"That's the Left Dragon Horn Peak, and there's also a Right Dragon Horn Peak. They're too far from here, out of sight, so you can't see them from here," Liu Sha explained as everyone gazed in astonishment at the Dragon Horn Peak.
"It's said that Dragon Horn Peak contains power to counter the Heavenly Court. I wonder if it's true," Xue Nu suddenly remarked.
Liu Sha chuckled lightly. "It's all just legends. I've heard them too, that the Heavenly Court once tried to destroy it but failed."
"If they destroy anything that poses a threat, then the entire Southern Continent must be very dangerous," Wu Siqi said.
Everyone looked at him in unison. Wu Siqi felt a pang of guilt and touched their gazes one by one. "What's wrong? Did I say something I shouldn't have?"
It seemed he hadn't said anything wrong. Everyone averted their eyes again, looking into the distance, each lost in thought.
"What do you think the Heavenly Court is? They aren't some demonic cult," Liu Sha said softly after a long silence.
"Sigh, I was just saying it casually. Look, hasn't this continent stood tall between heaven and earth for thousands of years?" Wu Siqi rubbed his head and said.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
After walking for some time, the group arrived before a mountain. Liu Sha said, "Beyond this mountain is Duoshe Cliff."
A passage could be seen at the foot of the mountain, leading straight into the mountain. People were walking back and forth in the passage, some entering caves, others emerging, all in an orderly fashion.
Mo Qi asked, "Where does that passage lead to?"
"That is the land-sea passage. Passing through it leads directly to the sea, from where you can travel to the islands of the Hongmeng South Sea, and further to the other three continents," Liu Sha replied.
Mo Qi took a step towards the passage, but Liu Sha stopped him with a word: "You can't pass without a travel permit, issued by the An Nan Guard Post of the Qionglu Realm." He retracted the foot he had already extended.
"We can only climb to the mountain top to get a look at Duoshe Cliff," Liu Sha said.
Wu Siqi darted forward, turning into a streak of light and flying towards the summit.
"Wait a moment..." Liu Sha called out urgently.
With a "boom," a faint light screen materialized out of thin air. Wu Siqi, without surprise, crashed into the screen, sparks flying...
Wu Siqi cried out in pain and plummeted straight down. Mo Qi flew up, grabbed his shoulder, and landed him steadily on the ground.
Wu Siqi managed to steady himself, shook his head, and said, "There's a barrier."
"Mm," Mo Qi nodded. "It wasn't a wasted trip. Quite a discovery."
Liu Sha and Xue Nu ran over. Liu Sha shot Mo Qi a look. "You didn't stop him even when I shouted."
Wu Siqi smiled sheepishly, then turned back to look at the mountain. "Is there no way to get up there?"
Liu Sha shook her head. "You can walk up, but the area above is not for sightseeing. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed. We usually use our sect tokens to report our arrival, and the guards inside will let us in." She glanced at the other three, hesitating. "However, I haven't tried bringing people up before, and I don't know if they'll agree."
Mo Qi said decisively, "Let's try going up." With the token in hand, he felt confident. Xue Nu glanced at him, thinking, *Why not just say no? Why act so mysterious?*
The group then slowly ascended the mountain path.
At the summit stood a building with red walls and green tiles, adorned with carved beams and painted rafters. The main gate was tightly shut.
Liu Sha went up and knocked. After a moment, a small door opened in the main gate, and a pair of eyes peered out, scanning the group with annoyance. "What are you doing here? This is no place for sightseeing."
Liu Sha was about to present her sect token and explain their purpose. Mo Qi, however, had already presented the token issued by the Qionglu Realm and stated solemnly, "We are here on a mission from the Qionglu Realm." Wu Fan had mentioned that most missions from the Northern Territory were actually assigned by the Qionglu Realm, and since they didn't want to do them, they passed them to the Nine Divine Realms.
Judging by the tokens they had issued, this mission was likely from the Qionglu Realm. The Northern Territory had used the opportunity of the once-in-a-sixty-year trial selection to conveniently assign the mission to the Nine Divine Realms.
The disdain and impatience in the person's eyes vanished instantly. He asked again, "What mission are you here to carry out?"
