The county magistrate looked at Lu Yang with gritted teeth, but he was helpless.

He really didn’t want to reveal this matter, but things had come to this point, he had to speak whether he wanted to or not.

The head of the Mo family looked on with a schadenfreude expression, taking pleasure in others’ misfortune.

The county magistrate sighed heavily: “Please, everyone, come with me.”

Everyone followed the county magistrate to the surface, heading straight for the mine.

“The mine collapse is a false news released to the public, there’s another hidden truth inside.”

The county magistrate, familiar with the path, led everyone into the end of the mine tunnel, pressed a hidden mechanism on the wall, and with a rumbling sound, the stone door opened, leading to the interior of the mine.

This was an internal passage known only to a few, secretly set up with a formation to avoid divine sense scanning. If scanned by divine sense, what would be seen is a scene simulated by the formation.

The head of the Mo family became serious, the information he had gathered was correct, there really was a secret passage.

The further they walked into the passage, the stronger the pungent smell of blood became, as if a major murder had occurred ahead, with bodies piled up like mountains and blood drained.

When Lu Yang walked out of the cave and came to an open area, the smell of blood was even more overwhelming.

Fortunately, Lu Yang quickly adapted to the smell of blood and saw the scene before him clearly.

In the middle of the open area was a large pit, filled with blood-red, countless stones protruding from the blood-colored lake, extremely bright, all of the same quality as the Phoenix Blood Stone that Meng Jingzhou had bought.

At the edge of the pit, a few people were moving around, occasionally pouring blood into the blood-colored lake.

“This, this is…”

The county magistrate explained helplessly: “This is the production of Phoenix Blood Stone.”

“Is the Phoenix Blood Stone fake?” Meng Jingzhou was surprised, did I buy a fake for 500,000?

Li Haoran shook his head: “No, the blood in the pit is all phoenix blood. I’ve seen my master use it when refining tools, but the quality of the phoenix blood my master used is higher than here.”

“County Magistrate, who are these people?” A red-eyed youth walked over, with red feathers around his neck.

He frowned at the county magistrate, dissatisfied with his bringing outsiders here.

The county magistrate sighed: “I have no choice, if I didn’t bring them here, I would be the one in trouble.”

The red-eyed youth was about to explode, bringing outsiders meant exposing the matter, how would he explain to the clan leader when he went back?

“These are from the Seek Tao Sect, this is my grandson, the head of the Mo family.”

“Get out!”

“Seek Tao Sect?” The red-eyed youth looked at Lu Yang and the others in surprise, his expression changing constantly, as if recalling something unpleasant, his attitude was no longer arrogant.

“What is Yun Zhi to you?”

“She is my senior sister.”

“What is Gan Tian to you?”

“She is my third senior sister.” Lu Yang answered.

His third senior sister, whom he had never met, was called Gan Tian, and she was currently practicing in the Demon Realm.

“So it’s the friends from Seek Tao Sect who came here for inspection, please come this way.” The red-eyed youth’s attitude did a complete 180, putting on a smile, friendly and cordial.

The county magistrate’s eye twitched, he had never seen the red-eyed youth be so friendly to him: “Let me introduce, this is Jiang Shan, a member of the Phoenix Clan.”

“May I ask if Senior Jiang Shan knows my senior sister and third senior sister…”

“Oh, calling me Senior Jiang Shan is too formal, just call me Little Jiang from now on.” For some reason, Jiang Shan was particularly friendly to Lu Yang.

“As for Senior Yun Zhi and Senior Gan Tian, they have been very kind to our Phoenix Clan, they have come to our clan to exchange ideas and guide our cultivation, I have also been fortunate to be guided.”

“Of course, if possible, I mean if possible, could you please go back and tell your senior sister and third senior sister, ask them not to come to our Phoenix Clan anymore, the Dragon Clan has a big place, they can go to the Dragon Clan.”

Lu Yang: “……”

Senior sister and third senior sister, what have you done in the Phoenix Clan?

Su Yiren was also curious, this was not like the proud Phoenix Clan described in the legends.

“I came here to find out what the Phoenix Blood Stone is all about.”

The county magistrate said: “Jiang Shan doesn’t know as much about this matter as I do, let me explain.”

“The matter dates back four thousand years. Four thousand years ago, a phoenix ancestor sat in meditation here, its blood soaked the mine, and the first batch of Phoenix Blood Stones appeared. The ancient people accidentally discovered the Phoenix Blood Stones, they were overjoyed and set up camp here, forming the rudiment of Luo Feng County.”

“About seven hundred years later, Phoenix Blood Stones became increasingly scarce and difficult to mine. The county magistrate at that time saw that this was not going well, without the Phoenix Blood Stones, the economic pillar of Luo Feng County would disappear, and the whole Luo Feng County would collapse.”

“So he secretly went to the Phoenix Clan, hoping to buy some phoenix blood to make a new batch of Phoenix Blood Stones.”

“At first, the Phoenix Clan did not agree, they were proud and untainted, unwilling to sell their blood to the county magistrate.”

“But when the county magistrate wrote out the income from selling Phoenix Blood Stones over the years and promised to give the Phoenix Clan 30% of the profits, the Phoenix Clan’s attitude changed dramatically.”

Everyone looked at Jiang Shan, the only Phoenix Clan member present.

Jiang Shan said righteously: “We have so many people in the Phoenix Clan, eating, clothing, housing and transportation all need spirit stones, what’s wrong with us earning some money to supplement the family by our own ability?”

For the first time, Lu Yang heard someone describe selling blood in such a fresh and refined way.

Lu Yang remembered what Li Haoran had said, “The Phoenix Clan is the most proud race in the Demon Clan, their blood is extremely precious, it’s as difficult as climbing to heaven for the Human Clan to obtain their blood.”

What a difficult climb to heaven.

The county magistrate glanced at Jiang Shan: “If you Phoenix Clan are so righteous, why do you insist on making the Phoenix Blood Stones look old, and absolutely not let outsiders see that they are freshly soaked?”Jiang Shan’s gaze shifted evasively, not daring to meet the eyes of the County Governor.

“The Phoenix Clan is willing to sell phoenix blood, but they demand secrecy. They don’t want anyone to find out. So, the County Governor before me researched how to quickly age the Phoenix Blood Stone.”

“Just like this.”

The County Governor casually picked up a piece from the pool of blood, cast a spell, and the originally vibrant Phoenix Blood Stone in his hand became dull and lifeless, as if it had gone through hundreds or thousands of years.

“Every few years, Luo Feng County would receive a batch of blood from the Phoenix Clan, soak the stones in it, and make Phoenix Blood Stones.”

“This has been going on for more than three thousand years, a secret passed down from one County Governor to the next.”

“Later, due to some unknown accident, a piece of unaged Phoenix Blood Stone was exposed. After several transactions, it was bought by the young master of the Meng family.”

“If an experienced artifact refiner saw that piece of Phoenix Blood Stone, they could guess that the Phoenix Blood Stones currently produced in Luo Feng County are all freshly made, and thus deduce the agreement between Luo Feng County and the Phoenix Clan.”

“If this matter were to be exposed, it would be embarrassing for both Luo Feng County and the Phoenix Clan. That’s why I’ve been trying to retrieve this piece of Phoenix Blood Stone. As for this Mo fellow, he had the same idea.”

“But now that things have come to this, and you all know the truth, there’s no point in retrieving it anymore.”

(End of Chapter)