Yuan Ming put away the Jade Bottle and the Sun and Moon Fla Sunrise Furnace, dissolved the silver barrier, and left the room.
Just at this mont, a flurry of hurried footsteps ca from ahead. It was Miao Xian, sprinting towards him with a look of panic on his face.
"Master, sothing terrible has happened. The workshop owner has suddenly disappeared, and the young lady has asked to request your presence for consultation," Miao Xian said urgently upon seeing Yuan Ming, as if he had found his pillar of strength.
"Alright, I know," Yuan Ming replied.
"Yan Sijing has gone missing? We've only just returned not long ago; how could she disappear in such a short ti?" Yuan Ming's brows furrowed. Miao Xian had just turned to leave when he imdiately flashed back into the room and reestablished the silver barrier.
He entered the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, sat cross-legged on the White Jade Lotus Platform, and triggered his Divine Sense to sweep down through the anchor point, searching Fusang City once again, but he found no trace of Yan Sijing.
Yuan Ming expanded his Divine Sense to its limits, spreading it over a dozen miles outside of Fusang City, but still couldn't find Yan Sijing.
He wore a contemplative expression, left the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, dissolved the silver barrier, and a flash of black Qi passed over him, causing him to vanish instantly.
Over the past year or so, he had beco increasingly adept at the Ghost Shadow Escape Technique, scarcely inferior to Dugu Feng from those years ago.
The next mont, Yuan Ming appeared in Yan Siyun's room, where Xi Ying and Bi Shuirou were present.
"What has happened?" Yuan Ming asked in a grave tone.
"We had just returned to our residence when Si Jing suddenly received a commission for alchemy. Soone wanted her to refine a rare elixir and had requested a face-to-face eting. Si Jing suspected nothing and imdiately rushed over; I didn't think much of it. But then, just monts after she left, she was kidnapped and lost all contact," Yan Siyun said with self-reproach.
"Si Jing has only been gone for a short while; how can you be sure she's been kidnapped?" Yuan Ming inquired.
"My sister and I each have a Blood Marrow Jade Pendant, a magic artifact that allows us to sense each other's location and state of vitality using Bloodline Power—far more sensitive than ordinary sensing artifacts. Just now, Si Jing's energy signal suddenly vanished, and I can no longer sense the location of her Jade Pendant. Sothing must have happened," Yan Siyun said, showing Yuan Ming a dark red Jade Pendant.
"I see. Xi Ying, since Yan Sijing has only just disappeared, she couldn't have gone too far. You're proficient in various secret techniques; is it possible for you to track down her whereabouts?" Yuan Ming looked towards Xi Ying.
"I have already tried, to no avail. I fear Yan Sijing may have been confined within so sort of Space Artifact or covered by an exceptionally adept Forbidden," Xi Ying shook her head as she spoke.
Yuan Ming's brows knitted together. He hadn't practiced any particular Tracking Secret Technique. Although the Ancient Shadow Soul Seeking Technique of the Six Desires Venerable had fallen into his hands, he had been preoccupied with too many things lately to have the chance to practice it.
"You've already searched with the Stealing Heaven Tripod?" Xi Ying's voice sounded in Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.
"Yes, I found nothing. It seems Yan Sijing has been taken away from Fusang City, but I've just used the Stealing Heaven Tripod's possession ability and it's a bit troubleso now," Yuan Ming communicated back. This copy cos from content on *.
"In such a short ti, unless a Transmission Array was used, Yan Sijing shouldn't have been taken too far away," Xi Ying suggested through their ntal link.
"For the ti being, we can only resort to the tedious thod of searching. Later, you take Miao Xian and fly out of the city. Circle the island, and I will use him as the anchor point for Wish Power to search for Yan Sijing's whereabouts," Yuan Ming instructed.
"Alright," Xi Ying agreed.
The two imdiately inford Yan Siyun of their plan to go out searching.
