Chapter 1248: Locking Down the Suspect

Northern Border, Fire Crow Market.

In a charming small courtyard, a three-story red pavilion stood. Inside one of its guest rooms, Wang Qingjun sat cross-legged on a red meditation mat, his eyes closed. Clusters of crimson flames drifted in the air, resembling scattered stars.

After a while, these crimson flames seemed to be guided by something, rapidly spinning and converging into a giant, wheel-sized fireball that radiated immense heat.

Wang Qingjun suddenly opened his eyes, a red glow shooting from them. The giant fireball struck the wall.

Boom!

The wall glowed with a dazzling red light but remained undamaged, as the giant fireball dissipated into nothing.

“Still at the fourth stage of Core Formation, it seems I’ve hit a bottleneck.”

Wang Qingjun muttered to himself, his brow furrowed. He had been in the Northern Border Immortal Cultivation World for twenty years, spending most of his time cultivating at his residence, with Wang Yingying managing the business affairs.

In addition to his family's support, Wang Mingren and Ximen Feng had also taken good care of him; otherwise, he wouldn't have cultivated to the fourth stage of Core Formation so quickly. However, he had now encountered a bottleneck, a common occurrence in the cultivation world, and blindly arduous cultivation would not suffice.

Wang Qingjun stood up and walked out. Just as he left his residence, he sensed something, took out a palm-sized red Dharma disk, and cast a spell. A respectful male voice suddenly sounded: “Senior Liu, Lady Qianyue was one of the culprits who annihilated the Jiang family. Should we continue investigating?”

“No, that’s enough. You’ve done very well. I will send someone to contact you after a while.”

Wang Qingjun said coldly. He bore a heavy responsibility in the Northern Border Immortal Cultivation World: to gather intelligence on the whereabouts of high-ranking cultivators from the Nine Nether Sect.

Wang Qingjun was very cautious in his operations. He bought off some down-and-out rogue cultivators and used them to develop spies to gather information on the Nine Nether Sect’s high-ranking cultivators. There were thirty-five Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators who reported directly to him, and these thirty-five cultivators also had subordinates. All communications were single-line, always done via communication disks. In return, he would provide them with a reward each time they obtained information.

Initially, these Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators only gathered other intelligence. After Wang Qingjun had 'fed' them enough to gain their trust, he then had them investigate the Nine Nether Sect. This way, even if the Nine Nether Sect discovered them, they wouldn’t be able to ascertain Wang Qingjun’s true intentions or background.

“Understood, Senior Liu.”

Putting away the communication disk, Wang Qingjun walked out of the courtyard. He hadn't gone far when two men and two women approached him.

“Twelfth Brother, long time no see.”

A young woman in a green dress with ordinary features said with a warm smile.

Wang Qingjun smiled and invited the four of them into his residence.

The features of the four blurred, changing into the appearances of Wang Changsheng, Wang Ruyan, Wang Qingling, and Wang Qiuming.

Assuming the Nine Nether Sect truly annihilated the Wang family’s three strongholds, and given that the Immortal Couple of the Green Lotus was famous throughout the South Sea after the battle there, the Nine Nether Sect would surely know about them. For caution, as soon as they entered the Northern Border Immortal Cultivation World, Wang Changsheng and the other three changed their appearances to avoid being discovered by the Nine Nether Sect.

“Ninth Uncle, Ninth Aunt, Tenth Sister, Qiuming, why are you here?”

Seeing Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, Wang Qingjun was somewhat surprised. If they were here, wouldn't Green Lotus Island be left unguarded?

“We came to the Northern Border Immortal Cultivation World this time to investigate the truth. Don’t worry, we’ve made arrangements; Green Lotus Island is guarded by Nascent Soul cultivators. Qingjun, you’ve been in the Northern Border Immortal Cultivation World for many years. How much do you know about the Nine Nether Sect’s high-ranking members?”

Wang Changsheng’s expression was solemn. They had visited the Taiyi Immortal Sect, inquired about the culprits from Zhang Zhanfeng, and obtained some clues.