On the way up the mountain, Liu Sha had introduced them to the fact that besides the overall manager Fang Buyi, Duoshe Cliff had eight or nine guards who also handled miscellaneous tasks. These guards were all rogue cultivators from the Northern Territory or the An Nan cultivation world. Therefore, when facing the "superior officials" dispatched from the Qionglu Realm, they dared not be negligent.
Mo Qi pretended to look around, then turned back with a highly mysterious expression. "It's a confidential mission. It's not convenient to discuss it here."
The person respectfully said, "Please wait a moment," then closed the small door and went inside to report.
Liu Sha glanced at Mo Qi, thinking, *If you have the token, why didn't you say so earlier?* Mo Qi looked around, pretending not to see her.
A moment later, the person came out, opened the door, and the group entered in an orderly fashion.
As the person led the way, he said, "Manager Fang is currently investigating the disappearance of Manager Hong and is too busy to greet you. Please rest in the side room first, honored cultivators."
Fang Buyi was someone who had truly come down from the Qionglu Realm and could certainly afford to put on airs. Mo Qi and his companions were all riding on borrowed authority, so how could they complain? They all replied with one accord, "Very well, let him attend to his matters first."
As they spoke, the guide, Dai Guang, led everyone through the courtyard, along the corridors, and into a room.
After everyone had entered the room, Dai Guang turned to Mo Qi and asked, "May I ask what mission you are here to carry out, and what cooperation you require from us?"
Mo Qi noticed a flicker in his eyes and hesitated. "There's no rush. We can discuss it after your Manager Fang is finished. It's better if I tell him directly."
A trace of annoyance flashed in Dai Guang's eyes, but it was fleeting, almost imperceptible. He then smiled. "That would be for the best. However, given the current situation, he won't be free for a while. Perhaps I can arrange a few more rooms for you to stay in. You can settle down, and I will inform you when Manager Fang is available."
Mo Qi glanced at the others. Seeing no obvious objections, he said to Dai Guang, "That would be appreciated."
A short while later, Dai Guang found a room for each of the four. Mo Qi chose a room facing the sea. Through the window, he could see the vast ocean and Duoshe Cliff.
After everyone had settled in, Mo Qi found Dai Guang to understand the situation better and learned the full details of Hong Cheng's disappearance. In fact, Hong Cheng was not the only one who disappeared. Along with Hong Cheng, four guards also vanished, supposedly fleeing after committing a crime. However, people later saw traces of Hong Cheng, but those four guards truly disappeared, their whereabouts and fate unknown.
After Fang Buyi arrived, the Qionglu Realm also sent five more guards. Fang Buyi was uneasy about the original four guards, fearing that he might be poisoned one day and become the next Hong Cheng.
Therefore, he wanted to investigate the truth behind Hong Cheng's disappearance and also to remove a thorn from his side. He interrogated the four individuals one by one. After questioning them the first time, he gained no useful information. He questioned them a second time, then a third... For days, he had been doing this. The four individuals were driven to the brink of madness by his torment, yet they dared not object or escape, forced to endure his torture between sanity and insanity.
And those who were similarly on the verge of madness were Fang Buyi himself. He felt that at least one of these four individuals was problematic, but he couldn't find any clues. He had used all sorts of divine abilities, but to no avail.
However, he was unwilling to give up, so he continued to torment the four. The four were physically and mentally exhausted, wishing they were dead.
Dai Guang was one of those four. As he spoke of the matter, he sighed continuously, tears welling up in his eyes.
Mo Qi patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Brother, don't be afraid. A clear conscience fears no slander. This will all pass."
Dai Guang sighed again, gently wiped his eyes, and slowly walked out.
Mo Qi fell into thought. He felt that Fang Buyi's approach was correct. There should be at least one mole among these four. How could they have infiltrated so successfully only to withdraw all at once? The simultaneous disappearance of the four guards was likely a diversion. Among the four missing individuals, three were probably innocent, and the one mole had to disappear because, according to Liu Sha, the spellcaster would also lose their memory. If they stayed, they would be exposed! The three innocent people, however, were framed as fleeing after committing a crime, while the real mole remained.
