Li Yuanba had almost forgotten about the matter of the Purple Flame Sectâs mountain gate, mainly because the âXirangâ was still on his original self, Li Shimingâs side. Due to his unfamiliarity with âXirangâ, Li Shiming hadnât discovered its use.
Such top-tier Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures typically wouldnât appear in jade scrolls, primarily because too few cultivators even know about them. Even those who do often regard them as mere legends and not real.
Itâs like Qi Refining Cultivators hearing about a phoenix. In their understanding, a phoenix is a Divine Beast, and they canât comprehend how high-level cultivators could tame a phoenix as a spiritual pet.
Because the âXirangâ obtained hadnât found a practical use and since Li Yuanba hadnât encountered trouble for such a long time, he had not concerned himself with the earlier incident.
"Senior Sister, this is for your protection!" Li Yuanba was thankful to Tang Xue Ning for bringing back the news, so he handed her a jade bottle and said.
Tang Xue Ning accepted it without formality. Upon seeing the jade bottle contained merely one spirit pill, she realized it was a high-grade fourth-grade healing spirit pill for Nascent Soul Middle Stage. This single pillâs value could be compared to ten or more high-grade spirit pills of the same tier.
She said nothing of thanks; their life-and-death friendship required no words. She put away the jade bottle.
"Oh right, Senior Sister, do you remember who was injured?" Li Yuanba asked further.
"Let it be. I was ambushed by six Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioners from the White Emperor Sect and didnât notice who they were," Tang Xue Ning didnât tell the truth, as she didnât want Li Yuanba to take risks at this time.
The White Emperor Sectâs ambush action gave her a hint of something amiss.
The White Emperor Sect wouldnât ambush her without reason. Considering there was a Great Cultivator guarding the Purple Flame Sectâs mountain gate, the mountain gate might hold some secret.
Thinking of the feedback from the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilionâs intelligence department, she had reported the situation there, only to hear back that the White Emperor Sectâs Great Cultivator at the mountain gate had already left.
In hindsight, it seems there might have been a mishap at the Purple Flame Sectâs mountain gate, dragging her and Li Yuanba into trouble.
Yet she did not realize she was inadvertently implicated, while Li Yuanba was not.
"Senior Sister, then rest well, recover quickly, and donât leave any hidden injuries!" Li Yuanba knew Tang Xue Ning didnât want to talk, so he smiled and said.
After Tang Xue Ning left, Li Yuanba opened his identity jade disc to request the intelligence department investigate the ambush on Tang Xue Ning.
For ordinary Sword Cultivators at the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, having the intelligence department investigate specific intelligence requires exchanging contribution points.
But for him, it was different. As a core sword cultivator at the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, he had the authority to demand investigations from the intelligence department without cost.
His actions were not just for Tang Xue Ning, but also for himself.
The White Emperor Sectâs continuous pursuit of this issue only emphasized that the âXirangâ wasnât simple. He wanted to capture a knowledgeable cultivator from the White Emperor Sect to question and learn the âXirangâsâ function.
In truth, he didnât even know the name âXirangâ, only that the black substance was of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures grade.
After completing three more alchemy sessions, it was already the next day when the intelligence department delivered their report.
He handed over the crafted spirit pills and didnât take on more alchemy tasks but directly left the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion.
The information about the six Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioners who ambushed Tang Xue Ning was thoroughly investigated by the intelligence department, even detailing the whereabouts of three practitioners.
This showcased the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilionâs intelligence departmentâs prowess. Though Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion was based on an island off the Central State Continent, compared to West Yanâs White Emperor Sect, its intelligence network on the Central State Continent was unrivaled.
In essence, the White Emperor Sect was an outsider on the Central State Continent. No matter how much they desired integration, they could never truly blend in.
Li Yuanba set his sights on a core White Emperor Sect cultivator named Tan Xian from the report. Though the intelligence indicated Tan Xian hadnât mastered the âInvisible Primordial Magnetismâ divine skill, he was a top talent in earth-based cultivation.
He reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage by the age of three hundred, backed by a deep background, with his life-bound treasure being a top-grade fourth-grade mountain peak treasure.
"Itâs you!" Li Yuanba whispered to himself.
He soared away from the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, consistently using âThe End of the World at a Stepâ toward the direction of the Central State Continent.
He wasnât sure when the information provided by the intelligence department would become outdated, as a practitionerâs location isnât fixed and can change at any time.
Tan Xian was located at a temporary base of the White Emperor Sect, which was close to an important resource point of the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion.
The Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion had resource points too, but they were few. Mainly, itâs because they disdain ordinary resource points, only keeping resource points that had Great Cultivator level resources.
A Great Cultivator from the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion was stationed there, showing no fear of the nearby temporary base of the White Emperor Sect.
Conversely, the White Emperor Sectâs temporary base was always on alert, fearing a surprise attack from this Sword Cultivator Great Cultivator.
Usually, between the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilionâs resource point and the White Emperor Sectâs temporary base, Nascent Soul Middle Stage practitioners would occasionally clash, with both sides cautiously shifting battles to the Thirty-Three Heavens for resolution.
Li Yuanba came to a spot between the White Emperor Sectâs base and his own resource point. He didnât go to his resource point but instead waited quietly.