Infiltration

Chapter 88 Infiltration

Xu Hao hid among the dense foliage, his heartbeat slowed to a crawl.

In the past three days, he changed six different infiltration points, thoroughly understanding these Chenhuang prodigies.

Tianheng Sect led the way, followed by five other sects: Qingshan, Xiangyun, Baihua, Jinliu, and Baiqiao.

These six factions appear to be on good terms, but in reality, they are deeply divided and harbor many grievances behind the scenes.

The phrase "harvesting rights" is what this group talks about the most.

The midday sun was scorching, and several disciples of the Hundred Flowers Sect were taking a break in the shade of a tree.

He listlessly tossed the newly dug medicinal herb in his hand.

"How boring." A round-faced disciple shoveled some water into his mouth. "We can't even find a decent spirit beast in this Cloud Hidden Realm. All we do all day is dig in the dirt. They treat us like laborers."

"Stop complaining." The tall, thin man next to him glanced at him sideways. "You know the rules of the Six Sects Grand Competition. We Yi Jin Realm cultivators can't even touch the competition platform. We should be grateful we managed to sneak in to gather herbs. Besides, whoever takes out the most spiritual herbs will have the harvesting rights on the Tianqing Continent for the next twenty years. Don't you think that if our sect had been sent, we could have gotten even more benefits?"

The round-faced disciple curled his lip. "Tianqing is depleted of spiritual energy, a godforsaken place. What's there to rob?"

"Don't look down on them." The tall, thin man sneered. "Although the spiritual energy is a bit scarce, we do have some specialties. Ever heard of Blood Fiend Crystals? They're highly sought-after in our Chenhuang. That old bastard Luo Tianheng has been tyrannical in Tianqing Shengzhou for sixty years; he must have amassed quite a few good things. If it were one of our people—"

In the evening, at the temporary lodging of the Tianheng Sect disciples, Luo Tianheng, the former leader of the righteous path in Shengzhou, was hunched over, holding a wooden basin, and smiling broadly as he handed water to several Yi Jin Realm disciples to wash their faces, his actions humble to the core.

At the edge of the camp, the Zhao brothers, Jie and En, who were in charge of guarding the blood packs from Shengzhou, had just finished their shift and were squatting under a tree eating dry rations.

Looking at Luo Tianheng's servile manner, Zhao Jie couldn't help but lower his voice, "Brother, the more I look at him, the more puzzled I become."

"This Luo Tianheng is at least a mid-stage Tongqiao Realm cultivator. Even if he were just a free-range outer sect disciple, he could easily become a steward back in the main sect. How come he acts like a dog in front of us Yijin Realm disciples?"

Zhao En scoffed, spitting out the grass root in his mouth. "The Qi Opening Realm? Who told you that?"

"Isn't that what everyone in Shengzhou says?" Zhao Jie was stunned.

"Hey, if he's at the Opening Acupoints Realm, then I'm a terrestrial immortal." Zhao En leaned closer. "This old guy is at most at the peak of the Tendon Changing Realm. He's been stuck in the mud pit of Tianqing for sixty years and hasn't even opened a single innate acupoint. What a waste."

Zhao Jie's eyes widened. "Impossible! When we first met the day before yesterday, his imposing presence and aura made my legs go weak!"

"A sham." Zhao En said with a look of disdain, "The Golden Flow Sect's advanced concealment technique, combined with the Hundred Skills Sect's power-gathering array plate that can instantly boost strength, has maxed out all aspects of his abilities. It might fool some country bumpkin in Tianqing who's never seen the world. Without the array plate, if we really fought, I could smash this old man's bones to pieces with one punch."

Zhao Jie clicked his tongue in astonishment. "How could the Golden Flow Sect and the Hundred Craftsmen bear to part with them?"

"You have to give up something to gain something," Zhao En patted the storage bag at his waist. "This Cloud Hidden Realm is our Tianheng Sect's territory, but if we want to create a Blood Qi Pool across realms, Tianqing needs impressive arrays and array plates, which would cost a fortune in spirit stones. The sect elders are unwilling to spend the money, so they simply brought in the other five sects, using the name of the Six Sects Grand Competition to get them to contribute manpower and resources. This way, they not only gathered the herbs but also secured the harvesting rights."

