Elder Peng looked at the three demons with a grave expression. "It's like this. The three of you are likely aware that the reopening of the Wheel of Life and Death this time was first proposed by the three sects of the Ten-Pace Courtyard . This trial has been closed for tens of thousands of years. Why did they suddenly propose to reopen it now? It's because they have grasped the secrets of the Wheel of Life and Death . They were confident that anyone from our side who encountered their three sects would be completely annihilated..."
As Elder Peng continued his account, the expressions on the three high-level demonic cultivators' faces grew increasingly grim, though they remained half-convinced. It was only when Elder Peng produced two green gourds and had them inspect the five-element spirit qi within that the faces of Yin Congfeng and the other two turned ugly. A single glance told them these two green gourds were specially refined items. They had no offensive capabilities themselves; they were merely for storing the Five Elements Spirit Qi . This point was already suspicious. No sect would refine such an item containing all five elements simultaneously just to increase a cultivator's spirit power reserves. It was meaningless and inherently dubious. It would be more direct to just give the disciples some mid-grade spirit stones , whose spirit power was more singular, pure, and targeted. Moreover, one look at these green gourds revealed they were the work of a high-level artifact-refining master, which would have required an exorbitant cost. It was impossible to know how many mid-grade spirit stones it would take to refine just one. All things considered, the costs far outweighed the benefits.
The fact that these green gourds appeared on members of two different sects at the same time was even more suspicious. Although this point was unconfirmed, the three demons were starting to believe it. If the Malevolent Spirit Sect wanted to fabricate evidence against their opponents, they wouldn't do so in such an obvious way that couldn't stand up to scrutiny.
Finally, Elder Peng cast a meaningful glance in the direction of the Supreme Mystery Teachings . "If you still don't believe me, doesn't the Supreme Mystery Sect still have some Qi Condensation disciples alive? You can propose an inspection and see if all their disciples have miscellaneous spirit roots . See if what I say is true. And you are more than welcome to investigate the Qi Condensation disciples on my side as well." His suggestion was obvious. If all the Qi Condensation disciples on that side had miscellaneous spirit roots , that in itself would be a huge problem. No one would cultivate so many disciples with such poor talent.
"If what they're doing is true, then if they failed to rendezvous, it would just look normal to outsiders. But once they joined forces, they could kill all their opponents with the advantage of numbers alone, and no one would ever know," Lin Mingyu said, glancing at Li Yuyin and tapping his palm with his jade fan.
"It seems that Quan Jiuxing and Wang Lang must have rendezvoused. For some reason, they ended up fighting each other, and Wang Lang killed Quan Jiuxing. That's why that young woman discovered a clue earlier. Her subsequent behavior and that of the Ten-Pace Courtyard can then be logically explained." Yin Congfeng quickly connected this to Qiu Jiuzhen's abnormal behavior earlier and deduced the outcome. They were all intelligent; once the cause and effect were linked, they had a general idea of what happened.
If Li Yan had heard these words, he probably would have burst out laughing in his heart.
"Dammit! No wonder they all acted so relaxed after the Wheel of Life and Death opened, but had such a huge reaction in the end. So they miscalculated," Yan Motian spat, glaring ferociously outside the light shield.
"To think your Malevolent Spirit Sect has such a disciple, to actually turn the tables and kill them instead," Yin Congfeng said, looking at Elder Peng with deep meaning.
"Heh heh, it was purely an accident. If not for them setting up a formation at the final destination by a stroke of luck, they would have been completely wiped out upon entering, and we would never have known any of this." Elder Peng, of course, hadn't told the whole truth. He certainly wouldn't mention that Li Yan could traverse the passages. He only said that when Gong Chenying arrived at the end early, knowing her strength was insufficient, she set up a formation inside the sphere, which coincidentally thwarted their plot. Then, based on the Foundation Establishment status of two of their opponents, they had deduced some of the enemy's actions, which had in turn led to an unprecedented change in the final trial, something not seen in tens of thousands of years.
"Heh heh, perhaps your methods were used on us as well," Yin Congfeng said sinisterly.
Elder Peng just spread his hands, neither admitting nor denying it.
Yin Congfeng looked at Elder Peng with a ghost of a smile for a while but didn't press further. If Gong Chenying's team had thwarted the enemy's plot by coincidence, then how did the other two Malevolent Spirit Sect teams also make it out alive?
'It seems the Malevolent Spirit Sect still has something they're not saying. But since they've produced evidence against the three sects, they're clearly not afraid of a confrontation regarding their own actions. They probably didn't participate in scheming against the demonic cultivator side; otherwise, they'd be digging their own grave. If the Malevolent Spirit Sect didn't have some secrets, how could so many of them have walked out alive? As long as they didn't participate in scheming against us, we can put it aside for now,' Yin Congfeng sneered inwardly.
'Trying to use us as a weapon? If you had told the truth, it would be one thing, but otherwise... Hmph! In a moment, I'll let you know the consequences of lying!' Yin Congfeng weighed the pros and cons in his mind.
