Chapter 1206: Capture

In a private room of a tavern on the outskirts of Qingyuan City, several people sat, their eyes occasionally glancing at a nearby mansion.

"Teacher Zhang, this is Chen Zhe's residence..."

Teacher Wu transmitted his voice discreetly.

As soon as it got dark, they arrived, having made prior arrangements with the Master Teacher Pavilion, which ensured they didn't attract any attention.

"Mmm!"

His spiritual perception spread out, bringing the entire nearby mansion into his view.

Other people's spiritual perception, even Teacher Wu's, could only extend about 400 meters, but Zhang Xuan's covered a direct range of 2500 meters. He could sense any disturbance in the surroundings in advance, so there was no need to hide inside Chen Zhe's house.

"This mansion is quite luxurious and sturdy!"

Zhang Xuan remarked after a quick scan.

In Zhang Xuan's eyes, Chen Zhe wasn't famous and kept a low profile. However, he was actually a genuine peak six-star master teacher and a direct disciple of the Deputy Pavilion Master. His status was quite noble throughout the imperial capital.

Therefore, his mansion was filled with various densely arranged arrays, some even reaching the seven-star level. Although its decor was far inferior to that of Prince Zhong's residence, it was still much more formidable than that of ordinary families.

There were towers every five steps, pavilions every ten, with winding corridors and soaring eaves.

It was unclear what method Teacher Wu used, but the entire mansion remained remarkably calm, without any significant commotion resulting from Chen Zhe's death.

"Teacher Zhang, do we need to prepare anything in advance?"

Teacher Wu pondered for a moment and said, "To my knowledge, Tian Qing also seems to possess a mid-tier Saint artifact. Its grade might not be as high as the Golden Origin Cauldron, but it complements his strength perfectly, allowing him to display extremely formidable combat power!"

"No need for advance preparations," Zhang Xuan replied. "If we prepare too much, and the other party discovers us and escapes, we won't have time to deal with them!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

The best way to prepare in advance would be to set up various arrays and ambush more master teachers in the opponent's mansion. However, that would create too much commotion, and if the fish didn't bite, it would only cause more trouble.

"Then..." Teacher Wu sounded a bit worried.

"No need to worry," Zhang Xuan assured him. "Even if his strength is great, as long as he doesn't surpass Pavilion Master Gou, we'll be fine defending ourselves. If the commotion gets too big, we can always notify the Combat Master Hall members to come..."

Zhang Xuan said.

Zhang Xuan had fought against Tian Qing before and found him to be no match. Even if he possessed powerful artifacts, Zhang Xuan and his group could still defend themselves without any problem. If worst came to worst, they could ask Pavilion Master Xing to bring people over. If the elites of the Combat Master Hall were dispatched, even a true Soul Detachment realm expert would not be able to escape death here.

"That's true!"

Teacher Wu nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.

Knowing that a major battle might occur, everyone observed their surroundings while cultivating, each adjusting their condition to its peak.

After waiting for an unknown period, as the moon began to set in the west, Zhang Xuan suddenly stood up and said, "He's here!"

Teacher Wu and the others were startled.

Their eyes and spiritual perception detected nothing; they couldn't find a single person. What was here?

"He's already inside the mansion..." Seeing their confusion, Zhang Xuan shook his head. "He came from underground!"

"Underground?"

Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

Spiritual perception is difficult to penetrate underground; how could he discover that?

"The other party was extremely careful," Zhang Xuan explained. "He secretly infiltrated from the adjacent mansion, using some secret technique to burrow underground. Although his movements were subtle, I detected his presence in advance. Now, we'll go catch him like a turtle in a jar!"

Zhang Xuan chuckled softly.

This method of burrowing underground was a signature technique of King Earthleaf, one of the Ten Kings of Qingtian, which Zhang Xuan had seen once before at the Poison Hall in Jingyuan City.

Because he had seen it before, when his spiritual perception spread out, he also quietly observed the underground situation and coincidentally witnessed this scene.

"Good!"

Everyone stood up and flew out the window, heading straight for the mansion. Upon reaching the central courtyard, Zhang Xuan gestured for everyone to quietly position themselves around the perimeter. He then walked to a spot, flicked his wrist, and several array flags were inserted into the ground.

He stomped his foot on the ground, his eyebrows raised, and commanded, "Come out!"

The ground immediately shook, and a figure was forcibly pulled straight out from underground, falling heavily onto the ground.

The person was clad in black, hidden in the darkness, making it hard to see clearly. However, everyone present possessed Nascent Spirit realm strength and astonishing eyesight, and immediately recognized his face.

"Tian Qing, it really is you..."

Teacher Wu's expression darkened. "Come with us!"

As he finished speaking, he made a grabbing motion with his large hand, and a powerful force immediately pressed down, as if to tear the person apart.

Seemingly not expecting an ambush here, Tian Qing's pupils contracted. He blocked the attack with both arms, his body swayed, and he rapidly darted forward.

"Escape? Can you escape?"

With a soft chuckle, Zhang Jiuxiao pointed a finger, and a sword light whistled down from the sky.

It was precisely his mid-tier Saint artifact longsword.

After listening to Zhang Xuan's lessons, this sword, though not yet reaching the Half-Step Soul Detachment realm, had become even more powerful. Coupled with Zhang Jiuxiao's cultivation, the sword energy shone brilliantly, traversing tens of meters and reaching Tian Qing in the blink of an eye.

