Chapter 535: Luo Clan of the Mi Province
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh_
Luo Shui, Luo Yu, and Luo Ling were triplets who shared the same womb. Their features were as beautiful and splendid as the mother of pearl, and they were sending forth a graceful air that was as refreshing as the morning dew. Wu Qi had studied them with his Chaotic Divine Eyes, and found that their latent potential in cultivation was of the most excellent level.
As he studied them, the girls felt a powerful pressure pouring out from his eyes. It made them shudder. The stern glance had taken away their courage to raise their heads, and the terrifying pressure had frozen their bodies. They were like frogs who had met a venomous snake, waiting for the final call of their destination with trembling bodies. Fear had even seized their thoughts of fleeing.
While the girls were crying and wailing in their mind for the seemingly unavoidable ill fate, Wu Qi suddenly nodded and said in a flat tone, "Oh, you do have nice names." Then, he leaped into the air, transformed into a beam of dark light, and shot into the mountain where the Demon cultivators were killed. When he landed, he stooped to search across the ground.
His weird behavior had perplexed the girls. For the moment, their curiosity had surpassed their fear of Wu Qi. Hastily, they unleashed their sword beams and went to him. As they watched him bend so low to search through the mess, Luo Shui asked curiously, "Senior, what are you looking for?"
Wu Qi responded with a laugh. A moment later, he had fished out twelve storage bags and a storage ring from the mess of blood and gore. Without hesitation, he poured everything inside of the storage bags out. Energy stones, spirit herbs, talismans, magical treasures, and some odds and ends went tumbling out and scattering across the ground.
He clicked his mouth disappointedly and murmured, "That's all? Are all the Demon cultivators from the Myriad Demons Den so poor?"
From the twelve storage bags, he found about one thousand lower-grade energy stones, about fifty mid-grade energy stones, and only three upper-grade energy stones. As for the spirit herbs, though they were of excellent quality, and all were seasoned enough, but too bad that they were poorly stored, and most of their energies had leaked. All the talismans and magical treasures were of inferior quality as well, which made Wu Qi not bother to give them a second look.
The girls were shocked. The Senior in front of them, who had just killed thirteen formidable foes with one single strike, was actually searching through the waste for something useful? But, when they gave those things a glance, they were tempted immediately. These things could not be considered as waste, at least not for them, as even a lower-grade energy stone was an attractive treasure for them. However, as Wu Qi did not speak to them, they dared not to act rashly.
Wu Qi sent his divine will into the storage ring. It was ferociously fashioned, a ring made of a pale bone with a face carved as a wolf head. Upon looking inside, he was immediately disappointed. It only had a storage space as large as three standard houses, similar to that of an ordinary storage bag. Also, nothing inside was of significant value.
Nevertheless, for someone who had lost everything, an inferior storage ring was better than nothing!
Wu Qi sighed. He put the ring on one of his fingers, threw everything out of it, and transferred the one thousand two hundred immortal stones from his sleeve into the ring. When that was done, he gave the girls a gesture with his chin, then smiled bitterly and said, "There is nothing of value here. See for yourself if there is anything that you can make use of."
Luo Shui was stunned. She stared blankly at Wu Qi and asked, "Senior, are you giving all these things to us?"
Wu Qi nodded brusquely and said, "They are nothing more than rubbish. Make them yours should you find something useful."
Wu Qi stood firmly in the realm of Twenty-seventh Tier Heaven Immortal, but his true overall strength was way stronger than that. The energy stones, talismans, flying swords, and some other things were only useful for cultivators below the realm of Nascent Divinity, so how would he want to keep them? As the proverb went, once a person was accustomed to luxury, it was hard to live a frugal life again. Wu Qi was used to extravagance. Therefore, his taste for treasures was much higher than others.
The girls were seized with great joy. After offering Wu Qi a deep bow as a token of gratitude, they went ahead to pick up all the things on the ground, which Wu Qi had regarded as rubbish. They carefully placed the twelve storage bags together, and even picked up all the broken pieces of flying swords which had shattered and splintered when they were thrown and crashed into the mountain. The girls put them into the storage bags as if they were some precious treasures.
Wu Qi watched as the girls busy themselves, and felt puzzled. "Are you the itinerant cultivators from Mi Province?" he asked with a frown.
The girls were sweeping through the battleground excitedly. When they heard Wu Qi's question, they quickly rose to their feet and answered, "Yes, Senior. We are from the Luo Clan of the Mi Province. You ought to know that Luo Clan is the biggest cultivator clan in Mi Province!"
The answer amazed Wu Qi, and he asked, "Since Luo Clan is the biggest cultivator clan in Mi Province, why are you picking up this rubbish as if they are some precious treasures?" He pointed at the wilderness around them, shook his head, and said, "These mountains are filled with numerous treasures. Many underground energy veins are running across here, and you will be able to find countless energy stones and immortal stones by simply digging into the ground. The land is copious with spirit herbs and exotic plants as well. Any of those are better than what you are picking up now, don't you think so?"
Luo Shui stared at Wu Qi with a baffled expression as she shook her head and said, "Senior, it is not as simple as you have thought. With Senior incredible divine abilities and formidable power, it is natural for Senior to look down on these things. Though we claimed that Luo Clan is the biggest cultivator clan in Mi Province, but under the tremendous pressure from Great Yu's officials, we do not have a fixed abode, and we do not have a land of our own. Yes, it is true that this land is filled with treasures, but they are not something we can harvest at will."
Wu Qi understood now. This so-called the biggest cultivator clan of Mi Province was actually a clan who led a vagrant life. Apparently, Mi Province's official must have exercised a very strict control over all the Immortal cultivators, hence it resulted in such a situation.
