Chapter 335: Looking for the Culprit
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
That day, when Yan Qijun and his company escaped from Snowflake City, the self-explosion of his Nascent Soul personal guards had crushed the entire city and destroyed it completely. Only the mansions of the three major clans survived the catastrophe, as they were protected by the immortal talismans given by Immortal Chang Wu. After that, Lin Qiuluo went ahead to pursue Yan Qijun. Later, when Immortal Chang Wu and the other two Heaven Immortals arrived, they too went straight to hunt down the culprits. There was nothing the people from three major clans could do, so they remained at the foot of the snow mountain, fixing and repairing their heavily damaged mansions.
However, a general feeling of insecurity lingered about the people of three major clans, because none of them knew what was happening exactly.
It seemed like a perfectly normal day, but all of a sudden, a massive explosion shot Snowflake City into the sky, ripping and tearing all the shops, inns, and buildings in the city to pieces, and sending them flying everywhere. It was a devastating loss for three major clans. Apart from the clan members who happened to stay in their mansions, the rest of their people were all killed during the explosion.
The calamity of Snowflake City brought an unparalleled loss to all three major clans. They had worked very hard in Xue Yuan Planet over the past several tens of thousands of years, only to build up a small foundation for themselves. However, before they could understand what was going on, the entire Snowflake City had turned into nothingness, while the majority of their elite clan members were gone. It was a loss that nobody could accept!
At the moment, the Patriarch of Lin clan, Lin Qiansui, and the Clan Chiefs of the other two clans, Le Bainian and Xin Ziran, were sitting in the main hall of Lin clan, gazing speechlessly at one another and sighing incessantly. The sudden destruction of Snowflake City had severely impaired their clans' overall strength. Although their backing, the three Heaven Immortals arrived shortly after, they did not say anything but went straight for the hunting of Yan Qijun. Therefore, these Clan Chiefs were still in the dark about what was going on, and what caused the destruction of Snowflake City.
The Patriarchs of all three clans had the cultivation base of mid-stage Nascent Soul realm, with Lin Qiansui being the strongest among them, just one step away from breaking into late-stage. With a tight frown on his face, he said, "Why don't the three Heaven Immortals tell us what is happening? Snowdrift City is destroyed, so the other three cities will definitely take this opportunity to overthrow us, not allowing us to get back up again."
After a moment of silence, Le Bainian smiled wryly and said, "We are supported by three Heaven Immortals, so I don't think they have the guts to do that, right?"
Xin Ziran seemed to have a better understanding to the situation, as he smiled bitterly and said, "For the sake of energy stones and the lucrative profits, why do you think they won't have the guts to do that? If all three cities work together, they will be supported by eight Heaven Immortals. By combing the mighty strength of eight Heaven Immortals to form a threat to the three Heaven Immortals supporting us, I don't see any light in our future!"
Lin Qiansui stomped frustratingly and cried out furiously, "But, what exactly is happening? Why was there a fight in the city suddenly? This is ridiculous, an undeserved catastrophe! There are rules in the realm of cultivators. How is it possible to have someone self-detonate their Nascent Souls in a city packed with innocent civilians? Worst of all, they even used a mystic technique to form a formation before self-detonating their Nascent Soul! How absurd is that? This is beyond any reason!"
Almost at the same time, Le Bainian and Xin Ziran turned to look at Le Bainian, then both said together, "Old Lin, perhaps it is related to your clan member, Qiuluo?"
Lin Qiansui shut his mouth immediately. During the moment when Snowflake City was destroyed, all three of them did sense Lin Qiansui's aura. It seemed she was fighting someone with full force. It would be bluffing if he would say this did not concern her. Lin Qiansui sunk into a deep silence, and at last said, "We are on the same ship now, and we share the glory, as well as the losses together. Let's discuss this after the three Heaven Immortals return!"
Le Bainian and Xin Ziran exchanged a glance, then both breathed out a heavy sigh together.
