Chapter 158 - 154: Aura-Concealing Spirit Pendant
The operation to corner them unfolded two nights later.
Wang De and Uncle Qu led the team, a total of eight people. Li Yuan was assigned to an ambush position behind a low hill on the southern perimeter.
The target’s hideout was in the Chaotic Stone Beach, an area fifteen *li* south of the perimeter. The contact address Wang Lu had previously discovered ultimately led to a complete thread of clues. Following this thread, they pinpointed the marauder gang’s base.
The frontal assault was led by Uncle Qu with three men. Wang De took two men to circle around to the rear and block their retreat. Li Yuan and another Qi Refining Fifth Level Cultivator guarded the final southern escape route.
Once the assault began, the sounds of fighting from the front faded in less than ten minutes.
Uncle Qu’s strength was undeniable. A Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivator had a crushing advantage over those at the Mid-stage. Besides their leader, no one in the gang could withstand Uncle Qu for more than ten breaths.
The leader was at the Qi Refining Ninth Level, so there was no gap in their Cultivation levels. Even so, Uncle Qu still had him on the defensive.
Moreover, Wang De had blocked the escape route from the rear. Caught in a pincer attack, the leader only lasted for less than a quarter-hour.
When he tried to break out to the south, he was briefly intercepted by Li Yuan.
Li Yuan didn’t clash with him head-on. Three Fireballs forced him to change direction, herding him into a narrow ravine. In the ravine, he couldn’t use his Body Technique. Wang De caught up from behind and knocked him to the ground with a Magic spell, and Uncle Qu followed up, pinning him with his foot.
The gang had six members. One was killed, five were taken alive. None escaped.
The spoils of war and the captives were taken away that same night.
Li Yuan didn’t participate in the subsequent interrogation. He returned to his lodging on the outskirts to continue his talisman-crafting and cultivation.
In the past few days, the permanency progress for his Spiritual Essence Bottle had reached ninety-two percent.
The next day, there was a knock on his courtyard gate.
Li Yuan opened the gate to find Wang De standing outside.
His green robe was stained with some dust; it looked like he had just rushed back from somewhere.
The two entered the main house and sat down at the stone table.
Wang De didn’t beat around the bush and spoke directly.
"The interrogation is finished. The Li family hired this gang."
Li Yuan showed no surprise.
Wang De held up one finger.
"The gang leader’s surname is Zhou. Qi Refining Ninth Level. He was approached by someone from the Li family three years ago and started working for them. He has five men under him, their Cultivation ranging from the Third to the Sixth Level."
A second finger.
"The second-in-command was Zhao Wu."
Li Yuan’s gaze shifted slightly.
Zhao Wu. He was the Loose Cultivator in Qinghe Marketplace who sold ore fragments, secretly spied on the marketplace’s defenses, and later fled.
"Zhao Wu’s actual Cultivation is Qi Refining Sixth Level." Wang De’s tone was flat. "When he entered Qinghe Marketplace, his aura only appeared to be at the Qi Refining Third Level. He relied on a breath-concealing Jade Pendant his leader lent him. Its quality is much higher than those circulating on the market, capable of suppressing his aura to just twenty or thirty percent."
He paused for a moment.
"The breath-concealing Jade Pendant you seized from those marauders from the Crow Claw Gang is almost identical in style to the one Zhao Wu had. I suspected at the time that they came from the same source, and now it’s been confirmed. Those guys from the Crow Claw Gang were also peripheral members of this group. The leader provided all the Jade Pendants."
Li Yuan grunted in acknowledgment.
’The Crow Claw Gang’s Jade Pendant, Zhao Wu’s Jade Pendant, and the higher-quality one in the leader’s possession. It all adds up.’
Wang De continued.
"Qian Si was one of them too."
Qian Si. The Cultivator who had met with the man in the bamboo hat back in Qinghe Marketplace. Li Yuan and Wang Yuan had tailed him together and seen him making an exchange in a hidden location.
"The breath-concealing Jade Pendant Qian Si had was also provided by the leader. But Qian Si’s mission was different from Zhao Wu’s. Zhao Wu was responsible for intelligence on the marketplace’s internal defenses, while Qian Si was responsible for movements on the perimeter."
Wang De folded his hands and placed them on the table.
"But the intelligence on the marketplace was secondary. Their true core mission wasn’t to watch the patrol and guard teams."
He looked at Li Yuan.
"It was the Demon Beasts."
Li Yuan frowned slightly.
"The Li family set up an Array in the Yuanheng Mountain Range to drive away Demon Beasts, and also used Magical Artifacts and pills for the same purpose. You know this." Wang De lowered his voice a fraction.
"But the Li family themselves weren’t sure if any of it was actually working. They had no idea which direction the Demon Beasts would flee, how many there were, or if any High Tier ones were being driven over."
"So they sent people to observe the effects."
