75: Chapter 75 Spirit Stones

Ye Jing was somewhat surprised when he heard Chen Mingyuan mention Spirit Stones.

He had learned from the "True Scripture of Fate-Defying Root Transformation" provided by the Immortal Willow that Spirit Stones were Heaven And Earth Treasures containing pure Spiritual Qi, and were the primary consumable resources for Cultivators' Cultivation.

They were often used as currency in the cultivation world, so it was no wonder that Chen Mingyuan, a Cultivator from the Qingyang Sect, was so happy to hear about Spirit Stones.

Chen Mingyuan ordered the soldiers to search the blood pool, even using Spells to investigate, but they found nothing.

It was as if there was only the bloody stench of corpses here; not even a trace of the so-called Spiritual Qi could be found.

Chen Mingyuan gripped the letter in his hand tightly, clearly unwilling to give up just like that. In front of everyone, he began smashing the surrounding walls, tables, and chairs with his sword, and even probed the foul-smelling blood pool for a long time.

But he found nothing, which made him greatly annoyed yet helpless.

"Damn it! These Red Lotus Cult people really know how to hide things!"

Chen Mingyuan cursed angrily. His appearance lacked the poise of a practitioner entirely; instead, he looked like a naughty child flying into a rage out of humiliation.

Ye Jing stood to the side, watching Chen Mingyuan's impotent rage with indifference. He knew that precious items like Spirit Stones would definitely be hidden in a very secluded place; they couldn't just be left out in the grotto for anyone to take.

He secretly surveyed the stone cave and saw that it was very simple, with nothing else besides the conspicuous blood pool.

After venting for a while, Chen Mingyuan cursed the Red Lotus Cult members for being cunning. He then ordered the soldiers to thoroughly clean Longhu Mountain without missing any clues before departing on his flying sword.

Seeing the Immortal leave, Ye Jing's thoughts had already drifted to the Spirit Stones that the Red Lotus Cult might have hidden. Their appeal to him was immense.

One must know that his "True Scripture of Fate-Defying Root Transformation" could grant the qualification to Cultivate to those in the Family without Spiritual Roots, and it just so happened to require a large amount of spiritual energy.

This made it necessary for Ye Jing to take a risk and take the Spirit Stones for himself.

He gave his son a look and then walked onto the stone altar where the Martial Artists had been sacrificed.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking, Ye Jing picked up the fragments of the golden light bowl one by one and stored them within the Immortal Willow, waiting for them to slowly recover.

"Father, do you think there are really Spirit Stones left here? Could they have already been given to that Xuanyou Sect they are loyal to?" Ye Yi couldn't help but ask.

Ye Jing thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be such a coincidence. Yier, where do you think a person would hide something important?"

Ye Yi said, "It would definitely be hidden in a place where they think only they can find it."

"Well said." A glint flashed in Ye Jing's eyes, and he then said to Ye Yi, "Yier, the Red Lotus Cult set up a sacrificial stone altar here, which means this place is very important to them. The place where the Spirit Stones are hidden must be related to this altar."

After saying that, Ye Jing told Ye Yi, "Check the patterns here carefully. Feel them and see if you can find anything."

Hearing this, Ye Yi quickly crouched down and ran his fingertips over the carvings on the surface of the stone altar. He felt around for a while and found that these patterns were crooked and twisted, appearing to be the eerie runes of the Red Lotus Cult.

Previously, Chen Mingyuan was only focused on smashing the walls and the blood pool, not paying any attention to the inconspicuous patterns on the stone altar at all.

After searching for a while, Ye Yi's fingertips suddenly stopped on a slightly smooth rune. The edges of this rune were not as rough as the others, clearly having been pressed repeatedly.

Having made a discovery, Ye Yi hurried quietly to Ye Jing's side and only said that one of the patterns seemed to have a problem.

Hearing this, Ye Jing stood up and calmly glanced at the soldiers cleaning nearby. Most of them were afraid of the altar's gloom and were focused on the corpses and debris on the ground; no one noticed the father and son's movements.

But Ye Jing was in no hurry to mess with the rune. Instead, he took his son to drag corpses nearby first.

