Great Immortal, Wait!

The Clearwind Sect's spirit stone mine lay deep in a remote mountain.

The scenery alone was quite pleasant, surrounded by green mountains and clear waters, with quite a few demonic beasts in the woods that had only just begun developing intelligence.

Whether it was to stop the miners from escaping or to guard against attacks from demonic beasts was unclear.

A simple Soul-Snaring Formation also surrounded the mine. Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm would likely find it extremely difficult to leave the formation-enclosed mine on their own.

According to what Li Xingtian had told Chu Xingchen, most of those mining here were cultivators with abysmal aptitude.

The Clearwind Sect had found them in remote villages and impoverished backwaters.

First, people like these could not possibly have powerful backgrounds, so the sect would not offend anyone it could not afford to offend.

Second, in those impoverished backwaters, no one would question it even if the people never returned.

As long as they had spiritual roots, the sect would take them, no matter how mixed those roots were.

Then it used medicinal baths that burned through their potential to force them into the second or third level of Qi Refining before throwing them straight into the mine to work until they died.

So the Clearwind Sect was probably just wearing the skin of a righteous sect while actually doing the work of evil cultivators.

After all, how could something like this possibly escape the notice of the Clearwind Sect's leader and its other senior figures?

Chu Xingchen carefully avoided the cultivators patrolling the main entrance.

Climbing up a cliff on one side, he concealed his aura as much as possible and slowly surveyed the mine below.

Several simple wooden buildings stood scattered about without any apparent planning, but an exquisite building occupied the highest point, where disciples in Clearwind Sect robes could be seen.

There were not many of them: two men and one woman.

Without scanning them with his spiritual sense, he could no longer discern their cultivation levels, which meant these Clearwind Sect disciples were probably at Foundation Establishment.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, cultivators could easily control their spiritual energy and conceal it within their bodies, keeping it from leaking out.

Without a spiritual-sense scan, even someone in the Golden Core realm could not tell by sight alone.

It was daytime, when mining was in full swing, and loud crashes frequently rang out from the tunnels.

Every so often, ragged Qi Refining cultivators emerged with crude carts loaded with freshly mined spirit stone ore.

Sure enough, these miners had low cultivation levels. His examination put them at only the second or third level of Qi Refining.

He watched them wheel cart after cart of spirit stone ore beneath a processing shed.

Several Qi Refining cultivators wielding heavy hammers struck the rocks with all their strength, separating the waste rock from the spirit stones inside.

The Clearwind Sect disciples rested their hands on the railing before them, watching the miners with mocking expressions.

Chu Xingchen swept his gaze across the site and quickly singled out a warehouse-like building. It occupied a large area, but strangely, there were no guards around it.

The Golden Core cultivator Li Xingtian had mentioned was probably stationed inside.

A frontal assault was certainly unwise. This place very likely had some means of contacting the sect.

He would have to either win swiftly or lure the cultivator out.

But he had only come to scout out the situation this time and had no intention of making a move.

Chu Xingchen took paper and a brush from his Spatial Ring and quickly sketched a rough map based on the paths and buildings.

He would take the sketch back and discuss it carefully with Li Xingtian to work out the details.

After finishing the sketch and stuffing it back into his Spatial Ring, he was just about to leave when someone entered the range of his vigilant spiritual sense.

A longsword abruptly appeared in Chu Xingchen's hand, and his spiritual sense swept over the newcomer.

Yet the feedback revealed that the person who had entered its range was merely a mortal without the slightest cultivation.

What was going on?

Concealing his aura, Chu Xingchen cautiously approached the newcomer.

Soon, he saw the person who had entered the range of his spiritual sense.

It was a short, terribly scrawny little girl dressed in worn hemp clothes. Dirt covered her body, and her dry, long hair was tangled into a mass.

Her face was filthy, but her eyes were bright and alert.

Because of that, Chu Xingchen could clearly see how bewildered and helpless she looked as she glanced around in mild panic.