Zhao En paused, then glanced disdainfully at Luo Tianheng in the distance. "Luo Tianheng is just the lead actor responsible for pimping on the other side. If he didn't act tough, how could he have lured all these fat sheep from Shengzhou in to be used as fertilizer?"

Hearing this from the treetop, Xu Hao almost burst out laughing.

After all that, it turns out that the supposedly powerful leader of the righteous sects in Shengzhou was actually a charlatan who relied on his equipment to impress everyone.

The group of Chenhuang prodigies below, who were constantly consuming blood packs, indeed possessed exquisite cultivation techniques, and their array formations could withstand the self-destruction of those at the Inner Strength Realm.

Judging from their tone of voice, these people have been living on medicine since childhood and have never experienced real life-or-death battles.

Flowers grown in a greenhouse, no matter how sharp their thorns, are nothing more than a bunch of chicks that haven't been weaned when they actually bleed.

Xu Hao silently slid down the tree trunk, and in a few leaps, he returned to the Zhenyuan ship in the thick fog on the lake.

On the deck, Luo Meng was dozing off with his arms crossed, Ni Hou was picking his nails with a dagger out of boredom, and Chen Yuanzhi was sitting cross-legged at the bow, breathing deeply with his eyes closed.

Upon seeing Xu Hao return, the three immediately surrounded him.

"Boss, what's going on outside?" Luo Meng asked in a low voice.

Xu Hao took the water pouch handed to him by Chen Yuanzhi, took a sip, and then summarized the key points of the information he had gathered.

There was a moment of deathly silence on the deck.

"Damn it!" Mud Monkey slapped his thigh, his eyes wide with shock. "That old bastard Luo Tianheng is a fraud? Yi Jin Realm? Bah! If I'd known he was a coward, I should have sprayed his face with Bone-Melting Poison Smoke back at sea!"

Luo Meng shoved the mud monkey aside. "Shut up, Boss. So, this secret realm is full of brats at the Yi Jin Realm? What are we hiding for? Let's just fight and steal all the treasures!"

Chen Yuanzhi shook his head. "Old Luo, we can't be careless. Although these people have never seen blood, their cultivation techniques are well-established, and they have an endless supply of array plates and magical treasures. As the leader just said, when they form a battle formation, they can even withstand the self-destruction of Xian Tieshou and Dian Shesun. If we really have to fight them head-on, even if we win, we'll be badly injured."

Xu Hao casually tossed the water pouch to the mud monkey, his fingertips stroking the hilt of the Sea Devouring Blade at his waist.

"The second brother is right, it's easy to break your teeth if you try to bite hard. Since these delicate and pampered young talents like to treat us as prey, then let's teach them what real hunting is like."

"What does the boss mean?" Chen Yuanzhi's eyes lit up.

"Divide and conquer." Xu Hao's tone was calm, yet it revealed an undisguised killing intent. "Aren't they fighting over harvesting rights and going off to dig for herbs separately? Let them dig. Once they've dug, we'll harvest them. I've figured out these past few days that each of those six sects has their own agenda, and there are quite a few shady dealings going on behind the scenes. Any lone teams we see, we'll kill them one by one."

Luo grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth, and his large hands clenched together, making a cracking sound.

Mud Monkey rubbed his hands together excitedly, "Boss, these pampered soldiers are definitely rolling in money. This time, we'll rip their underwear off!"

That evening, in the lower deck of the Zhenyuan, Chen Yuanzhi was fiddling with a bunch of bottles and jars, the pungent smell making Mud Monkey sneeze repeatedly.

"Second Master, what the hell did you put here?" Mud Monkey covered his nose and hid behind him.

"The gallbladder of the human-faced bone fish, with a little bit of the root of the poisonous ginseng to enhance its medicinal properties." Chen Yuanzhi handed a few dusty bamboo tubes to Xu Hao. Boss, just one sip of this stuff will cause the qi and blood of a Yi Jin Realm cultivator to stagnate for half an incense stick's time. However, it has little effect on those in the Inner Strength Realm.

"That's enough." Xu Hao took the bamboo tube and put it in his pocket.