After seeing Mo Yao put away the Heart Seed, An Qianhua spoke again.
“Speaking of which, there are another two Wish Fruits that can be harvested. Xiaoyao, remember to go check them out.”
Hearing An Qianhua’s reminder, Mo Yao went to the core of the Heart Realm and, just like last time, obtained two pink Wish Fruits from within.
“Who were these two fruits obtained from?”
An Qianhua poked her head out from behind Mo Yao and looked at the two fruits he was cradling in his arms.
“One should be from Wenqing. After all, I helped her obtain the Dragon Blood Vine, which will allow her to save her grandfather. As for the other one, I think it should be from Qiushui.”
“Bai Qiushui, huh? Ohh, it must be because of what happened in the secret realm. Her breakthrough at that time was also thanks to you.”
While recalling the events in the secret realm, Mo Yao ate the two fruits, allowing them to transform into his own power.
Then, because there was nothing else to do in the Heart Realm, he left the Heart Realm.
Shucao, whose consciousness had left the Heart Realm, sat up from the bed, then stood up and walked to the door of the room.
Just as she opened the door, Xiao Simeng’s face also appeared outside.
“Eh, Shucao, you’ve finished your seclusion?”
“Mm, I just finished. Simeng, why are you standing at the door of my room?”
“Ah, it’s because this young lady just returned from Senior Bai. She wanted me to notify you that Yu Qing used an array to locate that Blood Fiend Sect base, so she asked me to come inform you to head over.”
“They found the Blood Fiend Sect base! That fast?”
“It’s because you’ve been in seclusion for a while. Listening to Senior Bai talk about the time you returned to Ningzhou City, a whole week has already passed.”
“Ah, so I was in seclusion that long?”
Hearing the time Xiao Simeng mentioned, Shucao said in surprise.
When she was engraving the Dao Trace, she had thought it went very smoothly and that she had completed the engraving of the Dao Trace quickly, but she never expected that so much time had passed in reality.
“This is pretty normal. I’ve heard that those Golden Core seniors can stay in seclusion for several years at a time. But I’ve never seen my grandfather seclude himself for that long. Anyway, let’s not talk about that. We should hurry over. We can’t keep Senior Bai waiting too long.”
“Mm.”
So the two of them left the inn together and headed toward the Illusory Light Pavilion.
After arriving at the pavilion, the two of them took out their jade tokens as usual and opened the underground entrance.
The moment they stepped into the gathering area, they saw Bai Yumo standing beside the notice board.
“It’s been a few days, Shucao. Did you gain anything from your seclusion?”
“This seclusion yielded quite a bit. Thank you for your concern, Senior Bai.”
“Mm. As for the next matter, let Yu Qing explain it to you.”
The moment the words fell, Yu Qing walked out from under the counter to the side holding a huge map.
“Fellow Daoist Shucao, long time no see. These past few days, this junior has been very worried about you. It’s truly wonderful to see that you’re safe and sound.”
“Fellow Daoist Yu Qing, long time no see as well. I heard you successfully located that Blood Fiend Sect base.”
“That’s right, that’s right. In the days after you left, this junior put all my effort into refining Spirit-Dissolving Jade. After succeeding in the refinement, I analyzed the arrays on those array disks we discovered. Then I noticed that those arrays had the effect of transporting the extracted blood qi in a certain direction.”
As Yu Qing spoke, she used spiritual energy to fix the map onto the notice board.
Then Bai Yumo pointed at several red circles on the map and said with some indignation.
“After you previously discovered that complete array disk, I commissioned the Qi Refining cultivators here to investigate all the villages near Ningzhou City. Then we discovered several other destroyed villages. Adding the three villages you mentioned, a total of twelve villages have been destroyed, and array disks were found in all of these villages.”
“Twelve villages… These bastards…”
Hearing Bai Yumo’s words, Shucao couldn’t help but clench her fists, her eyes staring fixedly at the twelve bright red circles on the map.
Beside her, Xiao Simeng also asked Bai Yumo with some disbelief.
“These villages… were they all destroyed after the villagers’ blood qi was drained dry, just like Senior mentioned before?”
“That’s right.”
“These evil cultivators are far too vicious. Even if the other party is a mortal, they still shouldn’t do such utterly heartless things.”
“This is what evil cultivators are. They go against the righteous path. For the sake of their own cultivation, they can use anything and do anything.”
Hearing Bai Yumo’s tone gradually turn cold, Yu Qing hurriedly spoke up.
