Chapter 171 – No Survivors
“Before we kill any Lu’s who are above ten-star condensed prime level, we have to take care of a spirit token.” Lu Feng explained while taking a small, green sandalwood box out of his bag.
Lu Feng then reached into Lu Ren’s inside pocket and found what he was looking for, “this sandalwood box can temporarily disrupt the link between the spirit flame in the ancestral hall and the token these Lu’s carry.” He held the small, glowing jade token up high, so Ye Wei could see it.
“You, you cannot kill me!” Lu Ren coughed up blood. His eyes were filled with fear even though he made that bold statement.
Lu Feng curled his lips up and carefully placed the spirit token into the wooden box. His gaze became ice cold. “This is only the beginning.”
“Bang!” The next second, Lu Feng’s fist was inside his uncle’s chest; blood spattered everywhere, especially on Lu Feng. Even at this gruesome, Lu Feng’s bloodstained smile only grew larger.
Ye Wei was not told what exactly the Lu family did to Lu Feng’s mother but from his new partner’s twisted face he could see how much it horribly affected Lu Feng.
“How are we going to do this?” Ye Wei thought. He looked at Lu Feng and could feel the darkness in his partner’s heart, ‘he can see a few steps ahead of me in many things, but I don’t know if I can be friends with him in the long term.’
Ye Wei was not going to leave anything to chance. “The Lu’s cannot know anything about tonight!”
“The sandalwood box works for a month. We’ll say the Du’s were ambushed by wild beasts. In Lu Ren’s case, he had gone missing since the attack.” Lu Feng scanned across the corpses covering the valley’s ground. He spoke coldly.
“Okay.” Ye Wei nodded and mumbled to himself. “A month? What about after that? You know the Lu’s are efficient. They will eventually trace it back to us.”
“I know what you are thinking, but we can’t do much more.” Lu Feng looked at Ye Wei, explaining solemnly. “We should instead be thinking about how we can deceive the Lu’s. They were obviously heading to the Drakehead’s direction.”
“They don’t really care about the Du’s, but if they have an idea where the Drakehead is, they will keep sending stronger cultivators there, especially now that Lu Ren is ‘missing’.” Lu Feng paused and continued, “they might even send the returned prime Warriors this way! If worse comes to worst, we will have to let them take the Drakehead for now. Then we would somehow trap and eradicate them at once.”
“I don’t know if that is good idea. They will just become stronger if they take control over the Drakehead. I think I have a way to deal with the returned prime level elders. Will you go and spy on the Lu’s while I prepare myself?” Ye Wei frowned as he spoke. He lifted his head and looked at the frustrated Lu Feng.”
“There is no way back now. We should get ahead instead of wasting time to cover our tracks.” Ye Wei clenched his fist and said, “the next few days are critical, so make sure you gather as much information as you can!”
“Okay, I will be on my way!” Ye Wei channeled his Qi. He flapped his primal feather wings and rushed towards the Drakehead pond.
“We are still in the dark. We will have slight advantage since the element of surprise is on our side. We just have to be careful, so the Lu’s don’t know what we are putting into action!”
Lu Feng watched his partner flying away. There was a glint of hope in his eyes. “Please, win this bet. We will all die if we lose.”
Lu Feng understood that he could not take on the Lu’s soon even if he spent all his time training and cultivating. On the other hand, he knew Ye Wei could. ‘He’s right though. With my identity, I can get more information than he.’ The heavenly oath they made gave him assurance. After arranging the crime scene to look like the aftermath of a wild beast attack, Lu Feng sped towards the Lu’s base.
A few hours after the incident, two of the Lu’s condensed prime Warriors investigated the area around North Hill Bay.
“What in the world! What the hell is with Lu Ren?! He was suppose to send someone back to base. He knows better than to be this irresponsible!”
“I know right? This is just outrageous!”
A stinking metallic smell caught both the Warriors’ attention. They frowned and entered the bloodstained valley. Both of them began to shake in fear as they found the source of the reeking, overwhelming stench. They saw bits of stomach-turning, ravaged bodies covering the ground together with a few beasts’ dead bodies.
“What the hell happened here!?”
