Chapter 781 - 782: Infinite Mountain’s Wanted Order

These young disciples from the great powers were always quite wealthy, yet they never dared to be too conspicuous when traveling.

To their surprise, Ye Xuan paid them no mind, directly unleashing an astonishing pressure that intimidated them both.

A Tier Eight Martial Emperor this young was surely a heavenly prodigy from his sect, someone of illustrious status. Had they known Ye Xuan’s cultivation was so terrifying, the two would never have dared to open their mouths.

Ye Xuan withdrew his aura and left without a second glance.

The two guards kept their heads bowed, not daring to obstruct him in the slightest.

The streets of Purple Beauty City were bustling with carriages and people, a constant, weaving flow of traffic.

Ye Xuan stood quietly on the main street, gazing at the familiar roads and the virtually unchanged shops, his heart swelling with a thousand emotions.

A hundred years had passed, yet Purple Beauty City was almost exactly as he remembered it, without a single change.

But he was no longer the Carefree Soul Emperor of old, the one who had once commanded the winds and clouds of the Profound Domain, his name shaking the world.

Ye Xuan vividly recalled the two times he had visited Purple Beauty City in the past. On both occasions, the experts from the city’s various powers had come out to welcome him. The spectacle had been so grand that the entire city had been in an uproar, causing a massive sensation.

But now, just to enter the city, he was being shaken down by mere gate guards. A whirlwind of emotions churned within Ye Xuan.

A subtle feeling stirred in him, like a leaf in the autumn wind drifting onto the surface of a lake, sending out ripples.

’The Carefree Soul Emperor?’

Ye Xuan chuckled softly.

Having lived two lives, he was no longer as concerned with hollow prestige as he had been in his past life.

In this life, his talent was even more astonishing, more monstrous, than in his last. His goal now was the very peak of the Martial Dao.

’First, I’ll find a place to stay, then I’ll gather some information.’

With his decision made, Ye Xuan smiled faintly. He then headed toward the center of Purple Beauty City with practiced ease, melting into the bustling crowd.

「Profound Realm Eighth Heaven.」

A range of towering mountains stretched for tens of thousands of miles. Their emerald peaks resembled a colossal dragon lying coiled upon a land dense with Profound Qi, poised to soar into the sky.

At the heart of this sprawling range stood a single peak that pierced the clouds. It towered myriad fathoms into the sky, a sharp sword thrust between the heavens and the earth of this Eighth Heaven. Wreathed in ethereal mist, it looked like a paradise on earth.

Atop this majestic mountain stood a forest of palaces with red walls and jade-green tiles, a magnificent and imposing sight. Even from a distance, one could feel an endlessly domineering pressure washing over them, striking awe into their hearts.

This was the headquarters of Infinite Mountain, one of the continent’s Seven Great Sects.

At that moment, in a palace on the mountainside of Infinite Mountain, an imposing elder with a domineering gaze shot to his feet, his expression tinged with surprise.

"What did you say? One of our Infinite Mountain disciples saw my grandson, Qi Cheng, in that mysterious land in Celestial Yin Valley? And that Profound Mystery Sect disciple, Xuan Ye? Are you certain you heard correctly?"

His voice boomed like thunder, his tone laced with astonishment and disbelief.

"Reporting to Elder Qi Tuo, that is correct. According to the disciple’s report, one of them was indeed Young Master Qi Cheng. As for the other, the disciple had seen the image you distributed, Elder, and is eighty percent certain it was the student from Gale Light Academy, Xuan Ye," a middle-aged man reported respectfully from below.

"Those little brats! So they actually made it to the Profound Domain. It seems the rest of those Gale Light Academy people are here as well. No wonder I searched the Dream Realm Plain for so long, even turning places like the bordering Cyan Splendor Domain upside down, and couldn’t find a single trace of them. Damnation!"

A murderous light flared in Qi Tuo’s eyes, along with a hint of savage excitement.

He recalled how he had followed a secret order from the sect to seize control of Gale Light Academy in the Dream Realm Plain. To avoid sanctions from the Profound Domain, he had used the Profound Mystery Sect to infiltrate it from the shadows, eventually bringing the entire Dream Realm Plain under his control.

But at the last moment, the main culprits from Gale Light Academy had managed to escape their grasp. Wen Yanhui, an elder of his Infinite Mountain, had even fallen in the process. And his own grandson, Qi Cheng, had his body stolen by some mysterious member of the Soul-devouring Race—an event even the descent of his own Soul Thought avatar couldn’t prevent.

Even more deplorably, after taking control of Gale Light Academy, he found its so-called forbidden ground, but it was sealed by the True Dragon Seal. His inability to open it led to a severe punishment from the sect’s high command.

The incident had been a thorn in his side ever since.

For the past two years, he had scoured the lands for the Gale Light Academy fugitives and his grandson, Qi Cheng, but to no avail.

He never imagined that an Infinite Mountain disciple would spot his grandson, Qi Cheng, in the very mysterious land that had recently caused such a stir in the Profound Domain.

As for that Xuan Ye, his Infinite Mountain disciples had only seen a likeness of him and could be mistaken. But Qi Cheng was his grandson, a seed disciple of Infinite Mountain. He trusted that his subordinates would never misidentify him.

"Elder Qi Tuo, what are your orders?" the middle-aged Martial Emperor inquired.

