185: Chapter 185 The Informant's Scheme

"Splash! Splash! Splash!"

On a cliff a hundred zhang high, a surging waterfall tumbled down, its deafening roar resembling the thundering of thousands of horses and soldiers.

The water crashed into the massive pool below, and mist filled the air, shrouding the entire pool; with every breath, a large amount of water vapor entered the lungs.

Zhong Jiang did not understand why his cousin wanted to come to the Heaven-Reaching Waterfall.

It was not as if no one from the Yun Shang Sect had entered the Soul Stone Secret Realm before; the Yun Shang Sect's maps contained records of the Heaven-Reaching Waterfall.

This was a place completely devoid of resources, lacking even Spiritual Qi, appearing just like the realm of Mortals.

However, he had always been reticent in front of the Zhong Family; even with many doubts, he did not speak up to ask, as if he were just an invisible person.

Zhong Ziqi stood beside the mist-filled pool of the Heaven-Reaching Waterfall, watching the "splash-splash" of the waterfall crashing down and rippling the pool water, his expression deep and inscrutable.

"Cousin, it is very safe here; no one else will come. You do not need to follow me anymore and go to the trouble of protecting me; go find soul stones yourself." Zhong Ziqi's voice was almost lost in the "splash-splash" of the waterfall.

Zhong Jiang had been keeping his Divine Sense on Zhong Ziqi, so he naturally did not miss this; his brows furrowed imperceptibly, but he quickly returned to his silent and obedient appearance.

"Very well!"

Without hesitation or questions, he turned and left.

Zhong Ziqi tilted his head, staring at Zhong Jiang's back as it gradually walked away and became blurred in the mist, the corners of his lips curling slightly.

"You are too smart, cousin."

In his hand, a piece of white jade appeared at some unknown moment.

Within the white jade, the power of a Nascent Soul was flowing.

"Boom!"

Above the white jade, a hurricane appeared.

The hurricane, carrying a terrifying power that could tear through everything, struck towards Zhong Jiang's back.

Zhong Jiang's pupils constricted suddenly; without looking back, he fled desperately forward.

But that heaven-destroying and earth-shattering power behind him was getting closer and closer.

A trace of unwillingness appeared in Zhong Jiang's eyes, and his mother's dazed appearance flashed through his mind.

Perhaps if he were gone, his mother would return to normal!

With no chance of escape, Zhong Jiang could only console himself this way.

He did not even have the spirit left to make a final struggle and drag Zhong Ziqi down to death with him.

If Zhong Ziqi died in the Secret Realm with him, his mother would have no chance of survival.

The dharma robe on his back was torn apart, and a tearing pain came from his back; Zhong Jiang knelt halfway to the ground, completely giving up resistance.

"Swish!"

A blood-red color instantly enveloped Zhong Jiang, followed by the spreading of a river of blood; Zhong Jiang was pushed by an irresistible flow of blood, drifting towards the depths of the blood river.

The hurricane whistled as it lunged at the blood river, like countless wind blades dividing the blood river into countless pieces.

But in just a moment, the blood river reassembled, stubbornly resisting before the hurricane.

A terrifying figure slowly emerged from the blood river, blood flowing through the gaps of its scales, looking like a giant beast covered in blood.

The giant beast opened its mouth, full of fangs, and let out a roar.

"Roar!"

The violent wind, as if wanting to tear the space itself apart, raged outward, centered on the giant beast's maw.

Zhong Ziqi's Nascent Soul attack was instantly torn to shreds.

The terrifying wind swept towards the distance.

Zhong Ziqi, who was at the edge of the Heaven-Reaching Waterfall pool, hadn't even had the thought of jumping into the pool to hide before he was torn into a mixture of flesh and blood by that violent wind.

The Heaven-Reaching Waterfall pool in front could not remain intact in the terrifying storm; in an instant, the pool became an empty pool, and even the waterfall that had never stopped ceased flowing for that fleeting moment.

