Chapter 704: Suspicion

A brilliant Sword Qi descended from the sky, submerging the Douya Tianmo!

One could see the pillar of light, which had been like a life-extending rope in mid-air, severed at the waist by the Sword Qi; the Douya rolled into the grass with a squelch, for a moment appearing no different from the weeds.

At the same time, the Sword Light caught up, emitting brilliant flames like a torrent, sweeping toward the Douya.

The scent of burning grass wafted through the air.

This smell was not necessarily the smell of burning Douya; it was very much like ignited grass leaves. The Tianmo was grass, and there was plenty of grass around it; it was unclear whether natural grass or the Tianmo had been ignited.

After all, this was a grassland, and a powerful grassland a hundred times more lush and tall than an ordinary one; anyone throwing a spark here would have the potential to start a prairie fire. Yet, that sunlight-like flame had an extraordinarily high temperature, almost incinerating everything in an instant, causing countless grass leaves to vanish into ash in a flash, while controlling the range of the burning with abnormal precision. Seen from the outside, it looked as if a magnificent lantern had appeared on the ground; inside the lantern, flames were raging, while outside the lantern, everything was merely illuminated by the light.

"Ugh, ugh..."

Amidst the flames, the Tianmo let out a few strange sounds, and a shadow was seen bursting outward.

But the flames were truly too fierce; before it could rush out, its body had already been destroyed. One could vaguely see the shadow curling up like a withered leaf, shriveling, then shattering, and finally turning into Fragments and dust...

Then, there was Silence.

Not a trace of the shadow could be found anymore.

"This... is it over?"

The two Town Guardians were in the back discussing how to capture the remaining Demon Sect branch leaders when they were attracted by the intense light and saw this scene, momentarily stunned.

That Tianmo, it should be... dead, right?

No, it just died like this?!

They had clearly seen that the pillar of heaven had snapped, and the flames had burned everything clean, immediately followed by the flames themselves extinguishing. It was as if the play had ended and the curtain had been drawn.

This meant... the battle ended in less than two rounds?

This speed was so fast it made them feel they had missed something.

However... the battle seemed to have truly ended.

Just after the flames extinguished, those towering giant grasses, though still as tall, had lost their savage vitality, as if the grass demons had lost their demon souls, suddenly turning into wild grass. Then, most of them withered at a very slow rate, their straight stalks bending downward, looking dejected and near death.

Perhaps this lush grassland would soon disappear.

It would be impossible to return to the state of farmland and wasteland it once was; perhaps it would become a wasteland of weeds.

Another patch of psoriasis had been added to the surface of the Human World.

"Commander!"

At this moment, a person descended from the sky; it was Tang Zhao. He held a sword that seemed to be condensed from Sunlight, his body glowing brilliantly, his expression very calm.

But Che Lin felt that this calmness carried a hint of gravity.

There was absolutely no joy after a victory.

His heart skipped a beat. Chi Qianli, who was closer to Tang Zhao, asked, "Commander, did that Great Heavenly Demon not die just now?"

A trace of strangeness finally appeared in Tang Zhao's expression as he said, "It should be dead..."

Chi Qianli and Che Lin breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt it was strange, saying, "So fast?"

Tang Zhao said, "Fast is correct... Do you think it was a Great Heavenly Demon?"

"Ah?"

A Tianmo at the level of a Sword Hero, known as a Great Heavenly Demon, was extremely rare; encountering one was a nightmare for a Sword Guest.

However, encountering a Sword Hero was different. Most Tianmo lacked reason, and after coming to the Human World, they were restrained in many ways; even if their power was more formidable and their bodies tougher, they were still no match for a Sword Hero of the same level.

Of course, it was not necessarily the same at the Qianxian, where Tianmo could maintain their reason. Both sides competed on the same starting line, so who was stronger and who was weaker was not certain.

If it were in the Tianmo Jie, then the opponent would have the advantage.

But in any case, a Sword Hero could only be countered by a Sword Hero; a Sword Guest could not contend with one.

Tang Zhao killing a Great Heavenly Demon quickly was theoretically possible, but listening to Tang Zhao, it seemed that was not the case?

Che Lin, who had just fought the Douya Tianmo, said in disbelief, "That can't be, it was very powerful. I was completely no match for it just now..."

Tang Zhao said, "You were forced back just now, but you didn't lose, did you? Can't a powerful Sword Guest defeat someone without killing them?"

Che Lin was momentarily stunned: just as Tang Zhao said, there were strengths and weaknesses among Sword Guests. Although he considered himself not inferior to any Sword Guest in terms of raw strength—after all, he used his Sword Intent to enhance his conventional strength, and he used his Sword Art to make up for his shortcomings—he was never afraid of anyone in a head-on fight.

However, wasn't it the same for the Tianmo?

Weren't Tianmo also known for their absolute power and formidable head-on combat ability?

Admittedly, Che Lin had won more than he had lost in head-on fights with Tianmo in the past, and could even be said to be able to win by matching strength with strength, but that was also because the levels of the Tianmo were uneven; perhaps he had never encountered a truly powerful Tianmo?

Without a Great Heavenly Demon taking action, true powerhouses among the Tianmo might have absolute, overwhelming strength.

If that Tianmo was just a Tianmo, it would make sense; after all, as Tang Zhao said, he was only forced back and not killed with thunderous momentum. And looking at Tang Zhao's strength, if he were to kill him, could he perhaps do it instantly?

A Sword Hero and a Sword Guest should have such a large gap.

"But... but..."

Che Lin clearly felt it made sense, yet still felt something was wrong.

He still felt it was a Great Heavenly Demon. At this time, Chi Qianli said, "Although it was easily finished off by you, didn't you have a head-on battle before? Could it be that it was indeed a Great Heavenly Demon, just because you are particularly powerful?"

