Chapter Seventy-Six: News

Leaving the City Lord’s mansion, Zhou Qi’s heart felt heavy. He had half a year to find the Dragon Pearl to cure Huangfu Xiu, yet he had no clue where to look for the Dragon Burial Valley. He needed to locate it as soon as possible, otherwise Huangfu Xiu’s fate would be sealed.

“Brother, what’s wrong?” Jiu’er asked from beside him, noticing that Zhou Qi had been in low spirits since leaving the mansion.

“I’m fine,” Zhou Qi replied in a low voice. “Jiu’er, have you ever heard of the Dragon Clan?”

Jiu’er nodded thoughtfully. “I think so. Among the demon clans, there are legends and tales about the Dragon Clan, but those are just stories, not very reliable. Everyone knows the Dragon Clan once existed, but no one has ever seen them or knows their whereabouts.”

Hearing this, Zhou Qi could only resign himself to finding another way to gather information.

The Listening Wind Pavilion was a place in Quanan City specializing in the sale of intelligence. After some inquiries, Zhou Qi brought Jiu’er to its doors, hoping to find clues about Dragon Burial Valley.

The pavilion was grand, with a steady stream of visitors coming and going. Above the entrance were the words “Listening Book Pavilion,” and a couplet adorned the sides: “Hear the wind, and it is wind; hear the rain, and it is rain.” The implication was that all information sold by the Listening Wind Pavilion was genuine and verified.

As long as you had enough spirit stones, whether it was ancient events, the affairs of great clans, or the secrets of powerful figures, the pavilion would find a way to procure intelligence for you—even down to the number of birthmarks on a saintess of a major sect. Their confidence in their abilities was evident.

Zhou Qi led Jiu’er into the main hall, which was filled with cultivators exchanging information.

A middle-aged cultivator dressed like a fortune-teller appeared before Zhou Qi, holding a palm fan, his neatly trimmed beard giving him an air of immortal elegance.

“What is it you seek, fellow cultivator?” he asked.

“The matter of Dragon Burial Valley,” Zhou Qi replied after a moment’s consideration.

“Something related to dragons? That is an ancient matter indeed. Ancient affairs are costly, for the passage of time makes them difficult to verify. Even if we cannot provide exactly what you seek, the fee still applies,” the middle-aged cultivator said leisurely.

Zhou Qi nodded. He was merely trying his luck—when even the True Lord of Tianxuan did not know the whereabouts of Dragon Burial Valley, any shred of information from the Listening Wind Pavilion would be worth the price.

“Please follow me,” the cultivator said, seeing Zhou Qi’s agreement. He led the pair to a quiet chamber to wait.

A short time later, he returned bearing a scroll, asking for ten thousand lower-grade spirit stones.

Zhou Qi paid the fee and unrolled the scroll to read: Dragon Burial Valley, the legendary resting place of dragons. When a dragon died, it would be sent here for burial. The valley was filled with arrays set by the Dragon Clan, and the accumulated death aura from so many dragons made it a perilous place for cultivators.

Before ancient times, Dragon Burial Valley was located in the central region of the Tianxuan Continent. Back then, the continent had not yet been divided into four domains. After the division, it was speculated by the Listening Wind Pavilion that the valley was most likely in the eastern part of the Huangxuan Domain, though the exact location remained unknown.

The eastern part of Huangxuan Domain? That was the territory of the Daoist sects. At least it wasn’t in another domain, which would have made the journey even longer. If the valley still existed, it might no longer bear its old name; he would simply have to search the Daoist-controlled lands for places considered forbidden by humans, and one by one he would surely find it.

With this information, Zhou Qi felt much more at ease. He decided to inquire further about the Heavenly Dao Sect, to gauge how determined they were in pursuing him.

He spent another five thousand spirit stones. The middle-aged cultivator informed him that the Heavenly Dao Sect had secretly dispatched a number of cultivators in the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation stages to various locations in search of a cultivator named Zhou Qi. It was rumored that Zhou Qi had stolen something from the sect’s saintess, though the pavilion did not know exactly what.

Moreover, two subordinates—Long Chengye, the deputy sect master of the Heavenly Gate, and Zi Qing, the master of the Purple Jade Gate—had covertly hired assassins to hunt Zhou Qi, dead or alive. It was said their sons’ deaths were linked to Zhou Qi. Their actions were hidden from the Heavenly Dao Sect; if not for the remarkable methods of the Listening Wind Pavilion, this information would never have surfaced.

Zhou Qi was stunned by the news. He hadn’t expected Zi Qing and Long Chengye to remain so intent on his demise. The fifteen thousand spirit stones he had spent were well worth it; without his disguise technique, he might have been attacked in the street by enemies.

He decided to leave Quanan City with Jiu’er. Once his disguise wore off and he reverted to his true appearance, he risked being recognized. The Heavenly Dao Sect had managed to track him as far as the Huangfu Clan’s territory, and surely more than one would come after him, especially with many eyes watching him at the auction house. Who knew when a cultivator might suddenly ambush him?

He had planned to use the teleportation array to return to Suiye City, but discovered it only worked one way—from Suiye to Quanan. This was understandable; as Quanan was a subordinate city, if trouble arose, the Huangfu Clan could quickly take control. If Suiye faced trouble, Huangfu’s branch cultivators in Quanan would be of little use.

Thus, Zhou Qi had no choice but to leave the city with Jiu’er, traveling by sword flight. It would take about five days to reach Suiye City at his current speed, and since his sword flight was low, he had to avoid obstacles, slowing him even further. There was nothing he could do—his psychological scars wouldn’t heal so quickly.

Fortunately, Jiu’er did not look down on him; she gently leaned on her brother. “Brother, someone’s coming.”

Zhou Qi followed her gaze and saw a shameless old man in tattered clothes, empty-handed, walking toward Quanan City.

Zhou Qi was delighted. Wasn’t this the cultivator who had tried to rob him before? The last time he escaped; now, let’s see where he’ll run. Zhou Qi stopped his sword flight and walked toward the old man with Jiu’er, disguising his cultivation as the fifth level of Qi Refining.

A pair of ordinary-looking, slightly ugly husband and wife—perfectly plausible. Now to see if the old man would take the bait.

The old man muttered as he walked, “Is there any justice left in this world? Outside the Huangfu Clan’s territory, it’s become a den of bandits. I must be cursed for eight generations; I shouldn’t have tried to rob that young cultivator. If I hadn’t gone after his spiritual artifact, it wouldn’t have been destroyed.”

“If the artifact hadn’t been destroyed, I wouldn’t have gone to Suiye City. If I hadn’t gone there, I wouldn’t have been robbed myself. If heaven gave me another chance, I wouldn’t…”

“It’s all that brat’s fault—flying so low, made me misjudge him. Foundation Establishment cultivator pretending to be weak; does he think he’s so powerful?”

“My cultivation isn’t high, but I still couldn’t beat him.”

The old man seemed lost in his own madness, paying no heed to Zhou Qi and Jiu’er as they approached. Had he changed his ways? Zhou Qi wondered, tempted to act as they brushed past.

“Fellow cultivator, please wait!” The old man finally snapped out of his daze and called out to Zhou Qi and Jiu’er.