Chapter 219: Chapter 219

In the distant mountain forest, Lei Jun let out a long breath.

Above his head, his Dao Seal flickered with radiance, surrounded by intertwining streams of black and white energy, continuously circulating.

Ever since he started using metal rails to assist in accelerating his Refined Metal Sword Pellets, Lei Jun no longer drained his mana dry when engaging in friendly "exchanges of fire."

But today’s target was Tu Dong, a cultivator at the Seventh Heaven Realm.

Even though the opponent was injured, he was still a solid Upper Heaven Realm adversary.

Thus, Lei Jun deliberately intensified his Magnetic Force, concentrating and amplifying its output.

At this moment, the metal rail in his hand was burning hot, even slightly warping from the heat.

He could also feel a brief depletion in his mana.

However, with the circulation of his Yin-Yang Sacred Physique, his mana swiftly recovered.

That being said, perhaps he should thank Yang Tai for choosing such a well-hidden escape route.

Whether it was Tu Dong ambushing Yang Tai, or Lei Jun sending Tu Dong on his way, no one else came to interfere.

In just a few breaths, Lei Jun had recovered most of his mana.

Remaining alert for any lurking enemies, he moved toward the part of the forest where Tu Dong had fallen.

Tu Dong had attempted to use Blood Sea Nirvana to fake his death and be reborn.

But in his current condition, if he took one more "cannon shot" from Lei Jun, there was no coming back.

The aftermath was a scorched battlefield—Thunderfire had ravaged the land, leaving nothing behind, not even a drop of tainted blood.

Only a few shattered fragments of artifacts were scattered across the ground.

Among the Blood River Sect’s various cultivation paths, Tu Dong had pursued the route of Blood Sea Devastation, seeking to engulf his foes with a massive tide of corrupting blood energy.

In terms of defense and unpredictability, however, his path was inferior to the Blood Shadow or Blood God Child branches.

That said, the Blood River Sect excelled in the Dao of Killing and Rebirth.

With his mastery of Blood Sea Nirvana, Tu Dong had formidable survival techniques.

While he couldn’t fully resurrect from a single drop of blood, if even a tiny fragment of flesh remained, he might still have a chance to survive.

Even if he himself was powerless, he could count on other Blood River experts to aid in his revival.

However, as a mere Seventh Heaven cultivator, Tu Dong was unable to preemptively store his flesh for revival.

Once his body was completely obliterated, maintaining its vitality was nearly impossible.

Thus, after Lei Jun shattered his Blood Sea Nirvana, the Blood River Elder died with resentment.

“Hmm... now that I think about it, this is the first Upper Heaven Realm cultivator I’ve personally taken down.” Lei Jun raised an eyebrow.

It didn’t feel particularly different.

Just like all the other foes he had eliminated before.

Since he was a threat, he had to be dealt with.

Before today, there had already been Upper Heaven Realm cultivators who perished because of Lei Jun.

The very first was Elder Li Ziyang of Tianshi Mansion, a senior respected by countless younger disciples.

Back then, when Tang Xiaotang prioritized hunting down Li Song, Li Ziyang’s escape was still uncertain.

But Li Ziyang had lingering attachments to the Tianshi Robe.

Even though he had been expelled from Tianshi Mansion, there was still some sentimental connection.

So, Lei Jun had done a little something insignificant.

In the end, Li Ziyang ended up ‘bonding’ with Elder Qi Shuo of the Yellow Heaven Sect and Elder Cao Chu of Golden Castle.

Perhaps Qi and Cao were too enthusiastic, because Li Ziyang never made it out of Mount Longhu.

Fortunately, during the battle at Great Southern Mountain, Elder Cao Chu later went to join Li Ziyang in the afterlife.

And along with him, the proud genius of the Jinzhou Ye Clan, Ye Lingxi.

Thanks to Blood River Sect’s leader, Wei Anchang, not only did Cao Chu and Ye Lingxi die, but Ye Han, an Eighth Heaven cultivator, and Elder Gao Pu of Golden Castle were seriously injured.

Gao Pu lost nearly all the evil souls and corpse puppets he had painstakingly cultivated over the years.

As someone who understood how hard it was for old seniors to build their foundations, Lei Jun sympathized deeply.

He figured General Shangguan Peng would be a great help in recouping Gao Pu’s losses.

And as fate would have it—Gao Pu thought the same.

Counting it all up, Lei Jun had now watched four Seventh Heaven experts depart this world.

The Ancestors of Mount Longhu could bear witness: when they died, Disciple Lei Jun didn’t even speak a word to them.

