Chapter 299: Returning to the Arctic Sea

“Elder Brother, the leader, please calm down for now. This isn’t solely your fault; the other two of us also share responsibility. The disaster that befalls our sect must be faced and borne by all of us together,” Hongyun the Ancestor said soothingly.

“Thank you, younger brother,” replied Haotian the Ancestor, nodding slowly. Hongyun’s words indeed eased his concerns greatly.

With the Spirit Elixir Treasury stolen, such a grave fault could not be shouldered by him alone, even as the sect leader. If his three younger brothers and sisters refused to share the blame, he might even lose his position as leader. After all, the many rules of the Spirit Medicine Mountain, passed down for over 30,000 years, were not just for show.

Chenxu and Yuanyue expressed similar views, believing it to be a problem of the entire sect and that no one should bear the blame alone. They were willing to work together with the leader to minimize losses and restore the sect’s reputation.

Next, Hongyun the Ancestor continued, “Besides the strange ability to infiltrate the treasury, there’s another thing that puzzles me greatly.”

The other three ancestors listened quietly, actually already guessing what he meant.

“That mysterious person clearly managed to enter the Spirit Elixir Treasury and had every chance to take all the elixirs. Why did he only take three thousand bottles?”

Hongyun continued, “If he was only interested in top-tier tenth-grade elixirs, then why did he take a thousand ninth-grade elixirs as well, leaving seven thousand ninth-grade elixirs behind?”

“Yes, his behavior is extremely strange,” analyzed Yuanyue the Ancestor. “It seems he set a rule for himself—to take only exactly three thousand bottles, no more. Under this constraint, he could only choose the highest-grade elixirs.”

“A rule?” Haotian the Ancestor shook his head with a wry smile. “This person clearly holds deep resentment toward our sect. How could he care about any rules?”

“But his decision to take only three thousand bottles is truly hard to explain,” Yuanyue the Ancestor frowned.

“Yes, no matter how you look at it, it’s unexplainable,” agreed Chenxu the Ancestor, shaking his head repeatedly.

After much thought, the four ancestors couldn’t possibly associate it with the Spirit Grass Dolls. After all, those Spirit Grass Dolls were among the oldest and most meritorious beings in the sect. They led peaceful lives, with pure hearts, and had no other demands or desires beyond taking care of the spirit herb gardens. No one would believe they would collude with outsiders to steal the sect’s elixirs.

“Alright, for now, let’s consider him a strange individual with peculiar behavior and unconventional thoughts.”

Elder Haotian made the final decision: “The top priority is to find this person as soon as possible, retrieve the spiritual pills, and make up for the losses… There are so many spiritual pills—one person surely can’t consume them all. If they weren’t handed over to their sect, they would have been taken to various places for sale…”
“Order!”
“All members of the Secret Hall shall set out immediately to the major markets in the Qi Yuan Star’s cultivation realm to investigate all suspicious activities. If anyone is found selling spiritual pills of grade nine or higher from our sect, report it right away without delay!”
“Order!”
“Our informants embedded in various sects must do their utmost to find out if anyone has recently handed over large quantities of pills to their sect…”
One order after another was issued. Within a day, tens of thousands of teleportation beams left the entrance of Lingyao Mountain, each taking on its own task, launching a massive investigation.
Undoubtedly, once the identity of the pill thief was uncovered, Lingyao Mountain, a superpower in the cultivation realm, would spare no effort to take extreme revenge on this person and their sect…
…
It took over twenty hours for Su Che to fly 300,000 miles nonstop.
Just a few thousand miles more, and he would reach the Arctic Sea.
During the final few thousand miles, Su Che had to slow down significantly, as he had entered the territory of Taiyi Sect. The faster he moved, the more likely he was to attract unnecessary trouble.
Along the way, he encountered three patrol teams from Taiyi Sect. The strongest among them was only at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment phase, clearly not daring to provoke Su Che, who was at the mid-stage of the Golden Pill phase as a freelance cultivator.
It was said that the seven major sects of the Chaotic Camp were also arresting passing cultivators, so Su Che didn’t take it lightly and remained highly vigilant.
“If all else fails, I’ll capture a Golden Pill elder from Taiyi Sect and use their identity to make things easier in this area.”
Having already passed through the critical areas of Lingyao Mountain, Su Che had great confidence in his top-notch disguise skills.
At first, things went well—he flew all the way to the sea without encountering any high-ranking cultivators from Taiyi Sect. But just a few dozen miles into the sea, two teleportation beams appeared ahead—two Golden Pill cultivators from Taiyi Sect.
“Esteemed fellow cultivator, please stop for a moment!”
Seeing that Su Che was a mid-stage Golden Pill freelance cultivator, the two spoke to him in a polite tone.
“Greeting you, two fellow cultivators from Taiyi Sect,” Su Che replied with even greater courtesy.
“The Arctic Sea is part of our sect’s territory. What brings you here?” one of them asked.

