The Nine Cauldrons

“Ji Hong!” Gu Shiyou smiled and said, “It only took a lie from my Martial Granduncle for you to reveal that the vines were woven by your men! Mmm......Seems like the only people who know the location of the Black Fire Spirit Fruit is just your Gui Yuan Sect and our Qing Hu Island! That makes matters easier. Your Gui Yuan Sect had best not compete with us. We from Qing Hu Island will definitely give you our thanks at a later time.”

Ji Hong’s face sunk. “Young Master, I don’t like the sound of your words! Does our Gui Yuan Sect look like we are short on money?”

The bald old man bellowed with a cold look on his face, “Ji Hong, let me tell you this right now: don’t try to be smug when we are still giving you face! I, Du Jiu, am making things clear here. Both the Black Fire Spirit Fruit and the Black Fire Spirit Root will belong to our Qing Hu Island. Your Gui Yuan Sect can stop dreaming of getting even a single piece! If you continue to cling to your fantasies......”

The triangular eyes of the bald old man gleamed coldly as he pulled two short blades from his waist with a “clank” sound.

“Ji Hong, a word of advice: you’d better turn back.” The bald old man held a short blade in each of his hands.

......

Ji Hong’s face paled, while Teng Qingshan and Guan Lu exchanged a glance.

“ ‘Blade of Life and Death’ Du Jiu! Ranked seventeenth on the 《Earth Ranking》, master of the sovereign of Qing Hu Island!” Teng Qingshan was well aware of the other party’s identity. In terms of abilities, Teng Qingshan did not care for this Blade Life and Death ‘Du Jiu’. Ranked in the top twenty, Teng Qingshan could definitely kill him with a thrust of his Reincarnation Spear.

It was just that......

The other party was the master of the sovereign of the Qing Hu Island! The current head of the Qing Hu Island was an innate master, a formidable character who dominated Yangzhou.

Who would dare to kill his master?

“Old Du Jiu!” Ji Hong was enraged.

“Ji Hong, I’m giving you a way out to respect the relationship we formed back when we were youths long ago. Don’t think that I wouldn’t dare to do anything against you! That ‘Teng Qingshan’ should be the strongest amongst the three of you. Hmph, to be able to kill Meng Tian, his martial prowess isn’t half bad. However, it would be a far cry to compare him to me!” The bald old man said coldly. “I’m going to count to three. If you don’t leave now, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Blade of Life and Death Du Jiu was definitely an unreasonable and cold character.

Across the world, who wasn’t aware of this?

“Lord Commander.” Teng Qingshan and Guan Lu both looked towards Ji Hong.

Ji Hong clenched his teeth.

Teng Qingshan was feeling anxious. “If this Ji Hong really gives the Black Fire Spirit Fruit to the other party, it would be hard to snatch the Black Fire Spirit Root! I have confidence that I can kill Du Jiu, but......Ji Hong is unaware that I am this strong!” Indeed, Ji Hong was not sure of Teng Qingshan’s actual abilities.

“One!” Du Jiu shouted coldly.

Looking at the current situation, Ji Hong was forced to clench his teeth as he shouted, “Let’s go!”

“Go?” Teng Qingshan was anxious.

“Ji Hong, Commander Ji! I give my thanks to your Gui Yuan Sect, but......I do not wish to hear people spread the location of the Black Fire Spirit Fruit when we emerge. If the information is leaked, I would only suspect you three.” Gu Shiyou spoke out. “That would certainly spoil our relationship.”

Ji Hong did have the notion of leaking the information after they left.

Anyway, the other party would not be able have a handle against them.

But after Gu Shiyou said this, Ji Hong turned his head sharply and stared at Gu Shiyou, Du Jiu, and the other nameless man from Qing Hu Island. “Old Du Jiu......One cannot be excessive! You may be fierce today, but...... Hmph, if you have the gall to be so overboard, you will suffer from retribution!”

“Retribution?” Du Jiu’s pair of triangular eyes scanned Teng Qingshan and company viciously. “From the three of you?”

“Martial Granduncle!” Guan Lu lowered her voice.

