Liu Wuxie stopped, his gaze settling on Song Tianhao. "Tell me. What news?"
If it proved true and helped the Xu Household, he would not mind lending the Song Household a hand. If it had no value, he would turn and leave.
"I received word that the Wan Household and Tian Household have secretly joined forces. They intend to seize your Xu Household's purple-gold ore vein and cut off your ore supply. Even if you can forge weapons imbued with spirituality, without raw materials, even the cleverest cook cannot make a meal without rice."
News that the Xu Household had forged weapons imbued with spirituality had spread throughout Canglan City. It was no secret anymore.
The main materials the Xu Household used for forging came from the purple-gold ore vein. They had only just resolved their forging problems and gotten their weapons workshops back on track. If they lost the vein, the Xu Household would fall into difficulty again.
"Is the news reliable?"
Terrifying killing intent spread outward from Liu Wuxie. A trace of horror appeared in the eyes of the ten Song Household elders standing nearby.
His presence was too frightening. The second elder in particular trembled all over, still shaken as he recalled that saber strike.
"Absolutely true. They should make their move within the next few days. They've brought in powerful experts from other major cities to seize the Xu Household's purple-gold ore vein in one stroke. If you prepare in advance, you'll still have a sliver of a chance."
Song Tianhao answered firmly. He would not have dared speak if the news were false. Even if Liu Wuxie saved the Formation Hall today, they would still need him to keep improving the formation hub afterward.
"I'll trust you this once. Prepare the formation materials immediately."
Whether it was true or false, Liu Wuxie would trust him this once. After finishing here, he would visit the purple-gold ore vein himself. One investigation would reveal the truth. If Song Tianhao had deceived him, he would not mind destroying the entire Formation Hall.
"Everything you need is in this Storage Bag, Young Master Liu. Please use whatever you wish."
Song Tianhao unfastened the Storage Bag at his waist and tossed it into Liu Wuxie's hands. A low-grade Storage Bag was worth five million gold coins. The Song Household truly lived up to its reputation as Canglan City's wealthiest and foremost Lineage.
His Divine Sense entered the Storage Bag. It contained roughly ten square meters of space, piled with large quantities of formation-making materials. His body became a streaking meteor as he entered a dilapidated building.
"Stay here and maintain order. I'll go inside with Young Master Liu."
At Song Tianhao's instruction, all the elders sprang into action, maintaining order in the Formation Hall to keep the situation from worsening.
Numerous buildings were still collapsing. Densely packed formations covered the underground world. As a beam as thick as a thigh crashed down, Liu Wuxie used the Seven Star Steps and easily dodged it.
One following the other, the two entered the formation's core.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Liu Wuxie stopped. An immense formation appeared before him, countless gears turning to keep the entire Formation Hall running.
Formation materials flew from Liu Wuxie's hands one after another, and a full fifty Spirit Stones shot out in every direction.
Song Tianhao's eyes nearly popped out. What kind of technique was this? Before he could think further, Liu Wuxie darted toward the hub, forming seals with both hands and injecting one mark after another. Cracking sounds came from every formation node.
"These... these are Formation Spirit Inscriptions!"
Song Tianhao could not describe how he felt. Fewer than five people in the Song Household knew how to inscribe Spirit Inscriptions.
The Formation Spirit Inscriptions Liu Wuxie carved were unfathomably profound. Song Tianhao watched as though lost in clouds and mist. Having never encountered anything so advanced, he could only memorize them by rote, retaining whatever he could.
The formation hub on the verge of collapse suddenly stopped operating, and the buildings ceased collapsing. Liu Wuxie injected a large number of Formation Spirit Inscriptions to stabilize the hub first. Repairing it was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
"I've stabilized the formation hub for now. A complete repair will require a large quantity of materials. I'll draw up a list. Gather them as quickly as possible. These Formation Spirit Inscriptions will last ten days at most. If you haven't gathered the materials by then, there will be nothing I can do."
He returned the Storage Bag to Song Tianhao. More than fifty Spirit Stones and hundreds of kinds of formation materials had been spent merely to sustain it for ten days.
"Thank you, Young Master Liu. I'll have people prepare them immediately!"
Song Tianhao was thoroughly convinced. Without Liu Wuxie here today, the entire Formation Hall would have been utterly destroyed.
"This is a fair exchange. I have other matters to attend to. Have Song Ling come to the Xu Household for the list of materials to purchase. I hope the Song Household won't reveal what happened today. Keep it secret for me."
He became a streaking meteor and vanished, leaving Song Tianhao deep in silence.
As he walked out through the Formation Hall's entrance, he found many people gathered there. The Song Household elders were explaining that they would compensate the injured martial artists, striving to minimize the losses.
When he returned to the Xu Household, his father-in-law was in the main hall discussing matters with Steward Lan. Since reopening, the weapons workshops needed large quantities of purple-gold ore every day. In just a few days, the ore transport teams had suffered several attacks, inflicting heavy losses on the Xu Household.
"Father-in-law!"
He stepped into the main hall and bowed. He had heard their entire conversation. As expected, something had gone wrong with the Xu Household's purple-gold ore vein.
The purple-gold ore vein lay deep within the Sunset Mountain Range, three days' journey from Canglan City. The route passed through a gorge. The Xu Household had traveled it for years and rarely encountered ambushes. Occasionally, they ran into someone blind enough to provoke them, but the harm to the Xu Household had been minor.
In just two days, more than a dozen people had been seriously injured, and the purple-gold ore had been plundered. It truly had been an autumn of troubles for the Xu Household lately.
Xu Yilin nodded. A few days earlier, he had visited Liu Wuxie's courtyard and confirmed that Liu Wuxie had caused the heavenly and earthly phenomenon during that breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm. His expectations for Liu Wuxie were growing ever higher.
