Watching Ye Qiong carefully but swiftly weave her way through the tea house and disappear among the cultivators, Li Ye's gaze gradually calmed.
He remained seated, slowly savoring the floral tea named Lively Fragrance. Not until he'd finished and the lingering aroma filled his mouth did he rise and head toward the counter.
"I'd like a private room," he said calmly.
"Of course, sir. Right this way!"
The shopkeeper behind the counter immediately took down a room tag from the wall. Stepping out from behind the counter, he led Li Ye toward the inner area of the tea house.
Once past a curtain, the atmosphere shifted to one of serene quiet. Each private room was protected by restrictive formations doors tightly shut, and no sound leaked from within.
The shopkeeper brought Li Ye to an empty room and then took his leave.
Before long, an old man entered without a word and took a seat opposite Li Ye.
"What information do you seek, friend?" he asked mildly.
"Everything related to Mount Changcui," Li Ye replied.
The old man's eyes flickered slightly but answered without haste,
"Mount Changcui... That touches on the Mountain Lords' Alliance. It requires Grade A pricing."
"Grade A…" Li Ye muttered to himself, then nodded. "That's fine."
"Please wait a moment."
The old man said no more. He took out a bamboo slip, wrote down a series of numbers, and then cast a spell toward a hidden compartment in the room, opening a small secret tunnel. He tossed the slip inside.
Li Ye showed no surprise at this he seemed to have seen the process before and remained calm.
Soon after, the soft sound of a mechanism could be heard, and a jade slip slid out from the tunnel.
The old man picked it up while Li Ye pulled out some spirit stones payment was exchanged, one hand for money, one for goods.
Li Ye took the jade slip and began reading it intently.
Sending Ye Qiong to search for the two siblings was one part of his plan. Given how connected the lower circles of this market were, they might notice things others missed.
But of course, he couldn't rely solely on Ye Qiong and her underground contacts.
Purchasing information from a long-established intelligence agency in the Chidi Mountain Range was also essential.
Perhaps between the two sources, he could find the Lan siblings!
…
The intelligence report was quite detailed, outlining everything about Mount Changcui.
Mount Changcui was one of the top 36 peaks within the Seventy-Two Alliance of the Chidi Mountains.
Its slopes were gentle, and from mid-mountain to the summit ran a first-grade spiritual vein. Near the base, there was a dispersed, inferior-grade vein.
Midway up the mountain was a stable geothermal cave. Except during the coldest part of the year, the mountain's temperature remained mild due to geothermal support, keeping the vegetation lush year-round.
Thanks to these conditions, it was said that at least six acres of spiritual farmland had been developed into a truly desirable piece of land!
Additionally, there were several mortal villages at the foot of the mountain. They not only provided daily necessities to the cultivators but also served as a source of potential disciples. Every year, promising youths were selected with fair results.
Just reading this made Li Ye's heart stir with excitement.
With a place like this, achieving Foundation Establishment wouldn't be difficult at all!
He continued reading and soon came to information about the mountain lord, Lan Chengye.
Lan Chengye was at the eighth level of Qi Refining. His eldest daughter was Lan Xinyi, and his young son was Lan Ming. His second wife was Wang Shuangyan…
Not long ago, Lan Chengye had died while exploring a secret realm. It was suspected that Wang Shuangyan had conspired with her lover, Mo Lun. The two Wang at the sixth level and Mo Lun at the seventh now controlled the formation core and had seized the mountain.
As for Lan Xinyi and Lan Ming, they had escaped into the mountains with the help of clan members. Their last known sighting was three days ago near Yangyi Mountain.
Currently, the usurpers had dispatched people to hunt the siblings, and it seemed there had been a purge of internal resistance. Though few cultivators remained on the mountain, all had pledged loyalty to Wang Shuangyan.
The report ended with a general overview of the current strength remaining at Mount Changcui.
Li Ye's gaze shifted slightly.
There was still one key detail missing from this report the stance of the Mountain Lords' Alliance.
But given that, Wang Shuangyan now controlled the protective formation, and the siblings remained at large, the alliance was likely still waiting for their emergence.
Unless the two came forward themselves to seek support from another mountain lord, the alliance would have little incentive to intervene anytime soon.
Which meant he still had a chance!
With his current resources, dealing with Wang Shuangyan and Mo Lun wouldn't be difficult.
But if he wanted to take over Mount Changcui for himself, he'd need a legitimate reason something that would shut the mouths of the other mountain lords.
Otherwise, even if he seized the mountain by force, the others might grow greedy and gang up on him in the future.
Best to avoid that outcome if possible.
The most urgent task now… was still to find those two siblings!
After a moment of silence, Li Ye looked up at the old man and asked, "Do you have any more detailed information about the Lan siblings?"
The old man shook his head. "Everything we have is already in that slip."
Without another word, Li Ye stood up and walked out of the tea house.
He glanced up at the sky, which was slowly darkening, then pulled out a map. After checking it briefly, he headed straight out of the market toward Yangyi Mountain.
.....
Two Days Later
Li Ye returned once more, his deliberately shadowed face now even gloomier.
He had nearly scoured the area around Yangyi Mountain and the nearby smaller peaks that lacked spiritual veins. Yet aside from occasionally spotting members of the Lan family also seemingly conducting their search, he hadn't caught even a glimpse of the siblings.
Most likely, they had already relocated. He would need to find another lead.
Just as he was about to summon Ye Qiong for an update, he noticed her outside the cave-dwelling he had rented, anxiously looking around.
When she saw Li Ye returning from outside, she froze for a moment, then quickly ran over.
"Senior Heimu…"
"Let's talk inside," Li Ye said, raising his hand to lift the cave's protective formation. He led Ye Qiong into the courtyard.
After resealing the barrier, Li Ye asked in a low voice, "You have news?"
"I do!" Ye Qiong said with clear excitement.
"I just heard it from Xiao Zhang, who often goes out gathering herbs. About half a day ago, while he was picking herbs near Mount Taihe, he looked down from a cliff and saw what seemed to be a woman carefully moving through the forest with a young child, probably under ten. They disappeared quickly…"
"But the description matches the Lan siblings almost exactly. It could very well be them!"
Li Ye's expression grew a bit strange.
Well, damn. Mount Taihe was nearly in the opposite direction from Mount Yangyi. And in such a short time, those siblings had managed to get that far?
His thoughts shifted, and he immediately asked, "Who else knows about this?"
Ye Qiong hesitated slightly. "Xiao Zhang might have already sold the information to Fragrant Tea Pavilion…"
Fragrant Tea Pavilion was the same tea house where Li Ye had bought intel earlier. Selling it to them essentially meant Wang Shuangyan would hear about it soon too.
Upon hearing this, Li Ye wasn't surprised. Time was still on his side for now.
He nodded, then pulled out a low-grade magical sword from someone's storage pouch and handed it to Ye Qiong.
"You've done well in this matter. Consider this your reward."
After sending off a very grateful Ye Qiong, Li Ye flew off straight toward Mount Taihe!
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