This sounded like flattery, but Chi Qianli indeed had this question and asked it straightforwardly.

Tang Zhao also answered straightforwardly, "That's right, I can easily defeat ordinary Sword Heroes. Whether it's a Tianmo or a Sword Hero, it's no problem."

Whether that Tianmo was a Great Heavenly Demon had nothing to do with whether Tang Zhao could kill it instantly; even if it really was one, it wouldn't stop Tang Zhao from resolving it with one sword. However, Tang Zhao could still detect the abnormality.

Something was wrong.

That Douya Tianmo behaved very strangely, even possessing human-like traits, often emitting disdainful laughter, seemingly despising everything, naturally making people feel it was very strong. But only after truly engaging in battle did one realize it was not that strong. Its mockery might just be its nasty nature; it was just asking for it.

It was just a Sword Guest-level Tianmo after all.

For a Tianmo with such great momentum, surrounded by stars like the moon, to have strength limited to this—not only did its strength fail to meet expectations, but its struggle was also not varied. Isn't this worth doubting?

However, what was even more wrong were Che Lin and Chi Qianli.

Especially Chi Qianli.

They were actually doubting Tang Zhao's judgment.

Tang Zhao made his assertion based on the feeling of fighting in person, and after recalling it, Che Lin also admitted that this possibility existed; this should be considered a sure thing, right?

Even if Che Lin still had doubts, Chi Qianli should have been biased toward believing Tang Zhao.

After all, Chi Qianli and Tang Zhao were old comrades and old acquaintances, and he had always admired Tang Zhao, knowing that his strength and insight were both above his own; for such a small judgment, Chi Qianli actually refused to believe it repeatedly and raised doubts.

Tang Zhao was not a person who could not tolerate questioning, but if this questioning came from the mouth of Che Lin, it would be reasonable, but coming from Chi Qianli, it was somewhat strange.

Of course, it was not to say that Che Lin did not doubt; Che Lin also doubted, and he also felt that the Douya Tianmo was a Sword Hero, it was just that Chi Qianli had stated it more directly.

Of course, the most suspicious thing of all was that Tang Zhao himself also felt that the Douya Tianmo could possibly be a Sword Hero Great Heavenly Demon!

It sounded extremely absurd; clearly, it was he himself who perceived that the Heavenly Demon's strength was insufficient, yet he could not trust his own judgment, and there was a voice hidden in his heart insisting that the Douya Tianmo could be a Great Heavenly Demon with missing strength, which was still a Great Heavenly Demon.

A fact that was nine times out of ten, yet the enemy did not believe it, the teammates did not believe it, and even he himself did not believe it...

Tang Zhao suddenly laughed out loud and said, "Perhaps my suspicion is wrong. In any case, that Heavenly Demon has already been dealt with, hasn't it?"

Chi Qianli and Che Lin nodded at the same time. The Eight Gates Golden Lock Array around them was still operating, and those Demon Sect members trapped within were still struggling. In fact, for a Sword Guest, sending them away with one sword was not difficult, but a Town Guardian generally would not do such things. It was what was called performing one's own duties; if the Town Guardian did these odd jobs, what would the people below do?

A Town Guardian generally only dealt with Heavenly Demons or Sword Guests.

However, this time Tang Zhao had finished off the Heavenly Demon, and with extremely high efficiency, having beheaded the Heavenly Demon while those small fry had not yet been cleared out, which made this array seem redundant. Moreover, letting these Demon Sect members continue to be trapped inside, only to have not a single living soul left by the end, was not a good thing.

Che Lin said, "Withdraw the array and capture them alive directly?"

He felt that they should capture more living captives to sort out the strange aspects of this Demon Cave, but after all, he still had to ask Tang Zhao for instructions.

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "No rush, let's go to various places first to clear out the Phantoms, let's go."

Both Town Guardians were a bit strange; generally, while Demon Caves all had Phantoms, that was mainly because the Yin Qi had been raging for many days, naturally breeding Phantoms and Fierce Beasts. But this Demon Cave had only had Yin Qi for one day before it descended, so there probably were not many Phantoms, so why was it necessary for all three of them to go and exterminate them?

But since Tang Zhao had invited them, the two followed him.

They left, but the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array here did not stop. Moreover, the force grew greater and greater, and it truly strangled the Demon Sect members to death. Those Land Inspection Division members did not sympathize with these Demon Sect members, and they only stopped after confirming there was not a single one breathing.

The enemy was killed and the Heavenly Demon was dead; logically speaking, it should have been considered over, but without orders from superiors, everyone still maintained the array.

After a while, Tang Zhao returned alone and said, "The two Town Guardians are already organizing the troops outside, you all return to your units."

Everyone looked at each other, but they remembered that Tang Zhao was the commander-in-chief and had the authority to issue orders, so they all agreed and were about to put away the array, but Tang Zhao said, "I will put away the array; this is one I have modified, you cannot take it away yet. I will return it to the two branches after I dismantle it."

This was also as it should be; the Land Inspection Division members cupped their hands in salute, then lined up and left.

Watching everyone walk past Tang Zhao's eyes one by one and enter the grass forest, Tang Zhao suddenly pointed, and a wall of transparent light intercepted one of them.

"I told the people of the Land Inspection Division to leave, but I did not tell you to leave."

The person he intercepted was also a Land Inspection Division military officer. Clearly, he had been pulled out of the ranks, yet everyone seemed not to have noticed and just kept leaving.

That person had an ordinary face and was a ninth-rank minor official; he laughed dryly and said, "Could it be that I am not a person of the Land Inspection Division?"

Tang Zhao said calmly, "Since you have already been dragged out, it is meaningless for you to say that, Catching Wind Sword."