From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 188 Lurking
Meng Jiaojiao was wearing a black robe and a bamboo hat, with a thin black veil hanging in front of the hat, obscuring her face.

Her voice was low and cold as she casually tossed out two spirit stones: "Well done."

"Thank you, sir."

Li Zhuo accepted the two spirit stones with a fawning smile and handed the six girls he had brought over to Meng Jiaojiao.

"Don't worry, sir, I will catch more girls and send them over as soon as possible."

After saying that, he stepped back and left.

Meng Jiaojiao used her spiritual energy to lift the six girls and fly into the depths of Xieyue Mountain.

She dropped the girls off along the way before reaching her destination.

The girls were terrified, trembling and sobbing softly.

One of the girls had fair and delicate skin, and her silk dress was embroidered with silver threads. She cried out loudly, "Please, please let me go! My family is rich, my father can give you silver, please, waah~~"

Meng Jiaojiao didn't say anything, left the girls in the wilderness, and turned to leave.

She could tell that the girl came from a well-off family, so it was clear that she wouldn't have sold her for money.

Their pleas for mercy moved Meng Jiaojiao to pity, and she spared their lives. Whether the girls would ultimately escape, she didn't know.

"Ah~~"

Meng Jiaojiao sighed helplessly, knowing that she had wasted her efforts.

How many people can she let go?
Furthermore, Xue Yimiao required them to capture at least one hundred girls before returning to Yunze Mountain.

"How can I do?"

She was caught in a painful struggle, suffering immense inner torment.

She didn't want to be the executioner of the Xue family and harm people, but what could she do?

The strongest member of this demonic cultivator group is the captain, Huang Li, not her.

Even if she kills these companions, the Xue family will send others to carry out the operation. The Xue family will compensate for the losses of their demonic cultivator subordinates by capturing and training more young girls.

As long as the Xue family, the culprits, exists, there will be a continuous stream of young girls being murdered.

"Never mind that, rescue Xiaoxi first. As for the others, I can't save them!"

Meng Jiaojiao gritted her teeth. If she wanted to hide her identity and rescue Xu Zhongxi, she had to go with the flow and obey orders.

The life and death of other people are none of her business.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Tonggu County, Baihe Mountain.

Xu Xiaoniu brought Xu Xiaohou news about advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"To advance from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, one must first master Foundation Establishment techniques."

When breaking through, one needs to reach the peak state of essence, energy, and spirit, and the three must be united. The power of the soul breaks through the Niwan Palace and forms the sea of ​​consciousness, also called the sea of ​​consciousness or the sea of ​​soul.

Within the dantian and dantian, spiritual energy condenses into drops of liquid spiritual power.

His physical body underwent another transformation, increasing his lifespan to approximately 250 years.

"It is said that some people with exceptional qualifications or talents, such as cultivation prodigies with dual earth elemental roots, can advance to the Foundation Establishment Realm without any resource assistance, relying solely on their own cultivation techniques."

"Those with average aptitude will need resources such as Foundation Establishment Pills to assist them."

The most suitable one is undoubtedly the Foundation Establishment Pill, which can increase the probability of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage by half.

Other pills, such as the Three-in-One Pill, can also increase the chances of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Pills like the Foundation Building Pill or the Three-in-One Pill can only be used once; they cannot be used in combination.

"As a celestial official, I can purchase Foundation Establishment cultivation techniques from the imperial court. As long as I have merit and add one hundred spirit stones, it will be fine. However, the imperial court's cultivation techniques can only be practiced by the practitioners themselves and are forbidden to be passed on to outsiders."

There are also Foundation Establishment Pills, which the imperial court will distribute as a reward for merit, but the conditions are very strict.

As the head of the Demon Subduing Division, if I want to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill based on my merits, I would have to kill at least one Foundation Establishment Realm demon cultivator. How is that possible?

The Foundation Establishment Pills awarded by the imperial court are not restricted to personal consumption; they can be given to others.

Xu Xiaoniu said so much, but he did not solve Xu Xiaohou's problem.

The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation techniques are forbidden from being passed on by the imperial court.

Foundation Establishment Pill? They couldn't possibly kill a Foundation Establishment Realm demonic cultivator.

If Xu Xiaohou wants to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, only the Xu family can find a way.

