Chapter 498: Chapter 280: Spirit Bone

SQUEAK SQUEAK...

On a ruined battlefield, Lu Tianchen lightly patted the Beast Hide Bag at his waist, and a golden-furred mouse crawled out.

The mouse’s eyes were sharp, radiating a kind of Spirituality. Squeaking, it leaped down from Lu Tianchen’s body and scurried across the battlefield, its nose twitching. It then stood on its hind legs and chittered wildly in a specific direction.

Lu Tianchen knew it was pointing in the direction the murderer of Liu Qingyuan had fled.

Lu Tianchen looked and immediately felt a headache coming on. Wasn’t that direction... the way to the Purple Sun Sect, the very direction they had come from? ’Could it really be someone from the Purple Sun Sect who killed Liu Qingyuan?’

"Let’s go!"

His Gang Yuan wrapped around Liu Qingyuan’s corpse as he and Zhang Hanzhou leaped onto the giant eagle’s back. The eagle flapped its wings, and its massive body shot into the sky.

After flying for a while, they spotted Sun Tao, Qi Xuancheng, and the others still rushing back toward the Purple Sun Sect from high up in the sky.

"Go down and return to the Sect with them."

Lu Tianchen had the giant eagle descend, allowing Zhang Hanzhou to go down and join Sun Tao’s group.

"Yes, sir!"

Zhang Hanzhou felt as if he’d received a pardon. He had absolutely no desire to join Lu Tianchen in hunting the expert who had killed Liu Qingyuan. If a battle broke out, even at his Marrow Cleansing Perfection level, he would be nothing but cannon fodder.

Zhang Hanzhou leaped off the eagle’s back.

SCREECH!

A sharp cry from the eagle pierced the night. Standing on its back, Lu Tianchen and the giant bird vanished into the darkness.

"Senior Brother Zhang, what’s the situation?"

"Did you find Elder Liu?"

"Why didn’t Peak Master Lu take us with him? At this rate, when will we ever get back to the Sect?"

...

Qi Xuancheng, Lu Ren, Du Chuan, and the others gathered around, all talking at once. Most of their questions were about Liu Qingyuan’s condition.

A look of grief crossed Zhang Hanzhou’s face. "Peak Master Lu and I found Elder Liu. He... has been killed."

At these words, the noisy crowd fell silent. Everyone’s eyes went wide.

"How is that possible? Elder Liu was an Elder of the Purple Sun Sect, protected by all sorts of Secret Skills. If that person was strong enough to kill him, how could Elder Liu have driven him off in the first place?"

Qi Xuancheng wore a look of utter disbelief.

"Good thing we hid," Du Chuan said, his face pale with lingering fear.

If they had listened to that idiot Qi Xuancheng and waited in the canyon, they would have probably met the same fate.

A glint flickered in Lu Ren’s eyes; he was stunned by the news.

Even an Elder of the Purple Sun Sect could be killed just like that.

"Was Peak Master Lu able to tell who killed Elder Liu?" Sun Tao asked curiously.

Zhang Hanzhou replied, "The assailant cultivates a Supreme Yang Technique and has an incredibly high Saber Technique Realm. It’s suspected to be the same person who killed the Song Family’s ancestor, Song Yushao."

’The one who killed Song Yushao and nearly wiped out the entire Song Family?’

In an instant, everyone’s faces couldn’t help but turn pale. That man was a monster. Killing Song Yushao wasn’t enough for him; he even incited everyone to plunder the Song Family’s estate.

If they hadn’t escaped in time, they would likely all be dead.

...

Meanwhile, Lu Tianchen and the giant eagle followed the golden mouse’s directions, soon arriving high above Cyan Yang City.

Seeing this, Lu Tianchen didn’t enter the city at all. He knew it would be useless. The killer was clearly aware of his tracking methods and had deliberately come to Cyan Yang City to mask his aura among the crowds, making it impossible for Lu Tianchen to lock onto his trail.

’I’m afraid it really was one of our own.’

An enigmatic light flashed in his eyes as he rode the giant eagle toward the Purple Sun Sect.

