Waiting was long and agonizing. This length and agony were not determined entirely by the passage of time; the key lay in the sensations and emotions within one's heart, constantly fermenting and spreading until they became unbearable.
Meng Chuan and Lü Yue felt as though every day were a year. Every minute, every second, a great storm seemed to rage through their minds, churning up towering waves without pause. They treated every piece of information delivered by their subordinates with caution, afraid of overlooking some crucial clue.
Such prudence and vigilance were entirely tied to the changing relationship between the Meng Family and Seven Star Tower.
Otherwise, given the cultivation of their states of mind, they would never have been so affected.
As the minor forces from the surrounding regions arrived, their manpower gradually became sufficient. Meng Chuan and Lü Yue began assigning people to search everywhere, especially throughout the mountains, and promised generous rewards. Forget finding the person—even uncovering a mere clue would earn a handsome reward.
The rewards were not limited to money. They also included profound and superior martial arts, pills, divine weapons and sharp tools, and the like, all of which held immense appeal for martial artists.
Martial arts in particular could be passed down as family heirlooms and were incomparably precious, enough to make some people fight with every ounce of their strength.
Sure enough, this move stirred the enthusiasm of the newcomers. Every one of them was brimming with excitement, and their earlier reluctance at being summoned vanished without a trace.
Power could oppress others only for a time, but profit could make people act willingly.
Setting aside the search, the more thoroughly they investigated this utterly annihilated village, the more information they gathered, and the more clues they obtained. Gradually, the two of