Qingquan City, Flying Boat Port.
A group of high-ranking officials from Qingquan City waited at the dock.
Among them was the city’s lord, Qin Yangtai, a man with a scholarly air and a thin mustache.
“Are you certain it’s not Fairy Jade Frost?”
Qin Yangtai asked the official beside him.
“Yes, Lord City Lord. The person arriving this time is Sect Master Ji of the Xishan Sect,” the official, who was slightly older than Qin Yangtai, replied.
Looking at the signal lights unique to the flying shuttle route on the horizon, Qin Yangtai’s face was full of worry.
How many days had it been?
Another great figure was coming…
Orders had come from above:
Do well and be rewarded; fail, and not only would his official hat be removed, but he’d also be thrown in prison.
The familiar words, the familiar command, made Qin Yangtai’s liver and gallbladder tremble.
Why were all these powerful figures who could overturn clouds and rain with a flick of their hands coming to his little Qingquan City?
The previous two, and now this one… three Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators appearing one after another…
Were all you big shots so idle?
Have you finished handling your sect’s important affairs?
Is the capital peaceful and prosperous?
Qin Yangtai couldn’t help but scream inwardly.
The distinctive sound of a flying shuttle tearing through the air came from the distance.
In the blink of an eye, a flying shuttle, slender compared to other flying boats, slowly came to a stop.
The shuttle’s hatch opened, and a purple figure descended, putting away the flying boat.
She wore the makeup of a married woman, with a mole at the corner of her mouth.
A longsword hung at her waist.
She wore a pink-purple spiritual garment and a light red robe.
On her ten fingers, various top-grade spatial rings glittered brilliantly.
Ji Lanruo’s gaze was deep as she looked at the waiting officials.
The officials all wore expressions of terror.
Why terror?
Ji Lanruo easily saw the reason.
A Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator, a top powerhouse of the current era, appearing fully armed in Qingquan City… it meant either a major event or a funeral.
Their cultivation was relatively low, so they couldn’t discern the grade of Ji Lanruo’s spiritual garment and robe.
But they could still feel the vast Spiritual Qi emanating from her, even from a single loose thread.
“Welcome, we…”
Ji Lanruo nodded, then tapped her toes on the ground.
Her figure instantly appeared thousands of meters away in the high sky.
Qin Yangtai took a deep breath.
Flight was strictly forbidden within the city, whether for people or flying boats.
Yet Qin Yangtai only took a deep breath.
Before leaving home, he had already put on his knee guards, ready to kneel at any moment and beg someone to stop.
“Let’s follow.”
Then, Qin Yangtai rose and led his officials in Sword Flight.
However, their speed was far inferior to Ji Lanruo’s.
In the blink of an eye, after two teleportations, they could only see a small black dot.
Fortunately, Ji Lanruo stopped at the Ding Clan.
They barely managed to follow Ji Lanruo to the air above the Ding Family Lands.
Ding Family Lands.
In the fields, between the houses, and at the windows, people looked up and saw the figure in the sky.
Immediately, a clamor arose.
Ding Clan members went to notify their Patriarch.
Before long, a middle-aged man with a full beard appeared—the Ding Clan’s Patriarch, Ding Nan’s father.
“Ding Wen pays his respects to Sect Master Ji.”
“Where is Luo Yao?”
Ji Lanruo’s hand rested on her sword scabbard, ready to draw at any moment.
Ji Lanruo looked coldly at this middle-aged man.
He was less than a hundred years old yet already had Golden Core strength.
And among the Ding Clan members below her, the younger generation had all reached Foundation Establishment, no worse than she was at their age during her Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
They had clearly received benefits from Luo Yao.
“Luo Yao is no longer at the Ding Clan.”
“Gone?”
Ji Lanruo frowned, using her divine sense to sweep the Ding Family Lands seven or eight times.
Indeed, she found no Spiritual Qi belonging to a Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator.
“Please, Fairy, come to the Council Hall.”
Subsequently, Ding Wen led Ji Lanruo to the Council Hall.
Qin Yangtai and the others were taken to a reception room to wait.
After all, this was now a matter between the Ding and Ji families.
As long as no laws were broken, even the City Lord should not eavesdrop.
Just after sitting in the most honored guest seat, before fruits and tea could be served, Ji Lanruo said, “Where did Luo Yao go? And where is my Ding Nan?”
Ding Wen’s figure froze.
He first bowed, then leaned forward and said, “Ding Nan… he was taken away by Miss Luo Yao.”
As his words fell, in an instant, a terrifying pressure descended, like a tangible mountain crushing down on the entire Ding Family Lands.
Everyone was forced to their knees.
Even Qin Yangtai and Ding Wen, these two Golden Core Stage cultivators, were pressed to the ground like trussed-up chickens, unable to move.
“Ai—”
Ji Lanruo let out a long sigh and reined in her aura.
“Thank you, Fairy,” Ding Wen said.
Ji Lanruo waved her hand.
“You are, after all, my elder. There’s no need for so much formality.”
“Haha…”
Ding Wen covered his head, forcing a laugh.
He didn’t know what to say.
How had he suddenly gained a daughter-in-law over four hundred years older than himself?
“Do you know where Luo Yao took Ding Nan?”
Ding Wen shook his head.
“I don’t even know when they left. Miss Luo Yao only left a note in my son’s bedroom before departing.”
“A note?”
Ding Wen shook his head again.
“The note self-immolated into ashes after I read it.”
“Is that so…”
Ji Lanruo’s fingertip lightly tapped the armrest of her chair as she said slowly, “Did she take all of Ding Nan’s personal or frequently used items, things like clothes?”
“Yes,” Ding Wen answered succinctly.
