121: Chapter 121 The Inheritance Hall is Empty, the Five Sects are Enraged

On the way back to the miscellaneous chores camp from the Wood Poison Passage, Qi Yang stopped for a moment in a concealed recess of the rock wall.

He took a Purity Water Lotus from his Storage Pouch and applied its juice all over his body, quickly decomposing the stains and odors inside the drainage pipe completely.

Then, he changed into a spare tattered linen robe, used diluted venom to smear a few purplish-black toxic sores on his face again, and scratched out two bloody marks with his fingernails.

The image reflected in the mirror Spirit Stone was that of a useless old peasant who was about to be choked to death by the toxic miasma.

Perfect.

When he returned to the camp, it was faintly dawn.

Fang Chu was standing by the campfire doing a headcount, and his expression sank when he saw Qi Yang stumbling over from the direction of the passage.

"Old thing, where did you run off to again?"

Qi Yang shrank his neck, his voice as weak as a broken bellows.

"Fang... Senior Brother Fang, this old man had an upset stomach last night, went out to relieve myself, got lost, and almost died outside..."

Fang Chu waved his hand in disgust.

"Get to the back, do not be an eyesore."

Qi Yang profusely thanked him as he sneaked to the corner-most position of the camp, curling up inside that tattered felt blanket.

Closing his eyes, his spiritual awareness quietly spread out like a spiderweb, taking in everything in the direction of the plaza.

The battle of the Stone Puppets had finally ended.

The twelve Middle Stage Second Rank Stone Puppets were all destroyed by the joint efforts of the Five Sects, and the last three were smashed to pieces with a single palm strike of terrifying Late Stage Foundation Establishment spiritual power after the Great Elder of the Blood Shadow Sect finally appeared.

At this moment, the plaza was filled with rubble and severed limbs, and the smell of blood mixed with toxic miasma permeated the air.

The various Sects paid a heavy price.

The Blood Shadow Sect lost seven Qi Refining Stage elites, two of whom were Core Disciples of the Qi Condensation 12th Layer Great Perfection.

Both the Qingyu Sect and Ziyang Valley lost four men.

The Houtu Sect suffered the worst; not only did they lose five Disciples, but an Early Foundation Establishment Elder had his left arm smashed into powder by a Stone Puppet, completely crippling him.

Because Elder You Ke had impressive strength and Su Qinghan cooperated tacitly, the Xuantian Sect only had a few Disciples suffer minor injuries.

Once the Stone Puppets were destroyed, the people of the Five Sects swarmed toward the six halls like starving wolves smelling blood.

The Medicine Storage Hall was rushed into first by the Blood Shadow Sect and Ziyang Valley, and the dozens of well-preserved bottles of Second Rank poison pills inside almost caused the two Sects to fall out on the spot.

The Poison Refining Hall was divided between the Houtu Sect and the Qingyu Sect, acquiring several incomplete but still usable Second Rank Medium Grade poison refining cauldrons.

The Spell Hall was taken by the Xuantian Sect. Su Qinghan killed a surviving First Rank Peak guardian Puppet inside and obtained a Jade Slip recording a Second Rank Upper Grade venomous sword technique.

Subsequently, everyone pushed open the doors of the Inheritance Hall.

Yet when they entered the hall, they only saw an empty main hall.

Above the black jade platform was a piece of Void Realm, the bookshelves on both sides were bare, and even a speck of dust appeared exceptionally dazzling.

Not to mention the Myriad Poisons True Scripture, not even the shadow of an ordinary Jade Slip could be seen.

The entire plaza directly fell into dead silence.

"Who did this!"

The Second Elder of the Blood Shadow Sect was the first to fly into a rage.

His name was Zhou Yuanhai, with Dual Spiritual Roots of Fire and Earth, and a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation base.

At this moment, his face was distorted, his whole body's blood energy surged, and the complete Spiritual Pressure of Middle Stage Foundation Establishment burst forth like substance, directly pressing the Qi Refining Stage Disciples within a radius of twenty zhang around him until their knees went weak.

"The Myriad Poisons True Scripture is an Earth Rank Medium Grade Cultivation Technique! Who stole it!"

"Elder Zhou, do not be in such a hurry to bite people."

Elder You Ke sneered as he paced over from the direction of the Gold Poison Passage.

He had Three Spiritual Roots of Gold, Water, and Wood, and was also at Middle Stage Foundation Establishment, his Spiritual Pressure standing toe-to-toe with Zhou Yuanhai.

"My Xuantian Sect entered from the Gold Poison Passage, and there were eyewitnesses the entire way. On the contrary, your Blood Shadow Sect rushed to the very front; who knows if you guys played tricks behind the scenes?"

"Bullshit!"

Zhou Yuanhai widened his eyes in anger.

