Feng Jun and his group first arrived at the Yiyao Plate to collect his auction proceeds—strictly speaking, he hadn’t actually sold for that many Spirit Stones, only a bit more than twenty Superior Spirit Stones.

Front foot he took the Spirit Stones, back foot someone rushed over in pursuit, but unfortunately, he had already left with his people.

The one who came chasing was a Nascent Soul Third Layer, with two Nascent Soul Initial Stage cultivators following behind him.

This person frowned slightly. "Divine the trail—where did they go?"

A Nascent Soul Second Layer formed a hand seal and performed a round of divination, then spoke with some difficulty, "Why do I feel like... this is Xuanshui Sect’s causal line?"

His divination skill was quite outstanding, and the next instant he jolted in alarm. "Not good... who’s prying on us?"

"So it’s someone from the Chess Sect," a Nascent Soul Middle Phase walked out from not far away, staring coldly at the three of them. "You actually dare to tail an honored guest of my Taixu... tell me, who gave you that kind of courage?"

"Greetings, True Immortal Jing Quan," the leading Nascent Soul Third Layer cupped his hands. "Artifact Refining Path’s Wu Si pays his respects."

"Artifact Refining Path..." True Immortal Jing Quan regarded him thoughtfully, staring for quite a while before speaking in a deep voice, "Give me a reason!"

He was qualified to speak like this. Yiyao was one of Taixu Sect’s six major plates, an absolutely important core territory of the sect; outsiders staking out this place—and picking Taixu’s own auction house to do it—was simply far too presumptuous.

True Immortal Wu Si answered quite straightforwardly, "Void Material. I’m hoping to obtain more Void Material from him."

True Immortal Jing Quan’s brows knit slightly; he was not so easily fooled. "You could have contacted him directly. The three words ’White Pebble Beach’ you should have already heard by now. Why not go there directly? Is this... because you think Taixu is easy to push around?"

"I don’t dare go," True Immortal Wu Si let out a faint sigh. "That was originally a lower realm poor in Spiritual Energy, and yet he has plenty of experts at his side... it’s said he kills True Immortals without batting an eye and has a terrible temper."

True Immortal Jing Quan had only recently started paying attention to Feng Jun; before that, he didn’t care about the auras of those fellow Daoists who were merely at the holding-Dan stage, but this time Master Yuan’s formation of a Nascent Soul had taken everyone by surprise.

Before condensing his Nascent Soul, Master Yuan had been extremely low-key, but after he did so, he had to give everyone an explanation as to why, given his age and muddleheadedness, he could still successfully form a Nascent Soul—had he perhaps embezzled some sect treasure?

Previously he had been quietly making a fortune on the Hot Spring Plate, and everyone had been turning a blind eye, but now that he’d formed a Nascent Soul, it was only natural that some people would make an issue out of his "greed."

Master Yuan, however, was ruthless enough and directly sold Feng Jun out, saying, "I asked Mountain Master Feng to do a bit of divination for me and obtained a complete Nascent Soul plan—if you don’t believe it, go take a look at True Immortal Wu Xiu; he’s still at White Pebble Beach right now."

As for the details of the divination, he said it was really inconvenient to disclose them. To reduce trouble, he even added, "Moran also did a divination."

Because of Tiegu’s death, Feng Jun still had a bit of influence among High-Rank Practitioners on the Tianqin Plane. After hearing Master Yuan’s words and making some inquiries, everyone was shocked to discover that besides Moran’s seclusion, Kunhao actually had a female cultivator who had also formed a Nascent Soul!

And what was the relationship between that female cultivator and Feng Jun? For this sort of thing, asking around casually was enough to find out.

Once Jing Quan learned this news, he was extremely tempted, because his beloved disciple was also nearly seven hundred years old and stuck at Golden Core Peak; he had long been looking for an opportunity to help his disciple form a Nascent Soul.

