Chapter 119 Eruption

Ji An used a special technique to cast the spell, but the Lesser Cloud Rain spell did not bring rain; instead, endless thick fog rose up.

It covered an area of ​​ten acres, with a thickness of nearly two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), a vast expanse of white.

The fireball struck the ground, exploding into countless sparks, and the shockwave spread in all directions.

The clouds and mist were blown away, revealing open space, but they were quickly filled again, and the area remained a sea of ​​fog.

Ji An moved his position in the fog and used the Lesser Cloud Rain technique again. The fog became even thicker, and visibility was less than a foot.

Huang Feihu was planting talisman grass not far away. Upon seeing this, he immediately rushed into the clouds and carefully hid.

As the fog spread, the two attacking cultivators immediately flew into the air. They were dumbfounded as they watched the rapidly rising thick fog.

A mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator asked:

"Boss Dong, what kind of magic is this? What do we do now?"

The leader said he was bringing them here to do big business and had considered all sorts of scenarios, but he never expected things to turn out this way.

The fog is now more than three zhang thick, and we have no idea what's below.

Two flying shuttles slowly approached, and the cultivators on board, before they could even join the battle, saw white mist rising, which they found incredible.

"If I'm not mistaken, this is a minor cloud and rain technique that all spirit farmers know."

Dong Laoda's face was ashen. He was a collateral disciple of the Puyun Chen family and had secretly helped the family do many shady things.

Whether it's intercepting customers of family rivals or, as is the case today, clearing away obstacles for the family.

According to the family genealogy, he had been dead for many years, and the cultivation method he practiced had no connection with the family.

The target of this mission was a spirit farmer who had just established his foundation a year ago. I thought it would be a piece of cake, but I didn't expect that the target was not like other spirit farmers who had no combat experience. On the contrary, he was quite quick-witted.

If they were in the wild, they would still be slaughtered for doing this, but this is the territory of the Golden Spirit Sect, and they don't have much time left.

"Boss, time is not on our side, let's retreat."

The mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator urged, saying that they had never made any contingency plans for the current situation, and that staying here to seek a solution would take who knows how long, so it would be better to leave as soon as possible.

"retreat!"

Dong Laoda reluctantly boarded the flying shuttle and left. He wanted everyone to use fire magic to dispel the concentration, but the target could also continuously cast spells to increase the fog concentration, and they didn't have time to waste here.

Two hours later.

Ji An cupped his hands and said:

"Thank you for coming, senior brothers. I am currently applying rain to the spirit fields."

He recounted the events of that time, gritting his teeth as he pointed at Zhang Erniu's corpse and said hatefully:

"I felt that the enemy had planned this all along. Before I cast the spell, I habitually observed my surroundings and did not see any flying shuttles passing by in the nearby sky."

But just as I was casting the rain, I saw the thieves speeding across the ground in a flying shuttle; they must have suddenly emerged from some woodland.

Ji An felt somewhat guilty. He could sense the enemy's murderous intent towards him, and Zhang Erniu's death was most likely due to his involvement.

Mussund's expression was solemn as he said in a deep voice:

"Junior brother, do you remember the direction the thieves came from? Let's go check it out; perhaps we'll find something."

He served in the Enforcement Hall for nearly a century, possessing a Foundation Establishment level of nine, and was the Deputy Hall Master of the Enforcement Hall.

This was the third time he had encountered a sect cultivator being attacked and killed within the sect's territory. The previous two incidents occurred outside the sect's lands, and the thieves succeeded. One of the victims was his friend.

By the time the cultivators from the Enforcement Hall arrived, their fellow disciples had already been torn to pieces and reduced to a pile of minced meat.

The sect was furious and ordered a thorough investigation, but there were too few clues and the matter was eventually dropped.

It just so happened that he was on duty guarding the Mountain and River Map when he saw that a fellow disciple had been attacked near the sect's spiritual vein. Outraged, he came to provide assistance himself.

"Of course I remember, it was in that direction, and my senior brothers and I went there together."

Ji An pointed out the direction and then instructed Huang Feihu to collect Zhang Erniu's body.

He went to search with two cultivators from the Enforcement Hall. Mu Songde patted his storage bag, and a squirrel-shaped spirit beast jumped out.

After half an hour of searching, they found the thief's hiding place. The squirrel spirit kept twitching its nostrils and finally jumped back onto its master's shoulder.

Mussund's face was grim, his eyes cold:

"The thieves came prepared, with powder on their bodies to mask their scent, so my spirit beast couldn't detect any smell."

Junior brother, do you have any enemies?

In his view, true cultivators would not choose to make their moves within the sect.

For a thief to risk committing violence within the sect's territory, there must be an unresolved grudge; otherwise, anyone with a modicum of sense wouldn't do such a thing.

Ji An's gaze deepened, and he gently shook his head:

“Senior brother, I am just a spirit farmer. I usually live a secluded life and have no opportunity to make enemies.”

In all his years of cultivating immortality, at most only three cultivators have harbored ill intentions towards him. Pang Mingde from the Pang Family Treasure Talisman Shop in Qingyun Immortal City is one of them, but the other party does not have the power to find a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to assassinate him.

The other two were Zhu Qinghao and Chen Xingzhou. He had embarrassed them, but even if they had some grudges, it wouldn't escalate to the point of life and death.

"If there is no clear enemy, then it was probably done by a bandit who came from another region. We can make a judgment by verifying with the surrounding forces."

Tomorrow I will send cultivators from the Enforcement Hall to inquire about the forces near Crimson Flame Peak. Junior Brother, please be careful during the coming days.

