Chapter 533: A Mountain So Rich It Overflows with Oil!

Thirty kilometers away, in a U-shaped river valley nestled between two mountains, a figure streaked past at tremendous speed.

"Zzzt~ zzt~"

Accompanied by flickering sparks of electricity, the figure dashed into a hidden cave.

"Gulp." Wan Wan Fangling gasped heavily, taking great gulps of air, then swallowed hard.

As a mighty Sea Realm expert, such a panicked flight and unsettled demeanor was truly beneath her dignity.

"Who exactly was that person?" Wan Wan Fangling's expression was grim.

Although she had fled far away, every time she recalled that hammer sweeping past her body and striking fiercely, she felt a chill run down her spine!

Waves of lingering fear swirled in her heart, refusing to dissipate.

She had nearly died!

Just by a hair's breadth!

Was that a hammer? She wasn't sure.

Ironically, Wan Wan Fangling had never dared to look back from start to finish; she didn't know what weapon the attacker used, nor whether the assailant was male or female, or what they looked like!

It was just that the attacker's ferocious aura strongly suggested they belonged to the violent Lietianyi Sect!

No... that's not right!

Wan Wan Fangling frowned tightly.

If it truly were a disciple of the Lietianyi Sect, how could they have appeared out of nowhere, suddenly materializing behind and above her head?

This person either knows how to turn invisible, like those insidious and vicious wolf cubs, or can teleport instantly, like the disciples of Gunxiu.

Teleportation?

The moment that word crossed her mind, Wan Wan Fangling's face grew even darker.

If it really was teleportation, and the enemy is so powerful...

Could this person, along with this mysterious organization of straw-cloaked figures, be the same group that annihilated Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain?

Everyone in Mount Jingting Mountain knows that Luo Luo Tiantu fell out with a devotee of the Evil Dog!

To ensure his safety, Luo Luo Tiantu personally visited the Mount Jingting Sect and hired two bodyguards from there.

Everyone envied those two bodyguards for landing such a lucrative job rich in resources.

Never did anyone expect that a few months ago, terrible news arrived: Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain had been annihilated.

Luo Luo Tiantu, the Shanzhai Master of Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain and a peak Sea Realm expert, died in battle!

Lady Kong, also a Sea Realm powerhouse, died in battle!

Every single member of Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain, including the two bodyguards who got involved, was killed without exception!

They were all slaughtered!

Even the entire mountain of Luo Luo Tiantu was burned to ashes by a great fire...

Undoubtedly, Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain had provoked someone they shouldn't have.

Ruthless and thorough, cutting the grass and digging up the roots!

"Gulp." Wan Wan Fangling swallowed hard again.

So, could the destruction of Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain have been the work of this mysterious organization?

In the central-southeastern region of Holy Lingshan, the number of active powerful organizations is limited. Since Luo Luo Tiantu was on good terms with the Sect Master of Mount Jingting Mountain, most factions would show Luo Luo Tiantu some respect.

Even if a conflict truly arose, Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain shouldn't have been completely wiped out, let alone have its entire mountain burned down.

What kind of hatred could cause this?

Especially that final great fire; it clearly indicated an act of venting rage!

This fire also seemed to reveal the identity of the culprit.

There is a high probability that the perpetrator is a disciple of the Demonic Sect with a deep-seated grudge against Luo Luo Tiantu—a devotee of the Evil Dog!

So...

Was that elusive figure who just nearly took my life also this devotee of the Evil Dog?

The reason Wan Wan Fangling made such a speculation boils down to one single cause:

Within the region where Mount Jingting Mountain stands and exerts its influence, no person and no power dares to treat a disciple of Mount Jingting Mountain this way!

After I announced my affiliation, I did not receive the deep caution or welcoming smiles one might expect.

The straw-cloaked figure simply didn't care about the Mount Jingting Sect at all!

Wan Wan Fangling truly felt that she must have encountered the same situation as Luo Luo Tiantu Mountain.

She had encountered the same group of people!

"Hmm?" Wan Wan Fangling's thoughts were in chaos when she suddenly heard a sound of electric current.

She whipped her head around to see a man running in.

