Chapter 255: The News
The matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill wasn’t exactly new for Tianmu Mountain; they had a history. Six years ago, when Lu Zi’an and Lu Yan were competing for an inner disciple spot, Lu Zi’an ended up stealing the Foundation Establishment Pill.
So when Liu Xiaolou heard they’d lost another, he wasn’t sure whether to be surprised or not. In a way, it made perfect sense. Was stealing Foundation Establishment Pills some kind of Tianmu Mountain tradition?
Since the news came from Dai Shenggao, it's probably reliable. That made Liu Xiaolou’s heart stir a little, though he knew better than to get his hopes up. Even if someone did get their hands on that pill, it definitely wouldn’t be him.
“Has Dragon Mountain Wanderer heard about this yet?”
“Old Dai must’ve told him too. I’d bet he’s on his way already.”
“Brother Zuo, there’s only one Foundation Establishment Pill, right? Does Wanderer Dai know that you’ve also reached the peak of Qi Refinement?”
“He knows. His idea is that we all work together to get the pill first. After that, the three of us will bid for it. Highest offer wins. The spirit stones from the sale will be split among everyone who helped.”
“Well, that’s one way to do it… Who’s holding the pill right now? Tough opponent? Should we all go in together?”
“Seems like it. Old Dai didn’t say much about the details. He just told me to bring you back so we can discuss it in person.”
Liu Xiaolou thought for a moment. “It’s been almost half a year since we hit Baiye Manor. Are things still that tight?”
Brother Zuo said, “Of course it’s still tight, but nowhere near as bad as half a year ago. Back then, I heard several elders from Tianmu Mountain were personally alarmed. They searched thousands of li in every direction, even combed through the Wuling Mountains and the Taoyuan range. Caught dozens of rogue cultivators, too, but none of them were from our Wulong Mountain. Later they alerted all the major sects, and those sects even came to search Wulong Mountain once. Didn’t find a single soul on the mountain.
Now that half a year’s gone by, people must be tired of keeping their strings drawn that tight. No one can stay on edge forever. Though I did hear that Tianmu Mountain’s had quite a few blunders lately. Not sure which brave soul’s behind them, haha…”
Whether it was Dai Shenggao, Dragon Mountain Wanderer, or Zuo Gaofeng, all of them were on good terms with Liu Xiaolou. So no matter who ended up with the Foundation Establishment Pill, it would still be good news for him.
For rogue cultivators, reaching the peak of Qi Refinement was already the ceiling. Since Liu Xiaolou first entered the mountain at age eight, he had never heard of anyone from Wulong Mountain breaking past that limit. If someone could reach the Foundation Establishment stage, it would be a truly thrilling victory for everyone on the mountain.
That’s why Liu Xiaolou was determined to give it his all.
After breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refinement, Tan Bajhang could already be considered a capable cultivator; he was definitely going back. Fang Bu’ai, on the other hand, was still diligently grinding away at the fourth layer. After some thought, Liu Xiaolou decided not to bring him along this time. He’d wait until Fang reached the fifth layer before taking him anywhere. After all, for someone still in the early stages of Qi Refinement, his fighting style was far too reckless. Liu Xiaolou honestly had no idea how the man was still alive.
Convincing Fang Bu’ai to stay behind and keep cultivating took quite a bit of effort. After rounds of persuasion from all three of them, Fang finally agreed to remain and cultivate in peace. With that settled, Liu Xiaolou set off with Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Bajhang on their journey home.
By day, they hid and rested wherever they could; by night, they traveled under the stars. On the third night, long past midnight, they finally reached the meeting place Dai Shenggao had arranged. Yellow Wind Ravine once again.
They circled the Yellow Wind Ravine twice, cautiously and alert, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. Once certain, the three of them stepped in slowly.
Captain Hu had clearly been waiting a long time. The moment he saw them, he hurried forward with a smile. “Master Liu, Lord Zuo, Brother Tan... finally, you’re here.”
“Where’s everyone else?” asked Zuo Gaofeng.
“Just waiting on you three,” Captain Hu replied.
