Three Parties Stir, Each with Their Own Calculations; Dark Clouds Gradually Shroud Coiling Dragon Island

After settling the accounts, Heng Hua recorded his interaction with Mei Zhongtian in the Colorful-Luan Travel Record.

The Colorful-Luan Travel Record documented everything encountered during the Colorful-Luan Spirit Ship's journeys. Should an accident occur and the people died while the ship was destroyed, the Fu Family could find the record and learn what had happened at the time. It was an immortal-cultivation version of a "black box."

After writing down Mei Zhongtian's matter, he added a line at the end.

"Metallurgy Daoist: straightforward by nature, worth befriending."

After finishing the sentence, he placed the travel record into a golden case and sealed it away.

"Next, I'll leave it to Third Brother to deal with—hm?"

Seeing Fu Xiangfeng return, Heng Hua frowned.

He once again sent the Heart Ape out of his body and took a look over the water.

Fu Xiangfeng had sealed the cultivation of the five Wei Family members and tossed them onto an uninhabited reef island a hundred li away.

"Third Brother is too merciful. He actually let Wei Family members leave unscathed?"

Heng Hua gently shook his head.

The Wei Family and the Fu Family were bitter enemies. If they were not killed today, they would kill Fu Family members in the future.

Thus, Heng Hua sent Fu Xiangfeng a voice transmission.

Yet Fu Xiangfeng said, "The Wei Family members do deserve to die, but making a move now would cause too much commotion. If the Wei Family retaliates, I'm worried they'll vent their anger on other fellow cultivators and seek revenge on Daoist Mei and the others."

Heng Hua was slightly startled, then fell into deep thought.

Indeed, given the Wei Family's temperament, they could absolutely do such a thing.

Xiang Feng smiled. "You haven't traveled much, so you don't understand worldly affairs. With what I did this time, given Wei Lingzheng's character, he'll definitely go back to seek help or borrow a Wei Family artifact. Then, it will still be me facing him. As for him—I'll take whatever he brings."

The Wei Family had two Great Golden Core Adepts and eleven False Core cultivators. Yet the Fu Family truly did not fear them. Especially now, when the Fu Family intended to join hands with the Yin Family and strike first.

Fu Xiangfeng knew the Wei Family could not send many experts to target him. As for Wei Lingzheng... even if he came several more times, Fu Xiangfeng would not fear him.

"Besides, I suspect there's someone else in the shadows."

When the Heart Ape knocked the five men into the water, Fu Xiangfeng had naturally sensed something strange. He worried that someone was secretly provoking the Fu and Wei Families into a bloody clash, so he exercised restraint and merely threw the five men a hundred li away.

He had also recorded everything with a jade slip. Even if those five were murdered a hundred li away and someone wished to frame him, he had a way to clear his name.

Heng Hua seemed thoughtful and nodded.

The Heart Ape, possessing some traits of an Yin Spirit, was one of his greatest secrets. He did not wish to expose this trump card casually.

But seeing that his Third Brother handled matters without a single leak, he set his mind at ease.

Still, Fu Henghua secretly prepared a safeguard, directing the Heart Ape to infiltrate the place where Wei Lingzheng and the other five were.

A hundred li was somewhat too far. Heng Hua's Heart Ape wavered, nearly having its Divine Sense scatter and return to the main body.

"So a hundred li is the limit for leaving the body?"

Heng Hua steadied his mind and had the Heart Ape use the "Hair-Coiling Curse."

From each of the five unconscious men, a strand of hair was coiled into a swastika-shaped knot, then cut off by the Heart Ape and brought back.

The Hair-Coiling Curse appeared to be merely a spell that allowed cultivators to conveniently tend their hair, but its original form came from curse-and-suppression arts. Hair served as a medium through which blessings and curses could be carried out.

Fu Xiangfeng did not wish to kill them, and Heng Hua naturally would not go against his Third Brother's wishes. But he secretly cut off their hair. If Wei Lingzheng and the others caused trouble in the future, he would use suppression arts to deal with them.

The five swastika knots were hidden beneath the book chest. Heng Hua recalled the exhausted Heart Ape.

After all that trouble, the Heart Ape no longer had the strength to bicker with Heng Hua. It obediently returned to the Eight Trigrams Furnace and lay at the wind vent of the Xun Palace to recuperate.

