Chapter 194: The Three Men with Backgrounds

Inside Yue Ming’s mansion, the atmosphere was somewhat gloomy at the moment.
Yue Ming still had no idea what kind of strength the man named Dao Feng, who was cooperating with him, actually possessed. During their first meeting, although Dao Feng appeared to be at the Yuan Ying stage, Yue Ming never thought he was just a newcomer at that level.
After disappearing for over a hundred days and returning now, the aura around him was somewhat unfathomable to Yue Ming. His original Yuan Ying stage cultivation had vanished, replaced by a powerful aura.
Of course, with Yue Ming’s own cultivation at the Shen Shen stage, he could only detect the cultivation levels of those weaker than himself. How could he sense the cultivation level of the late Tribulation stage emanating from the Illusory Mask?
Although he knew Ye Feng was strong, he still believed that no matter how formidable Ye Feng might be, he couldn’t single-handedly confront three powerful warriors at the late Tribulation stage.
When he heard Ye Feng say he wanted to act according to the rules of Agri Planet, he even doubted he was hearing hallucinations.
Agri Planet had only one rule: the strong ruled. Whether through theft, robbery, killing, or other violent means, whatever came into one’s hands became theirs.
While Yue Ming was still stunned, a familiar voice suddenly came from beside him, “Yue Ming, I want information on those three guardians. I want to know what status they hold in the Alchemy Sect. Give it to me today if possible!”
Hearing these words from Ye Feng, Yue Ming realized Ye Feng might be planning to take action against those three. “Mr. Dao Feng, but…”
“Get me their information, as detailed as possible. As for everything else, don’t worry about it. No matter what happens, act like you don’t know anything! I’ll handle it!” Ye Feng turned his head without expression, cutting off Yue Ming’s attempt to continue speaking. His sharp gaze forced Yue Ming to swallow back the words that were already on the tip of his tongue.
“And give me all the mid-grade spirit crystals from this transaction!”
“By the way, aside from the ten-thousand-year meteor iron, there are no issues with the other transactions. The total amount is 5,500 mid-grade spirit crystals. I’ll take 500, leaving 5,000 for you.” Yue Ming handed Ye Feng a small storage ring containing 5,000 mid-grade spirit crystals.
“5,500? My share should be 550, right? What’s the meaning of keeping 50?” Ye Feng’s originally cold expression finally softened a bit. He probably guessed why Yue Ming did that.

“The Ten-Thousand-Year Meteorite was lost because of my carelessness. Though it was out of necessity, I am still responsible! Consider these fifty spirit crystals as a small punishment for my poor handling of the situation!” Yue Ming hesitated for a moment before finally revealing the reason.

“Alright, I refuse to accept it. If you won’t feel at ease, then I’ll take it!” Ye Feng glanced at Yue Ming and nodded. “I should go now. Give me the information as soon as possible! I’ll wait for you at the inn!”

After saying that, Ye Feng turned and left.

Only Yue Ming remained, watching Ye Feng’s retreating figure with a sense of fear, seeing him go. “He seems even more terrifying now that he’s back…”

As dusk fell, Ye Feng, who was resting with his eyes closed, heard knocking at the door. He immediately jumped up from the bed and reached the door in just one step. By now, he had mastered the skill of instant movement to an extremely high level.

When he opened the door, it was Yue Ming standing there. His arrival at this time clearly meant he had gathered all the information.

“Come in and sit!” Ye Feng nodded at him.

After entering, Yue Ming took out a scroll from his storage ring. “This is the result of our entire day’s efforts, all recorded on this scroll. The information gathered in one day might not be very detailed. If you want to know more, you can contact me; I can spend more time finding the information you need.”

“I’ll take a look first!” Ye Feng carefully examined the content on the scroll.

“Jiang Yuansong, at the late stage of the Tribulation phase, a first-level protector of the Alchemy Sect. He is the senior brother of the current sect leader and grew up in the Alchemy Sect. He belongs to the elder class!” Ye Feng glanced at the picture beside it—it was the old man who had threatened him.

“Lin Peng, at the late stage of the Tribulation phase, a first-level protector of the Alchemy Sect, and the younger brother of the third elder of the Alchemy Sect. The third elder is a Fourth-Tribulation Immortal, whose strength is comparable to those who have just ascended to the immortal realm.” The picture showed the middle-aged man.

“Wei Jie, at the late stage of the Tribulation phase, a first-level protector of the Alchemy Sect, and the son of Wei Yan, the chief elder of the Alchemy Sect. Wei Yan is a Fifth-Tribulation Immortal with immense strength; few in the entire cultivation world dare to ignore him.” This was the young man who had spoken to Ye Feng in a rather rude manner.

There are three levels of protectors in the Alchemy Sect, all of whom are powerful beings at the Tribulation phase. The highest rank is first-level protector, and only those at the late stage of the Tribulation phase can hold this position. There are only about twenty first-level protectors in the entire Alchemy Sect.

