...

His gaze pierced through the courtyard wall, swept across the cliff, and fell directly from the mountain onto Lingtai County near the foot of the mountain.

Goose-feather-like heavy snow covered the heaven and earth, and everything within sight was a vast expanse of white. However, Lu Qing also saw a few places where Formation fluctuations circulated within, isolating the arrival of the heavy snow and bitter winter.

They were Formations of several Foundation Establishment Clan estates. Having such a warm-spring-like ability did not surprise Lu Qing.

He did not continue to explore deeper, but instead cast his gaze outside the city wall again.

That Lingtai River had long since recovered its former bustle. The Lingtai River did not freeze, nor was there any white fog blocking the view. Across the great river, countless vessels—whether tall tower ships, small boats, or fishing boats—were crossing it.

Suddenly, from far to near, layers of snow-white ripples slowly appeared on the river surface, which were the waves stirred up by the ships.

Further away, at the junction where the river and sky merged into one color, several large ships of grandiose specifications, exuding an aura of Killing Intent, were sailing over here from afar.

Lu Qing narrowed his eyes slightly. He saw several flags fluttering on top of these large ships, with three fierce characters for "Lingyun Sect" fluttering with the river wind.

Others did not know the inside story, but Lu Qing, as one who had experienced it firsthand, clearly knew the Karma behind this river water.

Therefore, after his seclusion this time, it was also to understand what had happened in the past half month.

Consequently, not only did his gaze look toward here, but the sounds transmitted from this side also entered his ears together.

These past half months had not been peaceful.

But as luck would have it, on the very first day he came out of seclusion, he seemed to have sniffed out the scent of impending storm and stress.

He noticed the appearance of these large ships at the first instance, and thoughts kept flashing through his mind.

On the premise of knowing where his station was, Lu Qing had already memorized the various local tyrant forces of Lingzhou.

Lingyun Sect happened to be a Cultivation Sect in Lingzhou, with its territory in Xinan Prefecture.

Lingtai County, this small county town, how could it attract this Sect?

Moreover, Lu Qing's vision was very good. He merely glanced past them and did not continue probing, because he sensed that hidden within those several large ships were a few auras that were particularly extraordinary.

Such a group of people, with a clear objective, were coming straight for Lingtai County?

Or could it be that they also knew about the thing in the Lingtai River?

While these thoughts flashed through his mind, his gaze had already quickly withdrawn.

He was not worried, because after making the choice, the hexagram reading had already disappeared, proving that this time it would not involve him.

Moreover, he was also somewhat curious; as for that bizarre thing, he only guessed that it might be related to that unknown old Dragon King.

Could the people of the Lingyun Sect know as well?

Flashing through these thoughts, his gaze did not look over, nor did his Divine Sense spy outward, but the sounds he heard by his ears seemed to be due to the growth of his Divine Soul power; the range of sounds he heard by his ears was even wider than before.

The hazy sounds transmitted to his ears did not evoke a Ominous Divination in his mind, indicating that there would be no risk. Lu Qing took a sip of tea, listening to the sounds carried over by the wind and water.

Skillfully screening out some irrelevant and noisy sounds,

some human voices also began to appear.

On top of the Lingyun Sect ships, several figures draped in black ink-cloud robes appeared on the deck. One person leaned over the railing, green eyeballs rolling unceasingly as scene after scene of images flashed through the eyeballs.

The others remained silent, waiting for the arrival of news.

The green-eyed Cultivator's body suddenly paused. "Cannot find it..."

He grabbed his eyeballs, looking somewhat incredulous.

"Impossible!"

"This is what the hexagram reading mentioned by that monk showed—it is right here, how can it not be found."

"That's right, Seventh, aren't your eyeballs broken?"

The other ink-cloud-robed Cultivators did not believe it.

