Chapter 457: Under Heavy Rewards, A Clue Is Obtained

"No, I truly have an important matter."

Du En emphasized this.

The voice was calm, highlighting sincerity.

Old Daoist Chili couldn't help but be stunned; his anger began to recede, and after a moment of contemplation, he waved his hand. The Golden Core rogue cultivators of the marketplace behind him immediately let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly sent messages to their associates, telling them not to obstruct the management personnel belonging to the City Lord's Mansion any longer.

Previously, choosing to block them was out of fear that these fellows, who had long-standing grudges and were very much at odds with them, would play the villain and file the first complaint, directly escalating the situation.

Although this behavior seemed foolish, in short, they were doing their best to protect themselves, so now, passing through so easily, it truly made people breathe a sigh of relief.

Du En simply left them to their own devices.

This made Old Daoist Chili frown inwardly.

Based on his understanding of Sovereign Jiuyun, the foolish behavior of these people—who were half his subordinates—under panic and unease would only further provoke the other party and invite a real, bloody purge.

But now, like this...

"Something is not right. Could it be that something has really happened?"

Old Daoist Chili muttered to himself, unable to help but feel a bit apprehensive.

Seeing that Old Daoist Chili had calmed down, Du En also quietly withdrew his divine sense, which had been scrutinizing the inside and outside of the marketplace and, unsurprisingly, had found nothing, and turned to speak of his purpose.

"Wh, what?! That little beast—cough! Your only son has actually gone missing for no reason, and it was on the outskirts of the marketplace... Did someone do this?!"

As Old Daoist Chili spoke, he suddenly turned his head to look at those Golden Core rogue cultivators in the marketplace. There was an anger as if he had been deceived and tricked, but in the depths of his eyes flickered other colors, as if he had thought of something, leaving him shocked and uncertain.

This was interesting...

Du En caught that point and narrowed his eyes slightly, but he felt no urgency, nor did he show any anger; he was completely calm. The guard captain who was secretly observing felt his mouth twitch, feeling that this person was too lazy to even pretend, and he really didn't know what to say.

The other guards also began to grow suspicious, because this really did not resemble their Sovereign's usual behavior. In the eyes of those inside and outside the marketplace, although it was not apparent on the surface, he was actually furious to the extreme. If no one gave a reasonable explanation today, it was feared that the inside and outside of this Lixiao Marketplace would be thoroughly bloodied! Was it that he had been too soft-hearted in the past, to the point that people had forgotten who was the true master of Jiuyun City?! Old Daoist Chili was also somewhat apprehensive. If Sovereign Jiuyun were being unreasonable, he would naturally have the confidence; anyway, his life was coming to an end, and insisting on his own self-respect before death was not a loss at all. Moreover, given the friendship between the two, he might not necessarily die.

But now, the situation was clearly different; the other side had the moral high ground!

"No! No, we didn't!"

"How would we dare to make a move against the young master!"

"We didn't even know he had snuck back!"

The group of Golden Core rogue cultivators were now so terrified that their faces turned pale; some even collapsed to the ground, each of them speaking hurriedly, fearing they would meet a terrible fate.

Although the guards of the City Lord's Mansion were a bit slow to react, at this moment they all revealed ferocious smiles, feeling that the rhythm had finally returned to the boundaries they were familiar with. They were just about to speak up actively to capture these fellows, torture them for interrogation, or even search their souls! You say you didn't? Empty words are no proof; I'll take a look myself!

Old Daoist Chili scanned these rogue cultivator juniors and saw no signs of them deceiving him, so he hesitated, but still turned back and braced himself to speak: "This, Daoist Jiuyun, although your son is only at the Foundation Establishment stage, as your only son, I imagine he carries secret treasures sufficient for self-protection. It is difficult for ordinary Golden Core stages to harm him. These are all incompetent, ordinary goods; they should, presumably, not be the culprits behind his disappearance..."

By the time he finished speaking, he felt as if he were wasting his breath.

To tell the truth, if it weren't for the fact that the one who came this time was the lazily acting Du En, he wouldn't even have said these words, because to Sovereign Jiuyun, this was entirely nonsense, and might even just add fuel to the fire and have the opposite effect.

"Mm, it is indeed impossible for them to have done it."

Du En directly and straightforwardly affirmed this.

Huh? Old Daoist Chili was stunned.

Hmm?!

The guards were dumbfounded.

"Thank you, City Lord, for your magnanimity! Thank you, City Lord, for your discerning eyes!"

Those Golden Core cultivators didn't care about so much; they had found a path to survival in a dead end, and each of them praised him sincerely, with some even moved to tears.

