Chapter 539: Major Secret

"Master!"

Hua Tianxiong was frantically fleeing for his life; upon seeing Qin Ming's arrival, he was both startled and overjoyed.

Without a word, Qin Ming pulled him into the Small Spirit Realm to hide.

After a moment of calm.

The space around the mountain range rippled like water, spiritual energy surged wildly, and a golden streak of light arrived in an instant.

As the streak dispersed, the figure of Yun Yangzi, Third Elder of Shendao Mountain, appeared.

He wore a golden robe, standing midair, his gaze sharp; he extended his late Foundation Establishment spiritual sense to scan for a long time, yet found nothing.

Yun Yangzi's expression suddenly changed. "Strange—how could a person vanish into thin air?"

"Something's off."

Just moments ago, Yun Yangzi had been calmly pursuing Hua Tianxiong of the Qianji Trading House, intending to find a secluded spot to eliminate him unnoticed.

Otherwise, with the vast gap in their cultivation bases, Hua Tianxiong's barely Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivation—even with the Golden Throne Carriage as his top-tier flying vehicle—could never escape Yun Yangzi's grasp.

Thus, Yun Yangzi hadn't taken it seriously at first.

But when he arrived here, Hua Tianxiong had vanished completely, as if evaporated; moreover, Yun Yangzi had used several tracking techniques, all to no avail.

He had already planted a secret tracking spell on Hua Tianxiong.

Just as Yun Yangzi was bewildered, another purple streak of light flashed in from afar.

"Third Elder, why have you stopped suddenly?"

"Where is Hua Tianxiong?"

The newcomer was Wen Yuliang, a Nascent Soul seed of Shendao Mountain.

Seeing Yun Yangzi standing there dazed, he frowned and asked.

"I don't know either! When I caught up here, the man vanished into thin air."

"By my intuition, Hua Tianxiong must have hidden himself using an extremely sophisticated method."

"With his cultivation, he couldn't have fled far."

"Oh? So it's come to this?" Wen Yuliang was also taken aback.

"Let me try."

As he spoke.

A white jade mirror magic treasure appeared in Wen Yuliang's hand; he formed hand seals and activated it.

The white jade mirror flew into the air, instantly expanding to a full zhang in size, emitting a cluster of green light that illuminated the area within ten li.

Yet after half an incense stick passed, Wen Yuliang had scanned nearly every corner with the treasure mirror, yet found no anomaly.

Now even Wen Yuliang's expression turned grim.

"Impossible! There's no sign of concealment anywhere nearby?"

"Not to mention any space magic treasure capable of hiding someone—could Hua Tianxiong really have escaped?"

Yun Yangzi said: "Even your Illusionary Heaven Mirror couldn't detect a trace. I didn't expect Hua Tianxiong to be this capable."

Wen Yuliang's face darkened, his gaze shifting uncertainly, lost in thought.

Yun Yangzi was right—escaping from two Shendao Mountain Foundation Establishment Elders was no small feat.

Even an ordinary late Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't manage it.

"Then what do we do?"

"I never imagined Zou Pinghai had the audacity to secretly covet the Seven Marvelous Treasure Tree and enter the secret realm to plunder its treasures."

"Even I wouldn't dare contemplate such a thing—he's merely a pawn planted in the Wanda Trading Alliance, yet dares to plot rebellion? He deserves nothing less than death!"

"Hua Tianxiong is entangled in this—how much of the truth does he know? If we don't eliminate this threat, and word leaks out—"

"This matter is critical!"

"The Supreme Elder will not forgive us if he finds out," Wen Yuliang said.

Inside the Small Spirit Realm, Qin Ming and Hua Tianxiong secretly observed the two outsiders, equally astonished.

Qin Ming turned to Hua Tianxiong and asked:

"Do you know what they're talking about?"

"And what is this 'Seven Marvelous Treasure Tree'? And what is this secret realm?"

Hua Tianxiong shook his head blankly, smiling bitterly:

"Master, I don't know anything about this."

"Though I've probed Zou Pinghai several times, he's kept his mouth shut tight—never revealed a single detail."

"If not for the ambush by Shendao Mountain, I wouldn't have known the cargo I was transporting was actually third-grade Rotting Spirit Grass from the Zou family."

"Master… could this be connected to the 'Seven Marvelous Treasure Tree' they mentioned?"

"And it seems deeply tied to the fourth-grade spiritual vein that Shendao Mountain controls."

As chairman of the Qianji Trading House, Hua Tianxiong was a centuries-old veteran; once he connected the dots, he quickly sensed the truth.

His thoughts aligned perfectly with Qin Ming's.

Qin Ming nodded, then recalled how Zou Pinghai had schemed relentlessly to lure Li Lan away to farm—clearly, the Zou family had been secretly cultivating vast quantities of third-grade Rotting Spirit Grass.

Even more astonishing was that Zou Pinghai was a spy planted by Shendao Mountain within the Wanda Trading Alliance, and had already risen to a high position in the Elder Council—this was chilling to consider.

But clearly, Zou Pinghai had uncovered some major secret and tried to claim it alone, only to be discovered and eliminated by Shendao Mountain… and Hua Tianxiong had been dragged into this mess; had Qin Ming not intervened, he would already be dead, his body torn to shreds by the two Shendao Mountain Elders.

Shendao Mountain and Lihuo Palace were bitter enemies.

Even with Lihuo Palace's Senior Elder as his backer, Hua Tianxiong couldn't intimidate these two—he was doomed either way.

Yet even Qin Ming, a third-grade superior Spirit Plant Master who held the inheritance of third-grade spirit plants, had never heard of the "Seven Marvelous Treasure Tree."

"Could this 'Seven Marvelous Treasure Tree' be some kind of fourth-grade spirit plant?"

"Hua Tianxiong, you've spent more time in Da Jin—have you ever heard of this tree?" Qin Ming's mind immediately stirred.

Hua Tianxiong replied awkwardly: "Master, my knowledge of spirit plants is shallow—I've never heard of such a plant."

Qin Ming didn't expect useful information from him; he turned his gaze back to the two outsiders.

His eyes flickered, a faint glint of cold light slipping unconsciously into his pupils.

"Why not… kill these two, then perform soul-searching? Perhaps we'll gain unexpected insights."

Hearing Qin Ming's terrifying idea, Hua Tianxiong was genuinely terrified.

These were two Foundation Establishment Elders of the Nascent Soul sect Shendao Mountain!

One was the renowned late Foundation Establishment Yun Yangzi; the other, Wen Yuliang, a Nascent Soul seed at Foundation Establishment peak.

Leaving Yun Yangzi aside, Wen Yuliang had reached Foundation Establishment peak at just over three hundred years old, his spiritual techniques and magic treasures crushing all peers.

With such a lineup, his master's first reaction was to target these cultivators for soul-searching and spirit extraction?

"Cough! Master, perhaps you should reconsider—after all, they're important figures of Shendao Mountain."

"One misstep, and we'll face utter annihilation!"

Hua Tianxiong urged, fearing that if Qin Ming died, he'd die too.

Mainly because he was controlled by the black talisman in his mind—if Qin Ming died, he'd surely perish as well.

"Heh! What? Are you afraid?"

"When you kill them, no one will recognize me—what's there to fear? Hehehe!"

Qin Ming let out a sinister laugh, activated the True Demon Illusion, and instantly transformed into Hua Tianxiong's appearance.

(End of Chapter)