manynovel Chapter 322 Investigation
Chapter 322 Investigation
Chapter 322 Investigation
The air instantly dropped to freezing point.
Crane-Crowned True Lord suddenly looked up, a flash of barely suppressed anger in his eyes.
Make him swear an oath?
He was a dignified late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, a figure standing at the pinnacle of the Great Azure Realm, revered wherever he went. Yet today, he was forced into this situation by this bald man!
If it were someone in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm who dared to speak to him like that, he would have already unleashed his magic weapon and blasted them into dust.
Beneath his sleeves, Crane Peak's fingers clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white.
But he didn't move.
Reason, like a bucket of ice water, extinguished his rising murderous intent.
Vajra Temple.
These three words are too heavy.
This colossal creature, with a history spanning tens of thousands of years, possesses unfathomable depths. Having lived so long, the Crane-crested Cervik knows many secrets unknown to others.
Legend has it that when faced with a life-or-death situation, the Vajra Temple has a secret method that can forcibly create a top-tier body-refining expert, a terrifying being capable of truly dominating an entire realm.
If things really come to a head, Kongo Temple might suffer serious damage, but Heshou will definitely die without a burial place.
Even the soul cannot escape.
He Ding stared at Xuan Hui's expressionless face, his chest heaving slightly, but in the end, he swallowed back his anger.
This is the Five Heavens, and there are no outsiders here.
Face is worthless in the face of life.
"it is good."
He squeezed out the word through his teeth.
He took a deep breath, raised three fingers, and drew upon the energy of heaven and earth, swearing a solemn oath to his inner demons, proving that he had nothing to do with Yuanzhen's death.
As the oath was uttered, it was as if an invisible shackle was fastened to his Dao heart in the void.
Although this matter was indeed unrelated to him, He Ding was extremely aggrieved to have lost face in front of Xuan Hui. At this moment, he was filled with resentment and wished he could find the murderer who killed Yuan Zhen and tear him to pieces!
Xuan Hui's tense expression finally relaxed a little.
He nodded, his aggressive demeanor fading. "Since you have sworn an oath, I believe you. I am aware of this matter."
After saying that, Xuan Hui turned to leave.
Now that he had ruled out Crane Peak as a suspect, he still needed to investigate other clues. There were many people who had come out of the secret realm, and he had to sift through each one.
"Master Xuan Hui".
A deep, resonant voice came from behind me.
Xuan Hui paused, turned his head, and asked, "Oh? Does Grandmaster Crane-Crested Immortal have anything else to say?"
"I have some more clues; would you be willing to hear them, Master?"
"I would like to hear more details."
"As far as I know, Fellow Daoist Yuanzhen seems to have offended Silver Horn, the genius of the Silver Spirit Clan in the Black Peak Realm, in the ancient battlefield."
""
Crane Peak spoke slowly, but every word was piercing: "In several secluded and fortuitous places, Silver Horn has repeatedly and openly expressed his murderous intent towards Yuanzhen, even threatening to take his life. If you have no clues, Master, you might as well go to Black Peak Realm to investigate."
Shifting the blame eastward.
Since your Vajra Temple is so domineering, then go and have a go at that crazy Silver Spirit Clan.
Seeing Xuan Hui's brows furrow slightly, He Ding felt secretly pleased and continued to press the issue: "In addition, there is one more thing."
"In the secret realm, Fellow Daoist Yuanzhen repeatedly committed acts of robbing and injuring people in secret, but he did not use his true appearance; instead, he disguised himself as someone else."
Xuan Hui's gaze sharpened: "Who?"
"Chen Yi".
Crane Peak slowly uttered the name, "Fellow Daoist Yuanzhen's original purpose seems to have been to frame this person. Whether there is any grudge between them, or whether this person retaliated, is also a clue."
"The master can decide for himself."
Stirring up trouble is the current strategy of Crane Peak.
Regardless of whether it belongs to Chen Yiqian or not, as long as it causes some trouble for the Vajra Temple and makes things difficult for Chen Yiqian, he is happy to see it happen.
