by Dragon King
727 Steal or Trade?
Lingwu Master decided to throw the caution out of the window. When almost all the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators on Sixth Heaven had their realms locked, the cultivators on Seventh Heaven got the news but didn’t show any response.
This attitude meant two possibilities. One was that the sects on Sixth Heaven meant nothing to the sects on Seventh Heaven. The other was that they would rather see the sects on Sixth Heaven fight and kill each other so that they would pose less of a threat to the sects on Seventh Heaven.
As the center of that incident, Sky Mountain Sect received the greatest damage, but none of the sects on Seventh Heaven showed any intention to help.
Remembering how Sky Mountain Sect had provided elixir pills and spirit beasts to the sects on Seventh Heaven, and those sects had remained neutral in the conflict, Lingwu Master was incensed.
Sky Mountain Sect had accumulated strength for hundreds of years and had barely gotten the opportunity to elevate onto Seventh Heaven, but they lost half of their strength due to the incident at Ethereal Summit.
The main reason was that they had messed with people that they shouldn’t have, but another reason was that the sects on Seventh Heaven had stood back and watched while Sky Mountain Sect was beaten into a decline!
After his realm was lowered, Lingwu Master had stayed alone in the back mountain and reflected on many things. He realized that the sects on Seventh Heaven didn’t want any other sects to elevate onto Seventh Heaven, which meant that no matter how much progress Sky Mountain Sect had made, it would be beaten down by them!
Despite the conflicts among themselves, the sects on Seventh Heaven was a group and shared interests, and they controlled the dozens of sects on Sixth Heaven and indirectly controlled the hundreds of sects on Fifth Heaven.
It didn’t matter how hard the Sky Mountain Sect tried; it was just a supplier of resources to them!
Due to this realization, Lingwu Master began to lean toward Ethereal Summit after recovering a little with the godly elixir pill that Duan Yao gave him.
Ethereal Summit had been quite eye-catching on Fifth Heaven, but the sects on Seventh Heaven showed no intention of interfering, which made Lingwu Master wonder about the potential extraordinary background of Ethereal Summit.
From the way that Ethereal Summit treated the three small sects surrounding it, Lingwu Master found it to be both generous and protective!
Lingwu Master decided to accompany Hao Ren to Seventh Heaven to see how the situation would evolve. Even though his act would displease the sects on Seventh Heaven, they wouldn’t use this excuse to get rid of Sky Mountain Sect completely.
From this incident, he knew that he didn’t have to be so loyal to the sects on Seventh Heaven!
Lingwu Master had cultivated for almost 1,000 years, but now he realized that he had been naïve to believe the promises made by the sects on Seventh Heaven!
At these thoughts, Lingwu Master’s resentment toward them even surpassed the grudge that he held against Hao Ren for dismantling Sky Mountain Sect.
In the cultivation world, it was widely accepted that the powerful preyed on the weak, but he couldn’t take it when others tried to trick Sky Mountain Sect with empty promises!
“Lingwu Master, you seem quite resentful,” Hao Ren suddenly commented while sitting on Little White’s back.
“No! Not at all!” Lingwu Master cupped his hands at Hao Ren immediately.
He was feeling resentful, but it was aimed not at Hao Ren but at the sects on Seventh Heaven that had lied to Sky Mountain Sect for hundreds of years.
The winner takes all! That was the rule that governed the world since the world was created. After cultivating for almost 1,000 years, Lingwu Master understood that he must admit defeat since he was no match for Hao Ren, and Sky Mountain Sect was no match for Ethereal Summit.
For someone as tough as Lingwu Master, he admired people with great power. Since he was defeated fair and square, he wouldn’t hold that many grudges. After all, he wasn’t a sore loser.
“Hehe.” Hao Ren chuckled but didn’t pursue the topic.
Now that he had reached mid-tier Xun-level which was equivalent to mid-tier Nascent Soul Realm, and Lingwu Master had only recovered to mid-tier Core Formation Realm, the latter posed no real threat to him even though he had the level 6 snow lion, Jitian.
