Yi Jue heard the words, tilted her head and asked, "Is there a True Immortal from the Qin Family stationed here?"

"There is no one stationed here," Dou Po the True Immortal shook his head, "but summoning a True Immortal is extremely fast... the key is it records your aura, and even if the troublemaker can escape, they will ultimately be tracked down."

"It’s good that no True Immortal is present," Yi Jue could sense that there were at least seven or eight hundred people in the manor. She needed some time for identification, and with no True Immortal on site to obstruct her, things would be much easier.

"However, entry requires identity verification," Dou Po the True Immortal replied with a pained expression, "He won’t divulge your identity but won’t allow people of unknown origin inside... coming from the lower realm is fine, but the key is having a background."

Yi Jue felt a bit disheartened upon hearing this; she didn’t want to reveal her identity at this moment, so she glanced at Feng Jun, "How about you go in?"

Feng Jun exuded an aura of the lower realm; as long as he declared he was from Kunhao, the name was inconsequential.

The key was that the manor wasn’t large, and with his ability to deduce on site, finding someone was quite simple.

Feng Jun glanced at her, walked to a distance, turned his back to the crowd, took out his mobile phone, swiped a couple of times, then turned around and shook his head, "No need, the person is outside... to be precise, the fire seed is outside."

Then he turned around and walked towards a tea stall half a mile away.

The tea stalls in Honggu were different from those on Earth Realm. The shop provided spiritual energy from a Spirit Gathering Array of the Dust-Expelling Phase and some errands service. If the guests did not bring their tea or wanted some Spiritual Spring water, the shop could also provide it.

Simply put, this place was for cultivators with low cultivation levels to rest and relax. Higher-levels cultivators generally dismissed this — an ordinary Golden Core cultivator, who wouldn’t have a mobile abode?

Of course, some liked the lively atmosphere or found taking out their mobile abode inconvenient, they would sit here and rest for a while.

Feng Jun didn’t disturb others, directly approached a shop assistant, "Hey, assistant, come here for a moment."

The shop assistant was at the Intermediate Level Dust-Expelling Phase, skinny, and quickly ran over, nodding and bowing as he spoke, "What does the real person need?"

"Alright, it’s you," Yi Jue the True Immortal’s eyes flashed with a strange light, finally seeing through the disguise of the other, "Mid-Stage Golden Core posing as a shop assistant, do you know why we came?"

The shop assistant was stunned, "The real person, what you’re saying, I’m not quite..."

He hadn’t finished his sentence before trying to blink and escape. But if Yi Jue let him escape now, it would be truly laughable; she raised her hand, causing a slight spatial fluctuation, and the next moment, the shop assistant was already lying limp on the ground.

Other guests were stunned, some wanted to ask what was happening, but seeing a True Immortal was standing behind him, they decisively shut up — they were just customers, why meddle unnecessarily?

Only a spirited young man in tight clothing didn’t relent, also at Mid-Stage Golden Core, he was sitting at the table enjoying spirit fruit and tea leisurely. Seeing the scene, he couldn’t help but frown, "Openly acting beside the Qin Family’s yard, this friend is indeed not afraid of trouble."

Yi Jue the True Immortal glanced at him, slightly frowning, "You and this Kun cultivator... have very similar auras."

So the shop assistant on the ground was a Kun cultivator after all?

The Mid-Stage Golden Core cultivator frowned and spoke discontentedly, "I kindly advised you, and you didn’t appreciate it, it’s fine. But now you’re splashing dirty water on me, are you really bullying the Qin Family because they have no one?"

As he spoke, he took out a Communication Talisman, appearing ready to activate it.

"Tong Fellow Daoist, no need to pretend," Feng Jun spoke calmly, "Your sister is lying on the ground unable to be rescued, surely Fellow Daoist doesn’t feel good about it?"

"Oh?" The young man in tight clothing was planning to find a way to escape, but finally paused due to this remark, "What do you mean by this, Fellow Daoist?"

As he spoke, he activated the Communication Talisman, appearing confident with his reliance.

"Not using the Obscuring Talisman you prepared?" Yi Jue the True Immortal’s Divine Sense was incredibly strong; once identifying the opponent, she truly was insightful. Moreover, she particularly trusted Feng Jun, "Let’s not discuss if you can escape, just abandoning your sister here is untenable?"

In fact, in the Tianqin Plane, it was quite common to abandon a sister and run; not that people here were heartless, but rather they were sufficiently rational. Which outcome is better, both siblings being caught or only one?

Of course, it’s better to save one first, preserving the living force before attempting rescue or revenge.

However, the young Golden Core did not choose that option; fundamentally, he was exposed — the other party knew his surname was Tong, indicating highly advanced deduction, so even if he could escape alone, the clan wouldn’t get away.

As for the Golden Core Eighth Layer Kun cultivator before him, certainly hiding her cultivation, not only was she a Nascent Soul True Immortal, she likely started at least Mid-Phase Nascent Soul, such opponent was truly challenging for the Tong Family with only two Nascent Soul cultivators.

So he candidly admitted defeat, "Alright, you won... but before I’m captured, I must say, that fire seed was obtained by me and my sister, the Jinwu Sect’s Guest Elder wanted to forcefully take it, we refused, hence falsely accused of theft."

