“I have only occasionally heard of the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline from the president. It seemed to originate from some mysterious, ancient family… that’s all I know,” Lu Xu replied, a little apologetically.

　　“An ancient family? Does Master Lu know where that particular family currently resides?” Shi Mu asked.

　　“I simply have no idea,” Lu Xu replied while shaking his head.

　　“If even the Chamber has no idea then perhaps it’s simply not out of the Cerulean Ocean Star after all, but somewhere else among the stars,” Shi Mu concluded after thinking awhile.

　　“Oh, so it seems Sect Fellow Shi knows about the stars as well. Yes, it seemed plausible,” Xu Lu said, his voice brimming with the realization after the initial shock over Shi Mu’s words.

　　For the rest of the conversation, Shi Mu brought up the topic of Star Fields several times more, but Lu Xu seemed not to have known a lot of them, much to Shi Mu’s disappointment.

　　“This lowly one has bothered Master Xu enough for today, so for now, I’ll take my leave,” Shi Mu stood up, cupping his hands in farewell.

　　He was just about to turn when he heard Lu Xu’s voice behind him, “Sect Fellow Shi, you used to share some sort of ties with the Dark Moon Cult, right? That puts you up there on the hitlist for both the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult and the Heavenly Demon Sect. So please, while you’re in Qu Yang City, do be extra careful, won’t you?”

　　Hearing his words, Shi Mu stopped in his tracks and turned, cupping his hands once more. “I thank you for your concern and advice, Master Xu.”

　　He then put on his bamboo hat before leaving.

　　Watching Shi Mu’s departing figure, Xu Lu muttered to himself, “The president once said that this is no ordinary man. Now, I believe him.”

　　…

　　Once he had exited from the Heavenly Wu Chamber of Commerce, Shi Mu did not remain in the city for long and instead headed towards the eastern exit of the city.

　　He crossed a junction and spotted two men in grey cloaks approaching him.

　　“Brother Shi,” the two of them greeted, taking off their bamboo hats. It was Hou Sai Lei and Yu Yi.

　　Shi Mu had brought the two of them back with him on his Dongzhou Continent return trip.

　　Cai had been with them too. Now that Shi Mu had returned to them, it instantly flew over and perched on his shoulder.

　　“Got any news on Zhong Xiu, Shi Tou?” Cai asked.

　　Shi Mu shook his head, scanning the bustling streets in the distance before saying in a low voice, “Let’s go.”

　　He was already on his way to the gate as soon as he spoke those words. Hou Sai Lei and Yu Yi quickly hastened their pace to follow him.

　　With Hou Sai Lei in the party, the group managed to leave Qu Yang City unmolested thanks to his disguising technique. They managed to get out of the area that fell under the governance of Qu Yang City as they headed east.

　　One day after half a month.

　　Shi Mu and his companions were standing on the crest of a mountain, their eyes set on a sea of undulating mountains.

　　The scenery looked incredibly barren, with very little foliage. Large craters of past mining activities dotted the mountains, all of them abandoned and forgotten.

　　The spiritual energy imbued in the environment was much, much less than it had been several years ago. It was far inferior to the Dongzhou Peninsula.

　　“Blasted Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult—they are nothing but a plague of parasites! They never stop excavating these Spirit Stones, emptying the entire Spiritual Energy Vessels of the Dongzhou Continent… One day, I swear, the entire continent will be nothing but a gigantic wasteland!” Hou Sai Let decried hotly as he looked at the sight.

　　As a proud son of the Xixia Country, he could not contain his indignation and fury at seeing his land being invaded and plundered.

　　Shi Mu peered around the desolate mountains, his mind somehow playing back his own memories of similar sights elsewhere in the Dongzhou Continent ever since he had left the Black Demon Sect.

　　Whether it was the barbarians’ plains or the Lu Shan Kingdom—or now, the Xixia Country—there would always be spirit stone quarries just like these, abandoned after being completely depleted of materials. This was also the main reason why the spiritual energy of the Dongzhou continent’s environment was dwindling at an alarming rate, inadvertently slowing down the cultivation process of the many warriors and magicians across the land.

　　The reason why many of these famous mountains and soaring crests were filled with spiritual energy was because of the Spiritual Energy Vessel lying underneath the layers of crust incubated by the earth for millions of years. If one were to mine these spirit stones in a controlled manner, the spiritual energy may still be replenished. If they were over-harvested, the Vessels would suffer irreversible damage, sealing the fate of that particular land as a wasteland for a very, very long time in the future.

　　What could be the impetus behind the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult’s fervent mining frenzy?

　　Shi Mu shook his head, casting the question out of his mind for the time being as he started towards a particular direction. “Let’s go.”

　　Even if he had the heart to do anything, he had no power to fight against the entire Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult at the moment. He was basically helpless.

　　A few days later, the trio had reached the border of the Xixia country where a small town was situated.

　　It was none other than the town where Shi Mu had first met Hou Sai Lei—White Feng Town.

　　Compared to then, the town seemed to have met its downfall. The number of people in the town had dwindled to less than half of its former population. Even those who remained looked dispirited.

　　Hou Sai Lei’s expression was stormy as soon as he saw what had become of his hometown. “What the hell happened here?”

　　The remaining folks of the town immediately leered at Shi Mu and his companions from afar, their eyes filled with wariness and hostility. None of them even thought to come near.

　　“Who is the town leader?” Hou Sai Lei asked, raising his voice.

　　Murmurs rang out of a nearby crowd, and after a few moments, a man in a grey robe with a long face—both figuratively and literally—approached them from out of the crowd.