Besides, Hao Ren was sure that Lingwu Master wouldn’t dare to play tricks on Seventh Heaven since Sky Mountain Sect had declined and would be finished if it got another destructive defeat.
In addition, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were with him.
Similar to Sixth Heaven, Seventh Heaven also had a huge array formation to separate itself from the lower cultivation world, and only a few tunnels were available for cultivators to pass through and enter Seventh Heaven from Sixth Heaven.
These tunnels were guarded by several sects on Seventh Heaven, and anyone who wanted to enter the upper heaven must have special tokens.
This mechanism prevented any sect on Sixth Heaven from moving lots of cultivators into the upper heaven, and all the sects on Seventh Heaven would have the information about the movements of cultivators of other sects, so they could monitor each other and guard themselves.
Hao Ren and Lingwu Master didn’t have any tokens issued by Seventh Heaven. However, Hao Ren wasn’t worried. He took out a realm-breaking note that Yue Zilong gave him and shot it abruptly on the array formation between Sixth Heaven and Seventh Heaven, creating a crack in the array formation.
Lingwu Master looked at Hao Ren in shock.
He had seen Hao Ren use this special dharma note to break array formations, but it was his first time witnessing it at this close range!
The array formation between Six Heaven and Seventh Heaven was several times tougher than the one between Fifth Heaven and Sixth Heaven, and even Nascent Soul Realm cultivators couldn’t break it.
Lingwu Master could rely on the level 6 snow lion, Jitian, to break this array formation, but it would cause a great commotion, and it would take some time before the array formation could be broken.
However, Hao Ren just shot out a dharma note, and the array formation opened a crack in silence as if a fire melted a hole in an ice wall. It was as simple as that!
In fact, Hao Ren was also silently praising the realm-breaking note’s miraculous effects. However, he didn’t know that it took Yue Zilong one month to make one dharma note. Something that took a peak Qian-level cultivator one month to make was not a common object!
If Yue Zilong knew that Hao Ren used his realm-breaking note so lavishly, he would probably spit out blood with fury.
Hua… The moment that they entered Seventh Heaven, intense white fog engulfed them.
The nature essence intensity on Seventh Heaven was much higher than that on Sixth Heaven!
Sitting on Jitian’s back, Lingwu Master couldn’t help deeply inhaling the nature essence on Seventh Heaven since he had just recovered to the Core Formation Realm and needed to replenish lots of nature essence.
“I have two plans.” Hao Ren looked at Lingwu Master and said, “First, we can pay a visit to the Mystic Sound Faction with your connection and see if we can trade for the 10,000-year-old Black Herbs. Or, you can take me to the place near the Black Herb Spiritual Fields, and then you back away to the distance. When I get the Black Herbs, we’ll return to Sixth Heaven.”
Lingwu Master looked at Hao Ren with a frown. Although he didn’t understand some words, he knew the general idea of it.
The second plan was quick and direct. With Hao Ren’s superpower, he had a good chance of success. However, it was theft, and it would be disastrous if they failed and Sky Mountain Sect got punished.
However, if they successfully stole the herbs, he would get closer to the Herb King Master, which would benefit the relationship between Sky Mountain Sect and Ethereal Summit.
Lingwu Master knew that the Herb King Master preferred the quicker solution instead of making a fuss of it.
If they chose the first plan, they would be questioned by the Mystic Sound Faction even if they could dodge the other sects, but they couldn’t offer a good explanation for their appearance.
Besides, Lingwu Master wasn’t sure that the Mystic Sound Faction would give them the precious 10,000-year-old Black Herbs through negotiation and trade.
“I’ll take you to the Mystic Sound Faction, and you can decide what to do when we get there,” Lingwu Master said after some consideration.
He felt like Hao Ren preferred the second plan. When he rode on Jitian and led Hao Ren toward the Mystic Sound Faction, he had a feeling that this guy might be involved in the several spiritual herb thefts in Sky Mountain Sect…
In fact, Hao Ren indeed wanted to take the simpler option. Obviously, the sects on Seventh Heaven were not easy to handle. Even if he could trade a level 10 demonic core for 10,000-year-old Black Herbs, it wasn’t wise to catch the attention of the sects on Seventh Heaven.
