Chapter 147: News Arrives

"Impossible! Impossible! My Purple Capital Spirit Tree!"

Having hoped to be the oriole that catches the mantis from behind, Bing Yan hid until the Black Prison and the Zhuge family began their fierce battle. He then secretly slipped out from the other side, eager to check on his most cherished Purple Capital Spirit Tree. He had assumed that such a rare and peerless treasure was completely unknown to ordinary people and that nothing untoward could have happened. Little did he know, he would return only to find a massive crater left in its place.

Driven nearly insane with rage, Bing Yan thrashed about frantically on the spot. He had waited hundreds of years! Through vast stretches of time and endless, grueling toil, he had ultimately labored only to make a wedding dress for someone else! His hatred burned so fiercely that not even the waters of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers could wash it clean. He would have to slaughter every last one of these bastards to find even a shred of relief for the fury gnawing at his heart!

With that, he prepared to plunge deep into the underground ley lines and detonate the grand protective mountain array, dragging everyone here down into a fiery grave to accompany his Purple Capital Spirit Tree. Yet, what was the very next thing he saw?

A colossal hand reaching up from the depths of the earth crushed the Black Prison into nothingness in an instant, leaving not even bones behind. Such terrifying might, such an apocalyptic spectacle—not even his own Core Formation cultivation from centuries past could have unleashed it so effortlessly! Surely this could not be the materialized spirit-hand of a Nascent Soul cultivator!

His mind descended into absolute chaos, utterly at a loss. The very next moment, an immense divine sense descended from the heavens, jolting him violently back to reality.

"Run!"

"Run?"

Jiang An lightly leaped upward, ascending directly into the high altitude. A white cloud spontaneously formed beneath his feet, and he flew swiftly toward that direction.

Bing Yan wanted to move, even wishing to drag his enemy down with him in mutual destruction, but the gap in cultivation between him and Jiang An was simply too vast. Held firmly in place by the crushing spiritual pressure, he could only watch as Jiang An descended upon a cloud mere blinks later, stopping right before him.

"Return my Purple Capital Spirit Tree! Give it back!"

With his mortal enemy standing right before him, Bing Yan's fury completely overwhelmed his terror, and he roared at Jiang An.

"You are that divided soul of Bing Yan that managed to escape?" Jiang An asked instead of answering, studying the youth with a look of mild amusement.

"So what if I am? Return my spirit tree to me! Villain! You have stolen the fruits of my countless years of painstaking effort, and I want nothing more than to eat your flesh and drink your blood!" Bing Yan glared with bloodshot eyes, refusing to yield an inch, resembling a wolf poised to devour a human.

Jiang An remained unconcerned. The grievances between them had already reached a point where reconciliation was impossible. He said calmly, "Very well, there is nothing more to say. Jiang will never allow a dangerous individual to remain alive in this world. However, seeing as I am somewhat indebted to you for your Purple Capital Spirit Tree, I shall grant you passage into reincarnation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, amidst Bing Yan's eyes widening in horrified despair, Jiang An gently pressed a palm down upon the crown of Bing Yan's head, extinguishing the last flicker of life in his physical vessel.

Once a person's mortal body perished, their divine soul would normally enter the cycle of reincarnation. But if even the divine soul were utterly obliterated, then truly not even the chance of rebirth would remain.

Bing Yan's body collapsed to the ground. Within Jiang An's spiritual perception, a faint trace of soul essence dissipated into the wind between heaven and earth.

It was over.

Reaching out with a hand, he summoned the storage pouch hanging from the man's waist into his grasp, followed by a fireball spell that reduced the corpse to ashes, leaving no trace behind.

"Wait, this divided soul must have had a purpose in manifesting here, even if his strength was insignificant..."

Murmuring to himself, Jiang An suddenly thought of something. Releasing his divine sense to its fullest extent, his figure flashed and vanished from the spot. Moments later, he reappeared at the underground spiritual veins. Looking at the scene before him, a thought arose in his mind: *As expected.*

This was a vast cavern. Stepping inside, one could see a stone path extending toward the center of the cave, surrounded entirely by bottomless abysses. From beneath the cliffs, countless pale-green specks of light constantly drifted upward before dissolving into the air. Clearly, this was the underground spiritual vein of Mount Divine Medicine.

Yet, right there upon the stone path lay the withered carcass of a massive white crane, utterly drained of blood. Its blood had been utilized by Bing Yan in some vile sacrificial ritual, further corrupting a spiritual vein already steeped in deep resentment from years of living sacrifices. It was like lighting the fuse on a colossal firecracker, primed to detonate at any second.

Listening to the wailing, ghostly winds echoing in his ears, Jiang An could perceive the countless resentful wills of the dead trapped within. They hungered to burst forth from their cage, to destroy everything in existence and make the entire world feel their torment!

Jiang An shook his head slightly and departed from the place.

A quarter of an hour later, inside a grand hall, Jiang An sat in the seat of honor, flanked to his left and right by Zhuge Qian and the Zhuge Ancestor.

"Many thanks, Senior, for bestowing the medicine. My condition has improved significantly."

The Zhuge Ancestor's complexion looked somewhat better than when he had first been injured. He spoke to Jiang An with sincere gratitude, showing not a single trace of presuming upon his seniority, displaying utmost reverence. After all, they had both witnessed Jiang An single-handedly obliterating the Black Prison; that sky-shrouding giant hand had left them shaken to this day, utterly incapable of harboring any thought of defiance.

