279: Chapter 279 High-Value News

However, what concerned the high-level officials of the four Sects even more than this was another matter: the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of Pingling Prefecture were blocked, yet the Golden Core Ancestors were allowed to leave.

With eight Golden Core Cultivators present, even if they were injured, keeping Elder Jiang and the others behind would have been as easy as turning over a hand, yet they chose not to act.

What did this indicate? It indicated that those Golden Core Immortals of Pingling Prefecture had intentionally let them return to deliver the news.

As for the purpose, there were only two possibilities.

First, the treasure at the bottom of the ravine had not been swallowed by the Demon King, or there were still treasures remaining, and Pingling Prefecture could not handle it alone and wanted to pull Qinghe Prefecture in to share the risk.

Second, it was a deliberate attempt to lure the Golden Core Immortals of Qinghe Prefecture there to provoke the Demon King, using a borrowed knife to weaken Qinghe Prefecture's high-end combat power.

Despite this, that same night, the four Sects each made their decisions.

Tiangang Sect: White-Haired Ancestor (Late Golden Core Stage) personally set out, bringing another Middle Stage Golden Core Ancestor with him.

Qingxuan Sect, Hundred Beasts Gate, and Wanfa Pavilion: Each dispatched one Middle Stage Golden Core and one Early Stage Golden Core Ancestor.

Eight Golden Core Cultivators in total, including one Late Golden Core Stage, four Middle Stage Golden Core, and three Early Stage Golden Core.

The next morning, eight figures soared into the sky from the mountain gates of each Sect in Qinghe Prefecture, speeding toward the Monster Beast Mountain Range.

After Su Yunling returned to the Heming City station, she announced she would enter seclusion to heal her injuries; once back in her room, she set up a layer of isolation Formation.

She sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed; although she hadn't been injured in the battle during this trip, her mental energy was heavily depleted.

After a brief period of regulating her breathing, Su Yunling closed her eyes and mentally reviewed the day's events from beginning to end.

In the end, she reached the same understanding as the Sect's high-level officials.

Therefore, she had to tell this news to her younger brother, Su Cheng. The Danding Sect should be interested in a Peak Golden Core demon python, right?

Su Cheng was at the Danding Sect, which had a grand isolation array; ordinary communication talismans could not send messages directly into the Sect's interior.

However, Su Yunling was aware of her brother's relationship with the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce's Zhenpin Pavilion; this line of communication was open.

She took out a communication Jade Slip, recorded everything that had happened that day into it, and added a sentence at the end: "There may be a great Opportunity at the bottom of the ravine; judge for yourself."

After sealing the Jade Slip, she used a communication talisman to send the message to the Zhenpin Pavilion in the Qinghe Prefecture City, with the recipient being Vice President Liu Xing.

Zhenpin Pavilion was responsible for all of Su Yunling's cultivation resources during the Foundation Establishment Stage, so they were naturally in frequent contact.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Xing did not dare to delay and immediately forwarded it to Fang Zhenhai at the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Tianlan Province City.

After Fang Zhenhai received it, he immediately transmitted the message content to a chamber member stationed at the market outside the Danding Sect's mountain gate, instructing them to personally go up the mountain to deliver the letter.

The news reached Su Cheng's hands early the next morning.

At that time, Su Cheng was in seclusion within his Qingmu Peak Immortal Cave. The wanbao mirror was suspended before him in the form of a Pill Furnace, with Abyssal Purple Fires flickering inside the hearth. A batch of first-grade top-grade qi recovery pills was in the final stages of Formation.

The Formation outside the Immortal Cave was triggered, and then a voice drifted in.

"Junior Brother Su, someone is looking for you. They say it's an urgent letter from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, sent by your sister," Chen Yuan's voice came from outside the door.

Su Cheng's hand movements paused.

News from his sister, sent through the chamber's channels, and an urgent letter at that.

He stabilized the heat within the Pill Furnace, diverted a wisp of Divine Sense to maintain the Alchemy process, and stood up to open the door.

Chen Yuan stood at the door, holding a sealed Jade Slip in his hand.

"People from the chamber are waiting outside the mountain gate. They said it's an urgent transmission and specifically named you as the recipient. I happened to run into the gate-keeping Disciple when he came in to deliver the message, so I made the trip for you."

Su Cheng took the Jade Slip, expressed his thanks, and then closed the Immortal Cave.

His Divine Sense probed into the Jade Slip, and the information recorded by Su Yunling surfaced one by one in his Sea of Consciousness.

The four Sects of Pingling Prefecture had blockaded the Soul-Severing Ravine.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the two prefectures had clashed.

Eight Golden Core Cultivators entered the Soul-Severing Ravine, and all escaped heavily injured.

