One day later.
Wolf Tail City.
Lu Qingshan circled a location in the eastern corner on an enlarged map of the western region of Zhongling.
"This is..." Mo Yan calmly moved his gaze to the point circled by Lu Qingshan, then frowned slightly, "This was a spirit beast garden of Huanling Sect in the past, named Qianli Garden. But later, because the local spirit veins inexplicably dried up, this Qianli Garden was abandoned."
The conditions required to raise spiritual beasts are extremely harsh and complex.
In addition to strict requirements on geographical environment, food and breeding methods, the most important condition is spiritual energy.
Without sufficient spiritual energy, it would be difficult for spiritual beasts to grow successfully.
Therefore, spirit beast gardens are usually built on spirit veins.
It is normal for the spirit vein to dry up and the spirit beast garden to be abandoned, and there is nothing wrong with it.
"So..." Lu Qingshan nodded thoughtfully, and then said softly: "The black-robed monk who escaped finally returned to this Qianli Garden, and never left again."
"So, Brother Qingshan means that this Qianli Garden is one of the demon clan's bases behind us?" Mo Yan said.
"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be so." A cold light flashed in Lu Qingshan's eyes.
Letting the tiger go back to the mountain is just to find its lair so that we can kill it all at once.
"Then when do we set off?" Mo Yan pondered for a moment, then said, "The evacuation of the fourteen cities in our area of ​​responsibility has not yet been completed..."
Their primary task is to ensure the smooth progress of the evacuation work.
However, Qianli Garden was millions of miles away from them. Once they chose to go to Qianli Garden to attack Huang Chao directly, these fourteen cities would inevitably be left unpatrolled.
If the demons attacked the flying boats of the Fourteen Cities again at this time, it would be a big mistake.
Lu Qingshan also knew the importance of this, but...
"The mark I placed on the black-robed monk can only last for three days."
The evacuation mission cannot be delayed, but the duration of the imprint is limited.
This is the biggest problem.
"They traveled millions of miles to come here just to attack Jianping City. Obviously, their purpose could not be just to interfere with the evacuation of Jianping City. Otherwise, this move would be too meaningless."
"Moreover, those who attacked our human flying boat and interfered with the evacuation operation before were all low-level demon cultivators from the demon race, but this time the black-robed cultivator is a cultivator from the Huanling Sect."
"The Huanling Sect cultivators have high status among the demons, so they should all be at the frontline at this moment. How come some of them are gathering in an abandoned spirit beast park a million miles away from the frontline?"
"There must be some conspiracy behind this matter that we don't know about..." Lu Qingshan said carefully.
Mo Yan nodded slightly to show his agreement.
"In this case, this matter cannot be delayed any longer," Lu Qingshan made a prompt decision. "I will immediately send a message to transfer a group of monks from other places to take over our patrol mission, and then we will go to Qianli Garden to find out what is going on."
Lu Qingshan was very thoughtful. If he waited until the evacuation of the human race was completed before going to Qianli Garden to find out what was going on, it would be too late.
It is possible that the demons have already moved their base, and by then they can no longer find anyone. It is also possible that the demons' plan has been successfully completed, and the matter is done, so it is too late to find anyone.
Speed ​​is of the essence in this matter!
Given Lu Qingshan's current status and position, it would not be a big deal for him to temporarily transfer one or two cultivators to take over his task.
So after a few hours, the monks who were to take over their mission arrived.
But it was not one group of monks that came, but four groups.
Except for Lu Qingshan, if other cultivators want to cover the patrol area of ​​the fourteen cities, it would be impossible without three or four groups.
Since the person who took over had arrived, and in Lu Qingshan's mind, the mark imprinted on the black-robed monk still showed no sign of moving, without further ado, he and Mo Yan immediately set off for Qianli Garden.
…
The location of Qianli Garden is extremely far away from Langwei City. The black-robed monk was able to cross such a long distance in one day, obviously with the help of the teleportation array.
It was also impossible for Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan to travel by relying on escape techniques, so they had to use teleportation arrays to travel most of the way.
At this time, Zhongling's teleportation array had already been requisitioned to transport supplies and personnel to the front line. The monks could still use the teleportation array to travel, but the teleportation fee was five times higher than usual.
The first purpose was to use a high enough price to dissuade those monks from using the teleportation array unnecessarily, leaving most of the transportation capacity for the front battlefield. The second reason was that all kinds of resources were extremely scarce during wartime, so it would be good to make a little money from the teleportation array to fill the gap.
After Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan came out of the teleportation array in Carp City, there was no teleportation array for the last section of the journey, so they could only rely on their own strength.
During the flight, no one came to cause trouble.
Even during this period of time, there was no shortage of evil cultivators taking advantage of the chaos in the Zhongling area.
But whether it was Lu Qingshan's fast escape speed or the powerful aura revealed in it, it undoubtedly showed that he was a tough guy and people dared not think too much about him.
Several hours later.
In the distance, a sparkling river comes into view, boundless.
We’ve arrived at Qianli Garden.
At this point, flying arbitrarily is no longer appropriate.
No matter how sophisticated Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan's escape techniques were, they could never be silent.
Not to mention that the mark imprinted on the black-robed monk is nearby, which means that there may be a large number of demon cultivators hiding here.
Qianli Garden had been abandoned for a long time, its spiritual veins were exhausted, and its spiritual energy was very average.
Dozens of buildings have fallen into ruins, but one can still vaguely see their original grandeur, if even the floor tiles have been lifted up - in the early days of abandonment, some scavengers who wanted to get a bargain thought that there might be some good things left here, so they dug this place up thoroughly.
After all, for a big sect like the Huanling Sect, things they don’t value or are too lazy to take away are often priceless to independent cultivators.
It’s true, there were indeed some independent cultivators who picked up some good things in Qianli Garden and made a small fortune.
As soon as the news got out, those independent cultivators were like a group of hungry dogs smelling meat. They dug the area three feet deep and cleaned it out completely.
If the location indicated by the Eternal Peach Blossom Mark was not here, Lu Qingshan would find it hard to imagine that this would be a base for demon cultivators.
The two approached the long-abandoned spirit beast garden, and then Lu Qingshan frowned.
Because the point shown by the mark is right in front of him and overlaps with his current position.
But the scene before him was clearly visible. Apart from a dozen dilapidated buildings where the disciples of the Huanling Sect who raised spirit beasts lived, there was nothing else. Not to mention people, there was not even a hair.
"Brother Lu, are you sure you are really here?" Mo Yan couldn't help but feel doubtful.
"It's here." Lu Qingshan nodded, and at the same time released his spiritual sense to explore the surroundings.
He did not dare to be careless, and checked every hall, room, and even the nests built for monsters. He even sent his spiritual sense down to the ground to make sure there were no secret rooms underground.
Seeing this, Mo Yan also released his spiritual sense and investigated carefully.
After a few hours, Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan looked at each other and shook their heads.
"There was no discovery, no trace of the demons, no secret rooms, no secret formations, and not even the slightest sign of anyone active here." Mo Yan said.
Lu Qingshan sighed.
In fact, when he saw this, he had already expected it and guessed that this would be the result.
"Do we need to check the surrounding areas again?" Mo Yan asked.
Lu Qingshan shook his head and said in a clear voice, "No need. Since no one has found anything, then the mark I left must have been seen through by that Huanling monk, and he has found a way to break it. This place is obviously just a cover."
Mo Yan remained silent, still thinking about other possibilities, but seeing that Lu Qingshan had already stood up and left with his sword, he gave up the search and could only follow silently.
He did not notice that before leaving, Lu Qingshan left something quietly.
To be precise, it's a sword.
Dragon bird.
"Yitian, I leave this to you." Lu Qingshan whispered to Qin Yitian in his mind.
"Don't worry, young master." Qin Yitian said softly.
…
In an unknown secret area of ​​Qianli Garden.
Here, there is a rich spiritual energy that is unimaginable to others.
Because the spiritual energy was too rich, the naturally gentle spiritual energy even became violent, forming storms that occasionally rolled by and caused astonishing destructive power.
And in the center of this area, there is a stable zone.
In this area, dozens of Huanling Demon Cultivators gathered there, sensing the movements of the outside world with serious expressions.
They didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they saw Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan, who had come here, give up their search and get up and leave.
These people have been waiting here for a long time. As for their purpose, it is related to an extremely important plan of their Heart Demon Clan.
If this plan succeeds, the demon clan will be able to wipe out most of the remaining Zhongling monks in one fell swoop and completely destroy the morale of the Zhongling monks.
However, the sudden appearance of Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan did give them a fright.
In another month, their plan will be officially launched. If they are discovered at this time, it will mean failure. How depressing!
Fortunately, their concealment measures were strong enough, and the newcomer's cultivation was indeed low, so not much was discovered.
