The Spirit Mine in the Mountains
Sang Ying quickly flipped through the Jade Slip and found that there were at least fifty missing persons listed on it.
So many people have gone missing, and the City Lord's Mansion still hasn't figured out the reason. No wonder they're so indifferent to Chen Liu's matter; after all, they have a huge problem to deal with.
"Just like the cases of those mortals I found out, most of them are unattached and have no power or influence." As she spoke, Sang Ying's gaze fell on one of the names.
"Wen Heyu, Golden Core Realm, cultivator of the Ten Thousand Daos Born."
Seeing that she grasped the key point at a glance, Jimo Qing couldn't help but smile, "You've noticed too, this person is the only exception."
He was the only Golden Core Realm cultivator among the missing cultivators; the others were only at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage at most. Moreover, he was a cultivator of Ten Thousand Daos Born, making him stand out among the group of Rogue Cultivator without any sect or faction.
Sang Ying instantly understood Jimo Qing's meaning. "Was this person kidnapped by accident?" She was now certain that these people had been kidnapped.
Jimo Qing nodded and explained, "I heard that he was friends with one of the Rogue Cultivator on the list, and the two had arranged to go wine tasting together before they disappeared. But the people from the City Lord's Mansion inquired about the restaurant they had agreed to go to, and neither of them showed up that day."
So, those people had their eyes on this Rogue Cultivator, but they didn't expect Wen Heyu to suddenly intervene and take him away as well.
"To be able to subdue a Golden Core cultivator so quietly, the other party must be quite capable," Sang Ying couldn't help but sigh.
This was also what troubled Jimo Qing. He was forced to take on this troublesome matter as soon as he returned, and after a closer look, he felt even more troubled.
Seeing Jimo Qing's furrowed brows, Sang Ying pursed her lips and asked, "I wonder if you've found any clues, brother?"
"I did find some information." He tossed a register of those who had entered the city to Sang Ying. "Four months ago, a few unfamiliar Rogue Cultivator entered Rizhao City. They seemed normal on the surface, but they always seemed to frequent areas where Rogue Cultivator gathered."
"Furthermore, someone saw them walking with that Rogue Cultivator who knew Wen Heyu before Wen Heyu disappeared."
These people are now moving around the city perfectly fine, as if they have been completely unaffected.
Wen Heyu had made a promise to drink with the Rogue Cultivator, has disappeared, while the others who had traveled with Rogue Cultivator are completely unharmed, which is truly puzzling.
"There should be more evidence than just this, right?" Sang Ying felt that these things alone shouldn't be enough to make Jimo Qing suspect those people.
He smiled upon hearing this, "You're right. A few days ago, I discovered that one of them secretly concealed his identity and went to our Jimo Household's auction house to sell a high-level Law Artifact. And the original owner of that Law Artifact was Wen Heyu."
The fact that this person was able to obtain Wen Heyu's Law Artifact means that even if he wasn't the one who kidnapped Wen Heyu, he at least witnessed the scene of Wen Heyu's abduction. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that he managed to obtain Wen Heyu's belongings?
"However, these people are quite powerful and act very cautiously. I finally managed to find their weakness, so I don't dare to make a move against them until I find them." Jimo Qing said helplessly. They had already informed Ten Thousand Daos Born about Wen Heyu's disappearance.
The people in that sect were naturally protective of their own, and Wen Heyu was a junior whom one of their elders doted on.
Now that the other party's whereabouts are unknown, Ten Thousand Daos Born immediately sent people to Rizhao City. Perhaps in a few days, there will be another guest in this mansion.
"Actually, there's something else I wanted to say to you today, brother," Sang Ying said carefully.
Jimo Qing subconsciously looked over and saw Sang Ying take out a piece of paper with a formation drawn on it and spread it on his table.
The intricate array patterns on the blueprints gave him a sense of familiarity.
"After discovering that Chen Liu's disappearance was somewhat suspicious, I cast another Method Formula. The tracking butterfly eventually landed near the Tuyao Flower in Myriad Phenomena Mountain, so I lifted up the flower sea." Sang Ying was a little embarrassed when she said the last half of the sentence.
After all, that sea of flowers is one of the most spectacular sights in Myriad Phenomena Mountain.
Seeing her embarrassment, Jimo Qing immediately laughed and said, "It's alright if you've already lifted it, it's not a big deal. But what's the deal with this formation?"
"This is the array I saw after lifting the Tuyao Flower. I don't know who carved it onto the mountain with their Spiritual Qi. I noticed that the Spiritual Qi in the array flows smoothly, and it seems to have been running continuously for many years."
Upon hearing this, Jimo Qing's expression instantly turned serious.
If what Sang Ying said is true, then the Spiritual Qi required to support this formation for so many years must be considerable; ordinary Spirit Stone simply cannot power such a massive formation.
The only possibility is...
A thought suddenly popped into Jimo Qing's mind: he suddenly remembered where he had seen this formation before.
"Little sister, let's not talk about this now, come with me to see our parents!" He didn't know where to begin explaining to Sang Ying, so he could only take her to see the head of the family and his wife.
Perhaps it was the serious expression on Jimo Qing's face that gave the servants a sense of urgency, as the two of them met the Jimo Household head without any trouble, and Fu Yinqiu happened to be with the family head as well.
Jimo Qing entered, he presented the array diagram drawn by Sang Ying to the two of them.
"Father, look what my little sister found on Myriad Phenomena Mountain!" Jimo Qing emphasized the three words "Myriad Phenomena Mountain".
Upon seeing the array diagram, unlike Jimo Qing who was slow to realize it, the Jimo Household head immediately recognized it. "This is Spirit-Locking Formation created by our ancestors!"
The "ancestors" mentioned by the head of the Jimo Household are naturally the old head of the family who left behind his last words.
He looked up at Sang Ying, trying hard to suppress his excitement, and hurriedly asked, "Sang Ying, where did you just say you found this formation?!"
Seeing their strange expressions, Sang Ying immediately explained her findings in detail, even telling the three of them about the flow of Spiritual Qi within the formation.
After listening, the head of the Jimo Household closed his eyes briefly to compose himself before saying, "I never imagined that our ancestors would actually leave us a treasure. It's just a pity that the Jimo Household wasn't the first to discover it!"
Seeing Sang Ying's confused look, Jimo Qing took the opportunity to explain the matter of their ancestors' dying words to her, and then said, "As the name suggests, this Spirit-Locking Formation is meant to lock in the leaking Spiritual Qi so that it cannot be detected by outsiders. But as you can see, this Spirit-Locking Formation is made of Spiritual Qi, and it requires a large amount of Spiritual Qi to maintain for hundreds of years, which is something that Spirit Crystal simply cannot do."
Sang Ying's eyes lit up. "So, there's a high chance there's a Spirit Stone mine beneath that Tuyao Flower!"
Yes, only Spirit Stone mine could make such a massive formation operate for so long.
Because so much time had passed, the Spirit-Locking Formation beneath was slowly showing signs of revealing itself. Someone passing by discovered this secret and wanted to monopolize the Spirit Stone mine that originally belonged to the Jimo Household.
In order to conceal the Spirit-Locking Formation and to one day completely eradicate the Jimo Household to prevent future troubles, they planted Tuyao Flower on the Spirit-Locking Formation.
On the one hand, this was used to absorb the Spiritual Qi leaking out of the Spirit-Locking Formation; on the other hand, it was also a way to secretly sow the seeds of disaster for the Jimo Household.
Jimo Hong probably already knew about this!