385: Find out who is behind this!

Chapter 379: Uncovering the Mastermind!

In an instant, a vast, ocean-like power of Heaven And Earth erupted from Lu Xuan's body.

Endless Heaven And Earth Power surged ceaselessly through the extraordinary Meridians in his body.

The next moment, the acupoints all over Lu Xuan's body simultaneously lit up with dazzling, colorful light, as if thousands of star rivers were flowing within him.

The extremely pure Heaven And Earth Power was absorbed a little by the System panel interface each time it completed a cycle in his Meridians.

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Fourth Life)

Realm: Great Grandmaster (Initial Stage)

Cultivation Technique: Extreme Cold Palm 8/9 (Can be deduced)

Points: 100100

Please confirm whether to consume 7000 System points to deduce Extreme Cold Palm.

“Deduce!”

As Lu Xuan confirmed, in an instant, the System panel burst forth with blinding golden light.

The air in the quiet room suddenly solidified, and Lu Xuan sat cross-legged on the cultivation stone platform.

Frost flowers grew wildly at a visible speed, like an ice net woven from thousands of silver threads, spreading along the stone patterns to the ground.

Where the biting cold passed, the blue bricks emitted faint crisp sounds, and spiderweb-like ice patterns condensed on their surface.

In just an instant, the entire floor was covered by three feet of solid ice.

“Crack—”

The tightly closed sandalwood door suddenly split open, and ice crystals, like sharp swords, pierced through the door panel, freezing the gilded door knocker into an ice sculpture.

The tables and chairs in the room twisted and deformed under the erosion of the cold, wood chips and ice crystals mixing together and falling with a rustle.

Even the wisps of hot steam rising from the freshly brewed Yunwu tea on the table solidified in mid-air.

They turned into tiny ice beads that fell with a rustle, and the tea in the celadon teacup quickly solidified.

lotus-shaped ice patterns floated on its surface, and even the tea stains remaining on the spout froze into amber-like ice crystals.

The entire quiet room seemed to have been dragged into a ten-thousand-year ice cave, with only Lu Xuan's body continuously emitting dazzling golden light.

Inside the quiet room, cracks suddenly appeared in the Void Realm, and a mysterious golden light tore through the Void Realm, plunging into Lu Xuan's glabella like a meteor.

In an instant, thunder roared deep within Lu Xuan's Sea of Consciousness, and the originally clear consciousness space suddenly surged like boiling water.

Thousands of clouds were kneaded and condensed by an invisible giant hand, finally forming a three-inch tall golden figure.

This golden figure, cast from glazed glass, appeared, and each time it lifted its hands or moved its feet, it caused the space to ripple and twist like water.

The small figure gently traced with its palms, and mysterious ice patterns appeared on its palms; wherever it passed, the Void Realm cracked inch by inch, and spiderweb-like ice crystal patterns spread like living things.

As the trajectory of its fingertips changed, a giant ice lotus condensed above Lu Xuan's Sea of Consciousness, and each time its petals opened and closed, it emitted a bone-chilling cold.

When the last palm print condensed, the entire Sea of Consciousness space seemed to have been put on pause.

The surging hundreds of millions of miles of cloud sea instantly solidified into a crystal-clear ice layer spanning thousands of miles.

Tens of thousands of ice prisms hung upside down in the sky, reflecting brilliant auroras.

This Sea of Consciousness space belonging to Lu Xuan was completely transformed into an eternally frozen Secret Realm.

Ten days passed in a flash, and Lu Xuan, who was sitting cross-legged on the futon, finally stirred.

The ice crystals condensed on the wall began to exude fine water droplets, winding and sliding down along the cracks in the blue bricks.

The dripping sound of melting ice became clearer in the silence, and the tables and chairs, which had been frozen into ice sculptures, gradually shed their silver armor.

Steaming water vapor, wrapped in the melting cold, enveloped the entire quiet room in a hazy mist.

