Chapter 116: Chapter 21: Purple Cover Mountain

Taixing Marketplace was located east of Huangyuan Marketplace. Although its registered cultivator population was over a thousand smaller, it was still considered one of the foremost marketplaces in the Chen Kingdom.

In fact, being farther from the Six Passes Defense Line, Taixing Marketplace was significantly more prosperous than Huangyuan Marketplace.

But today, a Flying Boat soared through the sky above Taixing Marketplace and activated an Isolation Array, cutting off all communication in and out of the city.

The war Flying Boats of the Six Great Sects were typically equipped with an Isolation Array. Its original purpose was to prevent a Demon Sect’s flying boat from calling for reinforcements when being hunted in the outer territories, thus avoiding a siege.

Later, the Six Great Sects discovered the array was also extremely useful for expelling Demon Tribes, plundering their supplies, and apprehending Tribulation Cultivators.

Once communications were severed, Zuo Renlong led a squad from the Demon Suppression Army aboard an Impact Boat and charged straight toward Taixing Marketplace.

Every Martial Might-level Flying Boat was equipped with two Impact Boats.

The hulls of the Impact Boats were exceptionally sturdy and were inscribed with a Small Earth Array, which allowed the Demon Suppression Army soldiers to land on the battlefield from the main Flying Boat.

The Taixing Marketplace Law Enforcement Team braced themselves and went to intercept them.

Only major figures from the Six Great Sects could travel on a Martial Might-level Flying Boat, and the local team could not afford to offend such people.

Zuo Renlong directly presented a Token from the Demon Slaying Hall.

“The Demon Slaying Hall is conducting official business! You will all accompany me to apprehend Xiang Linlian!”

The expressions of the Law Enforcement Team changed the moment they heard Xiang Linlian’s name. Xiang Linlian was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and the Manager of the Great Trading House, Thousand Gold Medicine Shop. His status was even higher than that of the Chief Shopkeeper of the Celestial Treasure Tower in Huangyuan Marketplace.

But under the shadow of the Demon Slaying Hall’s authority, even Xiang Linlian was just a minor character.

Soon, the Law Enforcement Team led Zuo Renlong and his soldiers to completely surround the Thousand Gold Medicine Shop.

Xiang Linlian knew his crimes had come to light. He tried to use his Mystic Carp Order to contact the association’s president, but was shocked to find it completely unresponsive. He cursed his luck. ’I could try to fight back, but how can I be a match for a top disciple from the Taixu Sword Sect?’ He could only activate his Magical Artifact, blast a hole through the roof of the Thousand Gold Medicine Shop, and take to the skies, shrouded in the Spiritual Light of his Defensive Spiritual Artifact.

From the Flying Boat, everyone saw a streak of Sword Light flare up from below. It shot straight up like a long rainbow, piercing the sky.

Xiang Linlian’s soul nearly fled his body in terror. He frantically channeled his Magical Power, pushing the Protective Spirit Light of his Defensive Spiritual Artifact to its absolute limit.

The Sword Light wheeled around, tapping against the Protective Spirit Light four times with the grace of a swallow skimming water. The Spiritual Light flickered violently before the sword pierced straight through.

A Tier Two Upper Grade Defensive Spiritual Artifact, shattered with ease by a single sword strike.

In the sky, Xiang Linlian let out a blood-curdling scream as the Flying Sword severed his left arm at the shoulder, sending blood showering down.

“This is what it means to be a true hero!”

Zhang Yanhao’s eyes shone with admiration; he wished he were the one performing Sword Control to slay the enemy.

The fellow disciples beside him were filled with envy and admiration.

“If we haven’t grasped Refining Sword into Gang by our age, we’ll never reach Junior Martial Uncle Zuo’s Sword Dao Realm.”

Soon, the soldiers of the Demon Suppression Army had Xiang Linlian in chains. They interrogated him on the spot and extracted a list of Alchemists who had been performing Alchemy for the Demons. Then, together with the Taixing Marketplace Law Enforcement Team, they began rounding up the individuals on the list.

They had repeated this procedure more than a dozen times, arresting over a hundred Cultivators and imprisoning them in the Flying Boat’s cabins. By now, they were exceedingly proficient.

Before long, a group of ashen-faced Cultivators was ferried up to the Flying Boat by the Impact Boat. Meanwhile, two other Sword Cultivators from the Demon Slaying Hall were in the cabins, interrogating the prisoners day and night and compiling their testimonies.

