Chapter 225: Chapter 234: These Few Spirit Stones May Not Be Enough_1

Two Golden Core Stage cultivators were maneuvering through Luofeng County city. It was clear that they had the route memorized as they deftly avoided the patrol routes of other cultivators scheduled for the night watch.

At this moment, Su Yiren woke Li Haoran up. After listening to his fiancée briefly explaining the ins and outs of the situation, his expression was somewhat strange.

“Senior Brother Meng is finally drawing unwanted attention for flaunting his wealth?”

“What do you mean flaunting? Can’t I tell people that I have money?” Meng Jingzhou widened his eyes. When he was the young master of the Meng Family at the Imperial City, who dared to set their sights on his possessions?

As Su Yiren quietly led the trio in pursuit of the two Golden Core Stage cultivators, jumping from one rooftop to another, out of the corner of his eye, Lu Yang noticed a few silhouettes doing the same thing in the distance.

“Is Luofeng County this lively even at night?”

Lu Yang initially wanted to chase after them and investigate, but he saw the two Golden Core Stage cultivators enter a high-walled compound. Therefore, he decided to prioritize the matter at hand first.

“I remember this is… the County Magistrate’s mansion?” Li Haoran was somewhat hesitant, doubting if his memory was faulty.

The Phoenix Blood Stone worth fifty-five Spirit Stones was indeed precious, but it wasn’t so valuable as to catch the interest of a County Magistrate.

Unless the Phoenix Blood Stone Senior Brother Meng bought contained some hidden secrets.

The high-walled compound was protected by an Array Method – to advance without knowing the method would alert the people inside.

Su Yiren effortlessly bypassed the Array Method and successfully led the three men into the compound.

“Master, we’ve returned.” The two Golden Core Stage cultivators respectfully addressed the middle-aged man standing with his hands behind his back.

Li Haoran had never met the County Magistrate. He didn’t know if this middle-aged man was the County Magistrate or perhaps a steward.

The middle-aged man let out a casual grunt, “Did you get the item?”

Both of them were somewhat embarrassed, “Something unexpected happened. We were worried about causing a commotion, so we didn’t continue to steal that item.”

“Unexpected?”

“Yes, we encountered other people at Li Haoran’s house who were also there to steal the item. Although they didn’t reveal their identities, I suspect they were sent by the Mo Family.”

“What happened? Give me the details.”

The two described the situation truthfully. However, the master became furious upon hearing their account, “Hmph, you were tricked! The people you encountered were not from the Mo Family, but disciples of the Seek Dao Sect!”

“If I’m not mistaken, they’re currently eavesdropping from above the rooftop!”

“Now that I’ve said this much, you might as well come out. Let’s have a frank discussion.”

Li Haoran was alarmed and about to reveal himself, only to be held back by Lu Yang.

Lu Yang shook his head and said nothing.

After the master had waited for quite some time with no one appearing: “It seems those you encountered really are from the Mo Family. It appears the Mo Family is also aware of the existence of that item.”

He had just tried to bluff them.

Yesterday, he received a report from his subordinates that three Seek Dao Sect disciples at the Foundation Establishment Stage had arrived in Luofeng County, one of which was a local. However, he didn’t pay much attention to it.

But to his surprise, this afternoon he got a report from his subordinates that one of the Seek Dao Sect disciples had purchased an extremely rare Phoenix Blood Stone and was looking for similar Phoenix Blood Stones in other shops.

After hearing his subordinates describe what the Phoenix Blood Stone looked like, he was startled and suspected that it was the problematic Phoenix Blood Stone.

It absolutely couldn’t fall into the hands of the Seek Dao Sect. If they discovered anything suspicious, it would spell disaster.

Therefore, he sent two of his men to steal the Phoenix Blood Stone. However, they ran into the Mo Family.

The Mo Family was the leading family in Luofeng County, and held a grudge against him, the County Magistrate. They were always trying to catch him red-handed.

“Tsk, I wonder how that thing got out there. Did you ask at the shop where they sold the item?”