Fu Xiangfeng said, "Little Six, be more careful when you travel outside. Wei Lingzheng is narrow-minded and vicious. I'm afraid he'll come looking for trouble with you. The cultivation art he practices—"

"The Earth-Spirit Mystic-Elephant Art has twelve levels in total. At the beginning, it has twelve vulnerable gates. Each completed level mends the flaw in one vulnerable gate. I know of him. Years ago, when Eldest Brother was traveling outside, he encountered Wei Lingzheng blocking the entrance to a senior's immortal estate, intending to kill all the rogue cultivators inside. Eldest Brother could not stand by and saved those rogue cultivators."

Fu Xiangfeng picked up, "Relying on his Elephant God Body, impervious to blades and weapons, he wanted to fight Eldest Brother. In the end, Eldest Brother casually sent him flying with three fire talismans."

A smile appeared on his face. "Eldest Brother also told me that he had originally planned to bring me along to cultivate talisman arts."

At the thought of Fu Xuanhe, Fu Henghua's expression darkened.

If Fu Xuanhe were here, with his Eight-Trigram Rune Dragon Art, which of the younger generation would dare offend the Fu Family?

If Fu Xuanhe were here, would the two brothers have to bear such immense pressure?

If Fu Xuanhe were here, would White Elm Hall dare stir up trouble at this time? Would Cypress Sovereign Hall be facing this relocation crisis?

Reining in his thoughts, Heng Hua said flatly, "Right now, Wei Lingzheng has cultivated to the eleventh level, comparable to the True Flame Realm. But he has not yet completed the cultivation of this level, so his two vulnerable gates are at the Mingmen acupoint and the Yongquan acupoint. If Third Brother encounters him in the future, don't waste words. Directly break open those acupoints and cripple his cultivation."

"Alright."

Mentioning the deceased Fu Xuanhe, Fu Xiangfeng also felt miserable. If Eldest Brother were here, why would he alone need to shoulder the burden of their generation?

"It's a pity Fourth Sister and Fifth Brother took masters beyond the region and cannot return to help at all. Little Six has taken the path of a Dharma Performer. As for the rest..."

Reviewing the information on the others in his mind, Xiang Feng let out another long sigh.

Rather than counting on that bunch of little ones, he should work harder himself and form his Golden Core as soon as possible, so he could protect his younger brothers and sisters.

"There's an expert hidden within the Fu Family?"

Lu Xin rapidly fanned the Cloudsoaring Fan several times. "Master Nanguo, did you notice anything?"

"The person in the shadows left no trace. I carefully searched with my Divine Sense just now, yet found nothing. They must be a hidden expert of the Fu Family."

"What cultivation level? Mystic Womb, or like you..."

False Core?

Nanguo Yannian smiled bitterly. "The Fu Family is a lineage passed down for a thousand years. If they truly have a cultivator who has formed a False Core, I can only take you all and hurry away from here."

They had come to discuss cooperation with the Wei Family and Cheng Family. If the Fu Family learned of it, how could they refrain from interfering? Nanguo Yannian was not Qingxi. As a rogue cultivator from the Baiqiang Waters, he did not trust the Fu Family's reputation.

"Not a False Core cultivator of the Fu Family," Qingxi suddenly said. "Before leaving, I specifically reviewed the information on the five great eastern families. The Fu Family has five False Core cultivators in total, and each is currently tied up with other matters. None are here. The only one with leisure is Fu Beidou."

The Beidou Sword Immortal.

Lu Xin and Nanguo Yannian immediately grew solemn.

His sword hung in the heavens, turning the Celestial Pivot; with a single thought, souls were severed and life or death decreed.

Fu Beidou had entered the Dao through the stars of the Northern Dipper and cultivated the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Sword Intent. He could govern life and decree death, unmatched in slaughter. His reputation was not confined to Yanlong; even in the Baiqiang Waters, he was a name that thundered like a bell.

The only pity was that he was merely in the Sword Immortal Realm—and, unfortunately, born into the Fu Family.

"Of course, it is said Fu Beidou is in secluded cultivation at home and has yet to emerge. Besides, he would not abandon those juniors of White Elm Hall and come protect the disciples of Cypress Sovereign Hall."

Lu Xin said, "So the person secretly protecting the Fu Family is merely a Mystic Womb cultivator at Seventh-Layer Foundation Establishment or above?"

Qingxi did not respond.

A Mystic Womb cultivator?

Were the Fu Family's Mystic Womb cultivators so easy to deal with? The man who had defeated him with a single sword strike back then had also been a Mystic Womb cultivator of the Fu Family.

A hundred li away, the cool wind blew gently.

Wei Lingzheng slowly awoke and saw his four unconscious clansmen beside him.

"Not good!"

He hurriedly sprang up and found himself on an uninhabited reef island.