However, Fang Buyi's method was too clumsy. By tormenting them like this, he was also tormenting himself, and in the end, he gained nothing. It was possible that the others wouldn't go mad, but he would.
Mo Qi suddenly thought of a method. In the alchemy secrets of the Divine Pill Sect, there was a pill called the Truth Pill. After consuming this pill, no matter how high the opponent's cultivation, they would fall into an illusion. Whatever you asked, they would answer truthfully.
However, he was missing a few ingredients for refining this pill in his storage bag. If he went to buy them nearby, he might not find them, and it would take too much time. Thus, he thought of the teleportation array to return to the Lingxiao Sect. He clearly remembered that those few ingredients could be found at the Lingxiao Sect.
At the Lingxiao Sect, Mo Qi encountered Wu Fan on his way to the alchemy room and chatted with him for a while.
Wu Fan complained that Mo Qi hadn't been refining pills recently, causing a shortage in various pill shops and a sharp decline in revenue. Mo Qi comforted Wu Fan a bit and said that he planned to refine the Truth Pill, and after successfully refining it, he would leave a batch for Wu Fan to sell as he pleased.
Wu Fan's eyes lit up immediately. If Mo Qi truly succeeded in refining the Truth Pill, the demand would likely be even greater than for the Spirit Energy Pill, because true confessions were indeed priceless!
Wu Fan immediately gave orders for full cooperation with the Vice Sect Master's alchemy!
Thus, Mo Qi returned to his room. The required spiritual herbs were quickly delivered. He had originally intended to refine it at Duoshe Cliff, but seeing Wu Fan's enthusiasm, and also feeling that refining at the Lingxiao Sect would be quieter and allow him to focus entirely on alchemy, he decided against it. At Duoshe Cliff, there might still be a mole, posing an unknown danger at any moment, not only affecting the alchemy but also potentially endangering his life.
Moreover, refining the pills at the Lingxiao Sect and then teleporting them over was essentially the same.
The only thing he needed to worry about was if someone came to check his room or look for him.
He sent a message to Xue Nu via a sound transmission spirit stone: "I have returned to the Lingxiao Sect. I will delay for a day to refine the pills. If anyone asks about me during this time, tell them I've gone out on some business and will be back in a day."
A moment later, he heard Xue Nu's somewhat panicked voice from the sound transmission spirit stone: "You must come back!"
Mo Qi smiled, neither confirming nor denying.
After he began refining the pills, he discovered that the process was not as complicated as he had imagined. The preparation of the spiritual herbs was indeed difficult, and most people would not meet the purity standards. However, Mo Qi handled it with ease, quickly completing the purification and measurement stages.
He then began the formal alchemy. The control of the heat was equally important. While using fire for alchemy, he also needed to input spiritual energy, constantly observing the changes in the pills through the furnace window and adjusting the furnace fire according to the progress.
His eyes remained fixed on the furnace fire. According to the progress, he added two more medicinal ingredients during the refinement. To prevent the loss of medicinal efficacy, he also adopted an inner and outer furnace method, using spiritual energy to permeate the efficacy of the outer furnace into the inner furnace, gradually achieving fusion.
After stopping the fire, he continued to refine with spiritual energy for two hours. Upon completion, he took out the pills, left a few for Wu Fan, and took some himself to Duoshe Cliff.
He believed that these few pills would allow Wu Fan to sell them at an exorbitant price. As for the ones he took, they would only benefit Fang Buyi.
Upon returning to Duoshe Cliff, the timing was just right. He was afraid of any accidents happening to Xue Nu, so he immediately knocked on her door. A somewhat vigilant voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
"Your Martial Grand-uncle," Mo Qi said sternly. "Is everything alright?"
The door opened, and Xue Nu's beautiful face appeared. Her eyes were full of resentment, but a slight smile graced her face. "I'm still your master. Why didn't you report to your master before leaving?"
*Not bad, learning to joke.* Mo Qi feigned a look of disappointment. "If you were my master, then we couldn't be Dao companions."
Xue Nu was stunned for a moment, then her cheeks flushed. "Who wants to be your Dao companion? You're always so frivolous. What kind of pills were you refining?"