Sure enough, the others were all there. Dragon Mountain Wanderer sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in meditation. Fairy Huang Ye was absently toying with a silk handkerchief. Old Daoist Hu Du was animatedly chatting with Old Cripple and Qi Laoqi, laughing about his carefree days over the past six months. Meanwhile, Mu the physician was taking pulses and checking the health of the four brothers from Guzhang Mountain one by one.
The heroes of Wulong Mountain were scattered in small groups, sitting casually around Captain Hu’s great tomb. When they saw Liu Xiaolou and his companions arrive, they all got up to greet them.
Besides his old brothers-in-arms, Liu Xiaolou also spotted Lingling Traveler, Li Fuchen, and more than a dozen other comrades from Wulong Mountain. It had been a year since he’d sent out the hero’s invitations, and since he’d last seen them. To his surprise, they’d all come, sitting down in loose clusters according to how close they were to one another.
Liu Xiaolou turned to Captain Hu. “How come they’re here too?”
Captain Hu replied, “All brought together by Wanderer Dai. Over the past year, our Wulong Mountain brothers have gone their separate ways. Some left for good, some fell to the hands of Tianmu Mountain. The few still in Jing-Xiang are all here now. Luckily, Wanderer Dai has his ways and he managed to find them all.”
Tan Bajhang piped up from the side, “Do we really need such a big setup this time?”
“Wanderer Dai said this one won’t be easy,” replied Captain Hu. “The person who stole the Pill is an inner disciple. A Foundation Establishment-stage cultivator.”
Tan Bajhang’s eyes lit up, and he rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Oh? Another Foundation Establishment stage? Great! Our Wulong Mountain brothers are getting bolder by the day, haha!”
Not long after, Dai Shenggao came down from the back slope and called Liu Xiaolou and Zuo Gaofeng over. Inside Captain Hu’s tomb chamber, the four of them held a secret meeting, with Dragon Mountain Wanderer also present.
Dai Shenggao got straight to the point. “This information comes from Old Wang. It’s solid. You can all rest easy on that.”
Old Wang always had the best intel; his news was never wrong. So everyone relaxed a little when they heard it.
Dai Shenggao said, “Over the past year, it’s not just our Wulong Mountain crew giving Tianmu Mountain trouble. Thanks to our example, rogue cultivators everywhere have started doing the same. According to Old Wang, even the big sects like Qingyu Sect, Pingdu Eight Formations Gate, and Gengsang Cave... they have been secretly tripping them up. So yeah, it’s been hard for us, but Tianmu Mountain hasn’t had it easy either. Their losses this year were huge. And only about half of that was our doing.”
Zuo Gaofeng snorted. “Serves Tianmu Mountain right!”
Dai Shenggao chuckled and nodded. “Exactly. So it’s no surprise things are falling apart over there. I heard one of their inner disciples, Meng Chengzhang, got fed up; some Lu clan disciples didn’t trust him because he’s not one of their bloodline. He ended up leaving Tianmu Mountain, and get this... before he left, he took one of the Foundation Establishment Pills their elders had just finished refining. He plans to sell it for spirit stones.”
“How much is he asking?” asked Zuo Gaofeng.
“Seven hundred spirit stones,” Dai Shenggao replied.
Everyone gasped. Seven hundred! That was outrageous.
Then again, maybe not. When your cultivation’s stuck and you can’t break through no matter what, who cares if it’s seven hundred or eight hundred... you’d still sell your soul to get that pill.
But Dai Shenggao had called this meeting for a reason. Clearly, he had no intention of paying that price. He sneered, “Seven hundred spirit stones, huh? Heh, as if we’ve got that kind of money. And even if we did, I’d sooner burn it than hand it over to that Meng fellow. Better to save it and split it among our Wulong Mountain brothers instead.”
“Do we know where this Meng guy is now?” asked Liu Xiaolou.
Dai Shenggao shook his head. “He’s holed up in Baiye Manor. Who would have thought that a place long in ruins would end up harboring someone like him? Seriously, you can’t predict a thing in this world.”