"Should we ask Fellow Daoist Bishui for help, or ask the people of Fusang Island for assistance as well?" Yan Siyun asked.
"There's no need for now; wait for our news. If we need the help of Fusang Island, I will let you know," Yuan Ming said, his mind flashing with the image of Jia Sifang as he shook his head.
After saying this, the two of them took their leave.
"Why not seek Fusang Island's help?" Xi Ying asked once they were outside.
"Our identities must not be exposed. It's best we deal with Yan Sijing's disappearance ourselves and try to avoid attracting the attention of others," Yuan Ming explained.
"Why be so overly cautious?" Xi Ying was skeptical.
"A cautious man sails a thousand years," Yuan Ming replied.
Xi Ying took Miao Xian and sneaked out of the city. With the Immortal Fruit Conference drawing near and cultivators from various islands gathering, the Protective Arrays around Fusang City had been dismantled for ease of access, leaving only one or two layers of ordinary sensing restrictions in place.
Xi Ying and Miao Xian quickly left the city, tunneling along the island's edge.
Yuan Ming turned and headed back, entering the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, and used his Divine Sense to probe along the way.
Xi Ying's tunneling speed was astonishing, and they had soon covered nearly half of Fusang Island, still finding nothing.
"Yan Sijing has never been to the East Sea before, and this is her first ti in Fusang City; she couldn't possibly have enemies here. Who would want to capture her? Could it be Jia Sifang? He had long since discovered Xi Ying's presence here. Could he have captured Yan Sijing to use against Xi Ying?" Yuan Ming pondered over the possibilities, quickly dismissing this speculation.
Based on the previous conversation between Jia Sifang and Wu Yuezhi, their plotted actions were to be initiated after the start of the Immortal Fruit Conference. Capturing Yan Sijing at this juncture seed unwise.
But besides Jia Sifang, who else has the guts to abduct soone in Fusang City?
Yan Sijing is just a Core Formation Stage cultivator. What does she possess that others would covet?
"Ice Core Yin Fire!" Yuan Ming's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he imdiately called a halt to Xi Ying.
"What, have you found Yan Sijing's whereabouts?" Xi Ying asked.
"I haven't found her yet, but I just rembered sothing that might be related to Yan Sijing's disappearance..." Yuan Ming recounted eting the White Scale Master from the Thousand Snake Clan at today's auction, how this person was collecting True Fire, and how the White Scale Master had used Divine Sense to probe them when they first entered Fusang Island.
"When we entered Fusang Island, I also sensed the Divine Sense from the White Scale Master. According to what you've said, he is indeed a pri suspect," Xi Ying said after pondering for a mont.
"I just used my Divine Sense to search the territory of the Snake-man Clan but didn't discover Yan Sijing's whereabouts. Do you know of any other strongholds the Snake-man Clan might have near Fusang Island?" Yuan Ming asked.
These past few days, Xi Ying had been organizing information about each island's attendees along with Bishui Rou and Yan Siyun, so her understanding of the Snake-man Clan was surely greater than his.
"I know where Yan Sijing is," Xi Ying suddenly said, transforming into a tunneling light and shooting toward the other side of the island.
Yuan Ming's Divine Sense closely followed, quickly reaching the other side of Fusang Island.
Three giant ships of different shapes were docked at the edge of the island, evidently belonging to the Snake-man Clan, rfolk, and Water Ape Clan. There were also many people aboard the ships.
"Although the Snake-man Clan, rfolk, and Water Ape Clan have been thriving in the East Sea for so ti, the concept of a deep divide between humans and demons is entrenched, so only a few mbers of each clan have entered Fusang City, with the majority staying outside the island," Xi Ying said softly, stopping in the distance.
Yuan Ming nodded slowly and activated his Divine Sense to investigate. He quickly located Yan Sijing at the bottom of the Snake-man Clan's ship, covered by layers of flickering blue forbidden spells.
