The Peach Miasma Mountains lay north of Qingyuan Ward. The undulating mountain range stretched like a prostrate giant dragon, enveloped in a dark-red peach miasma as if cloaked beneath a shroud of crimson light.
The peach miasma here had accumulated over countless years and possessed mind-bewitching potency. Anyone who entered and inhaled the miasma would gradually lose their mind, ultimately becoming ensnared within it and unable to break free.
Furthermore, the peach miasma could obstruct perception. Even if a Divine Ability Master barged in, their primordial energy perception would be severely restricted to an extremely short range.
For this reason, the Peach Mountain Bandits had established their lair here and operated for many years, relying on the terrain to evade numerous encirclement campaigns from surrounding ward cities.
By the time Lu Ming, led by Lu Jin, reached the Peach Miasma Mountains, three shichen had already passed.
“Are these the Peach Miasma Mountains? The peach miasma is actually this dense?”
The two landed atop a small hill outside the mountain range. Lu Ming looked toward the mountains ahead. Dawn was breaking, and the world was growing bright, allowing him to clearly see the thick, dark-red peach miasma churning relentlessly like rolling waves across the endless mountains.
“In the Peach Miasma Mountains, a large number of ‘Soul-Bewitching Peach Trees’ grow,” Lu Jin said. “Whenever these trees bear fruit, the peaches release wisps of soul-bewitching peach miasma. Accumulated over the years, the miasma condensed and refused to disperse, turning this place into a perilous ground that everyone shuns today.”
Lu Jin also gazed at the Peach Miasma Mountains. He then channeled his primordial energy, connecting with the primordial energy of heaven and earth to form a sensory field that extended into the mountains. Soon, however, he reined it back in and said helplessly, “The moment my primordial energy perception touches this peach miasma, it can barely spread.”
“I imagine that to treat this peach miasma as nothing, one would probably need an Eerie Spirit Master to step forward.”
A so-called Eerie Spirit Master naturally referred to the final realm of a Divine Ability Master: the Eerie Spirit Realm.
“Give it a try with your Golden Pupils,” Lu Jin said. “If that doesn't work, we'll have no choice but to head back and find another way to deal with this menace later.”
Lu Ming nodded. With a thought, golden light gathered in his eyes, turning his pupils golden.
As the Golden Pupils manifested, Lu Ming immediately saw that the dark-red peach miasma, which had previously obstructed sight and perception, began to rapidly thin out, until it completely vanished from his field of vision.
Lu Ming couldn't help but chuckle. Who could have imagined that an ability obtained from the golden-eyed spirit fish would produce such a delightful effect in the Peach Miasma Mountains?
“It works?” Hearing Lu Ming's laughter, Lu Jin's tense expression relaxed as well, and a smile surfaced on his weathered face.
Lu Ming nodded vigorously.
“I can see very clearly! Grandfather, it seems today is truly the day Guo Kui meets his end.”
Lu Ming was thrilled. Only by pulling up Guo Kui by the roots could they sleep in peace.
Lu Jin burst into hearty laughter as well. Feeling thoroughly relieved, he ruffled Lu Ming's hair and praised, “You little rascal really are the lucky star of our Lu family.”
These words truly came from the bottom of Lu Jin's heart. Ever since Lu Ming awakened his Divine Ability Bone, good news had constantly arrived for the family. Taking this bloody battle as an example: had Lu Ming not treated Lu Jin first, purging his internal injuries and restoring his condition, Lu Jin's cautious nature would never have allowed him to stake everything to actively leave the city and battle these notorious Peach Mountain Bandits.
“Let's go into the mountains and pull them up by the roots!”
Lu Jin grabbed Lu Ming's shoulder once more. His Divine Ability Feather Robe whipped up thunderfire primordial energy, carrying Lu Ming in low-altitude flight directly into the Peach Miasma Mountains.
Dense peach miasma surged toward them, swallowing their figures. Before they had flown very far, Lu Jin felt himself losing all sense of direction. He hurriedly lowered their altitude and clicked his tongue. “This peach miasma truly is sinister.”
“A-Ming, which way?”
Golden light flashed in Lu Ming's eyes as he pointed in a direction. “This way. Over there, a massive mountain blocks the path.”
Hearing this, Lu Jin immediately unfurled his Divine Ability Feather Robe and tore through the air toward the direction Lu Ming pointed out. At the same time, thunderfire primordial energy spread from his feather robe, forming a protective barrier that sheltered Lu Ming within it.
Over the next stretch, the two searched and paused intermittently across the vast Peach Miasma Mountains, looking for the lair of the Peach Mountain Bandits.
Lu Jin had been spun entirely in circles, completely losing his sense of direction. Had Lu Ming not been guiding the way, he would have been tempted to flee the mountain range altogether.
Fortunately, after one shichen, good news came.
“Found it!”