"There's another piece of news: human trafficking has been reported in Shitan County, similar to the previous situation. Liu Zi, what do you think?"

This is intelligence that Xu Xiaoniu just obtained.

"So fast?"

Xu Xiaohou was surprised. He had just wiped out a group of demonic cultivators in Wuxu Mountain near Heyuan County not long ago, and they had reappeared in just over ten days.

"It seems you have a great influence on them, forcing them to take frequent actions."

Xu Xiaoniu guessed.

"Shitan County, right? I'll go there. This time, I'm changing my strategy and hoping to find out information about the forces behind the scenes."

Xu Xiaohou decided to stop acting recklessly.

"Okay, be careful. Saving Xiaoxi is important, but your life is just as important."

Xu Xiaoniu gave his instructions. He didn't want to see his sixth brother die outside.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A few days later, at Xieyue Mountain.

late at night.

Xu Xiaohou, dressed in a jet-black night suit, cautiously explored the deep mountains.

When he first arrived in Shitan County, he heard that a wealthy family had reported to the county government that their daughter had been kidnapped by human traffickers, but was found and brought back the next day on a road outside the county town.

Afterwards, he secretly investigated and followed the clues to find several human traffickers, as well as Li Zhuo, a rogue cultivator who was in contact with the human traffickers.

Xu Xiaohou was very familiar with these methods. Those human traffickers would go to remote and impoverished areas to inquire about which families had daughters, and then go to their homes to discuss buying their daughters for money.

Xu Xiaohou understood these methods, so it was easy for him to find the human traffickers and discover the rogue cultivator Li Zhuo.

Then, they found out about Xieyue Mountain.

This time, Xu Xiaohou did not intend to kill anyone, whether it was the rogue cultivator Li Zhuo, the human trafficker, or the demonic cultivator.

"On the surface, the other side has one demonic cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining, who is in contact with that rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining. There are also three demonic cultivators at the eighth level of Qi Refining hiding in the shadows."

He secretly observed the demonic cultivator group in Xieyue Mountain for several days and roughly figured out their strength.

"The hidden valley ahead should be where the demonic cultivators are hiding."

He knew that the demonic cultivators had a hiding place, mainly used to guard the girls.

"I need to know everyone on the other side so I can track them down."

Xu Xiaohou had a plan: to find out who all the people in the group were before trying to track them. Otherwise, he would end up like he did when he first encountered the demonic cultivator group, where he was discovered while trying to follow them.

These demonic cultivators are extremely cunning; to prevent being tracked, they will secretly send people to clean up their "tails."

He has discovered that the other side has four Qi Refining cultivators, and there must be other members as well.

He quietly slipped into the valley, moving among the dense flowers, grasses, and trees, carefully exploring his surroundings.

At this moment, deep in the valley.

Team leader Huang Li gathered her companions: "Right now, we have fifty-two men, which is half of our mission objective. That rogue cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining isn't very skilled; he's not as good as the other one."

Besides the rogue cultivator Li Zhuo, they also recruited another demonic cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining named Sun Yan.

Sun Yan captured far more girls than Li Zhuo.

"You must be on high alert and extremely vigilant, and do not allow any unexpected problems to arise. Report any unusual activity immediately..."

After Huang Li finished speaking, she dismissed her companions and continued to remain hidden around Xieyue Mountain to keep watch.

She wasn't idle either; she patrolled the area around the valley several times.

"Someone?!"

She flew low over a certain area and noticed movement below.

Startled, she landed and examined the area closely.

It was a wild bear with thick fur rubbing against a tree.

"Hmph, you scared me."

The oriole impatiently killed the wild bear with a single swipe of its paw and flew away.

Not long after she left, a soft panting sound came from a cave.

Xu Xiaohou focused his mind and held his breath, concealing his aura. Fortunately, he hid in time, otherwise Huang Li would have discovered him just now.

"Another Qi Refining Level 9!"

Just now, an oriole flew over his head, and he clearly sensed its aura as a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator.

"Two at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and three at the eighth level of Qi Refining."

Are there others lurking in the shadows? Xu Xiaohou didn't know. He dared not linger where he was; it would be easy to be discovered here.

Although he is strong, the last time he was able to wipe out the demonic cultivator gang single-handedly, he defeated them one by one.

