Yu Biyue woke up to the early morning light. Through the pale dawn, she could still see faint arcs of electricity shimmering across Yi Xieyun's body.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Yi Xieyun turned around and said.
"No, you saved my adoptive parents and me."
"They are just your adoptive parents, right?"
Yu Biyue nodded slightly.
"It is said that the Dark Division has nine squads, and each squad has no more than ten members. Judging by the situation, they might have been completely wiped out. Since we captured Qian Hao and the rest of his subordinates have vanished, their captain is bound to come and investigate. As a member of the merfolk, staying here is extremely dangerous and will implicate your adoptive parents." Yi Xieyun looked Yu Biyue up and down. "Why don't you come back with me to the Peak of Yunxiao?"
"No, I can't go back there. The Lishan Sword Sect calls us demons."
Yi Xieyun reached out and pressed a beam of spiritual light from his forehead into Yu Biyue's mind. "This is the memory of the Second Young Master of the Li Family, who heard that the merfolk were in danger and specially asked me to come and investigate."
Recognizing Li Gewen from the memory and seeing his sincerity, Yu Biyue asked, "But why?"
"The Peak of Yunxiao was built by your ancestors and ours together. Going back now is simply returning home. You may have many whys, but you can ask him yourself when the time comes. Right now, the Peak of Yunxiao is under the governance of our Yi Family, and we have never considered any of you to be demons."
Remembering that they had saved her life, considering the danger of this place, and feeling the oppressive pressure emanating from a Ninth Realm expert, Yu Biyue felt a trace of fear toward Yi Xieyun. At the same time, her curiosity about Li Gewen grew deeper, and she longed to meet him.
Yi Xieyun raised his hand, electric sparks dancing between his fingers. "Born this way, and growing stronger by the day. Do I look like a monster to you?"
"Alright, I will go back with the Peak of Yunxiao with you. Whatever you need me to do, I will do my utmost to repay this debt of gratitude."
"To tell you the truth, I was afraid you would refuse. I waited here for you to wake up because I actually have a favor to ask of you. Since you're so agreeable, I won't stand on ceremony. How about we become sworn siblings?"
Right there in front of Yu Biyue's adoptive parents, the two of them became sworn siblings, with Yu Biyue addressing Yi Xieyun as her sworn elder brother. Without waiting for Yu Biyue to fully recover, they bid farewell to her adoptive parents, arranged everything properly, and returned together to the Peak of Yunxiao, taking up residence in the Sky-Suspended Pool on Luocheng Peak.
In his room, Li Gewen was practicing the seventh level of the Tongshen Sutra while awaiting a reply from Li Tianci. Armed with this bloodline tracking technique, he could hardly wait to track down the thief.
"Little brother, it really won't work. None of them want to learn it, no matter what. I told you this method wouldn't fly," Li Tianci said as he pushed the door open.
"With so many people in the Li Family?"
"Like I said, they won't condescend to learn such low-grade parlor tricks. When they heard that this bloodline tracking technique originally belonged to the Blood Sect, they wanted to learn it even less. The Blood Sect was wiped out by our Li Family in the first place; who would want to learn the techniques of losers? Doing so would be like tacitly admitting that their own sword techniques are inadequate, making them losers as well."
"What about those from poorer family backgrounds? Weren't you able to persuade any of them?"
"The poorer their background, the stiffer their pride. That is the only thing they have left to hold onto."
Li Gewen couldn't help sighing, "The people of the Li Family are far too obsessed with swordsmanship. Perhaps that is why a rise to power is so swift, and the decline equally rapid."
"If you used a different technique, big brother, I'd be confident I could persuade them. After all, I've helped grandfather manage family affairs for three years; I still carry some weight around here."
"If we delay any longer, that thief might escape to the ends of the earth. I have another method—I'll try it first."
With that, Li Gewen took out a booklet and used his spiritual energy as ink to write a letter to Wang Yun. At that moment, Wang Yun and the other four were gathered in a dark alley near the street, cursing Manager Chai to their hearts' content. It turned out that after spending three days hauling the Yinzi wood to the docks, what awaited them was nothing but a scam. Manager Chai had treated them to a lavish banquet while secretly having the Yinzi wood shipped away, without paying them a single copper coin.
"All five junior martial brothers are here. Did you get the silver?"
Li Ping cast a sidelong glance at Li Gewen and walked away, while the other three came forward.
"Wang Yun, let's go."
"Young Master Li, you came looking for me specially?"
"Didn't I tell you? Following these pampered young masters always leads to a miserable end."
