Chapter 205: Using the Bizarre to Counter the Bizarre

“Impossible, that boy would remember his teacher? I don't believe it.” As the voice faded, Tingyu's figure rapidly approached in the night. Reaching Master Bai's tomb, she looked at the empty surroundings and fell silent.

“I told you, he couldn't possibly come,” Chen Feiyuan said, though his eyes rapidly scanned the surroundings.“He came,” Tingyu whispered, looking at Master Bai's tomb.

Chen Feiyuan froze, then looked down at the tomb. A faint scent of alcohol, subtle but present, indicated that someone had offered respects there after they left.

“Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was someone else. Even if it was him, what difference would it make…” Chen Feiyuan sighed after a moment of silence.

Tingyu bit her lower lip, hesitating to speak.

“He's currently in the Seven Blood Eyes, seemingly having a glorious entry into the sequence. But as long as he hasn't formally apprenticed under Old Man Qi, he's ultimately just a wanderer… Our teacher's situation is also very difficult for him to handle. Let's not fantasize; perhaps you were mistaken. That ungrateful wretch has never been here.”

“We will avenge this ourselves!” Chen Feiyuan spoke in a low voice, then, pulling Tingyu who looked bitter and despondent, left the cemetery. After taking Tingyu back to her residence, his expression became incredibly solemn as he turned to leave.

As he walked toward the Chen family estate, one of his retinue, a young man about his age, spoke quietly from behind him.

“Young Master, is the ungrateful wretch you spoke of earlier that Xu Qing, whose name spread throughout Southern Phoenix a while ago?”

Almost the instant the young man spoke, Chen Feiyuan, who had been walking gravely ahead, suddenly spun around and coldly slapped the attendant who had followed him for years.

The force of the slap sent the attendant flying. After he fell to the side, his body trembling, he quickly knelt.

“I called him an ungrateful wretch because, no matter what, I am still his senior brother. Though I don't particularly like him, our teacher acknowledged him, and so do I.”

“But what are *you* to speak of him that way in front of me?” Chen Feiyuan said chillingly. The attendant shivered, repeatedly kowtowing.

“Considering you've followed me for so many years, we'll give you a generous burial,” Chen Feiyuan said faintly. As the attendant pleaded in terror, he was seized by other attendants, his neck was instantly twisted, and silence fell. Chen Feiyuan didn't even glance at him. He frowned, deep in thought, then suddenly spoke.

“Activate all the informants I've cultivated over the years. Have them closely monitor the movements of the Golden Core experts within the Eight Great Families. Whatever they want, I can provide.”“All of them?” The attendant behind Chen Feiyuan was stunned.

“All of them. I don't know Xu Qing's current strength, and I suspect Zitu was involved in our teacher's matter. If he rushes in, he might be in danger.”

“It's correct that he didn't come to see us. Tingyu is simple-minded; she's good for alchemy research, but her temperament isn't strong enough. If any clues were revealed and people realized he was here, they would inevitably be tempted by the Sea Corpse Clan's bounty.”

“I even suspect that our master's death was perhaps a ploy to lure him here, killing two birds with one stone, or that someone was turning their own scheme against him, using this as bait to catch him!”

“I hope I'm overthinking it,” Chen Feiyuan took a deep breath, his eyes once again showing signs of contemplation.

In the past two years, not only had Xu Qing changed significantly, but Chen Feiyuan himself had also undergone immense transformation after returning to Zitu and gaining access to his family's power, particularly in his mindset. He was deeply influenced by Master Bai and harbored an extreme dislike for the current political landscape of Zitu.

After speaking, he looked at the two attendants behind him.

“Have the arrangements been made?” The two attendants nodded, but the moment they did, their bodies suddenly convulsed. Their faces turned black, and they spewed blood before instantly dying.

“There's no other way. I couldn't trust you either. Once the task was complete, I could only send you on your way,” Chen Feiyuan murmured to himself. In all of Zitu, the only people he trusted were his teacher and Tingyu. Now that his teacher was dead, only Tingyu remained.

