Chapter 257

Mount Tianmu had a history regarding Foundation Establishment Pills. That was six years ago, when Lu Zian and Lu Yanshi were competing for an inner sect disciple spot, and Lu Zian stole the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Therefore, hearing that they had lost another Foundation Establishment Pill, Liu Xiaolou felt it was both unexpected and within reason. Could it be that stealing Foundation Establishment Pills was a tradition for the deacons under Mount Tianmu?

Since the news came from Dai Shenggao, it meant the source was quite reliable, so Liu Xiaolou was also tempted.

But temptation aside, he still had self-awareness; if this Foundation Establishment Pill could be obtained, it probably had nothing to do with him.

"Has Senior Longshan received the news?"

"Old Dai should have informed him too. He will presumably go as well."

"Valley Master Zuo, there is only one Foundation Establishment Pill. Does Dai Sanren know that you have also reached Qi Perfection?"

"He knows. His idea is that everyone should work together to get the Foundation Establishment Pill first, and then the three of us will bid for it, with the highest bidder getting it. The spirit stones obtained will be distributed to the others who participated."

"That is indeed a way... Who has the Foundation Establishment Pill? Is the target very difficult? Do we need to go together?"

"It should be. Old Dai didn't say the specific situation, only telling me to invite you back to discuss it."

Liu Xiaolou thought for a moment and asked, "It's been almost half a year since the attack on Baiye Manor. Is the pressure still high?"

Valley Master Zuo said, "Naturally, it's high, but after so long, it's not as strict as it was half a year ago. I heard that several elders of Mount Tianmu were alarmed at the time, searching for thousands of miles in all directions. They specifically searched Mount Wuling and the Taoyuan mountains, catching dozens of rogue cultivators, but none of them were from our Wulong Mountain. Later, they reported to the major sects, and the major sects, at their request, went to Wulong Mountain once, but there wasn't a shadow of a person on the mountain. Now that half a year has passed, I'm afraid they are tired too; they can't keep the tension high for half a year. However, I have heard that Mount Tianmu has had quite a few troubles in the past half year, and I don't know which hero did it, hahaha..."

Whether it was Dai Shenggao, Longshan Sanren, or Zuo Gaofeng, their relationship with Liu Xiaolou was very good, so whoever ended up with this Foundation Establishment Pill would be a good thing for Liu Xiaolou.

For rogue cultivators, it seemed that Qi Perfection was the ceiling. Since Liu Xiaolou entered the mountain at the age of eight, he had never heard of anyone on Wulong Mountain breaking through this ceiling. If someone could achieve Foundation Establishment this time, it would be a very exciting and great thing for the heroes of Wulong Mountain. Therefore, Liu Xiaolou was prepared to go all out.

Tan Ba breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refinement counted as a good hand, so he would definitely go back. Fang Bu was still working diligently at Stage 4 of Qi Refinement. After much thought, Liu Xiaolou decided not to take him back this time and would wait until he had steadily broken through to Stage 5. After all, for an early-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, his fighting style was truly too dangerous; Liu Xiaolou didn't even know how he had survived.

It took quite some effort to appease Fang Bu and let him stay behind to continue cultivating. Under the persuasion of the three of them, Fang Bu finally agreed to stay, so Liu Xiaolou, Zuo Gaofeng, and Tan Ba embarked on the journey home.

They looked for hiding places to rest during the day and traveled under the stars at night. Late on the third night, they finally arrived at the location agreed upon by Dai Shenggao—still Huang Feng Gou.

Carefully circling Huang Feng Gou twice and confirming there was nothing unusual, the three walked in slowly.

Captain Hu had been waiting for a long time. Seeing the three of them, he quickly came up to meet them: "Sect Master Liu, Valley Master Zuo, Brother Tan, you have finally arrived."

Zuo Gaofeng asked, "Where are the others?"

Captain Hu said, "We were just waiting for you."

