Chapter 1030: Soil Leaf King

Ruo Qingyuan's heart had stopped, and his already injured body was now completely shriveled and bony, with bulging eyes, as if he had witnessed something truly terrifying. His hand was clenched, a dose of poison still within his grasp, but he had been killed before he could release it.

"Is it?" Standing above with an ashen face, the White Poison Master seemed to discern something, turning to look at the Sea Poison Master beside him.

"Yes..." The latter nodded solemnly.

"Just as I thought!" The White Poison Master's eyes narrowed, his voice like a knife, carrying a chilling murderous intent: "An Otherworldly Demon..."

Hearing this, Zhang Xuan's brows furrowed. "Are you saying... Palace Master Ruo Qingyuan was killed by an Otherworldly Demon?" While poison masters didn't have the best reputation, they weren't like soul oracles who defected to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe; otherwise, the Master Teacher Pavilion would uncover them no matter how deeply they hid. For an Otherworldly Demon to appear here and kill a Palace Master, with no apparent connection, what exactly was going on? From their tone, it was clear they were certain.

"Palace Master Ruo's body is shriveled because his vital essence and blood were drained. This type of attack is unique to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe..." The White Poison Master nodded, explaining.

"Drained his vital essence and blood?" The patterns in Zhang Xuan's eyes seemed to squirm as he looked again at Palace Master Ruo's corpse, his expression turning grim. Just as the White Poison Master said, the Palace Master's body was completely devoid of vital essence, as if something monstrous had consumed it. Vital essence is fundamental to human life; to have it forcibly extracted meant unimaginable suffering. This was not merely a killing; it was a massacre!

"This is how the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe attacks?" He felt a shock in his heart. Although he had killed many members of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, most of them had been eliminated before they could launch an attack, so he hadn't fully grasped the brutality of their methods. Only upon seeing Palace Master Ruo's corpse did he truly understand why this race instilled such fear in humans during ancient times. Once vital essence was drained, even the most exceptional medical skills were useless.

"The Otherworldly Demon was likely here to steal that book!" the White Poison Master continued. The intruder had infiltrated the area, but hadn't acted until Ruo Qingyuan reached the Palace Master's Mausoleum and was searching for the book, at which point he was killed. The motive was clear.

The Sea Poison Master nodded, his gaze sharp as lightning. "He was just killed, and the sound only recently spread. The killer shouldn't have escaped far; we still have time to pursue him now..." After speaking, he carefully surveyed their surroundings. A moment later, he helplessly shook his head. The culprit possessed strong anti-tracking abilities, killing Palace Master Ruo in a single move without leaving a trace. Given the size of the island, if they chose the wrong direction, it would be almost impossible to track someone of the perpetrator's strength.

"Let me see!" Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes. They had rushed over as soon as they heard the commotion, and under normal circumstances, the culprit shouldn't have gotten too far. As long as he hadn't escaped, the White and Sea Poison Masters, with their current strength, should be able to easily subdue him and avenge the fallen Palace Master.

Using his Eye of Insight, he carefully scanned the area around the pit and quickly spotted a faint trace on the ground. "He went in that direction!" he said, pointing.

"There?" The White Poison Master and the others were puzzled by the direction he indicated. It was precisely the direction they had just come from. They had rushed through there and hadn't seen anyone flee. Moreover, that was the Poison Hall's main base; killing the Palace Master and then heading towards the headquarters instead of escaping seemed like a death wish. It wasn't that they didn't trust Sun Qiang, but without the patriarch's consciousness, he was only a Cong Sheng expert, far weaker than their own Saint 5-dan strength.

"Follow me!" Knowing that if the killer escaped, the book might be lost forever, Zhang Xuan offered no explanation and swiftly flew in the direction he had perceived. Seeing his certainty, the two Poison Masters no longer hesitated and followed closely.

A short while later, having exited the Palace Master's Mausoleum, Zhang Xuan looked around, a frown on his face. This Otherworldly Demon was incredibly cunning; there had been traces before, but now even his Eye of Insight couldn't detect them. However, this also suggested that the individual must be hidden nearby and hadn't yet managed to escape.

"Where is he?" This was a flat expanse of ground, dotted with a few low-rise buildings and sparse vegetation. A quick glance revealed there was nowhere obvious to hide. "Unless..." Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted, and he couldn't help but look downwards. If the culprit wasn't above ground, then there was only one possibility: he had hidden underground. But there were no holes around, and the ground surface was as smooth as new; there was no apparent way to enter.

"What's wrong? Do you think the person is hiding underground?" Seeing his confusion and doubt, the White Poison Master approached.

"Yes," Zhang Xuan nodded. "The traces vanish here. Besides underground, I can't imagine anywhere else he could have gone!"

"That's simple. We can just investigate to see if he's underground!" Nodding, the White Poison Master said no more. A flash of light emanated from his Primordial Spirit Aperture, and a figure identical to him emerged. His Primordial Spirit had left his body! With a slight tremor, it drilled into the ground, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye. The Primordial Spirit, like the soul, can change at will, unlike the physical body, which is bound by various restrictions. Though the ground was hard, entering it was effortless.

