Chapter 9 Tracking

Chapter 9 Tracking

The silver-crowned middle-aged man was Wu Wei, the head of the Wu Family in Flying Cloud City and a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator.

Just a moment ago, the Family disciple responsible for guarding the Soul Lamps reported to him that the Soul Lamp of his sixth son, Wu Tianyi, had suddenly gone out.

A Soul Lamp was a special Magical Artifact that could be used to confirm a Cultivator's life or death.

In their Wu Family, only core disciples had the opportunity to light a Soul Lamp; after all, Soul Lamp Magical Artifacts were not cheap.

The extinguishing of a Soul Lamp meant death.

Wu Tianyi was his youngest son, and with decent Aptitude, he possessed a Grade 5 Fire Spiritual Root.

As long as he cultivated diligently, he had a complete chance to successfully achieve Foundation Establishment.

Wu Wei usually doted on this youngest son very much, cultivating him as the successor of the Wu Family.

Hearing that his son was dead, Wu Wei completely failed to accept this sudden blow.

With a gloomy face, he asked an elderly man beside him.

"Second Uncle, do you know who Number Six went out with today?"

The old man was named Wu Qian. His seniority in the Wu Family was even higher than Wu Wei's, but due to rather poor Aptitude, he was nearly seventy years old and only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

He had long since given up on Cultivate and focused on managing Family affairs; if Family disciples wanted to go out, they would generally greet him.

Hearing the Family head's inquiry, Wu Qian quickly replied.

"In the morning, the Young Master went out with Protector Jia, saying they were going to Yunmang Mountain for experiential training."

"Yunmang Mountain…"

Hearing these words, Wu Wei remained silent.

Yunmang Mountain was more than two thousand li away from Flying Cloud City, an environment complex with Yao Beasts everywhere.

Although most of them were Tier 1 Yao Beasts, Wu Tianyi was only at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, and Protector Jia, while stronger, was only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

Once they encountered a powerful Yao Beast, accidents were indeed possible.

In addition, Cultivators from nearby cities also frequently went to Yunmang Mountain to hunt Yao Beasts.

Therefore, it was hard to say how Wu Tianyi actually died.

"Second Uncle, do you think they encountered a Yao Beast, or were they killed by someone?"

"It's hard to say."

Wu Qian did not dare to easily jump to conclusions.

To be honest, all sorts of accidents could happen in the Immortal Cultivation world, and no one dared to guarantee anything.

Wu Wei nodded. He also knew that Wu Qian couldn't give any concrete answer for this kind of matter; he was just asking casually.

With a gloomy face, Wu Wei tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

After a short while, Wu Wei spoke.

"Go invite Liu Gongfeng over."

"Yes."

Wu Qian hurriedly responded and then walked outside.

After a short while, Wu Qian brought an old man in cyan robes with white hair into the main hall.

The old man was named Liu Yihe, at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation base. He was a guest elder recruited by the Wu Family, having served the Wu Family for many years with quite a few merits.

Seeing the old man arrive, Wu Wei quickly stood up and asked him.

"Liu Gongfeng, Tianyi is dead. Please help calculate and see if you can find the murderer."

"Alright, let me try."

Liu Yihe had cultivated in the Dao for many years and possessed a special ability to deduce a person's whereabouts through corresponding mediums.

This method was very popular in the Immortal Cultivation world, and Liu Yihe would not use it easily.

If it weren't for Wu Tianyi's death this time, and Wu Wei asking personally, he definitely wouldn't have agreed so readily.

Of course, he couldn't deduce a person's whereabouts out of thin air; he needed a corresponding medium.

Liu Yihe said to the person beside him.

"Go find one of the Sixth Young Master's personal items."

Soon, a servant brought over a piece of clothing that Wu Tianyi had worn.

Liu Yihe took the clothing and then produced a mirror-shaped Magical Artifact.

He was seen chanting words, and then he spat a mouthful of vital blood onto the mirror.

An intermittent scene slowly appeared on the mirror.

In the scene, Zhang Yuhe held a long saber and leaped up, splitting Wu Tianyi in half.

"Audacious."

Seeing the scene in the mirror, Wu Wei was furious beyond control.

Originally, he thought Wu Tianyi might have been killed by a Yao Beast; after all, within a radius of thousands of li, who didn't know about the Wu Family of Flying Cloud City?

Unless they were desperate outlaws, who would dare to make a move against people of his Wu Family?

Yet with the scene laid out before him, he couldn't help but believe it.

Wu Wei tried hard to suppress the fury in his heart and asked Liu Yihe in a deep voice.

"Liu Gongfeng, can you track down the murderer's whereabouts?"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Yihe slowly said.

"It's not certain yet. If the murderer left behind any aura at the scene, it should be possible,"

"Hmph, we will pursue them! If I don't extract the murderer's soul and refine it, it won't vent the hatred in my heart."