Musongde and Ji'an exchanged magical imprints, and then Musongde said:

"It will take two days at the earliest, and four or five days at the latest, before I can inform my junior brother of the situation."

"Junior Brother Ji, farewell."

Beside the cold pool, Ji An pursed his lips and remained silent, pondering whether there was a deeper reason behind today's attack.

Huang Feihu walked over and said softly:

"Zhang Erniu's body has been cremated, and his ashes will be sent to the General Affairs Hall tomorrow for his family to claim."

"Inform the General Affairs Department that if Erniu has any family members coming, have them come to Chiyan Peak."

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I feel ashamed that I allowed my sect's disciples to be killed by thieves right before my eyes.

If possible, I would like to do something to make it up to his family.

Ji An slowly exhaled, feeling uneasy.

"Uncle-Master, you did nothing wrong. It was all those damned cultivators who suffered the most punishments."

Huang Feihu offered a word of comfort and quietly withdrew.

He lamented the fragility of life. Zhang Erniu was the first fellow disciple he met after arriving at Chiyan Peak. He was in the prime of his life but suffered this undeserved calamity, which made him sigh deeply.

Three days later, Ji'an received a message from Mussund using a magical sword.

"Upon investigation, it was found that several incidents of cultivators going missing had occurred in other territories near Crimson Flame Peak, and some people had witnessed the calamity of the cultivators."

Junior brother's experience strongly suggests it was a case of itinerant robbers, but please still be extremely cautious.

Red Copper Mountain.

Chen Xingyun welcomed his cousin into the cave, dismissed his attendants, activated the protective barrier, and laughed:

"Did you bring good news?"

Chen Xingzhou gently shook his head:

"The mission failed, and the Enforcement Hall of the Golden Spirit Sect is still secretly investigating the matter."

The operation was unsuccessful, and with the current situation tense, it will be difficult to organize another operation in the short term. We must wait until the storm has passed before considering anything else.

Chen Xingyun's expression turned serious. Since the target had escaped the assassination attempt, he was likely to become the target's suspect.

When Crimson Flame Peak erupts again, the target should be able to piece together the cause and effect. There are reckless cultivators, but no fools.

He took a deep breath and said with a hint of reproach:

"What level are the cultivators who carry out this mission? Don't they know the principle that even a lion must exert its full strength to fight a rabbit?"

"We have anticipated the enemy's weakness and have deployed four Foundation Establishment cultivators to deal with a cultivator at the first level of Foundation Establishment."

One Foundation Establishment Stage 7, one Foundation Establishment Stage 5, and two Foundation Establishment Stage 3—that's a powerful lineup, isn't it?!

Chen Xingzhou recounted the events in general terms, then smiled wryly:

"The target reacted quickly, and at the last moment, it released a spell to create a thick fog, which was completely unexpected. The cultivators who were carrying out the mission could not afford to wait and had to retreat."

Chen Xingyun remained silent. He was at the third level of Foundation Establishment, and such a lineup was more than enough to deal with him. He couldn't blame the family for not being careful in their work.

"Eighth Brother, we've detected that cultivators from the Golden Spirit Sect's Enforcement Hall frequently appear near Crimson Flame Peak, so we have no choice but to remain inactive."

"When Crimson Peak erupts again, how much will it affect you?"

"Ji An will inevitably suspect me, and even our Chen family of Puyun Mountain, but without concrete evidence, it's just suspicion."

Even if we inform the sect, as long as we don't expose ourselves, Ji An and the sect can't do anything to me. Now we just need to see how they react after the eruption of Crimson Flame Peak.

Chen Xingzhou nodded slightly and said slowly:

"I don't think the other party will report the acquisition of various spiritual items to the Golden Spirit Sect after the eruption of Crimson Flame Peak."

"People die for wealth, birds die for food; such a large harvest would tempt even our family, let alone a mere Ling Farmer!"

With an extra income of four or five thousand spirit stones every year, it's hard not to be tempted.

Having managed the family business for many years, he believes he has a clear understanding of people's hearts.

Chen Xingyun narrowed his eyes and sneered:

"In other words, the secret of Crimson Flame Peak will not be known to the sect for the time being."

"Yes, we still have a chance."

Since the attack, Ji'an has become much more vigilant.

Each time he went out to cast spells on the spirit field, he would order Huang Feihu to ride a flying shuttle around the Crimson Flame Peak magic array to investigate. Three months passed peacefully in this way.

The bright moon hangs high, and the fiery aura of metal and fire boils and fills the sky.

Ji An gazed at the summit of Crimson Flame Peak, shrouded in swirling golden-red mist, his eyebrows raised in a triumphant gesture.

The sect's records mention that Crimson Flame Peak erupts once a year in recent years. He has lived two lives and has never experienced such a spectacle.

After several days of preparation, Ji An could vaguely sense that the power accumulated in the fire veins of the earth had reached a critical point.

He has activated the mountain-protecting formation to safeguard the cave and some important locations, quietly awaiting the spectacular sight of the earth's fire pulse soaring into the sky.

Before long, the brightly colored lava, like burning charcoal, gushed out and shot into the sky, hundreds of feet high, as if a fiery tree had grown on the mountaintop.

The night sky was painted orange-red, as if it were on fire.

The earth trembled and rumbled, and volcanic ash rained down.

The volcanic eruption lasted extremely short, only a second or two.

Then Ji An saw lava slowly overflowing from the mountaintop, surging down the mountain like waves.

(End of this chapter)