Chapter 95: The Father's Whereabouts

  Li Ruo's anxiety had been burning in his heart for a whole day, and as the sky darkened into dusk, he could no longer wait. He went ahead to scout out the terrain and lay an ambush near Shang Hu's house, the head of the mine. As soon as Shang Hu entered the house, Li Ruo pressed his sword against Shang Hu's neck, emerging from the shadows behind the door.

  Shang Hu suddenly encountered danger, his face turned white, and he didn't know who was behind him. Just as he was about to slowly mobilize his vital energy, Li Ran's knife stretched out with one hand and grasped Shang Hu's Dazhui acupoint. With a swift release of palm force, Shang Hu's entire body suddenly became soft and weak, unable to exert even a thread of strength. His heart racing with fear, he involuntarily cried out: "Spare my life... spare my life..."

  Li Ran's grip on his sword tightened, and he lowered his voice to shout: "I'm asking you, where did a mining slave named Li Qushan from the mine go?"

  "Li Qushan?"

  Shang Hu's eyes rolled, Li Ran's long sword flashed and stabbed again, slicing into half an inch deep, Shang Hu let out a low cry of pain, his face suddenly turning pale.

  Li Ran's knife didn't give the miner any time to react, and he urged hastily: "Quickly, where is Li Qushan?"

  Shang Hu could no longer turn his mind around, and in a low voice with a sobbing tone, he said: "Li Qushan was transferred away by the clan three months ago."

  Li Ran's heart skipped a beat as he hastily asked, "Speak, where was it transferred to?"

  Shang Hu's heart was filled with fear, and he quickly said: "It is said that she has been transferred to the clan's inner courtyard, to the mansion of the clan leader's lineage."

  Li Ran's sword hand tightened, the veins on his fingers throbbed slightly as he growled in a low voice: "Nonsense, how could a mine slave be transferred into our clan?"

  The merchant was afraid that the person behind would be enraged and do something harmful to himself, so he quickly interjected: "I'm not talking nonsense, this is absolutely true, it was the Seventh Elder who personally took Li Qushan away, if you don't believe me, you can go ask the Seventh Elder."

  Li Ran's heart was in turmoil, he took a deep breath and asked again in an icy tone: "What would happen if a mine slave were to be brought into the clan?"

  The merchant's eyes darted around randomly, and he casually replied, "I don't know about that little guy, I guess maybe he went to the clan to do some miscellaneous chores. Li Qushan is a good person with good fortune, no longer having to work so hard in the mine."

  Li Ruo Nan heard Shang Hu's careless words, and didn't know how many of them were true or false. He felt anxious and worried, not knowing what his father was like now. In a fit of anger, he asked again: "What else do you know about Li Qu Shan?"

  The little man hastily said: "I'm just a small ore observer, I only know these things, and nothing else."

  Li Ran hummed and said coldly: "You don't know this or that, what's the point of keeping you."

  His soul flew out in shock, just as he was about to shout loudly, a long sword pierced straight into his back, pinning him through in an instant. He fell to the ground with a thud and stopped moving, his posture almost identical to Li Jiu's when he died.

  Li Ruo's eyes narrowed tightly: Father is indeed not in the mine, if you want to know the true whereabouts of your father, it seems that we should catch a few more people from the Gong Sun family to understand the situation.

  He cast a cold glance at the corpse of Shang Hu, and the murderous intent in Li Ruo's eyes flashed and disappeared. This mine owner had been cruelly enslaving the miners, making Li Ruo look down on him with great indignation. Moreover, he knew that there were assassins coming to ask about Li Qu Shan's affairs, if they informed the Gong Sun family, wouldn't his father be in danger? He decided not to let him live.

  He turned around and was about to open the door and leave when Li Ran's heart suddenly moved and his eyebrows furrowed.

  "No, just now when this miner fell down, how could he make a loud noise? That was the sound of heavy metal hitting the ground. What is hidden in his waist?"

  Li Rendao took a step forward and turned over the corpse of Shang Hu, and a bulging object in his chest caught his eye. Li Rendao furrowed his brow and reached into his chest, pulling out a handful of phosphorescent crystals. As he held them, he felt their weight and pressure. In the dim light of the room, he examined them carefully, and the more he looked, the more astonished and certain he became: "This... this isn't phosphorescent crystal, is it? Spirit force metal!"

