Huaxiu Alliance had been a little busy recently; after Dark Ancestor’s skull was stolen, tens of thousands of Immortal Art Mobile Squadron teams were secretly dispatched all over the country to try and find any trace of Nightmare, and every cultivation police station was on high alert.

　　If the loss of Dark Ancestor’s skull was exposed, Huaxiu Alliance would lose all face.

　　In addition, the large-scale battle on Nine Dragon Mountain was launched under Huaxiu Alliance’s official banner. It was in fact an anniversary celebration of the country’s founding, but no one expected Dark Ancestor’s skull to go missing at this time.

　　And the most important point was that Xie Sanxiao was defeated on Nine Dragon Mountain…

　　Because of this, President Qi wasn’t able to rest easy these days; he was a little worried that there would be a repeat of what happened back then…

　　It was still Monday, November 10th.

　　That afternoon, President Qi was waiting for a very important guest in the meeting room on the top floor of the Huaxiu Alliance building. An old man dressed in ragged clothes was led into the meeting room by a pretty and composed secretary. He had white hair, was unshaven, and wore a rough linen shirt; anyone who saw him wouldn’t be able to help scoffing at this old country bumpkin.

　　But President Qi was extremely reverent toward this person.

　　He was one of the grand Ten Generals of Huaxiu nation! The Wisdom Saint who was revered in top place! When he saw the old man arrive, President Qi couldn’t help stepping forward to grasp the other party’s hands. “Shizun!”

　　That was right, this old man was none other than the teacher who had guided President Qi on the cultivation path step by step. At the same time, he had another identity: Chief Protector of Huaxiu’s heavenly veins.

　　This was a secret position unknown to outsiders. Each heavenly vein inside Huaxiu nation was guarded by an Itinerant Immortal day and night to prevent criminals from plundering this spirit vein resource.

　　And the current Chief Protector of the heavenly veins in Huaxiu nation was this unassuming, shabbily dressed old man: Huang Feng, or Old Man Huang.

　　Protecting the heavenly veins was exhausting work.

　　As Chief Protector, Old Man Huang naturally took this mission very seriously. The heavenly veins were all located in harsh, rural environments. No matter how bright and beautifully dressed you were, you would look like a beggar after living in a place like that for a while.

　　It was a tough job, but Old Man Huang had stuck to it for thousands of years.

　　There was no need to explain how precious underground spirit veins were, especially heavenly veins. These were non-renewable resources. If someone dug them up and plundered them, it would affect the very foundation of Huaxiu nation.

　　A country’s fate was tied to the heavenly veins – as Chief Protector, Old Man Huang knew better than anyone else how important they were.

　　“Teacher, would you like to rest for a bit…”

　　“You got me to come over in a hurry, but now you want me to take a bath first?” Old Man Huang was clearly a laid-back person. He didn’t care at all how shabbily dressed he was as he pulled a chair out to sit down.

　　For a moment, in front of his old teacher, President Qi didn’t know where to begin.

　　Old Man Huang laughed. “Dark Ancestor’s skull was stolen – is that what you were going to tell me?”

　　“Teacher, how did you know?” There was surprise on President Qi’s face; this was a highly classified matter.

　　“There are more Immortal Arts Mobile Squadron teams out and about. Coupled with the fact that those kids are about to have a large-scale battle on Nine Dragon Mountain, I wondered whether this might have something to do with the mountain. Naturally, the first thing I thought of was that legendary Dark Ancestor who shook the whole world back then.”

　　Old Man Huang said, “So many Immortal Art Mobile Squadron teams were deployed at the same time, so I guessed that they might be searching for something. But I still wasn’t sure what it was, until I saw you.”

　　“Teacher’s predictions are so accurate – this student admires you.” President Qi bowed with his hands in front of him.

　　The reason why he had invited Old Man Huang here was naturally to ascertain the truth; Old Man Huang’s spirit root was a legendary special root which had a mystical psychic ability; the moment he saw President Qi, he had instantly seen the image of a bone in his mind.

　　He immediately knew that Dark Ancestor’s skull was missing.

　　“If it isn’t because we’re desperate, this disciple absolutely wouldn’t have dared to bother you.”

　　“Alright, enough with the chit chat.”

　　Old Man Huang waved his hand. “Come, tell me the whole story in detail.”

　　President Qi nodded his head and used telepathy to instantly transmit everything that had happened to Old Man Huang’s mind.

　　Old Man Huang’s gaze flickered. “Nightmare… This guy is still alive? There’s actually a strange person who can help bring the dead back to life.”

　　“Teacher, can you find Nightmare’s whereabouts?”

　　“I”ll try.” Old Man Huang took a deep breath. As he focused, a great haze enveloped his mind.

　　After a few minutes, Old Man Huang opened his eyes, his head drenched with sweat, and he couldn’t help the utterly astonished expression on his face. “Strange…”

　　“What happened, Teacher? Is something wrong?”

　　“Nothing like this has ever happened in my psychic dreams before.”

　　Old Man Huang said, “Usually, when I try to conjure up something, I can roughly make out its shape even if I can’t see it clearly. Combined with an analysis of the actual situation, I can usually find some clues in the end. This time, however, all I saw was a dense fog in my spirit ocean – I couldn’t even make out an outline.”

　　“Then…” President Qi asked, “Teacher, what do you think?”

　　“We must not look down on the strength of the person behind the scenes… I’m afraid he’s more powerful than I am… If this person intends to resurrect Dark Ancestor, it’s likely that Dark Ancestor is nothing more than his pawn. The other party probably plans to borrow Dark Ancestor’s power to achieve something, but what on earth could it be…”

　　Old Man Huang murmured to himself.

　　But his words were a trigger.

　　Just a few seconds later, this master and disciple pair instantly thought of something. Their expressions were alarmed, and almost all their hair stood up.

　　“The main vein!” the two men uttered in unison.

　　The other party’s plan to bring Dark Ancestor back to life was definitely aimed at the main vein! The person behind the scenes wanted to copy Dark Ancestor from back then — by using the natural resonance which the Ancient Divine Clan had with the underground spirit veins, he wanted to absorb all the underground spirit veins via the main vein!

　　When that happened, the earth would be sucked dry of spirit qi and beyond saving!

　　“This is a serious matter; we must stop Dark Ancestor before that happens.” Old Man Huang said solemnly, “Since there is no one on Earth who is Dark Ancestor’s match, we must gather all the experts and suppress him together! We must take down Dark Ancestor! This person is too deranged — if he’s resurrected, it’ll be mass murder!”