“I plan to go to Aurora Island to buy some local specialties, such as thousand-year blood chalcedony, Arctic jellyfish, and ten-thousand-year black turtle shells,” Su Che said with a smile.
As he spoke, the two Golden Core elders from the Taiyi Sect were also secretly observing Su Che, seemingly trying to discern the fluctuations of his spiritual energy and other characteristics.
“It’s unfortunate for you to come at this time. The Arctic Sea is currently closed off and does not allow visitors from outside,” one of them said loudly. “If you venture more than five hundred li into it without permission, you will be regarded as an enemy of our sect, and we’ll have no choice but to invite you to visit us. It’s not too late for you to turn around and leave now.”
“A closed sea area?”
Su Che frowned slightly and asked, “Why is such a vast sea like the Arctic Sea closed? What happened?”
While asking, he was also worried: Could it be that the original owner of Aurora Island, the True Man Huaguang, had been captured by the Taiyi Sect, his soul taken, and the mystery of his wealth revealed?
Back then, the True Man Huaguang had said he still had over a decade left to live. Only three years had passed, so he should still be alive. If he was reluctant to leave the Arctic Sea, it was possible he had been captured by the Taiyi Sect.
“What happened is a secret of our sect and not something you should ask about,” the other person said as a warning. “If you still refuse to leave within ten days, we will have reason to suspect you have ulterior motives. Out of duty, we may have to take action against you.”
“The Taiyi Sect is becoming increasingly domineering,” Su Che thought coldly. “It’s true that the Arctic Sea falls under their jurisdiction, but I’ve never heard of them sealing off an area and restricting access like this.”
In that case, there was no need to say more.
Su Che nodded with a smile. “Alright. I can find what I need in other seas, so I won’t cause trouble to your sect. Goodbye!”
With that, he turned and walked away.
But less than three zhang after flying off, he suddenly turned back and smiled.
While others’ smiles are full of charm, Su Che’s sent not tenderness but two soul-stripping blue beams of light.
At the early stage of the Golden Core realm, those elders were nothing in Su Che’s eyes. Just two pulses of those soul-stripping beams were enough to knock them unconscious.
Su Che drew a perfect arc in midair, turned back, and swept past. With two quick gestures, as if plucking flowers, he sent those two Golden Core elders plummeting into the Immortal Prison.
Su Che estimated that if he reached the advanced stage of the Golden Core realm, a single pulse of those soul-stripping beams would be enough to snatch the soul and take the life of an ordinary person at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

An extraordinary early-stage Golden Core cultivation level, or perhaps possessing soul-subduing magic artifacts or spells… Su Che captured these two merely to figure out why the Taiyi Sect had sealed off the Arctic Sea. This matter was extremely important; without a clear understanding, he couldn’t act rashly. Pop! Su Che dived underwater to hide. In the Immortal Prison, Lao He woke the two people he had just captured and immediately began interrogating them. Soon, the answer was revealed. “Master, they sealed off the Arctic Sea not because they knew about the vast wealth, but to capture Master Huaguang.” Lao He reported in detail, “During the three years after Aurora Island was occupied by the Taiyi Sect, Master Huaguang used his speed from the Aurora Flash technique and his thorough knowledge of the Arctic Sea to fight back against the Taiyi Sect with all his might, killing over a hundred of their members. Most of them were cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, with only three early-stage Golden Core elders losing their lives to him.” Su Che nodded inwardly. “Although Master Huaguang was at the mid-stage Golden Core cultivation level, he was still just a lone cultivator. It was already very difficult for him to surprise and kill a single early-stage Golden Core elder from the Taiyi Sect. Faced with the cooperation of those two just now, he could only end up fleeing in defeat.” Lao He continued, “On Aurora Island, there was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who used to be Master Huaguang’s trusted subordinate. Three months ago, in order to compete with others for a top-grade spiritual weapon awarded by the Taiyi Sect, he secretly reported to them that Master Huaguang hid a world-shattering secret.” Su Che’s heart stirred. Of course, he knew that the so-called secret referred to the vast wealth. Although he already knew the Taiyi Sect still didn’t know where the wealth was hidden in the Arctic Sea, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. If the Taiyi Sect found out, he wouldn’t stand a chance on their territory… “The informant didn’t know that the secret was related to the wealth, but having served Master Huaguang for decades, he knew a little about it. Master Huaguang had devoted his entire life to that secret, so it must be something significant.” While interrogating those two Golden Core elders, Lao He also reported to Su Che through telepathy, “Half a month ago, someone discovered Master Huaguang’s whereabouts. The Taiyi Sect sent a late-stage Golden Core elder who seriously injured him, but Master Huaguang still managed to escape using the Aurora Flash technique. So, the Taiyi Sect sealed off the sea area and sent many people to hunt down Master Huaguang everywhere.” “Not bad, he still hasn’t been caught…”

Su Che was secretly relieved and could also guess that True Master Huaguang was no longer afraid of death; even if he had no way out, he would rather choose to commit suicide than be captured alive by the Taiyi Sect. For now, the mystery of the giant fortune remained a secret between him and True Master Huaguang.