Chapter Thirty-One: A Spiritual Vein
Su Yizhao took a deep breath.
Seventy or eighty thousand cultivators fixed their gazes on him, waiting for him to speak.
One breath, two breaths passed...
Yet, unexpectedly, Su Yizhao remained silent!
He simply brushed his hand over the storage pouch at his waist, and a flash of light appeared. With his right hand, he caught and gripped something tightly.
Seeing this, the crowd’s eyes shifted to his right fist, their expressions varied, each making their own guesses.
Suddenly!
Xuan Wujie, seated on the high seat, rose to his feet!
“What is this?” Su Yizhao, seeing his reaction, felt reassured and remained silent.
He gently extended his right fist toward Xuan Wujie.
“What are you doing?”
“Do you intend to assassinate the Sect Master?”
The First and Second Elders questioned sharply in unison.
No one paid them any mind!
Assassinate the Sect Master? Ridiculous!
All eyes saw a gleaming stone leaving his hand, floating slowly toward Xuan Wujie.
Almost impatient, Xuan Wujie beckoned with his right hand before anyone could see clearly, and the stone flew into his grasp.
He closed his eyes, sensing it briefly, and sighed, “This is the feeling!”
Su Yizhao watched him calmly.
Seventy or eighty thousand disciples’ gazes focused on the gleaming stone in Xuan Wujie’s right hand.
The stone was about the size of an ordinary Xuan Stone. From a distance, aside from its crystal brightness, there was nothing particularly extraordinary about it.
The entire assembly held their breath; the silence was absolute.
Suddenly, Xuan Wujie’s eyes snapped open, two sharp beams shooting forth as he asked urgently, “How much do you have?”
The crowd was clearly shaken by this anxious question.
From the moment he appeared, Xuan Wujie had effortlessly dominated the hall, every word and action calm to the extreme. Even when he had just struck down a Six Spirits Realm cultivator, he had shown no emotion. Yet now, he was so agitated—what exactly was that gleaming stone?
Su Yizhao slowly extended his index finger.
“One piece?” Xuan Wujie asked, disappointed.
Su Yizhao shook his head slightly and said softly, “A whole vein.”
“A vein?” Xuan Wujie could barely contain himself, his voice, powered by Xuan energy, resounding through the entire mountain range. “Where is it?”
Cheng Jiaojiao visibly breathed a sigh of relief; the three great elders’ expressions darkened.
Su Yizhao felt the small hand at his waist loosen slightly. He asked calmly, “Does this count as a matter concerning the life and death of our sect?”
Xuan Wujie froze.
Seventy or eighty thousand cultivators froze as well.
To dare to keep the Sect Master in suspense—what courage!
Yet Xuan Wujie did not lose his temper; he regained his composure.
His gaze swept over the three elders.
The First Elder, regaining his wits, stared at Su Yizhao and said in a deep voice, “Is that a Spirit Stone? Boy, a Spirit Stone vein is indeed important, but it’s not as dire as you claim. If you had reported it earlier, we’d have sent people to mine it, and the sect would have credited you accordingly. How can you say it concerns the sect’s very survival? Moreover, how dare you kill a fellow disciple within the sect?”
“That’s right. You discovered a Spirit Stone vein and have rendered a great service to the sect. Naturally, your previous crimes can be forgiven. But as a disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall, you should not abuse your merit to act recklessly and kill other sect members!”
“And besides, not only did you fail to report the discovery in time, you even dared to mine it privately. Is your storage pouch full of Spirit Stones?”
The three elders lowered their voices, questioning him one after another.
Su Yizhao was speechless.
The crowd was stunned.
Right and wrong were turned upside down!
Such blatant sophistry!
Spirit Stones!
Their spiritual energy was ten times that of Xuan energy! Even the lowest grade Spirit Stones far surpassed even the finest Xuan Stones by two or three times!
Most crucially, on the entire continent, Spirit Stones were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns—each one used was one less in the world.
For cultivation, they were as easy to absorb as drinking water!
For breakthroughs, effortless!
And yet, they claimed it wasn’t important?
