Chapter 938: Terrifying Moment Two Wang Chaos?

From the very beginning, Xu Xiaoshou had mastered 'Sword Will,' just as he had mastered 'White Flame of the Burning Ashes,' which shares the same origin as Saint Slave Wu Xiu..."

Rao Yaoyao seemed to understand what Shou Ye was trying to say:

Xu Xiaoshou also possessed the ability to imitate Baxun'an. Moreover, given Baxun'an's current weakened state, the more carelessly Xu Xiaoshou impersonated him, the higher the rank of the person, the less they would dare to easily test him. This inversely increased Xu Xiaoshou's success rate in impersonating Baxun'an. Not to mention that after Yi Zhan's death, the Imitator likely fell into Xu Xiaoshou's hands, further raising the probability of Xu Xiaoshou's successful impersonation by more than just one level.

"He truly cannot be underestimated..."

Rao Yaoyao finally raised her guard to the highest level. Shou Ye's words, though harsh, were undeniably true and had a valid reason for being said. If she were to fall into the Saint Slaves' trap, surrounded by multiple people, and still treat Xu Xiaoshou with her previous disdain, even Rao Yaoyao herself might not fare well.

However...

The only thing that remained unacceptable was... he had only recently broken through to Grandmaster under her sword. Rao Yaoyao frowned, genuinely finding it hard to accept that a junior Grandmaster could pose a threat to a Tai Xu.

"Let's go out!"

Having understood what she needed to, Rao Yaoyao no longer delayed. She had Wang Dachui lift the domain blockade and led Shou Ye back into everyone's sight.

"Jijian Disk."

She personally requested the Jijian Disk, then simultaneously observed the combat traces recorded on it while surveying the scene. However, she found no trace of Huang Quan, Baxun'an, or the others who had left. The only remaining traceable sign at the scene was the spatial channel aura left by the spatial-attribute stowaway.

A spatial-attribute stowaway... Rao Yaoyao mused, considering that since Huang Quan and another spatial-attribute stowaway appeared simultaneously, it was statistically unlikely that there would be a third spatial-attribute individual in the Yunlun Mountain Range. Therefore, the spatial-attribute stowaway who ultimately escaped was very likely the short, white-haired young man she had previously paid attention to and tested with a "Spatial Origin Stone." Her operation had been disrupted by the breakthroughs of Young Master Xu, Jiang Xian, and others, and then abandoned due to various frequent major events.

This was merely a suspicion. Rao Yaoyao did not immediately verify it. Instead, she personally approached the residual fluctuations of the spatial channel. After such a long delay, the residual spatial traces had almost completely vanished. Fortunately, the Jijian Disk had recorded the coordinates of the 362 spatial channel exits. Rao Yaoyao cleaved through the spatial turbulence with a single sword stroke, verifying each one, yet she still found few clues. Spatial turbulence was too chaotic; it could erase many traces in an instant, let alone after such a long time.

Standing beside the spatial turbulence, Rao Yaoyao did not lose heart. For her, this was merely the beginning of the mission. She had encountered tracing cases far more complex and difficult than this.

"The image of the spatial-attribute stowaway, give it to me."

Rao Yaoyao extended her hand, and Shou Ye stepped forward, handing over the jade slip Zhu Mi'er had previously inscribed, and voiced his thoughts:

"I suspect he is Ye Xiaotian, the Head of the Inner Courtyard of Heavenly Sang City's Heavenly Sang Spirit Palace."

Rao Yaoyao's eyebrow twitched. Her spiritual sense swept over the jade slip, and she successfully recognized him as the one she had previously tested with the "Spatial Origin Stone."

"So, he didn't take the 'Spatial Origin Stone' then because he anticipated my test? Very clever..." Rao Yaoyao's lips curled into a smile. Meeting Shou Ye's serious gaze, she softly said:

"I suspect the same."

Suspicion was useless. Rao Yaoyao was a woman of action. She immediately turned her gaze to her subordinates and said gravely:

"Immediately send word to the headquarters of the Sacred Palace in Eastern Heaven King City. Have them contact Heavenly Sang City's Lord's Mansion to acquire all information regarding Ye Xiaotian, the Head of Heavenly Sang Spirit Palace, at once, and dispatch people to Heavenly Sang Spirit Palace for verification. I don't want hearsay. I want the Heavenly Sang City Lord to personally witness and confirm all information, and then send me a reply himself. Afterward, the Sacred Palace Headquarters in Eastern Heaven King City will send more people to Heavenly Sang City for verification. If what the Heavenly Sang City Lord says doesn't match what our own people report... the Heavenly Sang City Lord's Mansion will be immediately dismantled! As for Ye Xiaotian..."

