Chapter Thirteen: Siege

“Brother Qu Yi, how did this senior, Yuwen Tianlan, appear?”
After fighting off the group of adventurers who came to ‘avenge’ themselves, Longhu Wei looked at Yuwen Tianlan and asked in confusion.
Just earlier, Qu Yi had called out to Yuwen Tianlan to kill people, and everyone was puzzled about what was going on.
Especially Xiang Qing, Xiang Xing, and Xiang Zhong—upon seeing Yuwen Tianlan appear with his six-star Earth Soul Demon-level cultivation, they immediately felt that they would never be able to break free from Qu Yi’s control and would always be suppressed by him. Thus, they became even more curious about Yuwen Tianlan.
After killing the people, Yuwen Tianlan stood alone in the distance, head held high, exuding an air of a lone expert.
Jin Zun, Mu Zun, and Tu Zun simply smiled faintly without saying much.
Seeing that everyone else was staring at him, Qu Yi smiled lightly and said, “This is my secret. Don’t ask further. You’ll understand later.”
Unable to reveal the secret of the Dimension Ball, Qu Yi could only hint at it, leaving them even more confused.
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuwen Tianlan suddenly disappeared, having entered the Dimension Ball.
“Ah… Yuwen Tianlan disappeared again,” the crowd exclaimed in surprise.
Qu Yi waved his hand and smiled lightly, “Everyone, stop being curious. Let’s keep moving and see if we can encounter the Renwoxiao Thief Gang.”
With puzzled expressions, everyone followed Qu Yi, continuing to walk through this area of stone branches.
※※※
Nearly a thousand adventurer groups and hundreds of thousands of adventurers had all entered the Valley of Mysterious Sounds.
These groups arrived at the third layer of the valley and began a thorough search for the Renwoxiao Thief Gang.
In the middle layer formed by stone branches, there was a team composed entirely of those with Earth Soul Demon cultivation, numbering just over a hundred.
This team had reached deep into the stone branch area, seemingly looking to choose a place for collective cultivation.
The mysterious sounds of the valley could trouble cultivators but also help them stimulate their potential and gain an opportunity for enlightenment.
If any adventurers were here, they would surely realize that this team was the Renwoxiao Thief Gang that all the groups were searching for.
At that moment, the Renwoxiao Thief Gang was pretending to be an adventurer group, wandering around this area in search of a place for cultivation. Their leader, Ya Wubian, kept suppressing the fluctuations of his demonic energy, appearing to be just a five-star Earth Soul Immortal cultivator walking among his members.

Deep within the stone tree canopy region, there was a place filled with extremely tall stone trees, along with numerous stone tree branches and leaves, forming a vast area. Most importantly, the faint sounds there were very stable, resonating at a consistent frequency.

A hundred members of the Renwoxiao Thief Gang arrived here, discovered its wonders, and then stopped.

“Everyone, stop and get ready to cultivate,” suddenly shouted Ya Wu Bian, who was disguised as an ordinary member.

With that voice, Ya Wu Bian’s aura changed—he grew taller abruptly, his stern face filled with murderous intent as he calmly scanned the surroundings.

The members of the Renwoxiao Thief Gang immediately took action, each choosing a spot to sit down.

Once everyone was seated, Ya Wu Bian took out a red-glowing stone from his space ring, its surface covered with many honeycomb-like holes.

“Good. Once we obtain this Hongzhong Stone, we can use the faint sounds for cultivation. This time, the entire Renwoxiao Thief Gang is gathering here, hoping to use this opportunity to raise everyone’s cultivation level by one tier,” Ya Wu Bian said calmly.

It turned out that the Renwoxiao Thief Gang had taken the risk of coming to the Valley of Faint Sounds precisely because of the Hongzhong Stone. This stone could transform faint sounds into soul sounds, keeping the cultivator’s soul flower in an excited state, thus allowing them to quickly sense the mysteries of speed and possibly comprehend a new speed technique, thereby breaking through in cultivation.

Each member of the Renwoxiao Thief Gang showed signs of joy.

Soon, Ya Wu Bian placed the Hongzhong Stone in the center and sat down as well.

Buzzing…

The faint sounds continued unabated, very stable.

Whenever the sounds came, the Hongzhong Stone would glow red once and emit a “Zhong” sound.

Upon hearing this “Zhong” sound, the leaders of the Renwoxiao Thief Gang’s bodies jolted, and they quickly closed their eyes, as if they were already in a state of enlightenment.

Ya Wu Bian himself showed no reaction to the sound; he merely watched over his members. Seeing that all of them had achieved some insight, a smile appeared on his lips as he was quite satisfied.

※※※

The twelve members of the True Hero Adventurers Guild and the Tiger Might Adventurers Guild had been walking through the stone tree canopy region and had now reached its depths.

During the journey, Qu Yi had already learned through the Spirit Instrument that someone was plotting against Long Hu Wei—spreading rumors that Long Hu Wei possessed many Origin Stones, or deliberately attacking certain adventurers to frame them. Even worse, some claimed that Long Hu Wei was the illegitimate child of Ya Wu Bian. Qu Yi didn’t bother to deal with each of these matters one by one; instead, he deliberately avoided those adventurer groups and didn’t get entangled with them. Though Qu Yi wasn’t afraid of these groups, wasting time on them was quite annoying.