At the mont, Yan Sijing was unconscious, her clothes in disarray, with bloodstains faintly visible on her chest, seemingly comatose due to severe injuries.
A cold light passed through Yuan Ming's eyes as he examined Yan Sijing's condition more closely, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
Although Yan Sijing was gravely injured, her life was not in danger, and the Ice Core Yin Fire within her body was still present, not yet extracted.
In another room on the ship, the White Scale Master was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, in front of him was a green Alchemy Furnace about a zhang tall with a dragon and a tiger carved on it, appearing almost lifelike.
Inside the Dragon and Tiger Pill Furnace, six Fire Spirit Formations were operating, revealing it to be a Six Orifice Pill Furnace, and within the six formations, three already contained True Fire.
The White Scale Master was currently manipulating a secret technique to activate the fourth formation, absorbing and refining the apricot wood green fire he had just acquired at the auction.
"No wonder he's collecting True Fire and captured Yan Sijing. He has a Six Orifice Pill Furnace," Yuan Ming thought silently.
At that mont, soone pushed the door open, and Queen Ming Kong from the rfolk entered. The White Scale Master seed undisturbed, continuing to breathe in and out the faintly green flas, while Queen Ming Kong walked to a corner of the room and quietly observed his spellcasting.
Soon after the White Scale Master ingested the green fire, he slowly opened his eyes.
"With these four kinds of True Fire, the efficacy of this Dragon Tiger Green Mysterious Furnace will be mostly restored. However, to use it for refining a Nascent Soul Pill, it still lacks so intensity," Queen Ming Kong remarked upon seeing this.
"Having only four kinds of True Fire is indeed not enough. However, I already have a lead on the fifth kind of True Fire, and it will soon be in my grasp," the White Scale Master said with a smile.
"You're referring to that young girl under the ship, aren't you?" Queen Ming Kong's bright eyes shifted as she spoke.
The smile on the White Scale Master's face stiffened: "Fellow Daoist Ming Kong has profound Divine Skills. I've already instructed my n to be as careful as possible, but it seems you have found out anyway."
"As long as there's water, I can know anything I want to," Queen Ming Kong said, lifting her hand gracefully. A blue Water Mirror appeared before her, clearly showing Yan Sijing's situation beneath the ship.
"It seems Fellow Daoist Ming Kong's Water Mirror Viewing Technique is nearing perfection. Congratulations," the White Scale Master's eyes twitched slightly as he spoke.
"It's just a thod for reconnaissance, hardly noteworthy, especially not when compared to Fellow Daoist Bai Lin's thunderous thods. But so people are not so easy to capture; be careful or you may get pricked," Queen Ming Kong said with pointed insinuation before leaving the room, her silhouette transforming into a streak of blue light and shooting away.
Yuan Ming's eyes narrowed upon hearing this. What did Queen Ming Kong an by that? Had she already discovered Xi Ying's search?
When Xi Ying was flying around the island earlier, she didn't use any thods to conceal her tracks, making it possible that she had been detected.
The White Scale Master looked thoughtfully in the direction where Queen Ming Kong had disappeared, then summoned Qing Tong and ordered for the guards monitoring the ship and Yan Sijing to be strengthened.
"I've found Yan Sijing. She's at the bottom of the Snake-man Clan's ship." Yuan Ming inford Xi Ying about the developnt and repeated the conversation between Queen Ming Kong and the White Scale Master.
"So she's here after all. Water Mirror Viewing Technique? The rfolk Clan indeed possesses such a Divine Skill. If cultivated to a profound level, it can communicate with the water vapor and observe an enemy's movents. No wonder I had the feeling of being watched just now," Xi Ying nodded slowly, her expression remaining relaxed.
"Since you say so, then Queen Ming Kong most likely already knows of your existence. It's possible she has undisclosed thods of communicating with the White Scale Master," Yuan Ming reminded her with so concern.
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