Chapter 117

Chapter 117: Making Compensation

Yun Xi froze the moment she saw that line.

Passing Clouds and Smoke: Senior, what should I do? There are Nascent Soul True Lords in the city right now, and I’m afraid my actions will alarm them.

Yun Xi really was tempted. She wanted her space to grow larger too, instead of being only one hundred square meters.

Ethereal Aura: That’s a bit troublesome. Once that space is known by the big shots, you won’t be able to take it.

Yun Xi immediately deflated. She could tell that this big shot truly had just mentioned it offhand.

After that, Yun Xi logged off. Her soul returned, and when she opened her eyes, she took out her talisman brush and started drawing talismans.

Earlier, because she had been absorbing mid-grade spirit stones like crazy just to stay alive, the barrier to late-stage Foundation Establishment had already become as thin as a cicada’s wing. She could pierce it at any time, but now was not a good time to advance.

She could only use talisman-drawing to consume the spiritual energy in her body. Now she could draw Second Rank high-grade talismans, and with her strong spiritual sense and abundant spiritual power, her success rate stayed around ninety percent.

In the days that followed, she did nothing but draw talismans and cultivate the beginner body-refining technique. After each body-refining session, she used spiritual power to slowly expand her meridians and gradually open the tiny, thin ones.

Mu Ning Zhu and Qin Tong Shuang also barely left their rooms. They cultivated inside, since this incident had hit them hard too.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the City Lord’s Mansion was heavy. City Lord Li explained to all the arriving True Lords and Masters why his son had done this. He spoke with grief and regret, saying he would compensate the cultivators who died, and he would also step down and no longer serve as City Lord. He would take on all the consequences of this accident.

After sighing, City Lord Li cupped his fists and said, “Cang Yuan lost his lover, so his heart demon took hold. That gave the evil cultivator lurking in the shadows a chance to exploit him. While I was in closed dead seclusion, trying to break through Spirit Transformation, he caused such a monstrous disaster. I have wronged all of you, Fellow Daoists.

“I have already crippled Cang Yuan’s cultivation. After the follow-up matters are handled, I will execute him in public to give all the victims an explanation.”

True Lord Yu Feng and Shi Jun exchanged a glance, but neither of them took a stance right away.

Shi Jun cared about something else. “City Lord Li, since Fellow Daoist Little Li has already been captured, has the City Lord questioned the origin of this evil formation? With his strength alone, he could not have set up such a formation.”

True Lord Yu Feng did not speak, but he nodded, showing his agreement.

“I asked,” City Lord Li said, “but he won’t say a word. I even wanted to wait until all of you arrived and then perform a soul-search on him. But that child Cang Yuan is determined to go down this path. He said there is a restriction placed inside his sea of consciousness. If we force a soul-search, his sea of consciousness will be destroyed and he’ll die.”

After saying that, City Lord Li could not help sighing again. He waved his hand, and the guards beside him brought his son in.

At the same time, True Lord Yu Feng sent a voice transmission to Shi Jun. “True Lord Shi, do you think what he said is believable?”

“Half,” Shi Jun replied.

“I think City Lord Li was involved too,” True Lord Yu Feng said. “I just don’t know what his goal was.”

“He is the City Lord,” Shi Jun said. “How could any change in the city escape his spiritual sense? Right now he’s just finding an excuse for himself.”

“In that case, there was probably a disagreement between father and son,” True Lord Yu Feng said. “But now he’s acting so righteous and wants to execute his son in public. Without evidence, it’ll be hard for us to be too forceful.”

“Yes,” Shi Jun agreed. “We have no proof, and he’s retreating to advance. If we want to resolve this quickly, we can’t start by digging the evil formation’s origin from them.”

“Then we watch him closely,” True Lord Yu Feng said. “A fox will always show its tail sooner or later.”

Shi Jun agreed with that. The Nascent Soul cultivator from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance sitting below him also began sending voice transmissions, and what they said was basically the same as True Lord Yu Feng.

Li Cang Yuan was brought in at that moment. He had become an ordinary man with no cultivation at all. It was clear that City Lord Li truly had crippled his cultivation.

Li Cang Yuan was no longer a Golden Core cultivator. Once his spiritual power dispersed, his appearance instantly became that of a fifty-year-old man. His hair turned mostly white, and his back grew hunched.

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. After Li Cang Yuan was brought in, he knelt on the ground with lifeless eyes.

True Lord Huan Die of the Joyous Union Sect lifted her gaze and swept her eyes over him. Then she flicked her lotus-pink sleeve, forcing him to turn his head toward her.

With her seductive eyes fixed on his, she smiled and asked, “Cang Yuan, why did you do this?”

“I wanted to save Qiu Shui,” Li Cang Yuan said.

“You watched Qiu Shui die with your own eyes,” True Lord Huan Die said. “She can’t be revived.”

“She can,” Li Cang Yuan said. “She definitely can. They said that formation can reverse life and death.”

“They?” True Lord Huan Die asked. “Who are they?”

That was the key question.

But Li Cang Yuan’s face turned ghostly pale. He clutched his head and repeated Huan Die’s question. “Who are they? Who are they? I don’t know! Don’t ask me!”

Then he toppled forward. His body began to convulse. True Lord Huan Die had no choice but to withdraw her spiritual sense. She frowned and shook her head at the others. Clearly, she could not dig anything out.

City Lord Li only kept sighing, and he did not stop anyone from probing.

After convulsing for a while, Li Cang Yuan lost consciousness. He lay limp on the floor, and even his breathing grew faint.

Everyone’s suspicions were not completely dispelled, but since they could not question him further, they continued discussing compensation. They would not come all this way for nothing.

That discussion lasted three full days. Three days later, the City Lord’s Mansion announced to the entire city that they would execute the culprit Li Cang Yuan, and they would compensate all cultivators who escaped. As for compensation for cultivators who died, that would be handled by the sects, families, and the Rogue Cultivator Alliance.

After hearing the news, Yun Xi and the other two gathered to talk it over.

“City Lord Li is really going all out to calm the cultivators’ anger,” Yun Xi sighed. “After paying like this, his storage ring will probably be cleaner than his face.”

Mu Ning Zhu disagreed. “Not quite. Compensation for low-level cultivators won’t be that much. Only outstanding low-level cultivators will get more. Otherwise, the True Lords won’t let this go.”

“We survived by luck,” Yun Xi said. “Our compensation shouldn’t be small, right?”

What she cared about was this: she would not even mention the spirit stones she had lost, but she had destroyed a Third Rank formation disk. That had been her most-used composite formation disk, and it had done great service for her.

Mu Ning Zhu said at once, “I ran into Senior Brother Sheng two days ago. He said we can list whatever compensation we need. He’ll collect it all and send it to the City Lord’s Mansion. I believe we can get what we want.”

“Then we should write it now,” Yun Xi said. “This is what we’re owed.”

Yun Xi immediately took out the paper she used for talisman-drawing and wrote down what she wanted. A formation disk above Third Rank was a must, and then she listed the spirit stones she had consumed.

After she finished, Yun Xi handed the list to Mu Ning Zhu. She did not plan to go see Sheng Yu Hong.

Qin Tong Shuang also wrote her list. The thousand-year cold ice she had used was a good treasure. Once she finished, she handed it to Mu Ning Zhu as well.

Mu Ning Zhu shook her head helplessly as she took both lists. She could tell that these two girls were not eager to curry favor with the famous Sheng Yu Hong.

Just then, a message talisman flew into the courtyard.