The Blackstone Mountains were another famous mountain range within the Great Yan Dynasty's territory, with powerful beast kings lurking in its depths that made even seasoned martial artists tread carefully.
But to Ning Qi, it was nothing.
The only beings that could give him pause now were at the level of beast emperors.
Ning Qi strolled casually through the streets, his presence so diminished that no one noticed this young man passing by. With his aura concealed, his existence barely registered—sometimes people would vaguely sense something after he passed, but upon trying to recall, they couldn't remember the face of who had just walked by, leaving them utterly baffled.
Ning Qi wasn't aimless, of course.
Earlier at the inn, he'd already detected several suspicious figures mentioned in the intelligence reports. Now sensing them heading toward the Blackstone Mountains, he immediately followed.
Ahead were three people—two men and one woman, all middle-aged—chatting and laughing like ordinary adventurers entering the mountains. But the moment they stepped into the Blackstone Mountains, their demeanor changed completely. The previously equal-standing trio now clearly positioned the woman as their leader.
"My lady, what are your orders?" the two men asked.
The woman replied simply: "Proceed as usual!"
Hearing this, Ning Qi perked up attentively.
Activating his Silent Steps technique, he followed soundlessly as the trio navigated the terrain, occasionally encountering magical beasts that were swiftly dealt with by one of the men wearing metal gauntlets. This man's cultivation was unexpectedly high—clearly at the Origin Core Realm, surpassing what the intelligence had indicated.
Eventually, the three stopped in a valley.
A low voice called from within: "Identify yourselves."
The leading woman responded gravely: "Southern Alliance's Crimson Drop. Which Sacred Sect brother greets us?"
"Sacred Sect's North Wind Passage from the Wind Hall, paying respects to Lady Crimson."
"Formalities aren't necessary."
After exchanging pleasantries, Ning Qi noticed numerous corpses hidden throughout the valley—all clearly powerful martial artists in life. His brow furrowed at the strangely familiar scene.
He realized—the Demonic Sect was helping the Southern Alliance collect martial artists' corpses, focusing on quality over quantity to avoid detection.
Under the Southern Alliance trio's lead, the Demonic Sect members carried the corpses deeper into the mountains with minimal conversation.
After some winding travel, they stopped in a forest clearing where the Southern Alliance trio turned and smiled: "Sacred Sect brothers, your efforts are appreciated. You may leave us here."
The Demonic Sect leader didn't hesitate, signaling his men to deposit the corpses before saying: "Lady Crimson, until we meet again!"
With that, they departed en masse.
Ning Qi silently admired their decisiveness while simultaneously attaching traces of his aura to them. Though their strongest was only at the Qi Origin Realm, they were still leads now that he'd confirmed their Demonic Sect affiliation.
He noticed the Demonic Sect sent completely different people for each corpse delivery.
His anticipation grew.
Given how cautious and methodical this handoff was, this might truly be a real base.
To have found promising leads at his first stop after descending the mountain pleased Ning Qi. Securing just one more Blood King Gu would let him investigate connections to others and eliminate this Southern Alliance threat preemptively.
He waited silently.
After confirming the Demonic Sect members had left, the Southern Alliance woman produced a small box from her robes, releasing a red unidentified gu insect that took flight.
Soon, martial artists carrying wooden chests appeared in the distance.
"Lady Crimson, quite the haul this time. Those Demonic Sect folk kept their word," one chuckled while loading corpses into chests.
The woman merely snorted: "Only because we help them too. It's mutual benefit at best."
Though unaware of their superiors' purpose for collecting corpses, they suspected the Demonic Sect wouldn't assist without cause—rumors suggested the sect sought something in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. This was simply reciprocal exploitation.
Soon the corpses were packed, and the group hurried off with their chests, stopping before another valley under Ning Qi's watchful gaze.
Another rigorous inspection followed.
From whispered complaints, Ning Qi learned the passphrase changed with every entry and incorporated the visitor's characteristics—making impersonation extremely difficult.
This likely resulted from the Qingzhou base he'd destroyed, specifically countering disguise tactics—probably the Southern Alliance's post-analysis precaution.
Fortunately, current Ning Qi was incomparable to his past self.
Having reached the Heaven-Man Realm, his methods had multiplied.
Now, seizing the right moment, he slipped undetected into the valley—martial artists' perceptions utterly failing against him.
"Heaven-Man Realm experts? Multiple?" Ning Qi started, sensing heaven-earth energy scans passing his hiding spot—not from one, but four sources. No ordinary intruder could bypass this.
Something felt off.
Why so many experts at one base?
Even with their deep reserves, the Southern Alliance and Demonic Sect wouldn't waste resources like this.
Following the chest-carrying martial artists, Ning Qi finally halted before a palace.
His expression turned complex, self-mocking.
