Chapter 2312

The Golden Plains boast such vast territory, such astonishing wealth, and such abundant spiritual energy—yet the Spirit Mountains get only a few crumbs, inevitably stifled and fuming.

In recent years, immortals and demons have flooded into the mortal realm, strengthening Lingshan's power overall; at times, they even give Cangyan a dose of eye drops.

The Qixia Sect has mostly been used as a pawn by Lingshan.

"Back to business." Liu Qingdao said solemnly, "The xuanzhong you stole from Cangyan must be returned in full, plus a double penalty, as compensation for threatening the livelihood of Weian City's citizens, slaying the great demon Wu Chuanjia, and for the earlier harm caused by the Tianwu; after leaving seclusion, the Qixia Sect shall not demarcate and govern territory, nor detain or enslave civilians—whether establishing a sect in towns or wilderness, you must report to and register with the Bingyuan Office."

The Qixia Sect used over a thousand jin of xuanzhong stolen from the Tianwu; if doubled, they'd have to return nearly three thousand jin.

Upon hearing this figure, the Qixia Sect disciples all sucked in a breath of cold air.

It was precisely due to the shortage of xuanzhong that they turned their attention to Cangyan, and activating the Jin Core to block the Luo River itself consumes enormous energy—most xuanzhong is used there; otherwise, how could they withstand the digging, digging, digging of Cangyan's soldiers and civilians?

Now they must produce over two thousand jin of xuanzhong at once—it's a matter of life and death!

As for Liu Qingdao's other demands, we'll discuss them later. Elder Chu exclaimed, "The Qixia Sect has just emerged from the mountains—where would we get this much xuanzhong?!"

Zhu Xiuer and the others shot them contemptuous glances.

Have they already used all the xuanzhong to deal with Weian City?

Yuan Xilin raised his hand to interrupt Elder Chu: "Old Chu may be a bit impulsive, but his words are true. Elder Liu, can we first use the Jilingshen as collateral, then gradually gather the xuanzhong?"

The Jilingshen has already been taken by Liu Qingdao and won't be returned anytime soon—better to go bare-handed.

"Using such a precious treasure as collateral is more than enough." As befits a sect leader, well-spoken. Liu Qingdao smiled, "Completing the various tasks assigned by Cangyan—such as cloud-seeding and rain-making, crafting the Xu Ling artifact, subduing demons and exorcising monsters, disaster relief and defense against enemies, etc. —can likewise earn merit to offset the debt. Many immortal sects and demon clans within Cangyan also bear these responsibilities."

Having just emerged from seclusion, the Qixia Sect now bears a heavy foreign debt, unsure how long they must serve Cangyan to repay it.

Yet this is also the punishment of the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor upon them—only by making these heaven-aspiring immortal sects and demon clans face reality can Cangyan maintain its internal dynamic balance.

Nevertheless, being able to subdue the Qixia Sect today, Liu Qingdao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Though this immortal sect has only three immortals, it is truly no easy opponent, let alone with someone still pulling strings behind the scenes. Had Zhu Xiuer not captured the Tianwu and extracted Qixia Sect's intelligence beforehand, and had the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor not personally taken command to devise a tailored plan for them, Weian City would surely suffer losses tonight.

Yuan Xilin recalled something and volunteered: "Ah, the Jin Core hasn't been put away yet! I'll go move Feilai Peak right now to restore Weian City's water supply!"

He calculated on his fingers, his steps suddenly halted, and his expression changed.

"How so?"

Yuan Xilin's fingertips flicked rapidly a few times, his expression growing ever stranger.

"The Jin Core..." he murmured, "My connection with the Jin Core has been severed—I can no longer sense its presence!"

"What?" Elder Chu startled, "How is this possible?"

Zhu Xiuer lazily drawled from behind: "Could it have been stolen?"

Elder Chu shook his head like a rattle-drum: "The Jin Core is one of Yuanshan's relics; Sect Leader Yuan spent fifty years establishing a bond with it, enabling him to command it to act."