Zuo Renlong flew back to the Flying Boat, calm and composed, as if the person he had just taken down with a single sword strike were some nameless nobody.

“Thank you for your sincere cooperation, Fellow Daoist Yue. We could not have made such significant gains without you. A Flying Boat from my Taixu Sword Sect will be arriving shortly. Once we have transferred the prisoners, you may resume your duties as a Spirit Crossing Envoy.”

The Demon Slaying Hall’s operations in the Cai and Wei Kingdoms had been far less smooth than those in the Chen Kingdom, but they had still managed to capture a good number of Profound Carp Association members.

The majority of the Profound Carp Association’s members across the three kingdoms were now in their custody. With the Demon Slaying Hall’s methods, the complete annihilation of this Spirit Pill Smuggling Organization was only a matter of time.

Yue Fashan wiped the sweat from his forehead. After arresting so many Cultivators along the way—including an Outer Sect Steward from his own Five Elements True Spirit Sect—he had grown somewhat numb.

This was quite possibly the biggest case on the Western Continent in the past sixty years.

The mission to help the Taixu Sword Sect apprehend Profound Carp Association members had caused a five-day delay. As a result, Yue Fashan had to rush things in Longde Marketplace. After testing the aspiring Cultivators on the Five Elements Dharma Platform, he only stayed for two days.

This was actually their second visit to Longde Marketplace. The first time, the marketplace officials assumed they were there to recruit disciples and even prepared a welcoming ceremony. To their surprise, Zuo Renlong had immediately made his move, arresting Liu Hang—the Outer Sect Steward from the Five Elements True Spirit Sect who was presiding over the ceremony.

This time, they had actually come to recruit, but the people of Longde Marketplace assumed they were there to hunt down the remaining conspirators, which caused a considerable stir.

Yang Jing used the two days of leisure to gather his three apprentices, who had arrived ahead of schedule, and place them inside his Beast Taming Bag.

The headquarters of the Five Elements True Spirit Sect lay deep in the heartland of the Western Continent. Even with the Flying Boat traveling at full speed, the journey would take about five days.

On a day of gloomy skies and lashing rain, the Flying Boat finally reached Purple Cover Mountain, the home of the Five Elements True Spirit Sect.

The Purple Cover Mountain range was a vast expanse of rolling peaks. Legend said the territory it covered was comparable in size to an entire kingdom. Its main artery was a Tier Six Lower Grade Spirit Vein stretching over fifty li. Over the ten thousand years of the Five Elements True Spirit Sect’s stewardship, they had nurtured and transplanted more than fifty additional Spirit Veins of various tiers. These veins supplied the vast amounts of Spiritual Qi required for the disciples’ cultivation.

Even before entering the area covered by the Grand Array, the air high above was already suffused with a dense Spiritual Qi, no less potent than that of a Tier Two Lower Grade Spirit Vein.

The moment the Flying Boat flew into the Grand Array, an incomparably rich Spiritual Qi flooded everyone’s senses. Some Cultivators with weaker foundations even began to look tipsy, intoxicated by the sheer density of the Qi.

Within the bounds of the Grand Array at Purple Cover Mountain, there were sixty-four peaks alone. These peaks varied greatly in shape and form. Some were so precipitous they pierced the cloud layer, while others were gentle and sprawling, like the spine of a dragon arching from the ground.

As far as the eye could see were green mountains and verdant peaks. Spirit Woods of every color soared toward the sky, their jade-like canopies partially concealing vast swathes of palaces and residences.

Great rivers snaked between the peaks, their banks crisscrossed by a patchwork of Spirit Fields planted with all manner of Spirit Rice and Spirit Medicine.

Faced with such a magnificent vista, even the worldly Yang Jing found himself momentarily lost in awe.

While everyone was still momentarily speechless, the Flying Boat descended from the clouds and came to a stop in a sky-port designed specifically for mooring such vessels.

They had missed the Five Elements True Spirit Sect’s grand entrance ceremony, but Yue Fashan had no time to concern himself with such a trivial matter.

After parting ways with the Sword Cultivators from the Demon Slaying Hall, he had sent a message to the Sect, reporting everything that had transpired in full detail.

The higher-ups in the Sect had been waiting for some time to hear his personal report.

Before the Flying Boat even came to a complete stop, he shot out, transforming into a streak of Tunneling Light and vanishing from sight.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep