Guiping County, county yamen.
Guo Boyan sat at the head of the hall, frowning. "Which demonic force is behind the chaos in Guiping County? Have we still not found out?"
He looked middle-aged, his expression weary.
Someone below replied, "Yu Shang has been investigating the matter. I hear he's already made some headway."
Guo Boyan nodded. "Yu Shang has always been reliable.
"But demonic disturbances in the same area should have been reported to the sect together and posted as a mission. So far, though, only the Shadow Demon in Lushui Town has been confirmed..."
He paused. "Have any fellow disciples from the sect gone to Lushui Town to exterminate the demon?"
The man below replied, "No Inner Court senior brother has come to the county yamen to look through the records, and none has come to take over the mission."
"Hm?" Guo Boyan was surprised. Then a thought struck him. "Could something have gone wrong?"
In the past, once a Shadow Demon threat was reported to the sect, a mission would soon be posted for the disciples to accept. The entire process took no more than a day.
By his reckoning, fellow disciples from the sect should have arrived long ago!
Lushui Town.
A well-proportioned, upright young man of striking appearance stepped lightly into the town.
The streets, once deserted, now had a few pedestrians.
"Has the Shadow Demon here been dealt with?" Yu Shang wondered.
If the Shadow Demon hadn't been dealt with, most people in town would have kept their doors shut and rarely ventured outside.
He silently took out the Demon-Seeking Bead, drew in a faint trace of demonic aura, and headed straight east.
Before long, a thatched hut came into view. Yu Shang swept his gaze over it, then crouched outside and touched the marks on the ground. "What powerful Sword Qi."
If an ordinary person with no cultivation stepped on the sword marks, the lingering Sword Qi would likely cut them.
"There are two different kinds of Sword Qi. One is sharper and purer; the other is also powerful, but nowhere near as strong as the first." His heart tightened. "Did fellow disciples turn on each other?"
The Qingwei Sword Sect was the very sky above Yan Province, and the strongest sword cultivator sect there. Unless something unexpected had happened, this kind of Sword Qi could only have come from fellow disciples of the Sword Sect.
He slowed his steps and entered the hut. There he saw bloodstains on the ground, traces of Sword Qi in the finer details, and demonic aura that grew fainter by the moment.
"The Shadow Demon was slain! A fellow disciple was slain, too!" He realized how troublesome this was.
His gaze finally settled on the floor of the main room. He drew his sword and cleaved open the loose boards.
"Hiss!" He sucked in a breath at the sight of several dead fellow disciples beneath the floor.
"This is bad!"
Before long, Guo Boyan and the others hurried over from the county yamen. Seeing the nine bodies laid out side by side inside the hut, they all fell silent.
Fellow disciples!
They were all Inner Court disciples!
Guo Boyan turned to the secretary who liaised with the sect. "How many people took the mission to slay the Shadow Demon in Lushui Town, and who were they?"
The secretary, who looked close to fifty, thought for a moment. "Only four Inner Court disciples accepted it."
He walked over to the nine bodies and examined them carefully, pointing to Qin Shu, Zhao Zheng, Ruan Fei, and Zhang Yun. "Not one is missing. They're all here."
Guo Boyan and Yu Shang exchanged a glance.
Four had accepted the mission, but nine had come. And one powerful person had already killed someone and left!
Those nine Inner Court disciples must have had dirty hands. Who was the one who killed them and left?
"Report everything to the sect at once. Leave nothing out." Guo Boyan's expression was grave.
Nine Inner Court disciples had died at once, right here in Yan Province. How could the sect not hold someone accountable?
He rubbed his brow, then looked at Yu Shang. "Have you found out what demonic force is behind the chaos in Guiping County?"
Yu Shang replied, "I followed the trail all the way, but it ended at Tantan Lake."
"It ended at Tantan Lake?" Guo Boyan asked. "Is it dangerous?"
Yu Shang replied, "There should be Shadow Demons there that have surpassed the Four Ascending Dragon Passes and touched upon the Four Great Passes. I don't know how many, but there's definitely more than one!"
