Ninth In the World

“At the time, Fang Ling had brought two Foundation Establishment cultivators to deal with another matter. This was how the Qi Refinement realm cultivator seized the opportunity and sneaked an attack on Young Master Shao…”

Qi Zhishang did not wait for Qi Wenbin to complete his sentence. Instead, he cut him off. “Bury Fang Ling and the two Foundation Establishment Managers with the corpse.”

“Yes…” Qi Wenbin did not dare help Fang Ling plead for mercy at this moment. Even though Fang Ling had been helping the Qi Family’s Commercial Building with some errands, he still needed to be buried with the dead because of what had happened to Qi Shao, whom he had been supposed to be guarding.

“Where are the culprits?” Qi Zhishang sucked in a breath and constrained his killing intent. It did not matter who had killed Qi Shao. He would make the culprit regret ever being born or living even one more moment.

Qi Wenbin looked even more frightened as he said, “We have not caught the culprits yet. It is said that they have escaped into the Marsh Ocean Forest. The Qi Family’s Commercial Building has issued a mission. Three Golden Core cultivators and more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Qi Family are heading to the Marsh Ocean Forest in search of the culprits. Fang Ling and the two Foundation Establishment Managers have also joined the search.”

“Shadow them.” Qi Zhishang was unwilling to say another word.

In his opinion, anyone who went to the Marsh Ocean Forest was a good-for-nothing. How could a mere Qi Refinement realm cultivator steal from the Qi Family’s Commercial Building, kill his grandson and escape?

This was humiliating both for him and the Qi Family’s Commercial Building.

When he felt Qi Zhishang curb his fury, Qi Wenbin silently let out a breath of relief. “One of them is called Di Jiu, and the other is called Geng Jihua. They also had a tree spirit with them at the time…”

“A tree spirit?” Qi Zhishang repeated in astonishment.

He now understood completely what the conflict had been about. Even if the tree spirit’s body had not truly formed, its purpose would still have been unique for Qi Shao.

Qi Shao had always refused to use a Foundation Establishment Elixir to attain the Foundation Establishment Realm. Qi Zhishang knew very well that if Qi Shao had obtained a tree spirit, his Foundation would have been top-notch. His potential to develop would become much better than the average genius disciple’s.

This made Qi Zhishang want to capture Di Jiu and Geng Jihua and slowly torture them to death. The notion that Qi Shao might have been trying to seize someone else’s belongings was not important to him. The Qi Family had the qualifications and the capability to do so after all.

Qi Shao could seize a tree spirit, but one could not harm a member of the Qi Family; this was Qi Zhishang’s principle. Experts like him, of course, had to be revered in the Polar Night Continent.

“It was indeed a tree spirit and a level-one tree spirit at that,” Qi Wenbin replied. “It must have recognized Di Jiu as its owner. Di Jiu’s origins are unknown, as we have not been able to find any information yet. All we know is that he was captured by the Zhong Family in the Eternal Fortitude Country after stealing something from them. Then, he married into the Jing Family by being wedded to Jing Moshuang in Zhong Hetian’s stead. Jing Moshuang and Di Jiu went their separate ways after she brought him to the Lonely River City.”

“On the second day that the sects were recruiting disciples, Jing Moshuang, who has a triple Spirit Root, was accepted as an outer sect disciple by the Galaxy Sect. Due to their poor qualifications, none of the sects accepted the two men. In the end, when Elder Yu of the Galaxy Sect saw that Di Jiu knew Jing Moshuang, he made an exception and recruited Di Jiu and Geng Jihua.”

Qi Zhishang grunted. “You think that old Yu Jingyan would make an exception and recruit two fellas with poor qualifications because of an outer sect disciple with a triple Spirit Root? Besides, how could someone with poor qualifications kill Qi Shao after being in a sect for a few months? Seems like the two of them were Itinerant Cultivators with prior cultivation experience.”

“Elder Shang, Di Jiu and Geng Jihua had been in the sect for a few days, when they went to the Marsh Ocean Town,” Qi Wenbin said hurriedly. “They chose to stay at the Itinerant Cultivator Inn. At that point, Di Jiu had been at the fourth-stage Qi Refinement realm and Geng Jihua had not even started cultivating yet. Five days later, when Young Master Shao went to find them, Di Jiu was already at the fifth-stage Qi Refinement realm and Geng Jihua was at the second-stage Qi Refinement realm.”

Qi Zhishang felt even more certain that Di Jiu and Geng Jihua possessed some big secrets, so he had to capture and interrogate them.

“Continue.”

“Yes!” Although Qi Wenbin also believed that Di Jiu and Geng Jihua had some secrets, he was not very concerned. How big could the secrets of a Qi Refinement realm cultivator be anyway?

“Geng Jihua comes from a distant small village known as the Tress Tranquil Village. He has a mother, a younger brother and a younger sister. The villagers call his mother the Seventh Maiden. His younger brother’s name is Gai Wu, and his younger sister is called Gai Yin…”

Qi Zhishang cut Qi Wenbin off. “So you are saying that Geng Jihua and his younger brother and sister do not share the same surname?”