"Good," Jiang An said with an indifferent expression. "Now, Jiang has serious matters to discuss with the two of you."

"Please speak, Senior. We are all ears!" Zhuge Qian and the ancestor said in unison.

"You two can be considered to have acted as my guardians during this period, and I have witnessed it. However, I also believe that what I gave you is sufficient compensation, so let us consider us even. Now, listen carefully to what I am about to say: by tomorrow night, you must pack up all your belongings and completely evacuate Mount Divine Medicine!"

Hearing this, Zhuge Qian and the Zhuge Ancestor both froze. Subconsciously exchanging glances, they remained silent for a moment. Their micro-expressions clearly revealed how deeply troubled they were by the demand.

"Hmph! Do you take me for someone who tears down the bridge after crossing the river, driving you away simply to monopolize the foundation of Mount Divine Medicine?" Jiang An saw right through their thoughts and let out a cold snort.

The expressions of the two men shifted abruptly, and they hurriedly replied, "We wouldn't dare! Absolutely not, we..."

"Enough! There is no need for explanations. Jiang is telling you to relocate entirely for your own good. Anyone would hesitate to abandon such a massive foundation. But you need to be alive to enjoy any benefits. Let me tell you this: within three days, the spiritual veins beneath Mount Divine Medicine will detonate together with the grand protective array. When that happens, this place will be reduced to fine powder, and not a single blade of grass will remain!"

"Re-really? Such a thing is possible?"

"Do you take Jiang for a liar? Originally, the spiritual veins of Mount Divine Medicine could at best sustain themselves for another twenty years. Now that an enemy has tampered with them and exhausted their vital energy, it has transformed into a powder keg. Anyone sitting atop it will be blasted to smithereens. Of course, if you choose not to believe my words, that is your own affair. Feel free to stay if you wish," Jiang An said coldly.

Zhuge Qian gave an awkward laugh and said, "Senior misunderstands. We were merely startled upon hearing such news. We will definitely carry out Senior's instructions to the letter."

"Consider yourselves sensible! Once you have evacuated, I will employ spells to dissolve the blood-resentment qi within the spiritual veins as much as possible. Even so, that will only prevent them from exploding; the spiritual veins will still be completely ruined, turning this region into a lifeless wasteland where not a single blade of grass grows, incapable of recovering for several hundred or even a thousand years."

"I understand. In any case, many thanks to Senior for this great kindness. We shall obey all of Senior's commands."

"Very well. If there is nothing else, you may withdraw and promptly arrange the evacuation." Jiang An waved his hand, dismissing them.

As Zhuge Qian and the Zhuge Ancestor stood up, Zhuge Qian hesitated for a moment before speaking with utmost caution, "While organizing the archives and documents of Mount Divine Medicine recently, this junior came across a minor piece of intelligence. Perhaps Senior might find it of interest."

"Oh? Let's hear it," Jiang An said, raising an eyebrow.

"It is like this: several months ago, during Senior's battle at Great Solitary Reef, didn't several foreign martial arts grandmasters manage to escape the encirclement? The world generally assumed that Mount Divine Medicine had intervened to assist them. However, based on the intelligence this junior reviewed, it was not us. On the contrary, they themselves have a suspected target: the Dynasty!"

The Dynasty organization? Why was it always these sneaky bastards!

Jiang An's expression remained unchanged as he remarked coldly, "Hmph, mere rats who know nothing of the world except how to stir up trouble from the shadows. Let them be for now, as long as they don't cross my path!"

"In that case, this junior takes his leave!"

Soon, Jiang An was left alone in the grand hall. His finger tapped lightly upon the armrest, his gaze flickering, clearly deep in thought.

"Forget it. I will set other matters aside for now. Once I have dispelled the resentment within the spiritual veins, I might as well make a trip to Ancient Qin Province and see whether that rumored Wucheng Treasury actually exists."

A soft murmur echoed through the room, which then fell into a long, profound silence.

His active decision to neutralize the blood-resentment of the spiritual veins was not out of meddlesomeness or overflowing universal compassion, but rather for the sake of immense merit. Just imagine: if Mount Divine Medicine were to explode, even a vast surrounding territory would not escape unscathed. For Jiang An to step in and avert this catastrophe would constitute a great deed. And great merit carried great karmic weight, effectively making the Will of the Earth "owe him a favor." In the long run, it was unequivocally a profitable venture.

Thinking about it now, it felt somewhat comical. Back in the Immortal World, he had slain countless Arhats and Buddhas; yet now, he was actually utilizing Buddhist techniques to appease malevolent spirits. Truly fascinating...

However, human calculations could never outpace the heavens, and plans could never keep up with sudden changes.

On the second day, the Zhuge family efficiently packed up everything they could carry and evacuated all their personnel. Jiang An proceeded deep into the underground cavern to execute his spells. Everything went smoothly. Just as he emerged from Mount Divine Medicine and prepared to fly directly toward the northeast, Zhuge Qian, who had been lingering outside waiting for him, brought him a piece of news and an item.

"What! You're saying Lin Cheng has been frantically inquiring about my whereabouts in Tianfu Province over the past few days? What has happened?!"