His expression darkened, and Tian Qing didn't hesitate. He flipped his palm, and a longsword appeared, meeting the incoming attack.

*Clang, clang, clang!*

The sword lights clashed continuously dozens of times in the air, forcing Zhang Jiuxiao to retreat repeatedly.

Even though his strength was formidable, the opponent was a full major realm higher than him. In a clash of weapons of the same grade, he was still slightly inferior in terms of power.

Blocking Teacher Wu and repelling Zhang Jiuxiao happened in a flash. Tian Qing had barely leaped half a meter high when he felt several fierce forces tearing at him from all directions.

They were precisely the elders who had come from the Master Teacher Pavilion.

These individuals were all peak Nascent Spirit realm experts. Knowing the formidable strength of the person before them, they dared not hold back at all. They all drew their weapons, and sword energy spread in all directions, forming a wall that stretched across the sky above them.

If he continued to jump, he would certainly be sliced in half.

His expression turned grim. Knowing there was no way out above, Tian Qing swung his longsword, using the momentum to immediately descend. Just as he steadied himself, Teacher Wu and Zhang Jiuxiao's attacks swept over him once more.

As soon as they arrived, Zhang Xuan made arrangements: Teacher Wu and Zhang Jiuxiao, having the strongest offensive power, would lead the attack, while the remaining four would provide cover from the side, forming an inescapable net to prevent him from escaping.

Seeing that Tian Qing was no match for the combined attacks, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. The patterns in his eyes emerged as he looked around.

Since the opponent risked coming here, there must be a secret here that they considered more important than their lives.

This was Chen Zhe's back garden, where few people usually came. Moreover, as soon as the battle began, the surroundings were sealed, so even fewer people would know what was happening.

After looking around, he suddenly frowned.

He took a few steps to approach several large trees in the courtyard.

They were Saint realm fragrant retention trees, capable of bearing fragrant retention fruits.

Although these were Saint realm medicinal materials, they had no effect on improving cultivation. Their only use was that consuming one would allow a fragrance to linger within the body for a year, making them favored by noble ladies and young girls.

He didn't expect Chen Zhe's back garden to have planted a total of seven such trees. Even before he got close, a rich aroma rushed into his nostrils, making him feel somewhat intoxicated.

It had to be said that the scent of the fragrant retention fruit was indeed pleasant. If used by a woman, it could truly enchant men to the point of being utterly captivated and unable to extricate themselves.

However, Zhang Xuan wasn't specifically looking at these Saint herbs. Instead, he measured a circle on the ground with his feet.

"A Seven-Star Breath-Locking Array," Zhang Xuan murmured, "using Saint realm medicinal materials instead of array flags to seal breath and hide. This method is indeed excellent!"

Zhang Xuan nodded inwardly.

As a peak seven-star formation master, to others, these appeared to be just a few trees, but he easily discerned that it was a special array.

Like the breath-locking array he had set up previously, it could seal one's aura. Although simple, by utilizing the power of the Saint realm fragrant retention trees, it had reached the peak seven-star level. Coupled with the concealment of other surrounding arrays, if one didn't observe carefully, even he wouldn't have noticed it.

It was only when he used his Eye of Insight and detected spiritual energy fluctuations here that he was able to deduce it.

"A six-star master teacher setting up a peak seven-star breath-locking grand array at home..." Zhang Xuan mused. "I'd like to see what's hidden beneath this!"

He took two more steps and stomped his foot again.

*Whoosh!*

The ground immediately opened up, revealing a stone door.

He gently pressed his palm down, erasing the runes carved on the door, then lifted his foot and stepped inside.

Behind the stone door was a series of extraordinarily dark stairs extending downward, carved from an unknown material. Even under the illumination of night-glowing pearls, it was somewhat difficult to see clearly.

With his Eye of Insight activated, it became much clearer.

"It's Starlight Stone..."

Zhang Xuan frowned.

After reading all the books from the Appraiser Guild and the Master Teacher Pavilion, he had learned a great deal about some peculiar ores on the continent.

Starlight Stone was a particularly strange stone that could absorb light, making an area incredibly dark, to the point where one couldn't see anything.

Of course, with special methods, it could also emit the absorbed light, illuminating the surroundings like stars.

This was why it received its name.

The one before him was pitch black, clearly refined using special methods so it could only absorb light and not emit it.

However, this had little effect on Zhang Xuan, and he slowly walked downward.

After walking about seventy to eighty meters, he reached a solid ground. He looked up and couldn't help but be startled.

It was a spacious underground palace.

In the center was a massive hole leading to the earth's core, where countless molten lavas were confined within a grand array, releasing enormous energy.

"This array... I'm afraid it must be an eight-star level!"

The array before him, constructed from special materials, was of such high grade that it was no weaker than those in Qiuwu Palace. It had probably already reached the eight-star level.

The back garden of a six-star master teacher not only contained a peak seven-star breath-concealing array, but the underground palace beneath it also contained an eight-star array...

It would be a lie to say it wasn't strange.

"What is this providing power for..."

This array gathered the power of the earth's core lava to activate certain things.

He looked up along the place where the array's energy converged, and Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted. "This is... this is..."