Wu Wei flicked his robe's sleeves, drove his Flying Sword to rush out of the main hall, and rapidly flew toward the place where Wu Tianyi died.

Liu Yihe likewise took out his Flying Sword and closely followed behind.

…

At this moment, Zhang Yuhe was flying rapidly with a smile on his face.

"To think it was effortless to obtain."

While flying on his sword, he wasn't idle; instead, he inspected Protector Jia's Storage Pouch while flying.

Inside Protector Jia's Storage Pouch, he found several Jade Slips.

Although there were no Cultivation Techniques or spell Divine Abilities, the Jade Slips introduced a lot of basic knowledge about Immortal Cultivation.

Among them was a Jade Slip that was a surrounding map, which detailed the distribution of surrounding cities and was accompanied by corresponding explanations.

According to the description on the Jade Slip, this entire area belonged to the jurisdiction of Yunzhong Prefecture.

Yunzhong Prefecture was vast in range, spanning over a hundred thousand li, with at least several hundred small cities like Flying Cloud City.

Most importantly, Yunzhong Prefecture City had a Teleportation Array, through which one could teleport to Hezhou City.

Then, teleporting from Hezhou City to Central State City, one could run straight to the mountain gate of the Dao Saint Sect.

Because the Dao Saint Sect was located sixty thousand li south of Central State City.

Yu Fantian was boundless; if he relied solely on his own sword flight, he feared he would fly until he died without reaching the Dao Saint Sect.

But with a Teleportation Array, it was different. Once he reached Central State City, the remaining sixty thousand li distance would be completely effortless, and he could cross it in just a few days.

Zhang Yuhe quickly changed direction and flew towards Yunzhong Prefecture City.

By comparing the map on the Jade Slip, Yunzhong City was only about five thousand li away from his current location.

It wasn't too far.

If he flew at full strength, he estimated he could arrive in less than half a day.

Being able to fly was indeed fast.

While Zhang Yuhe was flying rapidly towards Yunzhong City, Wu Wei and Liu Yihe had already arrived at the location where Wu Tianyi died.

The flight speed of Foundation Establishment Cultivators was much faster than Zhang Yuhe's; a distance of over two thousand li was reached in half an hour.

Seeing his son's corpse split in half, Wu Wei slowly squatted down, his two eyes red in a terrifying manner.

He asked Liu Yihe through gritted teeth.

"Can you find the murderer?"

Liu Yihe did not answer immediately; he understood Wu Wei's mood at this moment.

However, Zhang Yuhe's killing action had been crisp and neat, leaving no aura at the scene.

In this desolate mountain wilderness, trying to find the murderer was simply like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Even if he knew some minor deduction tricks, without a corresponding medium, and with the murderer leaving no aura,

wanting to find the person was very difficult.

Liu Yihe leaped up, quickly investigating the surroundings, and after a long time returned to his original spot, shaking his head at Wu Wei as he spoke.

"Family Head, the murderer did not leave any aura behind. This subordinate is also powerless."

Hearing these words, Wu Wei remained silently speechless, not knowing what he was thinking.

Liu Yihe stood quietly to the side without making a sound to disturb him.

The scene fell into dead silence.

Suddenly, Wu Wei spoke in a deep voice.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, I know you still have methods. Help me find the murderer, and I will definitely reward you handsomely."

Now it was Liu Yihe's turn to remain silent.

Having cultivated in the Dao for nearly two hundred years, being what they called an old fox, he naturally still had some methods left.

After all, the murderer had killed someone here; it was impossible that truly no clues were left behind.

Most importantly, the person the murderer killed was Wu Tianyi, and there would inevitably be some connection between the two.

Through Wu Tianyi's clothing, it was entirely possible to deduce the murderer's whereabouts.

Only, if he did this, the cost would be great.

Liu Yihe was unwilling.

He was only a guest elder of the Wu Family; to put it bluntly, he was just a hired worker. Naturally, it was impossible for him to truly risk his life.

Usually, helping the Wu Family make a move to resolve some minor issues was fine.

But making him pull out his ultimate trump card tricks was naturally not that easy.

After remaining silent for a good while, Liu Yihe spoke.

"The murderer has already run away for some time. Finding them won't be easy, and the murderer might also change direction."

Liu Yihe did not directly refuse; to put it bluntly, he just wanted to bargain.

Empty words were useless; wanting to dismiss him with a mere sentence of a heavy reward wasn't that simple. He had to see real benefits.

Moreover, Liu Yihe specifically pointed out that the murderer had run away for a while, so if they wanted to bid a price, they better hurry.

Otherwise, they might really not be able to catch up.

As for whether this would offend Wu Wei, Liu Yihe didn't care about it at all.

At most, his relationship with the Wu Family was a cooperative one, and he didn't need to look at Wu Wei's expression.

With his Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation base, he could go anywhere in the vast world; he didn't necessarily have to stay in the Wu Family.

…