When the last ice prism fell into the celadon teacup, the crisp clinking sound dispersed the swirling water mist, and the room had quietly returned to its usual appearance.

Morning light penetrated the window lattice, and Lu Xuan, sitting cross-legged on the white jade platform, his eyelashes trembling slightly, the frost flowers condensed on them quietly turned into water droplets.

As he slowly opened his eyes, a fleeting icy blue glow flashed in his pupils, a coldness that seemed to want to pierce the limits of the Void Realm.

Lu Xuan's chest rose and fell slightly, and a mouthful of turbid Qi exhaled from his throat, actually condensing into a crystalline ice crystal three feet away, falling to the ground with a “plop” sound.

Immediately after, the surging, wave-like glacial Gale Force within Lu Xuan's body.

With his breathing posture, it retracted rapidly into his body like a receding tide.

At this moment, Lu Xuan appeared no different from an ordinary person, with no sharp Aura emanating from his body.

But when his fingertips casually brushed across the white jade platform, frost flowers instantly spread rapidly along the smooth surface.

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Fourth Life)

Realm: Great Grandmaster (Perfection)

Cultivation Technique: Extreme Cold Palm 12/9

Points: 21100

The first deduction of Extreme Cold Palm consumed 7000 System points.

Followed by 12000 points for the second, 20000 points for the third, and 40000 points for the fourth.

A total of 79000 System points were consumed, leaving 21100 System points.

With a “creak,” the wooden door of the quiet room was slowly pushed open.

The Twelve Taibao, who had been waiting outside for a long time, suddenly froze in place, and they all instinctively opened their mouths.

A bone-chilling coldness assailed their faces; although their Godfather's expression was calm.

However, the gaze he directed at them was three parts colder than the usual ice and snow, as if it could freeze their Souls.

Since the imperial decree stripping the Brocade Guard of its command was issued, the East Depot, this once terrifying den of evil, had shown signs of decline and desolation.

Coupled with the sudden seclusion of their Godfather, the Eastern Depot Director, the Twelve Taibao of East Depot, who had once been so arrogant, lost their prestige like autumn grass struck by frost.

The twelve of them, due to the major events that had occurred a few days prior, dared not step out of the door.

They could only stand daily with bowed heads outside the Eastern Depot Director's seclusion room.

Within ten days, the sun's shadow on the blue brick ground shifted from oblique to straight, and from straight to oblique again.

Only these twelve figures, straight as pines, continued to guard the tightly closed carved wooden door, like twelve solidified stone statues.

They dared not slacken in the slightest, simply because the one behind the door was the East Depot's last fangs, and also the Eastern Depot Director who could protect their lives.

Now, all the civil and military officials were waiting to see the East Depot's downfall, and those forces that had once been tormented by the East Depot also began to stir, frantically retaliating against the East Depot...

And as the Twelve Taibao of East Depot, they were naturally the primary targets of retaliation.

Lu Xuan stood with his hands behind his back in front of the quiet room's main door, his black python robe moving without wind.

The bone-chilling coldness swirling around his robes condensed fine frost flowers in the surrounding air.

He slightly raised his gaze, his indifferent eyes sweeping over the people kneeling below.

Wherever his gaze fell, the bluestone ground silently covered itself with a thin layer of ice.

“This Director’s orders…”

Lu Xuan's voice was neither loud nor soft, but it made Cao Er, who was kneeling at the very front, tremble all over.

Ice crystals instantly formed on the forehead of this Second Taibao of East Depot, yet he dared not raise a hand to wipe them away.

“Did you all do it?”

The hem of the dark python robe swept across the blue bricks as Lu Xuan walked slowly down the steps with his hands behind his back.

His cold-glowing eyes swept over the Twelve Taibao of East Depot kneeling below, one by one, like two icy blades, making everyone's spines turn cold.

His tone was so calm, it was as if he was asking what they had for breakfast today.

But everyone present knew that every word from their Godfather could determine their life or death.