Sure enough, everyone had arrived. Longshan Sanren was sitting with his eyes closed, Huang Ye Xian was playing with a silk handkerchief in her hand, the old Daoist Hu Du was talking enthusiastically with Old Quezi and Qi Laoqi about his carefree days over the past half year, and Mu Shenyi was taking the pulses and diagnosing the four brothers of Guzhang Mountain one by one.

The heroes of Wulong Mountain were scattered in twos and threes in front of Captain Hu's large tomb. Seeing Liu Xiaolou and the others, they all gathered around to greet them.

Besides this group of old brothers, Liu Xiaolou also saw more than ten fellow Wulong Mountain cultivators, including Lingling Ke and Li Fuchen. He hadn't seen them for a year since he issued the hero invitation. Unexpectedly, meeting them today, these people were also sitting separately according to their closeness.

Liu Xiaolou asked Captain Hu, "Why are they here too?"

Captain Hu said, "They were all found by Dai Sanren. Our Wulong Mountain friends have gone their separate ways this year; some have left completely, some died at the hands of Mount Tianmu, and the rest who are still in Jing and Xiang are all here. Dai Sanren really has a way; he found them all."

Tan Ba said from the side, "Do we need such a big formation this time?"

Captain Hu said, "Dai Sanren said that the difficulty this time is not small. The one who stole the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill is an inner sect disciple, Foundation Establishment!"

Tan Ba immediately rubbed his hands: "Good, another Foundation Establishment? Our Wulong Mountain brothers are showing more and more ability, hahaha!"

Before long, Dai Shenggao came down from the back slope and summoned Liu Xiaolou and Zuo Gaofeng to discuss secretly inside Captain Hu's tomb chamber. Long Sanren also participated in the secret discussion.

Dai Shenggao got straight to the point: "The news this time was given by Wang Laoda, and it is very reliable. You can all rest assured."

Wang Laoda's news had always been well-informed, and the news he gave could not be wrong, so everyone was relieved.

Dai Shenggao said, "Over the past year, it's not just our Wulong Mountain that has been targeting Mount Tianmu; rogue cultivators everywhere have been doing the same under our influence. Wang Laoda said that even major sects like the Qingyu Sect, the Pingdu Bazhen Sect, and the Gengsang Cave are secretly tripping up Mount Tianmu. So we are having a hard time, and Mount Tianmu is no better off. They have suffered heavy losses this year, and only half of them were caused by us..."

Zuo Gaofeng snorted: "Mount Tianmu deserves it!"

Dai Shenggao smiled and nodded: "Indeed, they deserve it. So there was a change within their sect. Inner sect disciple Meng Chengchang, perhaps because he is an outsider, was suspected by the Lu family disciples and thus left Mount Tianmu. When he left, he specifically took away a Foundation Establishment Pill that several elders of Mount Tianmu had just refined, intending to sell it for spirit stones."

Zuo Gaofeng asked, "What is his asking price?"

Dai Shenggao said, "Seven hundred spirit stones."

Everyone gasped. Seven hundred spirit stones—that was truly too expensive!

Of course, whether it was expensive or not was hard to say. When the cultivation prospects were dim and one couldn't break through no matter what, whether it was sold for seven hundred or eight hundred, one would risk one's life to buy it!

But since Dai Shenggao had gathered everyone, it meant he didn't want to spend these spirit stones. He sneered: "Seven hundred spirit stones, hehe, we don't have that many spirit stones. Even if we did, we wouldn't take them out to give to someone surnamed Meng! Rather than giving it to him, it's better to save the spirit stones and distribute them to every fellow Wulong Mountain cultivator!"

Liu Xiaolou asked, "Do you have the whereabouts of this Meng fellow?"

Dai Shenggao said, "He is hiding in Baiye Manor. Who would have thought that such a character would live in a manor that has already become ruins? Truly, things in the world are unpredictable!"