Chapter 229

Gou Dan stood upright, not even looking at Wang Dalin and Baozhu, his gaze swept around, locking onto Qingying Ge, and he walked over step by step.

Qingying Ge's face changed: "Ah this this this..."

Wang Dalin angrily whispered: "Master's pet, if you don't want to die, don't move!"

Qingying Ge could only stand still, his eyeballs moving with Gou Dan.

Gou Dan finally reached him, suddenly leapt up, grabbed his hair, a great force exploded, a shoulder throw, throwing him to the ground.

Qingying Ge only had time to let out an "Ah!" before being swung back and forth like a tossed rag.

Everyone at the Bian Ting Inn was dumbfounded.

Only after Qingying Ge lost his voice did Gou Dan heavily smash him at Xiao Hua's feet.

The meaning went without saying.

Xiao Hua was delighted, quickly clasped his fists in thanks.

Gou Dan then looked at Wang Dalin, made a throat-slitting gesture, hands behind his back like a monkey, and swaggered away.

Wang Dalin's face turned pale, he hurriedly followed: "Monkey Brother, there must be some misunderstanding in here! Has the Master come out? Speak, Monkey Brother, brother, let me buy you a drink!"

……

At the Lotus Spirit Vein, Tao Saniang, Jiang Yuhan, Bao Yu, Sun Botian and his brothers gathered, faces full of expectation, looking at the already opened spirit vein cave.

The monkey has been out for half a day, but the person hasn't come out!

Just then, a figure flashed out of the cave—it was Heng Xian.

In white robes, his features became more handsome, his demeanor more steady, and… his height had grown a bit.

The crowd looked him over, all startled: "Master, you've actually… grown taller?"

Since Master entered seclusion, the group had privately speculated that, given his ability and mind, he must look like a child but actually be several decades old, but now…

Seeing Heng Xian's gaze sweep over them, the group immediately bowed: "Master!"

Heng Xian nodded, stretched his bones.

Over a year down there, he not only closed off for cultivation, but also thoroughly studied the insights on the small drum and the "Zijian Su Stone," and trained the monkey.

The results were good; he had now broken through to the Ninth Level of the Qi Hai Realm, his dantian Qi Sea divided into nine layers, the nine layers of Qi Sea constantly rotating, his strength increased another notch.

All that remains is to, according to the insights on the Zijian Su Stone, frenziedly accumulate spiritual energy and compress and condense it nine times!

However, he seems to be eighteen years old now!

An eighteen-year-old cultivator at the Ninth Level of the Qi Hai Realm? Not bad!

"He's become an adult!"

Heng Xian sighed and asked: "How's the outside?"

Bao Yu and the others snapped out of their reverie from the three words "He's become an adult!" and quickly pointed to a nearby thatched hut: "Let's go inside to talk."

The group walked over, just as they were about to enter the thatched hut, they saw Wang Dalin running far behind Gou Dan, excitedly bowing all the way down: "Master, you've finally come out of seclusion!"

"Kneel or lie down, you choose!" Heng Xian's voice was not gentle.

Having just broken through, he calculated a hexagram with the Xuan Huang Tian Gua; the entire Bandit Alliance had this guy causing trouble.

Wang Dalin's face changed, and he immediately dropped to one knee.

Bao Yu and the others gave him a resentful glance, then followed Heng Xian into the thatched hut.

The thatched hut is fairly large, seating thirty is no problem; everyone found a mat and sat down.

The steward took out a ledger, recounting in detail everything the Bandit Alliance had done over the past year, and finally said: "... Our conflict with the Blood Slaughter Gang to the north keeps growing; lately there's been no major battle, but small-scale fights and killings happen often!"

Sun Botian nodded: "Exactly! It's the old Blood Slaughter Gang of Five Goat Stronghold, which also occupies several spirit veins, seeing us as a newly formed force, unstable in the alliance, unable to stand firm, they want to provoke and cause a war between the two sides!"

Heng Xian asked: "How strong is the Blood Slaughter Gang?"

The steward said: "Eight at the Initial Yuan Dan Realm, and two thousand one hundred ordinary disciples!"

Heng Xian glanced at the crowd, slightly furrowed his brows: "Just that?"

Bao Yu, Sun Botian, Zhao Dahua, Feng Sige and the others were all stunned: "Ah? What's wrong, Master?"

