Chapter 62 Turmoil

The entire mansion was as bright as day. Although it was the season of snow, it was as warm as spring and summer. The flower gardens were full of colorful flowers, and the grass and trees in the courtyard were lush and green.

In the spacious hall, the dignified middle-aged man did not speak immediately. The brief silence made Cui Hong, who stood with his hands at his sides, feel as if he were facing a towering mountain.

“Leave him plenty of money so he can live a life of comfort and wealth there.”

The man with long arms, Cui Hong, immediately nodded in agreement, but then cautiously asked again, “If he has already been reborn, do we need to…?”

The middle-aged man spoke up: “The methods in the silk scroll cannot be practiced.”

“If he has already abandoned the silk book and, in that remote and barren region, has switched to other methods to survive and embarked on a new path…” Cui Hong asked cautiously.

The middle-aged man stood up and stood in front of a thick pillar engraved with cloud patterns. Looking at the garden dotted with pavilions and towers, with beautiful scenery at every turn, he said, “Let him live a normal life, settle down there completely, be prosperous and peaceful. That’s enough.”

Although Cui Hong nodded, he felt it was quite a tricky matter. The current situation was easy to handle, but who knew if trouble would come his way in the future?

Before he left, he said, “If he is no longer here, if he did not survive, I will give him a proper burial.”

The dignified middle-aged man grunted in agreement, indicating that he could leave.

…

The destruction of Jinji Ridge was like a hurricane sweeping across the region, and the villages outside the mountains naturally erupted in cheers.

The forces rooted in this area were stunned and shocked, such as certain chambers of commerce, patrol groups, and even the strange creatures in the mountains were alarmed.

“The scene was horrific. I went to see it, and there were wild beasts fighting over food. Not even a single intact bone was left.”

“Gao Yi of Jinji Ridge, when they collected protection tax last time, they said they fought against the aliens in the Great Rift Valley to protect us, and almost got wiped out. I didn’t believe them then. But now I’m convinced. They kept their word and really wiped us all out, feeding the mutated creatures!”

Some people mocked them, which shows how unpopular Jinjiling was. Upon learning of their deaths, they were practically cheering everywhere.

“Which great hero did this? Please accept my bow!” someone shouted excitedly.

Many people know that the two bandits of Golden Rooster Ridge are four-time reborn individuals, and a few who know the inside story also know that there is an old golden rooster that has mutated five times, making it one of the strongest forces in the area.

As a result, they were wiped out overnight.

Some chambers of commerce sent people there, and some experienced mountain patrollers also accompanied them.

“The remains of the alien creatures after they ate their fill have knife marks, gunshot wounds, and arrow holes, which means that three powerful individuals must have joined forces to flatten Golden Rooster Ridge,” someone analyzed seriously.

One of the patrolmen spoke up: “The one wielding the knife must be a master; the bone he cut through was without a single crack, the cut surface as smooth as a mirror. The one wielding the spear is also extraordinary; the force of each thrust is consistent, and the bullet holes in the bone look like they were meticulously polished. The archer is probably the weakest of the three; although his accuracy is terrifyingly good, and he single-handedly killed most of the bandits, his arm strength is less than two thousand jin.”

Qin Ming was speechless when he heard this comment.

Some larger organizations, upon learning of this, also began to pay attention to the matter.

Because behind Golden Rooster Ridge are gold bandits, whose activities span a vast area and are not limited to the area radiating from Crimson Cloud City.

Now someone is showing no mercy and has wiped out one of their strongholds.

Subsequently, some hidden details were uncovered: not all the people of Jinji Ridge were wiped out; two survivors escaped that night.

The two men had gone to join the gold thieves, but before they left, they spread the word.

“Our leader died a terrible death. When we returned to the mountain stronghold, we could hear their shouts from afar. They mentioned the city lord and the mountain protectors from the outside world.”

At this point, the case seems to have come to light, and many people have their own speculations.

Then news came from the other side that Meng Xinghai, the new city lord of Chixia City, had passed through this place that night and had met with the old mountain lord.

Later, some people in Qingsong Town also claimed that they saw a recluse arrive at the inn that night with two golden-armored mountain guardians.

“This new city lord is very powerful; we’ll have to be careful when dealing with him in the future.”

“Even those outside the secular world have entered the fray? Hmm, there’s a rumor that Meng Xinghai was seen walking with a woman in feathered robes; it seems it’s them after all.”

Some organizations are pondering this matter. They don’t care about the fate of Jinji Ridge, but rather they are studying what kind of person the new city lord, Meng Xinghai, is.

Li Qingyue was also paying attention, wanting to know the reason why Cui Chonghe did this, and the consequences that followed. She never expected that the “melon” would fall on her head.

She was an eyewitness and knew who committed the crime, yet she was falsely accused.

Most importantly, even Meng Xinghai was implicated and blamed, with everyone believing that the new city lord was extremely domineering and difficult to get along with, and that he might be about to take action against the gold thieves.

“Uncle Meng, I’m so sorry. You went to Black and White Mountain to ask for the Yin-Yang Elixir for me, but people misunderstood you…” Li Qingyue said apologetically.

The destruction of Jinji Ridge is a minor matter; they certainly deserve to be killed. However, the misjudgment of Meng Xinghai’s character and subsequent actions by various parties could have significant consequences.

Meng Xinghai, dressed in a blue robe, looked to be about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. Although he looked like a scholar, he spoke with a strong voice. He shook his head and said, “It’s alright. I have corresponded with the Lord of Lingxu City and we have communicated before. He originally wanted to lure the Golden Bandits out of Jinji Ridge so that he could hunt them down. I was also going to do this. I’m not afraid of any misjudgment from the parties involved.”