Ten days ago, when their Godfather went into seclusion, the order he left behind heavily weighed on the hearts of everyone in the East Depot.

Lu Xuan naturally ordered everyone in the East Depot to halt all arrests and interrogations, and to scatter all their hidden agents and informants throughout the Jianghu.

There were only two objectives.

To search the world for Heaven And Earth Treasures that shared the same origin as the Seven Treasures Glazed lotus, or those “ghostly things” that walked on the edge of Yin and Yang, exuding a malevolent Aura.

This strange order left everyone in the East Depot bewildered, but no one dared to ask a single question.

After all, in their hearts, the Eastern Depot Director, with a flick of his palm, could unleash glacial Gale Force that could freeze Heaven And Earth, enough to silence any doubter forever.

Cao Er's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and cold sweat soaked his back python robe, yet he still gritted his teeth and crawled forward on his knees.

The solid blue brick ground groaned under his knees, unable to bear the weight.

With a muffled “thud,” Cao Er's forehead slammed heavily against the stone slab, actually creating a bowl-sized indentation.

Fine stone fragments, mixed with streaks of blood, splattered onto the surrounding ground.

Blood trickled down his brow bone, but it instantly froze upon touching the ground.

“Godfather, your child… deserves to die!”

Cao Er trembled as he straightened his upper body, veins bulging in his neck: “At first, the East Depot scouts your child dispatched were still able to send back seven secret letters intermittently.

“But from the fifth day onwards… more than a thousand East Depot brothers who left the capital all suddenly died mysteriously.”

“Yes, please Godfather, enlighten us…”

At this moment, Cao Jin dragged his empty left sleeve and knelt forward, the white cloth bandaging his severed arm already soaked with blood, fluttering in the cold wind.

Beside him, Cao Haosheng's ferocious scar on his face was still seeping blood, running from his brow bone straight to the corner of his mouth, like a centipede coiled on his face.

At this moment, Cao Jin's eyes burst forth with terrifying murderous light, and his originally sinister face was now twisted like a Hell demon.

Veins bulged in his neck, and his knuckles were white from clenching, almost crushing the blue bricks: “A few days ago, your child was suddenly ambushed by three Grandmaster Minor Achievement experts in Black Wind Gorge, on the outskirts of Liangzhou City!”

“Their movements were agile, and their palm winds carried immensely powerful force; they were clearly targeting your child.”

“In the end, your child had no choice but to sever an arm and, by using the rugged mountain path, barely managed to escape with his life!”

At this moment, Cao Jin's bloodshot eyes surged with monstrous hatred.

There was no longer any hint of the East Depot Taibao's dignity; he was clearly a vengeful specter crawled out of a slaughterhouse.

It has always been our East Depot's place to assassinate others, never to be hunted down like stray dogs, so utterly pathetic.

Beside him, Cao Haosheng's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and his blood-crusted lips twitched twice.

He spoke with a trembling voice, as if having narrowly escaped death: “If it weren't for Jin Ge risking his life to send a warning, your child's life would probably have been lost in Liangzhou too!”

Saying that, Cao Haosheng suddenly looked up, bloodshot eyes almost bursting from their sockets.

“Godfather! Our East Depot's routes, secret codes, and rendezvous points have all been thoroughly discovered; someone must be colluding with external enemies!”

He suddenly lowered his voice, his gaze as sinister as a viper: “Now that the Brocade Guard has lost our East Depot’s control.”

“These dog-like things hate our East Depot to the bone; it’s hard to guarantee they won’t cooperate with that traitor, attempting to completely wipe out our East Depot’s power!”

At this point, Cao Haosheng suddenly trembled all over, his bloodshot eyes widening abruptly, as if struck by a bolt of lightning.

“Godfather, those people specifically target our East Depot members, and the Cultivation Techniques they use are all different; they clearly want to annihilate our East Depot.”

“Your child once risked sending people to secretly transport back a few corpses; although the other party deliberately concealed it, there are still traceable flaws.”