「The next morning.」

The first thing Xu Yang did upon opening his eyes was to look at his panel:

[Killed Liu Qingyuan, Points +100]

[Obtained Spiritual Soldier, Points +30]

[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 2503]

He pushed open the door and walked out of his courtyard to see the Li Fire Peak disciples living nearby gathered in small groups, all discussing the murder of Liu Qingyuan.

Sun Tao, who had been there, was surrounded by a crowd.

"If I hadn’t made the decisive call for everyone to leave the canyon, our whole group might be dead! And that Qi Xuancheng was still going on about how no one could possibly kill a Purple Sun Sect Elder..."

Sun Tao recounted yesterday’s events with great animation, spittle flying from his lips.

"Junior Brother Xu!"

"Junior Brother Xu!"

...

As Xu Yang walked out of his courtyard, many people greeted him with a smile.

"Haha... Junior Brother Xu, this is great news! That biased Liu Qingyuan who sided with Li Chuyang just to suck up to him is finally dead," Zhu Yuan said with a laugh.

The disciples of the Purple Sun Sect all knew the story. Back then, Li Chuyang had asked Xu Yang what Cultivation Technique he practiced. When Xu Yang didn’t tell him, Li Chuyang forcefully attacked him to test his skills, which led to a massive brawl between Li Chuyang and Jiang Fan in Tianfeng Valley.

Not only did Liu Qingyuan not reprimand Li Chuyang, but he actually questioned why Xu Yang hadn’t just meekly told Li Chuyang what he wanted to know.

Now that Liu Qingyuan had been killed, Zhu Yuan figured Xu Yang must be the one who felt the most vindicated.

Hearing this, Xu Yang put on a "surprised" expression and said, "Elder Liu is dead? How did he die?"

The crowd all talked at once, recounting everything they knew and mentioning the suspicion that the killer was the same person who had murdered Song Yushao.

"Senior Brother Sun, are you okay?" he asked, looking at Sun Tao with concern.

Sun Tao shook his head and smiled. "I’m fine. I was just caught in the aftershock of the Celestial Essence Martial Artists’ clash. My qi and blood were just a bit unsettled. Lu Ren is the one who was seriously hurt; he suffered internal injuries."

"I’m relieved to hear you’re alright."

Xu Yang smiled and headed to the dining hall with Sun Tao, only to find that everyone there was also talking about Liu Qingyuan’s murder.

The event was a huge sensation. It had been a long time since a Purple Sun Sect Elder had been killed. Some suspected the Demon Sect was behind it, while others believed the Song Family and Liu Qingyuan had jointly offended some powerful figure in the past, leading to their successive assassinations.

Seeking revenge was not uncommon in the Jianghu. The person you look down on today might just come back stronger tomorrow to kill you.

"The Sect has already issued a bounty: one Spiritual Soldier and ten Dragon Tiger Great Golden Pills for any useful information."

"The Sect Leader has ordered a full investigation. Early this morning, a Peak Master took Elders from several peaks and left the sect."

"They’re not suspecting Elder Huoyun this time, are they?"

"Elder Huoyun was helping Peak Master Lu forge a soldier. He was in the Sect the entire day and never left. Besides, Elder Huoyun probably doesn’t have the strength to kill Elder Liu Qingyuan anyway."

...

Xu Yang’s heart sank as he listened. When he saw Lu Tianchen return last night without any incident, he thought the matter was over. He never expected the Sect would continue to investigate.

However, if Lu Tianchen himself couldn’t find any trace leading back to him last night, it was even less likely now. The only one he truly feared was Lu Tianchen.

After his meal, Xu Yang returned to his courtyard. Nothing happened.

The next day, he heard that the birthday congratulatory party was setting out again. Perhaps fearing another attack, it was said that the Young Sect Leader Bai Shaoling and the Master of Li Fire Peak would personally lead the group to the Haisa Sect.

That day, the Purple Sun Sect became a hive of activity.

After all, an Elder had died, not some ordinary disciple. They couldn’t just bury him in a random spot and be done with it.

Liu Qingyuan’s funeral was a grand affair, held half a month later. During this time, the Purple Sun Sect relentlessly hunted for the killer.

It was said that several Elders who weren’t in the Purple Sun Sect on that day, as well as the Celestial Essence Martial Artists from the great families in Cyan Yang City, were all thoroughly investigated, but the culprit was still not found.

