The next morning, Shi Qiuping took seven or eight subordinates from the Mount Mi Sect aboard two Spirit Boats and headed straight for the Cold Billow River Market City.
This market city lay on a small second-tier spirit vein at the headwaters of the Cold Billow River, only a day or two's journey from the Mount Mi Sect's current headquarters.
If Shi Qiuping's party encountered no delays along the way, they should be able to make the round trip in three or four days.
Meanwhile, Wang Yu had quietly arrived before a well-hidden hall more than a hundred feet underground.
The hall's walls were built of thick bluestone, while its dark gates were cast from fine iron. Several sealing talismans were pasted onto the tightly shut iron gates, seemingly to prevent something inside from escaping.
More eye-catching still were the two Metal Lion statues crouching on either side of the fine iron gates. Their bodies gleamed with green light, as though cast from bronze.
As soon as Wang Yu approached, red light flashed in the eyes of the two lion statues, each over ten feet long. They slowly rose from the ground, growling like real lions. With several sharp swishes, gleaming claws sprang from both forepaws, and spiritual energy fluctuations at late Qi Refining began radiating from their bodies.
As though prepared for this, Wang Yu raised one hand, producing a bronze Command Token made from the same material, and waved it at the two Bronze Lions.
Pop! Pop!
Two spell seals flew from the Command Token, each vanishing into a Bronze Lion in a flash. The red light in the puppets' eyes faded, and they crouched back down in their original positions, becoming statues once more.
Wang Yu clicked his tongue in admiration. With his current eyesight, he could