If he were surrounded, he had no chance of winning.

He hid in the same spot for a while, and after confirming that he hadn't been discovered, he quietly left.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Two days later, Xu Xiaohou discovered that there was another demonic cultivator named Sun Yan, who was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, working for these people.

Xieyue Mountain is located at the junction of three counties, and they have operations in the three nearby counties.

Xu Xiaohou knew that following the demonic cultivator group was too risky and he could easily be discovered, so he devised a plan: to infiltrate the group and act according to circumstances. If that didn't work, he would think of another way.

He first killed Sun Yan, who was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, thus reducing the number of members in the demonic cultivator group.

Two days later, Li Zhuo once again took five girls and drove a horse-drawn carriage to Xieyue Mountain.

Li Zhuo has captured a lot of people these days, and he comes almost every day, bringing at least four people and sometimes as many as six, earning him a lot of spirit stones.

His face beamed with a smile; these spirit stones were too easy to earn.

Just then, a faint light flew through the night and easily pierced his chest.

With Li Zhuo's strength at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he would have no chance of resisting Xu Xiaohou.

Li Zhuo fell off the carriage and onto the ground. The horses were startled and hurried forward in a panic.

"Xu~~"

Xu Xiaohou appeared, reined in the horses, and stopped the carriage.

He stepped forward and looted all the spirit stones from Li Zhuo's body, and even found a jade flute.

He removed Li Zhuo's head, tucked the spirit stone and jade flute into his pocket, and drove the carriage towards Xieyue Mountain.

The outer perimeter of Xieyue Mountain.

Xu Xiaohou reined in the carriage, took out a jade flute, and played it with his spiritual energy. This was his method of communication with the demonic cultivators, which Xu Xiaohou had previously observed in secret.

The sound of the flute carried far in the quiet night.

A moment later, three people flew in from the sky. There was Meng Jiaojiao, Huang Li, and another person at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Sun Yan's disappearance alerted them; they wondered if anyone had discovered their activities on Xieyue Mountain.

Meng Jiaojiao wore a black smock, Huang Li wore a gray smock, and all three of them completely covered their faces with their clothing.

"Who is that person?"

The three men realized that it was not Li Zhuo who had come, but another stranger, and they immediately felt murderous intent.

Upon seeing the three approaching, Xu Xiaohou took a few steps back as if startled, and threw Li Zhuo's head out of his hand: "I heard you are his superiors, using spirit stones to acquire girls? I can do that business too."

"You killed him?! You're asking for it!"

Huang Li didn't bother to ask why, and with a wave of her hand, spiritual energy swept towards Xu Xiaohou.

Xu Xiaohou unleashed a burst of qi from his acupoints, his body gleaming with a metallic sheen. He withstood the spiritual energy of a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator and retreated repeatedly, shouting, "What are you doing! I'm here to make a deal. If you don't want to do it, then don't!"

He turned to leave.

"stop!"

The oriole shouted sternly, clearly not intending to let him off the hook.

Xu Xiaohou seemed frightened and ran away without a second thought.

"Trying to leave? Stop him!"

Huang Li was surprised by the strength Xu Xiaohou displayed and gave a cold order.

Meng Jiaojiao and the eighth-level Qi Refining demonic cultivator beside her went forward to chase after Xu Xiaohou.

At this moment, Xu Xiaohou displayed the strength of a first-level Grandmaster of Martial Arts and the sixth level of Qi Refining.

With his Qi Refining Perfection and the power of his soul at the Qi Refining Limit, he could conceal part of his spiritual Qi realm with his internal strength and Qi energy, thus deceiving Huang Li.

After a few moves, Xu Xiaohou was defeated.

Meng Jiaojiao slapped his chest with her claw, sending him flying backward. A dark mark appeared on his chest, and the poisonous spiritual energy corroded his body.

"Please spare my life, my lords!"

Xu Xiaohou's lips were black, and he looked like he had been poisoned. He knew he was taking a risk, but it was the only way he could think of to infiltrate the enemy.

He knelt down and begged for mercy, saying, "I was bewitched. When I saw Li Zhuo making spirit stones, I killed him and stole them. I even forced him to tell me how he made them. The spirit stones are all here, you can have them all..."

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(End of this chapter)