txolops Chapter 60 The Oriole
Chapter 60 The Oriole
Spirit Beast Mountain, Law Enforcement Peak.
Two beams of light flew out from the peak almost simultaneously, one heading southeast of Danzhou and the other heading north of the Cangqiu Mountains.
On the spirit boat flying towards the northern part of the mountain range stood five Foundation Establishment cultivators. The leader was Zhou Jin, a late Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Law Enforcement Peak, followed by four early to mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators. The five remained silent, but their faces all carried a murderous aura.
The top-tier magical artifact-grade spirit boat was extremely fast, arriving above the spirit stone mine deep in the mountains in less than an hour.
The mine was brightly lit. When the spirit boat arrived and the late-stage Foundation Establishment aura raged out from on board, Xie Changkong and Tang Zixu's faces turned pale instantly.
They saw the sign of the Law Enforcement Peak on the spirit boat, as well as Zhou Jin's face on the spirit boat and the cold eyes of the four Foundation Establishment cultivators behind him.
"Xie Changkong and Tang Zixu, inner disciples of the Spirit Beast Peak, are suspected of embezzling a huge amount of sect assets. Come with us!" Zhou Jin stood on the spirit boat, his voice not loud, but the last bit of hope for the two was completely shattered.
Xie Changkong's expression remained calm. He wanted to offer some explanation, but the people from the Enforcement Peak had already come to arrest him. What could he say?
Where exactly did things go wrong? Could it be with Lao Liu?
Tang Zixu's face was deathly pale, and the usual playful smile was gone from his old face; his lips were even trembling slightly.
Only the newly arrived early Foundation Establishment cultivator walked out of the small courtyard where Zhang Tie had previously lived, looking completely bewildered, unaware of what had happened.
Without further ado, Zhou Jin waved his hand, and four Foundation Establishment cultivators behind him leaped off the spirit boat, surrounding Xie Changkong and Tang Zixu.
The two did not resist. If only a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator had arrived at the mine today, they might have had a fighting chance. But against Zhou Jin, who was in the late Foundation Establishment stage, resistance meant death!
At the same time, inside the Spirit Beast Peak, Steward Liu was enjoying newly purchased spirit tea in his cave.
This one or two spirit teas cost him a hundred spirit stones, and it was extremely beneficial for mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation. He usually couldn't bear to drink too much of it.
But before they could finish their tea, the cave's protective barrier was suddenly broken open from the outside, the stone door shattered, and rubble flew everywhere.
Two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Enforcement Peak stood coldly at the door, their eyes fixed on Deacon Liu.
"Liu Kun, you've been caught!"
Liu Kun's face turned deathly pale instantly. He subconsciously reached into his storage bag to take something out, but when he saw the two people's cold eyes and thought about his current location, his face turned ashen.
"I...I'll go with you!"
In less than an hour, Xie Changkong, Tang Zixu, and Liu Kun were escorted back to the Enforcement Peak.
In a secret room of the Enforcement Hall, Zhou Jin stared at Xie Changkong with eyes as sharp as knives.
"Speak, how long have you been doing this? How much have you embezzled? Who is the mastermind?"
Xie Changkong lowered his head and remained silent for a long time. Just when Zhou Jin's patience was about to run out, he finally spoke.
"I was the mastermind. Three years ago, I, along with Tang Zixu and Liu Kun, intercepted the raw stones from the spirit stone mine. My Xie family patriarch, Xie Yunhe, also knew about this, but he did not participate..."
"Just the four of you?" Zhou Jin pressed.
"It's just the four of us, no one else!" Xie Changkong gritted his teeth.
Tang Zixu and Liu Kun on the other side gave the same answer, insisting that only the four of them knew the truth, without mentioning the senior brother behind it all.
Zhou Jin gave Xie Changkong a meaningful look, but ultimately did not pursue the matter further. Someone from Spirit Beast Peak had already spoken, and the matter was left unresolved.
"Take them away!" Zhou Jin waved his hand, and the three were taken away.
...
In Wutong Valley, Zhang Tie was unaware that the Enforcement Peak had acted extremely swiftly and had even dispatched several Foundation Establishment cultivators to the Xie family.
After Zhang Tie discovered the location of the spirit stone ore, he quietly slipped into Wutong Valley.
