Chapter 3993: Tracking (No More Today)

At Star Peak, a manor filled with the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers, Cao Yuanxing, Cao Jingxia, and Cao Yufeng sat in a teal stone pavilion, enjoying tea and chatting idly.

Cao Yuanxing took out a golden celestial mirror and cast a spell. Cao Xingdian appeared on the mirror's surface, his expression solemn, and said, "Ancestor Yuanxing, at an underground auction, a Golden Immortal cultivator presented twenty-two purified Five-Color Chaos Beast crystal cores of the Golden Immortal stage."

"What? Purified Five-Color Chaos Beast crystal cores of the Golden Immortal stage?" Cao Yuanxing exclaimed in surprise.

Cao Jingxia and Cao Yufeng were wide-eyed with shock, as it was extremely difficult for the Cao family to purify Five-Color Chaos Beast crystal cores of the Golden Immortal stage.

The higher the rank of the Chaos Beast, the greater the difficulty of purifying its crystal core, the longer it takes, and the higher the cost.

The Cao family could currently purify Chaos Beast crystal cores up to the Golden Immortal stage, which was already quite impressive. Emerging forces like the Ye family might not even possess methods for purifying Chaos Beast crystal cores. Even if they had the methods, purifying them would not be easy, much like the Enlightenment Secret Art, where simply gathering the materials is exceedingly difficult, even with the secret art itself.

Even with Grand Unity Golden Immortals overseeing them, different forces varied in their ability to purify Chaos Beast crystal cores. The Cao family was considered exceptionally skilled in this regard, which was one reason they ranked as the foremost power in the Scarlet Sun Sea. Even the Five Immortal Sects, despite also having Grand Unity Golden Immortals, were far inferior to the Cao family in crystal core purification.

And now, someone had actually presented purified crystal cores for trade. The last time the Myriad Immortal Chamber of Commerce held an auction, someone also offered purified crystal cores, but those were only from True Immortal stage Chaos Beasts.

"Do you know their identity?" Cao Yuanxing pressed.

"I don't know," Cao Xingdian replied. "Not long ago, two Golden Immortal cultivators asked the guards to open the city gates and let them leave. I'm not sure if it was these two."

"By the way," Cao Yuanxing asked, recalling something, "Are the Azure Lotus Immortal Couple still in Yunlang City?"

"No, they are not," Cao Xingdian replied. "They left over half a month ago. I saw them with my own eyes; they even greeted me! When they returned to Nine Immortal City, they also met with Ancestor Yuzhen and chatted for a bit."

"If purified Golden Immortal stage Chaos Beast crystal cores appear again, notify me immediately," Cao Yuanxing instructed. "As for those two Golden Immortal cultivators who left Yunlang City, ignore them."

Cultivators wishing to enter Yunlang City from the wilderness needed permission from the Cao family's high-ranking members. However, if they teleported from one of the subordinate 'Xuan' cities, no such permission was required.

Yunlang City administered seventy-two Xuan cities, harboring over a thousand Golden Immortal cultivators, not including transient Golden Immortals. Tracing them would be exceedingly difficult. Any Golden Immortal cultivator capable of producing twenty-two purified five-color crystal cores was certainly not ordinary.

Cao Yuanxing, as a core disciple of the Cao family, only possessed three purified five-color crystal cores himself. This was the result of many years of accumulation.

"Yes, Ancestor Yuanxing," Cao Xingdian acknowledged.

Cao Xingdian agreed, and the celestial mirror's surface dimmed.

"I recall that over a hundred thousand years ago, Celestial Mechanism City appeared in the White Horse Mountain Range," Cao Jingxia speculated. "Could these purified crystal cores have been found there?"

"Perhaps," Cao Yuanxing mused. "The immortal cultivation world never lacks those with great fortuitous encounters. Ten million years ago, someone even presented purified Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage Chaos Beast crystal cores, rumored to have been obtained from the Qiankun Ruins."

Outside Yunlang City, two streaks of light swiftly swept across the sky. After a flicker, they landed on a low earthen slope.

The light receded, revealing an ordinary-looking blue-robed youth and a gracefully proportioned young woman in a blue dress. They were none other than Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, whose appearances had been altered.

Wang Changsheng's gaze was grim, his face filled with killing intent.

"Someone is following us, two Golden Immortal cultivators," Wang Changsheng said, frowning. "It seems the item I exchanged for was tampered with."

"Let's find a place to finish them off," Wang Ruyan said calmly, as if it were a trivial matter. "If they wish to die, then we shall send them on their way."

Wang Changsheng nodded, formed a hand seal, and a brilliant yellow light erupted from his body, enveloping them. They burrowed into the ground and departed.

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, a black streak of light appeared in the distant sky, moving exceptionally fast.

The light receded, revealing a black, gleaming flying boat. A corpulent old man in a black robe and a well-endowed young woman in a purple dress stood on the black flying boat.

The black-robed old man exuded an overwhelming dark aura and possessed cultivation at the mid-Golden Immortal stage. The purple-dressed young woman was only at the early Golden Immortal stage.

"Did they discover us? Why did they suddenly burrow into the ground and leave?" the purple-dressed young woman asked, puzzled.

"Perhaps!" the black-robed old man sneered. "I tampered with the Golden Soul Stone; he surely couldn't have detected it. To be safe, let's speed up. Don't let them escape. With so many purified crystal cores, they would have been fine if they stayed in Yunlang City. But they dared to leave Yunlang City; do they think we won't find them just because they changed their appearance?"

He flipped his right hand, and with a flash of black light, a black, gleaming divination plate appeared in his hand. The plate had a golden pointer. He cast a spell into it, and the golden pointer spun rapidly before finally pointing southwest.

The black-robed old man formed a hand seal, and the black flying boat sped towards the southwest, disappearing into the horizon.

Three days later, the black flying boat appeared above a continuous mountain range. The black-robed old man and the purple-dressed young woman had differing expressions.

"They're down there!" the purple-dressed young woman exclaimed, pointing to a small valley.

The purple-dressed young woman raised her right hand, and a yellow, gleaming long nail shot out, flying straight towards the ground.

The black-robed old man conjured a black, gleaming orb. He cast a spell into it, and the black orb spewed forth countless black flames. The black flames surged and swirled, transforming into a colossal black python. It spat out a torrent of black fire, which rushed towards the small valley.

The purple-dressed young woman conjured a purple, gleaming seal. She cast a spell into it, and the purple seal instantly expanded, smashing down towards the small valley.

The yellow long nail plunged into the ground, and the earth glowed with a dazzling yellow light, instantly turning ash-gray.

With a thunderous roar, the entire valley was engulfed in a sea of black flames. The rock walls melted instantly.

The colossal purple seal crashed into the valley, causing the ground to quake and dust to billow.

The black-robed old man and the purple-dressed young woman exchanged glances, their faces filled with disbelief.

Ripples spread through the void above their heads. A massive void appeared, followed by a tearing sound, as a heaven-reaching giant fist shot out from it, heading straight for the two of them.

"Spatial divine ability! Be careful!" the black-robed old man exclaimed in alarm. He hastily conjured a black, gleaming shield, positioning it in front of himself, and also summoned a set of low-grade Chaos armor, donning it.

Even a mid-grade immortal artifact wouldn't easily break through the defenses of another mid-grade immortal artifact and a set of low-grade Chaos armor! What's more, this was merely a law-based attack.

The purple-dressed young woman flicked her sleeve, and nine purple, gleaming orbs flew out. After circling her once, they transformed into a dense purple light barrier, shielding her entire body. Simultaneously, she conjured two purple, gleaming flying knives, slashing towards the giant fist.