Heng Xian tapped the table: "You have a dozen or so Yuan Dan cultivators, they have eight—are they really that tough? Ambush, assassinate, poison, take them out!"

Or secretly send people, according to their weaknesses, to divide them, carry out counterespionage, beauty schemes, money temptations, and destroy them individually!

Once they're dead, the underlings will naturally be unable to resist; even the underlings, you can also win them over, poison them, control them, use gu, use Saniang's scorpion poison..."

The group listened, sweating profusely—could they really do that?!

Heng Xian spoke with increasing frustration: "You are bandits and mountain thieves; you must have the awareness of being bandits and mountain thieves—conscience, integrity, righteousness, those strange qualities are not allowed!"

The group immediately clasped their fists: "Yes!"

Heng Xian waved his hand: "Anything else?"

Tao Saniang said with a lingering look of fear: "Three months ago, four disciples from major outside sects came!"

Heng Xian's heart jumped; he thought, "Finally they've come!" and asked: "What did they come for?"

Tao Saniang lowered her voice: "They were looking for you, and to hunt down the yao tribe and the Flower Pavilion."

Heng Xian asked: "Then what?"

Tao Saniang said: "Then I and Yuhan hid, and they asked the steward."

The steward hurriedly explained: "They first swept around the five spirit veins, then took out your portrait and asked me; I said I hadn't seen you."

"They then asked who the Master of the Bandit Alliance was; I said he's an old man over ninety, out traveling."

"Afterward they produced a stack of portraits, of yao and people; I knew none of them, and they thoroughly searched the Bandit Alliance before leaving."

"Well done!" Heng Xian breathed a sigh of relief and asked: "How's the outside of Han Mountain? Any news?"

Tao Saniang said: "I sent brothers from the Feng Hall at the Qi Hai Realm to gather intel; reportedly the major sects have wiped out the yao completely, but the Flower Pavilion folks keep committing crimes against the wind, ambushing many sect disciples."

"Thus the major sects have been everywhere hunting down Flower Pavilion people, but in the past two months another major event has occurred in the cultivation world!"

"What event?" Heng Xian exclaimed.

Tao San Niangzi said: "Do you still remember before we destroyed Green Mountain Stronghold, we went to Vast River Town following Eldest Miss Lan, and entered a shop called Green Jade Pavilion?"

Heng Xian nodded.

Tao San Niangzi said: "The waiter there said that their boss went to West Beauty Kingdom; West Beauty Kingdom has a small sect that excavated an ancient tomb called Sword Sea; the stone you bought is produced from Sword Sea."

This matter is related to Sword Sea; over the past few months, major sects have paid attention to Sword Sea, and suddenly discovered that Sword Sea is not just an ancient tomb, but also the remains of a super sect from antiquity!

"Then what?" Heng Xian asked.

Jiang Yuhan continued: "The Sword Sea remains of an ancient super sect have never been mined, unlike places like Illusory Sea Mountain, which have already been used as training grounds for disciples of various sects!"

Such a place has too many opportunities; it's practically an unknown treasure trove.

It's obvious that the major sects have gone mad; I heard from the brothers below that many sect experts have swarmed there!

Tao San Niangzi laughed: "It is said that Tianyuan Sect's Zhenjing, Shendao Palace's Jin Shanghua, Baowang Sect's Shen Santian, and Lingjian Sect's Jianxu Gu all entered at once, but were all bounced out, seriously injured and unconscious!"

Three Primordial Dan Realm Perfections and a Nascent Soul old monster were actually killed by a single bounce; if one wants to enter that ruin, it would take at least several years!

"I understand." Heng Xian lost interest in such adventures; he's not in the mood now, and said: "I need to go into seclusion right away; this time I came out to have you prepare some things for me!"

A group of people clasped their fists: "Sir, please give your orders!"

Heng Xian took out a paper covered in writing: "For the herbs listed above, we need three thousand plants of each type every month; figure it out, and also prepare an alchemy furnace for me!"

The steward took it and, together with Baoyu and a few others, had a look; he was speechless at the amount, but dared not explain: "Sir, rest assured, we can do it!"

Heng Xian thought for a moment, then said: "Send Wang Dalin to the north to firmly resist the Blood Slaughter Gang; we must prevent his betrayal and assign people to monitor him!"

A group exchanged glances: "Yes! Sir, rest assured!"

(End of Chapter)