Suspicion

The next day.

Under the bright sun, Mo Qi finished his morning cultivation and came to the reception hall of the Hall of Offerings.

Except for the Offerings who were out on missions, everyone else was present.

Including the old man in the green robe, there were six people in total.

The Pockmarked Monk.

A fat man dressed in embroidered silk, round like a wealthy gentleman.

A silent, downcast middle-aged man.

A beautiful woman wearing a silk skirt and gauze, looking about thirty years old.

The last person stroked the small mustache at the corner of his mouth, his eyes slightly narrowed, scanning over Mo Qi.

The six people had clearly already communicated with each other and were not surprised by Mo Qi's arrival.

Perhaps yesterday, they had already been discussing how to deal with this high-ranking member of the Five Spirits Sect from the Prefecture City.

Mo Qi's eyes contained Magic Power as he observed everyone's reactions and looked for someone similar to Li Qing Feng.

To his surprise, although these people had faint traces of Sha Qi, killing intent, Ghost Qi, Yin Qi, and other impure auras, they were very weak, incomparable to the Demonic Cultivator from that day.

"Let me introduce everyone, this is Fellow Daoist Mo, a high-ranking member of the Five Spirits Sect and the Guardian Immortal Master of Eight Directions Prefecture City." Lu Chengyi cupped his hands and smiled as he introduced him to everyone.

The remaining five people glanced at each other, then cupped their hands and praised, "Fellow Daoist Mo."

"I don't deserve such praise."

Mo Qi returned the greeting, not becoming arrogant just because he was from a Sect.

One must know that his strength was not top-tier among these Rogue Cultivators, and he also needed to ask them for things, so his attitude should be better to avoid being accused of the Five Spirits Sect bullying others with their power.

"I'll be frank, Eight Directions Prefecture City..." Mo Qi repeated the words he had said to Lu Chengyi to everyone.

However, he omitted the powerful effect of the Venerable Soul Banner during the process, focusing on describing how formidable the Demonic Cultivator was.

Anyway, after the Demonic Cultivator died, his Spiritual Light dissipated, so they couldn't judge his personal strength.

Therefore, Mo Qi only requested to examine the Demonic Cultivator's cultivation methods and Magic Tools, and intended to take one.

He couldn't do a good deed and leave no name, letting the people in Liang Capital's Hall of Offerings who didn't contribute get all the spoils of war.

Even if there were objections, it should have been the two Offerings who died that day who had objections.

The group looked at each other, and then Lu Chengyi spoke on behalf of everyone, "The bodies of the two deceased Offerings and the Demonic Cultivator have been buried. The cultivation methods and Magic Tools they left behind have entered the Hall of Offerings' Treasury, and there are records to check."

"The accounts of the Treasure Pavilion are managed by Fellow Daoist Liu."

Hearing the old man in the green robe mention him, the round fat man smiled and took out an account book from his Storage Talisman.

With Magic Power infused, the account book immediately projected a magnified phantom, forming floating text with flickering light.

"Recorded last month."

"Fellow Daoist Wen and Fellow Daoist Zhu passed away. Their Storage Talismans contained two cultivation method books and one technique each."

"One Low-Grade Magic Tool Soul-Capturing Bell, and one damaged Low-Grade Magic Tool Tortoise Shell."

Although the Tortoise Shell's protective ability was shattered by Tu Shan Jun, its main body only had cracks, so it was still fine as a protective armor.

It had just fallen from a Low-Grade Magic Tool to a Pseudo Magic Tool.

It could no longer be activated with Magic Power, making its usefulness seem limited.

"Tiered Demonic Beast leg bone, Snake Orchid Grass, one bottle of Untiered Energy Gathering Pill."

"A total of three Spirit Stones."

"Various mundane items and dozens of Taels of broken silver. As both had no descendants, these are temporarily stored in the Hall of Offerings."

"An unknown Demonic Cultivator had one Mid-Grade Magic Tool Sword Hairpin, one cultivation method, one Tiered Talisman, two Untiered Yin Pearls, and one set of Untiered Tiger Bones."

These were the remaining items from the three people.

Mo Qi's expression was slightly surprised. The Sword Hairpin that the Demonic Cultivator hadn't used was actually a Mid-Grade Magic Tool, just like his Wooden Sword.

It seemed the Demonic Cultivator no longer had the Magic Power to use his Flying Sword that day.

Otherwise, the outcome would have been hard to say.

However, among the recorded items, the Venerable Soul Banner was surprisingly absent.

Mo Qi's expression flickered, then returned to his usual impassive look. He scanned around, not seeing any surprised expressions on anyone's faces.

If it were one or two people with such expressions, it would be fine, but all six were like this.

A single Mid-Grade Magic Tool was enough for Rogue Cultivators to fight over, let alone the Venerable Soul Banner, which was basically a sure High-Grade Magic Tool.

They couldn't possibly still be sitting at the same table.

Could it be that they didn't discover the Venerable Soul Banner? The thought had just entered Mo Qi's mind when he dismissed it. The Venerable Soul Banner was a Magic Tool; how could a Qi Cultivator not recognize it?

Either someone had embezzled the Venerable Soul Banner, or the Venerable Soul Banner had simply not fallen into their hands.

It could have been lost along the way or mistakenly taken by someone else. It was not impossible that the person who took the Venerable Soul Banner was knowledgeable.

While Mo Qi observed the crowd, they were also observing him.

A month had passed, and the ownership of the Mid-Grade Magic Tool, the Sword Hairpin, had still not been decided.

They all wanted to claim it for themselves.

Yet, none of them had enough resources to trade for it.

