Chapter 68: Spirit Eye Discerns Treasures

【Name: Li Rui】

【Age: 7】

【Talent: Martial Bone, Exceptional Comprehension, Spirit Eye】

【Martial Art: White Ape’s Cloak Blade】

【Achievement: 10/100】

Spirit Eye!

A flood of unfamiliar information surged into his mind, and Li Rui’s eyes quickly flickered with sudden understanding.

“I can see spiritual matter!”

The world holds countless extraordinary eyes: some are born with Yin-Yang Eyes, able to see wandering spirits; others are born with double pupils, capable of piercing through heaven and earth’s laws—all immensely useful. The Spirit Eye’s function is to see spiritual matter.

It is well known.

The mystery of spiritual herbs, spiritual ores, and spiritual soil lies precisely in the spiritual matter they contain.

To see spiritual matter is equivalent to possessing a divine eye for discerning treasures.

Li Rui was overjoyed.

Before he could think further—

Suddenly!

A thunderous rumbling of footsteps echoed from nearby woods, accompanied by the sound of trees crashing down.

“That beast.”

Li Rui did not wish to tangle further with the beast; if he failed to escape, he might expose his killing of Zhao Wei.

Yet just as he turned to leave—

His peripheral vision caught Zhao Wei’s corpse.

On his chest, a faint golden glow stood out vividly in the rainy night.

“Spiritual matter?!”

Li Rui raised an eyebrow—he hadn’t expected his Spirit Eye to be put to use so soon.

He quickly crouched down.

He reached for Zhao Wei’s chest and seized something hard.

Without looking, he shoved it hastily into his robe.

He slipped into the woods and vanished.

A pale streak of dawn appeared on the horizon.

The downpour ceased.

Disciples of the Heaven-Earth Alliance gathered, staring at the two massive beast corpses lying on the ground.

“Thank you, Sister Jiang.”

Han Qin’s clothes were soaked through, her appearance disheveled, her body bearing several bloody gashes from the beast’s claws.

In contrast,

Jiang Yan remained composed:

“Had Brother Han and Brother Zhu not held off the beasts, I could not have activated the Divine Weapon Talisman.”

Together, the three of them used the Divine Weapon Talisman’s power to slay the two black bear beasts.

Zhu Yue’s face was also filled with relief.

He was glad he had made his decision last night.

He had not fled in fear but had risked his life to hold the beasts back at the critical moment, giving Jiang Yan the chance to activate the Divine Weapon Talisman.

Otherwise, with their combined strength, killing these two beasts would have been impossible.

Moreover, he could clearly sense that Jiang Yan’s attitude toward him had improved considerably since before.

“By the way, where’s Vice Captain Zhao?”

Zhu Yue looked around and only then realized Zhao Wei had not appeared since separating from them last night.

Han Qin also furrowed his brow.

A sense of unease rose in his heart.

So much time had passed— even if he hadn’t killed the beast, he should have returned with some result.

“It’s just one beast. Vice Captain Zhao has solid foundations and superb blade skills. He shouldn’t be in danger.”

He tried to reassure them.

But before he finished speaking, someone cried out in a trembling voice: “Vice Captain Zhao is dead.”

“What?!”

All three of Huayu’s disciples showed expressions of shock.

Yet when they saw Zhao Wei’s corpse carried before them by several disciples, they fell silent.

Zhu Yue crouched down, checked Zhao Wei’s breath, then felt his pulse.

He looked up at Han Qin and Jiang Yan:

“He’s definitely dead.”

Han Qin stared at Zhao Wei’s corpse, fixing his gaze on the blade wound at his neck for a long time before speaking slowly: “Vice Captain Zhao may not have died at the beast’s hands.”

“Then who killed him?”

Zhu Yue asked.

Zhao Wei’s corpse was too gruesome—his body torn apart by the beast, little flesh left intact; the neck wound seemed insignificant by comparison.

Han Qin looked at Jiang Yan: “I think Sister Jiang would know better.”

Zhu Yue turned, puzzled, toward Jiang Yan.

“It was blade qi.”

Jiang Yan gave her conclusion without hesitation.

Zhu Yue drew in a sharp breath.

Blade qi—that was a technique only cultivators of seventh rank or higher could wield.

Meaning, a seventh-rank martialist had been lurking in the woods last night!

Zhu Yue suddenly felt his legs go weak with dread.

If that seventh-rank martialist had chosen them instead of Zhao Wei, three more corpses would lie on the ground now.

In a sense, Zhao Wei had died in their place.

Zhu Yue could see it—Han Qin and Jiang Yan could too.

At that moment, a Heaven-Earth Alliance disciple spoke timidly: “Three Masters, last night our squad was closest to where Vice Captain Zhao was killed. It was raining, so we didn’t hear clearly, but now I recall… someone shouted—”

“Shouted what?”

Zhu Yue asked sharply, his expression displeased.

“Shouted: ‘The killer is the Ghost Ming Sect—the Ghost Mask Blade!’”

Ghost Mask Blade!

Han Qin drew in a sharp breath.

He recognized the name.

The Ghost Mask Blade was a notorious villain of this generation, once responsible for wiping out entire families, and had openly declared his allegiance to the Ghost Ming Sect.

The incident had caused a huge uproar.

“He’s come to Qinghe County.”

Han Qin glanced warily around: “Let’s leave this place of trouble.”

“Yes.”

Jiang Yan nodded.

Even with the many life-saving tools her father Jiang Lin had given her, she could not guarantee absolute safety.

They descended the mountain.

Entered the city.

Only then did their tense hearts finally ease.

Han Qin took a deep breath: “Sister Jiang, the Ghost Ming Sect sent a seventh-rank martialist to strike. Continuing the investigation is far too dangerous. Let’s request our sect upgrade the mission and send senior disciples.”

Jiang Yan and Zhu Yue both nodded in agreement.

Even though they were only investigating and their father Jiang Lin was in the city, it was still far too dangerous.

Elder Jiang was powerful.

But he was only one man, stretched thin—he couldn’t guard them constantly.

Zhu Yue stared at Zhao Wei’s corpse:

“What do we do with him?”

Han Qin sighed deeply: “We’ll go to the Heaven-Earth Alliance and find Blade Captain. But after this, getting them to act will be difficult.”

“There’s no other choice.”

Zhu Yue sighed as well.

He hadn’t expected this mission to be so convoluted.

“Damn Ghost Mask Blade!”

Tianyi Hall.

Li Manor.

Li Rui quietly returned to his quarters, stripped off his wet clothes, and tossed them all into the fire to burn them clean.

Then he changed into a fresh set of clothes.

The dry, warm feeling finally eased his tense nerves.

What a thrilling night.

But it was worth it.

With Zhao Wei dead, his subordinates scattered like birds and beasts, and no one would dare target him for now.

He left plenty of clues pointing to the Ghost Ming Sect.

Even if someone suspected it wasn’t the Ghost Ming Sect’s doing, they could never suspect a mere ninth-rank old man like him.

“Finally, I can live in peace.”

“I only wanted to read my books in quiet.”

Now relaxed, Li Rui finally had the chance to take out the item he had taken from Zhao Wei, which contained spiritual matter.

It was a fist-sized chunk of golden ore.

Li Rui suddenly recalled the rumor he’d heard a few days ago—that Zhao Wei had spent a fortune at a pawnshop in the city to buy a piece of spirit ore.

“Could this be the very one?”

(End of Chapter)