When Qu Yi and his companions arrived at a certain place, they heard a loud uproar.
“The Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild has been found! They’re deep in the Stone Branch Layer.”
This news spread rapidly—not only throughout the Stone Branch Layer but also to the nearby Ground Layer and Tree Top Layer. One after another, adventurer groups quickly determined the location of the Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild.

Whoosh!
Nearly a thousand adventurer groups immediately gathered in the Stone Branch Layer and rushed deep into it.

Upon hearing this, Qu Yi simply smiled, stopped in his tracks, and said, “Everyone, let’s not rush into the depths. Let those stronger adventurer groups deal with the Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild first.”

With so many adventurer groups heading toward the Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild, Qu Yi didn’t want his twelve people to take the lead. It was better to let those stronger groups fight them first.

Ya Wu Bian was at the level of a lower-tier Earth Soul Demon. Qu Yi didn’t want to engage in a direct fight, as that would reveal even more of his secrets.

Upon hearing this, Long Hu Wei seemed to understand Qu Yi’s thoughts and said with a smile, “That’s true. The Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild is at the level of Earth Soul Demons. Even if Brother Qu Yi calls upon Senior Yuwen Tianlan to fight, he still won’t be able to handle Ya Wu Bian.”

At that moment, Long Hu Wei only knew that Qu Yi had Yuwen Tianlan by his side, but he still didn’t know that Qu Yi also possessed the top-tier immortal weapon, Haotian Sword, as well as a billion ice bees under his control.

Qu Yi merely smiled faintly and said, “Brother Hu Wei, let the other adventurer groups deal with the Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild first. Our twelve of us can’t even withstand a single wave of their attacks—there’s no need to be reckless.”

Everyone nodded slightly and then followed Qu Yi, walking slowly.

※※※

If Qu Yi could think of using stronger adventurer groups to deal with the Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild, other weaker groups could certainly do the same.

At that moment, it was the stronger adventurer groups that arrived first at the location of the Ren Wo Xiao Thieves Guild.

A total of one hundred adventuring groups surrounded the Renwoxiao Thief Gang. The leaders of these groups all had at least the cultivation level of a Six-Star Earth Soul Demon, which gave them the confidence to come here and attack the Renwoxiao Thief Gang. Among them, three of these leaders even possessed the cultivation level of Lower Earth Soul Demons.

“Yabian, this time, your Renwoxiao Thief Gang has no chance of escaping,” said one of the leaders with the cultivation level of a Lower Earth Soul Demon coldly. Undoubtedly, this leader was very confident—three of the leaders attacking the Renwoxiao Thief Gang were Lower Earth Soul Demons, enough to hold back Yabian. Moreover, the number of Earth Soul Demon adventurers was three times that of the Renwoxiao Thief Gang, ensuring they could completely annihilate them.

Yabian calmly looked at everyone and smiled, saying, “Junbuyun, Tan Mo, and Zhuo Lengyun, your cultivation levels are comparable to mine, but still, you can’t defeat me. This time, I’ve brought all my members here. Although the plan was accidentally exposed, none of you will be able to keep even one of us alive.”

Junbuyun, Tan Mo, and Zhuo Lengyun all had the cultivation level of Lower Earth Soul Demons. At that moment, Tan Mo, who had remained expressionless until then, saw the massive bell-shaped stone on the ground and his eyes lit up with eagerness.

“Yabian, now only you in your Renwoxiao Thief Gang are sober. Where do you get the confidence to resist so many adventuring groups?” Tan Mo said calmly.

The other members of the Renwoxiao Thief Gang were still quietly cultivating, using the soothing sounds to improve their cultivation levels.

Yabian glared at Tan Mo and sneered, “Tan Mo, can the three of you guarantee that you’ll keep me alive? If not, you’d better think carefully—harming any one of our members will mean your adventuring groups will face destruction.”

Ah!

Hearing Yabian’s threat, Junbuyun, Tan Mo, and Zhuo Lengyun all panicked, feeling despair. Although they were all Lower Earth Soul Demons, their strength paled in comparison to Yabian’s, and they couldn’t guarantee killing him.

But now that one hundred adventuring groups had surrounded them, they couldn’t retreat. They had to eliminate the Renwoxiao Thief Gang, otherwise, they would face revenge from them in the future.

After a moment, Junbuyun, Tan Mo, and Zhuo Lengyun exchanged glances and then nodded simultaneously.

“Yabian, your Renwoxiao Thief Gang has no chance of escaping today. Leave your corpses behind,” Junbuyun shouted loudly.

Suddenly, Jun Buneun, Tan Mo, and Zhuo Lengyun all leaped to their feet at the same time, drawing their magical swords and charging at Ya Wu Bian. The three of them joined forces to attack Ya Wu Bian! At the same time, a hundred members of adventure groups flew at the members of the Ren Wo Xiao thieves’ group who were sitting on the ground, intent on killing them all. “You guys are really foolish!” Ya Wu Bian said calmly, having already drawn ten spirit talismans in his hand.