The Quest for Immortality

The Qian family had yet to break open the cave entrance, but the spirit stones in the spirit mine had already been completely extracted.

They had been thoroughly cleaned out.

Elder Yu checked twice himself, scanned it twice with his divine sense, and even had Mo Hua use his divine sense to check again to ensure no spirit stones were left behind. Only then did he feel at ease.

”Elder, are we running away now?” Mo Hua asked eagerly.

He had been in the spirit mine for a long time, hadn’t been home for a while, and had run out of meat in his storage bag. The wine he had been reluctant to drink was also gone.

Elder Yu took another look around the spirit mine, then decisively waved his hand and said, ”Retreat!”

Nearly a thousand demon hunters, laden with storage bags and carrying storage boxes in pairs, began to leave through another excavated tunnel.

These storage bags and boxes had all been prepared by Elder Yu in advance.

The storage bags used during the Qi cultivation stage were crudely made, convenient to carry but with limited space inside.

The storage boxes were square and had much larger space inside, but were inconvenient to carry, typically used for transporting large items.

The spirit mine was small, but the extracted spirit stones were not few. Elder Yu had gathered all the storage bags and boxes he could find to transport all the spirit stones.

Mo Hua followed behind his father, Mo Shan, moving forward step by step with the team of demon hunters, eventually leaving the tunnel.

The exit of the tunnel was well hidden, carefully selected by Elder Yu using Mo Hua’s detailed map.

Without Mo Hua’s map, Elder Yu might not have found this location.

Outside the tunnel was the outer area of Dahei Mountain.

Mo Hua immediately felt a sense of familiarity.

The familiar peaks, dense forests, the mist mixed with thin miasma, the soft soil and stones underfoot, the faint earthy scent, the mountain wind brushing past his cheeks, and the sounds of demonic beasts in the mountains.

All of this lifted Mo Hua’s spirits, instantly dispelling the gloom of the mine.

Elder Yu, still not completely at ease, immediately said upon exiting the tunnel, ”Hurry up! We need to get back quickly. If the Qian family catches up, it’ll be troublesome!”

The demon hunters began to speed up, aiming to leave Dahei Mountain and return to Tongxian City before the Qian family could catch up.

Once they reached Tongxian City, the Qian family wouldn’t dare act rashly.

And the demon hunters would have ten years of worry-free days!

On the other side, Qian Hong also sensed something was wrong.

For several days, Elder Yu hadn’t scolded him.

Qian Hong leaped to the cave entrance where Elder Yu had appeared before, took a few steps forward, and found the entrance sealed.

Qian Hong’s heart grew cold.

Why seal the entrance?

Because they had already finished mining the spirit stones and run away!

Yu Changlin, that old rascal, no longer needed to waste words here!

Qian Hong could no longer remain calm. He shouted urgently, ”Quick! Dig quickly! The demon hunters have already escaped!”

Finding the tunnel dug by Yu Changlin in Dahei Mountain was impossible. The Qian family was far less familiar with Dahei Mountain than the demon hunters who lived off the mountain.

The only option now was to break through the entrance and find the escape tunnel inside.

The Qian family’s cultivators labored to chisel through the stone wall, again and again.

Each time they opened a bit, the array would repair a bit.

Qian Hong was so anxious that he grew more furious at the array master who had set the formations!

One array would have sufficed, but they had laid three inside and out!

What shamelessness!

Finally, Qian Hong could bear it no longer and called for Qian Zhongxuan. The two Foundation Building stage cultivators combined their efforts, their spirit power surging, forcibly breaking the array and dismantling the stone wall at the entrance.

Even so, it took nearly half an hour.

Qian Hong rushed into the mine, scanning with his divine sense, but there wasn’t a trace of the demon hunters!

Not to mention the demon hunters, there wasn’t a single spirit stone in sight.

This was a spirit mine, and it had been cleaned out completely!

Not a single spirit stone remained!

Qian Hong cursed Yu Changlin in his heart.

How stingy must one be to mine a spirit mine so thoroughly, leaving not even a morsel like a bone gnawed clean by a dog?

A disciple of the Qian family came to report, ”Patriarch, we’ve found the tunnel.”

Qian Hong immediately moved over, discovering a newly excavated tunnel, deeper and wider than the one they had been tricked with.

The entrance to the tunnel was also blocked by rubble, but there was no array.

They must have left in a hurry, unable to set up any formations.

Qian Hong struck with his palm, the overwhelming spirit power blasting the rubble away.

Qian Hong ordered sternly, ”All disciples, pursue immediately. Kill any demon hunters on sight!”

The Qian family cultivators, hearing this, became serious and without hesitation, entered the tunnel, chasing after the demon hunters.

Halfway through their journey, Elder Yu sensed something, leaping up a few steps to a mountaintop, looking back with a frown.

When Elder Yu came down, Mo Hua asked, ”Is the Qian family catching up?”

Elder Yu nodded gravely.

Mo Hua thought for a moment and said, ”Didn’t the Dao Court decree that only Nameless Peak was designated for our conflict? Now that we’re out of Nameless Peak, would they still dare make a move?”

Elder Yu replied, ”The Qian family has suffered too great a loss. Now they’re desperate. If they hunt us down, they’ll claim all the spirit stones. If they don’t, they not only gain nothing but also lose everything.”

Mo Hua’s expression turned serious, ”The Qian family won’t let this go easily.”

Elder Yu nodded, ”They’re like starving wolves, following the scent of blood, wanting to devour our flesh. If they catch up, it will be a fight to the death.”

”Then will escaping to Tongxian City be useful?”

”Once we reach Tongxian City, they won’t dare act. Even if they suffer a great loss, they’ll have to swallow it.”

Seeing Mo Hua’s confusion, Elder Yu explained further, ”Dahei Mountain is chaotic; the Dao Court can’t manage it well. But Tongxian City is different. It’s under the Dao Court’s jurisdiction, strictly governed, and must not have any trouble...”

”If the Qian family dares to act in Tongxian City, at best, they would be ignoring the Dao Court, at worst, defying the Dao laws, which would be a grave crime!”

Mo Hua was still puzzled, ”But isn’t the Dao Court in Tongxian City weak, with fewer cultivators than the Qian family? What can they do if the Qian family defies them?”

”You don’t understand,” Elder Yu raised an eyebrow and said, ”The Dao Court is under the Dao Court’s control, wielding its authority and representing its face. If the Qian family goes too far, the Dao Court can petition the Dao Court to deploy Dao soldiers to exterminate the entire Qian family!”

Elder Yu looked at Mo Hua and said slowly, ”Then the entire Qian family would be stripped of their titles, the patriarch executed, their properties confiscated, their legacy handed over, family members killed, relocated, or exiled, and they would be forced to change their surname, never allowed to be called Qian again. The Qian family in Tongxian City would cease to exist!”

Mo Hua was shocked by what he heard.