“Where is Lu Ren?!”
They investigated the valley thoroughly but could not find Lu Ren’s body.”
“You don’t see him either?”
“No, but even if he is here, I don’t think we’d be able to recognize him..”
“The beast might still be around. We have to be on our feet! Let’s go back!” One of the condensed prime Warrior said, “if Lu Ren couldn’t deal with it, neither can we!”
After doing a brief headcount, the two warriors nervously left the way they came.
***
Green Moon City, City Lord’s castle.
Two returned prime Warriors were sitting still, cultivating. One of them was thin while the other chubby. They were both cultivating using the Lu’s specialized formula. When they inhaled, large vacuum bubbles formed around them, and when they exhaled a faint thundering rumble echoed the whole courtyard.
“Sir, A large pack of wild beasts attacked the Lu Ren’s squad. There were no survivors! As well, Lu Ren was missing!” The two condensed prime level scouts reported. They shivered as they remembered what they saw.
“Did I hear you correctly? No survivors you said?!” The chubby elder’s eyes became bloodshot. Both scouts immediately bowed down, avoided eye contact, and became tongue tied under the immense pressure.
The thinner elder also opened his eyes. He interrogated with his cold voice. “That can’t be right. Lu Ren could have used a flare scroll. He knows better than to die without warning the others. Did you two see anything else?”
The scouts shook their heads; they were too scared to talk.
“Exactly, someone is trying to mess with our mission.” The chubby elder murmured to himself. He then rose his voice and ordered to the scouts, “send a message to the family. I want someone to check on Lu Ren’s spirit flame. I need to know who is responsible for this as soon as possible! Assemble a team to search for Lu Ren. I want him in front of me in a day! Dead or alive!”
“Sir, how about the search? Should we keep looking for the Drakehead before finding out who is behind this?” One of the scouts gathered his courage and spoke up.
“Keep running the search!? Brother, do you mind overwatching the base alone while I lead the search team into North Hill Bay myself!” The chubby elder narrowed his eyes. He replied to the scout slowly but aggressively, “the council said they are pretty certain that the Drakehead is close to the bay area. Now, this incidence might be the proof of their assumption.”
“Be careful, it could have been an inside job.” Said the thinner elder. He then nodded and thought, ‘I have to lock this city down. There will be chaos if the other big families find out about the Drakehead!’
Since Ye Wei returned to the Drakehead, he had been cultivating deep down in the pond in its freezing water. Like all condensed prime Warriors, he was able to stay in water for an extensive period of time. He cultivated non-stop for five days; he refreshed for a lungful of air every few hours.
Now that he was able to use his will-force and the Qi in his meridians being condensed by the cold water, he could speed up the Falling Star form even more. His body efficiently absorbed and purified the energy that came from the bottom of the pond.
Within five days of intensive training Ye Wei’s cultivation level quickly escalated. He was close to a five-star condensed prime level. After the breakthrough, he would be able to have the body strength of a peak ten-star condensed prime Warrior under the effect of his Supernova stance second evolution.
‘When I breakthrough, I should be able to fight two ten-star condensed prime Warrior at the same time!’
“Slosh!”
A pillar of water broke through the surface. Ye Wei shortly followed.
“It shouldn’t be long now before I am a five-star condensed prime Warrior, but how should I do it?” Ye Wei stood by the pond, muttering to himself. His body had been filled with Qi for days, but he could not find an opportunity to advance.
He decided to take his mind off cultivating and study the Zodiac Sword stance instead. Ye Wei pointed his fingers at the pond, thirty six Qi swords nimbly flew across the pond’s calm surface akin to a group of dragonflies.
“These Qi swords are looking better and better!” Ye Wei proudly exclaimed. His tightened face smiled while looking at the ripples.
‘These Qi swords’ movements are unpredictable. I can easily catch a ten-star condensed prime Warrior off guard if I find the right timing to use them.’ Ye Wei closed his eyes to simulate a fight.
‘The Selenic Sword is still more powerful. However, if I have to fight a group of enemies, the Qi swords would be more effective.’ He waved his arms around, ordering the Qi swords to accelerate and curve; in his imagination, he shredded his i opponents into pieces.