Since he still had several realm-breaking notes, he could get some well-aged Black Herbs from the Mystic Sound Faction even if they had set up powerful array formations around the spiritual fields. Even after they return to Sixth Heaven, he knew that Lingwu Master wouldn’t dare to reveal him.
If Xie Yujia could cultivate the Seven-Core Five-Color Lotus, it would be a huge success. After all, the big sects on Seventh Heaven might not detect the loss of only a few spiritual herbs. Also, even if they did, they might not be able to trace it down to him.
Soon, Hao Ren found that his mindset was quite like Zhen Congming’s. However, he had sifted through all the options, and stealing seemed to be the quickest solution. If he felt guilty, he could leave them a level 10 demonic core which would bring great exhilaration to Mystic Sound Faction.
There were only seven sects in the vast Seventh Heaven. Two hundred years ago, the New Sun Faction had been tossed into Sixth Heaven and was renamed New Sun Sect due to its decreased strength.
Only the sects on Seventh Heaven could be called faction; it showed their different status.
Due to the vast space and fewer people on Seventh Heaven, the possibility of encountering a cultivator here was far smaller than on Sixth Heaven. The patrols were less frequent than on Sixth Heaven as well. The sects here mainly relied on array formations for defense. Besides, who would be so bold as to mess with the sects on Seventh Heaven!
Each of the seven sects possessed several spirit stone mines and the bountiful resources; they didn’t have to fight with each other. The disciples who were outside of the sects were scattered in distant places, and even the small battles between the junior disciples wouldn’t evolve into wars between sects.
This was why Seventh Heaven looked so peaceful.
Following Lingwu Master, Hao Ren and Lu sisters encountered no cultivators on their way.
“Behind those two mountains is the spiritual fields of the Mystic Sound Faction.” Riding on Jitian, Lingwu Master pointed forward and said, “The four of us have entered the territory of the Mystic Sound Faction.”
728 Little White’s New Ability
Since only seven sects lived on Seventh Heaven, each sect had a vast territory.
The mountains that Hao Ren and the others had passed by all belonged to Mystic Sound Faction, but disciples of other sects were allowed to move in here. However, the area that they entered now was the restricted territory of Mystic Sound Faction, and cultivators outside of the faction were not allowed to enter without permission.
“We, Sky Mountain Sect, have the closest relationship with Mystic Sound Faction, and I’ve been here several times. This mountain is called Bull Head Mountain, and the spiritual fields are in here,” Lingwu Master continued.
“Ok.” Hao Ren nodded and released weak sword energies to scout the array formations while he flew over the mountain cautiously.
In the large plain surrounded by mountains, there were colorful spiritual fields where many spiritual herbs lived.
There were buildings along the mountainside, but the scale was almost the same as the sects on Sixth Heaven.
“Is this the whole Mystic Sound Faction?” Hao Ren asked.
“Master, you misunderstood. This is the Bull Head Mountain branch of Mystic Sound Faction, and it’s not a core section,” Lingwu Master explained in a low voice. “The core section of Mystic Sound Faction is a bit far from here.”
Hearing his explanation, Hao Ren understood that Mystic Sound Faction was like a business group with its headquarters and subsidiaries.
This was the spiritual field base or one of the spiritual field bases of Mystic Sound Faction. Since Sky Mountain sect excelled in growing spiritual herbs and provided spiritual herbs to Mystic Sound Faction regularly, they were familiar with this area.
Also, because the spiritual fields were far from the headquarters of Mystic Sound Faction, Lingwu Master was bold enough to accompany Hao Ren to steal the herbs.
Sitting on Little White’s back, Hao Ren looked down at the spiritual fields at the foot of the mountain from the distance while hovering in the sky.
This branch of Mystic Sound Faction branch was as big as Sky Mountain Sect, and many cultivators guarded the spiritual fields while they cultivated, so the other six sects wouldn’t come and harass them.
In fact, among the sects on Seventh Heaven, Mystic Sound Faction was the weakest one in growing spiritual herbs, which was why they had requested Sky Mountain Sect to grow spiritual herbs for them and hand in the products regularly.