He had personally sent one off.

The first. And hopefully, the last.

After all, he was a peace-loving Daoist, seeking enlightenment, avoiding conflict, and always treating others with kindness…

Lei Jun remained calm.

As he breathed in and out, streams of black and white energy flowed around him, swirling through the air.

Moments later, specks of strange radiance began to recondense.

It was the light residue left behind by Yang Tai’s escape—the portion Tu Dong had intercepted.

Seeing this, Lei Jun finally relaxed.

He had been worried that he might have destroyed these traces in his attack.

But facing a Seventh Heaven Blood River Elder, even though his opponent was injured, Lei Jun couldn’t afford to leave any chance for a counterattack or escape.

So, he had chosen to go all out.

Thankfully, the clues he needed had survived.

As for any Blood River artifacts left behind, Lei Jun left them untouched—just in case the Nine Heaven master of Blood River Sect decided to track him down later.

Taking the remnant light, he left the forest.

Once he was out of the mana-interference zone, he examined the radiance while also contacting his master, Yuan Mobai.

Previously, during the Zhu’an Grotto incident, Yuan Mobai had never appeared.

Likely because his friends were never in danger, so he hadn’t needed to act.

But now that Lei Jun had reached him, he could finally put his mind at ease.

"We are all safe. Chongyun need not worry." Yuan Mobai’s voice remained as gentle as ever.

Lei Jun replied, "Disciple is also safe. I have some findings to share later. But for now, I have some information regarding Yang Tai’s whereabouts."

"Whether Yang Tai truly found clues related to our sect’s Tianshi Robe is still uncertain. It’s good if you can track him, but be cautious."

Then, Yuan Mobai’s tone grew more serious.

"I just received news—Wei Anchang has withdrawn from the Yin Mountain Holy Land’s ancestral grounds. His whereabouts are currently unknown."

Lei Jun let out a slow breath.

"That’s something we need to be wary of."

The Blood River Sect had allied with Golden Castle to attack Yin Mountain Grotto, prompting both Reincarnation Abyss and Gepo Mountain to intervene in its defense.

This resulted in a large-scale battle—one of the most intense conflicts in the Southern Wasteland in recent years.

Although Yin Mountain, Reincarnation Abyss, and Gepo Mountain managed to withstand the assault, Wei Anchang still held the initiative.

This formidable master of the Blood River Sect, currently the strongest cultivator in the Southern Wasteland, could attack or retreat at will.

Even without thinking too deeply, it was obvious—if he stopped launching direct offensives and instead adopted a more flexible strategy, he could not only mobilize his own forces but also force his enemies to react, keeping them constantly on edge.

Whether he would do so or not depended entirely on his own plans.

Previously, Wei Anchang had launched relentless assaults on Golden Castle and Yin Mountain Grotto, aiming to establish his supremacy and unify the Southern Wasteland’s Witch Sects.

But now, as the situation in the Southern Wasteland grew more complex, he might no longer opt for brute-force attacks.

The actions of Yang Yuqi, Yang Tai, and Yang Fei—how much of it had Wei Anchang been observing?

Lei Jun had originally intended to use the remnant radiance as a trail to track Yang Tai.

But now, he slowed his steps.

He entered the True-One Altar’s Grotto-Heaven, moving to the second tier of the altar, where he examined the map records.

Previously, there had been a scattered constellation of light points.

Now, only a few remained.

The light point representing Zhu’an Jiang, which had stabilized early on, had now disappeared.

Fortunately, several other points were still flickering.

This meant that several anomalous locations of spiritual energy had been identified.

The descendants of the Sui Dynasty had been operating in secrecy, yet they had managed to set up multiple rituals capable of disturbing the earth’s spiritual veins.

It was astonishing—a testament to the hidden strength of their faction.

However, after such a long period of activity, most of their locations had been exposed and subsequently destroyed.

Now, the only remaining marked locations on Lei Jun’s map were likely the last few of their kind.

"Jinxizhang, Zhongyu Mountain, Sleeping Dragon Lake…"

Lei Jun compared the map against a general topographical chart of the Southern Wasteland, gradually aligning the marked points with real-world locations.

As he studied the remnant light that would lead him to Yang Tai, his thoughts became even clearer.

Although Yang Tai’s spiritual item was mysterious, its fundamental mechanism relied on the flow of the earth’s spiritual veins.

His final destination was unlikely to be based purely on his personal will or randomness—it was more probable that he was being transported to a predetermined point.