Suddenly, all three of them had their faces fallen, and transformed into bright beams almost at the same time, shooting out from the main hall and soaring high up into the sky. To their shock, they saw two demon clouds shooting towards them at an incredible speed amidst gusts of wild wind. Then, two blinding immortal gleams flickered in the demon clouds, sending out gusts of fierce green wind that rolled up numerous white auspicious clouds, smashing heavily down with deafening rumbles. They were like two magnificent waterfalls pouring down from the heaven. The green wind and white colored auspicious clouds covered a massive area, enveloping all three mansions and nearly one hundred miles of land around them, while emanating an enormous immortal pressure, causing Lin Qiansui and the other two Clan Chiefs to freeze in the sky.
The immortal pressure that came from the wild winds and white clouds had totally frozen the three Nascent Soul Patriarchs, let alone those clan members and disciples of the three clans. In a blink of an eye, countless white clouds swept whistled across all three mansions. As they were caught unprepared, three Patriarchs did not have the time to activate the immortal talismans to protect their clan members. The wild winds rolled up the white clouds, swirling and wheeling rapidly around the three mansions, breaking and crushing everything that came in their way to debris.
Then two demon clouds arrived with a menacing manner. Their faces filled with ferocious smiles, Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu raised the immortal talismans up and aimed right at the three Patriarchs.
A few clouds blasted out viciously and smashed brutally on the chests of the three Patriarchs. The powerful force that was as heavy as a lofty mountain shattered the defensive barriers that they cast with a great struggle, and crushed their breast bones to powder. Pliable, vast, dense and seemingly endless immortal energies rushed into their bodies, completely sealing off the flow of their blood and energies, as if their meridians were clogged by countless tiny clouds, preventing their Nascent Souls from functioning properly, which caused them to lose the ability to exert any of their Dharmic powers.
The land where three mansions once stood had transformed into a clean, emptied snowfield. There was nothing left behind. The one hundred miles wide snowfield now looked as bright and clear as a pale-blue mirror, glinting splendidly under the reflection of sunlight. Nothing could be found apart from snow and ice; everything had vanished. Amidst the wild winds and white clouds, the remaining clan members of the three clans had been slaughtered and turned into nothingness.
"Monsters!" Fixing their gazes at Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu, the three Patriarchs struggled to spew out the word from their mouths.
Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu retracted the immortal talismans. The attack just now only consumed less than ten percent of the talismans' total power. Holding the immortal talismans in high esteem, they carefully shoved them into their storage rings. Wu Qi did not mention that he needed them to give the talismans back to him. Therefore, the two old demons did not mind to shamelessly take possession of these mighty treasures which still had a copious amount of energy.
Feeling proud and satisfied, Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu pulled up the three Patriarchs, whose bodies were bathed in blood and could not move at all. They stepped back to their demon clouds and flew back to the mountain peak where Wu Qi and the others were at. Upon arriving, they threw the three Patriarchs to the ground, then Xiong Wanling laughed and said, "Hehe, the immortal talismans are truly mighty treasures personally made by Heaven Immortals, their power is simply stunning! Aye, using them to slaughter every man and woman of the three clans is as easy as killing some dogs!"
He Qianqiu was laughing as well, as he said, "That's right! Their power is really awe-inspiring! It is such a pity they can only be used once, ai!"
They were telling a bare-faced lie, shamelessly telling Wu Qi that they had used up all the immortal energies in both immortal talismans.
Wu Qi glared helplessly at both demon kings, then he cupped his fist at Yan Qijun while wearing a smile and said, "They are all yours now. You can freely decide how you are going to vent your spleen. Hmm, have you find out anything after interrogating this woman with 'torture' for so many days? Who paid her to kill you? How did that person find her? And where will Lin Qiuluo go and collect the payment after her task is done? Has she spoken to you about all this?"
Yan Qijun nodded slowly as he quickly transmitted a few words over to Wu Qi. Staring blankly at Yan Qijun for a brief moment, Wu Qi grinned coldly.
