Celestial Refining Divine Scripture-Chapter 186 - 84: Yuanli Sect

Xu Yang left Red Crystal Mountain, heading east all the way!

After about half an hour, he saw the first city.

Upon entering the city, he first found a general store!

He bought a map of Qingzhou and an introduction to its major powers.

Then he went to an inn to study them carefully.

"Right now, I’m in Chiyun Prefecture of Qingzhou. To reach the Zhang Family, I’ll have to cross four prefectures—it’ll take at least half a month at best!"

"From what the general store shopkeeper said, even though Qingzhou seems peaceful on the surface lately, underneath the storm is about to break!"

All of this was because the neighboring Northern Territory had fallen!

Xu Yang shook his head slightly and looked over the introduction of the major powers.

"The Zhang Family, the Yunshan Clan!"

These were the two strongest families in Qingzhou!

In terms of strength, the two were about equal!

But in terms of foundation, the Yunshan Clan was even more formidable, with a thousand-year legacy, surviving many rises and falls! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Zhang Family, on the other hand, had only flourished later to reach such heights!

When he saw the second-tier powers, Xu Yang’s pupils contracted—he remembered the people he’d killed earlier seemed to call themselves "Yuanli Sect"!

Yuanli Sect, sure enough, was one of Qingzhou’s second-tier powers!

And their backing was the Yunshan Clan!

Xu Yang frowned slightly, but quickly shook his head with a wry smile.

All five had been killed—where would they find the culprit?

Perhaps by the time the other side realized they were dead, it would be much later.

...

Red Crystal Mountain!

Several figures descended from the sky, quickly finding the underground cave.

"So it really was here!"

"Huh, there’s even a small teleportation array!"

"Damn it!"

When he saw the several corpses on the ground, the elder in the lead instantly looked especially grim.

"We didn’t find the Young Sect Leader!" One person swept across the cave, whispering.

"Wu Tong, you bastard, you’d better pray the Young Sect Leader is unharmed, otherwise not a single one of your Wu Family’s line will escape!" Lin Dong shot a cold glance at the elderly corpse on the ground, then swept his gaze at the billowing magma to the side. With a flicker of his body, he dove into it like lightning.

Dozens of breaths later.

BOOM!

With a roar, magma shot everywhere, a fiery spray core!

Lin Dong emerged clutching a mangle corpse, his face so dark it seemed water could drip from it.

"Young Sect Leader..."

Upon seeing the corpse in his hands, all their faces changed dramatically!

"Take the body back!"

Lin Dong set down the corpse and barked the order.

"Mr. Lin, aren’t you coming back with us?" The group looked utterly baffled.

Lin Dong gritted his teeth and said: "I still have to find the culprit!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he flipped his palm and produced a jet-black, sinister bead!

Whish!

The bead shot into the air!

Lin Dong spat a mouthful of blood essence onto the bead, his hands forming seals like lightning!

As the seal skills continuously entered, the bead buzzed and trembled, sending out rippling waves of black that made one’s heart tremble, spreading like a formless sea, even the raging magma seemed to shiver in fear under its pressure!

At a certain moment, Lin Dong flicked his finger at the corpses on the ground!

An invisible aura was swallowed by the bead!

In that instant!

The bead hung motionless in mid-air, then suddenly a ghostly light burst out, forming a squirming black brand that slowly adhered to the bead’s surface.

Lin Dong coughed up blood, his face pale as death.

He seized the bead, his face transformed with joy.

"Mr. Lin, did you find anything?"

"The culprit is in Mirror Lake City, not far away!"

Lin Dong grinned, his face twisted and sinister!

...

Xu Yang’s whole body shuddered—he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of dread, like a knife stabbing right into his soul, alarming his sea of consciousness!

His face went pale, as if he’d been cursed from afar!

"Damn it, what the hell is this?"

Xu Yang looked within at his sea of consciousness, his face changing drastically.

He saw that within his sea of consciousness, a thread of indescribably sinister black brand had suddenly appeared, extremely faint and illusory, unmoving, yet making him feel extremely uneasy!

It was as if his every move was being scrutinized by this brand!

And it had appeared from thin air!

What kind of technique was this?

"Wait, was it the Yuanli Sect?"

Xu Yang’s pupils contracted sharply.

He couldn’t be certain, since Song Yuanhao was also a possibility!

But whatever the case, he had to get rid of this thing first!

Xu Yang immediately drove his spiritual power at the brand.

After dozens of breaths, his expression grew ugly.

