Chapter 260: Rampant Plundering

Several days later, Lu Yang confirmed that True Person Xiuxin was fine.

【Marionette】 was indeed overbearing; as soon as Lu Yang activated this talent, no matter what True Person Xiuxin's attitude had been before, she would ultimately submit.

As for Yun Yun Miaozhen, Lu Yang did not use 【Marionette】 to forcibly control her.

Mainly because it was unnecessary; ever since Yun Yun Miaozhen discovered that Lu Yang could help her accelerate her cultivation progress, she had devoted herself entirely to closed-door cultivation.

Especially after Yun Yun Miaozhen proposed "temporarily staying at Cangjian Mountain Villa," she rarely even left her courtyard, let alone the main gate.

However, this suited Lu Yang just fine.

The only thing that made him feel somewhat uncomfortable was that, since True Person Xiuxin also cultivated the , she had no friends within the Sword Pavilion.

After all, as everyone knew, this technique emphasized the Supreme Dao of Ruthlessness and a sword heart like ice; apart from the extremely few who happened to like that sort of temperament, no one was interested in pressing a warm face against a cold butt, and the only person True Person Xiuxin could summon was merely a sword cultivator at the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Currently, 【Marionette】 can only control those at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment."

"For the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment, I'm afraid I must wait until my Immortal Spirit Body is also nurtured to that realm before attempting control; it is better not to take that risk."

Stability above all else!

As for entering the Sword Pavilion to control those at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment? That would be equivalent to defecating under the nose of a Golden Core True Person; Lu Yang dared not do such a thing.

Therefore, the most urgent task was to raise his own cultivation realm as quickly as possible.

Since Lu Yang's current Immortal Spirit Body was still at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, improving it required consuming enough Geng-Metal spiritual items; fortunately, this was not too difficult.

"Boom!"

Inside Cangjian Mountain Villa, Yun Yun Miaozhen appeared with a cold expression, her vast spiritual sense directly enveloping the villa, immediately followed by the release of a massive aura characteristic of the Late Stage of Qi Condensation.

Regarding Yun Yun Miaozhen, Lu Yang had ultimately rewarded her once, enabling her to break through her bottleneck from the Mid Stage of Qi Condensation to the Late Stage of Qi Condensation, making her even more utterly devoted to him; however, the moment she stepped out of the room, she immediately forgot Lu Yang's existence, remembering only his instructions.

'Find an excuse to plunder Cangjian Mountain Villa!'

As a subordinate sect under the jurisdiction of the Sword Pavilion, Cangjian Mountain Villa was full of Geng-Metal spiritual items; if not for the fear of alarming the Sword Pavilion, Lu Yang would have forcibly seized them long ago.

But having Yun Yun Miaozhen do it eliminated any trouble.

After all, Cangjian Mountain Villa was not even a Foundation Establishment sect; its strongest member was merely at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation, so they absolutely dared not do anything to Yun Yun Miaozhen, who was at the Late Stage of Qi Condensation.

Not to mention that True Person Xiuxin was also present.

Soon, Yun Yun Miaozhen's cold voice echoed throughout the entire Cangjian Mountain Villa: "Effective immediately, seal off Cangjian Mountain Villa; no one is permitted to enter or leave without authorization!"

As soon as her words fell, True Person Xiuxin适时 acted, directly taking out a handkerchief and sacrificing it into the air; although this was merely an ordinary magic treasure, under the status enhancement of a Foundation Establishment True Person, it now blocked out the sun and sky, remaining as impregnable as a wall of bronze and iron, covering the entire Cangjian Mountain Villa in its center.

"Which senior has cast a spell to seal our villa!?"

Soon, a figure soared into the air from the center of Cangjian Mountain Villa, their voice filled with extreme panic, arriving via flight遁 almost immediately.

The newcomer was an old man in a black robe.

Although he possessed the cultivation base of the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation, he clearly had not cultivated any great divine abilities, so his cultivation was merely average, and his appearance revealed significant signs of aging.

"You are..."

Upon seeing Yun Yun Miaozhen, the old man paused slightly, then quickly displayed a grave expression, recognizing the person before him as a disciple sent from the Yushu Sword Pavilion to select sword embryos.

"Yun Yun Miaozhen of the Yushu Sword Pavilion."

Yun Yun Miaozhen clasped her hands behind her back and smiled coldly: "I have received intelligence that Cangjian Mountain Villa has colluded with the Jiangbei Demonic Path, intending to rob disciples of our Yushu Sword Pavilion!"

"What!?"

At these words, the old man in the black robe nearly popped his eyeballs out of his head.

Colluded with the Jiangbei Demonic Path!?

This was an incredibly serious charge! In the Jiangnan region, colluding with the demonic path was absolutely incorrect; once discovered, it inevitably resulted in execution!

Seeing True Person Xiuxin beside Yun Yun Miaozhen, the old man in the black robe dared not harbor even a shred of dissenting thought, immediately bowing low and proclaiming loudly: "Injustice! My Cangjian Mountain Villa has served the Upper Sect by nurturing swords for generations, never harboring any improper thoughts; how could we possibly collude with the demonic path? We beg the Upper Sect to investigate clearly!"

Upon hearing this, Yun Yun Miaozhen immediately narrowed her beautiful eyes: "Are you implying that I have wronged you?"

"I would never dare—"

Before the old man in the black robe could explain further, Yun Yun Miaozhen waved her hand: "No need to say more; since I have come this time, I naturally have the confidence to uncover the demonic fiends."

'Calculating the time, they should be arriving soon.'

Soon, a loud crash rang out from within Cangjian Mountain Villa, and sky-piercing demonic qi exploded outward; the old man in the black robe, who had been calm until now, was instantly frightened pale.

There really are demonic fiends!?

Seeing this, Yun Yun Miaozhen showed not the slightest surprise.

After all, the demonic fiends inside Cangjian Mountain Villa were ones she had previously asked True Person Xiuxin to secretly manipulate karma to attract, planning to have them abduct Yun Yun Miaozhen.

"Damn it! How could this happen?"

Within the soaring demonic qi, a disciple of the Holy Sect looked around with an ugly expression; at first glance, he radiated terrifying ferocity, but in reality, his eyes were filled with fear.

'Something is wrong, why am I so blinded by greed?'

'I originally only planned to rob a few low-level disciples of the Sword Pavilion on the outskirts of Jiangnan; how did I inexplicably end up running to a place like Cangjian Mountain Villa?'

'... h no!'

Thinking of this, the Holy Sect disciple's face turned deathly pale: "It's a Foun—"

"Clang! Clang!"

The next second, True Person Xiuxin flicked her finger, and a beam of sword light shot out, snatching away the lives of all the Holy Sect disciples present in the blink of an eye.

"Demonic fiends from Jiangbei; everyone has the right to execute them."

Yun Yun Miaozhen remained calm, then turned her gaze to the old man in the black robe, frightening him into hastily explaining: "The Upper Sect sees clearly; we truly knew nothing about this beforehand..."

"So what?" Yun Yun Miaozhen shook her head: "Even if you truly knew nothing beforehand, you are still guilty of negligence; this time I discovered it, so it is fine, but if these demonic cultivators had actually abducted a disciple of our Sword Pavilion, once the matter was investigated afterward, you would still not be able to escape responsibility."

"This... this..."

Hearing this, the old man in the black robe's expression became increasingly bitter; seeing that Yun Yun Miaozhen stopped speaking after this, he instead widened his beautiful eyes and stared straight at her.

Hmm?

After a moment of silence, the old man in the black robe lowered his voice and said: "Since the demonic fiends have already been executed, is there... any possibility that this matter will not be investigated further?"

"That depends on you."

Yun Yun Miaozhen said indifferently: "Harboring demonic fiends is, after all, a very serious charge; to prove your innocence, you must identify the most critical issue within it."

Upon hearing this, the old man in the black robe's eyes darted:

"Replying to the Upper Sect, come to think of it, the villa recently acquired a new batch of spiritual items and sword embryos for sword refining; perhaps these demonic fiends came specifically for them, and they may have already tampered with that batch of spiritual items... I wonder if the Upper Sect could take them away and inspect them thoroughly on our behalf?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Yun Miaozhen finally nodded slightly: "This is indeed a very critical issue."

Inside a quiet room in Cangjian Mountain Villa.

Yun Yun Miaozhen entered the room carrying a heavy storage bag, only to immediately spot Lu Yang sitting at the desk.

"Who goes there!?"

Yun Yun Miaozhen was initially greatly alarmed, but upon seeing Lu Yang's face and meeting his gaze, confusion instantly surfaced in her eyes, followed immediately by understanding of everything.

The next second, she bent down, carefully approached, and held the storage bag up before Lu Yang: "Master, I have already inspected all of Cangjian Mountain Villa; all the Geng-Metal spiritual items are here, there are no more; if we want more, I'm afraid we can only search the surrounding sects."

"Ah!"

Only then did Lu Yang stand up and accept the storage bag.

"Well done."

After counting the Geng-Metal spiritual items in the storage bag, Lu Yang nodded with satisfaction, and with a thought, sent them all into his Immortal Spirit original body.

However, this was still not enough.

A mere Cangjian Mountain Villa, which did not even have a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had accumulated Geng-Metal spiritual items that could at most accelerate his progress by ten percent; he needed more.

"Have you done what I asked you to do earlier?"

"Replying to Master, it is done."

Yun Yun Miaozhen said in a low voice: "I have already sent a message to the Patriarch; I am currently the disciple valued most by the Yun family, so once the Patriarch receives the letter, he will definitely come."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang immediately broke into a smile.

The first fish had taken the bait.

(End of Chapter)