Meanwhile, Sky Mountain Sect handed some simpler and low-level spiritual herbs to the affiliated sects on Fifth Heaven such as White Sand Sect.
In reality, Sky Mountain Sect didn’t want to do all this work for Mystic Sound Faction, but they must have a good relationship with Seventh Heaven to gain a solid footing on Six Heaven where competition was fierce.
“Which ones are the Black Herbs?” Hao Ren asked the Lu sisters beside him.
“They have five branches in the shape of a plum flower with a small green ball on the top; their leaves are white,” Lu Lili said while pointing at one of the spiritual fields.
Lingwu Master had been prepared to answer Hao Ren’s question and was surprised at Lu Lili’s familiarity with spiritual herbs.
Hao Ren had thought that the Black Herbs were black, and he was surprised that they were actually white and green.
“The Black Herbs are picky with their growing environment, which is why they can’t grow on Sixth Heaven. They need an abundant amount of nature essence, and the place around them can’t grow other spiritual herbs. The simple way to determine their age is to see the area around them; the ones without any herbs growing near them, not even other Black Herbs, are the most aged ones,” Lu Lili continued.
Hao Ren looked at the direction that she pointed. Sure enough, there were several white spiritual herbs topped with green balls growing alone in a spiritual field, shaking their heavy ‘green heads’ in the wind.
Lingwu Master was impressed. Although his Sky Mountain Sect excelled in growing spiritual herbs, he was surprised that the two maids who were serving the Herb King Master had such knowledge in spiritual herbs.
“Little White, did you hear that?” Hao Ren suddenly lowered his head and pulled up Little White’s ears.
After returning from the Nine Dragon Palace, he had sensed that Little White’s intelligence had improved, and it should understand the general meaning of the Lu sisters’ words.
Little White barked and shrunk to the size of a fist, playing around in Hao Ren’s palm like a furry ball.
“Stop playing!” Hao Ren slapped it on the head lightly and instantly silenced it.
“See those high-level herbs? Bring them to me,” Hao Ren said to Little White.
Little White nodded and whined in submission.
“If you bring them to me, you can eat as many elixir pills as you want,” Hao Ren said while he flicked his fingers on its rump, and Little White almost rolled down the hill.
Lingw
u Master looked at Hao Ren in surprise, not expecting that he would send a spirit beast to steal herbs.
“This level 5 snow lion is just as smart if not smarter than my Jitian, and it is even bolder! Even Jitian probably don’t dare to steal herbs on Seventh Heaven, but this level 5 snow lion didn’t even hesitate!” he thought to himself.
“Linlin, Lili! Guard me,” Hao Ren said.
“Ok! Gongzi!” Lu Linlin and Lu Lili sat down on both sides of him, cross-legged.
“Senior Lingwu, please watch out for us,” Hao Ren continued.
“Ok…” Lingwu Master nodded dully without a choice.
He, the dignified Ancestral Master of Sky Mountain Sect, was watching out for a herb thief.
Meanwhile, Jitian shrunk to the size of a squirrel and stood on Lingwu Master’s shoulder, watching around warily.
With his realm at only the Core Formation Realm, Lingwu Master wouldn’t catch much attention on Seventh Heaven. Also, Jitian was able to hide his aura further.
When he looked at Hao Ren, he saw the two female cultivators beside him controlling two rings. As these two rings hovered around them, their auras all completely disappeared!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Hao Ren shot out dozens of sword energies ahead of Little White to scout the array formations for it!
Little White ran on the hill like a regular white bunny. When Lingwu Master stared at it, Little White suddenly vanished!
It was a high-level ability of the snow lions – Stealth!
Lingwu Master held his breath in astonishment. With the elevation of levels, the spirit beasts could activate their bloodlines and some innate abilities. For example, level 6 Jitian possessed both fire elements and ice elements, and its roar could suppress Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. However, this level 5 snow lion was able to achieve stealth which only level 6 snow lions were capable of!
With this ability, the spirit beasts could instantly conceal their bodies and auras. If they did it in battles, it was formidable! Except for cultivators with super powerful spirit senses, others couldn’t detect where they were!
