Extra Income

Stone Village.

He lifted the lid of a huge iron pot in the ruined temple.

Inside lay three children who had fainted while huddled together.

All three were boys of around ten, tear tracks still streaking their faces.

They had likely fainted from temporary oxygen deprivation. After resting for a while, they should come around.

Su Bai had already arrived at Stone Village.

With the sharp perception of Clear Heart Sword Intent, he found the last three survivors of Stone Village.

Fortunately, Su Bai had arrived in time. Stone Village's bloodline had not been cut off; three seeds remained.

Had he found them any later, these three little fellows would likely have suffocated to death as well.

"Captain, I truly must apologize to you!" Pang San came forward again and voiced his apology.

"Nothing this vicious has happened at the foot of Qingyun Mountain for many years. Most bandits among the mortals know there are 'immortals' watching over this area. Other than those who are blind to danger, few would dare commit such acts in villages beneath Qingyun Mountain."

"Just who was that young noble from the mortal world? His thirst for killing was so heavy!"

Su Bai rubbed his forehead. Having carried out so many outer sect missions, he was bound to encounter bouts of bad luck now and then. "Stay here with these three little fellows. The Inner Sect Senior Brother should arrive soon."

"So many mortals died this time, all because you neglected your duty. As the captain of this small team, I cannot escape responsibility either. This may even alarm the Inner Sect Elders afterward. Prepare yourself to be punished."

After saying this, Su Bai turned and left.

"Captain, where are you going?" Pang San asked.

"Where else could I go? Of course I'm going after the murderer!!"

That group had traveled by carriage, so their trail was not difficult to follow.

Su Bai found the carriage tracks. After slaughtering the village, the group had chosen the road out of the mountains.

Using the Feather Fall Technique, he raced after them along the carriage tracks.

Half an hour later.

Su Bai spotted the carriage weaving through the mountain road, as well as four mortal martial artists galloping alongside it as guards.

As a former Third Prince, Su Bai was naturally extremely familiar with the aura of mortal martial artists.

At a glance, he recognized that all four were peak Innate Martial Artists.

Previously, Su Bai himself had possessed only one Innate Martial Artist at his side.

Yet this youth had no fewer than four. It seemed his status among mortals truly was extraordinary.

But no matter how extraordinary his status was among mortals, in the eyes of Cultivators, he was nothing more than grass and dust.

Su Bai pushed the Feather Fall Technique to its limit. Once he caught up to the carriage, he leaped more than ten meters into the air.

Forming a hand seal, he rapidly condensed a Fireball in midair and sent it hurtling down at the carriage compartment at terrifying speed.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, be careful!"

The four Innate Martial Artists reacted swiftly enough.

They actively gathered their Innate True Qi and lunged toward the Fireball.

Still, they had underestimated the power of a Fireball Technique condensed by a Cultivator at Qi Refining Layer Six.

Innate True Qi that could surround the body and block crossbow bolts could not last long before a magical Fireball.

Splat.

Of the four Innate Martial Artists, three were burned directly into ash. Half of the remaining man was charred black, and he fell to the ground, rolling endlessly as he screamed.

But under the obstruction of the four men, the Fireball Technique veered slightly away from the position Su Bai had anticipated.

It exploded against the rear of the carriage compartment.

The carriage compartment was blasted into the air. The driver crashed straight into a rock and died, while the pale-faced youth tumbled out of the compartment, rolled three times, and became the sole survivor.

One Fireball Technique had killed four Innate Martial Artists. This was the crushing disparity between a Cultivator and mortal martial artists.

Su Bai landed on the ground and stood before the youth.

A mortal Crown Prince was indeed one of the most exalted figures in the mortal world. If he ascended the throne years later, he would become the sovereign above all beneath heaven.

Perhaps it was precisely this status that had given him the nerve to commit such slaughter beneath Qingyun Mountain.

Su Bai summoned his Magic Sword and was about to cut the youth down with a single strike.

Yet excitement filled the Crown Prince's pale face. "A Cultivator—you're a Cultivator from the Jade Mist Sect!"

"So slaughtering a village to draw your attention was the right choice! Senior, you've finally appeared!!"

Seeing Su Bai wielding his Magic Sword, he realized something and hurriedly said, "Senior, wait! I have Spirit Stones. Don't kill me!"

As the words fell, the Crown Prince saw the Magic Sword stop before his forehead.

He let out a slight breath of relief. As expected, what Cultivators valued most was still Spirit Stones.

Just as the Crown Prince was about to say more, the Magic Sword suddenly spat out a streak of Sword Qi.

Riiip.

The Crown Prince's flesh and bones were torn by the compressed Sword Qi into thousands of pieces, scattering in all directions in a chaotic mess.

"Spirit Stones?"

Su Bai rummaged through the wrecked carriage compartment and actually found a pouch of thumb-thick Spirit Stones of various attributes.

He counted them. There were eighteen in total.

Somehow, a mortal Crown Prince had gathered so many Spirit Stones. One could imagine that he had paid an enormous price in the process.

But for a mortal to expect to wield Spirit Stones and make a Cultivator serve him was as laughable as a child holding a gold bar and ordering an adult around.

Who knew what the youth had wanted so badly that he had held Spirit Stones in hand, slaughtered a village without hesitation, and drawn attention just to meet a Cultivator.

Judging from his depleted body, he had likely sought medicinal pills or magic to save himself.

Now that he had died and his Dao had dissipated, so much the better. There was no need to treat him anymore.

The only problem was that Su Bai had just taken up this assignment and might already be facing punishment because of it...

He would gladly accept these eighteen Low-grade Spirit Stones as compensation.

When Su Bai returned to Stone Village.

Dozens of patrolling Disciples had gathered there, along with Law Enforcement Court Disciples.

The corpses of Stone Village's villagers had already been burned on the spot and dealt with.

Just as Su Bai had guessed, the matter had indeed alarmed the Inner Sect Elders.

It was also confirmed that the Stone Village villagers were descendants of a deceased Golden Core Ancestor from the sect.

As a result, Su Bai and the others received severe punishment.

Su Bai, the three members of Su Bai's Team, and the Inner Sect Disciple from the Major Outpost above were all disciplined by the Law Enforcement Court.

The Inner Sect Disciple received the harshest punishment: the Law Enforcement Court sentenced him to sit in meditation in the Law Enforcement Court Detention Room for three hundred days.

Su Bai and his three team members, meanwhile, were to sit in meditation for one hundred and fifty days—nearly five months.

This Detention Room did not merely restrict a Disciple's freedom.

An array within the Detention Room also cleared out all the Spiritual Energy in the room, which meant Su Bai would be unable to cultivate for those one hundred and fifty days.

"Let's go, Captain Su." A Law Enforcement Court Disciple had already been waiting at Stone Village for Su Bai with calm composure.

As for the Crown Prince and his party, they were mortals. Killing them was enough; no one took them to heart.

Su Bai sighed. After explaining that the murderer had already been executed and roughly describing his identity and intentions, he followed the Law Enforcement Court Disciple toward the sect's Law Enforcement Court.

Before long, Su Bai returned to the mountain gate and entered the Law Enforcement Court once more, experiencing its gloomy atmosphere again.

It had only been a few days since he last walked out of the Law Enforcement Court. Had he recently formed some sort of fated bond with it?