Originally, he’d planned to ask Yi Jue to help put in a word; the two of them had enjoyed a decent friendship within Taixu Sect.

But after Yi Jue executed Elder Tiegu, she returned to the Lingzhi Path and immediately declared seclusion—no one found this strange; after killing Elder Tiegu, using Thought of Dao, and then entering the Void, it would’ve been bizarre not to go into seclusion for recovery.

Jing Quan had also inquired about Feng Jun, even going out of his way to find the newly-advanced Master Yuan Nascent Soul to ask about the situation.

To keep everyone from fixating on him, Master Yuan’s description of Feng Jun was rather exaggerated. According to his story, although Feng Jun was a true expert at divination, he was extremely hard to deal with and had nearly come to blows with True Immortal Wu Xiu several times.

The key point was that he also admitted Feng Jun was formidable. According to Liu Xingyu, this man had killed more than one True Immortal.

After hearing that, Jing Quan completely gave up on the idea of going to Feng Jun of his own accord.

He knew his own situation well. As much as he wanted to help his disciple seize this opportunity, he was himself a long-established True Immortal and couldn’t possibly humble himself too much when asking for help—he might be able to lower his stance before Yi Jue, but before an Initial Golden Core Stage? That was really impossible.

So he could only wait for Yi Jue to come out of seclusion and ask her to speak on his behalf, or else first do something for Feng Jun before opening his mouth.

Jing Quan decided to proceed on both fronts, and then he began analyzing how he could be of help to Feng Jun.

After analyzing for quite a while, he realized the auctions in Yiyao Main City might be an opening—there was a good chance someone would set their sights on Feng Jun.

This kind of behavior might be somewhat dangerous, but for the sake of a damaged True Treasure, any amount of risk was worth taking.

On the contrary, True Immortal Jing Quan wasn’t interested in the Speculator at all—the key was that he knew very well that thing was absolutely not something he had any right to covet. Even if he somehow managed to get it from Feng Jun, how was he supposed to face Yi Jue afterward?

Only the virtuous are qualified to possess a treasure; he understood this perfectly. Those Loose Cultivators outside the Seven Sects and Eighteen Paths, however, usually lacked that kind of self-awareness—you people don’t even stop to think: someone as formidable as Lingzhi Sect Elder Tiegu obtained the Speculator, and he still doesn’t dare make a sound about it, does he?

Now that he discovered someone was tailing Feng Jun, he naturally had to step forward and question them. The name "Artifact Refining Path" wouldn’t actually make him lower his guard—if you want to scheme against Feng Jun, hiding behind some banner is the most normal thing to do, isn’t it?

So True Immortal Jing Quan spoke in a deep voice, "And now, you dare to track Mountain Master Feng?"

"I originally wanted to talk to him on Taixu’s territory," True Immortal Wu Si answered just as bluntly. "Borrow Taixu’s grounds a little. He should more or less give some face. Unfortunately, he left too quickly. By the time we rushed over, we were already a step too late."

There was nothing wrong with this statement, but Jing Quan let out a cold laugh. "Heh, ’borrow’... then why didn’t you inform my Taixu Sect? Or is the name of Taixu just there for you to freeload on?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Daoist Jing Quan, saying that makes you a bit unreasonable," True Immortal Wu Si replied sternly; he was somewhat displeased as well.

He was an Artifact Refiner of the Artifact Refining Path. Normally who knew how many people begged him for favors; he had his own temper too. "I want to obtain Void Material. When has Taixu Sect not wanted the same... under those circumstances, would it really be appropriate for me to take the initiative to report in?"

"Heh," True Immortal Jing Quan sneered again. He was someone who saw things very clearly. "Looks like you’re quite certain you can get more Void Materials out of Mountain Master Feng. I’m very curious... who gave you that confidence?"

By the time he finished the last question, his tone had already turned a bit sinister—at the end of the day, you still intend to make a move on Feng Jun.