Qi Tuo narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Relay my orders immediately. Mobilize all Infinite Mountain disciples within the Profound Realm Third Heaven to search for any trace of the people from Gale Light Academy. Also, issue a bounty to the various powers in the Third Heaven in my name. Anyone who helps capture these two will be handsomely rewarded by Infinite Mountain."

"Yes, sir." The middle-aged Martial Emperor nodded, then added with a frown, "Elder, if we do this, won’t we risk exposing Infinite Mountain’s operations in the Dream Realm Plain?"

Qi Tuo said faintly, "When you issue the notice to the other powers, just ask for information on my grandson, Qi Cheng, and that Xuan Ye. The order to hunt the rest of the Gale Light Academy members is to be circulated only among our own disciples."

"Understood."

"Make the preparations. I am going to the Profound Realm Third Heaven myself. I want to see just who dared to steal my grandson’s body."

An icy, murderous light flared in Qi Tuo’s eyes.

’In truth, his more urgent desire was to see if Qi Cheng’s life could still be saved. Qi Tuo had only one grandson. Though his body had been possessed by that mysterious person from the Soul-devouring Race, what shocked Qi Tuo was that Qi Cheng’s life tablet at Infinite Mountain had never shattered.’

This couldn’t help but give him a glimmer of hope.

Barely half an incense stick’s time after Qi Tuo gave the command, a series of secret orders were quietly dispatched through various channels to the major powers of the Profound Realm Third Heaven.

As one of the larger powers in the Profound Realm Third Heaven, Purple Beauty City received Infinite Mountain’s bounty notice within a mere hour.

The great powers of Purple Beauty City were immediately thrown into a stir.

A bounty issued by the illustrious Infinite Mountain, one of the continent’s Seven Great Sects—for the second-tier powers of the Profound Realm Third Heaven, this was an excellent opportunity to curry favor. What’s more, the notice explicitly stated that any power that helped capture the two individuals would be greatly rewarded.

The various powers were instantly tempted.

Unfortunately, the opening of the mysterious land had already thrown the Profound Realm Third Heaven into turmoil. The major powers in Purple Beauty City had their hands full with their own affairs, so for the moment, they couldn’t attend to Infinite Mountain’s bounty.

Otherwise, they would have already dispatched their people to hunt down Ye Xuan and Zhan Shang. As it was, all they could do was pass the bounty notice down to their own disciples and leave it at that.

Even so, the likenesses of Ye Xuan and Zhan Shang quickly circulated among the prominent experts of Purple Beauty City.

In an inn at the center of Purple Beauty City, a group of experts swiftly assembled.

"Elder Li."

"Elder Luo."

"Elder Gu."

The experts gathered one by one until more than twenty people were assembled in the same room.

These were all the Infinite Mountain experts and disciples currently in the vicinity of Purple Beauty City. After receiving Qi Tuo’s order, they had quickly contacted one another and convened.

The three with the highest cultivation levels, their auras deep and domineering, were clearly all experts at the Tier Eight Triple Peak.

In addition, there were four Tier Eight Second Layer Martial Emperors and seven Tier Eight First Layer Martial Emperors. The remaining thirteen were all Tier Seven Martial Kings, the weakest of whom was still at the Tier Seven Second Layer.

"I trust you’ve all seen Elder Qi Tuo’s order?"

One of the three Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperors—a middle-aged man in a purple-black martial robe with a long, horsey face—was the first to speak, his voice deep.

He stood before them, exuding a terrifying pressure. He was like a dormant volcano, giving off a sense of immense, suppressed power.

"We have, Elder Gu," the many Infinite Mountain Martial Artists below replied in unison.

This man was Gu Fei, a core elder of Infinite Mountain and one of the three most powerful cultivators present.

In Infinite Mountain, any Tier Eight Martial Emperor could become an elder. However, those at the First and Second Layers were merely ordinary elders; only those at the Tier Eight Third Layer were considered core elders.

Ordinary elders belonged to the middle ranks of Infinite Mountain, while core elders were somewhere between the middle and upper ranks. The true upper echelon consisted of Martial Emperor patriarchs like Qi Tuo.

Infinite Mountain had naturally received news about the opening of the mysterious land. However, because Holy City had intervened, the other great powers had no intention of getting involved directly. Still, they sent some of their own experts to see if they could get a piece of the pie.

The ones dispatched by Infinite Mountain were Gu Fei and his two companions.

They had only been in Purple Beauty City for a few days when they received the order from Qi Tuo. Gu Fei and the other two core elders immediately summoned all the Infinite Mountain Martial Emperors and disciples who were already in the area.

He glanced at the crowd and said coolly, "The three of us originally came here because we heard that many treasures had emerged from the mysterious land, and we planned to find a way to acquire them here in Purple Beauty City. We did not, however, expect to receive an order from Elder Qi Tuo."

"According to Elder Qi Tuo’s directive, the individuals on the bounty notice are connected to a crucial operation of our sect, so there is no room for error. From this moment on, all of you will follow my orders, as well as those of Elder Li and Elder Luo. If anyone has any objections, speak now."

The room fell silent. Naturally, no one had any objections.

"Good." Gu Fei nodded. "Since Young Master Qi Cheng and the one called Xuan Ye were seen in the mysterious land, there is a greater than fifty percent chance they will appear in Purple Beauty City, provided they didn’t perish there. Therefore, from now on, you will all split into four groups and guard the four main gates of Purple Beauty City. Report to us immediately if you discover any suspicious individuals."