"He Tangzhu Fang!" Upon seeing Wan Wan Fangling inside the cave, the man's face instantly lit up with joy, as if he had found his mainstay.

Wan Wan Fangling's expression turned solemn, reverting to her dignified demeanor as she scolded:

"So flustered and frantic! What kind of appearance is this!"

"Yes, yes!" The man shivered, bowed his head, and replied with a trembling voice.

This river valley cave was a temporary outpost under He Tangzhu Fang's command.

Once the team split up for operations or if members got separated, everyone would return here to regroup.

Having waited for her subordinate to arrive, Wan Wan Fangling aggressively demanded:

"Are you the only one who escaped?"

"No, I'm not sure." The man showed a look of guilt and quickly knelt before the He Tangzhu. "In the sandstorm, I couldn't see anything clearly; the Liushahe nearly swallowed me whole."

"I... I, He Tangzhu Fang, I tried to search for you, calling out, but I could never find any trace of you..."

Hearing this, Fang Fang Lingfeng's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and a surge of killing intent rose in her heart.

"Hall, Hallmaster! I didn't, the battlefield was too chaotic, the enemies were powerful, uh—" Before the man could finish, a sudden muffled groan escaped him.

"Crack!"

Just as the man kowtowed, Fang Fang Lingfeng wielded her halberd and stabbed down fiercely, easily piercing the man's water-flow armor.

The sharp tip of the halberd instantly pierced through the back of the man's skull!

His motion of kowtowing like pounding garlic immediately froze.

Fang Fang Lingfeng's eyes were filled with overflowing killing intent!

She withdrew the halberd, then stabbed down fiercely again, delivering another strike.

"Hiss!"

Fang Fang Lingfeng lowered her head, looking down at the corpse pinned by her weapon, and spoke word by word: "When my hall's forces were executing their mission, we encountered an enemy ambush."

"The enemies were powerful; all the soldiers of my hall fought to the death."

"Only I, Fang Fang Lingfeng, fought to the death without surrendering until my strength was exhausted!"

"With no other choice, I fought my way out through a path of blood, solely to return to Mount Jingting Mountain to report the intelligence, so that my brothers would not have died in vain."

Muttering to herself, Fang Fang Lingfeng stepped on the back of the man's skull with one foot and violently yanked the halberd out.

Immediately after, the Ming Hai Jing expert finally condescended and squatted down.

She reached one hand to the man's neck and removed the string of divine power beads he wore.

Fang Fang Lingfeng wiped the blood off the string of divine power beads with her finger and put it around her own neck.

"Zzzt~ Zzt."

Suddenly, the sound of electric current came again, approaching from afar.

Following this came two voices filled with surprise.

"Hallmaster Fang, you really are here!"

"Hallmaster Fang, this... this?"

Seeing the situation inside the cave, the two hall disciples' expressions changed drastically.

Fang Fang Lingfeng's eyes flickered; she slowly turned her head to look at the two hall disciples who were disheveled and had narrowly escaped death.

A bone-chilling killing intent spread throughout the cave.

At the same time, dozens of kilometers away in a dense forest, a group of people was marching in an orderly fashion.

"Nineteen Ming Hai Jing experts, and over one hundred eighty Named River Estuary Realm cultivators," Lu Ran muttered softly.

This was the intelligence provided by the captives to everyone.

What was even more sigh-worthy was that within Mount Jingting Mountain, there were roughly two hundred Most Dongting disciples, yet nearly four hundred slaves!

On average, does every Most Dongting disciple have two slaves?

"No wonder this is the main base of the Most Dongting faction," Lu Ran sighed. "Truly, experts are as numerous as clouds."

Gao Gao Yunyan rarely interjected, saying, "Their strength is even a bit greater than that of Tianhuang Mountain!"

"There are more Named River Estuary Realm disciples, and the number of slaves is several times that of Tianhuang Mountain."

Lu Ran nodded and said, "The geographical location speaks for itself."

The site selection for Mount Jingting Mountain was quite excellent.

If one considers Wu Jifeng as the very center of the Holy Lingshan Continent, then Mount Jingting Mountain is located in the central region, leaning slightly toward the southeast.