"But they've already lost contact." Zhu Xiuer analyzed rationally, "Either the treasure itself grew legs and ran off, or it ran away with someone."

Yuan Xilin's mind was in turmoil, his speech careless: "It's rooted beneath Feilai Peak! If it were so easily stolen, how could Cangyan these past days be utterly powerless against it?"

What he fears is, if the Jin Core loses control, he cannot restore the Luo River's water supply—how will Cangyan deal with the Qixia Sect then?

Just then, Weng Xing suddenly pointed downward and said urgently:

"Hey, hey, you all—quickly look at the Luo River!"

￥￥￥￥￥

While the Qixia Sect and the Bingyuan Office were fiercely battling in the mirror world, the Luo River's mountain-moving project was still underway.

Several Jin Jia divine generals dug downward three feet, and the mountain peak grew upward two feet.

Though slow, the height of Feilai Peak was indeed gradually decreasing.

The construction site buzzed with activity, the rain in the sky had ceased, and the crescent moon drifted through the clouds, occasionally shedding a layer of clear radiance.

"Who?" The knife elder of Ying Mountain Sect, in charge of on-site supervision, suddenly sensed something, whipped his head around—but saw a familiar figure emerge from nowhere, slowly walking toward them.

The mountain peak had been dug into rugged unevenness, hard to traverse, but this person crossed it in just a few steps.

The knife elder immediately led the others in saluting: "Emperor!"

"Temporarily halt work." He Lingchuan waved his hand and said casually, "Everyone, withdraw from Feilai Peak—no loitering allowed."

"Yes."

Obeying the Emperor's decree, within fifty breaths, personnel on Feilai Peak withdrew completely clean, even the Jin Jia divine generals ceased movement and sat upon the ground.

He Lingchuan surveyed the four wilds—all was tranquil.

Then he flipped his palm, and an object hovered in the air above his palm, two feet high:

A small, portable sand tray.

This sand tray now displays the entire Feilai Peak, nearly to scale, even with the flow of Bing Jiang water at its base. However, the Feilai Peak on the sand tray is surrounded by a layer of faint, silk-net-like golden light, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

He Lingchuan gazed upward—indeed, the actual mountain peak above occasionally flashed with golden silk-net patterns, in sync with the sand tray, then vanished again.

"This is one of the sect's bottom-box treasures, the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare." He seemed to be speaking to the air, without deliberately raising his voice, yet his tone easily carried to every corner of Feilai Peak, "It envelops the entire Feilai Peak—as long as I do not withdraw it, not even a mosquito can fly out. Moreover, it locks onto the subterranean Jin Core; whether the Jin Core expands or contracts, it will follow suit."

The implication: the entire Feilai Peak is enveloped by the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare, those on the peak unable to fly even with wings.

He paused, then continued:

"Come forth—Cangyan never neglects honored guests."

All around was empty; the voice of the Nine Abyssal Great Emperor echoed back and forth in the quiet mountain peak.

In response, there was only dead silence.

"You've come—why hide your head and tail?" He Lingchuan spoke again, this time uttering a name:

"Shuoye National Preceptor!"

He exerted a bit of true force, and thus the name echoed several times through the mountains.

Shuoye National Preceptor...

Shuoye...

In the yin-dark mountain hollow, a person came slowly forward, wearing a pearl crown, clad in a cyan-gold robe, wide sleeves flying as if a banished immortal descending to the mundane world.

In the desolate mountains and ridges, he compelled the feeling of walking upon the Golden Light Avenue.

Who else could it be but the State Preceptor of Frostleaf?

He walked all the way to a distance of one and a half zhang in front of He Lingchuan before stopping.

"Hao Xiong, long time no see." His smile and voice were as warm as the spring breeze of March, "Oh right, now you should be addressed as the Nine Nether Great Emperor."

(End of Chapter)