The containment operation was launched at night two days later.
Wang De and Uncle Qu led the team, a total of eight people. Li Yuan was arranged to intercept behind a low hill in the south of the perimeter.
The target hiding spot is in Rocky Beach, fifteen miles south of the perimeter. The contact address Wang Lu found before finally led to complete clues. Following this line, the foothold of the Bandit Cultivator gang was locked.
Uncle Qu led three people to take charge of the frontal attack. Wang De led two people to go around to the rear to block the retreat. Li Yuan and another monk from Qi Refining Fifth Layer guarded the last opening to the south.
After taking action, the sound of the frontal battle was over within half a quarter of an hour.
Uncle Qu's combat power is there, Qi Refining Late Stage crushing Mid Qi Refinement is crushing. Except for the boss, no one in the gang can survive ten breaths under Uncle Qu.
The boss is Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement. There is no cultivation gap between him and Uncle Qu, but he is still beaten by Uncle Qu.
Moreover, Wang De blocked the retreat from the rear. Under attack from both sides, the boss could only hold out for less than a quarter of an hour.
When trying to break through to the south, I was stopped by Li Yuan.
Li Yuan did not confront him head-on. Three rounds of Fireball forced him to change direction and forced him into a narrow ditch. He could not use his body skills in the narrow ditch. Wang De caught up from behind and knocked him to the ground with a spell. Uncle Qu added a foot to stomp him.
There were six people in the gang, one died, five survived, and zero escaped.
The loot and prisoners were taken away overnight.
Li Yuan did not participate in the subsequent interrogation and returned to his outer residence to continue Talisman Making's practice.
The permanent progress of Spirit Essence Bottle has been pushed to ninety-two in the past few days.
The next day, there was a knock on the door.
Li Yuan opened the door and Wang De stood outside.
His green robe was stained with some dust, and he looked like he had just come back from outside.
The two of them entered the main room and sat down at the stone table.
Wang De didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.
"The trial is over. This gang was hired by the Li Family."
Li Yuan showed no surprise.
Wang De holds out a finger.
"The gang leader's surname is Zhou, Ninth Layer of Qi Refinement. He was approached by the Li Family three years ago and started working for the Li Family. He has five people under his command, ranging from the third to the sixth level."
second finger.
"The second child is Zhao Wu."
Li Yuan's eyes moved slightly.
Zhao Wu. Rogue Cultivator, who was selling ore scraps at Qinghe Market, secretly spied on Fangshi's defenses and later escaped from Fangshi.
"Zhao Wu's true cultivation level is Qi Refining Sixth Layer." Wang De said in a calm tone. "When he entered Qinghe Market, he only had the aura of Qi Refining Third Level on the surface. He relied on a piece of Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant lent to him by the boss. The grade is much higher than what is on the market. It can suppress the aura to only 20 to 30%."
He paused.
"The Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant you seized from the Crow Claw Gang and the Bandit Cultivator were almost exactly the same as the ones on the Zhao Wu. At that time, I thought they were from the same source, and now it is confirmed. The Crow Claw Gang are also peripheral personnel of this gang, and the jade pendants are all provided by the boss."
Li Yuan hummed.
The jade pendant of Crow Claw Gang, the jade pendant of Zhao Wu, and the more advanced piece in the hands of the gang boss are connected by a thread.
Wang De continued.
"Qian Si is one of them too."
Qian Si. The monk who met the man in the bamboo hat at Qinghe Market. Li Yuan and Wang Yuan followed him together and saw him meeting people in a hidden place.
"The Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant on Qian Si is also provided by the boss. However, Qian Si's mission is different from Zhao Wu. Zhao Wu is responsible for the internal defense information of Fang City, and Qian Si is responsible for the peripheral movements."
Wang De folded his hands and placed them on the table.
"But Fangshi's intelligence is secondary. Their real core mission is not to keep an eye on Patrol Squad and Guard Squad."
He looked at Li Yuan.
"It's Demon Beast."
Li Yuan frowned slightly.
"Li Family posted Array on the Yuanheng Mountains to drive away Demon Beast, and Law Artifact and Medicinal Pill drove away Demon Beast. You know this." Wang De lowered his voice for half a minute.
"But Li Family himself is not sure whether those will work. They don't know which direction Demon Beast ran after being driven away, how many there were, and whether any high-grade ones were driven over."
"So I sent someone to see the effect."