He paused, his gaze growing even colder, “Qingfeng Palm of Qingfeng Sect, Five Mountain Breaking Saber of Broken Sword Villa, and also the Nine Heavens Killing Sword Art of the Black and White Impermanence Life-Taking Organization…”

“To be able to command these irreconcilable forces to join hands, and even make them willing to die for him…”

Cao Haosheng lowered his voice, his tone filled with apprehension, “The forces involved behind this are unimaginably vast.”

“And the person who can unite them probably possesses the power to turn clouds and rain, reaching Heaven.”

Lu Xuan's brows suddenly knitted together, the Killing Intent surging in his eyes almost solidifying.

The glacial Gale Force around him uncontrollably leaked out, causing the temperature of the surrounding flat ground to plummet.

On the bluestone ground, spiderweb-like ice cracks condensed with Lu Xuan as the center.

All those who attempted to obstruct him from comprehending life and death and transcending this Mortal World.

No matter who the mastermind behind it was, they had to die!

“Where is the closest force to the capital…?”

Lu Xuan's sudden, chilling question made everyone present shiver down their spines.

The Twelve Taibao exchanged glances, and after a brief silence, Cao Er suddenly reacted, moving his knees forward half a step with a heavy thud: “Reporting to Godfather, it’s Qingfeng Sect!”

“It’s on Qingfeng Mountain, thirty li west of the city.”

As soon as Cao Er finished speaking, the surrounding temperature had already plummeted to its lowest point, and even the window lattices of the quiet room were instantly covered with pure white frost flowers.

On the peak of Qingfeng Mountain, there was a magnificent complex of buildings, built along the mountain's contours, with vermilion eaves and green tiles appearing and disappearing in the mist.

At the mountain gate, the three gilded characters “Qingfeng Sect” gleamed under the sunlight, and the thirty-six steps of green jade in front of the gate were so polished they reflected people.

The Disciples of the Sect all wore green and white close-fitting attire, their robes fluttering like a flowing green cloud.

Only five purple-robed Elders sat within the main hall, the gilded black iron tokens hanging from their waists signifying their noble status.

Inside the grand hall, sandalwood incense wafted.

The four walls were hung with landscape ink paintings by successive Sect Heads, and in the center, a plaque inscribed with “Qingfeng Xu Lai” (Breeze Comes Gently) showed powerful brushwork.

The purplish-red figure on the main seat was particularly striking.

Qingfeng Sect Leader Xiao Fenghe wore a long crimson-purple robe, with nine golden patterns embroidered on his chest.

This Great Grandmaster, renowned throughout the world, was currently meditating with his eyes closed, his knuckles rhythmically tapping the armrest.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and two substantive beams of sharp light shot out: “Such heavy Killing Intent…”

Outside the hall, the lush bamboo sea suddenly moved without wind, the rustling sound of bamboo leaves rubbing together like thousands of sharp blades unsheathing simultaneously.

“Report—!”

A blood-soaked Disciple stumbled into the grand hall, falling heavily onto the floor.

The wound on his chest was shocking, and blood constantly oozed from the corner of his mouth.

“This is bad, Sect Head… Elder… It’s the East Depot… people from the East Depot…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the five purple figures had already exploded like thunder.

Xiao Fenghe, on the main seat, transformed into a purple lightning bolt, and wherever he passed, the green jade floor tiles all cracked!

In the square, blood had already stained the bluestone red.

Dozens of green-clad Disciples were frozen into ice sculptures, maintaining their sword-drawing postures.

Among the crowd, twelve silver-white figures moved like ghosts, and wherever they went, wails filled the air, and blood mist splattered!

“How audacious!”

“You damn lackeys of the imperial court, how dare you run wild on my Qingfeng Sect's territory.”

Xiao Fenghe's roar shattered the sky full of ice crystals; his purple robe billowed, and dazzling green light erupted from his body.

This Great Grandmaster had finally unleashed his true fury!