Chapter 148: Jinli Stone

Jiuyou reached the Yellow Sand Tribe at the hottest hour of the day.

The blazing sun hung high overhead, baking the gravel of the desolate wasteland until it scorched the soles of his feet. Looking out across the expanse, the earth rippled slightly in the shimmering heat, blurring the distant silhouettes of the mountains.

The Yellow Sand Tribe sat in the middle of the gravel wasteland, carved into the side of a low rocky ridge. Man-made cave dwellings of various sizes were scattered along its base, some entrances draped with coarse hides, others standing wide open to reveal crude stone beds and implements inside.

Further out lay makeshift shacks pieced together from gravel and dead timber, their roofs weighed down with boulders to keep the wind from tearing them off.

Several sparring grounds dotted the outer perimeter of the settlement, where scores of bare-chested Northern Plains men traded blows to hone their body refinement. The thud of fists and kicks carried far into the distance, mingled with rugged shouts. Whenever a fighter hit the dirt, the watching crowd erupted in raucous laughter.

Beside the arenas stood a few low shops displaying beast skeletons and pelts outside their doors, with customers crouching by the stalls to pick through the wares.

Jiuyou watched from afar for a while, in no hurry to enter. The Northern Plains tribes were nothing like Ganzhou; they lacked order and favored coarse savagery.

Most of the figures coming and going were physical cultivators with dark skin and hulking frames, their every stride carrying a fierce edge forged through years of mortal combat. With his pale skin, Jiuyou stood out far too much; wandering in rashly would only draw attention.

He did not have to wait long.

After keeping watch at the outskirts for half a day, he spotted a Foundation Establishment physical cultivator leaving the settlement alone, walking toward the mining grounds.

Jiuyou trailed him without a sound, subdued him behind a deserted dune, and cleanly disposed of him after questioning him on a few basic details. Stripping off the man's beast-hide coat, Jiuyou draped it over his own shoulders and channeled his facial alteration art, taking on the dead cultivator's appearance.

Infiltrating the outer settlement proved smoother than expected. Mimicking the heavy, swaying gait of the Northern Plains men, he swaggered through the outer market and entered the inner city.

The inner city was considerably quieter than the perimeter, and the cultivators moving through it carried themselves with less raw swagger and more composure. The buildings flanking the streets were far more refined, and decent elixir and artifact shops appeared now and then along the road.

Jiuyou sat down at a tea stall, ordered a bowl of coarse spirits, and nursed it slowly while keeping an ear out for the stray remarks of passersby. Over the course of half a day, combining discreet inquiries with covert sweeps of his divine sense, he mapped out most of the Yellow Sand Tribe's foundations.

Seven Nascent Soul cultivators stood guard over the Yellow Sand Tribe year-round, ordinarily residing within the central palace. The treasury lay buried beneath the palace, heavily fortified with only a single entrance, guarded in rotation by several Nascent Soul physical cultivators. Ordinary tribesmen were forbidden from coming within five li of the palace; crossing that line invited immediate interrogation from roving patrols.

Jiuyou weighed his chances. A direct assault was not out of the question even at seventy percent of his strength, but it would inevitably alert the two Nascent Soul Late Stage masters in the Heavenly Flame Tribe. Worse still, the baleful aura inside him was not yet fully subdued; a pitched battle might trigger an early flare-up, costing him far more than he could gain.

He stayed in the city for several days, continuing to gather intelligence while suppressing the churning baleful aura inside him.

On the sixth day, he learned that a Nascent Soul Early Stage Grandmaster of the Yellow Sand Tribe was preparing to depart for the Heavenly Flame Tribe to deliver tribute. This was a routine obligation the tribe carried out every year.

Jiuyou did not wait; he slipped out of the city that same day to quietly shadow his quarry.

The Nascent Soul Grandmaster traveled with considerable fanfare, escorted by dozens of attendants while cultivators along the way bowed their heads and cleared the path.

Jiuyou trailed far behind, tracking the party for thousands of miles until they entered a secluded canyon, where he finally made his move. The Nascent Soul Early Stage body refinement Grandmaster had almost no room to struggle against him; killed in a single strike, the man did not even have the chance to beg for mercy.

Even so, the strike caused the baleful aura to stir, as though awakened by the bloody killing intent.

Channeling his cultivation to suppress it, he swiftly cleaned up the retinue, searched the Grandmaster's body, and pocketed the man's Nascent Soul. He did not linger, immediately leaving the scene to hide in a secluded mountain cave.

He sat cross-legged in the cave for two days, forcing the baleful aura back into his bones before beginning his interrogation of the Grandmaster's Nascent Soul. The man proved somewhat tougher than the cultivator surnamed Ding, yet he only lasted half a day before spilling everything he knew.

According to the man, the last time a Jinli Stone had surfaced in the Yellow Sand Tribe was over a decade ago. A piece about a zhang in size had just been excavated from a volcano when an envoy from the Heavenly Flame Tribe took it away.

However, a small amount of residual ore remained in the tribe. High-grade spiritual ores of this level were rarely stored in the treasury; instead, they were kept personally by the Great Grandmasters. Matters were much the same in the neighboring Heavenly Fire Tribe.

Having asked his questions, Jiuyou showed no mercy.

That night, he crept back into the Yellow Sand Tribe without a sound, following the Great Grandmaster's aura until he reached the man's cave dwelling. It was carved into a secluded stone cliff face, lacking guards and shut only by a heavy stone door. The crude restrictions carved across its surface were virtually nonexistent to Jiuyou.

Sweeping his perception inside, he confirmed that the Middle Nascent Soul Stage physical cultivator was meditating with his eyes closed, utterly off guard.

Jiuyou pushed the door open and struck without a second's delay, erupting with full power in a single decisive blow. The Great Grandmaster's breathing stopped before he could even open his eyes.

Collecting the man's Nascent Soul, Jiuyou activated the Heavenly Clarity Bell to suppress the wisp of baleful aura that had just surfaced before carefully searching the cave.

Sure enough, inside a hidden compartment, he found a fist-sized ore shimmering entirely in gold. It was heavy and warm to the touch—a Jinli Stone. Beside it lay several high-grade fire-attributed ores of good quality, an unexpected windfall.

He left the Yellow Sand Tribe that same night. By the next day, he reached the Heavenly Fire Tribe and repeated the process.

That Great Grandmaster proved slightly more vigilant and noticed something amiss, but dealing with him only cost a few extra breaths of time. Jiuyou retrieved an arm-length piece of Jinli Stone, took a few high-grade fire-attributed ores that caught his eye, and left.

With two Jinli Stones secured, alongside the materials he had accumulated earlier, he had enough to forge three new Golden Li Ember Moon Swords. Still, that was a far cry from the complete set of eighty-one swords.

Standing on the edge of the gravel wasteland, Jiuyou gazed at the distant skyline cloaked in heat waves, falling silent for a moment.

That was the direction of the Heavenly Flame Tribe.