Mysterious and Powerful

These more than ten flying artifacts were all refined from dark, gloomy root clumps.

These root clumps retained their original forms, each being about twenty feet long and wide. The stumps were rotten, and the roots of varying thickness clawed and flailed like octopus tentacles.

However, this flailing, combined with the wisps of dark light constantly flowing out, possessed a kind of ferocious and violent aesthetic, perfectly suited for these bandits who lay in ambush.

The rotten stumps were hollowed inward, forming natural seats.

Furthermore, these root clumps emitted a subtle, crisp medicinal fragrance.

On these peculiar flying artifacts were nearly twenty cultivators.

Before the black-clothed female cultivator spoke, the faces of these cultivators were filled with anticipation, greed, excitement, smugness, and mockery.

When these black crystal swords pierced and shattered the vital energy laws around them, instantly penetrating these peculiar flying artifacts, their expressions remained unchanged.

The appearance of these black crystal swords could best be described with the word "explosion."

They were simply too fast.

So fast, like a destructive force, that the cultivators couldn't even react effectively.

So fast that everything seemed like a frozen scene.

So fast that even the expressions on their faces couldn't change in time.

Puff, puff, puff, puff...

Shattered root fragments and torn limbs rained down, breaking the frozen tableau.

The giant black crystal swords, crisscrossing in the air, remained perfectly still.

The scattered roots and flesh falling among these motionless black crystal swords created a breathtaking scene.

"Ah!"

A wave of horrified screams erupted.

Seven figures shot out in all directions.

With just this one strike, the black crystal swords had shattered the flying artifacts these cultivators were using, and simultaneously killed most of them.

The black-clothed female cultivator sneered and made no further move.

Qing Xu, standing before her, had no shadow within the mass of black clouds. But now, a black shadow flowed out from behind him and split into seven.

Faint black shadows rushed out of the black clouds, transforming into seven wisps of black smoke in the air.

These seven wisps of black smoke were extremely faint, seeming as if they could dissipate at any moment, yet within a single breath, they each caught up to one of the seven figures fleeing in different directions.

Five of the black smoke wisps landed directly on the backs of five individuals and then instantly dispersed.

The sight of the faint black smoke falling and vanishing was as if unseen people had taken a puff of black smoke and gently exhaled it onto the backs of these five, with no terrifying surge of power.

But these five immediately fell straight down like logs.

The remaining two cultivators were so terrified they couldn't even make a sound.

They had never even heard of such a technique, and it seemed that all their protective artifacts were useless against this black smoke.

At that moment, the two wisps of black smoke pursuing them had already passed over their heads and were now in front of them.

These two wisps of black smoke suddenly transformed not far in front of them, forming a smoky, grinning black face.

The two cultivators trembled all over, frozen in mid-air, no longer daring to move.

"Die if you don't laugh, will you laugh or not?" the black-clothed female cultivator's voice rang out again.

These two cultivators clearly lacked the courage of "better to die with honor than live in shame." They immediately forced out smiles that were uglier than crying.

Among the cultivators who could safely live out their lives in a sect, there might be fools, but among these evil cultivators who lived by their wits, there were no fools.

Both of them knew very well that the only reason they were still alive while everyone else was dead was because they were the two with the highest cultivation among this group.

In such evil cultivator gangs that relied on plundering to cultivate, the highest cultivators were often the leaders.

One of them was named Bai Shuilán, and the other was Kong Mengzhu.

Both were at the first level of the Golden Core stage.

Among the cultivators who had just died, there were five at the Foundation Establishment stage, including one at the ninth level and two at the eighth level!

It was easy for them to ambush two or three Golden Core True Persons from Lesser Jade Continent, but who would have thought that their strength could be so easily dealt with by just two people without any effort?

They also hadn't expected that the other party would act without a word, and kill them so decisively and swiftly.

This kind of crushing defeat from entirely different levels, the overwhelming killing intent when the crystal swords suddenly appeared... they couldn't even imagine what kind of existence they had provoked.

"How should I address you two fellow cultivators?"

The black cloud slowly descended, stopping before the two Golden Core cultivators whose faces had turned ashen.

The black cloud parted like a curtain, revealing the figures of the black-clothed female cultivator and Qing Xu. However, the black tree within the black cloud was nowhere to be seen.

The moment these two Golden Core cultivators saw the black-clothed female cultivator and Qing Xu, they felt a chilling sensation, as if cold thorns were about to pierce through their scalps.

Mysterious and powerful.

Even standing right in front of them, with their cultivation, they couldn't sense the cultivation level of these two.

"Bai Shuilán," said the Golden Core cultivator, his face gaunt and appearing to be in his fifties.

"Kong Mengzhu," another Golden Core cultivator chimed in immediately. He was short, only five feet tall, with very regular features, looking to be in his thirties. Setting aside his height, he could have been considered a handsome man.