Deep within Wutong Valley lies a secret underground chamber.
While counting the raw ore, Xie Duanfeng calculated how many spirit stones this batch of goods could be exchanged for.
"Five thousand raw stones, plus the last batch, that makes a total of eleven thousand. Once this batch is sold, the strength of my Xie family members will improve significantly, and I will be able to break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage!" After counting, Xie Duanfeng nodded in satisfaction.
Just as he was thinking about how to spend the spirit stones, he suddenly sensed a surge of spiritual energy coming from outside the secret room.
"Who?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the stone door of a secret chamber was blasted open with a palm strike, and a figure walked out.
"Zhang Tie?! What are you doing at my Xie family's house!" Xie Duanfeng recognized the person and his voice became shrill and distorted.
Zhang Tie did not answer. He raised his hand and waved it. The entire secret room was filled with spiritual light and enveloped by an invisible magic array. The sealing power raged, and Xie Duanfeng's body suddenly stiffened, as if he were bound by an invisible giant hand.
Zhang Tie no longer suppressed his cultivation, and the aura of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator surged forth like a tide.
Xie Duanfeng, still trapped by the sealing power, was filled with shock upon seeing this: "You—when did you break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage?"
Zhang Tie ignored his nonsense, raised his hand and flipped the Golden Lock Ring out, aiming straight for Xie Duanfeng!
Xie Duanfeng gritted his teeth and forcibly broke free for a moment, releasing a blood lion from the spirit beast pouch. The blood lion was the size of an ox and its whole body was crimson. Although the Six Harmonies Sealing Array slowed its movements, the Six Harmonies Sealing Array was only equivalent to a sealing array in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and it could not restrain it for a while.
Zhang Tie frowned secretly. It seemed he would have to find a few more powerful formations later, but that was a matter for later.
The Golden Lock Ring slammed into the Blood Lion's head with a whooshing sound, sending flesh and blood flying and forcing it to stagger back more than ten steps.
"Blood Lion!" Xie Duanfeng exclaimed in surprise as he felt his spirit beast being severely injured in a single attack.
But he had no time to grieve for his precious spirit beast, because the Golden Lock Ring spun around and came hurtling back, crashing hard into Xie Duanfeng's chest.
"Click—"
Xie Duanfeng didn't have the physical body of the Blood Lion; his chest instantly caved in, and the sound of bones cracking was clearly audible.
Just then, the wall on one side of the secret chamber suddenly exploded open, and another cultivator from the Xie family, an old man with white hair and beard, seized the opportunity and slashed at Zhang Tie with his halberd.
"I've been waiting for you for so long!"
Zhang Tie whispered something, and the Azure Gang Pagoda flew out of his hand, its body spinning rapidly as it pressed down on the old man.
"boom!"
The old man was struck by the Azure Gang Tower and pinned to the ground. His halberd flew out of his hand and stuck into the wall with a resounding clang.
In just thirty breaths, two early Foundation Establishment cultivators and a level-two spirit beast were all suppressed. The two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Xie family had no power to fight back against Zhang Tie!
Zhang Tie walked up to Xie Duanfeng and looked down at him.
"Zhang Tie...you can't kill me! I'm a disciple of the Spirit Beast Peak. If you kill me, the sect won't let you off!" Xie Duanfeng's chest caved in, blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were filled with fear.
"Ridiculous!" Zhang Tie sneered, and the Golden Lock Ring flew out, hitting Xie Duanfeng on the head.
Xie Duanfeng's body went limp.
With its master killed, the Blood Lion roared and pounced on Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie snorted coldly, and the Golden Locking Ring spun in the air, directly slamming into the Blood Lion's head. Although the Blood Lion's physical body was strong, it had no power to fight back under the power of sealing and the attack of the magic weapon. Its head was pierced through, and after twitching a few times, it became still.
At the same time, under the horrified gaze of the Xie family patriarch, the Azure Gang Tower crashed down once again.
[Killed Xie Duanfeng, a cultivator in the early Foundation Establishment stage; Karma Value +300]
[Killed Xie Yunhe, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, Karma Value +300]
[Slaying a level 2 spirit beast—Blood Lion, Karma Value +200]
Current causality value: 2290