"What? Take me there to have a look!"
Qiu Buping was filled with shock and suspicion.
Could it be that the two had drawn blades against each other and perished together in the end?
But when Qiu Buping arrived at the scene, he overturned all his previous deductions. The two corpses bore identical wounds. It was utterly impossible that they had killed each other; the signs clearly showed they had been slain by the same person.
"Damn it! This is infuriating!"
Qiu Buping hurried forward, his expression instantly turning cold.
At a glance, he could tell that Old Chong had been dead longer. Most likely, someone had killed Old Chong first, then assumed his identity and infiltrated the Demonic Cult's group before killing Old Li and fleeing.
He crouched down and carefully examined the wound on Old Chong's neck, his brows gradually knitting together.
His throat had been cut with a single sword stroke. The cut was astonishingly clean and even. It was highly likely that the killer was a top-tier sword expert, and the sword technique had been exceptionally fierce, which meant the technique he cultivated was certainly of no low grade. Looking at the lingering sword qi, it faintly carried the pure, nourishing aura cultivated by the righteous path. This showed that the killer was a righteous-path cultivator.
A righteous-path sword cultivator, and not a weak one.
"Who was it?!"
Qiu Buping ground his teeth in fury, racking his brains without reaching an answer.
His Cultivation Level was clearly not weak, so why had he not attacked openly? Why kill only two ordinary disciples before fleeing again?
"Investigate!"
Qiu Buping barked an order at the subordinates beside him.
Yet results were not something effort alone could produce. Even after Qiu Buping exhausted every method, he could not find a single clue Su Changqing had left behind, much less locate Su Changqing himself.
Meanwhile, while the Demonic Cult descended into chaos, Qingyun Sect's large group of disciples sent out for training also arrived at Nine Yin Mountain.
Led by Great Bamboo Peak's Peak Lord Tian Buyi and Little Bamboo Peak's Peak Lord Master Shui Yue, more than twenty Qingyun Sect disciples descended from their Flying Swords.
"Shuiyue, I noticed you had been frowning the entire way here and couldn't hide your concern. Is there something on Nine Yin Mountain that worries you?"
Tian Buyi voiced the curiosity in his heart to Shuiyue.
Shuiyue was usually a cold and detached person, unmoved by gain or loss. It was rare to see such worry on her face.
"I don't want to talk to you."
Shuiyue was deeply worried about Su Changqing and had no desire whatsoever to deal with the annoying Tian Buyi. She shot him a look and refused to answer.
Tian Buyi's face stiffened awkwardly after being rebuffed. Knowing that pressing further would only invite more humiliation, he stopped speaking to Shuiyue and turned toward the disciples.
"Disciples of each peak, form teams and train in Nine Yin Mountain. There are many demon beasts in these mountains, and you may use them to hone your Cultivation Level. But if you encounter high-ranking demon beasts, do not overestimate yourselves and provoke them. Seek my protection immediately."
"There are also members of the Demonic Cult in these mountains. Their numbers and strength are unknown. If you encounter them, bring back the weak ones alive. If they are strong, run first. At critical moments, do not hesitate to use your protective treasures."
"In short, your safety is the most important thing in this training. Do you understand the principle of bullying the weak and running from the strong?"
Tian Buyi instructed the disciples.
Still, why did that sound so strange?
"Understood, Martial Uncle Tian!"
The disciples bowed and nodded in response.
Then they dispersed and set off. Qingyun Sect's rules were strict in ordinary times, and disciples had few chances to leave the sect. Having finally gotten the opportunity to venture out for training, they were all brimming with excitement.
"Xueqi, let's go too!"
After the disciples dispersed, Shuiyue led Lu Xueqi into the mountains as well, inspecting the unusual signs around them while searching for Su Changqing.
Elsewhere, Qi Hao and Lin Jingyu of Dragon Head Peak traveled together.
"Senior Brother Qi, Master told us to find the Heavenly Treasure. Do you have any ideas?"
Lin Jingyu looked around eagerly, searching for something as he asked Qi Hao.
Before arriving, the two had already received orders from their master, Cang Song Zhenren: they had to be the first to find the Heavenly Treasure.
"I heard Master say that the Heavenly Treasure descended into the world accompanied by heavenly lightning. So I think we only need to look for somewhere that was struck by lightning. That would most likely be where the Heavenly Treasure descended."
Qi Hao also scanned their surroundings, searching for the Heavenly Treasure's location.
After hearing Qi Hao's analysis, Lin Jingyu nodded silently in agreement.
With that idea in mind, they went from searching aimlessly to having a direction, beginning to look for places along the way that had been struck by lightning.
Suddenly, while searching intently, Lin Jingyu spotted a bald patch in the forest. Several scattered trees nearby appeared to have been burned black by something.
He sprinted toward that spot.
"What is it, Jing Yu?"
Qi Hao had not reacted in time when Lin Jingyu suddenly ran off from his side. He hurried after him and saw him stop amid a stretch of forest.
"Senior Brother, look!"
Lin Jingyu stared at the sight before him and spoke to Qi Hao with a grave expression.
"What happened here?"
Following Lin Jingyu's indication, Qi Hao saw that the surrounding area was in utter disarray, as if it had undergone a battle. Trees had been sliced apart cleanly, while many others had been burned charcoal-black. At the center lay a silent black crater, surrounded by scorched earth.
"Senior Brother, the forest here has been destroyed, and there are burn marks inside the crater as well. Could this be where the Heavenly Treasure descended?"
Lin Jingyu did not need to point it out. Qi Hao had already guessed the same thing.
The two exchanged a glance and approached the crater together to examine it.
The crater was five or six meters deep, yet there was nothing inside except charred soil.
Where was the Heavenly Treasure they had heard so much about?
Could the Demonic Cult have already found it and taken it away?
"Senior Brother Qi, this is bad."
Lin Jingyu frowned tightly as he spoke to Qi Hao.
The same troubling thought arose in both their hearts. They had been the first to find the location, but the Heavenly Treasure itself had vanished without a trace.
The only possibility was that the Demonic Cult had found it first. If so, the matter was already beyond their control.
"Jing Yu, this is beyond our control now. We should return and report it to Martial Uncle Tian first."
Qi Hao also frowned as he made the suggestion to Lin Jingyu.
Lin Jingyu nodded. The two retraced their path, found Tian Buyi waiting where he had been, and told him everything they had discovered.
Tian Buyi had been lying beneath a tree with his eyes closed, asleep. Upon hearing Qi Hao and Lin Jingyu explain the matter, he sprang up from the ground.
"The Demonic Cult found the Heavenly Treasure first and took it away?"
"Take me there first."
Tian Buyi knew how important this matter was and hurried after the two of them to the crater.
Before you continue