Although Xing Ming and his group encountered some trouble, with their cultivation and keen perception, they managed to avoid it all from a distance.
But it was only after taking a large detour that they finally arrived at their destination.
"Black Forest Manor is in that forest. It's less than twenty li from here."
"The three of you can rest here and observe the surrounding situation with your Divine Sense."
"I'll go scout ahead and see if I can sneak in. If anything happens, I'll contact you immediately!" Xing Ming pointed to a continuous dense forest at the foot of the mountain and said via voice transmission. That was where Black Forest Manor was located.
At this moment, the four of them were being even more cautious.
Now that they were here, the first thing to do was to get a clear picture of the current situation. This place was only about seventeen or eighteen li away from Black Forest Manor.
As long as the other party didn't have a sect-protecting grand formation like Falling Star Valley's, an ordinary formation wouldn't be able to block Xing Ming's voice transmission.
So, it was feasible for him to go alone to gather information.
Worst-case scenario, even if the voice transmission was blocked and Xing Ming was trapped inside, a fight between Golden Core cultivators would shake the heavens and earth. It was impossible to completely block out the noise.
From a distance of a dozen or so li, Xuan Caijun and the other two could arrive almost instantly, without any delay in rescuing him.
The three of them would also use their Divine Sense to carefully probe the situation over at Black Forest Manor.
The only worry was that if the other party's protective formation was really powerful, their Divine Sense might not be able to penetrate the restrictions, and they wouldn't be able to learn the details. Someone would have to sneak in.
After Xing Ming left, the other three, without needing to be told, all extended their Divine Sense and followed him.
Black Forest Manor covered a vast area, about thirty li in length and width. Both inside and outside the manor, the forest was as dense as a woven tapestry.
A moment later, the three of them withdrew their Divine Sense in astonishment. Although Black Forest Manor had its restrictions active, and the formation was quite impressive, it was not fully activated.
This was a common practice for some small cultivation families and sects. Their spirit stones were limited, so how could they dare to keep their defensive formations active at all times?
That was an extravagance they could not afford.
Only a part of the manor had its defensive formation and anti-Divine Sense restrictions activated. Those places should be very important areas of Black Forest Manor.
Therefore, Xuan Caijun and the other two didn't use their Divine Sense to forcefully break through and probe the situation inside those areas, lest they alert the enemy. It seemed they could only place their hopes on Xing Ming.
However, an unexpected situation still appeared in the three's Divine Sense.
They actually sensed two extremely strong aura fluctuations from two different places in the manor.
"There are two Golden Core cultivators in the manor, one at the initial-stage and one at the mid-stage. They are not hiding their auras at all."
"If that Jiang Baibi's cultivation hasn't fallen, this means that Black Forest Manor should have at least three Golden Core cultivators!" Xuan Caijun transmitted his voice to the other two. His face showed astonishment. While they were probing just now, to avoid being detected by Jiang Baibi, they had only swept their Divine Sense over discreetly.
But the cultivators inside the manor were not hiding their auras, so their powerful presence was easily detected.
"This is no small family. This is a huge discrepancy from Senior Brother Xing Ming's previous intelligence."
"Black Forest Manor, with three Golden Core cultivators, is something even a second-rate sect might not have. Although their overall combat power may not match ours, under these circumstances, it will be several times harder to kill Jiang Baibi and retrieve the 'Seven-Colored Glazed Lamp'."
Feng Moru's face also became solemn. Everyone here knew how difficult it was to kill a Golden Core cultivator. This was precisely why Xing Ming had invited them, to join forces and kill the target in one fell swoop.
Now, let alone two more Golden Core cultivators, even one more could potentially break their encirclement.
And that Jiang Baibi was either a late-stage Golden Core or a Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. His methods would be even more extraordinary.
Li Yan, however, remained silent. He was pondering why Xing Ming's intelligence was so far off. Given Xing Ming's seasoned experience, this kind of situation should not have happened.
With this discovery, Xuan Caijun and the others, being masters in this, decided not to probe deeper into Black Forest Manor, fearing they might expose themselves.
Instead, Xuan Caijun alone released a sliver of Divine Sense to roam outside Black Forest Manor to be ready to support Xing Ming at any time. After all, his realm and cultivation were the highest here.
Just like that, they waited until the midnight hour, when Xuan Caijun's expression suddenly flickered.
"It might be Fellow Daoist Xing Ming returning!"
Not long after his voice transmission, a faint, almost invisible shadow arrived where they were and quickly entered the small illusion formation.
The illusory figure immediately solidified, revealing Xing Ming's appearance under the wary gazes of the three. After a sweep of their Divine Sense, their expressions relaxed.
Xing Ming did not look well. He glanced at the three of them.
"Things have gotten a bit troublesome!"
Xing Ming's opening words, as expected, brought bad news.
"This afternoon, we sensed two cultivators below the late-stage Golden Core in the manor. That shouldn't be Jiang Baibi; it doesn't match his realm."
"We didn't probe further after that, for fear of alerting them. Your intelligence was seriously flawed!" Xuan Caijun said bluntly. Xing Ming shook his head after hearing this, which confused the others even more.
"I infiltrated the manor and searched most of it, but I didn't find Jiang Baibi. Then I saw a place with extremely tight defenses. I estimated that Jiang Baibi was very likely there."
"I didn't dare to act rashly, so I hid nearby, waiting for an opportunity."