He didn't need to enter to know he'd been led astray.
The palace held no trace of blood pools or Blood King Gu residue—only those blindingly obvious Heaven-Man Realm auras, poised and waiting.
Now he understood.
This was a trap.
A fishing operation.
Had imperial forces blindly charged in, they'd have been slaughtered. Against this scale, the court could barely spare two Heaven-Man experts per operation—their forces spread too thin without concrete intelligence.
"Can't underestimate them," Ning Qi sighed, discarding his earlier complacency.
If even he had initially believed this a genuine Blood King Gu base, others stood no chance.
His presence was finally detected.
"Who's there?!"
An angry shout erupted from the palace depths as layered heaven-earth energy exploded outward. A blue-haired figure shot skyward, followed by three other powerful auras that instantly surrounded Ning Qi.
The base's martial artists swarmed out aggressively while others, confused but following suit, completed the encirclement.
The blue-haired elder looked disappointedly at young Ning Qi: "Just this shrimp? What are you all doing, letting someone reach here undetected?"
But Ning Qi's All-Seeing Golden Eyes noticed the elder secretly gathering power—clearly aware that anyone who infiltrated this far couldn't be ordinary.
Ning Qi remained calm.
He'd revealed himself intentionally.
Since he was here, even without finding Blood King Gu, eliminating Southern Alliance members would still reduce their threat.
Sensing his surroundings, he said coolly: "Good. All accounted for."
As the Heaven-Man experts scoffed at his audacity, they froze—overwhelmed by ocean-like heaven-earth energy converging around them, its oppressive weight making their souls tremble.
Ning Qi rose slowly, forming a fist seal.
Opting not to use sword intent, he found the Northern Suppression King's Heaven-Suppressing Fist more suitable here.
Heaven-earth energy crushed everything as a mountain-like fist imprint descended.
What followed was utter devastation.
Within the valley, battle erupted.
Heaven-earth energy fluctuated violently as screams were abruptly cut short.
Moments later, Ning Qi departed.
Only wreckage remained.
After using soul-searching eye techniques, he learned these Heaven-Man experts knew nothing more—their sole mission being to ambush potential imperial forces.
Moreover, Ning Qi discovered special gu worms within them that stabilized their minds against his soul-searching—another Southern Alliance precaution.
After a silent exhale, Ning Qi moved on. If this lead was false, he'd pursue others—there had to be traces somewhere.
Let the court handle cleanup here.
Returning to Heishi City, Ning Qi felt somewhat frustrated—what seemed promising had been a feint.
This revealed the situation's complexity beyond his initial assumptions. The Southern Alliance and Demonic Sect's methods had shown him that even with power, finding targets wasn't guaranteed.
If they truly went to ground, locating them would prove difficult.
"But even without solid leads, I must hinder their progress. If all else fails, I'll return to the mountain and focus on cultivation!" Ning Qi resolved firmly.
Though he still cultivated his Three Flowers daily while traveling, much enlightenment time was wasted.
"Two months' limit. If nothing turns up, I'll stop wasting time."
Ning Qi exhaled slowly, steadying himself.
By afternoon, he set out for another suspicious location from the intelligence reports.
...
Time passed.
Over a month slipped by.
During this period, Ning Qi's footsteps covered five or six provinces as he followed Luo Wentian's intelligence—but found virtually nothing. Every lead was either a trap or decoy.
It seemed the Southern Alliance had ceased Blood King Gu cultivation within Great Yan entirely.
Repeated failures tested even Ning Qi's patience.
His sole achievement was dismantling several ambush sites, eliminating nine Heaven-Man experts from both factions. The Southern Alliance and Demonic Sect, now aware of an imperial powerhouse hunting their traps, had grown more restrained—small consolation.
But for Ning Qi, finding the Martial Sage's secret realm remained paramount—killing Heaven-Man experts meant little when he couldn't possibly exterminate all of them.
"A few days ago, Senior Brother messaged that the Northern Suppression King dispatched elites to investigate the Northern Barbarians. We can only await news from there."
The consecutive dead ends suggested the Southern Alliance might have relocated Blood King Gu cultivation beyond Great Yan's borders—where investigation proved far harder.
Ning Qi sipped wine absently in a tavern, lost in thought.
Suddenly, his body stiffened, pupils contracting as he instinctively looked south.
"This is... Qi-Origin Sword Seed's resonance!"
Currently in Cangzhou, if his senses didn't deceive him, the pulse came from... Leizhou.
Ning Qi's heart clenched.
When Jiang Baishan and Lin Ruhua descended the mountain, he'd gifted them paired mandarin duck jades containing Qi-Origin Sword Seeds—meant to activate in crisis. Now the seed had erupted—didn't that mean the couple was in danger?
He could sit still no longer.