“Hey hey, then this junior analyzed the arrays on these array disks and discovered the direction in which their blood qi was being transported.”
As she spoke, she used spiritual energy to draw a glowing line on each red circle.
The lines continuously extended until every three lines converged together at one point.
“The blood qi pathways of the arrays from every three villages have an intersection point. So we speculate that the several bases of the Blood Fiend Sect are near these intersection points.”
“In that case, can we take the initiative to attack their bases?”
Seeing Yu Qing point out the locations of the Blood Fiend Sect bases, Shucao immediately said.
Bai Yumo also replied afterward.
“Correct. Such a large amount of blood qi should be needed by the Foundation Establishment cultivators inside them for a breakthrough. So before they refine away that much blood qi, those Foundation Establishment cultivators are most likely in seclusion. This is precisely the best time for us to take the initiative and strike. Therefore, I have decided to issue a commission to recruit cultivators to go attack their bases together with us. We absolutely cannot allow this Blood Fiend Sect to continue rampaging in this area.”
“Senior Bai, there are Foundation Establishment cultivators in those bases, right? If we Qi Refining cultivators go to attack, can we really be of any use?”
Hearing Bai Yumo’s words, Xiao Simeng suddenly asked.
Bai Yumo nodded, then continued.
“I and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators will go battle the opposing Foundation Establishment cultivators. So you juniors in the Qi Refining stage just need to find a way to deal with the remaining Qi Refining demonic cultivators. But even if we hold them back, those Foundation Establishment cultivators will still pose a great threat to you. So if you decide to participate, you need to be extremely careful. This is a dangerous commission, so whether to participate is up to you. Moreover, in order to eliminate these demonic cultivators, I will also offer quite generous rewards.”
The moment the words fell, Shucao and the other two immediately spoke up.
“This Blood Fiend Sect has a great enmity with this junior, so I will definitely participate.”
“Moreover, Senior Bai’s rewards are also quite nice. Besides, this junior previously witnessed the matters of that demonic sect and naturally intends to get involved as well.”
“Previously Shucao saved this junior’s life. Since I can help Shucao, I will also go contribute my strength.”
“Excellent. The strength of you three is already among the more formidable among the Qi Refining cultivators in this area. With you participating, the operation will definitely go more smoothly. I will also recruit the remaining people at the gathering. Before we prepare to begin the operation, I will also notify you. Then that’s all for today. You can go back and make your preparations.”
After simply explaining the matters of the operation, the three of them left the gathering.
At this time, Bai Yumo also returned to the stone chamber where she often secluded herself.
Meanwhile, a woman in a black dress was standing in the center of the stone chamber.
Seeing Bai Yumo walk into the stone chamber, she spoke.
“Yumo, that demonic sect has a total of three bases. Each one is estimated to be guarded by one Foundation Establishment cultivator. If we only have two people on our side, the operation will be a bit difficult, right?”
“It’s fine. I plan to inform the Ningzhou City offering about this matter. He is also a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. With such a demonic sect active around the city he guards, he definitely won’t ignore it.”
Seeing that Bai Yumo had already made her plans, the woman in the black dress also nodded, then said.
“Demonic cultivators are treacherous. We also need to be extremely careful.”
“Don’t worry, Xinghua. I know my limits.”
“I’m specifically reminding you because I’m afraid you’ll get carried away. We’ve known each other for so long. Don’t I know what your attitude toward demonic cultivators is like?”
Hearing Bai Yumo’s reply, the woman called Xinghua said with some irritation, as if she had long seen through what the other party would do.
“Listen carefully. If the strength of the opposing Foundation Establishment cultivators exceeds the range of your abilities, you must never think of fighting them to the death. You’re still bringing those little Qi Refining cultivators along. If you go up and fight desperately, the others will be in some danger.”
“They are the ones I brought. I will definitely take responsibility properly.”
“Mm. Then I’ll go prepare my own things first.”
As Xinghua left the stone chamber, Bai Yumo also took out a communication talisman.
After pouring the information into it with her divine sense, she flung it out.
It transformed into a spiritual light, passed through the underground, and flew into a large residence within the city lord’s manor.
After finishing these matters, she removed her hood, revealing a pair of cold, stern eyes and long hair that shone like sparkling gold.
She muttered silently.
“Blood Fiend Sect, you dare to run wild near Ningzhou City. We cannot just let you continue rampaging like this.”