Rao Yaoyao methodically finished giving her instructions. Her lips suddenly curved upwards, and she said playfully, "Unless something unexpected happens, you should be able to present me with Ye Xiaotian's resignation report and also tell me who the new Head of Heavenly Sang Spirit Palace is."

"Yes!"

The many Red Cloaks around her stiffened. In mere moments, Sword Immortal Rao had already deduced the answer she most desired and believed to be the closest to the truth. Furthermore, she had considered even the slightest possibility of the City Lord's Mansion colluding with Heavenly Sang Spirit Palace, including all such minute details within her scope of suspicion, and provided clear instructions for action. How much time had passed from beginning to end? Even Shou Ye had to marvel. This truly was the Red Cloak Overseer — her clarity of thought was unprecedented!

Her Path-Cutting subordinates received their orders and withdrew. Rao Yaoyao turned her gaze back to the spatial rift. She narrowed her eyes slightly. Her spiritual sense split into 362 parts, instantly piercing through the spatial turbulence and reaching the 362 exits.

Still no clues... After all, too much time had passed.

"Did you just say Murong Ying and one of his team members went to the only spatial channel exit with an anomaly?" Rao Yaoyao asked.

"Yes, Sword Immortal Rao." Zhu Mi'er stepped forward respectfully. "The captain found an issue with one of the spatial channel exits and immediately took people to pursue it without any delay."

They fell for the trap... Rao Yaoyao smiled inwardly. She simply did not believe that the fox-like cunning Ye Xiaotian would leave such an obvious flaw. She instantly realized that if Ye Xiaotian were truly present, he could easily erase all spatial traces. Yet he still left 362 channel exits, undoubtedly to throw people off. Leaving an anomaly at one of the exits was clearly meant to create confusion amidst the misdirection, making people firmly believe in the "correct answer" they had painstakingly found, thus wasting their time and effort in pursuit.

But it didn't matter. "The Enforcers have ample manpower. Even if there's only a slight possibility, we can send people to verify it. Perhaps Murong Ying had the same thought." Rao Yaoyao had also considered this point. Since Murong Ying had followed that single anomaly, it was unlikely there would be any significant changes.

Rao Yaoyao saw the increasing number of Enforcers around her. She pinched the combat communicator on her earlobe and issued an order that no more Enforcers needed to come. Here, they had enough manpower.

"According to Shou Ye, Ye Xiaotian can be temporarily followed, but Huang Quan and Baxun'an are the top priority. After all, the latter might be Xu Xiaoshou in disguise. Even if Shou Ye's speculation is wrong and Baxun'an isn't Xu Xiaoshou, the whereabouts of these two individuals will become even more crucial! One is a Yama Cultivator, the other the Saint Slave Leader..."

Rao Yaoyao's eyes suddenly sharpened. Her spiritual sense expanded and spread infinitely, attempting to search for any abnormal fluctuations within the Yunlun Mountain Range. However, once her spiritual sense was released, all stowaways could sense it and had hidden themselves in advance. Thus, this time, Rao Yaoyao still found nothing.

Rats hiding everywhere... Rao Yaoyao couldn't help but curse inwardly. But she was helpless. If the traces of Yama and Saint Slaves were so easy to track, they wouldn't deserve those names.

"Spread out! Search every inch of land, turn it inside out!"

Rao Yaoyao could only resort to the most basic method of exhaustive searching. The Path-Cutting and Throne Enforcers responded, scattering and flying off, quickly taking action.

At this moment, a small commotion arose at the entrance of the nearby dense forest path.

"What's happening?" Rao Yaoyao couldn't help but look over.

She saw a disheveled and dirty man dart out from the nearby forest exit. His face was covered in multiple layers of thick grime, making his features indistinguishable. He was only wearing patterned underwear, looking quite bizarre. He had apparently been apprehended by the Enforcers, who were searching thoroughly.

"Sword Immortal Rao!"

Zhu Mi'er, from Murong Ying's team, rushed over in a hurry. As she ran, she even stumbled, her body swaying, her expression extremely panicked: "Sword Immortal Rao, there's... there's a situation..."

Rao Yaoyao's eyelids lowered, and her gaze turned cold. What could a Throne Realm Zhu Mi'er have encountered to make her so terrified? That fear, originating from the depths of her soul, Rao Yaoyao could feel even from a distance.

"Speak!" she said indifferently.

Zhu Mi'er's teeth chattered, her face pale. She bowed and said, "Reporting, Sword Immortal Rao, we found someone nearby. But it's not an enemy, it's... it's one of our own..."

Rao Yaoyao was surprised: "An Enforcer?"

"Yes, yes..." Zhu Mi'er seemed to have seen a ghost, still terrified, she stammered, "Not only is he an Enforcer, but he's also my teammate, part of our team, under Captain Murong Ying..."