"Is that so?" Yi Jue tugged at the corner of her mouth upon hearing this. She came here specifically to snatch the fire seeds. Although she couldn’t use them, Feng Jun could, right? Moreover, she didn’t think there was anything embarrassing about taking something from a thief.

But snatching from the owner posed a dilemma for her. There’s no wall in the world that doesn’t have a crack. If word got out in the future, how would she face people?

As for killing to silence, Yi Jue really didn’t like to go that far. It wasn’t because she was merciful, but rather she couldn’t bring herself to do it when she didn’t have a legitimate reason.

The most troubling thing was, her intuition told her that the other party probably wasn’t lying.

As she hesitated, Feng Jun smiled, "A bit of a little scheme, huh? Do you think that by saying it in this situation, we won’t be able to do anything to you?"

The young man in tight clothing was rather straightforward, "Fellow Daoist, you’ve already said it. It’s just my little scheme. Plus, I’m on Jinwu territory. Speaking ill of a Jinwu Guest Elder means that even if someone wanted to interfere, they would have to weigh the consequences, right? So this little scheme is almost like it’s nonexistent."

Feng Jun glanced at Yi Jue, "What do you think we should do?"

"Take him away first," Yi Jue looked at the man named Tong, "Will you come with us voluntarily, or do you want us to knock you out and carry you away?"

He had already realized he was no match, so of course, he wouldn’t ask for trouble.

Ten minutes later, still under that cliff, the Tong Family siblings recounted the events.

The siblings were hunters. Although their cultivation level wasn’t high, they were actually quite famous within the surrounding plates. Occasionally, they also dabbled in thievery. This point hadn’t wronged them at all.

However, this time, they were truly innocent. They had obtained the fire seed by chance in the Honggu, originally intending to use it for themselves.

But the Jinwu Sect had a high demand for fire seeds, which was why they strategized to explore Honggu. After all, it occasionally yielded some fire seeds.

So they had a procurement policy in place. If someone outside their own sect got a fire seed, it was best to find a place in Honggu to refine it quietly. If they wanted to take it through the transmission array, a hefty fee had to be paid. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The Tong siblings, by coincidence, obtained a fire seed. But they couldn’t use it yet. The best option was to take it back to their clan. Truthfully, if they wanted to refine the fire seed, they’d have to wait until they reached the Nascent Soul phase. However, both of them were only at the Mid-Stage Golden Core, so it would take some time.

And the siblings didn’t want to pay the exorbitant fees, so they thought of leveraging some connections to sneak it out of Honggu quietly.

They had someone reach out to a Guest Elder. The middleman took a sum of money and then told them that the Guest Elder indicated they couldn’t sneak the fire seed out. It would be better to let him carry it out of Honggu and then return it to them later.

Who were the Tong Family siblings? Hunters! Despite their young age, they had a wealth of experience in the world.

When they heard this, they immediately sensed something was off. It’s not that this kind of smuggling method didn’t exist, but... the parties involved must have cooperated deeply many times to consider this option.

The siblings straightforwardly stated, "Forget it, we won’t choose this method. Please refund the intermediary fee."

Typically, intermediary fees are not refunded once paid. However, they believed that the middleman probably hadn’t reached out to the Guest Elder at all and then released this information, hoping they would back off.

If they recoiled now, who knows what more dangerous developments might follow? So they decided to be assertive and said, "I want you to refund the money"—whether or not the other party agreed to the refund was not their concern.

However, who would have thought that the middleman would be even more assertive, saying that a refund was impossible? He claimed he had already made arrangements with the Guest Elder, and they were expecting their handling fee. If they dared not to agree, they would bear all the consequences themselves.

The siblings discussed it and felt it was too risky. So they thought, let’s just sell it to the Jinwu Sect. This way, while the profits wouldn’t be maximized, it would at least be safe and secure. And if the Guest Elder came after them again, they wouldn’t have the fire seed anymore.

However, they hadn’t yet acted when, that very night, someone attacked them. Because they were rather alert, they managed to escape, but the next day they received bad news: the Guest Elder was accusing them of stealing his fire seed.

At this point, the siblings completely understood. It wasn’t the middleman trying to scam them; it was the Guest Elder himself eyeing the fire seed. Of course, it could also be that the middleman was on good terms with the Guest Elder and encouraged him to act, but none of that mattered now.

The important thing was that the Jinwu Sect Guest Elder had personally intervened!

This meant even if they wanted to sell the fire seed to Jinwu Sect, it was impossible—after all, it was the Guest Elder’s lost item!

The siblings were not discouraged. They had experienced even more dangerous situations. So, while avoiding being interrogated, they made their way to this market town.

They didn’t dare enter the Qin Family’s estate to sell the fire seed, so they waited quietly at the gate to see if they could attract someone interested in buying the fire seed for a high price—people like that weren’t exactly rare in the Honggu Plate.

As for gathering information, it was all about the tea, boat, hotel, and broker places, so they quietly set up a small tea stall.

Unexpectedly, in less than two days of lurking, they were discovered, and despite being slippery and evasive, they couldn’t escape.