Chapter 45: A Letter from Amber Island

"I am not certain."

Li Qing shook his head slightly.

"It was just three men in black."

Hearing this, the others fell silent.

Since the facts were clear, they would simply report the matter as it was. The specific decision would have to wait for notification from the higher-ups.

"Since Fellow Daoist Li is clear on the situation, we shall not disturb your quiet cultivation any longer. Once there is further notice from above, we will come to inform you."

Li Qing nodded in agreement, then spoke again: "Regarding the task of collecting spirit ores, please report to the superiors, Fellow Daoist Meng. The injuries within my body are too severe; please have the sect dispatch other disciples to collect the spirit ores."

Meng Kan nodded.

Given his current condition, this man certainly could not carry out the mission. When the time came, he only needed to report the facts truthfully; he didn't need to worry about the rest.

"There is one more thing I must trouble you with, Fellow Daoist Meng," Li Qing continued.

"Please, Fellow Daoist Li, speak." Meng Kan looked at Li Qing with a puzzled expression.

"I need a place for quiet cultivation to recover from my injuries, and I do not wish to be disturbed by outsiders. I must trouble you to make the arrangements."

"No problem. I will immediately arrange for several people to stand guard around you to ensure no outsiders enter or leave."

After the conversation, Meng Kan and the others departed in a hurry.

Once they were gone, Li Qing returned to his usual state of calm.

Looking at it now, it all came down to waiting for the sect's attitude toward Jiao Yujian. As long as the sect did not intend to investigate deeply, this matter would be considered closed. As for the deceased Jue Henming, no one would likely ever know.

No matter how foolish Jue Hen might have been, it was impossible for him to reveal his tracks regarding his arrival at White Jade Island. Intentionally severely injuring a fellow sect disciple for personal gain would be a massive liability if discovered by others. After all, the sect officially maintained the regulation that disciples were not to kill one another.

It was estimated that no one besides Wei Xuan would know about Jue Hen's matter. Even if Wei Xuan suspected something, he likely wouldn't say much. After all, Jue Hen was already dead, and he wouldn't want anyone to know that Jue Hen's death was connected to him.

After a period of reflection, Li Qing's mind settled.

Regarding the matter of Wei Xuan, he did not yet have the ability to resolve it. The most pressing priority now was to seize the time to recover his strength.

Li Qing slowly stepped down from the jade bed and walked into the courtyard to look around. This was the courtyard where Jiao Yujian had resided while resting. There were three pavilions of varying sizes within. Per Li Qing's request, all personnel had been evacuated, and a team of mortal guards stood watch at the entrance.

After observing carefully, Li Qing returned to his room with peace of mind.

Sitting cross-legged on the jade bed, Li Qing gave a gentle wave. A Nourishing Essence Pill flew out from his storage bag and landed in his mouth. A faint surge of spiritual power emerged, slowly enveloping and refining the pill.

After a while, Li Qing felt a slight recovery in his spiritual power. Just as he intended to push forward and restore his cultivation in one go—

"Fellow Daoist Li!"

Meng Kan's anxious voice drifted in from outside.

Hearing that urgent voice, Li Qing slowly opened his eyes, a hint of doubt rising in his heart. He had already told Meng Kan that he needed time for quiet recuperation; he didn't know why he was being disturbed now. Hearing the urgency in his voice, Li Qing had no choice but to stand up and walk out.

"Please, come in, Fellow Daoist Meng."

Upon hearing Li Qing's reply, Meng Kan ignored all etiquette and rushed straight in.

"Fellow Daoist Li, it is an emergency! We need to evacuate to the spirit ore caves immediately!" Meng Kan's expression was panicked, his eyes filled with extreme anxiety.

"What is the cause of your urgency, Fellow Daoist Meng?" Li Qing asked, puzzled.

"Fellow Daoist Li, let us not waste time here. We will talk while we move!"

Seeing this, Li Qing knew that something major must have happened.

"Fine, let us depart at once."

With that, Li Qing followed Meng Kan as they walked briskly outside. On the way, to speed up their progress, Meng Kan took the initiative to support Li Qing, even using his spiritual power to accelerate their journey toward the spirit ore caves, fearing they would waste time and encounter danger on the road.

Upon arriving at the spirit ore site, the other three guards were already waiting at the entrance of the cave with solemn expressions. Seeing Li Qing and Meng Kan arrive, the three of them breathed a collective sigh of relief.

In an instant, the four of them exchanged glances and simultaneously produced black iron tokens.

"Rise!"

The four shouted in unison. Their spiritual power immediately surged into the tokens.

*Hum! Hum!*

After a series of light tremors from the tokens, four streaks of cyan light shot out toward the surroundings of the spirit ore site.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

A massive cyan protective shield slowly rose from all sides. This was the "Azure Astral Array," a formation deployed at the spirit ore site on White Jade Island. The Azure Astral Array was a high-grade First-Order formation; when activated at full strength, it was sufficient to withstand an attack from a peak Qi Refinement cultivator.

Seeing the formation rise, the expressions of the four men finally returned to calm.

"What is this?" Li Qing stood there, somewhat bewildered.

As if sensing his confusion, Meng Kan walked over with a face full of sorrow.

"Fellow Daoist Li, things have taken a turn for the worse! After we transmitted the information to Yellow Jade Island, the internal sect official immediately issued a notice ordering us to activate the defensive formations of the spirit ore caves immediately..."

Li Qing's expression grew even more puzzled. "Do you know the reason?"

"The superiors did not specify the exact cause. However, I heard from some Spirit Boat travelers that several spirit ore sites under the sect are simultaneously being besieged by unknown enemies."

A look of terror appeared on Meng Kan's face.

Spirit Boat travelers were those specialized in transporting people via spirit boats; they traveled between various islands and, by comparison, possessed much more information.

At the same time, upon hearing these words, a flash of joy crossed Li Qing's eyes.

Setting aside the reason, the mere occurrence of this event patched up all the loopholes in his previous words. Now, no one would suspect that Jiao Yujian's disappearance had anything to do with him. This bad news was, for Li Qing, a massive piece of good news. This incident had, by chance, become airtight.

"Do you know where the enemy is from?" Li Qing continued to ask.

"I don't know. I heard they are a group of mysterious cultivators who appeared suddenly!"

The men all understood clearly in their hearts: something even more terrifying would likely happen soon.

Yellow Jade Island fell within the sphere of influence of the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect. For an enemy to dare strike several islands simultaneously meant their strength was terrifying and they did not care about the threats from the Thousand Water Spirit Control Sect. Consequently, the enemy most likely originated from one of the other four top-tier sect powers.

More importantly, the confrontation between such top-tier powers would turn into an unimaginable meat grinder, crushing countless low-level cultivators into powder.

After some discussion, the group also discovered a piece of good news. Most of the other besieged islands produced high-value spirit ores. The Warm Jade produced on White Jade Island was not as valuable as other ores; therefore, relatively speaking, they would be safer.

After a few more words of small talk, Li Qing took the initiative to find a room within one of the mine caves to go into seclusion. At a time like this, he had no time for idle chatter. The most important thing was to seize the opportunity to recover his cultivation.