The five squads advanced along their planned routes and reached the area where the Tang Sect's hidden sentries had met with trouble half an hour later.
Steward Li raised a hand to signal the teams to halt. Everyone immediately went on guard where they stood and remained silent. The Disciples who had investigated earlier were already waiting at the scene, and upon seeing the squads arrive, they quickly came forward to coordinate with them.
Three Tang Sect hidden sentries' bodies remained at the scene—the very three who had been killed earlier. The Scripture Pavilion Elder and Supreme Elder Tang Xuan had also arrived. Several elders repeatedly examined the corpses, their expressions growing increasingly grave.
Tang Chen, Tang Feng, and the others each led their squad members in searching the surrounding area for traces of the unknown force. Yet they turned over every blade of grass and every tree and rock nearby without finding so much as a footprint or lingering aura.
The methods of this unknown force were far too well concealed. Tang Sect hidden sentries were themselves skilled in tracking and concealment. To silently eliminate three of them without leaving any trace was not something ordinary Death Warriors could accomplish.
The elders employed the Tang Sect's specialized Tracking Technique and even brought out tracking jade, but the jade never reacted. It could detect neither remnants of an outsider's inner force nor any obvious signs of combat.
"Strange. There isn't a single clue."
"Even elite Death Warriors would leave fluctuations of inner force when they acted. But this place is as clean as if no one had ever come here, with only three corpses left behind."
Supreme Elder Tang Xuan crouched down and ran his fingers over the wounds on the bodies. They had been caused by sharp weapons, precisely