"Father-in-law, has something gone wrong with the purple-gold ore vein?"
Liu Wuxie asked uncertainly. Song Tianhao's information was most likely true.
"Yes. Someone is secretly working against our Xu Household, stealing our goods. The weapons workshops have run out of raw materials and have already stopped operating."
He concealed nothing, answering truthfully. The news would soon spread throughout Canglan City. The merchants who had placed orders were anxious. They had paid deposits and naturally did not want their money thrown into the water.
"Was it the Tian Household and Wan Household?"
Apart from those two, none of Canglan City's smaller Lineages could possibly wage war against the Xu Household. The reopening of the weapons workshops had hurt the Tian Household most.
The Tian Household had poached more than a dozen master craftsmen from the Xu Household, invested large sums of gold, and devoted their entire Lineage's strength to establishing five weapons workshops. Just as they prepared to enter the market, the Xu Household caught them completely off guard.
The Wan Household's beast-fighting arena was in much the same situation. After its rigged operations were exposed, business at the arena plummeted.
"We're not certain yet. According to the guards who escaped, the goods were seized by a group of people dressed in black. They didn't seem to be experts from Canglan City."
Canglan City was only so large, and everyone knew one another's backgrounds. This made it strange. The Xu Household had offended no one else, so why were their transport teams being robbed repeatedly?
Liu Wuxie rubbed his smooth chin. This confirmed Song Tianhao's information. Those two households had hired experts from other major cities to strike at the Xu Household in secret.
"Father-in-law, when will our next transport team arrive?"
He asked the question. The weapons workshops had already run out of stock. If supplies did not arrive soon, the customers who had placed orders would likely demand refunds.
"Tomorrow. They'll pass through the gorge. All the recent robberies happened there. I intend to go personally and see just who is secretly intercepting our Xu Household's goods."
As Xu Yilin finished speaking, intense killing intent emanated from him. He had not killed anyone in decades. Did they truly think he had grown old?
"You mustn't!"
Liu Wuxie suddenly interrupted, stopping his father-in-law from leaving the Xu Household. Doing so would play right into the enemy's scheme to lure the tiger from its mountain. Once Xu Yilin left, no one would remain to hold the fort in Canglan City. The Tian Household would swiftly seize the Xu Household's forging workshops and encroach upon its other businesses.
"Wuxie, tell me what you think."
After what had happened at the weapons workshop, Steward Lan's attitude toward Liu Wuxie had changed considerably. He too turned his gaze toward him, wanting to hear his opinion.
"The Tian Household and Wan Household are most likely behind this. Those people in black are very likely assassins they hired from other major cities. Their purpose goes without saying: to bring down our Xu Household. If you go now, you'll fall straight into their scheme of making a feint in the east while striking in the west, letting them seize our ancestral holdings."
Liu Wuxie voiced his thoughts. The Wan Household and Tian Household had promised Master Huo not to kill him for a month, but they had never said they would not seize the Xu Household's ancestral holdings.
If their ancestral residence was seized, what use would securing the ore vein be?
Xu Yilin frowned slightly. It was not that he had failed to consider this. But if they lost the ore vein, what good would holding on to their foundations do? They could only sit and eat until their mountain of wealth was gone.
"Wuxie, I'm glad you could think of all this. But with things as they stand, is there any other way?"
A trace of gratification appeared on his face. Steward Lan sighed as well. The Xu Household had reached a critical moment of life and death.
"I'll go myself. Father-in-law, you need only stay and guard the Xu Household, to prevent the Tian Household from secretly attacking the weapons workshops."
Liu Wuxie stepped forward, willing to go to the purple-gold ore vein and investigate the truth.
"Wuxie, you want to go?"
A trace of astonishment appeared on Xu Yilin's face. Normally, Liu Wuxie could hardly be bothered to step outside the Xu Household's gates. The Sunset Mountain Range was fraught with danger. Going alone would be far too dangerous.
"Steward Lan, please step outside for a moment, and close the doors!"
Liu Wuxie knew what his father-in-law was worried about. Going to the purple-gold ore vein alone was too dangerous. If Xu Lingxue were here, he might send her. The Xu Household had too few people available now.
Steward Lan stood, glanced at Xu Yilin, nodded, and turned to leave the main hall, closing the doors behind him. The entire hall fell silent.
"Father-in-law, I know you're worried that I'll be in danger if I go. Attack me with all you have, keeping your strength at the low-level Spirit Cleansing Realm."
Liu Wuxie did not want to waste words. He understood his father-in-law's concern for him. Unless there was absolutely no alternative, Xu Yilin would not let him risk danger. His father-in-law had raised him single-handedly. Now that the Xu Household faced a matter of life and death, how could he stand by and do nothing?
His eyes narrowing, Xu Yilin stood.
"Wuxie, are you certain?"
The low-level Spirit Cleansing Realm was enough to kill someone at the peak Xiantian Realm. Though he did not know Liu Wuxie's true cultivation level, he wanted to test him too. Rumor had it that Liu Wuxie had slain twelve Wan Household disciples with a single saber strike at the beast-fighting arena, but he had not witnessed it himself.
"Certain!"
His right hand pressed against his short saber. A fierce presence filled the main hall, and Xu Yilin shuddered. It made him feel a trace of pressure.
Not daring to underestimate him, Xu Yilin raised his right hand, keeping his strength at the low-level Spirit Cleansing Realm. If any real danger arose, he could simply withdraw his strength without harming Liu Wuxie.
"Father-in-law, be careful!"
The short saber left its sheath. A heaven-shaking gleam of cold light bore down through the air. Merciless saber Qi tore apart the tables and chairs on both sides. Xu Yilin felt every pore on his body burst open. That saber strike gave him a taste of death.