He kept watching as she struggled in one direction, only to unwittingly circle back to where she had started.

Was she... trapped in the formation?

Had she wandered in by accident, or was there more to it?

Chu Xingchen chose to use the system to examine her status panel.

[Ning Qianqian]

[Cultivation: None]

[Blue trait: Unyielding Resolve]

[Blue trait: Loyal and Devoted]

[White trait: Cleverness]

[Does not meet disciple recruitment requirements]

There were Clearwind Sect disciples patrolling the nearby mountains, and judging by her appearance, this scrawny girl certainly was not with them.

She was most likely someone who had escaped from the mine.

Like Li Xingtian, she had probably been tricked into mining by the Clearwind Sect.

After a moment's thought, Chu Xingchen decided to take her away first. He might even get some useful information out of her.

He took out a mask and covered his face.

Reaching out, he grabbed the little girl and swiftly departed using earth escape.

"Great Immortal! Exalted Immortal!"

Tied to a tree, Ning Qianqian sobbed with tears streaming down her face. "I really just got lost."

As she spoke, Ning Qianqian secretly lifted her eyes to look at the person who had tied her up.

He was wearing a hideous demon mask, and his eyes watched her coldly.

There really was something wrong with the Clearwind Sect!

Dad must have been tricked by those immortals from the Clearwind Sect.

Chu Xingchen, meanwhile, stared speechlessly at Ning Qianqian. If she had been willing to cooperate, he would not have wanted to tie her to a tree.

The girl had simply been far too uncooperative.

Spitting, throwing tantrums, rolling on the ground, pretending to be mad.

If he had not exposed her act, she would probably still have been pretending to be an idiot.

"Stop crying. I'm not from the Clearwind Sect," Chu Xingchen said irritably.

Ning Qianqian continued bawling:

"Great Immortal, I don't know anything about any Clearwind Sect! I really just got lost."

Chu Xingchen said nothing more. Instead, he took a large flatbread from his Spatial Ring and stuffed it into Ning Qianqian's mouth under her terrified gaze.

"You're as skinny as a hemp stalk. How long has it been since you ate?"

Afraid that some immortal trick had been worked into the flatbread, Ning Qianqian hurriedly shook her head in refusal.

But when the soft, crumbly bread entered her mouth, Ning Qianqian, who had been starving for days, immediately stopped struggling.

Without the slightest hesitation, she began gnawing on the flatbread.

She probably couldn't escape the immortal before her anyway. Even if she died, she had to become a ghost with a full belly!

Dad! Danzi's let you down! I couldn't rescue you, and now I'm going to die before you.

Watching Ning Qianqian ravenously devour the flatbread, Chu Xingchen silently withdrew the rope and took out a water flask, handing it to Ning Danzi.

By now, Ning Qianqian had rather given up on herself. She could not be bothered to worry about anything else and gladly accepted it, drinking away.

With the water to wash it down, she quickly finished the flatbread.

Then Ning Qianqian looked over at him again with pleading eyes.

Chu Xingchen sighed. "You haven't eaten in too long. You can't eat too much all at once."

Ning Qianqian clearly did not believe him, though. Her expression said that he was already an immortal, yet he was still stingy over a single flatbread.

Chu Xingchen did not explain further. Instead, he continued questioning her. "What exactly did you come here for? Did you escape from the mine?"

Ning Qianqian timidly glanced at the masked man before her and answered just as timidly:

"...I, I really just got lost."

Chu Xingchen studied Ning Qianqian carefully for a while, then stopped questioning her and took some silver pieces and flatbreads from his Spatial Ring.

He handed all of them to Ning Qianqian, then pointed her in a direction.

"If you don't want to tell me, I won't keep asking. Walk straight that way, and you'll reach the nearest town. It's dangerous here. Don't come near this place again."

Ning Qianqian stared in astonishment at the things he had thrust into her arms, then looked up.

Chu Xingchen simply turned and left without another word.

She could not help calling out:

"Great Immortal, wait!"