288 Pursuing the Culprit to Purple Earth
It was noon now. The sky should be bright but Xu Qing felt that the world wasn’t that bright anymore.
Port 176 was clearly bustling with activity but in Xu Qing’s perception, all sounds seemed to have disappeared.
That intense surreal feeling made him feel that everything was like a joke. The crowd walking past in the distance, the birds flying in the sky, the sounds of boats coming from the sea. Everything seemed to be isolated from his perception.
It was as though in his perception, the world had been divided into two layers. The first layer was the entire world and everyone. As for the other layer… there was only him.
It was too sudden.
Very few people could accept such sudden news immediately, and very few people could react instantly. Xu Qing staggered and grabbed the railing of the magic ship tightly.
The sea breeze blew over, blowing his black hair up, but it couldn’t blow away the stifling sensation that was rapidly forming in his chest. He wanted to roar and scream, but he couldn’t.
Xu Qing attached great importance to gratitude.
“Meet again eventually?…” Xu Qing mumbled.
He recalled the past when he was searching for the heavenfate flower in the scavenger campsite. He recalled Grandmaster Bai’s deep gaze in the tent, and the scene of him holding other plants and asking guiltily.
Finally, the image of Grandmaster Bai sitting on the departing carriage and smiling at him appeared in his mind.
Now, everything was gone.
Captain Lei gave Xu Qing the feeling of family.
Grandmaster Bai gave Xu Qing a debt of gratitude as heavy as a mountain.
These two old men could be said to have pulled back the youth who had walked out of the city that was like purgatory under the blood rain and corpses when the god’s fragmented face opened its eyes.
However, the world was heartless and cruel.
Life was worthless in this world.
After Xu Qing entered the Seven Blood Eyes, what he experienced was no longer as desolate as the scavenger campsite. Instead, the cruelty was displayed in another way.
Regardless of whether it was selling children for food or cruel torture, it was a constant occurrence in this world.
Killing intent continuously erupted in Xu Qing’s heart. It was as though a sharp blade had appeared in his body and was crazily emitting monstrous killing intent, wanting to break through his body and slash the world.
Xu Qing’s body trembled.
After a long time, Xu Qing took a deep breath and looked at the captain who had a worried expression on his face. His voice came out hoarsely.
“I’m fine.”
As Xu Qing spoke, he forced himself to calm down as he checked the red slip again.
Old Master Seventh clearly possessed a wide range of connections and abilities. Hence, not only did his jade slip inform him of Grandmaster Bai’s death, but it also contained clues from Purple Earth and information about the murderer.
As for the true reason for the murder, no one knew yet. However, the jade slip mentioned that after Grandmaster Bai was assassinated, nothing was missing from his possessions or his residence, other than the second volume of a pill formula called the Lunar Chosen Transformation Pill.
This was a pill formula that had been obtained from a wish box many years ago. It came from the previous era and was recorded on an unknown beast skin. The pill described in it was utterly heartless and extremely vicious.
The main ingredient for the Lunar Chosen Transformation Pill was heaven’s chosen. With three of them as one ingredient, one needed to refine six ingredients at the same time to form a blood pill.
Swallowing this could allow the mortal to defy the heavens and transform into a heaven’s chosen.
Grandmaster Bai obtained the second volume in a fortuitous encounter and felt that this pill was too vicious. He originally wanted to destroy it but because it still had a certain value in terms of pill knowledge, he kept it. Not many outsiders knew about it.
As for the murderer’s exact identity, Purple Earth was also investigating. Old Master Seventh couldn’t know more details but with his connections in Purple Earth, he still found some clues.
The murderer wasn’t a human but a rare race of bizarre entities in the Forbidden Sea called the Bizarre Fiend Race.
This race was known as the undying race. It wasn’t that they couldn’t die but their strange abilities made it almost impossible for outsiders to capture and kill them completely. This was because every time they died, they would immediately revive in the creature they had marked before.
Although this revival consumed some energy, it wasn’t much.
This caused a lot of trouble for Purple Earth in their investigation. In addition… the situation in Purple Earth was complicated. The various families were fighting openly and covertly over benefits. When Grandmaster Bai was alive, he was extremely valued and countless people benefited from him.
However, he wasn’t a cultivator after all. He was just a mortal, an old man in his twilight years.
No matter how great a mortal’s contributions were, in the eyes of cultivators, especially those stubborn people in power in Purple Earth, they were inferior.
They were just tools.
Hence, after Grandmaster Bai died, although Purple Earth was enraged and investigated, they clearly didn’t put too much effort. Even those who had received Grandmaster Bai’s kindness didn’t make a move.
The relationships are gone after the people leave, especially in this cruel chaotic world.
However, they still blocked all teleportation from Purple Earth to the outside world. They also notified the Litu Sect, the Truth Sect, and the Seven Blood Eyes to seal the teleportation as well.
After doing all this, Purple Earth’s focus was almost all on Grandmaster Bai’s alchemy inheritance. Even the Bai family showed ambiguity in this matter. A portion of them wanted revenge, while another portion began to divide the spoils.