Guo Boyan drew a deep breath. "In that case, we'll have to wait for experts from the Main Sect!"
Qingwei Sword Sect, Emerald Bamboo Mountain, Inner Court, Law Enforcement Hall.
A disciple hurried into the hall and handed a Sound-Image Stone to Su Wenjin, the hall master, who sat behind a desk. "Hall Master, an urgent report from Guiping County!"
Su Wenjin looked middle-aged, with a short beard and an imposing air. He was stern and unsmiling. Ordinary people could hardly bear to look at him without feeling afraid.
"Guiping County?" Su Wenjin took the Sound-Image Stone and activated it.
An image appeared before him.
Lushui Town, the thatched hut, the bodies, the Inner Court disciples, the sword marks!
"We've already checked the identities of the nine disciples." The disciple stepped forward at once and listed the names of Fang Jiming and the others.
"Some little place like Lushui Town, and nine Inner Court disciples have died there!" Killing Intent flashed in Su Wenjin's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. "Why were Qin Shu and Zhao Zheng of the Flying Smoke Society mixed up with Fang Jiming, Song Yue, and the others of the Wind Image Society? Explain in detail."
The disciple replied, "Qin Shu and the other three from the Flying Smoke Society accepted the mission to exterminate the demon in Lushui Town. Their presence there was perfectly normal.
"But Yuan Shu, Song Yue, and the other two from the Wind Image Society accepted a mission to slay demons in Baishou Prefecture, Donghe Prefecture. Fang Jiming wasn't included in that mission, so they shouldn't have been in Lushui Town.
"In addition, this disciple checked the records for Qin Shu and Zhao Zheng's Flying Boat trip that day. There was a fifth person aboard: Yu Xiu.
"But Yu Xiu wasn't listed among those assigned to the Lushui Town demon-extermination mission, and he wasn't among the dead."
"Yu Xiu!" A thought struck Su Wenjin. "Fang Jiming's younger brother, Fang Jibai, used an unorthodox method to break through back then, and Yu Xiu caught him in the act. Is that right?"
The disciple nodded. "That's right."
Su Wenjin understood. "What's Yu Xiu's strength?"
The disciple replied, "On the surface, he's at the first level of the Qi Sea. He's only been in the Inner Court for two months."
"On the surface?" Su Wenjin said. "Did you check the Library Pavilion?"
"We did. Around the twentieth day after Yu Xiu entered the Inner Court, he broke through the Qi Sea, the third Ascending Dragon stage, and entered the fourth stage, the Life Spring. He also chose a cultivation method and sword art suited to the Life Spring realm from the Library Pavilion.
"In addition, the elder who guards the pavilion once kept Yu Xiu by his side for a night of cultivation. Yu Xiu's astonishing comprehension left him deeply impressed.
"In the elder's words, after a month, with Yu Xiu's comprehension, he must have already broken through the Life Spring and entered the first stage of the Four Great Passes."
Su Wenjin's heart jolted. "In less than two months, he broke through the third Ascending Dragon stage, the Qi Sea, and the fourth stage, the Life Spring?!"
Such comprehension had not been seen in the Inner Court for decades!
The disciple fell silent for a moment. "Hall Master, should we hold anyone accountable for this?"
Su Wenjin pondered for a long time. "When Yu Xiu returns to the sect, assign him to investigate the deaths of Fang Jiming and the other eight. It can serve as his mission to enter the Main Sect. We must have a conclusive result."
"Have Yu Xiu investigate the people he killed?" The disciple froze, then quickly understood.
Fang Jiming and the others had harbored ill intentions. They deserved to die anyway.
"This disciple will see to it." He accepted the order and withdrew.
Only Su Wenjin remained in the Law Enforcement Hall. He seemed lost in thought, his fingers tapping the desk unconsciously, though the rhythm was a little uneven.
"Three breakthroughs in the Qi Sea stage and the Life Spring stage of the Four Ascending Dragon Passes, all within two months...
"Well, Yu Xiu!" His leisurely words echoed through the empty hall.
Fang Jiming had not died in vain!
Before you continue