Chapter 165: The Qi of Truth

Ye Family Ancestral Land.

That elder of the Ye Family stood tall in the Void, looking down at the small teaching courtyard that belonged to Ye Xuanxiao.

Within it, Weird Qi churned, incomparably dangerous.

The Weirdness within had already begun to riot.

He frowned slightly, having received a message from Ye Xuanxiao.

It actually claimed that the reason he hadn't sent word for such a long time was because he had been schemed against by the Wang Family, deviated from his destination, and ended up in the Void Turbulence Area, only managing to walk back into the borders of Great Li just now. Furthermore, he had encountered an ambush by five Strong Second Heaven Peak powerhouses from the Wang Family.

In the end, forced into a corner, he had no choice but to strike back and kill them.

He also said that the deaths of their Ye Family members within the scope of Bei'an County might also be related to the Wang Family, and suggested a strict investigation.

The elder knew in his heart that this matter had many suspicious points. Although their Ye Family had had some grudges with the Wang Family in the past, they were not life-and-death enmities, merely disputes over interests.

The Wang Family would not go so far as to make a move against their Ye Family over such trivial matters; this clearly did not conform to Reason. He felt more that this was just an excuse Ye Xuanxiao had found to slack off, or perhaps he had been misled by others and misjudged the person, so a careful investigation was necessary.

Of course, more importantly, he did not want to speculate in this direction.

If Ye Xuanxiao, this Ye Family Third Young Master, had truly killed Wang Family members—and five Strong Second Heaven Peak ones at that—the Wang Family would certainly be furious, and at that time, it would trigger a war between the noble families!

This clearly did not conform to the interests of their Ye Family.

After all, their Ye Family could also be considered business people.

They could not fight; if they really started fighting, how would they make money?

He planned to wait a while longer, waiting for Ye Xuanxiao to return before investigating cautiously. At the same time, he planned to send out some manpower to test the Wang Family's reaction; such a major event could almost be known with a single probe.

But at this moment, a figure flew over from the distance.

"Hai, what is it, why are you in such a rush?"

The elder saw at a glance who the visitor was. Ye Hai, a junior, one of the lamp-watchers responsible for guarding the Soul Lamps. Seeing this junior so agitated, he could not help but frown.

Are the young people of today all so flighty and impatient?

If this continues for long, what will become of the Ye Family in the future?

Is Qianqiu, as the leader, not managing things?

He shook his head and sighed.

"Clan Elder Feng, it's bad!" Ye Hai was somewhat panicked.

"Do not rush, speak slowly."

He spoke indifferently, his voice seemingly possessing magic, penetrating deep into Ye Hai's soul, causing his panicked mood to calm slightly.

"I imagine it is nothing more than some Soul Lamp extinguishing. But why be so panicked? When young people are out and about, casualties are unavoidable; just send someone to investigate later."

"But, but, the Third Young Master's Soul Lamp has gone out!"

Ye Hai said anxiously.

"What!"

Clan Elder Feng's pupils shrank, his expression shocked. The next moment, his figure flashed, instantly tearing through the Void, arriving at the hall where the Life Lamps and Soul Lamps were stored, his gaze sweeping across them.

Sure enough, as Ye Hai had said, Ye Xuanxiao's Soul Lamp was extinguished.

Extinguished meant he was dead.

"Soul, return to me; soul, return to me..."

Clan Elder Feng did not immediately think about how this had come to be. From his palm drifted a greenish, eerie Yin fire, forcibly igniting Ye Xuanxiao's Soul Lamp.

He muttered words, employing the Ye Family's Summoning Secret Technique.

However, it was a pity that he failed; there was no response.

His expression stiffened, understanding that this was the worst-case scenario: Ye Xuanxiao's soul had already been destroyed. Otherwise, relying on their Ye Family's Summoning Secret Technique, even if the soul were sealed, there should have been some response.

Ye Xuanxiao, a Great Innate, had just died like this?

And died so thoroughly?

Back then, the lucky and useless Second Young Master at least had his soul return! Although that useless one was eventually eaten by the ancestors in the ancestral shrine...

