Although he had fled for a brief moment, he suddenly recalled something and gritted his teeth, saying, "If not for those two causing harm to me earlier, how would I have lost an arm? First, I’ll kill them to vent the hatred in my heart!"

Those two were not cultivators, so he performed a spell and immediately calculated their whereabouts. After discerning the direction, he swiftly flew towards that place.

The middle-aged man and Manager Bai had already left long ago, but the sea area was vast, and they hadn’t actually gone far. Before long, he caught up with them. The two of them saw him approaching fiercely, and were shocked, unable to speak a word before a smoke scourge enveloped them, and in an instant, they were ground into a mass of blood and mud.

Gongsun Chang suddenly felt his heart much relieved. He snorted coldly and used an escape skill to head northeast. Three hours later, he returned to Xianluo City.

Looking down from the sky, the city had numerous buildings and palace towers, surrounded by strange flowers and grass, stretching from the mountain foot to the peak. It still reflected the grandeur of its prosperous days. At the summit stood a majestic tower hall, flanked by golden bridge corridors extending into the clouds, resembling two wings soaring, appearing magnificent and spectacular.

Gongsun Chang landed in front of the tower hall, informed the gate-keeping child, and after waiting a while, heard a command from inside summoning him in. Familiar with the place, he entered the hall and knelt, saying, "Disciple Gongsun Chang pays respects to Master."

Sitting on a cushion in the main hall was an old daoist who seemed to be eighty years old, with sparse hair and beard, and features squeezed together. This was the City Lord of Xianluo, Gongsun Xu, who had barely survived a battle with a demon more than ten years ago, but his appearance was damaged. Though he repaired it with spiritual medicine later, he remained unsightly.

As a cultivator, he was actually indifferent to his looks, but as the city lord, his dignity made it hard to meet others. Hence, he hid in the hall for secluded cultivation, rarely going out unless necessary.

Gongsun Xu looked at him weakly and said, "Why are you missing an arm?"

Gongsun Chang dared not conceal the reason and explained it. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

After listening, Gongsun Xu pondered and asked, "Did you see clearly that Daoist Zhang had three Dharma Clouds above his head?"

Gongsun Chang affirmed, "Disciple wouldn’t have mistaken."

Gongsun Xu gestured to him, saying, "Show me that paper."

Gongsun Chang hurriedly unfolded the paper and offered it, and Gongsun Xu took it, glanced over it, and showed a perplexed expression. Some items were herbs, some were gold and jade, some were spirit monster inner cores, and some he had never heard of, leaving him unable to discern their purpose.

The items listed on the paper were all medicines for refining the White Moon Ying Fruit, but Zhang Yan deliberately omitted a few crucial ingredients and added some seemingly plausible yet incorrect ones, making it impossible to identify.

Gongsun Chang cautiously asked, "Does Master want to see them?"

Gongsun Xu angrily said, "See what? With me in this state, going out would be embarrassing. Whatever they want, just give it to them and send them away as soon as possible."

As they were speaking, a white-clothed monk entered the hall, his robe clean and dust-free. He sat down unreservedly and smiled, "Who is Master and Junior Brother intending to send away?"

Gongsun Xu replied peevishly, "Why aren’t you accompanying the envoy? Why are you coming here instead?"

The white-clothed monk nonchalantly said, "What does the lost treasure from the mountain gate have to do with disciple? Even if found, there’s no benefit for me,"

He glanced at Gongsun Chang and asked, "What’s wrong with Junior Brother? Why have you lost an arm?"

Gongsun Chang bitterly smiled and recounted the events, finally expressing resentment, "It was those two thieves that caused me misery, otherwise I wouldn’t be in this situation."

The white-clothed monk showed some interest and asked, "Junior Brother, did you say the prohibition boat was over a thousand zhang long?"

Gongsun Chang nodded and replied, "Indeed."

The white-clothed monk secretly marveled, thinking that a boat with such prohibitions would require a massive Earth Fire Sky Furnace for refining, indicating the owner isn’t simple.

He thought, "Master once said, to go to that place, it’s best to have a few high-cultivation individuals who have no roots or ties. This group seems fitting."

Thinking of this, he said to Gongsun Chang, "Junior Brother is the most skilled in drawing in our sect. Having seen those four, could you draw their appearance for me to see? If well-drawn, I’ll restore your arm."

Gongsun Chang trembled with surprise and joy, asking, "Really?"

The white-clothed monk answered, "When have I ever joked about such matters?"

Gongsun Chang took out paper and pen, lifted the brush, and in a single breath created a drawing, pushed it forward, and said, "There you go."

The white-clothed monk picked it up and saw the depiction of two women, their delicate beauty vividly portrayed, as lifelike as real, and couldn’t help but exclaim with admiration, "This drawing is a treasure, Junior Brother has excellent skill."

Gongsun Chang ignored him and, after focusing for a moment, breathed out slowly, making a few strokes to sketch Zhang Boyant’s appearance.

The white-clothed monk approached, took a few glances, and saw an old man surrounded by demonic qi, his eyes seeming ready to devour people, feeling a chill over his body, he put the drawing down immediately, nodded, and asked, "That’s not bad, what about the other one?"

Yet this time, Gongsun Chang picked up the brush and put it down several times, finally his eyes brightened, the pen’s tip suddenly fell, but after hovering on the paper for a moment, he tossed the pen aside, pointed at it, and asked, "Is Senior Brother satisfied?"

The white-clothed monk leaned over, saw the picture only depicted a back silhouette, but at a glance, felt a majestic Daoist standing tall, inspiring admiration as if gazing up at a towering mountain, his breath catching for a moment, then praised, "Good, very well drawn!"

He carefully stored all four drawings, then took his leave to handle matters, energetically walked to the outer hall, and handed them to a waiting servant, saying, "Deliver these to Sixth Brother, tell him these individuals are of great use to me. If they go to our Great Chu Kingdom, treat them well, if neglected, I’ll hold him accountable."

...

...(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)