On the day of Liu Qingyuan’s funeral, all the prominent figures in Cyan Yang City came to offer their condolences. The Purple Sun Sect also sent notifications to Liu Qingyuan’s friends and to other Sects with whom they had good relations.

As one of the Purple Sun Sect’s Ten Heroes Disciples, and having defeated the genius disciple Lin Jingyu of Yellow Maple Valley, Xu Yang was now considered one of the public faces of the sect. For Liu Qingyuan’s funeral, the Purple Sun Sect assigned him, Han Feng, Xiong Kun, and others to receive the guests.

As for Li Chuyang and Jiang Fan, they didn’t show up at all.

A funeral for someone of Liu Qingyuan’s status wasn’t important enough to require their presence as greeters.

Besides those three geniuses, there were also Gao Lin, Sun Jian, and Cui Mingchong—disciples who were likely future candidates for Elder positions—as well as Outer Elder Li Songhe.

At this moment, the group stood outside the sect gate, welcoming the mourning guests one by one.

Guests of lower status were assigned a random Inner Sect Disciple to be escorted to Li Fire Peak. For high-status guests, prominent disciples like Xu Yang and Gao Lin had to personally receive them to show respect.

Xu Yang and Gao Lin were making small talk when they suddenly spotted two travel-worn figures hurrying up the mountain path.

Their pace seemed slow, but they were actually as fast as the wind, covering more than ten zhang with a single step.

The two were a middle-aged man and a young man with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes. They wore simple robes, and their postures were as straight as swords, exuding a sharp aura, as if two blades were walking up the mountain path.

What was most striking were the greatswords on their backs, wider than a man’s palm and pitch-black, as if cast from the same mold.

"It’s people from the Iron Sword Sect!" Sun Jian’s pupils contracted as he recognized their origin from their attire.

The Iron Sword Sect was a Sect even stronger than the Purple Sun Sect. The Martial Dao in its home Commandery City was far more prosperous than in Fufeng County.

"I heard Elder Liu Qingyuan was on good terms with an Elder from the Iron Sword Sect. Looks like it’s true," Gao Lin said.

In an instant, the two figures from the Iron Sword Sect arrived before the Purple Sun Sect’s gate.

"How could my Brother Liu have met such a fate?" Jiang Wang stepped forward, his face etched with grief.

Li Songhe clasped his hands. "Brother Jiang, my condolences. Elder Liu was ambushed by a vile wretch while leading a party to the Haisa Sect to celebrate their Sect Leader’s birthday."

"Have you found the killer?" Jiang Wang asked in a low voice. "No matter who it is, for daring to harm my Brother Liu, I will tear them limb from limb."

Li Songhe shook his head. "The killer’s identity hasn’t been discovered. If it had, my Purple Sun Sect would have already mobilized in full force. The wind is strong here, Brother Jiang. Please, let’s proceed to Tianquan Peak to pay respects to Elder Liu first. We can discuss the rest later."

Jiang Wang nodded and pointed to the young man beside him. "This is my disciple, Huo Xiaochen. Xiaochen, this is Outer Elder Li Songhe of the Purple Sun Sect. His eyes are incredibly sharp; his ability to judge people is unmatched in the Purple Sun Sect. He’s the one who compiles their Ten Heroes List, and he’s almost never wrong. Quickly, greet Elder Li."

Huo Xiaochen, who had a tall and straight posture, clasped his hands neither servilely nor arrogantly. "Junior Huo Xiaochen greets Elder Li."

Li Songhe stared at Huo Xiaochen with a look of surprise and uncertainty. "What a powerful Physique, like a dragon or a tiger. His brilliance is restrained. Brother Jiang, this disciple of yours is extraordinary. His Root Bone must be at the Perfection Level, approaching that of a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride."

A look of surprise appeared on Huo Xiaochen’s face. This Li Songhe truly lived up to the praise his master, Jiang Wang, had given him. He really knew his stuff.

Li Songhe was the first person ever to discern that he had a Perfect Root Bone without even touching his bones.

After a few more pleasantries, Li Songhe gestured for Cui Mingchong and Xiong Kun to lead Jiang Wang and Huo Xiaochen toward Tianquan Peak.

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