Huoyao Immortal City.
In the Xianke Inn.
Qin Wang stood in room number 3, in front of a pill furnace. On the stove was a large earthen pot containing the herbs for the Soul-Locking Aura-Shifting Decoction.
"Simmer for one hour. After drinking it, my aura will change completely, becoming untraceable," Qin Wang muttered, forming hand seals and sending them into the pot.
The pot bubbled, filling the room with the scent of the brewing decoction.
"It should be ready," Qin Wang noted, satisfied as he watched the rolling decoction.
With a flick of his wrist, he lifted the pot, pouring a bowl of the decoction. He infused it with mana to cool it, then gulped it down.
The decoction had a faint, fresh scent. Qin Wang felt his stomach churning as the medicinal power spread through his body. His original aura gradually faded, replaced by a fresh, untraceable scent.
"Now, Jin Wuyuan shouldn't be able to track me," Qin Wang thought, using his divine sense to examine his aura. He cast several dust-cleansing spells to ensure no traces were left, then packed up and left the inn.
"I'll wait until I'm a thousand miles away from Huoyao Immortal City before refining the nine Qingyou Flying Swords," he decided.
Five hours later.
Qin Wang stood three hundred miles outside Huoyao Immortal City, looking back thoughtfully.
He knew Jin Wuyuan and the Jindan cultivator Chu Hanfeng from Tianchu Immortal Dynasty would track him to Huoyao Immortal City. Despite having changed his aura, he wanted to put as much distance as possible between them.
Jindan cultivators could travel much faster than his Foundation Establishment self.
"The mysterious immortal palace beneath Tianji Mountain?" Qin Wang pondered over the fourth and fifth pieces of intelligence.
He was curious about the immortal corpses but knew he wasn't strong enough to investigate yet.
"The key to the pictographic script silver scroll is with the Murong family?" He turned to the seventh piece of intelligence.
"The Tianchu Immortal Dynasty's actions are stirring dissatisfaction among other dynasties and sects. Spreading some information might lead to conflict, diverting their attention from me," Qin Wang considered the eighth, ninth, and tenth pieces of intelligence.
Intelligence revealed that Chu Yunxiao of the Tianchu Immortal Dynasty had obtained the legacy of the ancient Tianxiao Patriarch, including insights into advancing to the Nascent Soul stage. Moreover, Chu Wuyuan, the ruler of Tianchu Immortal Dynasty, had secretly imprisoned the former Holy Son of Fengyao Holy Land.
Spreading this news could make Tianchu Immortal Dynasty a target, causing chaos that would benefit Qin Wang.
He knew Tianxiao Patriarch was the first Nascent Soul cultivator in the Southern Domain, three thousand years ago, from an outer region.
His legacy would drive many late Nascent Soul cultivators to madness. Moreover, the imprisonment of Fengyao Holy Son would certainly provoke Fengyao Holy Land, leading to a major conflict.
With Tianchu Immortal Dynasty embroiled in battles, they would have less energy to hunt him down.
As for how to spread the news, Qin Wang planned to think carefully.
Time passed.
Six days later.
Yue State, Tianji Mountain, Menghu Market.
That morning, two middle-aged cultivators in green robes appeared in the market.
Both exuded powerful auras.
One, thin with a short beard, summoned a large, plump white rat. The rat sniffed the air, then darted towards the east end of town.
"Over there!" Jin Wuyuan said, exchanging a glance with Chu Hanfeng before heading east.
Half an hour later.
"Chu Daoyou, that Qin Tiedan indeed stayed here for a few days. The rat senses he headed towards Tianji Mountain. Let's go," Jin Wuyuan said, standing in the back room of Shi San's mud house.
"Alright! Jin Daoyou, you go ahead. I'll join you shortly," Chu Hanfeng nodded, flashing to a large brick house nearby.
A woman peeling peanuts on the porch started at his sudden appearance.
"Have you seen this person?" Chu Hanfeng asked, unfurling a scroll with an image.
"No, I haven't," the stepmother examined the image carefully and shook her head.
Chu Hanfeng's eyes narrowed as he reached out, grabbing her head to perform a soul search.
Moments later, the woman collapsed, and Chu Hanfeng frowned, leaving the scene.
Three days later.
Huoyao Immortal City.
In front of room number 3 of Xianke Inn, where Qin Wang had stayed.
"What? The brat's aura ends here?" Chu Hanfeng's face darkened.
"Could the rat be mistaken?"
"No, my tracking rat's talent is following auras. It's never been wrong... Strange," Jin Wuyuan shook his head, trying to communicate further with the rat.
After another hour, Jin Wuyuan sighed. "His aura was here nine days ago. Either he's dead, and someone hid his body, or he used a technique to conceal his aura."
"If he's dead, it complicates things," Chu Hanfeng's brows knitted. The orders were clear: bring back Qin Tiedan, dead or alive, with his soul intact.
"Maybe he used a special technique to hide his aura," Jin Wuyuan suggested, not ruling out any possibility.
Both felt frustrated.
Jin Wuyuan, a late Jindan cultivator, sought Nascent Soul advancement. Completing this task perfectly would have earned invaluable guidance from Chu Yunxiao, the Tianchu Patriarch.
"Let's discuss this with the Jindan cultivators of Huoyao Immortal City," Chu Hanfeng decided.
No matter what, they had to continue the search.