Lu Ming's delighted exclamation gave Lu Jin's spirits a sudden jolt. Raising his gaze, he flew forward for several minutes in the direction Lu Ming pointed. Then, to his pleasant surprise, he saw that halfway up a massive mountain ahead, where dense peach miasma gathered, an enormous light barrier had appeared.
That was a Divine Ability Restriction that kept the peach miasma from flowing inside. Within the light barrier, the outline of an estate was visible.
Inside the estate were numerous buildings, with human silhouettes faintly visible moving about.
Clearly, this had to be the lair hidden deep within the Peach Miasma Mountains by the Peach Mountain Bandits!
Lu Jin smiled, though intense murderous intent seeped through his grin. Spreading his thunderfire feather robe, he carried Lu Ming stealthily toward the estate and set him down in a safe spot.
“Stay here and don't move,” Lu Jin reminded him. “Once I've cleaned things up, I'll signal you.”
There were still some Peach Mountain Bandits inside this estate. Though they were of little concern, there was no need to let Lu Ming take any risks.
Lu Ming nodded. “Be careful, Grandfather.”
“Don't worry. I can already sense Guo Kui's primordial energy fluctuations. That fellow fled for his life the whole way, repeatedly using secret techniques that consume essence-blood and vitality. He is thoroughly exhausted right now,” Lu Jin said with a smile.
“Leave the rest to your grandfather.”
Leaving those words behind, Lu Jin first skimmed forward at low altitude. Only after he was far from Lu Ming's hiding spot did he suddenly erupt with a thunderous roar, surging killing intent soaring into the sky.
“Guo Kui, did you really think you could escape?!”
Boom!
Lu Jin seemed to transform into a thunderfire meteorite, violently smashing through the Divine Ability Restriction that kept out the miasmic poison and plunging straight into the mountain manor.
This Divine Ability Restriction possessed no defensive strength; it merely kept out the miasmic poison. Thus, Lu Jin crushed it effortlessly. As the Divine Ability Restriction shattered, the miasmic poison that had been blocked outside for years surged inside like an overwhelming deluge.
The entire manor fell into immediate chaos.
“Lu Jin, that old bastard—how could he possibly have tracked me here?!”
Inside a secret chamber, Guo Kui was just about to recuperate when Lu Jin barged into the manor. Scared out of his wits, his eyes filled with disbelief. Never could he have imagined that Lu Jin would breach the peach miasma and find this place.
In this moment, with his final trump card stripped away, Guo Kui truly felt impending doom.
He dared not hesitate in the slightest. Immediately spurring what little primordial energy he had left, he unfurled his Divine Ability Feather Robe to wrap around his battered body. Transforming into a streak of bloody light, he darted stealthily toward the rear of the manor.
Boom!
Yet no sooner had he rushed out of the secret chamber than the booming roar of thunder rang out above his head. In the next instant, a thick bolt of lightning descended from the heavens and struck his body squarely.
“Ahhh!”
Guo Kui shrieked in agony as blood sprayed wildly from his mouth. His body, already pushed to its utmost limit, could hold together no longer. The Divine Ability Feather Robe around him disintegrated, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
“Wait!” Guo Kui hurriedly shouted.
But what answered him was wave after wave of exceedingly violent thunderfire primordial energy.
Boom! Boom!
In just a few breaths, Guo Kui was blasted into a lump of blackened charcoal. Drawing his dying breaths, he no longer possessed even a shred of strength to resist.
Only then did Lu Jin show himself. Ignoring Guo Kui for the moment, he first exited the manor, found Lu Ming, brought him to his side, and returned to the manor together.
“Whoa, this piece of charcoal is the chief of the Peach Mountain Bandits?” Looking at the blackened, humanoid charcoal before him, Lu Ming couldn't resist teasing with a chuckle.
The “charcoal” struggled to open his eyes. Glancing at Lu Ming, a raspy voice emerged: “Tell me... how did you pass through the peach miasma?”
“Then you have to tell me first: who ordered you to target our Thunderfire Hall? Fan Li said it wasn't Lin Changkong?” Lu Ming asked.
Guo Kui fell silent for several breaths before abruptly letting out a grating laugh filled with thick mockery.
“He was right. Lin Changkong truly wasn't the mastermind. On the contrary, I took the initiative to seek him out, collaborate with him, and have him provide intelligence.”
Lu Jin and Lu Ming exchanged glances, both quite surprised. It really wasn't Lin Changkong?!
“Then who ordered you?” Lu Jin asked in a low voice.
Guo Kui's laughter grew increasingly grating. Finally, he spoke at a sluggish pace.
“You would never guess.”
“The one who offered me terms I couldn't refuse, and demanded that I bring down and slaughter Thunderfire Hall to the last man, isn't Lin Changkong. It's the direct disciple you, Lu Jin, once doted on the most...”
“Zhang Yue.”
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