Rao Yaoyao knew Murong Ying. This Path-Cutting captain was currently with one of his team members, tracking the anomalous spatial fluctuations left by Ye Xiaotian.

"So?" Rao Yaoyao's spiritual sense spread, attempting to calm Zhu Mi'er's panic, choosing not to yell.

Zhu Mi'er felt the power of Tai Xu, and her emotions somewhat recovered, but she was still horrified. She turned and pointed at her teammate, who was covering his lower body and chest and clutching his calves, saying, "He... his name is Wang Chao..."

"Wang Chao?" Rao Yaoyao wondered, "Is there a problem?"

"Yes!" Zhu Mi'er's skin crawled, as if she had reached the most terrifying moment. She turned her finger, pointing to the spatial rift behind Rao Yaoyao, and said in a trembling voice:

"Before you arrived, Sword Immortal Rao, our Captain Murong Ying had already entered the spatial rift with a team member... He... his name is also Wang Chao!"

Rao Yaoyao froze on the spot. Beside her, the several Path-Cutting guards who hadn't gone far, including Shou Ye and Wang Dachui, also froze on the spot. Then, a chill ran down their spines, and they felt a wind behind their heads. As if they had encountered a ghost, they unanimously leaped away from the spatial rift, moving back a full ten feet!

"Are you kidding?" Wang Dachui's eyes widened as he stared directly at Zhu Mi'er. "You scared the living daylights out of me!"

"I'm not kidding..." Zhu Mi'er said, feeling extremely wronged:

"We've verified this Wang Chao; every detail, word, and action, everything about him, is normal. But... but the Wang Chao who went with Captain Murong Ying was also... also very normal. He... he was so normal that even the captain, when he discovered the Yama and Saint Slaves with him, and then communicated, acted, and left with him... For such a long time, neither the captain nor any of us noticed anything unusual about that Wang Chao!"

Everyone gasped. Two Wang Chaos? This was terrifying! If this Wang Chao here was real and his identity could be verified, then what on earth was the Wang Chao Murong Ying took with him?

Shou Ye felt a chill run through him. He had dealt with Ghost Beasts for half his life. While their name included "Ghost," they were mostly simple-minded creatures and not to be feared if one was adequately prepared. But these "two Wang Chaos" were truly like ghosts. Regardless of cultivation level, the mere occurrence of such an event instinctively caused terror.

"Wait..."

"A ghost? A second Wang Chao?"

Shou Ye's thoughts suddenly froze, then snapped back from a certain point. Isn't this somewhat similar to his earlier prediction? Only, the subject of the prediction had shifted from the Eighth Sword Immortal to the inconspicuous Wang Chao, making it hard for people to react immediately...

Shou Ye turned his gaze to Rao Yaoyao, finding that Sword Immortal Rao was also looking at him with a similar expression of understanding. Both paused for half a breath, then simultaneously exclaimed:

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Whoosh—"

A wailing, ghost-like wind howled and swirled among the cliffs, then soared into the sky. Amidst the swirling clouds and mist, Ye Xiaotian landed atop the broken cliff, feeling as though he was in a supreme sea of clouds. He was covered in blood but paid it no mind, staring in awe at the world below the high cliff.

The broken cliff before him was clearly once a towering mountain, but now it looked as if an immortal had cleaved it in half with a giant sword. The overflowing power had devastated both sides of the cliff, leaving them in ruins. With such a high cliff split down the middle, boundless clouds and mist now poured in from above, and an endless sea surged into the abyss below, truly an awe-inspiring sight.

"Does the Yunlun Mountain Range have such high cliffs? And the sword intent in these cliffs doesn't seem ancient; it appears to be newly formed..."

Ye Xiaotian sighed, touching the rubble beneath him. As he healed his injuries with Elder Sang's pills, his thoughts wandered. The sword mark that had devastated both sides and severed the cliff made him think of someone... The Eighth Sword Immortal!

Rumors said that during the night battle in the King City, at the critical moment, a figure suddenly appeared in the Yunlun Mountain Range. That figure manifested a Great Buddha, holding a sword, its light illuminating the night. This simultaneously drew all the Sacred Palace forces to the Yunlun Mountain Range for defense and, above the King City, summoned a City in the Sky bearing the title of "Sealing Saint Dao Foundation"!

"Is this the scene?"

Ye Xiaotian recalled the information that had spread among the residents near the Yunlun Mountain Range after the King City night battle. Feeling the shocking sword marks around him, he was deeply moved. Baxun'an had inexplicably saved his life, and now he had inexplicably arrived at the origin of this "Great Buddha Slash"...

Coincidence? Or destiny?