Could it really have been the Wang Family who made the move?

He considered this possibility.

In the Present World, within the borders of the Great Li Dynasty, only deep-rooted major powers like the noble families could make a Great Innate powerhouse die so thoroughly in such a short time.

Especially since this Great Innate also bore the name of a Ye Family Young Master.

By logic, he should have been even harder to kill.

Coincidentally, Ye Xuanxiao had also said the Wang Family was scheming against him.

The Wang Family's suspicion was indeed the greatest!

His expression cold, he took a step, returning to the space above Ye Xuanxiao's teaching courtyard, appearing beside Ye Hai. With a single slap, he suppressed and killed the Weirdness within the courtyard.

Ye Xuanxiao was dead, and these Weirdnesses had no value.

Ye Hai trembled, not understanding what this highly experienced Clan Elder wanted to do, only hearing this Clan Elder Feng speak: "Ye Hai, I know you have always been complaining, not wanting to guard the Soul Lamps."

"Then I will give you a chance now."

"Go and help me investigate the Wang Family's movements during this period!"

At this time, on the Wang Family's side.

That Wang Family Clan Elder had a gloomy expression, having already seen that the Soul Lamps of the five Wang Family Second Heaven members he had sent over had extinguished. Through his own ritual implements, he could also see some blurred scenes.

It was precisely the Ye Family people who had killed their Wang Family people!

"Ye Family, you go too far!"

He spoke with hatred.

The five Wang Family Second Heaven members he had sent over had only wanted to invite that Ye Family person to the Wang Family as a guest to clarify the details, prevent being schemed against, and avoid misunderstandings; he had never intended to kill.

But now, they had been beaten to death by that Ye Family person.

What does this mean? There must be something fishy about the Ye Family!

He stepped out of the Soul Lamp Hall, intending to see the family head.

Bei'an City, Demon Suppression Division, inside Li Heng's courtyard.

The three of them enjoyed tea and conversation, talking about Heaven and Earth, the atmosphere harmonious.

Ma Suxuan drank a cup of clear tea, feeling extremely suspicious in her heart.

She had assumed that she would likely not see Li Heng this time, and even if she did, her sudden visit would certainly make Li Heng panic for a moment.

But she did not expect to actually see him, and his expression was so calm, as if he had never left; the tea was still hot.

Does that powerhouse have any connection to Li Heng at all?

Her intuition told her there was.

The nature of their power was simply too similar, identical.

But she had no evidence.

Of course, she did not think Li Heng was the mysterious powerhouse; that mysterious powerhouse was so powerful, while Li Heng was currently only at the True Qi Realm, and even if his cultivation speed was heaven-defying and he had already advanced to the Innate Level, it was impossible for him to cause such a huge commotion.

One who has just entered the Innate Level cannot cause such a huge commotion.

She vaguely guessed.

The relationship between that mysterious powerhouse and Li Heng was likely that of a master, an elder, or perhaps a guardian?

"Aunt Xuan, you said that after Ren Hai went mad, he left behind a broken Official Seal?" Through the topic discussed earlier, Li Heng naturally brought up this question.

"That's right, I suspect there is residual information within it."

"After I put it into my pocket, I tried many methods, but I could never find anything unusual; it was as if it were just a piece of broken jade." Ma Suxuan smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"Then what does Aunt Xuan intend to do?"

"I'm not sure about that either; perhaps I have to take it back to the Prefecture, where there are more experienced people who should be able to investigate it. Little Heng, are you interested?"

Li Heng smiled slightly.

He naturally understood the probing intent in Ma Suxuan's words. However, with his current strength, there was no need to deliberately hide or explain, so he just let her guess.

It was better to maintain a state of ambiguity.

"I am indeed interested; why don't I take a look?"

Hearing this, Ma Suxuan nodded and directly took out the broken Official Seal, placing it on the table. Although some events had caused her impression of Li Heng to become enigmatic.

She still trusted Ling Yun's judgment of people, and at the same time, she trusted her own judgment, not believing that Li Heng was a bad person who would rack his brains to do something evil.