He then added, “What I got from the mountain lord were branches of the black and white tree, and Lingxu also has roots. I’ll get you a portion later.”

“Thank you, Uncle Meng.”

“Why are you being so polite with me? Actually, this kind of thing can be resolved with just a word from your family or your master.”

Li Qingyue shook her head and said, “The Yin-Yang Elixir is very important to those outside the secular world. Right now, more than one powerful sect is eyeing it, either writing letters to ask for it or sending people over. If we are a step behind, we may fall behind and make a wasted trip.”

Meng Xinghai said, “Your path is enviable and truly brilliant, unmatched by any other path. In just a few years, you might catch up with me.”

…

The destruction of Jinji Ridge has had far-reaching consequences, with different reactions from large organizations to local forces.

For example, the Three-Eyed Cult, contrary to its usual practice, actually sent people to various villages to inquire if any strange beings were causing havoc nearby, offering to help eliminate them, and their attitude was extremely friendly.

They even sent food and provided relief to some of the most impoverished villages.

The first reaction of the crowd was that the Three-Eyed Cult had gone mad. It was one thing if they didn’t exploit people, but why were they actually helping them out?

Soon, people realized that the local Three-Eyed Sect leaders had chickened out, fearing they would suffer the same fate as those at Jinji Ridge and be wiped out. Now they wanted to earn some good reputation to protect themselves.

“Let me tell you, the hero who flattened Golden Rooster Ridge that day was someone else. He rode on a purple lightning beast and held a Sky-Splitting Spear. He was truly heroic and valiant. He single-handedly wiped out that group of mountain bandits and beheaded Old Golden Rooster. He even came to our Green Pine Town, scaring all the members of the Three-Eyed Sect into fleeing overnight.”

Finally, someone revealed a very reliable piece of information, but it was difficult to dig deeper, as all the clues had already been exhausted.

Some people tried to contact the other side, but when they heard that they wanted to inquire about the Purple Lightning Beast, some of the mountain monsters immediately turned hostile and had no intention of getting involved.

People realized that the purple lightning beast had quite a background.

“I’m so angry! Is this mess never going to end? Is it going to become a dark chapter in my history?” In the mountains, the Purple Lightning Beast bristled and summoned the white owl again, asking if there were any clues about the outsider. If not, it should send more people immediately.

The owl said, “Black and White Mountain is not our home turf after all, and it will take time to investigate.”

…

Qin Ming had been practicing the Yellow Mud Palm for a long time, and he had not only made initial progress, but had also reached a certain level of proficiency. When his soft strength was activated and his Heavenly Light Strength was unleashed, it was extremely terrifying.

He found a bison to test it, and with a gentle tap of his right hand, the flesh, organs, and bones beneath its tough hide were quickly destroyed and smashed to pieces.

“It’s not suitable for sparring; any move would result in death or injury,” Qin Ming muttered to himself.

What he was most looking forward to was the Yellow Mud Palm after it was infused with the essence of the earth; that was the ultimate skill he wanted to master.

Before leaving, Qin Ming wanted to find one or two more ancient books and asked Old Man Liu to help him look for them. There was indeed a declining family, but their price was too high. After learning that the Wu family had accepted fifteen gold coins, they asked for fifty gold coins right away.

“Could you inquire about the type of’skylight beam’ they use?”

Old Liu said, “No need to ask around, everyone knows it’s the Nail Force, it’s really powerful, but the price is outrageous.”

“Even if they lowered the price to one gold coin, I wouldn’t even look at it!” Qin Ming said.

He sighed with some emotion. This remote place indeed had a limited number of secret manuals, with only a few circulating. He had already practiced the so-called nail force, which was the very force that the burly man with the bushy beard who wrote “I wish I could practice the Buddha’s force” in the sword manual had gone through countless hardships to find.

Two days later, Qin Ming prepared to travel far away and did not want to disturb too many people. Before leaving, he went to the courtyard next door.

After eating the fire snake meat, Lu Ze not only recovered from his injuries extremely quickly, but also experienced a rebirth.

Qin Ming told him that there was a fire snake that had mutated twice frozen in his cellar. He was told to eat it before spring arrived, and if his potential wasn’t too bad, it might be able to be reborn.

Qin Ming brought back two large snakes and six small snakes. He didn’t even finish eating one of the large snakes himself, and he also shared some of the meat soup with Old Man Liu to help him recover from his injuries.

The Lu couple were shocked and immediately understood who had wiped out the patrol team.

“Xiao Qin, are you really leaving?!” They were very reluctant to see him go.

Qin Ming nodded and said, “I want to go and see the world.”

“Uncle, will you come back?” Wenrui wiped away her tears and hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go.

Two-year-old Wenhui couldn’t speak very fluently yet, but he knew his uncle was leaving, so he looked up and called out to him incoherently.

“They’ll be back.” Qin Ming patted the two children’s heads.

Before parting, he handed some handwritten martial arts manuals to Lu Ze, telling him to practice them well and that he could teach them to Wen Rui later.

“First, master the art of blending in with the world. In case you are reborn a second time in a very short period of time, it can help you conceal it.”

Qin Ming forbade them to see him off, and carrying the mutton-fat jade iron knife, he disappeared outside the village at an extremely fast speed.

Old Liu and the others stood in the snow in the distance, specially there to see them off.

At the same time, a huge raptor carrying Cui Hong and a young man in fine clothes pierced through the night fog, crossed the vast land, and arrived at the Black and White Mountain area. After circling around for a long time, it slowly descended into the snow outside Silver Vine Town.

Some readers have said that Cui Chongxuan mastered the Heavenly Light Force at the age of thirteen, which they believe is incorrect. This is not a problem, as it was briefly discussed in Chapter 55.