True Immortal Wu Si was momentarily at a loss for words. Did he, subjectively, harbor any intention to coerce Feng Jun? He honestly did not. With Feng Jun and Yi Jue both riding the crest of the wave right now, he wouldn’t dare entertain such thoughts.

But objectively speaking, did he or did he not? That was much harder to say. If he merely wanted to ask for Void Materials, and would be fine with getting them or not getting them, he could have simply gone to White Pebble Beach and asked Feng Jun directly.

Lurking here in Yiyao Main City like this clearly meant there were still some ideas in his mind—something along the lines of pestering him endlessly and begging bitterly.

That sort of tactic didn’t count as truly excessive, but Feng Jun had already sold quite a bit of Void Material. What made you think he still had any left? Or rather, what qualifications did you have to make him reenter the Void on your behalf and acquire more materials?

If something like that happened at White Pebble Beach, there was a very real chance Feng Jun would fly into a rage and directly kill the three of them on the spot.

As for more heavy-handed means, True Immortal Wu Si hadn’t actually used any yet, so it was hard to say if he would or wouldn’t. But True Immortal Jing Quan was a man who understood life well; he believed the other party definitely had some backup plan prepared.

Faced with this kind of suspicion, True Immortal Wu Si really couldn’t say much. He could only sigh. "We’re just three Nascent Soul Initial Stage cultivators. Mountain Master Feng still has True Immortal Cang Jing and True Immortal Qing Ji by his side. You don’t actually think we could do anything to him, do you?"

"True Immortal Cang Jing?" True Immortal Jing Quan was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized something. "You three stay here. If you dare leave, don’t blame me for issuing a Taixu Order to have you arrested."

With that said, his figure flickered and he vanished.

True Immortal Wu Si spoke with a bitter expression, "So it’s gotten to the point... even Taixu Sect is going to protect him this much?"

"That’s why I said ages ago that going to his door directly would’ve been better," the Nascent Soul cultivator in charge of divination sighed. "You just had to insist on a ’chance encounter’... with a reputation like his, you really think it’s easy to take advantage of that guy?"

"What do you mean, ’take advantage’?" True Immortal Wu Si countered carelessly. "You’re not an Artifact Refiner; you don’t understand how precious some materials are. They get bought and sold by people who don’t know what they’re doing and end up shoved into a warehouse, gathering dust at the bottom of some chest... that’s waste!"

"Only when a material is used can it actually count as a material. I just want to seize the opportunity to buy a bit more. Is that wrong? It’s not like I plan on forcing a sale. I only intend to buy as much as possible under acceptable conditions. Is that not allowed?"

Before long, True Immortal Jing Quan’s figure flashed back into view. He spoke in a low voice, "I’ve already asked where they are. Let’s go together."

He said "go together," and True Immortal Wu Si’s group of three actually wanted to refuse—was that even possible?

So everyone headed toward the Transmission Array. Jing Quan, confident in his strength and on his own turf, didn’t pay the three Nascent Soul Initial Stage cultivators much mind at all.

After several transfers through the array, they arrived on a plate blanketed in endless ice and snow. Jing Quan spoke in a deep voice, "This is my Taixu Sect’s Ice Plate. I just asked the disciples posted here—Feng Jun came to the Xuanshui Sect Branch on this plate."

The three of them were a bit confused when they heard this. "Xuanshui Sect has... a branch on Taixu Sect’s territory?"

The people of the Artifact Refining Path were very clear on where mines and such were located, but when it came to power distribution, they weren’t that sensitive—they cared about artifacts, not people.

Jing Quan couldn’t be bothered to explain further, but inwardly he believed them a bit more. Their reactions really were quite like people from the Artifact Refining Path. His figure flickered and he shot straight toward another Transmission Array not far from the first.

"Feng Jun’s movements are extremely hard to track. Hurry up and follow me. Where do you find the time for so much pointless chatter?"