At most, he was just becoming increasingly mysterious.

Compared to that, she was more worried that Li Heng would get involved in some mysterious factors and go down an evil path; that would not do.

This was also the reason she had specifically come over.

Beside them, Meng Lingyun listened to the two's encrypted conversation and was already a bit confused. However, he could mostly read the atmosphere: Suxuan was probing Li Heng, and Li Heng was probing Suxuan?

What is this all about? He was left between laughter and tears.

He still trusted Li Heng very much.

As for Li Heng's mystery? He had long since gotten used to it.

Li Heng did not hold back and directly took the broken Official Seal to examine it carefully. At the same time, he imperceptibly summoned the Data Panel and used the Identification Function, intending to find out the details.

Then, he saw a bunch of garbled text...

He pondered slightly in his heart: could it be because this broken Official Seal was tainted with some high-level power that the current level of the Identification Function could no longer keep up?

But this was not a difficult matter.

Now he was wealthy and powerful!

Although he had consumed one thousand Source Power to manifest the Innate Level Great Sun Dharma Image, the Great Sun Dharma Image had swept away the White Strange Mist and suppressed the Weird, covering roughly the entire Town, harvesting five thousand Source Power. Plus, he had slaughtered the Great Innate level Ye Family Third Young Master, harvesting one thousand Source Power; now he had a total of nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-five Source Power.

Spending one thousand Source Power to upgrade the Identification Function was trivial.

This was also a necessary function, worth one thousand Source Power.

With a thought, he burned one thousand Source Power, and the Identification Function upgraded once more. Instantly, the identification information field, which had been garbled, suddenly flooded with many characters, arranged in order, appearing before Li Heng's eyes.

【Broken Official Seal: Originally a Nine Grades County Magistrate Official Seal of the Great Li Dynasty, it could mobilize the Luck of a county, as well as the owner's Official Luck, possessing unfathomable divine power. Later, due to contact with the essence of True Qi Essence, the owner underwent a mutation, the Official Seal was damaged, and it no longer has any power. Note! The term 'True Qi Essence' has been distorted by Heaven and Earth! Residual information attached within the seal: Everything will slide away, despair is destined, struggling to cross is meaningless.】

Browsing through this long passage of text carefully, Li Heng's expression was slightly stunned.

Such a massive amount of information; it was worthy of the Identification Function that cost him one thousand Source Power to upgrade. But what is this True Qi Essence, and what is this so-called distortion of Heaven and Earth?

As for that attached information, was it left by Ren Hai?

Then what kind of truth did he uncover to be able to say such desperate and incredibly negative words? Li Heng thought about it carefully, only to feel a weird and inexplicable black shadow looming over everything, causing his heart to sink.

"Little Heng, what's wrong?"

Ma Suxuan spoke suddenly, asking with some anxiety.

She was truly afraid that Li Heng would undergo some mutation.

"It's nothing, I just think it's a pity that such a good-looking Official Seal is broken." Li Heng shook his head, not intending to tell the two of them this information, at least not now.

Firstly, the source of the information could not be explained, and secondly, it was unnecessary.

Seeing Li Heng speak, his aura fine and his expression normal, Ma Suxuan breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that he was fine.

After this, the three of them chatted for a while longer, and Ma Suxuan, seeing that she could not probe anything out, intended to take her leave.

When leaving, Ma Suxuan hesitated for a moment.

"Um, please give my regards to that senior."

Dropping this sentence, she pulled Meng Lingyun away.

Li Heng was slightly stunned upon hearing this, and then his expression became strange. What exactly had she imagined to ask him to give regards to that senior?

Should he give regards to himself?

He shook his head, carrying a few traces of a smile and pleasure, and began to think about future matters...

At this moment, in the Yin World's Ten Thousand Demon Ridge.

The three demons looked at the eerie fog that had been barely contained, remaining silent.

At this time, the eldest, Qingshi, spoke up.

"Third brother, tell us what we should do? In order to resolve this matter, we have used up the things from Hanging Mountain."