"Fu Xiangfeng!"

Wei Lingzheng gritted his teeth, hurriedly woke his clansmen, and had the five of them each circulate their cultivation to recover their power before leaving in great haste.

"Brother, why are we leaving?"

"Something's wrong. Someone ambushed us just now. And when I caught a fleeting glimpse beneath the water, I saw a Jadeflame Trading House sea vessel hidden among the reefs."

Wei Lingzheng said gravely, "The one who plotted against us just now must have been the Jadeflame Trading House."

"The Jadeflame Trading House? But aren't our two families negotiating that matter?"

"Exactly. That is why they don't want to startle the grass and alert the Fu Family. They merely knocked us into the water, hinting that we should leave quickly."

The Jadeflame Trading House wanted to open up the Yanlong Waters market. If word spread and the other families ruined it, would the clan elders not tear him apart?

"They haven't shown themselves openly, so they presumably do not intend to ruin their negotiations with our family. But they also don't want us to slaughter all the cultivators on the reef island.

"Since that's the case, we'll give the Jadeflame Trading House some face."

There was one thing Wei Lingzheng did not say.

He had heard from the clan that a False Core cultivator had accompanied the Jadeflame Trading House on this journey.

He had no desire to seek trouble before someone like that.

"But Fu Xiangfeng humiliated us like this. Are we just letting it go?"

"Of course not. I remember there's a group of our people five hundred li away. Find them. Once daylight comes, we'll return and reclaim our face—"

Rumble!

An enormous band of white light surged out of the water.

Without a second thought, Wei Lingzheng unleashed the power of the Elephant God and severed the jellyfish's tentacle.

"Quick, fly higher!"

The Yanlong Waters at night were a paradise for water demons and spirits. Cultivators traveling over the waves by night would only become bait for those water demons.

"Strange. Why did that group leave?"

Lu Xin and Qingxi watched the departing Wei Family party.

Qingxi sighed in relief. "It's good that they left. If they stayed and forced us to join them in dealing with the Fu Family and these rogue cultivators, it would become difficult for us to intervene in Yanlong Waters trade later."

Lu Xin said skeptically, "I have heard of the Wei Family's conduct—lawless and unrestrained, ruthless in killing, the greatest 'water bandits' in eastern Yanlong. But would they even interfere with and obstruct a spirit-ship market this tiny? Is that really necessary?"

"They are capable of it. The reason the Fixed-Point Immortal Market could be implemented back then was largely due to the Wei and Cheng Families. The Wei Family sent people to patrol the sea. Whenever anyone conducted trade at Immovable Reef, they would directly crash the market and sweep away the stalls, strictly forbidding rogue cultivators from trading. The Cheng Family was even more sinister. They opened spirit-ship markets themselves, lured fellow cultivators there, then poisoned and killed everyone, destroying the markets' safety.

Young Master, as we move about in the Yanlong Waters, we must guard against these two families."

Listening to Qingxi's explanation, Lu Xin said softly, "You should know that our purpose in coming here is to select an agent from either the Wei Family or Cheng Family, allowing the Jadeflame Trading House's business to flow into the Yanlong Waters."

Qingxi's expression froze, and he fell silent.

Lu Xin looked at the cultivators aboard the ship and suddenly smiled. "Still, I am curious. What exactly are the Fu Family like, that even you, someone who left the Yanlong Waters three hundred years ago, still speak in their favor?"

Qingxi had said so much ill of the Wei and Cheng Families. Lu Xin was not foolish enough to believe all of it.

At most, he believed fifty or sixty percent.

Qingxi said those things merely to remind him that the Wei Family could not be trusted, and that they could consider the Fu Family as their agent.

But the Fu Family had never been within the Jadeflame Trading House's considerations from the start.

However—

Lu Xin looked at the elegant Fu Xiangfeng in the distance, then at Heng Hua appraising items aboard the ship, and fell into thought.

"The Fu Family members are quite capable. If possible, could we bring them back as guards and hired muscle?"

Nanguo Yannian said, "Coiling Dragon Island has been facing some turmoil lately. It is inconvenient for us to intervene, but if Young Master wishes to recruit him as a guard, you can try after Coiling Dragon Island falls."

Coiling Dragon Island.

Fu Danwei slowly opened his eyes and looked at the bright moon hanging high outside.

"I finally deduced it. So it is the remnants of the Demon Palace."

Using the Heto Calculation Canon, thick clouds gathered between his brows.

Good. They actually intended to wipe out my Coiling Dragon Island branch completely?