"Yes." Wang De nodded. Chapter update reminder: Chapter 154 Breath-Concealing Spirit Pendant, reading address. "The core mission of Zhao Wu and Qian Si is to observe the direction and frequency of Demon Beast's attacks and verify whether it is feasible to drive away Array. The intelligence on the city's defense is collected incidentally, and the primary and secondary cannot be reversed."
He took his hand back from the table.
"One more thing. The group of Rogue Cultivator temporarily recruited by Guard Squad also placed their people."
Li Yuan's eyes darkened slightly.
"Not many, one or two. Their cultivation level is low and they can't do anything big. They just keep an eye on Guard Squad's daily patrol routes and manpower allocation and deliver news to the outside world. They have been found out and were detained on the way back to Fangshi."
After Wang De finished speaking, he picked up the water bowl on the table and took a sip.
After two breaths of silence, he put down the water bowl and looked at Li Yuan.
"Since the earliest discovery of the abnormality of Zhao Wu, you have participated in many things. Zhao Wu, Crow Claw Gang's jade pendant, the tracking of Qian Si, the discovery of Array Eye from Herb Garden, and the clues to Foundation Establishment's auxiliary materials from Yunyang Marketplace."
He tapped his fingers on the table twice.
"Well done. What you want."
Li Yuan didn't hesitate.
"The boss's jade pendant."
Wang De paused for a moment.
He looked at Li Yuan and frowned slightly.
"Do you want that jade pendant?"
He took out a jade pendant from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
It is larger than any Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant Li Yuan has ever seen before. The jade quality is transparent, and the Spirit Pattern on the surface is extremely fine and complex. The carving is so fine that every texture seems to be carved out bit by bit with the tip of a needle. The grade of the breath fluctuation is several grades higher than the ordinary Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant.
"In the final analysis, this thing is stronger than the Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant you had before." Wang De took his hand back from the jade pendant. "It lasts longer and has better effects, but there is no essential difference in function. Your ability to control breath is already good, and getting another one that is better is the icing on the cake."
He looked at Li Yuan.
"What do you want this for?"
Wang De stared at him for two breaths.
Li Yuan looked as usual and had no explanation.
"Okay." Wang De pushed the jade pendant towards Li Yuan. "Here you go."
He didn't ask further questions.
Then he took out a roll of Bamboo Slip from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
"This is for you too."
There are three words written on the cover of Bamboo Slip: Spirit Guiding Art. A line of small words below: eighth floor, ninth floor.
"You may be able to practice to Qi Refining Seventh Layer, but Spirit Guiding Art will only break after reaching the seventh level. The next two levels of Cultivation Method should be given to you, which can be regarded as your reward."
Wang De pushed Bamboo Slip over. "I originally had to take Scripture Pavilion from Wang Family Headquarters, but I brought it over this time."
Li Yuan took it over from Bamboo Slip and turned it over. The annotations of the meridians nodes, the new paths for spiritual power to run, and the key to breaking through the eighth and ninth levels are all on it. It is the same system as the first to seventh levels, but the route is deeper and wider, and involves nearly twice as many nodes as the seventh level.
"Thanks."
Wang De stood up.
"After I have given you all the things, Wang Lu will tell you about the subsequent arrangements."
After saying that, he opened the door and went out.
After the footsteps disappeared along Yellow Earth Road, the yard became quiet again.
Li Yuan was sitting at the table, his eyes falling on the jade pendant.
The jade quality is transparent, but Spirit Pattern is fine and fine. The workmanship is of the same lineage as Spirit Essence Bottle, but the level of fineness is a higher level.
He reached out and picked up the jade pendant.
The moment the fingertips touched the surface of the jade pendant, Panel popped out.
[Equipable item detected: Breath-Concealing Spirit Pendant (complete)]
[This item can be upgraded to the existing Permanent Affix: Breath Concealment (green)]
[Method 1: Equip high-end Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant, occupy Equipment Slot, and the original Affix will be upgraded simultaneously and take effect immediately]
[Method 2: Temporarily equip high-level Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant, which does not occupy Equipment Slot, Affix does not take effect, and can only accumulate permanent progress]
[Method 3: Consume three pieces of Breath-Concealing Jade Pendant of the same grade to directly upgrade the original Permanent Affix without making it permanent]
[Affix preview after upgrade: Breath Concealment (green) → Breath Elimination (blue) - can greatly block one's own aura. It has a strong blocking effect on the same level and below perception methods. It has significant interference on high First-Order perception methods. It can greatly reduce the divination effect of other monks on oneself]
[Permanent conditions: Make your breath the same as that of a mortal, and live with other mortals for one month, during which you cannot use spiritual power]