Xuan Hui remained silent for a moment.
He gave Crane's crown a deep look, as if assessing the credibility of these words.
"This humble monk understands. Thank you for informing me, Great Master."
Xuan Hui flipped his wrist and took out a wooden box with a sealing talisman affixed to it from his large sleeve, then casually tossed it over.
"This item is a Vajra fruit, which I, on behalf of the Bodhidharma Monastery, offer as a small compensation to your esteemed disciple."
"If your esteemed disciple finds a suitable body to possess, consuming this fruit will help the soul and body achieve perfect harmony, saving you years of arduous effort."
"Please accept this, Great Cultivator."
After speaking, Xuan Hui narrowed his eyes, secretly observing He Ding's reaction.
This is not just compensation, but also a final test.
If He Ding had a guilty conscience or felt guilty about Yuan Zhen's death, he would certainly not dare to easily accept this karmic object at this moment.
He Ding looked at the flying wooden box and sneered inwardly.
You think you can get rid of him with just one golden fruit?
But a hint of hesitation appeared on his face, which quickly turned into a wry smile as he reached out and took the wooden box.
"Then... thank you very much, Master."
97
Accepting the gift signifies that the matter is over.
Although we suffered a loss, at least we got rid of this plague.
Yuanzhen is dead, and there is no way to verify the truth. If he continues to pester them, he will really anger the Vajra Temple, which will not do him any good.
Seeing that He Ding readily accepted the Vajra Fruit, Xuan Hui's last bit of doubt dissipated.
It seems he really didn't do it.
Xuan Hui nodded, said no more, and with a flash of golden light beneath his feet, he transformed into a streak of light and instantly disappeared into the gale layer.
After leaving the Five Heavens, Xuan Hui did not stop immediately.
He landed on the top of a desolate mountain and summoned two disciples from the Vajra Temple who had been waiting nearby.
"Bring me all the statements we collected about other cultivators from the secret realms."
Two disciples respectfully handed over several jade slips.
Xuan Hui sat cross-legged on the mountain rock, his divine sense probing into the jade slip, where a massive amount of information rapidly flowed, filtered, and reorganized in his mind.
Time passes little by little.
After a while, Xuan Hui opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.
Combining the lingering image of the soul lamp left behind by Yuanzhen before his death, the information provided by Heding, and the testimonies of these rogue cultivators, all the clues ultimately pointed to three directions.
"First, the mysterious organization, the Black Dragon Society."
Xuan Hui muttered to himself.
This organization is elusive and has indeed shown signs of targeting disciples of major sects within the secret realm. It is the most suspicious, but also the most difficult to investigate.
"Second, Silver Horn of Black Peak Realm."
The Silver Spirit Clan possesses powerful spatial abilities and numerous magical treasures, and indeed has the strength and motive to kill Yuanzhen.
However, the probability of someone wanting to reach into the Great Green Realm to hire someone to kill is not high. If it was Silver Horn who did it, why didn't he kill the person himself in the secret realm?
"Third, Chen Yi."
Xuan Hui muttered the name, raising his eyebrows slightly.
An unknown junior monk.
Yuanzhen's act of impersonating him to commit murder suggests that the two must have had some connection, and may even have had a personal grudge.
Although it is logical to assume that an ordinary cultivator would find it difficult to kill Yuanzhen who has used all his skills, what if Yuanzhen is injured in a fight with others and this person manages to take advantage of the situation?
Although the possibility is small, it is not nonexistent.
Most importantly, compared to the mysterious Black Dragon Society and the Silver Spirit Clan, Chen Yi is the easiest to investigate.
When investigating a case, one should naturally start with the easier ones and then move on to the more difficult ones.
Xuan Hui stood up, patted off non-existent dust from his monk's robe, and cast the light southward.
That's the direction of Qingfeng Ridge.
"Walk."
He gave instructions to his two disciples.
"Head south to Qingfeng Ridge."