After reading it, Ye Feng frowned deeply. He hadn’t expected all three of them to have such backgrounds. Sarcastically, he said, “So the high-ranking members of the Alchemy Sect all got their positions by pulling strings through family ties.”
“That’s not the case!” Yue Ming, who was standing nearby, shook his head upon hearing Ye Feng’s words. “In fact, these three were deliberately placed here by the Alchemy Sect. All three of them have connections with the sect’s highest leadership. They are loyal enough to the Alchemy Sect and have no reason to betray it. That’s why they were entrusted to manage this place.”
“Agrigi Planet, to some extent, is not only a lucrative position but also hides many dark secrets of the Alchemy Sect that are unknown to outsiders. They need trustworthy people to manage this place, and these three have sufficient strength and loyalty, which is why they were sent here.”
“I see…” Ye Feng frowned even more after hearing this. “With such identities, they are indeed something to be wary of…”
After thinking for a while, Ye Feng looked up at Yue Ming. “Under what circumstances do they usually leave the Alchemy Sect’s branch alone?”
“I heard that the Alchemy Sect’s headquarters recently received a large order from the third-largest sect in the cultivation world—the Beast Taming Sect. They are gathering materials from various places to send back to headquarters! However, the specific details are still unclear. But for highly valuable or large quantities of alchemy materials, they send a guardian to escort them. Although no one dares to easily attack the Alchemy Sect’s people, it still serves as a deterrent,” Yue Ming shared what he had heard.
“Good. Then from now on, keep an eye on them and see when a guardian is sent for escort. Notify me immediately once you get any news!” Ye Feng knew that with such identities, he needed to be extremely cautious—any mistake could lead to devastating retaliation.
Ye Feng was well aware of what Fourth Calamity Immortals and Fifth Calamity Immortals meant.
A First Calamity Immortal was stronger than early-stage Mahayana cultivators; a Second Calamity Immortal was stronger than mid-stage Mahayana cultivators. As for a Third Calamity Immortal, if they possessed an immortal weapon, their actual combat strength would be no weaker than that of newly ascended immortals.
And Fourth Calamity Immortals were stronger than early-stage celestial immortals, not to mention Fifth Calamity Immortals.
Ye Feng certainly didn’t want to be hunted by cultivators of such strength.

And if the other party left the Alchemy Sect and went to a deserted place, then carrying out the robbery there would allow him to hide his identity well—no one would know who did it! Even if someone suspected him, he could find ways to create evidence of his alibi.
Thinking of this, Ye Feng’s lips curled slightly. “This is a good chance to test a technique I just learned recently!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Feng’s figure gradually blurred, then split into two, and then into four. This was a new technique from the “Wu Dian” that appeared after he reached the Divided Mind stage—the Clone Technique.
Ye Feng had only learned the first level, which allowed him to create one physical clone and two shadow clones. The physical clone, like Ye Feng himself, had a tangible form and combat power, but its attack power was only 50% of Ye Feng’s own. The shadow clones, on the other hand, could only create visual illusions and had no combat power.
“Well, let’s see if there will be any witnesses proving I wasn’t there!” Wearing the detector, Ye Feng’s smile grew even wider. As expected, the other party had sent a spy to monitor his movements.
Inside the detector, the yellow light dot stood out clearly in that area—it was a strong warrior at the Combined Stage, watching his room from afar outside the inn where he was staying.
Ye Feng didn’t intend to kill this spy; instead, he planned to use him to create evidence of his alibi.
Even without this spy, Ye Feng could use his clones to walk around crowded places, buy something, and have some shop owners witness his presence. But having an outsider as a witness would be far more convincing.
After retracting the Clone Technique, Ye Feng had a thorough plan in place. All he needed now was for Yue Ming to tell him the time and place for this transaction.
The peaceful night passed quickly. In the early morning, Ye Feng stretched and walked over to the window to see if that idiot spying on him was still sitting on the dirty bench outside the inn. But the person was gone.
“Huh, where did he go?” Ye Feng casually put on the detector and found that the guy had checked into the room next to his, holding a communicator and talking to someone on the other end.
“Lord Jiang, I’ve been spying on him for a day with no unusual activity. That scoundrel came by once; I don’t know what they talked about.”

“He should be alone. I haven’t seen the condition of the room yet, as I’m worried I might get detected if I get too close.”
“Okay, I’ll keep watching him. I’ll inform you immediately if anything happens!” After a few brief exchanges, the other party put the communicator back into their storage ring.
At that moment, a fluctuation that seemed somewhat familiar to Ye Feng came from the void. Ye Feng looked over in confusion, and two familiar figures appeared before him, causing the corners of his mouth to lift slightly. “You’re back!”