In this place, the number of Weak God believers one can see is far greater than over at the Ten Thousand Blade Mountain in the northwest.

Consequently, the number of slaves captured by the Most Dongting faction naturally becomes much larger.

Why did He He Qi Feng establish the Forbidden City thirty kilometers south of Wu Jifeng?

On one hand, it is good to enjoy the shade under a big tree; on the other hand, the "foot traffic" in the center of the continent is huge!

"Is your Mount Jingting Mountain's Sect Master Lu at the peak of the Ming Hai Jing?" Jiangjiang Ruyi suddenly asked.

"Yes, Sect Master Lu is at Ming Hai Jing, Fifth Stage; it is said that he reached Ming Hai Jing, Fifth Stage many years ago!"

The captive answered hurriedly and incessantly, fearing that if he were even a moment slow, he would be burned by soul fire again.

Jiangjiang Ruyi said softly, "Ordinary experts are usually very secretive about their own strength and realm; how can you be so certain that Sect Master Lu is at the peak of Ming Hai Jing?"

What she worried about most was that the Sect Master of Mount Jingting Mountain would hide his true strength and might actually already be a Tian Jing expert!

If that were the case, Lu Ran and the others getting involved would likely end up with no place to bury their corpses!

However, the style of conduct of an organization or faction naturally flows from the top down.

This was the only thing that could put Jiangjiang Ruyi at ease.

After all, if Sect Master Lu were truly a Tian Jing expert, the Yun Qianzhou Alliance would have long been trampled into fragments by Mount Jingting Mountain.

"Regarding Sect Master Lu's character, he should disdain lying," the captive responded tremblingly. "His Lordship the Sect Master also never conceals his own power."

Listening to the captive's words, Lu Ran's mind already imagined the sight of Sect Master Lu showing off his power and strutting about.

One sentence from the captive made sense:

Most disciples of the Most Dongting faction are arrogant by nature and should indeed disdain lying.

Jiangjiang Ruyi nodded gently and asked again, "Your Sect Master has ruled Mount Jingting Mountain for so many years and captured so many slaves; surely he possesses quite a few Bing Qi Fa and magical treasures?"

The captive answered truthfully, "Sect Master Lu possesses one divine weapon halberd and one divine weapon sword; among them, the halberd has activated its divine weapon domain!"

"His four wives also each possess divine weapons, though none have activated their domains."

"The First Lady also has a magical artifact bracelet, and the Third Lady has a magical artifact sachet—oh, right! A while ago, Sect Master Lu acquired a magical artifact ring..."

Everyone: "..."

What Mount Jingting Mountain?

This is a mountain so rich it flows with oil!

"Mm. Come to think of it, that makes sense."

"Within the tiny Mount Luo Tiantu alone, there are the Weeping Blood Waist Blade, the Jade Hairpin, and the pair of swords, Heaven's Trace and Earth's Trace—four treasures in total."

"As for Mount Mount Jingting, a great sect of a major faction, how could it possibly lack treasures?"

Jiangjiang Ruyi, her Mind Heavy, said, "Explain the specific functions of the Divine Weapon Domain and the efficacy of the Fa Qi De Gong to me in detail."

"Replying to my lord, Lu Lu Zongzhu's Divine Weapon Halberd—"

"Hmm?" Lu Ran suddenly uttered a light sound of doubt.

He saw that in the distant western sky, a soul was drifting upward.

Ever since Lu Ran had previously locked onto the location of the ground battlefield through the lingering souls of Sword Lotus believers floating in the sky, he had occasionally opened his Death Realm Eye while traveling.

This place was still relatively close to the Yun Qianzhou Alliance; if there was still fighting, Lu Ran wouldn't mind lending a hand and taking the opportunity to eliminate Mount Jingting Mountain's living forces.

And he had actually spotted something?!

"What's wrong?"

"It seems there's fighting in the west again!" Lu Ran stared at the male lingering soul, estimating with some uncertainty, "It must be twenty or thirty kilometers from here."

"Let's go, let's take a look!"

(End of Chapter)