Hmm, acting.

Du En didn't care about this, his calm gaze falling on Old Daoist Chili.

He also quickly came back to his senses, frowning, but because the wrinkles were so deep, it looked as if he weren't frowning at all. At this moment, he felt suspicious and strange in his heart, even looking at the person in front of him with hidden vigilance.

But no matter how he looked, it was that dignified, long-bearded Sovereign Jiuyun, that junior he had once looked after, who had slowly avoided him, then disappeared one day, and reappeared hundreds of years later after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage to show off.

But...

Old Daoist Chili's eyes flickered, and he said with a bitter smile: "It seems you must have an idea in mind, but I don't know what you want to ask by going to such great lengths to find me?"

"I didn't go to great lengths to find you; it might even be the opposite situation."

"Hmm?"

Seeing Old Daoist Chili looking somewhat bewildered, not understanding what was being said, Du En didn't dwell on it, just continuing: "Also, I am actually very uncertain right now, which is why I am beating the grass to startle the snake, just wondering if I can startle something out. If Daoist Chili knows anything, no matter what it is, as long as it seems unusual lately, you can say it."

Having said this, he paused slightly, waiting for the other party to digest it, and began to entice him quite directly: "If that clue can help me, then I can help Daoist Chili extend your life by another hundred or ten years. I can let you obtain the spiritual pills and medicines to break through your realm."

Whether it was extending life or breaking through, for Du En, it was actually one thing. As long as he let the other party break through to the Nascent Soul perfection, he could naturally extend his life for a period of time. Looking at the situation where the Qingxuan Star Realm's resources were very scarce, he imagined that giving him a good dose of medicine could even produce effects far exceeding the norm.

And this level of means was not something Du En couldn't do now.

He himself could refine pills by copying the cat, and the An Shen beside him was an expert in this field; raising a fifth-rank great snake demon beast was easy! As for the materials, just like the mountain-high materials from the True Monarch, there was simply plenty.

In an instant, the scene immediately went quiet.

Whether it was singing praises or being suspicious and fearful, at this moment, they were all covered by a brand-new emotion. Greed!

The cultivation world here in the Qingxuan Star Realm was ordinary, and the atmosphere was just as vulgar. As long as precious things appeared, it would induce their desires, which was why scenes of killing for treasure and dying because of treasure often occurred.

Old Daoist Chili's old heart couldn't help but thump.

This Jiuyun kid, has he finally decided to look after this old fellow now?

He couldn't help but think this.

No fakes! Only truth! If Du En could bring out such treasures, then he was Sovereign Jiuyun!

"So, are there any clues?"

Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men, there must be wise men! At this very moment, thousands of people inside and outside the marketplace were racking their brains to find suspicious points inside and outside the city recently, and, indeed, there were quite a few.

"City Lord, there seem to be quite a few people who have suddenly gone missing recently. I know a few special ones among them; they never caused trouble in the past..."

"Senior Great Cultivator, I have also discovered some situations. I am from the Demon Hunting Chamber of Commerce. Recently, whether it is the nearby Liuyun Mountain Range or other areas of the Void Micro, the quantity and scale of certain specific demon beasts are slightly lower than in past years. If it weren't for us who rely on this to make a living, I'm afraid no one would have noticed."

"Treasure has appeared! My Lord, I heard that near the Gengluo Sect in the north, there seem to be signs of treasure emerging. The disciples of the great sect there are even specifically covering up the news!"

One by one, small clues that were different from the usual and could be tried to be explored were laid out just like that.

Du En was not stingy either; from the personal belongings of Venerable Jiuyun, he took out a few ready-made medicinal pills and tossed them away. They vanished before anyone saw any movement, followed by various suppressed sounds of surprise and distant, drifting expressions of tearful gratitude.

It was precisely because things were different from usual here and he was very generous that they dared to maintain this cautious demeanor.

The others were instantly so jealous their eyes turned bloodshot, and they immediately erupted into a clamor.

However, when it came to useless clues, Du En was a total miser; don't even think about getting a single hair out of him, and there was no room left for him to scatter any more treasures.

"Good thing, good thing; if the clues had really all popped up at once, I would have truly lost face!"

Sheng Zhaoshui could not help but exclaim his good fortune.

Because doing so would make it seem like he had been slacking off before, or that he was too incompetent.

However, this could not be blamed on him, because previously he was all by himself, and he had to investigate the surrounding stars outside the Star Realm, as well as the fragmented cultivation world inside the Star Realm.