The Formation at the bottom of the pool was exposed, glowing with spiritual light.

The blood river swallowed up Zhong Ziqi's flesh and blood, better than nothing, and then, carrying Chu Feng and the others, swept them into the center of the teleportation array.

A pile of Spirit Stones was swept onto the teleportation array by the blood river, and the teleportation array emitted a bright light.

When the light vanished, the Spirit Stones and the blood river on the teleportation array were also gone.

"Splash-splash-splash!"

The waterfall swooped down like an eagle, crashing against the Formation and splashing up waves several zhang high.

The sound of the waterfall, like the roar of a beast, reappeared; in less than a moment, the waterfall refilled the pool, and this place returned to its former appearance.

Mist filled the air, erasing one by one the traces of anyone having ever been here.

...

"Dead?"

"How can he be so useless!"

In a dark and cramped underground cave, a thin man with a shifty-eyed appearance cursed in a low voice.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak..."

At the man's feet, a pile of mice squeaked excitedly, climbing onto his feet and body.

This person was none other than the Information Broker!

He irritably shook off the mice descendants on his body and scratched his hair.

"I went to such trouble to find such a suitable candidate to convey news of me being on the Southern Wasteland Island to my master, yet this chess piece was actually wasted just like that!"

"Calculating the time, he should have only just arrived at the Soul Stone Secret Realm on the mainland side, and he died already?"

"That shouldn't be! The Cultivators on the mainland are all arrogant and look down on others; they should have disdained someone like Zhong Ziqi at the Foundation Establishment stage, otherwise I wouldn't have chosen him. Why did he die?"

"Could it be that the fool surnamed Zhong was unluckily caught in the crossfire of a confrontation between Cultivators on the mainland? And lost his life?"

"What a fool. I gave him a thousand warnings and ten thousand instructions: once he gets to the Secret Realm on the mainland, he should hide and act carefully, not be greedy for resources, and when he encounters people fighting, he should run as far away as possible. He didn't listen to a single word!"

The Information Broker paced around in circles, "Sigh, if it weren't for the fact that those Sword Cultivators from the Hidden Sword Immortal Sect are particularly unkind to Demon Cultivators, why would I have to resort to such crooked ways to report back to my master? I would have just hitched a ride and gone back."

"Forget it, the Hidden Sword Immortal Sect route is definitely out of the question. I'd better think about sending messages through the Soul Stone Secret Realm."

"It's not easy to find a suitable candidate like the one surnamed Zhong! He had to have low strength yet possess the status to obtain a spot in the Secret Realm. It was someone I racked my brains to find. I don't know if I can find such a person for the next Secret Realm..."

"Wait, no!"

The Information Broker suddenly slapped his forehead, "I'm stupid! Why must I look for someone with low strength!"

"It's because the Cultivators of the Southern Wasteland are too useless; they would definitely be doomed if they encountered mainland Cultivators, which is why I wanted to find someone with low strength."

"But now, aren't there a group of powerful Southern Wasteland Cultivators!"

The Information Broker's eyes flickered, "Xiao Tian, Su Xin, they are both under twenty years old; when the Soul Stone Secret Realm opens next time, they will still be able to enter."

"By then, their cultivation will no longer be mere Foundation Establishment; they will definitely have reached Core Formation. As long as they can maintain their combat strength, they will have the power to fight among the mainland Cultivators!"

"I don't believe they have no desire to leave this small island of the Southern Wasteland and head to the vast Cultivation World!"

"Especially since Chen Xuanfeng will definitely leave with the Hidden Sword Immortal Sect; they will all know of the mainland's existence and will surely yearn for it even more!"

"Hahaha... Heaven truly never cuts off all paths!" The Information Broker let out a hearty laugh, which echoed in the small underground cave.

The densely packed Demon Mice in the cave also made "squeak-squeak" laughing sounds along with the Information Broker, appearing extremely eerie.

"Unfortunately, Luo Yunkai has left; otherwise, I could have established a cooperation with him. Sigh..."