The leader of these dozens of Huanling Demon Cultivators was actually an Eighth Realm Cultivator. He made a judgment in , "We shouldn't take action. These two haven't noticed anything wrong yet. If we take the initiative to kill them, wouldn't that be a cover-up and a pretext to cause trouble?"
"This is an arrangement our clan has made for thousands of years. We must not be careless or let it become a shadow!"
His cold eyes swept across the dozens of cultivators present, and finally landed on a seventh-level cultivator who was hiding at the back and had already lowered his head guiltily. He scolded him coldly, "Banquet, you are the one who brought these two people here."
They heard clearly everything Lu Qingshan said before he left.
Yan Xi, who had lowered his head, saw that his name was called, so he had to raise his head and apologized, "Elder Wan Gu, I was careless in this matter."
"It's only the last month. Once this month is over, I won't stop you from doing anything you want to do. Do you have to rush at this moment? Is there anything more important than our clan's long-term plan?" Elder Wangu said coldly.
In a month, the Lord of Jianping City will probably no longer be alive, and by then I won't be able to take revenge...
Yanxi retorted subconsciously in his heart, but he didn't dare to talk back, so he could only bow his head and admit his mistake.
Upon seeing this, Elder Wan Gu sighed slightly and stopped scolding.
It’s not that he has such a good temper, but the status of the banquet attendee is not ordinary. His father is one of the demon lords of the heart demon clan.
In a place like the Demon Clan where class rules are strictly enforced, if Yan Xi had not almost made a big mistake this time, he would not have taken the initiative to scold Yan Xi.
But it was limited to just a few scoldings.
Elder Wangu's spirit moved slightly, and his consciousness probed towards the banquet.
Yanxi could sense the approach of this spiritual consciousness. Although he felt a little resistant and frowned slightly, he finally let down his guard and allowed Elder Wangu to perform.
Elder Wangu began to examine Yan Xi's body carefully.
Even though the existence of the Peach Blossom Mark was very hidden, Elder Wan Gu, having anticipated it, did his best to investigate it carefully and soon made a discovery.
It was a tiny abnormal fluctuation hidden in the inner corner of Yan Xi's body, shaped like a peach blossom, extremely beautiful.
However, within this peach blossom mark, there is actually dense sword energy that seems to be ready to burst out at any time.
Elder Wangu focused his mind and condensed his divine consciousness into a needle, trying to destroy the mark.
But he didn't realize that it didn't work. The peach blossom mark didn't move at all. Instead, Yan Xi felt pain and groaned. He asked in horror, "Elder Wan Gu?"
"Don't resist," Elder Wan Gu said coldly, his face extremely solemn, "This mark is tricky!"
The mark was extremely tough and not easy to destroy. What was even more difficult was that the mark was firmly embedded in Yanxi's body. If the action was too rough, while erasing the mark, it would most likely also cause serious injuries to Yanxi.
Therefore, you cannot achieve miracles by brute force, you can only work slowly and steadily.
Then, Elder Wangu closed his eyes slightly, and Yuanli surged out of his body, flying into Yanxi's body, and with his spiritual power, he carefully erased the mark.
After all, he was an eighth-level cultivator, and the mark was extremely difficult to remove. But with Elder Wan Gu's full efforts, half an hour later, the peach blossom mark finally turned into a little bit of spiritual light and disappeared into thin air.
"It's solved." Elder Wan Gu breathed a sigh of relief.
…
On the back of a mountain thousands of miles away.
Lu Qingshan and Mo Yan, who had already left Qianli Garden, did not go far, but stayed here, not knowing what they were waiting for.
At this moment, Lu Qingshan's mind moved, and he suddenly said: "My mark is gone."
"The duration of the mark has not yet expired."
"So the mark must have been erased artificially." When he said this, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"It was not erased earlier, nor was it erased later, but it had to be erased at this point in time, haha..."
We are all smart people, and the meaning of this is obvious.
"Brother Lu's words before he left were probably meant for those evil cultivators hiding in the dark," Mo Yan said with a smile.
Lu Qingshan nodded, his eyes slightly fixed, "Now let's wait and see where these people are hiding in Qianli Garden, how they concealed their true identity, and..."
"What on earth are they planning?"
Lu Qingshan was certain that he had stumbled upon the demon clan's great secret again this time.
The safe must contain gold, not a piece of black iron.
Since the demons have set up such powerful concealment measures in Qianli Garden, how could what they are plotting be simple?
At the moment when Lu Qingshan finished speaking, a figure appeared silently in Qianli Garden.
This figure did not notice that in the Qianli Garden, which was extremely familiar to him, there was an inconspicuous long sword compared to before.