Wang Yun remained silent for a moment. He simply felt that since Young Master Li—scion of the number one immortal sect in the world—had come looking for him, it meant he thought highly of him. How could he afford to look down on the other party?
"Forget it, just let him go with Young Master Li. Let's go up to Ziyang Peak to gather herbs," Du Ju said.
After the four of them left, Li Gewen finally learned about how the five of them had been swindled.
"The reason I told you not to sell that timber is because you completely failed to understand its value. That single log of Yinzi wood is worth a hundred thousand taels."
"A hundred thousand taels?" Wang Yun found it hard to believe.
"Who do you think is the wealthiest person under the heavens?"
"The reigning emperor, of course. All land under heaven belongs to the sovereign, and every inch of soil is his."
"The land belongs to him, but the wealth generated from that land doesn't all end up in his pockets, does it?"
Thinking that Young Master Li made a valid point, Wang Yun nodded.
"Immortal sects and aristocratic families are the truly wealthy clans in today's world, far surpassing the imperial family. The rise and fall of a dynasty takes only about three hundred years—which is to say, they only accumulate three hundred years' worth of wealth. But immortal family clans are different. Even our Lishan Sword Sect, which cannot be considered an ancient clan, has a history of seven or eight hundred years, and clans with a history of over a thousand years are by no means rare. Just imagine how much wealth they have accumulated."
Wang Yun swallowed hard in astonishment, suddenly feeling an intense wave of hunger in his stomach.
"I'll take you to get something to eat. In exchange, I'll teach you a technique, and you'll help me find someone. Once you find him, I'll give you ten taels."
Without a second thought, Wang Yun simply nodded. As the two passed Moxiang Pavilion, Mo Qiu, the owner of the pavilion, recognized Li Gewen and hurried toward the inner courtyard. Inside a guest room in the inner courtyard, a middle-aged man was rising and dressing.
"Second Young Master Li, taking your Moon Shadow Dart didn't cause me any trouble at all," Mo Qiu said.
Sikong looked around anxiously. "Did you see him?"
"Don't panic. They won't trace it here anytime soon. I haven't heard a whisper of any investigation. Judging by how the Li Family usually handles things, they'll probably just let the matter drop. The Lishan Sword Sect really is past its prime."
"What do you mean past its prime? A starved camel is still bigger than a horse—that applies all the more to the Lishan Sword Sect. I got word half a month ago that this Second Young Master Li only possessed the cultivation of the Sixth Realm. Who would have thought that sword strike would pack the full might of the Seventh Realm? If I hadn't been wearing my Thin Mist Veil, I probably would have died on the spot. Luckily, that token blocked the blow for me," Sikong said indignantly.
"It's because he consumed a Holy Spirit Fruit. He probably hasn't fully integrated it yet, which is why he only has the strength of the Seventh Realm," Mo Qiu said, sitting down and pulling out a booklet to examine it.
"You've been lying in bed for three days, groping this booklet for three days. Exactly what kind of rare treasure is it?" Sikong snatched it away. "It's just made of ordinary paper. Nothing special about it."
"Dharma treasures come in many forms. To judge one purely by its material is to show your lack of vision." Mo Qiu took back the booklet, channeled his magic, and several rays of spiritual light flew out, circling the bookshelf opposite them. "Look how easy it is to capture all text and images into this booklet. Moreover, I've added a brand-new capability to it."
Mo Qiu placed the booklet on the table. Radiating spiritual light, it projected a panoramic three-dimensional map.
"Is this the entire Yunxia City?" Sikong saw the little red dots on it. "What do these represent?"
"The locations of the eavesdropping talismans. This makes things much clearer. It easily categorizes the intercepted information, which saves me a tremendous amount of energy. I've also discovered that I can add whatever capabilities I like to this booklet at will. I want to turn those intercepted conversations into text, and then have the booklet filter out what is useful and what is useless. Listening to the idle chatter of over a million people in Yunxia City all day long was driving me out of my mind."
"The sect leader asked others to share your burden; you're the one who wanted to hog all the credit."
"I originally thought the leader only wanted to monitor a few major families, but I had no idea he'd have me monitor the entire Yunxia City. What on earth is he trying to find out?"
"Who knows?" Sikong lay back down on the bed. "Have you sent out the message you were told to send?"
"It's already been sent. The leader is currently scouting for skilled experts to break that Elite Sword Array."
"That sword array gave me quite a fright, thank goodness my lightness skills are peerless."
"Have you ever thought about passing down your lightness skills and becoming a grandmaster of an era?"
"Senior Brother Mo, do you want to learn?"
"I wouldn't mind learning a trick or two to save my life."
"It's currently in development."