Traces Revealed

For a moment, all sorts of Sword Qi, fist force, blade energy, Divine Arts, and incantations danced wildly in the sky. Although their power was not as great as the battle of Void Returning on the other side, they were still more dangerous. After all, Si Ming and Ju Beichen did not believe that the two of them could kill the Barbarian King by joining forces. Chidahu was also waiting for the situation to turn around and always prioritized defense. Both sides held back and did not enter a state of final battle to the death.

In contrast, the chaotic battles between Nascent Spirit Transformation are fraught with danger of death. Fortunately, both sides share the same goal: to give something away to someone else rather than to seize it for themselves. Therefore, there is some room for maneuver when they make their moves.

In the end, the combined forces of Su State and Li State had more men and quickly gained the upper hand in the battle, intercepting and suppressing all the Barbarian Race warriors. Xunan and his group took the opportunity to make their move, forming a Buddhist mudra to draw the Juntian Divine Sword over.

Song Jingping leaped forward and caught the falling divine sword.

At this moment, he became the focus of everyone's attention. Both the Li State and the Barbarian Race awaited him to inherit the divine sword's legacy, join their side, and decisively change the situation. For this reason, everyone unanimously suspended the battle and silently awaited the final outcome.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Song Jingping showed no sign of panic. He reached out and grasped the blade, slashing it with his blood to cover the sword. Then, he activated the royal refining technique, closed his eyes, and communicated with the sword spirit.

Seeing that everything was progressing smoothly as planned, the monks, including Xunan, breathed a sigh of relief while secretly gathering their True Qi. Their eyes were fixed on the Barbarian Race powerhouses, sharp and resolute, seemingly waiting for Song Jingping's order to launch a general attack. In reality, they were already preparing to attack the powerful figures of the Li State beside them.

A short while later, the ritual ended, and Song Jingping opened his eyes. A complex and indescribable expression appeared on his face, a scene that was interpreted in various ways by others.

Chidahu sneered inwardly, his eyes fixed on Ju Beichen, waiting for Song Jingping to launch One Sword so he could seize the opportunity to attack from both sides and severely injure him. After that, defeating Mad Ink would be much easier.

Ultimately, these Su State were merely helpers invited by Mu Wu, and had no obligation to serve the Li State. If the situation were to deteriorate rapidly, their retreat and escape would be understandable.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Song Jingping took a deep breath, then declared with righteous indignation, "Barbarian King, your end has come!"

Chapter 890: Clues Revealed

Chidahu initially thought that Song Jingping was trying to lower the guard of the Li State and Su State by deliberately criticizing him and then taking action, but he quickly realized that something was wrong.

Song Jingping hesitated to launch his "backstabbing," and the Buddhist School masters showed no mercy. Even if he could temporarily withstand the combined attack of Si Ming and Ju Beichen, his men wouldn't be able to withstand the three-way assault. The situation was rapidly becoming precarious. "Ah!"

A scream rang out as Eagle King Burigude was unable to withstand the combined attack of Xia Guanxue and Ying Zhou. He was caught off guard and had both arms severed by the Conquest Demon Saber, blood splattering in the air.

Chidahu immediately made a decisive move, channeling his inner energy to unleash two powerful palm strikes, forcing back Si Ming and Ju Beichen was taking sides. He then pushed his Cultivation Body to its peak, and a vast, malevolent Vicious Qi that seemed to connect heaven and earth surged up from the void behind him, instantly transforming into the phantom of a giant Kun.

"The Kunpeng soars out of the sea, piercing the stars!"

The giant Kun opened its mouth, instantly devouring all the Primal Qi within a hundred miles. The energy transformed into endless black lightning within the Kun's mouth, twisting and dancing wildly. Then, a pillar of lightning that illuminated the heavens and the earth shot out in the horrified gazes of countless people.

Faced with the ultimate move of the Void Returning Realm, Ju Beichen stopped pretending. His expression turned solemn, and he also channeled his Cultivation Body to its peak. The righteous energy around him transformed into a bright and dazzling river of starlight, which rushed towards him.

"As night deepens, the moon sets, and the Milky Way turns!"

The Milky Way is sometimes divided and sometimes joined, scattered and flowing. If you count carefully, you will find that there are 360 stars, which is the number of the celestial sphere. However, these stars are not large. Some are like mountains, dazzling and bright. Some are as small as houses, soft and faint. Some are as fine as dust, almost imperceptible. Thirty-six stars form three rings similar to the orbits of planets, interlocking with each other.

Si Ming wanted to yell "Get out of the way and let me handle this!" After all, this kind of light cannon-type move was best countered with "Return Evil, Turn Radiance, Shift the Stars." However, he and Ju Beichen had no tacit understanding. In a duel between strong people, the opportunity to fight is fleeting. Before he could even speak, Ju Beichen had already made his move. Helpless, he could only change his move.