When the Wang family’s three strongholds were attacked, several other forces in the Eastern Wasteland also suffered attacks. These forces shared a common characteristic: a sudden improvement in the Dao of formations, and they sold formation flags and arrays. From this, it was highly probable that the culprits were from the Nine Nether Sect, as Ye Lin was a Formation Master.

The culprits’ modus operandi also closely resembled that of the Nine Nether Sect. Any force that opposed the Nine Nether Sect met a grim end. Centuries ago, the Nine Nether Sect experienced internal strife, and external forces seized the opportunity to unite and attack it. However, Shangguan Wei led her disciples to repel the enemy’s assault, and afterwards, multiple forces that participated in the attack were annihilated.

After centuries of recuperation, the Nine Nether Sect had slowly recovered its vitality, boasting as many as twelve publicly known Nascent Soul cultivators.

The culprits appeared and vanished without a trace, even fabricating the illusion of murder and treasure-grabbing. Clearly, they did not want their identities discovered. This made finding them extremely difficult.

The Nine Nether Sect had tens of thousands of disciples, including sixty to seventy Core Formation cultivators. Identifying the Nine Nether Sect disciples involved in the attack on the Wang family was truly no easy task.

Wang Qingjun took out a red jade slip and handed it to Wang Changsheng, saying, “Ninth Uncle, your nephew has spent considerable effort investigating this matter over the years. Currently, there are some leads: seventeen Core Formation cultivators are suspects, with Lady Qianyue, True Monarch Lihuo, and True Monarch Jinya having significant suspicion. As for Nascent Soul cultivators, True Monarch Heiyan and True Monarch Zihuo should be privy to information, as they are Shangguan Wei’s left and right arms. However, their strength is not to be underestimated.”

Wang Changsheng scanned it with his divine sense, his brows slightly furrowed, then handed the jade slip to Wang Ruyan.

“Hmph, we’ll investigate them one by one, starting with Lady Qianyue. No Nine Nether Sect cultivator with our Wang family’s blood on their hands will be spared.”

Wang Qingling’s face was filled with a chilling murderous aura.

Wang Ruyan’s willow-like brows furrowed. She said, “Lady Qianyue’s movements are elusive, making it impossible to ascertain her whereabouts. True Monarch Jinya, however, enjoys beast-fighting. We could set a trap to capture him.”

“In half a year, Black Crow Valley will host a Treasure Appraisal Convention. Each convention traditionally includes beast-fighting, and True Monarch Jinya became famous for his beast-fighting there. We can make our move in Black Crow Valley.”

“To lure him out, we’ll need a skilled beast tamer. Qingling, I’ll leave this matter to you.”

According to Wang Qingjun’s intelligence, True Monarch Jinya gained fame through beast-fighting and rarely missed the Treasure Appraisal Convention. Wang Qingling would need to put on a noticeable performance to attract True Monarch Jinya’s attention and create an opportunity to act against him.

Wang Qingling nodded. “Neither Little White nor the Earth Dragonworm can be used, or my identity will be exposed. I’ll need to capture two third-tier spirit beasts; they can also be used during combat.”

She couldn’t use the Ice Wind Flood Dragon or the Earth Dragonworm. The Black Sparrow had only recently advanced to the third tier, so it wouldn’t be much help in a fight. It would be best to capture and tame a few third-tier demonic beasts to disguise her identity.

“The Golden Phoenix Mountain Range is rich in demonic beast resources, and third-tier demonic beasts often appear there. You could try your luck there.”

Wang Qingjun suggested.

“There’s no rush for that now; we need to plan this carefully. By the way, Qingjun, where does Uncle Mingren live? We should go visit them.”

Wang Mingren had a wide circle of acquaintances, and his help would make things much easier.

Wang Qingjun didn’t hide anything and truthfully informed them.

“Qingjun, please arrange accommodations for us. We’ll be staying in Fire Crow Market for a few days. Madam, let’s go visit Uncle Mingren.”

Wang Changsheng gave an instruction, then left with Wang Ruyan to visit Wang Mingren’s residence.