He took a few steps back, spread his arms and pointed at Lin Qiuluo and the three Patriarchs, then smiled lightly as he signaled that Yan Qijun could start with his revenge.
Without hesitation, Yan Qijun, Xiong Wanling, and He Qianqiu strode forward and came before the three Patriarchs. Thrusting his leg and stepping on Le Bainian's head, Xiong Wanling broke out into a loud laughter and said, "Old dogs! Do you know why you were struck by the calamity of having your entire clan exterminated?"
He Qianqiu gave Xin Ziran a brutal kick savagely and said coolly, "Lin Qiuluo had received the energy stones that someone gave her, and tried to kill us in Snowflake City, which eventually caused the death of over one hundred men that we brought here. Let's settle this score in a proper manner."
With complex expressions, the three Patriarchs gave Lin Qiuluo a look, who knelt not far away from them, face blank and motionless as if she had turned into a statue. Lin Qiansui threw his head back and breathed out a long sigh. In a deep voice, he said, "Fellow Daoists, we, the three clans are willing to compensate your loss with everything we have... we wish to use all our clan properties to exchange for our lives."
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Xin Ziran said bitterly, "Since it is Lin Qiuluo who caused this disaster, it means the other two clans are not involved. Over several tens of thousands of years, we, the Xin clan have accumulated two million upper-grade energy stones and countless precious treasures. I can offer them to you, my fellow Daoists, in exchange for my life."
Le Bainian mentioned the same thing. Coughing violently, he said that he was willing to give up all his energy stones in exchange for his life.
Wu Qi gave the three Patriarchs a glance and shook his head. He spun and shoved Immortal Chang Wu and the other two Heaven Immortals into the Spirit Breeding Ring, then left the mountain and found himself an ice cave, making himself comfortable and sinking into a deep slumber. Using energy stones in exchange for their lives? For some other cultivators, perhaps they would have already agreed to the deal. However, as Yan Qijun and the rest of them were from Myriad Immortals Planet, a mere few millions of upper-grade energy stones were nothing of value in their eyes.
Nevertheless, it was worth mentioning that after several tens of thousands of saving, the three clans only managed to accumulate several millions of pieces of upper-grade energy stones. This showed how poor they were.
Miserable howls and cries of begging from Lin Qiuluo and the three Patriarchs kept echoing out from the peak of the snow mountain, accompanied by dreadful noises of bones cracking and flesh ripping.
Wu Qi did not bother to imagine what kind of cruel tortures they were suffering now, as they asked for this themselves. With Yan Qijun's character and the bloodthirsty nature of two demon kings, it was not tough to imagine that perhaps the tortures they received now were even more frightful than those in the Nether Hell.
After one full day and night, the bloodcurdling howls and cries finally came to a complete stop. Some while after that, Yan Qijun and two demon kings came slowly down from the snow mountain, their bodies drenched with blood. At the corner of Xiong Wanling's lips were many tiny human tissues, blood, and bone fragments. He was burping while striding down the mountain. Obviously, someone among the four was eaten alive by him.
He had proven himself to be a real demon king. Looking at Xiong Wanling's face radiating with power and vitality, Wu Qi could not help but twitch his lips.
The company of four gathered together, then Wu Qi said, "According to Lin Qiuluo's confession, after she completed the assassination smoothly, she would have proceeded to White Frost City and met with the people sent by the culprit, getting paid for the balance wages. Therefore, we have to go to White Frost City now and find out who actually sent the contact person here."
Xiong Wanling bared his sharp teeth and said ferociously, "No matter who the culprit is, he or she has started a deadly feud with me!"
He Qianqiu snorted coldly and did not say anything.
Wearing a grim and gloomy expression, Yan Qijun said coolly, "Yes, we should really find out the culprit. Only a few people in Great Yan Dynasty know of my whereabouts. Regardless who the one that tried to stab me from the back is, we need to dig him or her out!"
Wu Qi raised his head and gave Yan Qijun a look, then nodded his head.
Four bright beams soared up into the sky and sped away straight towards White Frost City.