Chapter 982 - Senior Brothers' Whereabouts

While they talked, Liu Xin'er suddenly pointed at the large pit, certain she had seen a familiar figure.

The figure vanished in a flash before Liu Wuxie and the others could spot him.

"Could it be that those three were captured and forced into labor?" Liu Feng muttered to himself.

That would spell trouble, as rescuing them would prove difficult.

A shadow loomed over everyone's hearts. Everyone knew the bond between Liu Wuxie and his three senior brothers. If he found that his senior brothers were captured as laborers, he would undoubtedly go on a rampage.

Ruan Ying stepped forward with an idea. "Master, I have a plan!"

"Speak!" Liu Wuxie urged.

He was also trying to formulate a plan. If they seized the supreme-grade spirit stones, that would be ideal. But if they failed, he wouldn't be disheartened. After all, the treasures belonged to those who were capable.

Ruan Ying proposed, "We could disguise ourselves as laborers. Once we're inside, we'll gather information and relay it back promptly."

She intended to infiltrate the underground world to gather firsthand information.

Han Feizi raised his hands in agreement. "That's a good suggestion!"

They couldn't achieve anything if they stood there.

"Alright. The three of you—Lu Liang, Jiang Nan, and He Hai'an—will go down. Ruan Ying will stay behind. Relay immediately if there is any news," Liu Wuxie instructed.

He didn't want to risk the lives of those close to him. Given the distance, Liu Wuxie knew he might not be able to reach them in time if danger arose. To stay prepared, he kept Ruan Ying nearby to receive updates from the other three.

If his senior brothers had been forced into labor underground, their Communication Talismans had likely been confiscated to prevent any leaks, explaining the sudden loss of contact. However, the Black Plume Pavilion's assassins were different. They could relay information without the use of Communication Talismans.

"Yes, Master!" Lu Liang responded without hesitation and approached the large pit.

Luan Tianzhi periodically captured individuals to serve as laborers. As a result, no one had dared approach the pit in the last few hours.

Liu Wuxie had shown Lu Liang and the assassins the portraits of his three senior brothers and instructed them to locate them immediately once they were underground.

Everything unfolded as planned. Within an hour, Luan Tianzhi led Lu Liang and the others underground to work as laborers.

Meanwhile, the number of corpses kept rising as time passed. There had only been a few dozen yesterday, but now there were over a hundred corpses. Each corpse showed gruesome injuries. Some had lost limbs while falling rocks had crushed others.

Many cultivators couldn't bear to watch the brutality any longer, even if they couldn't obtain any supreme-grade spirit stones.

They commented, "They're too cruel, sacrificing others for their own gain. They won't meet a good end!"

They couldn't condone their actions, but such was the brutality of the cultivation world. Only the strongest survived. In pursuit of benefits and resources, even the closest of kin would betray each other.

Half a day had passed since Lu Liang and the assassins went underground, yet Ruan Ying had not received a single word from them. Above, workers continued hauling corpses out of the pit, one after another.

Everyone in Liu Wuxie's group prayed silently for their safety, and Liu Wuxie even employed Ghost Eye to probe further. But the underground tunnels twisted too wildly for him to scan completely, so he had no choice but to delve deeper. He was already a thousand meters deep.

Finally, Liu Wuxie saw a crimson divine dragon coiled up below. The entire underground world was hollow; they would reach the spiritual vein in three days at most.

Liu Wuxie stared in disbelief. "What a massive supreme-grade spiritual vein!"

The spiritual vein contained tens of millions of supreme-grade spirit stones. Whoever seized them would instantly become the richest cultivator on the True Martial Continent.

Even those at the higher levels of the Earth Profound Realm could barely gather hundreds of thousands of supreme-grade spirit stones, let alone tens of millions. Only those at the Heaven Profound Realm might possess vast reserves of supreme-grade spirit stones.

After reaching the Spirit Profound Realm, Liu Wuxie noticed that the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron's suction power had increased, and he could even extract yang energy from the atmosphere and refine it into Pure Yang Pills.

He had once tried it while cultivating in the Auspicious Cloud Cave, but the cauldron had produced mediocre pills, both in appearance and quality.

His cultivation was limited then, and the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron hadn't fully revealed its power.

Things were different now; it could absorb pure yang energy from the void, refining it into Pure Yang Pills. Unfortunately, the quantity was limited, barely enough for his consumption.

Ordinary pills wouldn't meet his needs, and second-grade spiritual pills were expensive. So, Pure Yang Pills were undoubtedly the best option.

The next day, Ruan Ying hurried over.

"Master, we have news!" Ruan Ying said.

Just as Liu Wuxie had suspected, the captors had seized their interspatial rings and belongings. Lu Liang and the other assassins had fought fiercely to protect their compass, but the captors had still taken everything else.

"What is it?" Liu Wuxie asked.