"With a sword drawn, stars race across ten thousand miles, slaying all!"

The triple star rings generated by Ju Beichen's energy dissipated most of the lightning pillar, reducing its size to less than one-fifth of its original size. Si Ming's magnificent Sword Qi followed, splitting the lightning pillar in two. Its remaining force continued to strike the illusory Kun fish.

The moment the Kun fish was struck by the sword, it let out a roar that resounded through the heavens and earth. However, instead of exploding in mid-air, it transformed into a Peng bird and swooped down with lightning speed. Its wings, as wide as mountains, swept over all its subordinates, and then it turned and fled.

"Chase!"

Without hesitation, Ju Beichen transformed into a beam of light and sped off in a tail-to-tail motion.

Si Ming hesitated for a moment, shook his head, and did not follow. Firstly, he did not think he could catch up with the Void Returning Great Grandmaster was determined to escape. Secondly, his public persona was that he was after the treasure, not to deal with the Barbarian King. Although to discerning people it was a fragile facade, wearing it made him speak with confidence, and others could not wrong him without evidence.

Moreover, he had another question.

"Why didn't you intervene?" Si Ming questioned Song Jingping.

If Song Jingping had intervened, the three of them might have been safe, and the Barbarian King might have been captured. If they had known things would go wrong on his side, it would have been better for Si Ming to confront the Barbarian King directly, Ju Beichen ambushed him halfway. That way, the chances of killing him would actually be higher. Song Jingping took a deep breath, raised the Juntian Divine Sword in his hand, and said with a solemn expression, "This sword is fake. I suspect the Barbarian King switched it with another sword, deliberately using it as bait to lure us into a trap."

"So you can't activate it?"

"Since the sword is a waist-grade weapon, it naturally doesn't have the legendary effects," Song Jingping said calmly.

Although the other party's logic was sound, Si Ming couldn't help but have some doubts when he recalled the strange phenomena that occurred when the divine sword was created. Even if the Barbarian King was making a fake, he had gone to great lengths; the quality of the counterfeit was almost as good as the real thing.

"In that case, give me this sword," Si Ming said.

Song Jingping's heart tightened, and he said, "Why? That's not what we agreed on before?"

Si Ming said matter-of-factly, "The agreement states that the Juntian Divine Sword will be returned, but what you have is just some unknown weapon. It's the same no matter who has it. Since that's the case, you should at least fulfill my role setting. Although it's just an excuse that anyone with eyes can see through, it should still have a beginning and an end, leaving no room for criticism."

Song Jingping quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind. If he insisted on not giving it up now, he would seem guilty. But if he did give it up... unless the other party could find a true member of the royal bloodline to activate the sword, as long as he insisted that the sword was of the highest quality, no one could refute him. Finding a specific person among the masses was like finding a needle in a haystack. There was no such thing as a coincidence. Most importantly, if the other party insisted on taking it by force, he couldn't keep it either. Since the result was the same, he might as well be open and honest, and he could also gain favor by doing so.

"What you say isn't entirely without merit. Very well, I'll hand this sword over to you, but be careful that the Barbarian King might have tampered with it."

"Thanks for reminding me."

Si Ming took the sword from the other party, flicked it with his finger, and found that the quality of the blade was extremely high, at least a divine weapon.

Seemingly sensing Si Ming's thoughts, Song Jingping quickly explained, "Since the Barbarian King is setting up bait, he naturally wouldn't use something so easily identifiable as inferior. This sword must either be a divine weapon or a replica made from top- heavenly materials and earthly treasures."

Upon hearing this, Si Ming couldn't help but glance at the other person. Song Jingping was immediately alarmed, realizing that his excessive concern and subsequent words had aroused suspicion.

In fact, Si Ming did have his doubts. Initially, he didn't think in this direction because Song Jingping's explanation was reasonable. The Barbarian King did indeed have the motive and ability to do so. If he didn't come to help, with Ju Beichen Cultivation Body, he probably wouldn't be able to stop the Barbarian King who was at the height of his power. But some things can't withstand close scrutiny. Even if he didn't think about it for a while due to habitual thinking, he could immediately realize the problem with just a little reminder.

The sword is fake, the person True Person; the sword and the person are fake; both the person and the sword are fake. Si Ming instantly thought of three possibilities, and the possibility of "the person is fake" was very high.

However, he didn't reveal what it mattered to him whether the other party was of Li State blood or not.

He's not Bao Qingtian in Chinese history), so he has no interest in things like "switching the prince for a cat." At most, he'll remind Murong Qing not to mistake a relative for someone else.

He chuckled twice, startling Wei Jingping, who had to force himself to remain calm but said nothing afterward.

A moment later, Ju Beichen returned wounded, his clothes stained with blood, but with an undisguised smile on his face.

Si Ming stepped forward curiously and asked, "Could it be that the Grand Tutor successfully killed the Barbarian King, allowing him to escape his calamity?"