Su Yizhao had anticipated this reaction. He ignored the three and simply looked to Xuan Wujie.
At his lower back, Li Xiumoon’s small hand once again tightened.
“Discovering a Spirit Stone vein is enough to absolve all your past offenses, including disturbing my slumber,” Xuan Wujie said, his gaze sharp. “Is that acceptable?”
Su Yizhao shook his head.
Since no one else seemed to be in a hurry, he would be all the more composed.
Truthfully, he had had no intention of reporting the Spirit Stone vein—wouldn’t it be wonderful to secretly mine it himself?
But alas, those two had rushed back at the time, surely to report it to the sect.
By now, the Xuan Body Sect and the Xuan Soul Sect were probably already on their way!
“Sect Master, besides myself, two others also know about the Spirit Stone vein.” He remained unhurried.
Xuan Wujie straightened, “Two others? Who are they? Their merit will also be recorded—how about that?”
Clearly, he thought Su Yizhao was trying to bring others in on the secret.
Under these circumstances, he had to allow it.
Around the grand hall, seventy or eighty thousand cultivators craned their necks, glancing about, then shook their heads.
At that moment, everyone wished Su Yizhao would name them.
No one knew exactly how great the merit was, for no one had ever discovered a Spirit Stone vein before!
But for the Sect Master to agree without hesitation, it was clearly an unimaginable contribution.
The First Elder sighed in relief. “The Sect Master is magnanimous; shouldn’t you thank him? Your past mistakes are wiped clean. Now, who are the other two? Surely, they’re not the Elders?”
Su Yizhao smiled.
The Xuan Qi Sect governed a territory of four or five hundred thousand miles, truly a major sect.
But this First Elder—how could he be so narrow-minded?
Even now, he was bent on suppressing dissenters!
The Second Elder, thinking Su Yizhao didn’t understand, added, “The Elders haven’t left in days. Besides, as an Elder, she should contribute to the sect without seeking credit.”
Su Yizhao shook his head, looking rather disappointed. He sighed, “Sect Master, those two are not disciples of our sect. Is that clear enough?”
A sharp crack rang out!
The previously silent seventy or eighty thousand cultivators were instantly jolted awake!
Xuan Wujie slapped the armrest of his chair and shot to his feet. “Not from our sect? Then could it be...?”
Su Yizhao’s lips curled. “That’s right. One from the Xuan Body Sect, one from the Xuan Soul Sect.”
“Ah!”
The elders in the hall reacted first, their faces draining of color.
Most among the seventy or eighty thousand cultivators had heard of those two sects, and immediately began whispering and discussing in hushed tones.
“When did this happen?” Xuan Wujie’s brows knitted tightly.
“Ten days ago.”
“Ten days—enough time for them to cross our territory! Why wait ten days?” Xuan Wujie’s fury was palpable.
Su Yizhao pointed his right hand at the three elders. “Their families tried to kill me. I was gravely wounded and dared not return!”
“You!” Xuan Wujie turned to glare at the three elders.
The First Elder trembled and hastily admitted, “Sect Master, we had no idea!”
A Spirit Stone vein was important, yes, but if no one else knew, the sect could mine it slowly.
The problem was, the other two sects knew as well. That was the real crisis!
A matter of life and death for the sect!
The Xuan Qi Sect, Xuan Body Sect, and Xuan Soul Sect had been entangled in a thousand-year grudge. Whenever they met, it was a fight to the death, with no hope of reconciliation.
Fortunately, the balance of power had been even for years, resulting in a three-way stalemate and no large-scale wars.
But if one sect’s strength suddenly declined, the other two would waste no time in devouring it.
And a Spirit Stone vein could absolutely elevate a sect’s power overnight.
Of course, not every disciple could foresee this.
But as Sect Master, Xuan Wujie understood all too well.
The more he thought about it, the darker his expression grew. In a flash, he turned to the three elders and said coldly, “The three family heads—strip them of their positions and expel them from their clans. The three of you, bow your heads and apologize! Now!”
Family heads expelled from their clans? Elders forced to apologize?
The seventy or eighty thousand cultivators outside fell instantly silent.
Could it truly be this serious?