath.
He had heard of the name before—mentioned casually by his Grand Elder, Tian Xingzi. It was said to be a faction centered around alchemy, led by a cultivator at the ninth stage of Qi-Refining. That alone would have made them unremarkable in the eyes of most sects, but what set them apart was their alchemist. According to Tian Xingzi, the man’s pill-refining skills were surprisingly refined.
At one point, Tian Xingzi had even suspected that the famed Blood-Burning pill might have originated from this very faction. That suspicion had only faded after it was revealed that Murong Yuan had the backing of a second-tier alchemist.
“A mere Qi-Refining faction like this managed to wipe out a Foundation Establishment family?” he muttered, feeling rather perplexed.
Xu Ji couldn’t help but feel somewhat despondent.
This is an unexpected complication...
He couldn’t tell whether the Duan family had simply been too weak to begin with or if multiple factions in the region had joined hands to bring them down in secret. If it was the latter, then there might be no value in pursuing the matter further.
Still, with a Foundation Establishment human puppet in my possession, perhaps we can talk things through?
Just as he was about to step forward, the mountain’s patrol team spotted him.
“Who goes there?” one of them called out sharply.
Xu Ji raised his hand and responded without hesitation, his voice clear and respectful.
“Xu Ji of Luoyun Sect. I’ve come to pay my respects to the mountain!”
His words resonated with power, amplified by the Foundation Establishment puppet—Mi Shuhua’s body beside him. The sound echoed across the foothills and up into the sky, trailing like a ripple of wind through the clouds.
***
“A scabbard? An enchanted artifact?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. “Fellow Daoist Xu, are you certain it’s not a flying sword?”
Xu Ji replied earnestly, "It’s precisely a scabbard."
Sima Huiniang frowned in thought.
The Duan family was known throughout Dahe Market as an artifact-forging family, renowned for crafting mid-grade flying swords. It’s common knowledge that flying swords as artifacts are rarely equipped with scabbards.
She glanced at him, her tone respectful but laced with doubt. “May I ask, what grade is the scabbard artifact you’re referring to?”
Though skeptical, she couldn’t dismiss him outright. Xu Ji was an inner disciple of the Luoyun Sect. Whether she liked it or not, he was someone she had to show proper courtesy to.
Thus, her words came out softer than usual, her tone more diplomatic than firm.
Xu Ji didn’t seem bothered by her skepticism. “I can’t say for sure,” he replied with calm patience, “but it should be at least top-grade.”
Who would forge a top-grade scabbard artifact of all things? she silently cursed.
Still, none of it showed on her face. With the poise of someone used to navigating delicate politics, she smoothed her robes and said evenly, “All our top-grade artifacts are cataloged, and some are preserved in our treasure vault.”
Her gaze flicked to the Foundation Establishment puppet standing behind Xu Ji, then back to his face. Remembering Luo Chen’s prior instructions, her tone shifted slightly.
“How about this,” she offered, “I’ll take you to the vault myself. Perhaps there are items that simply escaped our rogue cultivator knowledge and we failed to identify.”
Xu Ji nodded in agreement and followed Sima Huiniang to the vault.
Before long, Xu Ji emerged from the vault, his expression tinged with disappointment.
Most of the items stored within were low- to mid-grade artifacts. While ten of them were top-grade and finely crafted, none matched the object he sought.
Unable to suppress his frustration, he asked, “Did Duan Qiankun’s storage pouch truly get destroyed in the explosion?”
Sima Huiniang gave a bitter smile. "That explosion back then was incredibly terrifying."
She gestured vaguely toward the mountain’s base. “That lake you saw when you arrived? It was formed by the blast itself.”
“In the face of that kind of destruction,” she continued, “do you really believe a simple storage pouch could have survived?”
Xu Ji’s gaze darkened as he recalled the lake at the foot of the mountain. His pupils narrowed slightly.
To have produced such devastation despite defensive enchanted treasure, the battle must have been brutal beyond imagination.
Storage pouches might be valuable, but they were hardly considered stable or fortified artifacts. Perhaps only spatial rings at the enchanted treasure level could have withstood such a blast.
And yet... he wasn’t ready to give up.
"May I request to meet your President?"
Sima Huiniang frowned and responded with displeasure. "That would be rather impolite, don’t you think? I told you earlier our President is in seclusion and is not to be disturbed by outsiders."
Xu Ji blinked, then a flicker of indignation rose within him.
He was an inner disciple of a grand Nascent Soul sect, yet he was being denied to meet with the head of a mere rogue cultivator society?
How is that impolite?!
"What if I insist on meeting him?"
Just as a glint of menace surfaced in Xu Ji’s eyes, Sima Huiniang’s gaze narrowed as well.
"Fellow Daoist, we’ve already shown you every courtesy. Don’t bring trouble upon yourself."
This was the stronghold of the Luo Tian Society! They had over a hundred cultivators here, and more than ten of them were at the ninth stage of Qi-Refining. Xu Ji might be powerful but he was very far from being untouchable.
If a real conflict broke out, Xu Ji would undoubtedly be the one at a disadvantage.
But so what?