His eyes flickered, and his brows furrowed as he asked the girls with a deep voice, "Do you consider yourself fully aware of the current situation in Mi Province?"
Luo Shui offered him a half-bow and answered, "My sisters and I have spent most of our time cultivating in seclusion, so we are not aware of the current situation of Mi Province. If Senior has any questions concerning Mi Province, I think it is best for Senior to talk to our Seniors in Luo Clan, as they know everything about Mi Province."
Wu Qi nodded and said, "If that is the case, I'll follow you back to the Luo Clan." As he said that, he gave the city outside of the mountain a glance with his divine will. The officials inside the city should know the answers he was seeking, but for the moment Wu Qi did not plan to make contact with any Great Yu's officials. Who knew if among them were some people who were working for King Bai Shan or King Zhang Qiu? Even though he had resumed his original appearance and formed his Chaotic Spirit Body, which allowed him to escape the watchful glances of almighty experts, he did not want to create side issues for no apparent reason.
Hearing that Wu Qi was to follow them back to Luo Clan, the girls' hearts fluttered with both surprise and worry. Gingerly, they raised their heads to give him a look, then quickly gathered up everything on the ground. When they were done, they led the way and brought Wu Qi flying out of the mountain.
On the way back to Luo Clan, Wu Qi kept talking with the girls. To his surprise, the reason the girls were visiting this mountain could actually trace back to him.
A few years ago, when Wu Qi had just joined the Myriad Immortal Alliance, he had accepted a mission from the medallion given to him. The Elders were looking for over one hundred different spirit herbs, and were willing to pay a huge sum of merit points as well as various immortal items as the rewards. Among them, the most important thing was the Ganoderma Immortal Fluid.
A long time had passed since then. While the most difficult to find spirit herb was the Ganoderma Immortal Fluid, Supremacy Three Flame had already submitted it to the alliance. Yet, they were still missing eighteen spirit herbs. Over the years, Myriad Immortal Alliance had gradually increased the rewards for the eighteen spirit herbs. As a result, the reward for each spirit herb had reached a shocking figure.
Luo Clan was tempted by the magnificent reward. Though they knew the officials of Mi Province were exercising a very strict control over Immortal cultivators, but for the sake of the reward, the Clan Leader of Luo Clan, who was also the triplets' grandfather, had decided that all their clan members should go out into the mountains around them to search for the eighteen spirit herbs. As long as they could find even one of them, their clan would be able to rise again. They would no longer be afraid of the suppression coming from Mi Province's officials. Perhaps, they might even be able to establish a sect in Mi Province sometime in the future.
That was the reason why the girls were here on this mountain. But unfortunately, they ran into the group of Demon cultivators from the Myriad Demons Den, who were determined to capture them and offer them to their Chief as a birthday present. The girls fought them, and Luo Yu and Luo Ling were wounded in the process. They had no choice but to flee with their flying swords. Should Wu Qi have not lent them a helping hand, they would have been captured by the Demon cultivators.
The girls had also told Wu Qi that the Myriad Demons Den was the biggest group of Demon cultivators in Mi Province. They were an organization similar to bandits. Their Chief was Lord Dark Wind, who had assembled several thousand Demon cultivators and occupied a mountain as their base. According to the rumors, this Lord Dark Wind was backed by some powerful figure. Thus, the officials of Mi Province paid them no mind. Even though the officials had been pressing hard on all the cultivator clans, including Luo Clan, in the recent years, the Myriad Demons Den was not affected at all.
After listening to the girls, Wu Qi could not help but smile. It seemed to him that the officials of Mi Province were someone who feared the strong and only bullied the weaklings. They would not offend those with strong backing, but only cause troubles to itinerant cultivator clans such as the Luo Clan. That would give them the credit they needed, and would not offend some almighty experts who might come attacking them.
They talked all the way while flying out of the mountain, and went several hundred miles further along a river, finally arriving at a gorge. It had a narrow entrance, with two steep cliff walls on both sides, on top of which stood loftily several large pine trees, with a few nests of white cranes hanging on their massive crowns. But, Wu Qi saw no cranes resting in the nests. Instead, there were two skinny and short men lying flat on their bellies inside the nests, craning their heads from time to time while glancing at the surroundings.
Were they the scouts deployed by the Luo Clan? Wu Qi shook his head. It was clear to him that this Luo Clan did not have a strong overall strength, as their men were behaving like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. Their cultivation base was very weak as well, both having only attained the Gold Core realm. Though, it made them the best candidates for the scouting task.
Riding on their sword beams, the girls led Wu Qi into the gorge, greeting the two skinny men as they went past the bird nests. Wu Qi learned that these men were the triplets' uncles from the form of address they had used. But, their cultivation base was far weaker than their nieces.
After flying along the winding and twisting gorge for tens of miles, Wu Qi was shocked to discover that he did not find a single alarming or defensive formation. He could not help but shake his head. It told him that this Luo Clan was not an expert in the Dao of Formations. Nevertheless, he was also amazed by the fact that a cultivator clan who did not deploy a single formation near their base could survive till now.
Finally, they left the gorge and came into a small dale. Several dozens of wooden towers were erected across the land disorderly.
The girls breathed out an obvious sigh of relief when they arrived here, and they cheered in a unified voice, "Grandpa, we have an esteemed guest visiting us!"
The moment their cheers echoed out, a beam of white light flew out from a wooden tower standing right in the center of the dale. A man clad in a white cloth, who looked rather handsome and assumed an elegant manner, came greeting the girls with a smiling face.
However, his expression changed abruptly the moment he saw Wu Qi. With one finger pointing at Wu Qi, he cried out fiercely, "My sisters, who is this guy? How could you bring a stranger into our dale?"
Wu Qi sighed. It seemed troubles were knocking at his door again.