“Lord Commander!” Teng Qingshan also shouted impatiently with an anxious look on his face. He was only a young man at the age of seventeen, the age when one was prone to become angered. Even the calmest youngster would not be able to contain his anger at that point.

Teng Qingshan didn’t want to turn away just like that. He was bent on getting the Black Fire Spirit Root, “It would be best to act now. If Ji Hong is not agreeable, I will have to act in the dark to get the Black Fire Spirit Root.”

Ji Hong’s face turned sullen, “Qingshan, Guan Lu, let’s go!”

Teng Qingshan and Guan Lu could only bear with it as they followed behind Ji Hong.

......

Gu Shiyou and company laughed, and Wu Dai, who was standing beside them, accompanied the group of three.

“Senior Du is really good. To think that the people from the Gui Yuan Sect left just like that.” Wu Dai flattered.

A hint of arrogance showed on the bald old man’s face.

Ever since his disciple had reached the innate state and eventually became the head of Qing Hu Island, his own status had also heightened. Furthermore, since he was also an expert listed on the 《Earth Ranking》, his status in Qing Hu Island was very high. Who would dare to offend someone who was used to being bossy and domineering?

“Haha, Great Master, the Black Fire Spirit Fruit is right in front of us!” A slight laughter came from a distance away.

The three men from Qing Hu Island were all stunned.

They turned to look in the other direction. The lava lake flowed in both directions. Teng Qingshan and company had entered from the lava river on the left to get to the lava lake. This time around, however, the voices came from the right side.

“Someone else is coming this way?” The bald old man was stunned.

“Wu Dai.” Gu Shiyou looked at Wu Dai.

“I, I don’t know.” Wu Dai shook his head repeatedly. This was the first time that he had entered underground. How would he know what was on the other end?

The bald old man lowered his voice. “Let’s ignore the other matters and head over first.”

At that moment, the three men from Qing Hu Island quietly made their way to the right side. The path was obviously wider than in the left side. Because the paths were too wide, although the tunnels were folded upon themselves, they could already see the other party from a distance of tens of Zhang.

Both parties were only about a distance of fifty Zhang away from each other!

“They’re from Qing Hu Island! Run!” One of the men from the other group yelled out, and immediately, everyone from the group ran for their lives without hesitation!

“Kill them!!!” The bald old man shouted out and dashed over. Gu Shiyou and his Martial Uncle also headed over quickly. The other party escaped at mediocre speed, while the men from Qing Hu Island were all warriors in the Postliminary Realm and could catch up in very little time.

......

Ji Hong, Teng Qingshan, and Guan Lu all felt infuriated as they travelled on the path, heading back to their camp, when they heard two shouts.

“They are from Qing Hu Island!”

“Kill them!”

Teng Qingshan, Ji Hong, and Guan Lu exchanged glances!

“There is another group of people.” Guan Lu said in a daze.

“Let’s go back!” Ji Hong said in a low voice. The three of them turned and headed quickly in the direction of the men from Qing Hu Island.

They moved at rapid speed.

“There’s fighting ahead of us!” Although the tunnels were convoluted, Teng Qingshan could hear the sounds of fighting from not too far away. In terms of speed, the three from the Gui Yuan Sect were not that much slower than the three men from Qing Hu Island, but as the three from Qing Hu Island fought with the other party, their speed obviously slowed down. Very soon——

Teng Qingshan and company could see clearly the scene of the fighting from a distance.

“Great Master, quickly escape!” One of the strong men shouted loudly. Even after receiving a cut, he grabbed on tightly to the leg of the Martial Uncle.

“Hu!”

With a single step, this Martial Uncle coldly smashed the strong man’s skull, which steadily oozed out a mixture of red and white fluid . That Martial Uncle then continued the chase while killing at great speed.

“Third Brother!” That Great Master had run a distance of tens of Zhang. With tears streaming out of his eyes, he turned his head to have a look at his recently-killed brother.

“Great Master, hurry up and run away.” The other men were also risking their lives to intercept the Martial Uncle. That Great Master evidently had a proficient mastery over Qing Gong as he immediately dashed off at great speed.

