Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 710: Surging Waters Flooded the Dragon King Temple—Mistaking Allies for Foes

Chapter 710: Surging Waters Flooded the Dragon King Temple—Mistaking Allies for Foes

“Luoshui Guard?” Tao Tingfeng was dumbfounded. He had heard his clan uncle mention this organization. It was established by the imperial court specifically to deal with high-level cultivators.

He had listened to it as an amusing story, never expecting the real deal to come knocking on his door.

Yu Qian and the other two simultaneously produced command tokens engraved with the characters for “Luoshui.”

“Concealing proceeds of crime? Me?” Tao Tingfeng usually didn’t pay much attention to criminal law, forgetting whatever he heard. How could I have imagined I’d break the law when I’ve just been going about my life?

Yu Qian’s eyes narrowed slightly as they bore into Tao Tingfeng. “Tell me, how did you meet the Chess-Observing True Lord back then, and how did you make the Golden Cicada Shell recognize you as its master?”

This was a secret spell of the Luoshui Guard. If the gap in cultivation realm was large enough, they could determine if the other party was lying.

Shi Huagu also had a similar secret spell, which he had used when testing if Lu Yang was from the Heavenly Court Creed. However, the effectiveness of Shi Huagu’s version was inferior to the Luoshui Guard’s.

Bracing himself, Tao Tingfeng truthfully recounted the situation back then. “At the time, the Chess-Observing True Lord told me that this item is called the Golden Cicada Shell and that he had seized it from a formidable opponent, asking me to safeguard it...

“I thought the True Lord was dead, so I tried to make the Golden Cicada Shell recognize me as its master by dripping my blood...

“Later, it turned out the True Lord was alive...”

After listening, Yu Qian’s brows were slightly scrunched up as he asked sternly, “In other words, you knew he had stolen the Golden Cicada Shell but still chose to safeguard it?

“And after the Chess-Observing True Lord entered your mental space, you provided him a place to recover?

“This is utterly reckless! Do you have any idea how dangerous your actions were?

“Do you know what the Golden Cicada Shell is? It’s something that tempts even Transcendent Tribulation cultivators. The Chess-Observing True Lord risked his life to steal it. Yet after making the Golden Cicada Shell recognize you as its master, you dared to harbor him?

“If he had recovered his body, the first thing he would have done was take over your body! Did you think he was teaching you cultivation out of the kindness of his heart?”

Yu Qian took out a book documenting the deeds of Great Qian’s Fusion cultivators and read aloud.

“Chess-Observing True Lord, real name Du Guan, born in the 82,281st year of the Great Qian calendar. To advance to the Nascent Soul Stage, he sacrificed the village that raised him. At the Divine Transfiguration Stage, he became Dao partners with a cultivator at the same realm, then killed that Dao partner to prove his Emotionless Dao. At the Basic Fusion Stage, he committed three recorded cases of murder for money. At the Intermediate Fusion Stage... Later, having no hope of breaking through to the Transcendent Tribulation Stage, he focused on studying the hundred cultivation arts.

Yu Qian closed the book and questioned seriously, “And you were helping this kind of person and cultivating under his guidance?”

“I...I...I felt that he was quite affable, so I thought he was a good person...”

Yu Qian interrupted Tao Tingfeng’s defense. “By ‘good person,’ are you referring to him robbing the Golden Cicada Shell?”

“Hehe, Great Xia cultivators, I never imagined you would have investigated me so thoroughly.” The Chess-Observing True Lord chuckled sinisterly.

“Du Guan, the crimes you committed during the Great Qian era are historical issues; they don’t fall under Great Xia’s jurisdiction. But robbing a Great Yu cultivator within Great Xia territory constitutes the crime of robbery.”

“Not the crime of murder?” The Chess-Observing True Lord knew that falling into Great Xia’s hands meant certain death. After all, my crimes went beyond just robbery.

