CHAPTER 1624: CHAPTER 1624: THEFT AND DESTRUCTION

The Taixuan Sect encountered more misfortunes that day than just the destruction of their herb garden.

As evening approached, the Sect Master Duan Yi’s foul mood had barely improved when yet another piece of bad news reached his ear just as he was about to return to the Sect Master Hall for a brief respite.

"Report to the Sect Master, we have lost a large number of Spirit Stones from the Essence Stone Vein near the primeval forest..."

The disciple who came to report this news was well aware of the Sect Master’s foul mood and spoke cautiously, barely daring to breathe.

The Spirit Stone Vein near the primeval forest had been discovered by a Taixuan Sect disciple a thousand years ago by chance. It housed a huge reserve, mostly consisting of King Grade Spirit Stones, with a small number of Royal Grade lower-grade Spirit Stones. It was considered a heavily guarded ground by the sect, monitored day and night by two Elders and four Stewards.

Although there were occasional thefts by restless disciples since its extraction began, these incidents were far from being described as "large-scale."

Therefore, upon hearing the reporting disciple mention "lost a large number of Spirit Stones," Duan Yi instinctively felt something was off, his eyelids twitching rapidly, he raised an eyebrow and asked in a deep voice, "What grades of Spirit Stones were lost, and approximately how many?"

"All... all were Royal Grade Spirit Stones..."

The reporting disciple, not daring to hide anything, replied heavily, "The number is about... a million pieces..."

Duan Yi initially froze, then his breathing became rapid and heavy.

The Royal Grade Spirit Stone reserve of that stone vein was only about ten million pieces, and now to have lost a million pieces was naturally heart-wrenching for Duan Yi!

Even the Supreme Elder of Taixuan Sect, Bao Zhenhai, only required around one hundred thousand Royal Grade Spirit Stones a year for cultivation.

One million Royal Grade Spirit Stones matched what Bao Zhenhai, a Thunder Tribulation stage expert, would need for ten years of arduous cultivation.

Duan Yi, eyes red, strode up to the reporting disciple, grabbed the front of his robe, and hissed in a low voice, "The extraction entrance of the Essence Stone Vein is guarded by two Elders and four Stewards, how can Spirit Stones go missing?"

The reporting disciple, trembling with terror, replied, "Someone... someone opened a hole from another place, infiltrated the Essence Stone Vein, and stole..."

Duan Yi froze again, immediately querying, "Have you found out who did it?"

The reporting disciple shook his head, "We don’t know who did it, but it’s speculated to be a Nascent Soul Realm expert..."

Duan Yi released his grip on the disciple’s robe, muttering to himself, "A mere Nascent Soul Realm expert could steal a million Royal Grade Essence Stones... the people guarding the Essence Stone Vein are a bunch of good-for-nothings! A bunch of good-for-nothings!"

After venting in the Sect Master Hall, Duan Yi, accompanied by the reporting disciple, personally visited the Essence Stone Vein, severely scolded those disciples guarding it, and instructed them to strengthen their defenses before leaving resentfully.

First, a vast area of Spiritual Medicine was stolen and destroyed, then a large number of Royal Grade Spirit Stones were pilfered. These two incidents drove the entire Taixuan Sect into a state of panic, leaving the faces of the sect’s higher-ups shadowed with gloom.

Even though the defenses tightened significantly afterward, nobody expected that the same two incidents would recur late into the next night.

The flower garden was significantly stolen and damaged, while nearly fifty thousand Royal Grade Essence Stones were stolen.

Although the loss this time wasn’t as large as the previous one, it still infuriated Taixuan Sect’s Sect Master Duan Yi, even more so than the first time.

If the first occurrence could be considered an accident, then the second was undoubtedly a form of contempt, a provocation, and a slap in the face.

"The ones stealing our cultivation resources are a Soul Severing Realm Spirit Beast and a Nascent Soul Realm human Martial Artist. From the traces they left at the scene, it appears they haven’t gone far! Mobilize all Taixuan Sect elite disciples and spread them within a radius of ten thousand miles, search carefully! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find out who did it! Once found out, capture or slay them, it doesn’t matter which!"

Immediately, nearly twenty thousand elite disciples of the Taixuan Sect were deployed, conducting a grid search within the vast radius.

Due to these occurrences, the Taixuan Sect had to postpone the plan initially scheduled for two or three days later, where they intended to present two captured women to the Wuya Sect.

For these two women, who happened to possess both beauty and Innate Spiritual Roots, Duan Yi initially had a desire, a longing to claim them as his own. But upon deliberation, he decided to bite the bullet and give them up.

In recent years, Duan Yi had been stuck at Soul Severing Perfection with no signs of advancing to become a Thunder Tribulation expert, so after much contemplation, he decided to gift these two women to Wuya Sect.

It’s rumored that the Supreme Elder of Wuya Sect, who possessed a Thunder Tribulation second-layer cultivation level, favored young and beautiful women, especially those with a Primordial Yin Physique. If it includes women with an Innate Spiritual Root, it would certainly please the Wuya Sect’s Supreme Elder immensely.

By then, Duan Yi felt he could propose some not-so-excessive terms, achieving a mutual benefit exchange with the Wuya Sect’s Supreme Elder.

If he could advance to the Thunder Tribulation stage, it would be ideal.

If not, achieving a Half-Step Thunder Tribulation would still be a significant gain.

However, the string of disastrous events completely disrupted Duan Yi’s plan.

To prevent any mishaps, Duan Yi temporarily placed those two women in his Sect Master Hall, personally overseeing their safety.

While the Taixuan Sect disciples were vexed over the stolen and destroyed Spiritual Medicine and the pilfered Spirit Stones, Wu De and the Lightning Mink met again, hiding in a valley dense with vegetation, taking refuge in a small cave within the valley.

Both Wu De and the Lightning Mink had pestered Fang Bai persistently to learn some secret techniques, including the art of setting up formations.

After crawling into the cave, for safety, they set up several Concealment Formations one after another at the cave entrance, masking the presence of the human and the beast, so much so that several waves of Taixuan Sect disciples searching for the "culprits" passed by their hiding spot without noticing anything amiss.

"Old Taoist Wu, share some Royal Grade Spirit Stones with me!"

"Exchange them for your Spiritual Medicine!"

"Can’t you be less stingy?"

"What’s wrong with being stingy? Exchange it if you want, or don’t!"

"Fine, I’ll exchange! I’ll give ten Superior King Grade Spiritual Medicines for one of your lower-grade Royal Grade Spirit Stones, how about it?"

"Dream on! Twenty for one is more like it!"

...

Wu De and the Lightning Mink spent several days hiding in the cave, during which they argued incessantly over the exchange of cultivation resources, hardly stopping.

After the Taixuan Sect disciples ceased their searches near Taixuan Peak on the third day, expanding the search area wider, Wu De and the Lightning Mink found their opportunity and snuck out once more.

(PS: Apologies for the delay; I was out for a day, so the update was postponed! I’ll catch up when I get the time!)