Gu Shiyou anxiously wanted to give chase, but the Great Master’s men tried to intercept him at all cost, unafraid of death. These mounted bandits were also men who risked their lives, each of them with vicious methods. Some of them used powdered limestone or threw concealed weapons, or even held onto the men from Qing Hu Island, disregarding their own lives. Even for an expert on the 《Earth Ranking》, facing the interception of these elite mounted bandits, who disregarded their own lives, would affect their speed significantly

“Pu!”

“Pu!”

Blood splashed all over, and the three men from Qing Hu Island finally broke through the ten men’s interception. That Great Master had already escaped from their sight, so they could only chase blindly after him.

“Three-way fork!” The three men from Qing Hu Island stood in the middle of a three-way fork, with two paths forward and one path back. Looking at the two paths ahead of them, they had no idea which way to go.

“Haha, Old Du Jiu, the mounted bandits’ leader possesses a Qing Gong comparable to your own. With the help of his men, who intercepted you and disregarded their own lives, he has long since escaped.” By then, Ji Hong and the company had also arrived. Feeling carefree, Ji Hong said, “Things are always so unpredictable! Your Qing Hu Island is fated to find no joy in life!”

Looking at the three from the Gui Yuan Sect, the three men from Qing Hu Island only turned around to leave with a “Hmph’”.

“To think that there was another path!” Teng Qingshan exclaimed.

Guan Lu said coldly, “Of course there would be another path! The cave that we came from had only a height of slightly over one Zhang. That Red Scaled Beast should be two Zhang tall by now. When it was younger, it could enter from the route we came in from, but now that it has grown bigger, it can no longer enter from there. Therefore, there must be another, wider path!”

Teng Qingshan also woke up.

Of course!

The Red Scaled Beast would definitely come here to eat the Black Fire Spirit Fruit. Therefore, there must be a path from which it could enter.

“To think that I did not notice this earlier!” Teng Qingshan thought to himself.

“But this is also good.” Teng Qingshan felt happy deep down. “It will be easier for me to act within the mess then. With my methods, there should be no problems to get the Black Fire Spirit Root in the midst of chaos.”

......

A strong man with three small braids popped his head from the surface of the deep lake. His eyes were blood red, “Third Brother, Ah Hu......You guys, ahh!” His blood brothers had lost their lives because of a big brother like him. The strong man’s eyes were blood red as he spoke with a hateful voice as he clenched his teeth, “Qing Hu Island! I will not die in peace until I have my revenge! Mmm......Black Fire Spirit Fruit, don’t even think of monopolizing the Black Fire Spirit Fruit!”

......

That evening, Teng Qingshan and company were having dinner at the foot of the mountain.

At that moment, a voice was heard——“Did you hear? Someone found an underwater path in the deep lake on the west side of the Blazing Mountain below the peaks near Flying Monkey Rock. After dashing through the underground tunnel, there is a wide underground passageway. You will come across flowing lava after walking for a distance of two to three Li. After you continue to walk for another two Li, you will find the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.”

“Flying Monkey Rock? We passed by there the other time during our search. I even went into that deep lake to take a bath. Are you sure it’s that particular deep lake? There is an underwater tunnel at the bottom of the lake?

“The news is spreading in such realistic detail. Many people have already started to check if it is true or not.”

“Let’s also head over there immediately to see for ourselves.”

......

Teng Qingshan, Ji Hong, and Guan Lu exchanged a glance.

“To think that the entrance to the other pathway is at the bottom of a lake.” Ji Hong lamented.

“This news news must have been leaked by that ‘Great Master’. To think that so many people would know about it in such a short span of four to six hours. The news has spread so fast.” Teng Qingshan sorrowfully added. Guan Lu also nodded as she said, “Seems like......It will be hard for one person to monopolize the Black Fire Spirit Fruit and the Black Fire Spirit Root.”

With the news spread all over, one thing was for sure.

The battle for the Black Fire Spirit Fruit would be a messy one!

Many experts, whether hidden or well known, would all wait for the Black Fire Spirit Fruit to mature before taking action!