Before long, Chen Mingyuan suddenly flew to their side on his sword and asked point-blank, "Have you found the Spirit Stones yet?"

Ye Jing quickly smiled and said, "Immortal, you must be joking. You have such great Divine Abilities, while my son and I are just ordinary mortals. How could we have such capability?"

As he spoke, he covered his nose, looking uncomfortable as if choked by the bloody stench of the corpses.

"I saw the soldiers struggling to clear the corpses just now, so I came over to lend a hand. The Red Lotus Cult has committed many evils; dying here is exactly what they deserve!"

Chen Mingyuan frowned. He had flown a distance on his sword but felt unwilling, thinking it impossible for the Red Lotus Cult to leave no trace at all. So he turned back to check, only to run into Ye Jing and his son lingering near the stone altar.

"Hmph! Search and clean carefully, do not miss any corner! If you find anything unusual, report to me immediately!"

After saying that, he worried he might have missed something and slashed at several pillars on the edge of the stone altar, but there was still no reaction.

Seeing this, Ye Jing and Ye Yi tacitly helped carry the corpses. Meanwhile, Ye Jing also took the human skin lantern from the hand of the Blood Lotus Sect Altar Master and stored it in the Immortal Willow.

Anyway, that human skin lantern was already destroyed. Chen Mingyuan wouldn't care about a ruined Spiritual Artifact; otherwise, he would have taken it away long ago.

It took a whole day to clear the corpses on Longhu Mountain. As for those Martial Artists, they had died without leaving even a bone, with only their clothes remaining.

The only survivors were Ye Jing and Ye Xuan.

Afterward, Chen Mingyuan set a great fire across the entire Longhu Mountain, burning it to the ground. Everything was incinerated—trees and beasts were all gone.

As for how the surrounding commoners would survive without the mountain, that was not something for an Immortal to consider.

Then there was the Tang Family. The head of the Tang Family, en own, was dead. Madam Tang was so devastated that she spat out a mouthful of blood and passed away at en own's funeral.

The vast Tang Family estate fell entirely into the hands of the unworthy descendant, Second Master Tang. The Tang Family's several concubine-born sons were also good-for-nothing wastrels. From this, one could see the Tang Family's end was in sight.

As for the Immortal Chen Mingyuan, who had been invited by the imperial court to suppress Longhu Mountain and the Red Lotus Cult, he enjoyed himself in Yanggu County for quite a while before leaving reluctantly.

Learning that Chen Mingyuan had finally left, Ye Jing also finally felt at ease. He climbed Longhu Mountain again to check for treasures at that stone altar.

He even specifically brought Hei Feng along. Perhaps the place where the Spirit Stones were kept would have a specialized Formation. If they were trapped, Hei Feng could use his Divine Ability to devour the barrier.

Besides Hei Feng, he also specially had a flock of crows secretly guard Longhu Mountain. Fortunately, no one had approached the stone altar in the past few days.

It seemed Chen Mingyuan had truly slaughtered all the bandits on Longhu Mountain.

Ye Jing felt slightly more at ease as he walked onto the scorched and barren mountain forest. Only thin, new green leaves were poking out from the ground; it was a scene of desolation.

Thinking back to when the Red Lotus Cult was so powerful in Yanggu County, now they were nothing more than a handful of yellow earth, turned to ash.

The place was deserted, with only gusts of eerie wind.

Amidst his reflections, Ye Jing walked into the empty stone altar area. He still remembered the eerie rune his second son had found while feeling the stone wall.

He also crouched down and began searching, soon finding the smooth rune and pressing it gently.

With a soft "click," a circle of hidden patterns suddenly lit up on the surface of the stone altar, centered on the rune.

Immediately after, the entire platform of the stone altar slowly lifted, revealing a dark, square secret passage.

Ye Jing's eyes lit up instantly. He lit a fire starter, and after checking that no one was around, he stepped into the secret passage.

As he walked further in, Ye Jing saw a stone platform deep within the secret passage.

On it sat a box, with runes floating above it, seemingly sealing the contents inside.

Beside the box lay a yellowed booklet and a black Command Token.

These must be the treasures left behind by the Red Lotus Cult.