A fat Cultivator appeared. His figure and movements were agile, unlike a big fat person. He quickly ran up from below the tower ship, and upon seeing several Cultivators, his huge body thumped and collapsed onto the ground, causing the ground to tremble slightly. Only then did this fat Cultivator say with a trembling voice, "My lords!"

"Speak!" Second Old, standing nearby, glanced at the fat Cultivator, recognizing him as a minor scout developed by his subordinates.

"Our men have searched this place countless times, and they haven't found that thing!"

"Previously, a bizarre event happened here half a month ago..."

A Cultivator with a mustache on one side, which was Third Old, impatiently interrupted him: "We want you to look for things, not to listen to bizarre events!"

"That is a treasure! A treasure! Do you understand?! Don't use those miscellaneous matters to report back!"

The fat Cultivator felt aggrieved inside. Didn't you guys say you wanted all the strange places here found for you?

And now you blame me after I said it.

"Alright, Third Old." A figure sitting in a wheelchair emerged from among the few people nearby.

He was no longer young, with a vicissitudinous visage and half-white hair. Sitting in a wheelchair, no one dared to look at his legs.

He was precisely the eldest among this line of ink-cloud-robed Cultivators.

This group of people were all of the Purple Mansion Realm cultivation, and the eldest brother's cultivation aura was even more unfathomable.

They were also the Seven True Successors of the Lingyun Sect.

The seven of them traveling with several large ships had long ceased to be a secret. Many people knew that these seven were sworn brothers who often liked to leave the Sect and uphold justice.

"Seventh, have you found it?"

After stopping them, he looked again at the green-eyed Cultivator Seventh.

At this moment, Seventh's hands continuously pinched out spell arts one after another, chanting incantations in his mouth. His eerie green eyeballs rolled incessantly within his eye sockets, and countless images of Lingtai County appeared one by one from inside the eyeballs.

The others also stared at Seventh, or to be precise, looked at the images inside Seventh's eyeballs.

"Fou..." The moment Seventh uttered a single word, his whole body suddenly convulsed, his entire body turning into a shrimp-like shape as he spurted out a large mouthful of heart blood. His already withered and skin-and-bones body turned into something like a sheet of paper in a very short time.

His eyeballs bulged, and countless bloodlines on his forehead protruded, looking ferocious and terrifying. "Not... here...!"

Without finishing his last complete sentence, he suddenly stiffened violently.

"Seventh!"

"Little Seventh!"

The expressions of the other Cultivators changed drastically, and they successively made moves to save him.

The eldest even formed hand seals with both hands, using formless spiritual power to stop Seventh's hexagram reading deduction.

Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.

In the span of a short breath, a skin pouch inlaid with a pair of green eyeballs slumped onto the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, the fat Cultivator, who had quietly knelt and moved to the side of the corner, happened to witness this scene, and his heart was terrified beyond measure.

Amitabha, he frantically pinched Buddhist seals in his heart, his forehead full of sweat, fearing that he would be silenced by this group of evildoers.

"Brother, why did you just die?!" With the matter settled as a foregone conclusion, someone wept bitterly.

"Little Seventh." Someone looked at this human skin pouch with a complex expression.

"Little Seventh, go well." Someone had a gloomy expression and picked up this skin pouch.

"Seventh is dead; he saw something he shouldn't have seen."

The eldest's voice was calm.

A trace of drifting coldness flashed across the depths of his eyes. "Seventh used his death to calculate for us. Since it is not here, there is no need to waste effort here."

"Eldest Brother, that old Taoist cheated us! I want him to pay with blood!"

Third Old's red eyeballs flashed with fierce light!

"That's right, that old Taoist is definitely not a good thing. Don't think we don't know he also wants to meddle! Maybe he has already gone to where the treasure is right now!" Fifth Old was full of ferocity.

Inside Azure Bamboo Courtyard,

Lu Qing put down his teacup. Until those auras had gradually receded, a trace of oddity emerged in his pupils.

He more or less figured out that the thing these people were looking for was definitely inextricably linked to that piece of blood bone.