This was Purple Earth.
It was also the reason why Purple Earth, who was clearly a true native of the Nanhuang Continent, could only become one of the forces now. Their stubbornness and isolated nature were deeply rooted.
That was why Old Master Seventh sent the red jade slip. He couldn’t rush back himself and handed this matter to the captain. This was because in the entire Nanhuang Continent, the only one who understood the Forbidden Sea the most was the Seventh Peak of the Seven Blood Eyes.
They were much more proficient at searching and tracking the nonhuman races on the Forbidden Sea.
“Usually, it’s impossible for there to be too many murderers in such an assassination. Coupled with the characteristics of the Bizarre Fiend Race, there’s a high chance that there’s only one culprit. Moreover, his cultivation shouldn’t be at the Golden Core Realm.”
“This is because Purple Earth’s array formation suppresses and restricts foreign Golden Cores extremely severely. If the nonhuman Golden Cores go over, the possibility of them being exposed will far exceed that of Foundation Building cultivators who aren’t much of a concern.”
“Therefore, Purple Earth has made a similar request to the Seven Blood Eyes; there is no need to investigate the Golden Cores. If I were to go, I would search for anomalous substances that contain the aura of the Forbidden Sea and combine them with some special magic artifacts to screen them. This process might take some time. Also, I’m not sure how long Purple Earth’s lockdown will last.”
“After all… there are many families in Purple Earth. The Bai family is only one of them.”
The captain looked at Xu Qing and spoke softly.
“I’ll go.” Xu Qing lifted his head and calmly spoke.
There were no emotions in this sentence, but the captain could sense that it contained a storm that was about to erupt!
“Xu Qing, I can open a hidden teleportation gate for you to return later. After you find the murderer, you can reach there and teleport back. The main point of catching the murderer is…”
“The main point is to find the mastermind.” Xu Qing soared into the air and waved his right hand. As the sea rumbled, his magic ship shone and was put away by Xu Qing. He immediately headed straight for the Seven Blood Eyes’ teleportation array.
Although everything was sealed, it was still possible to carry out a one-directional teleportation with the jade slip.
At that moment, killing intent and anxiety coexisted in Xu Qing’s heart. They continued to fuse together, forming an even deeper pressure in his chest, causing him to speed up.
The whistling sound caused by his speed eruption caused the hearts of everyone in the Seven Blood Eyes’ main city to tremble.
At the next instant, Xu Qing’s figure appeared at the location of the Seven Blood Eyes’ teleportation array. The moment he landed, he was already standing in the teleportation array.
“Purple Earth’s capital city!” Xu Qing was expressionless as he spoke in a low voice.
The disciple in charge of the teleportation recognized Xu Qing’s identity and immediately began to adjust the array. Three breaths later, as the teleportation array shone, Xu Qing’s figure instantly disappeared.
The teleportation fluctuations spread in all directions. As Xu Qing disappeared, the captain also sped over.
Standing outside the teleportation array, he looked into the distance and let out a long sigh.
Regarding the matter between Xu Qing and Grandmaster Bai, he had read it in the dossier after he became the director of the Intelligence Department. He also knew that the old man had played a huge role in this.
It was the old man who recommended Xu Qing, and Grandmaster Bai had also finally acknowledged Xu Qing.
Hence, the captain knew that it wasn’t good for him to participate in this matter.
This was because he felt that Xu Qing didn’t want others to participate either.
“Back then… I felt the same thing. At that time, I only wanted to be alone.” Memories appeared in the captain’s eyes and a hint of sadness seemed to rise in the depths of his heart. However, it was suppressed the next instant.
He looked around and smiled.
“Everyone, the Intelligence Department has requisitioned this place.”
As his voice rang out, the Seven Blood Eyes’ teleportation array quickly became empty and was controlled by the disciples of the Intelligence Department. After that, the captain took a deep breath and looked at the sky.
“With my status as the third rank in the Sequence of the Seventh Peak and the position of the director of the Seventh Peak’s Intelligence Department, I apply for the sect’s array formation to close all the teleportation arrays of the Seven Blood Eyes and seal the ports.”
“Make all the boats and ships unable to leave or enter the harbor.”
As the captain’s voice rang out, the entire Seven Blood Eyes’ array formation rumbled. Very soon, a divine sense came from the Sixth Peak.
The captain cupped his fists and bowed to the Sixth Peak.
“Sixth Martial Uncle, I have some evidence and guesses. I might be able to find out about Senior Brother Chen’s murder back then. Please permit me to seal the sect!”
The Sixth Peak suddenly erupted with monstrous might, causing the sky to change color and the wind and clouds to surge. A long time later, a low voice rang out.
“Permitted!”
The captain lowered his head and bowed deeply, muttering inwardly.
“Little Qing, this is all I can do for you. I hope you can successfully investigate this matter. This matter… gives me the feeling that it’s not simple.”
“Lunar Chosen Refinement Pill?”
“In the past few years, there have been many heaven’s chosen who disappeared on the sea…”
The captain narrowed his eyes, his gaze deep.