Therefore, being able to figure out the internal and external affairs in a short time was already quite remarkable, and overlooking such small details was understandable.

Moreover, even if Du En and the others hadn't come, he would have started from Jiuyun City to launch a more detailed and in-depth investigation; if these situations hadn't just appeared out of thin air, given a day or two, he would have been able to track them down as well.

The noisy sounds gradually subsided.

Du En's gaze turned toward the old Daoist Chili.

The other party feigned composure and reserve, but in reality, seeing that the others had not produced any obvious clues, he felt a secret sigh of relief, and a hint of eagerness appeared in the depths of his eyes.

At this moment, without realizing it, this old Daoist had become the focus of the scene; those guards, especially the few who protected the only son of Jiuyun, now felt deep regret, regretting only that they had not acted boldly earlier, rushed into the market, and seized this old fellow to interrogate him!

If they had, the one waiting to receive the reward right now would be themselves! Hah! Old Daoist Chili glanced at these fellows who could not even suppress their malice, feeling only disdainful sneers in his heart.

Although he was indeed dying and had previously been treated specially by Venerable Jiuyun, he was not someone these juniors could covet!

Of course, what was important right now were not these small fry.

If Old Daoist Chili hadn't been maintaining his reserve, he would have already been rubbing his hands to ask about the specific treasures, but for now, he cleared his throat and still chose to transmit his voice to discuss the main business first.

"To tell the truth, not long ago I, this old Daoist, still wanted to give it a shot, so I went out and found a five-thousand-year-old spiritual herb..."

Speaking up to this point, he carefully looked at the person opposite him and, finding Du En's gaze calm, felt more confident and continued: "On the way back to the city at night, I happened to pass by the abandoned mine in the south of the city, that is, the mine and shafts that were recklessly excavated and had already dried up and been abandoned a hundred years ago."

Old Daoist Chili could not help but swallow slightly, appearing quite wary and showing a look of hesitation, but thinking of his impending death, he gritted his teeth and continued to transmit his voice.

"I heard some sounds at that time, the very strange kind; I really don't know how to describe it. Using my divine sense to look, I couldn't see anything unusual at all. You know, this old Daoist's divine sense is quite extraordinary, stronger than the average Nascent Soul perfection, and it can penetrate nearly a thousand zhang underground, but I found nothing even at the bottom. It was truly extremely bizarre!"

"It was almost like the delirious ravings of a dying mortal, the call of the netherworld that one hears when one is about to die! At the time, I only felt my hair stand on end, and hesitating, I didn't create extra trouble by going to actually investigate. As for the result, sigh, the pill wasn't refined, and I thought my life would just end like that; that was indeed a revelation given to me by the heavens..."

Speaking to the end, this old Daoist, who was nearing the end of his life, could not help but appear dejected and sighing.

Du En weighed the situation, confirmed that he was not lying, and then glanced toward An Shen.

Just as the other side was speaking, their own small movements had not stopped.

They didn't need anything too good, just picking out some scraps, and then An Shen quickly refined usable medicinal pills based on the old Daoist's situation.

"Flame Essence Pill, taken from the edge of the Departing Flame, mixed with several ordinary fire-element materials, is enough to let him be reborn, break through to Nascent Soul perfection, and extend his lifespan by two hundred years."

Du En repeated this via voice transmission and sent the bottled pill over.

Old Daoist Chili raised his large sleeve to block the view of outsiders, took it, and pulled out the stopper to look; he was instantly so excited that there was no trace of the dejected sighing from just a moment ago.

"If you all have any more clues, you can go to the City Lord's Mansion, leave what you know along with your name and address, and after I return and finish reviewing them, if they are useful, I will naturally send the reward over."

Du En struck while the iron was hot, causing the hearts of the crowd—who were originally envious, jealous, and disappointed—to tremble. They hurriedly agreed, all turning over their connections in their minds, thinking of mobilizing them immediately after returning.

One did not need to worry about a great cultivator not being able to produce treasures for a bounty! Look, didn't even the composure of an old senior like Old Daoist Chili, who was at the late Nascent Soul stage, fail to suppress his excitement just now? Of course, some people also had malicious thoughts, but as long as those who knew the clues and information didn't get too carried away and could reach the vicinity of the City Lord's Mansion, there would naturally be no problems.

It wasn't that Du En trusted the people left there, but that he had just conveniently refined a few fifth-tier puppets and deployed them there.

—Next, he had to go outside the city to investigate, and he might not have the energy to monitor the city strictly anymore; besides, monitoring with divine sense had already exposed serious shortcomings! (End of chapter)