“Yes, but Geng Jihua, Gai Wu and Gai Yin are still supposed to be related by blood,” Qi Wenbin replied respectfully. “When Geng Jihua went in search of some immortal sects to join, his mother, the Seventh Maiden, left the Tress Tranquil Village with Gai Wu and Gai Yin. Their current whereabouts are unknown. Our men have already wiped out the Tress Tranquil Village.”

As he said that the Tress Tranquil Village had been wiped out, Qi Wenbin seemed as unconcerned as if that action had been as simple and easy as drinking a cup of water.

Qi Zhishang, who did not seem to care about this either, nodded his head. “How did you deal with the Jing Family?”

The reason he did not ask about the Galaxy Sect was because he knew that he would need to take the lead and head over to the sect himself.

“Jing Moshuang has two elder sisters, Jing Moxue and Jing Mobing. They are both disciples of the peak master of the True Li Sword Sect’s Half-Sword Peak, Guo Zijian. Therefore…”

Qi Wenbin did not continue. Qi Zhishang, who understood what he meant, frowned. After a while, he said, “I will take a trip to the Galaxy Sect.”

The True Li Sword Sect ranked first among the northern province’s sects. The Qi Family’s power might not be weaker than the True Li Sword Sect’s, but they could not just casually pick a fight with the sect, especially since this matter had nothing to do with Jing Moshuang. He would let off the Jing Family due to their involvement with the True Li Sword Sect.

However, he would definitely not let off the Galaxy Sect. Both Di Jiu and Geng Ji, who had killed a member of his family, were disciples of the Galaxy Sect, so he would not let this go.

“We have arranged for five Golden Core cultivators and Elder Shang to head to the Galaxy Sect.”

Qi Zhishang waved his hand. “There’s no need. The Galaxy Sect is not that important. I will head over alone.”

The Galaxy Sect was a second-rate sect. It was also rumored that the most powerful Grand Elder of the sect had gone into seclusion 100 years ago to attempt to break through to the Essence Soul Realm. A century had passed, yet there had still been no news of the Grand Elder, so people believed that he must have met his doom.

However, it would not have mattered even if the Grand Elder had attained the Essence Soul Realm, as Qi Zhishang was already halfway to the fourth-stage Essence Soul Realm.

…

At least 20 people were sitting inside the conference hall of the Galaxy Sect.

Other than sect master Xiang Tianyi, there were also five inner peak masters and six outer peak masters. The few hall masters were also all present.

“The battle at the Polar Night Sky Market Battlefield happened too suddenly. The Galaxy Sect has lost two Golden Core cultivators, while Elder Yu was severely injured. Despite these sacrifices, the Galaxy Sect got the smallest share during the distribution of the loot. Evidently, without the presence of an Essence Soul Expert, we do not have any discourse rights. I have decided that, no matter the price, the Galaxy Sect must search for a Soul Origin Fruit. A member of the sect must break through to the Essence Soul Realm and attain discourse rights in the Polar Night Continent,” Xiang Tianyi said solemnly.

He had personally led the team to the Polar Night Sky Market Battlefield, where the Galaxy Sect had paid a high price to attain items that no one else had wanted.

Everyone fell silent. Everyone knew what a Soul Origin Fruit was. The Soul Origin Fruit was the main spiritual herb required in the making of the Condensing Soul Elixir, the elixir Golden Core cultivators needed to be able to become Essence Soul cultivators.

Boom! Just as Xiang Tianyi was about to continue his speech, the sect’s array shook vigorously.

Xiang Tianyi’s expression changed suddenly as he stood up. All the Golden Core cultivators in the hall stood up in shock as well. Was someone attacking the sect’s Defense Array? Attacking their Defense Array was a big deal, as it meant that the attacker was someone that hated them to death.

“All Golden Core cultivators follow me. We need to protect the sect.” Xiang Tianyi’s Spiritual Force sensed that the person attacking the sect’s array was tall and skinny. It was a middle-aged man with a goatee!

He sensed that this man was an expert, so he was not just a threat to him, but to the entire sect.

All the Golden Core cultivators of the Galaxy Sect gathered at the entrance of the sect’s Defense Array. Most of their Foundation Establishment cultivators were there as well.

Whenever the sect’s array was attacked, the sect faced a life-and-death situation.

“It’s Elder Shang. The Galaxy Sect has always respected the Qi Family’s Commercial Building. May I know why Elder Shang would attack the Galaxy Sect’s Defense Array without a reason?” asked Xiang Tianyi evenly as he cupped his fist.

Even though his tone was calm, his fury was about to erupt in flames.

The Galaxy Sect was too weak. If it had been powerful, he would have killed Qi Zhishang without a reason or hesitation.

However, the Qi Family’s Commercial Building was too powerful, so it would not take much effort for the Qi Family to eradicate the Galaxy Sect.

Qi Zhishang laughed loudly. “Without a reason? The Galaxy Sect’s outer sect disciples Di Jiu and Geng Jihua killed my grandson Qi Shao in the Marsh Ocean Town. They also robbed the local branch of the Qi Family’s Commercial Building. Do you still think I have no reason?”