166: Chapter 166 Twilight Cloud Manor, Disguised Infiltration

Right under everyone's noses, the Xie Family quietly became the only aristocratic Family in the capital of the Xuanyuan Dynasty, completely rewriting the landscape that had existed for thousands of years in a single day.

No one knew that Xie Wanan had changed after that night; he became more silent and cautious, yet his gaze held a kind of ambition he had never possessed before.

Every month, one hundred people were continuously sent into the depths of the villa through the line connecting Chunhui Xie and Muyun Villa.

At this moment, Xie Wanan stood before the window, his gaze fixed on the vaguely visible mountains to the southwest.

"Muyun Villa." He whispered the name, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Within that villa, besides the Xie Family Elder at the Peak Void Refinement Stage who presided over it on the surface, there were more existences he did not know about.

Those mysterious people from the Northern Territory would appear in the villa every so often to take away the people who had been captured, though he did not know where they were being sent.

He had never asked about these matters, nor had he ever thought to; he knew only that his choices had brought him unprecedented benefits.

Now, whoever wanted to touch that villa was touching his Foundation.

Xie Wanan withdrew his gaze and stood at the window for a moment before adding, "Pass down another order: tell the Second Elder not to hold back. If that young man in the gray robe dares to step even half a step into Muyun Villa, make sure he never returns."

——

Muyun Villa was nestled within a range of mountains.

It was surrounded by mountains on three sides and faced a valley on one, with only a winding gravel path leading to the outside world.

The villa was built according to the terrain, with outer walls constructed from dark blue boulders, about three zhang high. Several dim Formation Plates were embedded in the top of the wall, emitting a faint, flickering Spiritual Qi in the twilight.

Yun Tianxiang stood on a ridge several miles away, his figure hidden in the shadows of an old pine tree. His gaze pierced through the layers of mountain forests and landed on the villa.

He had been observing from here for half an hour.

The layout of the villa was not complex; the front courtyard, central atrium, and back mountain progressed in layers, with walls separating each area and clear paths between them.

On the surface, this villa was not much different from the secondary residences of ordinary aristocratic families.

The front courtyard was a hall for receiving guests, the central atrium was the living quarters for servants and guards, and the back mountain was where the Family disciples would Cultivate; everything was orderly.

But in Yun Tianxiang's eyes, those visible structures were merely a cover.

What truly concerned him were the auras hidden beneath the surface.

His Divine Sense had already quietly probed out, scanning the entire villa inch by inch with extremely weak fluctuations.

Soon, he sensed the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi coming from underground.

It was the unique aura of a dungeon—enclosed, cold, and carrying a faint scent of blood and herbs, mixed into the flow of the earth vein's Spiritual Qi. If one were not deliberately searching for it, it would be extremely difficult to detect.

More importantly, he sensed the Formation laid out around the perimeter of the dungeon.

The aura of that Formation was ancient and hidden, like some kind of Restriction. It not only blocked Divine Sense probes but also sealed the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi inside the dungeon, suppressing the aura within to an extremely low level.

If not for the fact that his Bloodline connection had awakened the moment he stepped into Qingkui City, he likely would not have been able to pinpoint his brother's location.

But what truly made him pause were the auras inside the villa.

Three at the Initial Stage of Void Refinement, one at the Middle Stage of Void Refinement, and one at the Peak Void Refinement Stage.

There were five individuals at the Void Refinement Stage that could be sensed on the surface alone.

In the depths of the villa, there were two more auras that were vaguely present, mostly obscured by some means, yet they still made him feel a hint of pressure.

Those were auras of the Body Integration Stage, at least at the Middle Stage of Body Integration.

Yun Tianxiang withdrew his Divine Sense and frowned slightly.

He did not rush to act but instead stepped back, his figure merging into the mountain forest as he circled along the ridge toward the flank of the villa.

A frontal assault was a poor strategy; with five at the Void Refinement Stage and two at the Body Integration Stage, even if he might not lose while fighting multiple opponents, alerting the enemy would make rescuing his brother much more troublesome.

He needed to find his brother's location first, confirm his safety, and then act.

Soon, a rumbling sound of wheels came from the direction of the side gate; a carriage was driving along the gravel path from outside the mountains.

The carriage cover was marked with the emblem of the Xie Family business, and a middle-aged man sat on the shafts, holding a whip with a casual posture.

Yun Tianxiang's gaze tightened; this was a carriage transporting medicinal herbs.

His figure swept silently down from the ridge, landing on the mountain road in front of the carriage as quietly as a falling leaf.

The coachman did not even have time to react before he felt a gentle breeze brush against his face; his whole body went limp, and he collapsed onto the shafts, lifeless.

Yun Tianxiang did not pause; he quickly dragged the coachman's body into the bushes by the roadside, then raised his hand to wipe his face.

As Spiritual Qi flowed, his features began to change, his facial features adjusting slightly, his skin darkening a few shades, until even the contour of his brows and eyes were seven or eight parts similar to the coachman.

He stripped the coarse cloth jacket from the body, put it on himself, and used a secret technique to suppress his own aura to a level similar to that of the coachman.

Having done all this, he jumped onto the shafts, grabbed the whip, and drove the two-Yao Beast carriage, continuing along the gravel path toward the side gate of the villa.

The twilight deepened, and the wheels creaked as they rolled over the mountain road. Before long, the carriage arrived at the side gate.

A servant in gray emerged from the gate, his gaze sweeping over Yun Tianxiang's face before looking at the herbs on the carriage. He said casually, "This shipment arrived a bit earlier than usual."

Yun Tianxiang nodded slightly, suppressing his voice as he said, "The road was smooth, so we arrived half a day early. Where should I put this batch of herbs?"

The servant did not suspect anything; after all, this was a Xie Family business carriage, and the coachman was a familiar face.

"Same old place, the warehouse in the back mountain." He pointed toward the depths of the estate.

"Go around from here, don't go through the front courtyard. We have honored guests in the estate today, and the Second Elder has ordered that no unauthorized personnel are allowed near the front hall."

Yun Tianxiang's heart stirred, but he nodded calmly, "Understood."

He swung the whip again, driving the carriage toward the back mountain in the direction the servant had indicated.

However, his peripheral vision paused imperceptibly as he swept past the direction of the front courtyard, where several auras were conversing deep within the central atrium.

Yun Tianxiang calmly withdrew his gaze and drove the carriage around the front courtyard, following a path paved with bluestone toward the back mountain.

The twilight deepened, and the lights in the villa lit up one by one.

Yun Tianxiang drove the carriage through a moon gate and stopped in front of a row of low stone houses.

This was the location of the back mountain warehouse. Several stone houses were lined up, their doors and windows tightly shut. Inside, some sacks and wooden crates were vaguely stacked, emitting a mixed scent of herbs.

But he did not rush to unload the goods; instead, taking advantage of the pause in stopping the carriage, he probed out with his Divine Sense again.

This place was not far from the entrance to the dungeon.

He could clearly sense the fluctuations of that Formation coming from beneath his feet, as if a thin layer of Restriction covered the ground below.

And deeper in the dungeon, that Bloodline aura of the same origin as his was beating weakly and steadily.

Yun Tianxiang's gaze sank slightly; his brother was still alive, but his aura was even weaker than it had been in Qingkui City.

He reined in the carriage and was just about to look for the entrance to the dungeon when a low rebuke came from behind him: "You, the carriage driver! Who told you to park the carriage here?"