"Investigate Chen Yi first."
The streak of light pierced the sky, and the outline of the Black Mountain Secret Realm rapidly shrank behind them.
Master Xuanhui led two disciples straight towards Qingfeng Ridge.
The wind howled.
He took the Zen relic and floated it three inches from his palm. It was not still, but vibrated at a high frequency with an extremely small amplitude, emitting faint golden ripples that were difficult to see with the naked eye.
Wherever the ripples passed, the residual spiritual energy traces in the air were forcibly stripped away and reassembled.
A faint, indistinct shadowy figure led the way ahead.
That was the scorching aura unique to lightning-struck wood, carrying the remnants of the fleeing light, like a luminous snake slithering in the night.
"Master, this aura is intermittent, as if it is being deliberately concealed," a disciple behind him whispered.
Xuan Hui didn't turn back, his light locking onto the path projected by the relic: "Concealment is the norm."
Chen Yi's lightning-struck wood still retains its spiritual essence; if it were completely undisguised, it would be a disguise. The way it is now is just right.
He grasped a faint wisp of energy in the void.
That was left behind by Chen Yi.
The three of them descended into the escape light and landed in an unnamed valley.
The vegetation here is overgrown and disorderly, indicating that someone has lingered here.
Xuan Hui closed his eyes slightly, lightly touched the relic with his fingertips, and circles of light rippled out, covering an area of a hundred feet in radius.
The energy reaction is very weak.
It's like a drop of water merging into the ocean; although you know it's there, it's difficult to extract it separately.
Xuan Hui frowned, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.
There is indeed Chen Yi's presence here, but it's too clean.
This cleanliness doesn't seem like something a Nascent Soul cultivator could achieve; it's more like some kind of extremely high-level legendary supernatural power.
It couldn't be Chen Yi.
"Master?" the disciple asked, puzzled.
"Walk."
Xuan Hui withdrew his gaze, suppressing the slight doubt in his heart. "The aura of the lightning-struck wood points to Qingfeng Ridge, and there are still faint divine thoughts of Ning Bu'er and Chen Yi attached to it. There's no mistake."
Compared to the vague speculations here, the aura of the lightning-struck wood that clearly pointed into the distance was more convincing.
The three took to the air again, and the chase covered tens of thousands of miles.
After traveling tens of thousands of miles, they arrived at a place hundreds of miles high in the sky.
A faint ripple of spiritual energy still lingers in the air, a product of the intense clash of spells.
Xuan Hui stopped and landed among the clouds.
"This is it."
He sat cross-legged, placed the Zen relic on his lap, and formed a strange mudra with his hands.
"Ignite my essence, trace back to the source."
With a low incantation, Xuan Hui's face paled instantly, and a drop of crimson blood was forced from between his brows, landing on the relic.
hum!
-
The relic shone brightly, and the originally blurry spiritual energy residue began to twist and reconstruct in mid-air.
Two blurry figures appeared at a distance in the light and shadow.
A bolt of lightning crackled around, a technique used to strike the wood with lightning. The other was a common Nascent Soul cultivation technique, primarily designed for surprise attacks. "Chen Yi was indeed fighting someone here."
Xuan Hui stared at the sinister figure, his voice hoarse, "Investigate. Within a radius of ten thousand miles, even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find the witnesses."
Over the next two days, the three members of Vajra Temple spared no expense in using spirit stones and pills to sweep through all the surrounding cultivator gathering points.
Under duress, clues gradually came together.
All the fragments of evidence eventually pieced together a clear clue—an unnamed cultivator wandering in the Central Region.
"Master, we've found it."
The eldest disciple returned travel-worn, clutching a torn piece of cloth in his hand. "Someone saw that cultivator flee north, seemingly injured. According to the description, that cultivator was the one who attacked Chen Yi and Ning Bu'er."
"Chase."
Another 20,000-mile march.
In the north, there is a cold valley covered with snow all year round.
This place is even more desolate than Qingfeng Ridge, and even the wind carries a biting chill.