Even though his spiritual power was as strong as the Late Stage Yang Realm, he couldn’t do anything to the brand!

The brand’s power was utterly bizarre!

"I’ll have to use the Heaven-Locking Chain!"

Xu Yang gritted his teeth, activating the Six Paths Locking Heaven Divine Chain to shroud the brand!

Buzz!!

As the divine chain enveloped it, the brand began to shudder, under the chain’s suppression, it started shrinking at a slow pace.

"It’ll take at least half an hour..."

Xu Yang’s eyes flashed—without hesitation, he rose and left the inn!

Outside, Xu Yang paused, frowning deeply!

"To use this sort of method to track me—regardless of special item assistance, the user’s cultivation must at least be at the Myriad Phenomena Realm!"

"For me to evade this, it’s nearly impossible!"

And once he was caught, facing the Myriad Phenomena Realm...

It would take half an hour to wipe it out completely, but for a Myriad Phenomena Realm martial artist to get here from Red Crystal Mountain, it would take far less than that!

Xu Yang’s expression shifted again and again.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind!

"At this point, this is the only choice!"

As the thought arose, madness flashed in Xu Yang’s eyes.

He took out a blood-colored mask and put it on, then directly grabbed a passing martial artist: "Do you know if there’s a branch of the Celestial Travelers’ Commerce Association here?"

"Damn it, are you looking to die?"

"Hm?"

The man was about to flare up, but sensing the terrifying killing intent, his face turned deathly pale in utter horror.

The passing martial artist forced out a sycophantic grin, quickly saying: "You want to go to the Celestial Travelers’ Commerce Association, sir?"

"Correct!"

"Yes, yes, yes—sir, just keep walking straight ahead. Then you’ll see the auction house—behind that is the branch office of the Celestial Travelers’ Commerce Association!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Xu Yang sped away like lightning.

Leaving the passerby martial artist breathing a huge sigh of relief!

Seeking out the Commerce Association was a last resort for Xu Yang!

Su Yun had once given him a token of the Celestial Travelers’ Commerce Association—Xu Yang was betting that Su Yun hadn’t told Song Yuanhao about it!

If so, even if Song Yuanhao found out in the end, it might buy some time for him!

And this time would be enough for him to escape the crisis, maybe even reach the Zhang Family!

He arrived at the auction house. Xu Yang directly showed his token: "I want to see whoever’s in charge here."

When the guard saw the golden token in Xu Yang’s hand, his expression instantly changed. That was a high-level VIP token of the Commerce Association!

In this sort of place, that meant a big shot!

Hiss!

The guard drew a cold breath and bowed respectfully: "Sir, please come with me!"

Xu Yang nodded slightly, following the guard into a lounge. The guard quickly went to report!

Soon after, the sound of footsteps approached.

Xu Yang looked up—a middle-aged man entered the room.

The middle-aged man was briefly startled at the mask on Xu Yang’s face, but quickly composed himself, bowing with cupped fists: "I am Zhou Wang, the manager here. May I know what this gentleman requires?"

Xu Yang said indifferently, "I’ve gotten myself in some trouble. I need a Myriad Phenomena Realm escort!"

Myriad Phenomena Realm escort?

Zhou Wang’s pupils shrank, hesitated a moment, then said: "May I ask what sort of trouble? The Celestial Travelers’ Commerce Association has some influence in Qingzhou. Since you have our high-level VIP token, you’re our honored guest. If I can’t resolve it, someone above me certainly can!"

"Yuanli Sect!"

Xu Yang didn’t hide anything!

"I killed five of them, including one at Middle Stage of Yang Realm!"

Zhou Wang narrowed his eyes, but didn’t ask why.

"Yuanli Sect is just a second-tier power in Qingzhou. No matter what, they have to give my Commerce Association some face!"

"If I step in, it’s not a major problem. But you’ll likely need to offer some compensation!"

Xu Yang’s heart stirred.

He had originally planned to hire an escort and run, but Zhou Wang’s words—if the Commerce Association came forward and he paid some compensation, that was also a solution!

Settle the matter, then leave quietly after!

Seeing Xu Yang silent, Zhou Wang chuckled: "If you’re worried, sir, you don’t even need to compensate; in a bit, I’ll arrange for you to leave with one of our Celestial Travelers’ caravans."

Xu Yang suddenly let out a bitter laugh: "Just now, I felt someone was watching me—a black brand appeared from nowhere in my sea of consciousness!"

"Black brand?"

Zhou Wang cried out in shock, his face drastically changing: "Who exactly from Yuanli Sect did you kill, sir?"