"I also sensed the two Golden Core cultivators you mentioned. Later, they also entered the heavily defended place I was watching."
"I had no way to follow them in, but after waiting for several hours, Jiang Baibi finally appeared. He was hiding in that heavily defended place."
"However, there were three Golden Core cultivators who came out with him, which means that besides what you sensed, there was another Golden Core cultivator in the manor."
"The aura fluctuation from Jiang Baibi is still at the late-stage Golden Core, but among the other three, there is also another late-stage Golden Core cultivator, the one who was hiding with Jiang Baibi."
"But the information I gathered before was definitely not like this..."
At this point, Xing Ming's face showed a pensive expression. It seemed this matter had truly exceeded his expectations.
Li Yan listened quietly to Xing Ming's voice transmission from the side.
'These old Golden Core cultivators are indeed deeply hidden, each with their own set of tricks.'
'There are at least two late-stage Golden Core experts in the manor, and one of them, Jiang Baibi, is a veteran Golden Core from Senior Brother Xing Ming's Master's era.'
'Xing Ming himself hasn't even reached the Pseudo-Nascent Soul Realm, yet he managed to hide for so long without any of them noticing. Just on this point, Xing Ming has hidden many of his own methods.'
"Fellow Daoist Xing Ming, how many times have you investigated Black Forest Manor before?" Feng Moru asked with a serious expression. They had asked this question before agreeing to help.
But because they knew Xing Ming's character well, knowing he was cautious and often planned before acting, they hadn't pressed for details on every question.
But the discrepancy in the situation today was too great. This already concerned their safety, so they had to ask clearly.
"Since I sensed the Seven-Colored Glazed Lamp, I have personally come here three times, and I've also had informants send messages several times. All indicated that Black Forest Manor only had one Golden Core cultivator."
Xing Ming's old face became serious. On this issue, he didn't want the other three to misunderstand, even if Zhang Ming was one of his own, he had to make it clear.
"Then there should be no problem. But why are there so many Golden Core cultivators here now? Could it be that Jiang Baibi sensed a crisis and found helpers?" Xuan Caijun's "beautiful" face was furrowed in a frown.
Cultivators walk a path against the heavens and will more or less have a sense of their own life and death crises. As for how strong this sense is, it depends on each person's cultivation, cultivation method, and even luck.
The reason cannot be explained in words; it is often just a feeling from the unseen world. So, what Xuan Caijun said was also very reasonable.
Xing Ming's old face showed hesitation. What Xuan Caijun said might not be untrue. If that were the case, then their trip this time would surely be in vain.
If they attacked forcefully, although they had a Pseudo-Nascent Soul Xuan Caijun on their side, they would definitely have to pay a price, and that price could be someone's death.
The difference in strength between the two sides was not too great now. If one side wanted to forcefully kill the other, and the other side was also prepared, a fight to the death would result in fatalities.
"Is there another possibility?"
At this moment, Li Yan suddenly spoke up.
"Junior Brother, what are your thoughts? Let's hear them."
Xing Ming was taken aback, then his spirits lifted slightly. Xuan Caijun and Feng Moru also turned to look at him, wondering what insights Zhang Ming had.
"Senior Brother, if you had a bad feeling and invited others to help, would you show your hand like this?"
"At most, this would only serve to deter the opponent, not the best way to solve the problem!"
Li Yan was very experienced in scheming against people. His shrewdness was no less than the few people in front of him.
It was just that Xing Ming and the others, confident in their cultivation, were originally of the mind that victory was assured. They thought that after arriving, they would quickly capture or kill Jiang Baibi and return with ease.
When the situation changed, they focused on how to explain the current events.
In fact, if they were given some time to calm down and change their mindset, they would also think of the problems therein.
After Li Yan's reminder, the three of them couldn't help but have their eyes light up.
Xing Ming immediately followed up.
"Of course, I would think of completely eliminating the enemy to prevent future trouble. I would act as usual on the surface but set up an ambush in secret to lure the opponent into a trap..."
"Junior Brother, what you said is very reasonable, and it fits the current situation even better!"
Xing Ming nodded repeatedly. He had already thought of some other possibilities.
"That is to say, the appearance of these extra Golden Core cultivators here should be a coincidence, or an accident."
"So, what could bring so many Golden Core cultivators together? What could they be plotting?"
"And this matter cannot be done by Jiang Baibi alone. This afternoon, they activated the defensive formations in some other places. The few of them were discussing this matter inside..."
Xuan Caijun quickly came to an analysis. He paused for a moment and then continued.
"Could it be that some rare treasure has appeared? Jiang Baibi can't handle it alone, so he could only invite experts to gather, and then go to some market or auction house together to get it..."
But before he finished, he denied this idea himself.
In that case, it would be better to prepare a large amount of spirit stones himself; the chances of obtaining it would be greater.
"For so many Golden Core cultivators to gather, it should be more reasonable to use their combat power, for example, to jointly besiege one person, like us."
"Or they found some rare treasure somewhere, and that place is too dangerous, so they have to find people to cooperate, and so on!"
Feng Moru gently waved the horsetail whisk in his hand and said slowly.
Xing Ming clapped his hands lightly.
"Correct, this analysis is very reasonable!"
"Hmm... If that's the case, then Jiang Baibi and the others won't stay in the manor for too long. They should be leaving in a day or two, maybe even tonight."
"So, as long as we follow them, we will still have a chance to kill this fellow."
"Agreed!"
"Then let's wait and see, and bide our time!"