“Everything related to the dog… to my son, except for the Ding Clan members and the Young Patriarch’s courtyard itself, every object that had touched him was taken away.”
“As I thought… This is to prevent me from using the Fate Seeking Art.”
A flicker passed through Ji Lanruo’s gaze, deep as a still lake.
Ji Lanruo was thinking.
Ding Wen remained silent.
The Fate Seeking Art mobilized the luck of heaven and earth to find a person or object.
It was one of the most unique spells.
The spell itself wasn’t hard to learn; almost everyone could learn it.
But generally, learning it was useless.
Because this spell was equivalent to fortune-telling.
Everyone’s fate was fluid, flowing like water droplets in a stream.
To tell fortune wasn’t just to calculate one person’s fate; it was to directly calculate the entire Mandate of Heaven.
Most people who used the Fate Seeking Art got wrong results.
Their divine sense was insufficient, their ability to communicate with heaven and earth was lacking, so the information they gathered was incomplete.
The conclusions they drew were inevitably wrong.
Therefore, only Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators with powerful divine sense could use it.
And even if used, it would greatly consume one’s vitality, making recovery impossible in the short term.
Ji Lanruo looked at Ding Wen, who was bowing with hands clasped, and rubbed her forehead.
“Anyway, take me to see first.”
“Sect Master Ji, this way.”
Subsequently, under Ding Wen’s guidance, Ji Lanruo went to Ding Nan’s courtyard.
The courtyard was empty.
Even the bed frame and boards were gone.
The dust on the floor had been swept clean, making it hard to tell Ding Nan had ever lived there.
The other rooms in the courtyard also had nothing.
In the kitchen next to the courtyard, the bowls and chopsticks had been taken, the rice jar was empty, and the iron wok had vanished.
Nothing at all…
Ji Lanruo’s expression grew increasingly grave.
The prerequisite for the Fate Seeking Art was an item that had been closely associated with its owner over a long period.
Living people or creatures wouldn’t work, because even if they took no action, from the moment they learned the Fate Seeking Art was being used on them, their very existence and breathing would affect the result.
The corpses of blood relatives also wouldn’t work, because corpses themselves had fate.
“The final verdict after the coffin is closed” didn’t count as final in a world with zombies.
So she couldn’t use Ding Clan members to find Ding Nan’s location.
And not just any object could be used.
Only things like hair, nails, chamber pots, bowls, chopsticks, clothes, etc., were usable.
Hair and nails grew from the person, so that went without saying.
Chamber pots, bowls, chopsticks, and clothes were in constant contact with the owner and satisfied the owner’s physiological needs, so they had a definite effect.
She originally only needed to take these things…
Did you not leave even a single memento for me?
Luo Yao, you…
A cold glint flashed in Ji Lanruo’s eyes, and she clenched her fist inside her sleeve.
Luo Yao had taken everything.
Many things, like shoes, couldn’t be used for the Fate Seeking Art at all.
However, after looking around, Ji Lanruo still had a way to find Ding Nan.
Many years ago, her Master had been interested in the Fate Seeking Art and had researched it deeply.
Although he himself, limited by his strength at the time, couldn’t use the Fate Seeking Art, he had specifically deconstructed it and created the Trace Back Art.
This array was similar to the Fate Seeking Art but simpler.
It only sought the source, traces of the past, which was easier than the ever-changing, flowing future.
Although it was also a form of “fortune-telling” and required the strength of a Tribulation Transcendence Stage powerhouse, its consumption was smaller, and it could be used on people.
Her Master had spent nearly a hundred years researching this spell.
Ji Lanruo had never known what use this spell had, but she never thought she’d be able to use it today.
Ji Lanruo looked at Ding Wen and was momentarily lost in thought.
“Patriarch Ding, Ding Nan is not a Ding Clan member, is he?”
Hearing this, Ding Wen looked shocked, his face turning pale.
“How… how does the Fairy know? I raised the dog… my son since he was little…”
“Patriarch Ding, don’t be so afraid. The Ding Clan’s fortune doesn’t depend on me, but on Ding Nan. I understand Ding Nan’s situation better than you. He cannot be your late wife’s son, and naturally, he cannot be your son.”
Seeing Ji Lanruo’s expression, Ding Wen knew nothing he said would matter—Ji Lanruo firmly believed Ding Nan was not a Ding Clan member.
“Ding Nan is a child I picked up during a Great Summer.”
“And then, seeing his astonishing talent, you made him the Young Patriarch?”
“Correct.”
Ding Wen nodded.
Originally, if not for Luo Yao, Ding Nan was scheduled to marry a girl from the Ding Clan.
“Then you still had a marriage agreement with the Shangguan Family?”
Ji Lanruo couldn’t help but say.
“People outside didn’t know. And when my father arranged the marriage agreement, both my own children were already betrothed, so this agreement automatically fell on Xiao Nan. It just so happened that my father’s old illness flared up again, and he passed away before he could explain his final affairs. I only found out about this matter when I was sorting through his belongings.”
“Moreover, if he knew he wasn’t a Ding, he might develop disloyal thoughts. It’s better for the Ding Clan if he doesn’t know,” Ding Wen said.
“I see.”
“I wonder why Sect Master Ji brought this up.”
“It’s nothing. It’s just that since you’re not a blood relative, you can’t be used.”
“?”
Ding Wen didn’t understand what the other was saying.
“Forget it.”
Ji Lanruo waved her hand.
“I have my own method.”
Wasn’t her daughter precisely Ding Nan’s blood relative?
Thinking this, Ji Lanruo took out her daughter’s Life Lamp, which contained her daughter’s hair, bloodstains, and even a fragment of her soul.