"Correct." Wang De nodded. "Zhao Wu’s and Qian Si’s core mission was to observe the direction and frequency of Demon Beast attacks to verify if the repelling Array was effective. The intelligence on the marketplace’s defenses was just a side task. We can’t get the priorities mixed up."
He withdrew his hands from the tabletop.
"There’s one more thing. They also planted their people among the group of Loose Cultivators temporarily recruited by the guard team."
Li Yuan’s expression darkened slightly.
"Not many, just one or two. Their Cultivation is low, so they couldn’t do anything major. They were just watching the guard team’s daily patrol routes and personnel deployment and passing messages to the outside. They’ve already been found out and were detained on the way back to the marketplace."
After he finished speaking, Wang De picked up the water bowl on the table and took a sip.
After a two-breath silence, he set the bowl down and looked at Li Yuan.
"From the very beginning when Zhao Wu’s abnormality was discovered, you’ve been involved in many things. Zhao Wu, the Crow Claw Gang’s Jade Pendant, tailing Qian Si, discovering the Array Hub at the herb garden, and the clue about the Foundation Establishment Pill’s auxiliary materials here in Yunyang Marketplace."
He tapped the table twice with his finger.
"You’ve done well. What do you want?"
Li Yuan didn’t hesitate.
"The leader’s Jade Pendant."
Wang De’s movement paused.
He looked at Li Yuan, his brow furrowed slightly.
"You want that Jade Pendant?"
He took a Jade Pendant from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
It was a size larger than any breath-concealing Jade Pendant Li Yuan had ever seen. The jade was translucent, and the Spirit Patterns on its surface were extremely fine and complex. The craftsmanship was so exquisite that every line looked as if it had been painstakingly carved with the tip of a needle. The grade of its aura fluctuation was several tiers higher than that of an ordinary breath-concealing Jade Pendant.
"When it comes down to it, this thing is just a bit better than the breath-concealing Jade Pendant you had before." Wang De withdrew his hand from the pendant. "It lasts longer and its effect is better, but its function isn’t fundamentally different. Your ability to conceal your aura is already quite good. Getting a better one is just icing on the cake."
He looked at Li Yuan.
"What do you want this for?"
Wang De stared at him for two breaths.
Li Yuan’s expression remained neutral; he offered no explanation.
"Fine." Wang De pushed the Jade Pendant toward Li Yuan. "It’s yours."
He didn’t press the issue.
Then, he took out a bamboo scroll from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
"This is for you, too."
Three words were written on the cover of the bamboo scroll: Spirit-Introducing Skill. Below them, a line of smaller text read: 8th and 9th Floors.
"You can probably cultivate to the Qi Refining Seventh Level, but the Spirit-Introducing Skill you have only goes up to the seventh level. It’s time to give you the Cultivation Technique for the next two levels. Consider it part of your reward."
Wang De pushed the bamboo scroll over. "Normally, you’d have to go to the Scripture Pavilion at the Wang family’s main headquarters to get this. I brought it with me this time."
Li Yuan took the scroll and skimmed through it. The meridian node markings, the new paths for Spiritual Power circulation, and the key insights for breaking through to the 8th and 9th Floors were all there. It was the same system as the first seven levels, but the paths were deeper and broader, involving nearly twice as many nodes as the seventh level.
"Thanks."
Wang De stood up.
"That’s everything. Wang Lu will tell you about the arrangements that follow."
With that, he pushed the door open and left.
After his footsteps faded down the dirt road, the courtyard fell silent once more.
Li Yuan sat at the table, his gaze falling upon the Jade Pendant.
The jade was translucent, the Spirit Patterns fine and dense. Its craftsmanship was of the same school as the Spiritual Essence Bottle, but its level of refinement was a tier higher.
He reached out and picked up the Jade Pendant.
The moment his fingertip touched the surface of the pendant, a panel popped up.
[Equippable Item Detected: Aura-Concealing Spirit Pendant (Complete)]
[This item can upgrade an existing permanent entry: Aura Concealment (Green)]
[Method 1: Equip the High Tier Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant. This will occupy an equipment slot. The original entry will be upgraded and take effect immediately.]
[Method 2: Temporarily equip the High Tier Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant. This will not occupy an equipment slot. The entry will not take effect, and you can only accumulate permanency progress.]
[Method 3: Consume three Breath-Concealing Jade Pendants of the same grade to directly upgrade the original permanent entry, no permanency process required.]
[Upgraded Entry Preview: Aura Concealment (Green) → Aura Elimination (Blue) — Greatly obscures one’s own aura. Has an extremely strong masking effect against perception techniques of the same or lower tier. Significantly interferes with perception techniques one tier higher. Greatly reduces the effectiveness of divination attempts made by other Cultivators on the user.]
[Permanency Condition: Reduce your aura until it is indistinguishable from a mortal’s, and live among other mortals for one month. During this period, you cannot use Spiritual Power.]