Chapter 313: Spying

Chapter 313 -311: Spying

After hearing what Wen Rou had to say, Chen Yuan was taken aback. He never imagined the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower’s intelligence business was so developed that they were even operating in a place like the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

“Your Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower sent so many people in? Aren’t you afraid your elite Wind Media Spies will run into trouble?”

A person like Wen Rou, a Vice Tower Master for an entire province, was one of the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower’s elites. Her combat prowess aside, her other abilities were extremely potent.

Given the dangers inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower, losing even one of them would be a tremendous loss for the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower.

Most importantly, while the Wind Media Spies of the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower were highly capable in their field, their combat strength was merely average compared to other Martial Artists of the same level.

Because of this, these Wind Media Spies might suffer even greater losses inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

Wen Rou shook her head. “The Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower’s Wind Media Spies didn’t enter the Heaven-Reaching Tower for fortuitous encounters or treasures. We’re only here for information.

Therefore, we don’t actively seek out and explore ruins like you do. We only sell information about these ruins, so the danger is naturally much lower.”

Chen Yuan nodded in understanding.

‘Not entering the ruins and just wandering around on the surrounding fragments… the danger really isn’t that high.’

“In that case, I really do need to find the ruins of a Sect.”

“Do these Sect ruins have a name?”

“The Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect.”

Wen Rou thought carefully for a moment, then shook her head. “So far, there are no records of these ruins in the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower’s database. It must be a site that hasn’t been explored yet.”

Chen Yuan wasn’t surprised. ‘If it had been explored, news of the Seven Kills Stele Fragment would have likely spread long ago.’

“It’s fine if you don’t have it. Tower Master Wen, you can have your Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower’s spies help me search for traces of a Blood Dragon Tree. It’s quite large, so it should be conspicuous.

As long as we find the Blood Dragon Tree, the Sect ruins I’m looking for should be nearby.”

Wen Rou nodded. “No problem. I’ll have the other Wind Media Spies start searching right away.”

The bottom level of the Heaven-Reaching Tower was enormous. If Chen Yuan were to search on his own, there was no telling how long it would take.

Now that he had the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower’s spies helping him, he could save a lot of time.

The duration for which the Heaven-Reaching Tower remained open was not fixed. Calculated according to the flow of time inside, it could be as long as a year or as short as several months.

If one discovered a Pocket World Blessed Land suitable for cultivation within it, a single day of practice would be more effective than dozens of days in the outside world.

Therefore, time inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower was extremely precious. One had to admit, the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower was very good at business.

“So, how will you contact me after you find the Blood Dragon Tree?”

Wen Rou handed Chen Yuan a Jade Slab engraved with runes.

“This is a device specially developed by my Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower. It can be used for positioning inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

Once the Jade Slab heats up, it means I have news for you.

When that happens, Master Chen, you just need to find a safe place and infuse a trace of True Qi into it. We’ll then be able to lock onto your position.”

Chen Yuan nodded in understanding. “I’ll have to trouble you then, Tower Master Wen. If you really find something, I will certainly make sure you are well-compensated afterward.”

“Of course. Master Chen, you’ve always been a generous man.”

Wen Rou gave a charming smile, then immediately turned to contact the other Wind Media Spies who had entered the Heaven-Reaching Tower to help Chen Yuan find the Blood Dragon Tree.

While the people from the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower were searching, Chen Yuan naturally didn’t remain idle. He took a two-pronged approach and continued his own exploration.

A full half an hour after the two had left, on a floating fragment only about ten feet wide not far from them, a figure in a black robe suddenly appeared out of thin air.

To be precise, he hadn’t appeared out of thin air—he had been there all along.

His black robe had a hood that completely enveloped his body.

The black robe was rather unique. Although it looked black, the light and shadows on its surface shifted, allowing it to completely conceal the wearer in accordance with the ambient light, and it could also mask his aura.

Chen Yuan’s own six senses were sharp, and Wen Rou, with her background as a Wind Media Spy, was an expert at detecting movement. Yet, neither of them had managed to notice the other person.

Moreover, he was incredibly patient, only revealing himself a full half an hour later.

“‘Chen Jiutian is looking for a Blood Dragon Tree? Master Shangguan will surely be very interested in this news.'”

The black-robed man pulled back his hood, revealing the weathered face of a middle-aged man.

After a moment of thought, he headed straight in a specific direction.

「An hour later, inside a Sect’s ruins.」

Shangguan Moyuan was working with Su Changhe of the Blazing Sect to break an Array within the ruins and search for any fortuitous encounters or treasures inside.

It wasn’t just them; several Independent Martial Artists from Qing Province were also with them.

The Shangguan Family was very influential in Qing Province. After these Independent Martial Artists entered the Heaven-Reaching Tower, some chose to follow Shangguan Moyuan as his vassals.

One reason was his strength. The other was that as long as they helped Shangguan Moyuan inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower, the Shangguan Family would naturally not treat them poorly after they left.

As a Noble Family with thousands of years of history, the Shangguan Family was actually quite generous—at least, their reputation was much better than the Murong Family’s in You Province.

Su Changhe had actually been the first to discover these ruins, but Shangguan Moyuan arrived later with several Independent Martial Artists.

Normally in such a situation, the two parties would naturally fight to decide who owned the ruins.