Ranking by seniority was clearly not feasible, and in terms of combat strength, the strongest among them was only at the Qi Condensation Sixth Layer.

Qi Condensation Late Stage cultivators were unwilling to remain in the mundane world as so-called Enshrinements.

Receiving only a few Spirit Stones from the dynasty each year while delaying their cultivation was not appealing.

Since those individuals had already reached the late stage, they intended to advance further, reach perfection, and then seek opportunities for enlightenment.

Seeing Mo Qi arrive, the crowd instantly united against a common enemy. As long as Mo Qi asked about the Magic Sword Hairpin, they would surely stand on the same front to stop him.

Mo Qi pondered for a long time before deciding to ask, "Are there any omissions?"

"Esteemed..." A Rogue Cultivator among the group just cupped his hands and began to refuse, only to realize he seemed to have misheard something.

The beautiful woman quickly took over the conversation: "If the esteemed one doesn't believe us, you may open the Treasury to verify."

"The Treasury is enveloped by a formation and has three doors, requiring three keys to open. This old man is not talented, but I am keeping the Gold Key for everyone," the old man in the green robe introduced with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, who manages the accounts, is keeping the Silver Key."

The round cultivator who had used his Magic Power to display the ledger nodded towards Mo Qi.

With a change in the hand seal, the ledger flew directly back into his hand from mid-air, and the light that had just been manifested also dissipated.

"I am keeping the Copper Key."

The tall, thin cultivator with a goatee said.

As he spoke, he reached out and stroked his beard, his expression flickering, his thoughts seemingly drifting elsewhere.

During this time, the only ones who hadn't spoken were the taciturn middle-aged man.

And the Pockmarked Monk who had been silently chanting scriptures.

Mo Qi shook his head and did not continue the conversation along that line.

They were just saying it as a formality.

Opening the Treasury would only offend more people.

Furthermore, since no one mentioned the Venerable Soul Banner, it was impossible for it to have been left in the Treasury.

Even if one person had poor eyesight and didn't recognize the Magic Tool, how could so many people be mistaken?

This matter still needed to be investigated from the source.

Mo Qi felt it was possible that the Rogue Cultivator who first came into contact with the corpse had concealed the Venerable Soul Banner.

While the Mid-Grade Sword Hairpin was tempting, it couldn't compare to the Venerable Soul Banner.

"May I ask which senior received the corpse that day?"

Everyone's gaze followed Mo Qi's words to Lu Chengyi. He didn't evade the question but naturally cupped his hands and said, "It was this humble Daoist. I received it that day with a young attendant."

Since there was a witness, it could naturally withstand scrutiny.

Later, accompanied by Lu Chengyi, they went to the cemetery and saw the two Enshrinements and the Demonic Cultivator's unmarked grave.

Evidently, there was no gain.

Mo Qi also didn't plan to open the coffin for verification. If the Venerable Soul Banner was truly still on the Demonic Cultivator's person, burying it in the grave was better than it appearing outside.

In the end, this matter was left unresolved.

Mo Qi obtained the Low-Grade Magic Tool, the Soul-Capturing Bell, and the six Spirit Stones contributed by the six individuals. As the sun set, he got into the carriage and headed back to Eight Directions Prefecture City.

The Prefecture City couldn't be left unattended.

Moreover, a talisman order from the Sect arrived, falling into Mo Qi's hands.

Mo Qi now had a splitting headache. Since he hadn't reported the appearance of the Demonic Cultivator, he would probably be reprimanded.

Now, there were no leads to investigate.

Since the Venerable Soul Banner was already missing, he might as well let it go; it seemed they were fated not to meet.

As soon as Mo Qi left, the Rogue Cultivators also dispersed.

Everyone had their suspicions, but they felt they couldn't grasp any leads and left with heavy hearts.

The tall, thin cultivator with the goatee who held the Copper Key pondered.

Returning to his residence, he thought about the unusual behavior of that esteemed cultivator from the morning.

"When he heard about the Mid-Grade Sword Hairpin, he wasn't surprised. And his questions were mostly related to the Demonic Cultivator, as if the Demonic Cultivator should have possessed something, and he was looking for that thing."

"Perhaps it was a scripture."

"Or maybe it was a treasure."

Stroking his beard, the cultivator took out the scripture from his Storage Talisman.

In truth, he was quite nervous. Everyone had seen the Blood Fiend Great Method, but they kept their distance due to its side effects.

The Blood Fiend Great Method had some similarities to his own cultivation method, which was why he had bought the original copy for half a Spirit Stone.

He had originally thought that the prominent figure would ask to examine it, and he had been on pins and needles all morning. To his surprise, the person had arrived in a hurry and left just as quickly.

"Blood Fiend Great Method, a cultivation method of the Blood Fiend Sect."

"Contains two magic arts: Spiritual Light Dharma Eye and Banner Control."

"Nothing particularly strange."

The bearded Cultivator flipped through the cultivation method.

The words "Blood Fiend Sect" suddenly caught his eye.

"A Demonic Cultivator of the Blood Fiend Sect, how could he be a Sword Cultivator?"

"Could it be that he has another Magic Tool?"

"Furthermore, that Magic Sword, its Spiritual Light shines brightly, unlike a Demonic Path Magic Tool."

"Could it be that he has a main Magic Tool?"

The bearded Cultivator suddenly sat up straight.

If the Demonic Cultivator's main Magic Tool hadn't been taken by the Five Spirits Sect Cultivator, then it must still be on the Demonic Cultivator.

"Old Man Lu was the first to receive the news."

"Could it be that Old Man Lu embezzled it?"