"Lu Liang found Shen Rong, and the two have secretly allied to search for the other two," Ruan Ying said, relaying the information from Lu Liang.

Upon hearing that his senior brother was forced into labor, a hint of murderous intent erupted from Liu Wuxie.

Han Feizi and the others sensed trouble and rushed over immediately.

"This is outrageous! How dare they enslave disciples of the Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy?!" Liu Feng roared, striking a nearby dead tree with his palm, shattering it into pieces.

If the academy heard about it, they would surely erupt in fury.

Liu Xin'er regained her fiery temper as before, and she also understood Liu Wuxie well. "Wuxie, what should we do? Should we kill our way in?"

She knew Liu Wuxie wouldn't tolerate his senior brothers' capture; his murderous aura already said everything.

"Now isn't the time to act impulsively. It's filled with experts over there, and charging in recklessly will only get us killed," Han Feizi said, shaking his head.

"What should we do then? Are we going to watch them die?" Liu Feng retorted.

"We will save them, but it has to be under the condition that we survive. Now isn't the time for hot-headed heroism," Han Feizi replied, maintaining his sobriety even now.

He joked often but knew when to stop and be serious.

"Tell us then, what should we do now?" Liu Feng asked. He would have already charged in if he had been strong enough.

Han Feizi suddenly questioned, "Don't you all find it strange?"

"Strange? What do you mean?" Liu Feng, Liu Xin'er, and Gu Yu all turned to look at Han Feizi in confusion.

"Yuan Zilong and Mu Yuanyi have been underground for days now, and they should've reached an agreement with Liang Yi and the others," Han Feizi explained. "They should know Wuxie's up here, so why haven't they come out to kill us?"

Mu Yuanyi and Yuan Zilong had Liu Wuxie after he had left the city.

Shortly after their arrival, they teamed up with Liang Yi and the others to excavate the spiritual vein. So, there was no doubt that they knew of Liu Wuxie's arrival.

Their long-standing feud had festered since the mysterious sea region, so why hadn't they moved upon learning that Liu Wuxie was here? There was likely a hidden agenda, or they had something more important than killing Liu Wuxie.

Upon hearing Han Feizi's words, everyone, including Liu Wuxie, nodded in agreement. Those people were not merciful enough to spare Liu Wuxie when they could.

"This means none of them are willing to act unless victory is guaranteed. Otherwise, they risk losing control of the underground world to others," Liu Wuxie said.

These cultivators came from different factions, and they weren't united.

Sending just one or two Earth Profound experts wouldn't be enough; they would get themselves killed instead. They weren't foolish enough to risk their lives just to benefit others. If they came out to fight, they'd leave the tunnels unguarded, giving the captured laborers a chance to revolt.

Everyone nodded again at Liu Wuxie's analysis.

In reality, that was the truth. Luan Tianzhi and Liang Yi had considered making a move against Liu Wuxie. But upon learning that Liu Wuxie had an expert at the Earth Profound Realm with him and could rival one himself, they had immediately given up.

They could wait until they extracted the spiritual vein before killing Liu Wuxie together. At that time, Liu Wuxie would have no hope of survival when five to six cultivators at the Earth Profound Realm struck at once.

Two days passed, and Liu Wuxie calculated they would reach the underground depths in another day.

The ground around the spiritual vein had been hollowed out, and dense spiritual energy seeped through the cracks in the rocks to the surface.

Countless cultivators scattered around the area to greedily absorb the spiritual energy leaking out of the supreme-grade spirit stones.

Suddenly, Ruan Ying's compass let out a low hum.

"It's He Hai'an. He has found Jiang Le, but..." Ruan Ying didn't continue any further, her face turning grim.

"But what?" Liu Wuxie shot to his feet and stared at Ruan Ying with a sharp gaze.

"Jiang Le has suffered grave injuries. His condition is critical," Ruan Ying said. "He Hai'an is negotiating to save his life."

If a laborer suffered an injury underground, the captors would kill them without hesitation and seize new laborers to take their place.

"Any news about Senior Brother Yu Zhibai?" Liu Wuxie asked, barely suppressing his murderous intent. His rage surged to its peak and threatened to erupt.

"Lu Liang said they captured all three together but separated them afterward," Ruan Ying replied. "They're still looking for him."

Though the three remained alive, no one could say how long they would survive.

"Wuxie, what are you doing?"

Liu Wuxie remained silent and approached the pit, planning to force his way in. He wouldn't let his senior brothers suffer.

Gu Yu also summoned the Dragon Clan Scepter. Fiery shook its head and assumed an offensive stance. Han Feizi's eyes lit up with excitement. The latter had been holding back for too long, and a battle was what he needed.

Ruan Ying drew her sword, Liu Xin'er took out her whip, and Liu Feng rushed to follow. Though they didn't know what Liu Wuxie planned, they would follow him without hesitation.

Suddenly, a loud rumble echoed as someone pushed a massive boulder, trying to roll it into the large pit.