However, Su Changhe had been injured by Chen Yuan earlier. Although he had taken some emergency Elixirs to recover, he was not at his peak.

They had only just entered the Heaven-Reaching Tower; there was no need to fight the Shangguan Family to the death over ruins of unknown value. Thus, Su Changhe chose to compromise and cooperate with Shangguan Moyuan to explore the site together.

Shangguan Moyuan thought the same. In any case, they were the latecomers. Since the other party had made a concession, he wasn’t at a disadvantage.

After a while, the two groups emerged. Shangguan Moyuan and Su Changhe looked indifferent, but the few Independent Martial Artists following Shangguan Moyuan were beaming with joy.

The ruins were too severely damaged, and no Cultivation Techniques were left behind. There weren’t many good things, except for a Pill Furnace sealed by an Array, which was decent.

But upon opening it, they found it didn’t contain a Divine Pill, only Top Grade Elixirs.

To Su Changhe and Shangguan Moyuan, anything less than a Divine Pill was of little significance, so they generously divided the contents among the Independent Martial Artists under them.

For these Independent Martial Artists, such Top Grade Elixirs were rare treasures.

“Brother Shangguan, I’ll take my leave here. I’m going to explore other places.”

Since there was nothing of value, Su Changhe cupped his fists, intending to explore elsewhere.

He had no intention of teaming up with Shangguan Moyuan for an extended period.

Most items found in the ruins of Sect Clans were one-of-a-kind. If they discovered something truly valuable, they would probably end up fighting over it anyway. It was better to explore separately.

Shangguan Moyuan also cupped his fists and was just about to offer a few polite words when he saw a black-robed figure speeding toward them.

“Master Shangguan! I’ve found traces of that Chen Jiutian! I have intelligence on him!”

Hearing Chen Jiutian’s name, a cold light flashed in Su Changhe’s eyes, which surged with hatred. His feet, which had been about to depart, came to a sudden halt.

He had lived a smooth-sailing life. As the most outstanding figure of the younger generation among the Nine Martial Sects, he had never suffered such a great loss!

In the outside world, Su Changhe had been powerless against Chen Yuan, so he had endured it.

But if he got the chance, he would definitely avenge such a monumental humiliation!

“Oh? What news?”

Shangguan Moyuan raised a slight eyebrow.

Although he hadn’t lost as miserably as Su Changhe, he had still been left in a sorry state.

Moreover, his Shangguan Family had coveted Ning Province for a long time. As a prominent figure of Zhenwu Hall’s younger generation, this Chen Jiutian was someone he had to find an opportunity to eliminate.

Zhenwu Hall’s younger generation had no outstanding figures, and the older generation of Martial Artists was corrupt and decadent.

As long as the Shangguan Family was patient, Zhenwu Hall would grow weaker on its own until it was eventually annexed by them.

Who would have thought that a character like Chen Jiutian, who lorded over his entire generation, would now appear? To Shangguan Moyuan, this man had to be eliminated at the first opportunity!

That was why, before entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower, Shangguan Moyuan had told these allied Independent Martial Artists that if they found any trace of Chen Jiutian, they should immediately use a Secret Technique to pinpoint his location and report back to him.

But now, the black-robed man didn’t speak immediately. Instead, he shot a wary glance at Su Changhe.

A thought struck Shangguan Moyuan. He smiled and said, “Speak freely. This is Master Su Changhe of the Blazing Sect. He is currently allied with me and can be trusted.”

With that, Shangguan Moyuan pointed at the black-robed man and said, “This is a remarkable individual from my Qing Province, Qu Yuanfeng, nicknamed ‘Thousand Miles Traceless.’ He excels at Lightweight Concealment and once even infiltrated the Great Xia Imperial Palace in the Central Province. Although he was eventually discovered by an Array, he managed to escape from a Grandmaster at the Eighth Realm Divine Platform.”

Su Changhe was slightly astonished. This man was truly remarkable.

Escaping with his life from a Divine Platform Realm Grandmaster while only at the Condensing Truth Realm was a feat worth boasting about anywhere.

Qu Yuanfeng was inwardly pleased but remained modest. “Master Shangguan, you praise me too much. They are merely some unrefined tricks.”

With that, Qu Yuanfeng relayed the conversation he had accidentally overheard between Chen Yuan and Wen Rou to Shangguan Moyuan.

“Did this Chen Yuan say what was inside the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect?”

Qu Yuanfeng shook his head. “He didn’t. He only said he was looking for this Sect, and the people from the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower have already agreed to help him find the Blood Dragon Tree.”

After a pause, however, Qu Yuanfeng added, “But Master Shangguan, although I’ve never seen the Blood Shadow Nether Kill Sect, I have seen the Blood Dragon Tree that Chen Jiutian mentioned.”

“Oh? Where did you find it?”

Qu Yuanfeng pointed to the west and said, “After entering the Heaven-Reaching Tower, I began to search and explore everywhere. But as you know, my combat strength is not high, so I’ve spent most of my time scouting the terrain to provide you with intelligence.

As it happens, not far from where I was teleported into the Heaven-Reaching Tower, there’s a fragment with a giant, blood-red tree on it. From its appearance, it should be the Blood Dragon Tree that Chen Jiutian is looking for.”

Hearing Qu Yuanfeng’s words, Shangguan Moyuan fell into deep thought.