*Boom!* Shortly after the White Poison Master's Primordial Spirit entered the ground, everyone felt a tremor beneath their feet. Immediately, a figure burst forth from underground with a *whoosh*, shooting straight forward.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Seeing the figure, the Sea Poison Master roared and lunged, his immense power forming a giant palm print. Before it even landed, nearby buildings and tree trunks shattered. At this point, the Sea Poison Master had reached Saint 5-dan; any casual strike possessed the power to move mountains and fill seas, making him unstoppable. The fleeing figure, seeing the attack, knew that a direct hit would be fatal. He suddenly curled into a ball in mid-air, plummeting straight down. His speed seemed even faster than when he had first emerged from the ground. *Whoosh!* He struck the ground like a stone. They expected him to be injured and spitting blood, but he vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, as if a drop of water had fallen into sand.

"This is... Earth Evasion!" The Sea Poison Master's pupils contracted as his mighty palm print created a massive indentation in the ground, yet found no trace of the figure.

"Earth Evasion?" Zhang Xuan was startled, not understanding what it was.

"It's an ability possessed by a unique bloodline, allowing one to move underground just like a Primordial Spirit, unhindered..." The Sea Poison Master quickly explained, then shouted, "Bai Ting, you pursue from below, and I'll stay above... we can't let this guy escape!"

"Understood!" The White Poison Master's voice echoed from underground. With his Primordial Spirit unleashed, he could move freely beneath the earth. With one above and one below, even if the opponent possessed Earth Evasion, he would surely be unable to escape!

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* A series of violent tremors shook the ground, and the surrounding buildings collapsed like piles of straw. Zhang Xuan and the others flew into the air and looked down, witnessing what appeared to be two colossal dragons wrestling beneath the surface. Wherever they moved, enormous fissures ripped through the earth. These cracks spread straight ahead, rocks tumbled, and swirling, murky air enveloped the area. The White Poison Master had only recently broken through to Saint 5-dan, and his control over his power wasn't yet perfect. While fighting in the air would have been manageable, his actions underground were undoubtedly causing immense devastation to the Poison Hall. If Zhang Xuan's previous battle with Palace Master Ruo had merely caused considerable damage to the Poison Hall's ancient buildings, this current struggle was a truly catastrophic blow! The earth churned as if a colossal beast was writhing, reducing countless magnificent structures to rubble.

After an unknown duration, a figure burst forth from the ground once more. This time, however, he lacked his previous speed. As soon as he appeared, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed heavily onto the ground. The Sea Poison Master, who had been waiting outside, wasted no time. He spread his five fingers and lightly grasped, and several cages formed from true qi immediately enveloped the figure, locking him securely within.

"It truly is an Otherworldly Demon!" Zhang Xuan's brows furrowed as he got a clear look at the opponent. This individual bore some resemblance to the Golden Leaf King and others he had killed, exuding a sharp aura. He had already reached Saint 4-dan.

"Young Master, this is Earth Leaf King! He's one of our Qing Tian's Ten Great Kings, highly skilled in Earth Evasion. His combat power might not be as great as mine, but when it comes to escaping, he's absolutely number one!" The Purple Leaf King's voice quietly emanated from the Thousand Ant Hive. This individual was a Saint 4-dan expert. If Zhang Xuan wished, his divine consciousness could easily extend to observe the surroundings.

"Earth Leaf King? Another one of the Ten Great Kings? How could he be here?" Zhang Xuan couldn't help but ask. He had already encountered half of these so-called Qing Tian Ten Great Kings, and most of those who had died or been subdued had nothing to do with him directly. Even this one was caught only because he had helped the White and Sea Poison Masters improve their strength; otherwise, with his Earth Evasion ability, he would have been unstoppable against opponents of the same rank.

"It's likely that this map is of great significance, and Emperor Qing Tian was uneasy about me and the Water Leaf King, so he secretly dispatched him as a contingency," the Purple Leaf King guessed after a moment's thought. "After the Water Leaf King was killed and I surrendered, this fellow tracked Master and Elder Xu here." None of the major kings knew the precise location of the Poison Hall; otherwise, they wouldn't have ordered the city lord to search everywhere for Earth Store Flowers to lure the Poison Hall elders. His presence here was probably due to secretly tracking them.

"Not necessarily us. I think it's more likely he tracked the two Poison Masters," Zhang Xuan shook his head. He had been extremely careful when he left Jingyuan City, and would certainly have noticed if anyone were tracking him. It was more probable that the White Poison Master and the others, not having anticipated such a threat, provided an opportunity for the Earth Leaf King. For anyone else, the Poison Hall's powerful illusion array would have made entry impossible. However, for the Earth Leaf King, with his ability to travel underground, it might not have been so difficult. This fellow, wary of the Poison Hall, had remained hidden, not daring to act, until Palace Master Ruo moved alone. Only then did he quietly follow, waiting for him to retrieve the book before launching a sudden attack. According to previous assumptions, with his Earth Evasion ability, he should have been able to escape completely. He probably never dreamed that the White and Sea Poison Masters would break through their cultivation overnight, which ultimately led to him being trapped on the spot, with no means of escape.