　　“Gentlemen, this lowly one is the town mayor with whom you wish to speak. May I ask if there’s anything you require of this humble town, respected gentlemen?” The long-faced middle-aged man spoke very carefully, eyeing them precariously.

　　Shi Mu looked over the man. He seemed to be a magician, but his powers were very obviously weak, to the point that he likely possessed only the ability of an apprentice. Shi Mu seemed to find this man a little bit familiar, as if he had seen him before the last time he was here, but memories of the man’s identity seemed to be a blank.

　　Hou Sai Lei’s eyes twinkled when he looked at the man. Of course he knew of him—the long-faced man was one of the most salubrious youths in White Feng Town. It stung him to see the youth now turning into a tired, downtrodden man now.

　　“I want to know what happened to this town. I came here before, and it was nothing like this. In fact, where are all of the youths of the town?” Hou Sai Lei asked in a low, unhappy tone.

　　He was in disguise back when he had pretended to be this town’s mayor in the past. Now that he was in his original appearance, nobody recognized him.

　　“Are you gentlemen neither from the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult nor the Heavenly Demon Sect?” the long-faced middle-aged man examined the trio more carefully before asking hesitantly.

　　“No. We are travelers who don’t belong to any sect or cult,” Hou Sai Lei replied.

　　The long-faced man breathed a sigh of relief, “I… I see. I suppose there’s no harm answering your inquiries, my respected gentlemen. The youths of this town were all abducted by the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult for forced labor in the mining mountain over fifty miles away from here. Only a few elderly people and children remain.”

　　He sighed again, this time in dejection.

　　“Mining?! Mining for spirit stones again, isn’t it?” Hou Sai Lei raised his eyebrows, his fury slowly showing through his expression as he asked in a low growl.

　　“That is correct,” the long-faced man sighed. “The Xixia country was rampaged by the allied armies of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult and the Heavenly Demon Sect, and while they were at it, they dug up as many spirit stones as they could find in a frenzy. Anyone taken for labour is as good as dead, because they never come back. With most of the youths gone, thr town started to go downhill… And now look at us! We’ve become even worse than when the Dark Moon Cult was governing us.”

　　“That bloody Heaven Immortal Cult again!” Hou Sai Lei was apoplectic.

　　“What can we do? Powerless people like us against those big sects and powerful organizations? The only fate for us is to be trampled, you know.”

　　Anger boiled in Shi Mu’s heart as he listened. Mining was always a life-risking business. The Black Demon Sect had their own quarries, and they did hire a few normal citizens for extraction work, but they were always paid for their work, and very few had actually died in the operation.

　　Yet, judging by the description that those abducted from White Feng City never came home, it was clear that the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult was using these people as slaves.

　　Now that the bystanders knew Shi Mu and his company weren’t people of the cult, they appeared to be much friendlier.

　　Their ears picked up the beat of hooves from a distance, a flurry of sounds as hard as a heavy storm approaching them quickly.

　　“T-they’re here for us again!” The bystanders’ faces turned pale in a second before they scurried home in panic.

　　Outside the town, a few silhouettes approached.

　　“Please, gentlemen, hide now! These are the slaves’ captors from the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult on their usual raid for capable men. They wouldn’t care if you’re not our townspeople—they will make a slave out of you anyway! Quickly, you can hide in this lowly one’s house until they pass,” the long-faced man urged as soon as he saw the silhouettes.

　　“Fine by me. Don’t worry, sir. You go and hide,” Shi Mu replied to the man, masking his own anger with a faint smile.

　　The long-faced man was even more panicky after hearing Shi Mu’s words, but before he could try to persuade his guests, Shi Mu waved, lifting the mayor off his feet with a gentle force before sending him into one of the houses.

　　The figures reached them a few moments later. It was a group of twenty to thirty individuals donning suits of purple armor.

　　Behind them were a few horse-drawn carriages attached to large cages, where people could be seen locked inside. All were young people except for a few muscular middle-aged men

　　One of the men in purple—who had a pouty mouth like a monkey—looked at the trio and his face brightened up immediately.

　　“Hahaha! And here I thought I had milked White Feng Town dry for good… who knew there were three more?”

　　He waved his hand, and a few of the men behind him immediately rode their horses closer, surrounding the trio.

　　“The three of you, get into the bloody carriages on your own like good boys, would you? Don’t be a drag and force my hand,” The man with the pouty-lips hollered, raising his bullwhip menacingly.

　　“Hey, Brother Shi? This White Feng Town is like half of my home to me, you know?” Hou Sai Lei turned to Shi Mu. “Seeing how much it’s been ravaged by these scum is really putting me in a foul mood…”

　　Shi Mu flashed him a faint smile. “Oh, no one’s holding you back from anything. Go ahead, smash something.”

　　Hou Sai Lei was briefly stunned, but he was quickly overcome with great joy as he bowed respectfully to Shi Mu after muttering, “Thank you so much, Brother Shi.”

　　Hearing their exchange, the man with the pouty lips started to yell in a hoarse voice, “What the hell are you two plotting? Don’t you know we represent the authorities of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult?!”

　　Hou Sai Lei sneered. In a flash of grey, a white jade staff appeared in his hand.

　　“It’s a Dark Moon Cultist! They are remaining members of the Dark Moon Cult! Quick, kill them all!” the man with the pouty lips bellowed, his expression changing into pure hostility.

　　The slave captors immediately drew their weapons before rushing at the trio. The man with the pouty lips pulled the reins of his horse, backing away from the fight.

　　Hou Sai Lei muttered some incantations under his breath and waved his staff. In a flash of grey, seven or eight towering skeletons rose from the earth before him.

　　Most of them held large bone swords and spears, with two of them wielding large bows.