Two Nether-molt Pythons at the bottom of the ravine had broken through to the Peak Golden Core Stage.

Su Cheng set the Jade Slip down and returned to the Pill Furnace, digesting this information while maintaining the Alchemy.

Soul-Severing Ravine—he had an impression of this place name. Fang Zhenhai had reported it before: Pingling Prefecture Cultivators were massing in the heart of the Monster Beast Mountain Range, with the suspected target being Soul-Severing Ravine. However, due to the obstruction of toxic miasma, spies could not get close, and specific details had remained uninvestigated.

Although Su Cheng didn't know exactly what was at the bottom of the ravine, the value of something that could make the four Sects of Pingling Prefecture dispatch eight Golden Core Cultivators to take the risk, and allow two Late Golden Core demon kings to break through to the Peak, was self-evident.

Of course, it was also possible that the treasure had already been completely consumed by the demon kings; after all, breaking through to the Peak Golden Core Stage itself required a massive Opportunity.

But even if the treasure was gone, two Peak Golden Core demon pythons were themselves mobile treasuries. Demon cores, snake blood, snake bones, snake gall, snake scales—which of these wasn't a top-tier material for Alchemy and Artifact Refining?

Late Golden Core Stage demon beast Materials were already rare, but the Peak Golden Core Stage was on an entirely different level. After all, the next step was the Nascent Soul, and every inch of their bodies was worth a fortune.

However, as for this matter, if he thought about trying to get a piece of the pie himself, it was simply out of the question.

Two Peak Golden Core demon pythons, combined with the toxic miasma environment at the bottom of the ravine—never mind an Early Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator like him, even if he brought all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce, they would just be fodder.

This was a gamble at the Golden Core or even Nascent Soul level; he was not yet qualified to sit at the table.

But the value of this information itself was already immense.

To the Danding Sect, items from a Peak Golden Core demon king were all supreme treasures for Alchemy and Artifact Refining. Which Golden Core Elder in the Sect wouldn't be envious?

Su Cheng thought for a moment. After the qi recovery pills in the furnace took shape and were stored in jade bottles, he put away the wanbao mirror, straightened his robes, left the Immortal Cave, and flew toward the summit of Qingmu Peak.

Upon reaching the summit, Su Cheng arrived outside his Revered Master's Immortal Cave and knocked as a Disciple.

"Come in."

Elder Qingmu was inside tending to a three-hundred-year-old Green Heart Lotus. Knowing that this Disciple of his didn't visit without a reason, he inquired, "What is it?"

"This Disciple has received news that a major change has occurred at the Soul-Severing Ravine in the Monster Beast Mountain Range."

Su Cheng briefly recounted the news, without mentioning the names of the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce or Su Yunling, only saying it was news he had obtained by chance.

Elder Qingmu's hand tending the Green Heart Lotus stopped, and he turned around to look solemnly at Su Cheng.

"Is the news true?"

"Absolutely certain."

"Two Peak Golden Core Nether-molt Pythons?"

"Yes. Eight Golden Core Immortals from Pingling Prefecture entered the ravine together, and all escaped heavily injured. I suspect the four Sects of Qinghe Prefecture will likely send Golden Core Immortals there in the near future as well. Although it's uncertain if the treasure at the bottom still exists, the two Peak Golden Core demon pythons are a solid reality."

Elder Qingmu fell silent for a moment. He was a Middle Stage Golden Core Cultivator who specialized in the Way of Grass and Wood, and was naturally sensitive to Heaven And Earth Treasures in the Monster Beast Mountain Range.

A Peak Golden Core demon python—one step further and it would be a Nascent Soul demon beast. Demon beast Materials of this level were rarely seen in the entire Tianlan Province.

The python's demon core, snake bones, snake blood, and snake gall—which of these wasn't a top-tier material for Alchemy?

Especially a Peak Golden Core demon core. If it could be refined into a Medicinal Pill, it could increase the success rate for a Peak Golden Core Cultivator to break through to the Nascent Soul stage; it was on an entirely different level from a Late Golden Core demon core.

But he soon shook his head.

"Peak Golden Core demon pythons, plus the geographical advantage of the ravine floor and the enhancement of the toxic miasma..." Elder Qingmu calculated as if talking to himself, "I'd be going to my death. Unless..."

He looked at Su Cheng: "You told me this, what do you want me to do?"

Su Cheng shook his head: "Revered Master, you must be joking. This Disciple wouldn't dare presume whether you are interested, but the news shouldn't just rot in my hands. After all, one shouldn't let fertile water flow into someone else's field!"

Elder Qingmu stared at him for two breaths, then suddenly laughed.

"You brat, your mind is certainly quick." He sat back down on the stone stool, "But you're right, who wouldn't want a Peak Golden Core demon core?"