  Li Ran's knife was shocked to find that a small miner had such a rare treasure on him. This phosphorus crystal would be worth over 100 taels of gold if sold, and even if exchanged for points in the Mystic Mountain's Treasure Pavilion, it would likely require over 2,000 points.

  On the small miner's body, Li Ran obtained this treasure, his heart racing with excitement. With this phosphorus crystal, his sword could undergo another transformation, and his own sword intent could be elevated once more.

  His heart was filled with surprise, worry and joy all at once. He grasped the phosphorus tightly in his hand, weighing it carefully, never expecting to obtain this rare object by chance. Carefully putting the phosphorus away, he slowly opened the door, looked around cautiously, saw no one nearby, then swiftly disappeared into the mountains.

  The precious treasure that was obtained with great care and thought was soon changed hands again.

  More than ten miles away from the Xuan Shi Valley, a massive mountain villa almost occupied the entire mountain, which was exactly where the Gong Sun family lived. At the waist of the mountain, several main rooms facing east, in the layout of the entire courtyard, monopolized the feng shui, and when the lights were first lit, the interior of the house was decorated with grandeur and luxury, an old man with a green beard, wearing a long shirt and cloud shoes, sat cross-legged on the bed, his sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, revealing his arms.

  A beautiful young woman tightly pursed her lips, releasing several large leeches from a jade tube. As soon as the leeches crawled out, they fiercely stuck their suckers into the arm of an old man with a green beard.

  There were eight leeches in total, with round bellies and a hint of dark red inside. As soon as they crawled out, they attached themselves to the old man's two arms, making him look terrifying at first glance.

  The beautiful young woman didn't dare to slack off, and took out a small bottle again. She used a bamboo stick to pick up the white medicine powder, and applied a little bit to each of the eight leeches' bodies. In just a few breaths, the leeches' bodies shrunk rapidly, and they withered away, falling from the old man's arm.

  Obviously, the leech had sucked full of fresh blood from someone else and was forced out by this beautiful woman with medicine, passing the blood to this old man with a green beard.

  The old man with a green beard suddenly opened his eyes, took a deep breath and sighed: "Miao woman, your blood transmission technique is indeed amazing. By the way, what about Li Qushan now?"

  The beautiful young woman's eyes fluttered with a faint smile: "That mine slave, nothing to do every day, eating and drinking well, very healthy body, recovering extremely well, don't worry, old man."

  The old man with a green beard nodded slightly: "Good, this Li Qushan must be protected well. Use high-grade supplements to make him stronger, and the blood transmission twice a month must not be interrupted."

  The beautiful young woman smiled and said, "Old sir, you are already a celestial being who has ascended to the realm of Dan, what use do you have for the essence of ordinary people? Keeping that mine slave like this is truly letting him off easy."

  The old man with a green beard smiled slightly and shook his head, saying: "Miao's wife, you don't need to ask about this."

  The beautiful young woman smiled slightly and shook her head as she bid farewell and left. The old man with a green beard sighed softly and sank into deep thought.

  The Li family's Flowing Cloud Sword Classic is indeed extraordinary, I had guessed that if I could master the fourth form, I would be able to comprehend the sword intent, but unfortunately, I couldn't find the entrance. If it wasn't for coincidentally meeting Miao woman and learning about her blood transmission technique, I'm afraid I wouldn't have thought of using Li Quanshan's bloodline to cultivate the technique.

  Recently, I refined the essence of Li Quanshan's blood and unexpectedly had a faint sense of touching the sword intent. It seems that after refining the Li family's bloodline a few more times, I will be able to cultivate the fourth form of the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique.

  The old man was excited in his heart, twirling his mustache and smiling.

  Li Ruo didn't know these things, and came out of Xuan Shi Valley like a hunter quietly roaming the nearby mountain city.

  In the Gong Sun family, there were always people buying and selling in the city, and as soon as they met someone alone, they would quietly take them away. Finally, from the mouth of a deputy steward of the inner court, it was learned that Father Li Qushan was indeed locked up in the courtyard of the clan leader Gong Sunyi, where he did not need to work hard every day and had no worries about food and drink.

