"What happened?"

Li Yan furrowed his brow slightly, noticing something amiss.

He was the leader of the Twelve Primordial Spirits, and even though he was injured and unconscious, Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei could temporarily take charge, any risky operation of dividing forces would indeed need to be discussed with him first before making a decision.

Unless something major happened.

Sure enough, Sha Lifei lowered his voice and said, "Indeed, something did happen."

"The upheaval three days ago caused quite a stir and the news spread all the way to the Capital. The court was furious, and an imperial envoy rushed to Jiangnan, a string of officials were dismissed and investigated — the Yangzhou Prefect, Cao Yun Governor, Commander of the Captain Bureau, even the head of the City God Temple was detained."

"Now the streets and alleys throughout the city are plastered with notices, soldiers are searching every house for remnants, and the Canal Wharf remains blocked."

"Didn't you ask Cheng Yun from the Golden Swallow Sect to deliver a message to Daoist Luo in the Capital? That Tian Qianhu came to Yangzhou with the imperial envoy. Fatty Lin, to take care of the overall situation, confessed thoroughly about Lin Yaozu colluding with the pirates! As a result, everyone from the Lin Family in Jinling was charged with collusion with bandits, all thrown into death row awaiting execution."

"Fatty Lin feared implicating the innocent members of the Lin Family, so he, along with Kong Shangzhao and two others, went ahead with Tian Qianhu to Jinling for a joint trial, to avoid anyone dying with unredressed grievances."

Li Yan mused, "It's an abandonment of a pawn to protect the carriage, preserving a chance for the Lin Family to survive. But the situation in Jinling is complex right now, relying on those three alone poses risks, why not go with them?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Sha Lifei slowly shook his head, his expression turning solemn, "You've been unconscious for three days, your breathing was faint. Mr. Wang had a look, said your body needs at least three more days of rest, can't move around. Also..."

As he spoke, Sha Lifei leaned in closer, glanced around, and said in a low voice:

"The Golden Swallow Sect spy just delivered a secret report, 'Nine Tripod'... has emerged!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yan's pupils constricted like needlepoints.

He had witnessed the power of the Nine Tripod, even though the Immortal Ascension Formation from the time of the first emperor had long been destroyed, once this thing caused trouble, it would be a catastrophic disaster.

Thinking of this, Li Yan hurriedly asked, "Could it be the Yangzhou Tripod?"

"Exactly."

Sha Lifei nodded, pulling out half a scroll of tattered silk from his chest, pointing at the blurry ink stains on it, "The news came strangely. It was found by a night watchman under a broken stele at the old River God Temple at Gua State Ferry. The top was covered in scribbles, full of astrology and water vein charts obscured by clouds and mountains, with a few lines of small characters... Here, this is it."

He pointed to lines of twisted text resembling tadpoles, "Several old scholars from the Golden Swallow Sect pored over 'Seven Seals of Clouds' to barely recognize some Ancient Chu witchcraft script, suggesting it's... the whereabouts of the Yangzhou Tripod."

He licked his somewhat dry lips, lowering his voice: "The clues point to a figure that only appears in unofficial histories and miscellaneous stories — Zhou Yinyao. Mr. Wang said there's a record of this person in the Mystical Sect, once in Yangzhou's Guangling boiling white stones for food, later transformed into a white crane and rode the clouds away."

"Sounds like some far-fetched story of an immortal, but when I and Daoist Wang went to interrogate some local hooligans and water bandits mixed among the pirates in the death cell. Didn't even use a heavy hand, just mentioned your name Li Yama, and those cowards spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube."

"They confessed that recently, some actually spent a fortune casting a net, probing for an old Taoist's whereabouts in Yangzhou City, both overtly and covertly! The portrait given described as bizarre, saying it's an old man in a hemp robe frequently wandering in seclusion by the Qinhuai River, most noticeable was — a gourd tied to the waist, carved with the word 'boil,' occasionally using green stones for boiling water."

"They even gave him a nickname, 'Green Frost Stone Boiling Old Man'!"

"Zhou Yinyao..."

Li Yan furrowed his brow tightly, "He's not just any stone-boiling man."

He previously had people gather numerous transformation stories of Mortal Gods in the Mystical Sect, being a living Yin messenger, having seen the prowess of Zhao Changsheng and Lu Sheng, he had collected quite a bit of data on immortals from various places.

Zhou Yinyao was an immortal with a legendary status in the Mystical Sect, his deeds scattered in numerous Taoist tales and local records from the Tang and Song periods, especially detailed in 'Taiping Guangji' citing 'Immortal Legends and Miscellaneous.'

Claimed to be a descendant of Mr. Lu Li, one of the "Four Sages of Shang Mountain," he practiced the "Taiyin Refining Technique" in Zhenjiang and became an immortal through three instances of "feigned death."

Returned to life six years after the first death, "died" again sixteen years later, and revived after seven years.

Though nearly eighty years old in the end, still looked youthful.

Emperor Yang of Sui and Tang Taizong summoned him one after another, both were politely declined.

The "Taiyin Refining Technique" was crucial for cultivating an Earth Immortal Body, its difficulty can be imagined, yet this guy succeeded three times in a row, beyond normal reasoning.

Could he also be a hidden yin criminal?

Under whose order were those water bandits searching for him?

As Li Yan was deep in thought, his ears suddenly picked up on a subtle movement.

Outside on the wharf, the cacophony was growing louder and louder without him knowing.

Voices like a tide coming from a distance.

"Is this the treasure ship of Immortal Li?"

"Young Master Yu was cured by Young Hero Li! A divine doctor!"

"My mother has been paralyzed for three years, pleading with Immortal Li to perform an Immortal Law to save a life—!"

"Make way! Make way in the front! My child is vomiting black blood—!"

"Bang! Bang bang!"

The hull transmitted subtle vibrations and sounds of slapping, clearly a crowd was slapping the ship's side panels.

"Crash——"

Something toppled a bamboo basket stacked on goods at the dock.

Women's cries, old people's pleas, children's screams, youthful men's impatient roars sounded simultaneously.

"Clang!"

The front cabin door was suddenly flung open, bringing with it damp mist and river breezes.

The first to step into the cabin was Wang Daoxuan.

At this moment, the Daoist appeared a bit disheveled, the hem of his broad Daoist robe was spattered with mud, sweat beaded on his forehead.