"As soon as the Stone Puppets were destroyed, I brought people and rushed in. The sealed dust on the hall doors was completely intact, which means no one ever entered through the front door! This clearly means someone used other methods!"

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of everyone present changed.

No one entered through the front door, yet things vanished into thin air?

The Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Elder leading Ziyang Valley was named Meng Shangze, with Three Spiritual Roots of Fire, Water, and Wood, who had been calmly observing the situation all along.

At this moment, he stepped forward to smooth things over, his face carrying a gentle smile.

"Everyone, do not be anxious. The Inheritance Hall is not small; perhaps there are hidden compartments or secret rooms. Why do not a few people from each Sect and faction thoroughly search it once?"

On the surface, it was mediation, but in reality, everyone knew clearly in their hearts that Ziyang Valley wanted to search as well.

After some argument, the elites sent by the Five Sects entered the Inheritance Hall to search carefully.

The ground, walls, inside of the jade platform, bases of the bookshelves, stone cracks in the dome... turned upside down.

Someone even used spells to bombard the ground, attempting to find a secret passage.

Found nothing at all.

When restoring the ground, Qi Yang used precise control of Early Foundation Establishment earth-type spiritual power, and after the rubble backfilled, it fit seamlessly with the original texture.

The spell bombardments of these Qi Refining Stage Disciples did not even penetrate the surface, let alone discover the drainage pipe three zhang below.

Two hours passed, and the Five Sects gained nothing.

The Great Elder of the Blood Shadow Sect finally appeared.

This was an emaciated old man with Dual Spiritual Roots of Fire and Earth, at Late Stage Foundation Establishment.

He did not participate in the argument, but merely slowly scanned the interior of the Inheritance Hall with turbid eyes, then closed his eyes, seeming to conduct a deeper investigation with spiritual awareness.

When Qi Yang in the distance perceived this Late Stage Foundation Establishment spiritual awareness sweeping across the floor of the Inheritance Hall, his heartbeat remained steady and normal.

The disguise of the wuxiang pill was enough to fool the spiritual awareness of Late Stage Foundation Establishment, and the methods he left behind when restoring the ground were even more precise.

When backfilling the rubble, he deliberately mixed in a trace of weak earth-type residual Spiritual Qi that was completely consistent with the surrounding environment, just like applying concealer matching skin tone to a wound. Even if spiritual awareness swept past, what was perceived would only be the intact, original ground.

The Great Elder of the Blood Shadow Sect finally opened his eyes and shook his head expressionlessly.

The Five Sects argued about the Inheritance Hall for another half day, and in the end, no one could produce evidence, leaving the matter unsettled.

However, the agreement existed only in name now. The various Sects began to strengthen surveillance on each other, elite Disciples formed groups of three and no longer roamed alone, and the distance between camps also widened quite a bit.

When night fell, Su Qinghan came to the miscellaneous chores camp once.

Her long dress was still stained with the black powder splashed when the Stone Puppet shattered, the shallow split on the web of her thumb had already healed, but there was a hint of exhaustion between her brows.

Seeing Qi Yang shrinking in the corner in his miserable state covered in toxic sores, a trace of imperceptible emotion flashed through her phoenix eyes.

"Catch."

Su Qinghan tossed over a small porcelain bottle.

"Second Rank Lower Grade Detoxification Pill. Your minor toxic injuries do not need such good medicine, but it is better than your face rotting off."

Qi Yang caught the porcelain bottle and nodded repeatedly in overwhelming gratitude.

"Many thanks, Fairy! Many thanks, Fairy!"

Su Qinghan did not leave immediately; she sat down on a flat rock nearby, her gaze looking far off in the direction of the distant plaza, where spiritual light still faintly flickered.

"The things in the Inheritance Hall have vanished into thin air."

She spoke, her tone bland.

"The Elders of the Five Sects all said they did not do it, but things will not disappear out of thin air."

Qi Yang answered cautiously, "That... that must be an extraordinary treasure, taken away in advance by some powerful expert, right?"

Su Qinghan was silent for a few breaths.

"Hard to say, but what is certain is that the next few days will be even more chaotic."

She turned her head to look at Qi Yang, a hint of seriousness added to her tone.

"Just hole up in the camp and do not come out. When a real fight breaks out, Cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage do not even have the qualifications to act as cannon fodder."

Qi Yang repeatedly agreed.

Su Qinghan got up and left, her figure turning into an ice-blue stream of light that disappeared into the night.

Qi Yang watched her retreating figure, putting that bottle of Second Rank Detoxification Pills deep into the Storage Pouch.

He closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curving into an arc.

The Inheritance Hall is empty, the Five Sects are suspicious of one another, and their attention is entirely focused on guarding against each other. This was precisely the situation he wanted.

The more chaotic, the better.