“As for that ungrateful wretch, he might be trustworthy. I wonder if he discovered the Twelve-Hour Decay Elixir… But given his knowledge of herbs and plants, he should be able to find the clues the poison on our teacher's body points to.” Chen Feiyuan frowned, disposed of the bodies, and turned to leave.

At the same time, within the capital city of Zitu, Xu Qing moved swiftly through the shadows, his presence completely concealed and his eyes cold. His reason for not revealing himself to Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan was indeed fear of complications. Xu Qing was well aware of his current value, and he had considered whether someone might use this incident to lure him here. However, he believed that even if that were the case, it would be unrelated to the faction that assassinated Master Bai. The disappearance of the Taiyin Glorification Pill formula had already revealed some clues; the other party had immense ambitions.

“So if someone truly wants to lure me out, it's most likely some people within Zitu. It might be overthinking, but necessary vigilance and caution are still required.” Xu Qing squinted, sprinkled some poison powder on himself to conceal his aura, and continued forward.

He had already found traces and clues of the suspected murderer. The red jade slip given by Old Man Qi had already described the opponent's characteristics, noting their troublesome nature and stating that the Cunning Specter Clan was extremely difficult to apprehend. Although the captain had suggested a method, Xu Qing had his own approach. As long as someone cultivated anomalies, they couldn't escape the shadow's keen senses, as it consumed anomalies. Although Zitu's capital city was a melting pot, with many cultivators possessing strong anomalous energies, if the aura of the Forbidden Sea was added, the scope would narrow significantly. Thus, what seemed difficult for others was not hard for Xu Qing. The only thing required was for him to identify the true culprit among the few individuals the shadow had pinpointed who met the criteria. This, too, was simple.

Xu Qing didn't believe that with his teacher's alchemy prowess, he wouldn't have left behind some contingencies. Even with Xu Qing's current knowledge of botany, he could have left undetectable herbal markers on his opponent before dying. Therefore, when Xu Qing paid his respects, he had observed his teacher's body in the crystal coffin from afar, and at the tomb, he had used his perception to examine it through the soil. He finally confirmed that the poison on his master's body was called the Twelve-Hour Decay Elixir. This elixir had some restorative properties for the body, requiring long-term consumption. Its effects were acceptable for mortals. The only drawback was that after death, it accelerated corpse decomposition, typically turning a body into sludge within twelve hours. It was one of Master Bai's unique formulas, concocted in his leisure. Outsiders, even if they knew of it, would only have limited information. Only his disciples would know that the main ingredient of this Twelve-Hour Decay Elixir was called Soul-Merging Mist.

“'Soul-Merging Mist, also known as Sky-Sealed Eye, is a spiritual anomalous plant from the Mist-Bloom family. It has the effect of merging soul marks, making them difficult to detect and impossible to remove. It is the primary flavor ingredient of the Twelve-Hour Decay Elixir.'” Xu Qing murmured. This was Master Bai's clue left for his descendants. Clear and precise. The killer's soul must have been tainted by this almost undetectable Soul-Merging Mist, and Xu Qing naturally knew how to detect it.

He moved swiftly, arriving at one of the three locations marked by his shadow: an inn. After approaching, Xu Qing extended his perception, then turned and left moments later. “Not this one.”

Without pausing, he used the cover of night to go to the second location: a commoner's dwelling in the imperial capital of Zitu. No cultivation fluctuations emanated from it, nor even any anomalous energy. Yet, it could not escape the shadow's detection. The moment he approached, Xu Qing's steps faltered. The next instant, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, his body swayed abruptly, and he stepped directly into the dwelling.

The dwelling was simple. An old man lay inside. The moment Xu Qing entered, he opened his eyes, looked at Xu Qing with some surprise, and was about to speak. But the next instant, a black iron spike hummed as it shot out, instantly nearing him. The old man's body suddenly swayed. Despite no cultivation fluctuations emanating from him, he seemed to enter a profound state, dodging the black iron spike and appearing before Xu Qing. “You actually found me? Your disguise is too fake. Let me see who you really are.” The old man's voice was low. As he spoke, he raised his right hand and grabbed towards Xu Qing's face, as if to wipe away his magical disguise.