And that predetermined point was one of the hidden sites established by the Sui Dynasty’s main bloodline—a location where their rituals to disrupt the land’s spiritual veins had been set up.

By using those ritual sites, they could summon Yang Tai back to their side.

Judging from the remnant radiance, his most likely destination was…

Sleeping Dragon Lake.

Just as Lei Jun reached this conclusion, a message flashed within his Light Sphere, accompanied by inscribed text:

【Transposition of Flowers and Trees, Fortune and Misfortune Shift—Perceive Danger and Evade It, Choose the Optimal Path to Transform Calamity into Good Fortune.】

There was more to this situation.

Lei Jun’s interest was piqued as he watched four omens emerge from the Light Sphere:

【Upper-Moderate Omen: Traveling to Jinxizhang, you will obtain a Fourth-Grade Opportunity with no immediate danger. However, lingering karmic entanglements will deepen—proceed with caution. Auspicious.】

【Moderate Omen: Staying out of further involvement in the Southern Wasteland’s affairs, simply observing without interference. No gains, no losses. Neutral.】

【Moderate Omen: Traveling to Zhongyu Mountain, you have a chance to obtain a Fourth-Grade Opportunity, but potential dangers lie ahead—be cautious. Neutral.】

【Lower-Moderate Omen: Traveling to Sleeping Dragon Lake, you will gain nothing and encounter grave danger—certain death awaits. Extreme caution required. Inauspicious.】

Lei Jun carefully examined the four omens, deep in thought.

Heading to Sleeping Dragon Lake was actually the most dangerous choice.

Did that mean Yang Tai’s escape was a trap?

Was his purpose to lure Lei Jun—or any pursuers—into an ambush?

"Nine deaths out of ten…"

Judging by the Lower-Moderate Omen’s wording, this was an extremely perilous situation, bordering on a complete disaster.

It even seemed more dangerous than the last two Lower-Moderate Omens he had received—one about the Zhaojiang River’s lower reaches, and the other about delving deeper into Zhu’an Grotto.

"Hmm. Alright then, I just won’t go."

Lei Daozhang remained calm, following the path of least resistance.

That left two other locations—Jinxizhang and Zhongyu Mountain—both of which promised a potential Fourth-Grade Opportunity.

One seemed risk-free but involved deeper karmic entanglements.

The other carried a degree of risk, downgrading the omen to Moderate instead of Upper-Moderate.

Lei Jun scrutinized the wording of the Upper-Moderate Omen.

When he had first obtained clues about the Tianshi Seal, and later when he had found the first leads on the Tianshi Robe at Nine Star Ridge outside Mount Longhu, the descriptions had been similar.

Lei Jun slowly nodded.

While he couldn’t yet be certain that Jinxizhang contained definite evidence related to the Tianshi Robe, this omen was worth pursuing.

Emerging from the True-One Altar’s Grotto-Heaven, he changed course—no longer heading for Sleeping Dragon Lake, but making his way toward Jinxizhang.

As he traveled, he once again contacted Yuan Mobai, subtly reminding his master to remain cautious.

By the time Lei Jun reached Jinxizhang, he did not immediately make a move.

Instead, he concealed his presence, silently observing from the shadows.

His initial investigation revealed that some remnants of the Sui Dynasty had secretly established a base here, setting up rituals to disrupt the land’s spiritual energy.

However, he saw no sign of Yang Tai or the Tianshi Robe’s clues.

So, Lei Jun remained patient and did not act.

During this time, Yuan Mobai contacted him with an update:

After Wei Anchang withdrew from the Yin Mountain Holy Land, Sang Lu and Li Tianqing of Gepo Mountain also ceased their pursuit of the traitorous Elder Yuan Shanji.

Although they desperately wanted to deal with him, Sang Lu remained cautious.

But the moment they stopped, Yuan Shanji reversed course, launching a sudden counterattack.

Even Xiong Gang, a Blood River Elder who had previously fled, reemerged to fight alongside him.

They weren’t trying to win outright—instead, they engaged in a prolonged battle, tying down Sang Lu and Li Tianqing.

And their battlefield was…

"Sleeping Dragon Lake," Yuan Mobai said.

Lei Jun let out a slow breath.

If Lei Jun had recklessly pursued Yang Tai, he would have walked straight into that trap.

But Yang Tai wouldn’t stay at Sleeping Dragon Lake for long…

Dressed in embroidered robes, Yang Tai arrived at Jinxizhang, his face heavy with worry, flanked by new attendants.

Hidden in the forest, Elder Lei applauded.

"Welcome, Young Master Yang—delivering yourself right to my doorstep."