  Li Ruo's heart was still uneasy, but upon learning that his father was unharmed, he put down half of his worries. Gong Sun Yi was a Dan Sheng Upper Immortal, and in his courtyard, Li Ruo knew that saving him was hopeless, so he could only pin his hopes on seeking help from Xiao Baiyi Elder in the future.

  The deputy steward naturally couldn't keep him, and he did all this cleanly and efficiently. He raised his head to identify the direction, then galloped towards the Xuanji Mountain at a rapid pace.

  The holiday for visiting relatives at home has not yet reached the halfway point, and Li Ruo Knife hurried back, alone with a light pace, in more than ten days he saw the mist-shrouded Xuanji Mountains.

  It took another half day to rush to the foot of the mountain, and from the dense fog, he opened the mountain gate and entered the mountain. Along the way, the thirteen peaks disciples saw Li Ranno Knife and voluntarily paid their respects. Li Ranno Knife returned the courtesy all the way and rushed straight to the Xuanhuo Cave.

  He walked through the scorching outer cave and stood in front of the thick stone gate. Li Ran's knife slammed against the door, shouting loudly: "Open the door, I'm back!"

  A grey-robed disciple pushed open the stone gate and saw that it was Li Ruo, his expression a mix of shock and delight: "Ruo Knife, brother, you're back so early before the holiday? Is everything settled at home?"

  After entering the Golden Sword List, those disciples who had entered earlier had to address him as Senior Brother. Li Ruo Dao smiled and nodded in response as he walked into the cave, where Ma Kong and Tu Shun were waiting. They turned their heads in surprise, saw that it was Li Ruo Dao, and excitedly gathered around asking about his well-being.

  Back at the mountain gate, Li Ruo also felt warm and briefly talked about his experiences on the way back. He also mentioned how Fang Ziyuan, a senior brother from Linfeng City, helped him out of trouble. The crowd was both angry and amused. Ma Kong loudly said: "Fortunately, Brother Fang was there too. If you, Uncle, had encountered any unexpected situation, Brother would have stepped in to help you invite people, and wouldn't mind flattening his West City Mansion."

  After a while, Ma Kong suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Ran Jian, this time when you return home, everything will be settled. When you come back, you must seize the time to cultivate..."

  Li Ruo heard a hint in Ma Kong's words and couldn't help but pause for a moment, Ma Kong exchanged a glance with Tu Shun, shook his head and continued: "Ruo, you don't know that during the time you were away, Shan Zhi has been practicing the Mo Yun Sword Manual day and night. Two days ago, it was said that he had successfully comprehended the fifth style of the sword manual and achieved the Mo Yun state, greatly increasing his strength. This Shan Zhi has vowed to take back the Golden Sword identity from your hands."

  Tú Shùn also nodded repeatedly, Zheng Se said: "Ran Jian, Shan Zhi Shixiong was humiliated by you this time, and it seems that he has made up his mind. I heard that after Shan Zhi Shixiong mastered the fifth form of Moyun Sword Classic, his strength increased greatly, but instead of going to Huanyu Cave to challenge the trial immediately, he chose to continue hiding and secretly cultivating day and night in Yougu Valley. I think when he comes out of the valley, he will give everyone a big surprise."

  Li Ran Dao's face also turned solemn upon hearing this, and he nodded slowly: "I understand, Ma Kong Shixiong. If I'm really not needed on duty here, then I'll return to the cave to cultivate as well."

  "Go ahead, Burning Knife, focus on your cultivation, don't worry about anything here."

  Looking at Li Ruo's distant back, Tu Shun felt a little uneasy in his heart and lowered his voice to ask Ma Kong: "Brother, do you think this time Ruo will lose to Shan Zhi?"

  Ma Kong sank into thought for a moment, then slowly shook his head and analyzed: "In this half year, Shan Zhi will definitely be able to retrieve the Golden Sword again. As for Rong Dao... looking at his growth rate, this kid has a lot of potential, he'll definitely put in great effort to cultivate in this half year. After half a year, it's hard to say who will win or lose between the two of them, it's a battle between two tigers..."

  Tu Shun also sighed and nodded vigorously.