But the next instant, as a cold light erupted from Xu Qing's eyes, the old man's expression suddenly changed. A strong sense of crisis made him recoil sharply. It was too late. In an instant, Xu Qing's body unleashed astonishing power. It was as if a continent was burning within him as he directly raised his knee and fiercely slammed it forward.

With a bang, the old man's body convulsed violently. His chest, struck by Xu Qing's knee, instantly caved in, a bloody mess. As he tried to struggle, Xu Qing had already stepped forward. Fiendish flames spread, but the opponent had no soul. Xu Qing's expression remained calm. With a wave of his hand, the Golden Crow refining myriad spirits unfolded behind him, sucking fiercely at the old man once more.

This time, the old man's entire body trembled, instantly turning into a cloud of vital essence. After being absorbed by the Golden Crow refining myriad spirits, only a discarded skin remained, floating to the ground. Xu Qing was not surprised. The shadow beneath his feet rapidly spread, enveloping the skin, and then transmitted information to Xu Qing.

“Lead the way!” The shadow quickly guided him. Xu Qing spun around, withdrew the formations concealing fluctuations around him, and swiftly moved towards the direction the shadow indicated.

He knew the Cunning Specter Clan's strangeness and difficulty to kill, but it didn't matter. After killing them several times, there would eventually be an instance where they couldn't escape. The only thing that made Xu Qing ponder was that the opponent died too quickly under the Golden Crow refining myriad spirits, so he only absorbed a trace of their essence.

“'The Cunning Specter Clan's essence is peculiar, and if they die too quickly, not much can be absorbed. But it's fine; intense, clear fluctuations can shake their minds… once they're terrified and anxious, more should be extractable.'”

At this moment, within the city, in the Zhou family, one of the Eight Great Families, a sleeping servant suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of surprise and doubt in them. He took several quick breaths and rapidly looked around.

“Who was that guy? Not only could he find me, but his cultivation was astonishing! He directly suppressed me. You should know that the body I cultivated for a long time could now exert battle power comparable to Three-Flame!”

“Unfortunately, due to talent limitations, I can only possess mortal bodies to revive. Each body needs to be slowly nurtured to gradually display its strength. Otherwise, escaping would be much simpler. Damn it, this task was originally straightforward. Although teleportation was blocked, it couldn't be blocked for too long. But now, why has such a strange cultivator appeared?!”

The servant's eyes flickered. As he pondered, a hint of malice appeared, and he looked around, a sneer forming on his face.

“But it's fine. The person I marked for resurrection is a servant of the Zhou family, living within the Zhou family palace. Unless that person gets help from the Zhou family, if he dares to infiltrate like before, he's definitely dead!”

And so, under the servant's watchful and wary gaze, the night passed. The next morning, as sunlight streamed in, a scarred man with Qi Condensation cultivation pushed open the door to the servants' quarters. The other servants, seeing the scarred man, changed expression, quickly rising without delay. This scarred man was considered a trusted aide among the Zhou family's servants, and he would often arbitrarily beat and scold them; many had been beaten to death by him. Servants' lives were cheap; if they died, they died.

Now, under their tense gazes, the scarred man spat, snorted coldly, and walked towards them. He passed servant after servant, finally stopping before the one recently possessed by the Cunning Specter.

After sizing him up, as the possessed servant feigned a nervous expression, the scarred man suddenly drew a knife, stabbed it into the servant's heart, swiftly pulled it out, then brutally slashed the servant's throat! All of this happened so quickly that the servant's eyes widened, and as blood gushed from his body, his gaze filled with disbelief and bewilderment.

He was somewhat bewildered, unable to grasp the situation, when the scarred man grinned maliciously. In front of him, amidst the horrified and retreating gazes of all the surrounding servants, he sliced open his own stomach, pulled out his intestines, wrapped them around the servant's neck, and leaned in to whisper softly.

“My master says hello to you. He told me to tell you that the game… has just begun.”