173: Chapter 174: Murder to silence the witness!

In the endless, vast wilderness mountain range.

Two figures, one black and one white, streaked across the sky, flying forward.

In front was a woman dressed in a white palace gown, but her condition was extremely poor at this moment; her face was incredibly pale, and blood overflowed from the corners of her mouth.

Her clothes were tattered, her fragrant shoulder half-exposed, and coupled with her exquisite and beautiful face, she appeared extremely delicate and pitiable.

Behind her was a Cultivator completely shrouded in a black robe, whose figure and face were indistinguishable.

He merely exuded a cold, obscure Devilish Qi, appearing particularly eerie.

During this flight, the two exchanged Spells, which exploded with dazzling brilliance in the air, creating bursts of Roaring sound.

Seeing that he couldn't quickly overcome her, the black-robed man seemed to lose patience.

He flipped his wrist and took out a small, pitch-black banner.

Then, he infused his magical power into it.

Immediately, the small banner suddenly expanded, transforming into a pitch-black long banner that stood in mid-air, spewing out dark Devilish Qi.

A cold aura permeated from it, and at the same time, the wailing of ghosts echoed throughout the area.

The female Cultivator in front felt dizzy, her Divine Soul trembled, and a look of pain appeared on her face.

The black-robed figure naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.

He formed a hand seal, and gusts of Yin wind arose around them, with green-faced, fanged ghosts emerging from the Yin wind.

“Junior Sister, stop running. Come play with Senior Brother!”

The black-robed figure let out a hoarse voice, but his actions did not stop.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ghosts swarmed towards the female Cultivator, biting and clawing.

They were like specters, moving extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they were before the female Cultivator.

The female Cultivator, whose Divine Soul was still in Chaos, felt her spiritual senses vibrate wildly, and could only, relying on years of combat experience, form a few hand seals.

Several lightning balls flew out, and amidst the screams of several ghosts, they struck them into balls of black mist, which dispersed into the air.

However, compared to the vast number of ghosts, this was merely a drop in the bucket, having no effect on the ghosts' attack.

Pfft!

Ultimately, two fists could not contend against a hundred hands; caught off guard, the female Cultivator was struck by several pitch-black ghost claws.

She immediately spat out blood and flew backward, crashing down towards a peak below.

“Junior Sister, I told you not to run. You're making Senior Brother very unhappy.”

The black-robed man stood in the air, the pitch-black long banner suspended behind him, and looked down at the female Cultivator below with a mocking expression.

“Zhu Zhengran, you are a Righteous Path Cultivator in vain! To commit such Demonic Path acts, you have completely disgraced the Qingxuan Sect!”

The female Cultivator struggled to get up from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and looked at the black-robed man, who stood with his hands behind his back in the air, with cold eyes.

“Hahaha, Junior Sister is truly naive. The path to the Dao is inherently paved with corpses; it's either you kill me or I kill you. What is the difference between Righteous and Demonic?”

“Bah! Demonic Path scoundrels, everyone should punish them!”

The female Cultivator's face showed disdain, clearly disagreeing with the other party's statement.

This person was clearly acting for his own selfish desires, yet he had to speak so righteously.

“Junior Sister, as a person is about to die, Senior Brother won't argue with you. I am walking a grand Dao, but your thinking is rigid, and you simply don't understand me.”

The black-robed Cultivator's words were profound, revealing a sense of loneliness, as if no one in the world could understand him.

But the murderous intent mixed within grew increasingly strong.

“Heh heh, you dare to kill me?”

The female Cultivator showed no fear; despite her current miserable state, she was certain that the other party would not truly dare to kill her.

The Sect had left safeguards on its Foundation Establishment Disciples, and if the other party dared to kill her, he would certainly not escape the Sect's accountability.

The black-robed man did not speak, but merely removed his hood, revealing his true appearance.

This person, though of ordinary build, had a kind face and a long beard, making him appear full of integrity and possessing an immortal air.

He was completely different from his previous sinister appearance, instead appearing exceptionally gentle and approachable.

If not for the pitch-black long banner behind him, surrounded by ghosts, one would truly believe this person was a Righteous Path individual.

He was the one who, at the trade fair, exchanged the Soul-Devouring Demonic Cloud for the Evil Soul Banner.

At the same time, he was also Zhu Zhengran, who coveted Lu Ming's Spirit Stones, developed greed, and thus made it onto the list.

No one expected that the Demonic Path Cultivator who wantonly slaughtered Mortals and was utterly deranged would look like this.

He looked at the female Cultivator below, feeling quite helpless in his heart.

This was his Junior Sister, and if possible, he did not wish to kill her.

It wasn't out of concern for their fellow Disciple relationship, but because killing her would lead to a heap of troubles.

But unfortunately, she had seen something she shouldn't have.

She was asking for death!

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhengran's face turned sinister, and his eyes flickered with jealousy and hatred.

The development of this matter was actually inseparable from that ‘Wu Daoren’!

A Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator, whose Dao path was severed, suddenly took out so many resources to sell.

He had taken enormous risks, put aside his Cultivation, and spent a considerable amount of time painstakingly harvesting Mortals to refine the Soul-Devouring Demonic Cloud.

But this was still not as good as a single shout from the other party.

Tens of thousands of Spirit Stones, how many people would he have to kill to match that!

After such a comparison, whose heart could remain balanced!

This is truly unfair!

Although this ‘Wu Daoren’ ultimately spent the Spirit Stones, buying a bunch of useless things.

But he still set his sights on this person, not coveting his wealth, but wanting to capture him to search his Divine Soul and refine his spirit.

Others might not be clear, but he, Fellow Daoist Song, and Fellow Daoist Feng were clear.

The other party didn't have so many Spirit Stones from the start.

So he wanted to see if he could find out from this person's mind where he got so many resources.

If he could, who would willingly go to the trouble of slaughtering Mortals for little gain? But wasn't that the only way!

Resources couldn't just appear out of thin air; to win against his fellow Senior Brothers and Junior Sisters, he had no other choice.

Fortunately, as a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator, he held a considerable position in the Sect.

After some maneuvering, he was assigned by the Sect to guard a resource area under its jurisdiction.

That resource area also encompassed many Mortal territories, which gave him a lot of room to operate, allowing him to quietly and secretly amass wealth.

However, he only dared to act discreetly, because once such a matter was discovered, it would lead to being besieged by several Golden Core powers.

Even though he belonged to the Golden Core great Sect, Qingxuan Sect, it wouldn't be able to protect him.

Once this matter was exposed, he would not escape death!

So he urgently wanted to find other avenues.

It was a pity, though, that this person still managed to escape.

In desperation, he could only return to his old ways, continuing to secretly harvest Mortal lives to refine the Soul-Devouring Demonic Cloud.

But as the saying goes: one who often walks by the river will eventually get his shoes wet.

By accident, while slaughtering a Mortal village, he was caught by his Junior Sister, who was passing by after completing a mission.

This was also due to his carelessness; fellow Disciples of the Qingxuan Sect had identity jade tokens that could sense each other's approximate location.

His Junior Sister had sensed his location, was curious why he was staying in the Mortal world, and so came to investigate, which eventually led to this situation.

To keep this secret, Zhu Zhengran could only resort to killing her.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhengran's face turned ruthless, and without further hesitation, he was about to control the hundred ghosts to completely eliminate the future trouble.

But just then, Zhu Zhengran's expression subtly changed.