“The man is already not there. We heard from the employees that after the shop owner made a large sum of money, he took his wife and children on a holiday. They won’t be back for a while, and now there are only a few workers left to look after the place.”

“How enviable.”

“Ah, master, what did you just say?”

“Nothing.”

The County Magistrate thought to himself that after he finished this task, he would take his wife and children somewhere else for a change of scenery.

“What did they say about the mine? When will the work be finished? We can’t keep using a mine collapse as an excuse to stop the miners from digging.”

The excuse of a mine collapse could only be used to stall for a while because, in the Cultivation World, they could get a few cultivators with higher realms to directly dig out a new mine.

Taking the County Magistrate himself as an example, if he took action, he could dig through a mine within half a day. However, now he was claiming that his cultivation had encountered a hiccup and that he wouldn’t be able to take action for half a month.

“They’ve said they need three more days.”

“Tell them to speed things up but to also be discreet. We absolutely can’t let outsiders know about this. This matter not only concerns us, but also the interests of the Phoenix Tribe!”

“Yes, sir!”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang and the others were stunned. From what the County Magistrate said, had he colluded with the Phoenix Tribe?

With the arrival of the Great Era, the Central Continent’s tensions intensified with various other forces, both openly and secretly. This included conflicts between the Central Continent and the Demon Race.

Within the Demon Race, some wanted to go to war with the Great Xia Dynasty, while some wanted to reconcile with the Great Xia Dynasty to face the crisis of the Great Era together. Hence, the Demon Race was split between the war faction and peace faction.

“It’s unclear whether the Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Tribe belong to which faction.”

Lu Yang had heard that the Demon Race had sent many spies to infiltrate the Central Continent, intending to cause internal chaos.

“Also, you know how they should be dealt with after completing this task, right?”

At this point, the County Magistrate exhibited a look of reluctance, as if he was torn between his conscience and the need to act.

The two Golden Core Stage cultivators were momentarily stunned, then a murderous intent shone in their eyes.

“You mean… these few days should be considered overtime for them, and they should be compensated with three times their usual pay?”

“Yes.”

The County Magistrate turned back and was taken aback at the expressions of the two Golden Core Stage cultivators.

“Why are you giving me looks like that?”

The two Golden Core Stage cultivators responded in a somewhat resentful tone, “Master, you’ve never mentioned giving us overtime pay when we work night shifts, just like tonight.”

Even if Golden Core Stage cultivators don’t need sleep, you can’t make us work through the day and night!

Our wives are still waiting in bed!

Why do others get paid extra for working overtime, while they get nothing?

“…I’ll give you guys overtime pay.”

“Master, what should we do about the Phoenix Blood Stone?”

“Hmph, since we can’t do it secretly, we’ll do it openly. Tomorrow, pretend to be businessmen. Say that the Phoenix Blood Stone is very rare and offer a high price to buy it!”

“How much?”

“One million Spirit Stones!” The County magistrate was adamant. He simply refused to believe that they wouldn’t be tempted by a quick profit of five hundred thousand Spirit Stones!

The two Golden Core Stage cultivators looked hesitant.

“What is it, speak up.”

“Master, that Seek Dao Sect disciple may not need this amount of Spirit Stones.”

“Then, offer one million and five hundred thousand Spirit Stones!” The County magistrate was ruthless. He simply refused to believe that two million Spirit Stones wouldn’t be enough for them to let go.

“It still might not be enough.”

“Two million!”

“That’s still not enough.”

The County Magistrate fumed, “You tell me, just how much Spirit Stones do they need to let go! I refuse to believe that a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, no matter who they are, won’t be swayed by two million Spirit Stones!”

“We heard that he’s the eldest son of the Meng Family.”

‘Meng Family’ and ‘eldest son’ combined together implied immeasurable power and wealth, which no one dared to provoke.

As the first influential family from the Central Continent, the Meng Family’s fame reached far and wide.

Upon hearing this, the County Magistrate’s anger intensified. He showed no fear of Meng Jingzhou’s status, “So what if he’s the eldest son of the Meng Family? If it comes to that, I’ll go steal it myself tomorrow night!”