Xuan Hui stood before a collapsed snow cliff, but the light in his eyes was colder than the ice and snow.
The scene was incredibly horrific.
It wasn't a gruesome scene of flying blood and flesh, but rather an eerie, deathly silence.
Large swathes of rocks and ice present a bizarre shape, as if an unseen hand is twisting this space like a towel.
Among the pile of rocks, they found some broken fragments of magical artifacts, as well as several pieces of bone that were no longer recognizable as human.
That calamity cultivator is dead.
Moreover, he died a gruesome death; even his nascent soul could not escape, and it was directly shredded by some domineering force.
Xuan Hui squatted down, picked up a stone with a smooth, mirror-like edge, and gently rubbed it with his fingertips.
The internal structure of the stone has been destroyed, and it is filled with a residual force field of yin and yang in opposition.
"Yin and Yang dual-polar magnetic fields —"
Xuan Hui slowly uttered these words, his expression becoming extremely solemn.
This kind of supernatural power is too rare and too iconic.
Among the high-level intelligence in the entire cultivation world, there is only one person who can utilize the power of Yin-Yang Yuan Magnetic to this extent and has been active in this area recently.
The Ji family, Ji Wuchen.
The logical chain quickly closed in Xuan Hui's mind:
It's an open secret that Ji Wuchen and Chen Yi are on good terms.
Ning Bu'er and Chen Yi were traveling together when they were ambushed and killed by bandits.
Ji Wuchen happened to be passing by and took action to eliminate this ignorant cultivator.
The timing matches, the location matches, and the motive is reasonable.
Most importantly, this cultivator died at the same time that Junior Brother Yuanzhen was murdered.
The two places are tens of thousands of miles apart.
Unless Ji Wuchen possesses the ability to create clones, or is a Mahayana cultivator capable of shrinking distances to an inch, it is impossible for him to appear in two places at the same time.
Since Ji Wuchen killed someone here, he is not the murderer of Yuanzhen.
Consequently, Chen Yi and others who were "protected" or "coincidentally" encountered by him also had perfect alibis.
"Master, this—" The disciple looked at the marks on the ground and had obviously thought of this as well.
"To determine Ji Wuchen's location," Xuan Hui stood up, brushing the stone dust off his hands. "This humble monk wishes to ask him directly."
Half a day later, in front of a temporarily opened cave dwelling.
Ji Wuchen was sitting in a grand chair, playing with a jade slip in his hand, looking relaxed.
Several guards with deep auras were scattered around, forming a faint array.
When Xuan Hui and the other two landed, they approached and bowed with their hands clasped together. Only then did Ji Wuchen lazily look over.
"So you're a high-ranking monk from Vajra Temple." Ji Wuchen's lips curled into a half-smile. "I wonder what brings you here to this desolate wilderness instead of chanting sutras at the temple?"
Xuan Hui's gaze was calm as he cut to the chase: "This humble monk is investigating a case, and the clues point to this place. May I ask, Benefactor Ji, a few days ago, did you kill a cultivator in that cold valley to the north?"
Ji Wuchen raised an eyebrow. "So what if it is?"
"I don't like that guy. As a righteous cultivator, I should help those in need. Do I have to report to your Vajra Temple?"
Xuan Hui stared into his eyes, trying to find some clues in those dark pupils.
But he failed.
Ji Wuchen's eyes were open and honest.
"As far as I know, that Jie Xiu once attacked Benefactor Chen Yi. Could it be that Benefactor Ji's actions are to avenge her friend and clear obstacles from the road?" Xuan Hui asked.
Ji Wuchen chuckled, picked up his teacup and took a sip: "Master, with your imagination, it's a waste that you're not writing novels."
I killed him simply because he was in my way and got in my way.
As for whether it was to help Chen Yi get revenge or clear obstacles, that's up to the master to decide; I haven't said anything about that.
These words were perfectly watertight.
They acknowledged the facts while denying any premeditation.