“Murder? You mean killing the Great Yu cultivator? Unfortunately, he didn’t die. We just haven’t located him yet. As for the two companions you killed, that was considered self-defense and does not constitute a crime.”

The commotion from the Chess-Observing True Lord’s internal conflict with his two companions was too huge, attracting the imperial court’s attention. When they arrived, the Chess-Observing True Lord had just fled, leaving one companion dead and the other severely injured.

The severely injured one was beyond saving. The Luoshui Guard performed an emergency soul search on him, learning the entire sequence of events.

The identity of the robbed Great Yu cultivator was unknown. They only knew he had recently awakened and was still recovering. The Chess-Observing True Lord had learned of the news somewhere and teamed up with two companions to rob him.

After the Chess-Observing True Lord escaped, the severely injured companion saw that the Great Yu cultivator was also gravely wounded but still had some strength left. The latter dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew and fled, leading to the subsequent sequence of events.

They were also searching for that Great Yu cultivator since they needed to find the victim. That Great Yu cultivator had fled north, while the Chess-Observing True Lord fled south, so the Luoshui Guard split into two teams.

Yu Qian hadn’t expected himself to find the Chess-Observing True Lord before locating the victim.

He said sternly to Tao Tingfeng, “Whether you are guilty of harboring a criminal requires further investigation. But you are suspected of concealing the proceeds of crime and need to make a trip with us.”

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou sighed inwardly. When they saw Tao Tingfeng drip blood on the Golden Cicada Shell to make it recognize him as its master, they knew he was in trouble. They had continued observing to see if he would realize the problem.

Now that things had reached this point, further observation was unnecessary.

“Let’s go. This isn’t over yet.”

~~~

Huff, huff...

The grimy youth who had previously appeared at the barbeque shop was desperately running toward the city outskirts.

For the past half a month, he had been working odd jobs in the city, saving up to buy a set of clean clothes for himself. In another half a month, he would have enough to board a flying vessel to his destination.

“I wonder if those three Great Xia cultivators are here to catch me. To be safe, I’ll run first.”

The youth felt incredibly unlucky. I hadn’t provoked anyone. It wasn’t long after I awakened from my slumber since the Great Yu era that three Great Qian cultivators showed up to rob me of the Golden Cicada Shell.

This is my trump card for the upcoming Battle of the Great Era! How could I just hand it over to others?

After the battle, he didn’t only lose the Golden Cicada Shell but was also forced to disperse his cultivation to cultivate anew so as to save his life.

“Unlucky!”

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

“Kid, you run pretty fast.”

Two figures blocked his way like a wall.

It was Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

Back at the barbeque shop, they had noticed something amiss with the youth—his gait and breathing pattern were unlike those of an ordinary person; he definitely had a foundation in cultivation.

At that time, they suspected the youth had dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew but lacked evidence.

This kid had run the moment the Luoshui Guard arrived. He must be a reforged cultivator!

Meritorious achievements delivered to our doorstep! Let’s see if Senior Brother Dai will still say we only cause trouble when we go out!

“What do you want?!” The youth could tell at a glance that the two were cultivators. I’m a mortal now; there’s no way I could win.

“What do we want?” Meng Jingzhou sneered, flexing his muscles as he dragged the youth into a deserted courtyard. “Talk! Are you an archaic cultivator who dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew!”

“N-no, I’m not!” the boy yelled, bracing himself.

“Oho, still denying it? String him up!” Lu Yang pulled out a whip from his identity jade tablet and gave it a couple of firm tugs to check its sturdiness. This was an interrogation method he had learned from Yun Zhi.

Meng Jingzhou tactfully found some rope and tied the youth up, hanging him from a tree.

The air crackled with resounding pops, making the youth’s scalp tingle. Seeing their fiendish expressions, he feared for his life if he didn’t confess.

“Don’t hit me, don’t hit me! I’ll confess.”

“Speak! Which era are you from?! What’s your name?!”

“I am a cultivator from the Great Yu era. My Daoist title is ‘Innate Daoist Priest.’”