Mo Ni gave him a pleased smile. “Rest assured, lord Qin. I presume you’ve already tried the ancient Soul Fusing Matrix already? The effects of the matrix will be a great deal stronger when it’s complete. Ancestor Qin will breakthrough. I presume he’s at a very delicate phase right now, but the breakthrough will happen soon nonetheless.”

“I hope that will be the case.” Qin Long replied back. “You gave us an half-destroyed portion of the matrix last time, then you say you found a more complete version after plenty of hard work? This was nothing more than your trump card for us, was it not?” He thought to himself.

It didn’t matter what happened. Getting a Soul Emperor to appear in their family was the same as becoming a top-notch power in the entire soul cultivator world. He wouldn’t have to fear the Five Families or Ten Great Schools anymore. The Qin would be ushered into a glorious era where they reigned at the top!!

“Lord Qin, are you certain that you will not help me against Bai Yunfei? You won’t need to make public anything, you only need to help us behind the scenes. When I no longer have to hide, we will make sure to announce that it was the Soul Refining School that killed Bai Yunfei. The Crafting School will go after us in that case, and your Qin will be safe. The treasures in Bai Yunfei’s hands are infinite, and us killing him will benefit your family tremendously.”

Something nearly imperceptible sparked to life in Qin Long’s eyes.

“I’ve said it before, our discussion is over. The Qin will not help you. We wish not to be involved in your affairs.”

He already knew Bai Yunfei had many priceless treasures, but what was the point even if the Qin were to manage to lay claim to them all? It was a cursed jackpot that would only serve to bring even more trouble onto them.

......

Outside Qin Manor, a tear in space opened up to reveal Mo Ni walking out onto a dark alleyway.

Another dark silhouette joined him a moment later. It was the Black Dragon King.

“How went it? Did the Qin agree to help us fight Bai Yunfei?” He asked with a hoarse voice.

Mo Ni shook his head. “They refused, as we expected. The Qin is waiting. They won’t do anything until their ancestor becomes a Soul Emperor.”

“Then what do you plan to do next?” The Black Dragon King asked, “I won’t accompany you if you want to go after Bai Yunfei. I recommend you listen to me and return to the Soul Refining School. Wait until you get stronger and then bring Gui Nu with you. Your chances will be better then.”

A flicker of reluctance traveled across Mo Ni’s eyes for a second before he sneered. “Don’t worry, I’m not in a rush to die. But I’ve already thought of something, so why not try it out...”

“Oh? You still have something up your sleeves? Your father has already forbidden you from going out from getting assistance from the school, and the Qin has refused to help you. Who could you possibly get to help you? Don’t tell me you’re planning to find a moment to kidnap the girl again? That won’t get you anywhere.”

But Mo Ni only laughed. “If the Qin isn’t going to willingly help me, then I’ll just have to...force them to!!”

......

A sinister plot was brewing, but Bai Yunfei was none the wiser to it. He was currently flying through the pitch-black skies towards a large range of mountains with a contemplative look on his face.

“The elemental energy around here is really rich. Training would be far greater here than anywhere else...” Bai Yunfei muttered under his breath at the feeling of all the energy he was in.

This place was just north of Swallow City where the primal stone mines were.

He managed to deduce this spot from the memories of Mister Shar. What Bai Yunfei was really interested in was the primal liquid the dog drank. He was afraid that someone else might beat him to it if there was still any left. In order to avoid such a case, Bai Yunfei was putting in a great deal of effort and concentration to pinpoint the exact place.

He wasn’t alone. Tang Xinyun, Xiao Qi, Xiao Bai, and Mister Shar were all in the Core World for easy transport. They’d be safe there if Bai Yunfei were to get into trouble.

This particular part of the mine was as deep as it was large and was definitely larger than what a commoner would be able to imagine. Thanks to his soulsense and the memories of the dog, Bai Yunfei was able to navigate himself towards the depths without much trouble.

There weren’t many primal stones as Bai Yunfei thought buried in the mountain. The ground had the majority of them scattered about, and Bai Yunfei would often see a pile of them every thousand steps or so. By using soulsense, he could see a little farther than that to see a series of tunnels and such. Most of them were dug out by human hands, of course, since there were still plenty of soul cultivators actively digging at this site.

But most of the ones digging here were Soul Warriors or Soul Sprites. There were a few Soul Ancestors, and hardly any Soul Exalts. Bai Yunfei had yet to see any Soul Kings either. But the deeper he went, the more difficult things became.

He didn’t want to loudly broadcast the fact that he was here. His soulsense wasn’t something Soul Exalts could pick up on, but a Soul King would definitely know he was here if he stretched it out, so he decided to shrink the radius of his search down a notch.

At this elevation of the mines, it was definitely a given that there’d be a Soul King or two guarding the place. But the mine network was an extensive one, and there would surely be a few places that’d be unsupervised or had only one. If it was an Early-stage Soul King, then Bai Yunfei would most likely be able to get past them if he was careful.

Hovering there in the air for a moment, Bai Yunfei quickly flew over to a small opening in the cave. He could teleport himself downwards since the usage of spatial energy wouldn’t set off any alerts to a Soul King. This would be the safest way down.

Down near another entrance, several bored guards were standing around when they all saw something move out from the corners of their eyes. Turning to their right, they all looked at the source but found nothing.

While they were distracted, a gust of wind blew past them and into the entrance, but no one had noticed it...

Now that he was beyond the entrance to another section of the mine, Bai Yunfei continued like a ghost through the tunnels. He passed by several people along the way, but Bai Yunfei was able to remain undetected for two thousand steps before he decided to slow down a bit.

He had to slow down now because he was trying to keep an eye out on his goal. He was trying to match up the details of the dog’s memories with what was in front of him, but nothing seemed all too familiar so far. This wasn’t probably the same area the dog had been in.

Where Mister Shar went wasn’t his absolute goal though. If that place had primal liquid, that could mean there were other places that had it too. The chances were exceedingly slim, but it didn’t hurt to look. With so much elemental energy in the air and primal stones in the ground, Bai Yunfei was sure he’d be able to come across a few treasures here and there. Maybe he’d get a few materials for crafting, that’d make his trip worth it.

While Bai Yunfei was earnestly looking around the place, he came across a tunnel where a group of men was slowly making their way over while talking amongst themselves...

“Hey, did you hear about it? Two of the members from the third team disappeared yesterday! And one of them was a Peak Late-stage Soul Exalt!!”