"Utter nonsense!" Guangchengzi was the first to react. He shouted angrily, "Yun Xiao! You can eat whatever you like, but you can't make up whatever you like! When have we ever colluded with the Western Teachings? And how could Daoist Randeng possibly commit such a despicable act? Stop slandering us!"
Though he'd been hoping Zhao Gongming would die sooner rather than later, the Sect of Explanation absolutely couldn't take the blame for this!
"Slandering you?" Bi Xiao laughed in fury. "The evidence is right in front of you, and you still want to deny it?"
She raised high the Treasure Dropping Golden Coin she'd found at the scene, the one that belonged to Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao.
Do you recognize this?"
Guangchengzi and the others took a closer look, and their expressions changed.
"The Treasure Dropping Golden Coin? The magic treasure of Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao of Mount Wuyi?"
"That's right!" Bi Xiao said bitterly. "At the place where my eldest brother met with disaster, we found the aura of Saint Zhunti, as well as the aura of that old scoundrel Randeng's Qiankun Ruler! We also found the corpses of Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao there! The two of them were killed by that old scoundrel Randeng with the Ruler that Measures Heaven, in a single blow!"
"The witnesses and evidence are all here! What do you have to say for yourselves?"
At that, the immortals of the Sect of Explanation were utterly speechless.
They looked at one another, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Daoist Randeng... had really killed Zhao Gongming? And stolen his magic treasures?
The news hit them like a thunderbolt!
They'd always looked down on Randeng's character, but they'd never imagined he could do something so deranged, so despicable and shameless!
If word of this got out, what would become of the Sect of Explanation's reputation?
"This... There must be some misunderstanding!" Jiang Ziya hurriedly tried to explain. "We know what kind of person Daoist Randeng is. He would never..."
He trailed off, unable to finish.
Did they really know what kind of person Randeng was?
Well... he did seem capable of it.
"A misunderstanding?" Yun Xiao cut him off coldly. "I'll ask you just one thing: will you hand him over or not?"
Her patience was nearly exhausted.
"We... Where are we supposed to hand him over?" Guangchengzi was furious too. "Daoist Randeng isn't even in Xi Qi! We don't know where he went!"
"Good! Very good! You claim you don't know!"
Qiong Xiao shouted, her killing intent soaring into the heavens.
"I think you won't shed a tear until you see your own coffin! Since you refuse to hand him over, then today I'll tear down Xi Qi City and kill all you Sect of Explanation lackeys. That'll be a little interest on the debt you owe my eldest brother!"
Before she'd even finished speaking, she had already brought out a magic treasure.
It was a pair of golden scissors that transformed in midair into two Flood Dragons, coiling around each other. Their razor-sharp edges seemed capable of cutting through anything in heaven and earth as they came down hard on the city gate tower!
It was her Dao-proving spirit treasure—the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors!
"Not good!"
"Fall back!"
Guangchengzi and the others turned pale with fright. They could feel the terrifying power contained in the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors. In their current state, they had no hope of withstanding it!
Jiang Ziya was so scared his soul nearly left his body. He was merely a mortal who'd cultivated to immortality—when had he ever seen anything like this?
At the critical moment, just as the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors were about to cut through the tower and wipe out the immortals of the Sect of Explanation in one fell swoop—
"Vmmm—"
A thick, apricot-yellow curtain of light suddenly shone above Xi Qi City.
Ten thousand golden lotuses bloomed across it, shielding the entire city.
"Clang!!!"
The Golden Flood Dragon Scissors slammed into the apricot-yellow curtain with a deafening clash of metal.
The curtain shook violently, and hundreds of golden lotuses withered, but in the end, it still stopped the unstoppable strike.
On the city gate tower, True Man Yuding held a small flag in his hands.
The banner was apricot yellow, radiating an unfathomably profound aura.
It was the defensive supreme treasure bestowed by Venerable Yuanshi, one of the Five Innate Directional Flags, second only to the Myriad Heavens Auspicious Cloud in defensive power—the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner!
"Sect of Explanation! So you really are all in this together!"
Her strike had failed, and Qiong Xiao was even angrier. She recalled the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors and was about to attack again.
"Little sister, stop."
Yun Xiao held her back.
She looked at the apricot-yellow flag, then at the immortals of the Sect of Explanation on the tower. Their faces had gone pale, but they were still forcing themselves to remain composed. The killing intent in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a chilling calm.
"Fine. Very well."
"If you want to hide inside that tortoise shell, so be it."
"If you want to shield that murderer Randeng, so be it."
"I'd like to see how long you can keep hiding."
Yun Xiao slowly raised the Primordial Golden Dou in her hand and spoke coldly to the immortals of the Sect of Explanation on the tower.
"We three sisters will set up a great formation outside Xi Qi City."
"If you have the guts, come out and break it."
"If you fail, every disciple of the Sect of Explanation will pay. I'll take the Three Flowers on your Crowns and the Five Qi in your Chests and offer them to my eldest brother's spirit!"
With that, she didn't spare them another glance. She led Qiong Xiao and Bi Xiao away, flying toward a nearby hill.
An even greater storm was brewing.
Before you continue