"You ask," the black-clothed female cultivator suddenly turned and smiled, saying to Qing Xu, "I always feel that someone like you, who doesn't lie and is so serious, has more deterrent power when asking questions at a time like this."

Bai Shuilán and Kong Mengzhu, the two Golden Core cultivators, broke out in a cold sweat again.

Why would they need to talk about deterrent power at a time like this?

"I know three Soul Searching Techniques, but I've always thought the Soul Searching Technique is much better used on the dead. Do you two know why?" Qing Xu asked, looking at the two Golden Core cultivators with no emotion on his face.

The corners of the mouths of these two Golden Core cultivators twitched slightly.

They didn't know how to answer.

"Because the Soul Searching Technique can only strip memories, it cannot obtain the guesses and deductions of the living themselves," Qing Xu said, looking at the two Golden Core cultivators. "Do you understand what I mean now?"

"We understand," Bai Shuilán said with a wry smile.

This was essentially saying: confess everything properly, preferably drawing your own conclusions and adding your own guesses and deductions, otherwise, the other party would just use the Soul Searching Technique directly.

Moreover, he could tell that the other party wasn't trying to scare them deliberately.

Although Qing Xu had only said a few simple sentences, the air of naturalness about him made Bai Shuilán realize that, given the other party's status, there was no intention of playing games.

Qing Xu merely glanced at him and said nothing more.

"We were used."

Bai Shuilán spoke immediately, and his first sentence truly contained his own genuine guess.

"We ambushed you here because of the Yin Thunder Umbrella."

"We received the news right after you left Blackwater Market. When we got the message, we didn't think much of it. The message said you might be one Foundation Establishment cultivator and one Golden Core cultivator. Although being able to trade directly with Exotic Sources meant you must come from an extraordinary Sect, the Yin Thunder Umbrella alone was worth the risk. Moreover, we thought the treasures you carried were far more than just the Yin Thunder Umbrella."

Bai Shuilán spoke several sentences in a row and couldn't help but smile wryly. "Thinking back now, there are many suspicious points. The message seemed to arrive faster than usual, and your movements were judged too precisely. It was as if the person who sent the message knew in advance that you would be passing through here."

"Who passed the message to you?" Qing Xu asked.

"Huang Pu Yun, the Workshop Master of Thousand Absolute Pavilion. Thousand Absolute Pavilion is in White Grass Market, and within White Grass Market, including Thousand Absolute Pavilion, there are four or five shops specializing in selling and relaying this kind of information for profit." Bai Shuilán explained in detail, still feeling it wasn't enough, and added, "I was originally a rogue cultivator in White Grass Market, so I'm very familiar with those people. White Grass Market is a medium-sized market in the Lesser Jade Continent, but businesses like the one we're involved in are done the most and the best there."

Qing Xu nodded and glanced at the black-clothed female cultivator.

The black-clothed female cultivator knew he meant he had asked enough. So, she smiled slightly and looked at Bai Shuilán, asking, "Then, regarding Old Ancestor Tong Hui's tribulation, the number of pursuers who showed up was extraordinary. Do you know the reason?"

"Someone also leaked the news in advance," Bai Shuilán said. "We all received the news beforehand, but the more people went to that place, the less opportunity we had, so we wouldn't go to pick up any benefits."

"Then, in your opinion, if we were to go to White Grass Market, would it be possible to find out who leaked the message?" the black-clothed female cultivator asked after thinking for a moment.

Bai Shuilán smiled wryly and said, "I think, with the identities of you two fellow cultivators, tracing the source shouldn't be difficult. Unless..."

"Unless someone cuts the vine first," the black-clothed female cultivator said lightly. "That doesn't matter either. It seems we can indeed make a trip to White Grass Market."

Qing Xu said, "We can go."

Bai Shuilán and Kong Mengzhu, who had remained silent, suddenly became tense. They had a premonition that their lives were on the line.

But what they never expected was that the black-clothed female cultivator suddenly seemed to remember something, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at them, asking, "What level of artifact is the Yin Thunder Umbrella?"

The two of them were baffled, but neither dared to hesitate. They both replied, "A Cosmos Grade Spirit Treasure. Based on its performance in that Heavenly Tribulation, it's probably a Spirit Treasure between Cosmos Grade third and fifth rank."

"Hahahaha..." What they expected even less was that as soon as they finished saying "Cosmos Grade Spirit Treasure," the black-clothed female cultivator burst into laughter, shaking with mirth. "Cosmos Grade Spirit Treasure, hahahaha."

Bai Shuilán and Kong Mengzhu felt their skin crawl from the laughter, while Qing Xu watched the black-clothed female cultivator with a calm expression.

Although he should be used to her wicked sense of humor, at times like these, it was truly unbearable.