"Brother Yin, it was a competition. If they died, they died. But this matter Elder Peng and the others mentioned cannot be let go. This is a stab in the back," Yan Motian said with a nonchalant air, but his gaze toward the outside of the light shield was unfriendly.
"Jin Chuiyan and Wu Wu'an did say that they were swept into the final trial directly from another one, a method completely different from what was recorded before. That point is also suspicious." Lin Mingyu snapped open his folding fan with a shua sound. He shook his head gently, his long hair swaying. The playful look in his eyes was gone, replaced by a sinister glint.
Outside the light shield, the three sects couldn't see inside. Although with the power of a Golden Core grand cultivator, they could forcibly break in with their Divine Sense , doing so would be to tear off all pretenses of civility and possibly offend the demonic cultivators as well. The situation would be different then. For a time, they could only speculate endlessly.
"Is the Malevolent Spirit Sect trying to pull the demonic cultivators over as helpers?" In the direction of the Supreme Mystery Teachings , a Golden Core elder asked with some concern.
"Hmph, what price could they offer to make the demonic cultivators act for them? Unless they give up the first and second place rewards," Immortal Elder Hangwu said thoughtfully. He then looked up at the Daoist nun Hang Zhi and asked.
"Junior Sister, you said Jiuzhen and her group didn't rendezvous with any other team along the way?"
"That's right, Senior Brother. So we can't be sure if the surviving members of the Malevolent Spirit Sect and the demonic cultivators encountered other teams that had already joined forces and then won by accident." Hang Zhi spoke with some worry.
"I cannot accept that two combined teams would be unable to defeat a single team," Immortal Elder Hangwu said slowly. This had been planned for decades and simulated countless times. Moreover, the strength of each small team from the four sects and one demon clan was roughly the same.
In the Pure Land Sect , ten Buddhas dressed in blood-red kasayas had been watching Great Master Yisong . Among them, a large, fat monk with a fierce appearance like a wrathful Arhat withdrew his gaze from the Malevolent Spirit Sect's light shield and shouted in a rough voice.
"Senior Brother Yisong, if we let it go like this, how will we answer to the sect?"
"Amitabha. Senior Brother Yisong, if we return like this, the martial uncles will surely punish us with the staff. The sect spent enormous resources, only for it to be like the moon in the water in the end," a lean Buddha with a solemn expression also said slowly.
Yisong's expression had long returned to normal. His eyes, sharp as lightning, swept over the ten of them, finally landing on the fat Buddha and the lean Buddha. He put his palms together. "Amitabha. Senior brothers, junior brothers, Brother Yihuo and Brother Yizhen, do not be impatient. Right now, we don't know what the Malevolent Spirit Sect is discussing with the demonic cultivators. If the demonic cultivators weren't involved, I had already communicated with Sword King Xiahuà and Immortal Elder Hangwu. We really could have detained all of the Malevolent Spirit Sect . But with this result, I don't know where the plan went wrong. We can't be rash."
"This bunch of disciples are truly good-for-nothings! If they didn't rendezvous, it would have been understandable, and the other side wouldn't have noticed anything amiss. But if they did join forces, to have this happen in a two-on-one fight is truly infuriating." Yihuo slammed his palm on a giant rock beside him, and with a bang, the rock exploded into powder.
"Judging from the Malevolent Spirit Sect calling the demonic cultivators over, it's possible the demonic cultivators didn't know. We can just deny it later," Yizhen sneered repeatedly.
How could these people who had cultivated to the Golden Core stage be fools? Just from the Malevolent Spirit Sect's actions, coupled with their own guilty consciences, they had guessed eighty to ninety percent of the truth in an instant.
Just then, the light shield on the Malevolent Spirit Sect's side dissipated, and an extremely rough voice rang out. "I say, you there, that young woman from the Supreme Mystery Teachings . Lend me your storage pouch for a look. And you eight Qi Condensation whelps behind her, come out." Yan Motian , with his mountain-like frame, had already strode into the air and was walking step by step toward the Supreme Mystery Teachings . He was direct, without a single wasted word. Meanwhile, Yin Congfeng walked from the top of the Malevolent Spirit Sect's peak toward Mei Bucai and the others.
Here, they were the masters. Even with Yan Motian approaching alone, no one dared to attack him directly.
Lin Mingyu also laughed loudly and flew toward the Ten-Pace Courtyard . His clear voice rang out in the air. "Sword King Xiahuà, I wonder if the storage pouch of that unconscious martial nephew of yours could also be lent to me for a look? Don't worry, everything will be done right under your noses. I just want to confirm a few things."
The moment the two of them spoke, the expressions of the many Golden Core grand cultivators from the Ten-Pace Courtyard and the Supreme Mystery Teachings changed. Whether it was Sword King Xiahuà, Great Master Yisong , or Immortal Elder Hangwu , they all thought of the same thing simultaneously, something they had overlooked: the "green gourds." Although they had thought of the green gourds before, this secret was unknown to anyone. Even if someone saw a green gourd, they would only assume it was for storing spirit power, which wasn't unreasonable. Anyone who saw it would just say it was a resource allocated by the sect to its disciples. But now, these two demons not only wanted to check the storage pouches of the disciples from both sects, but they also wanted to check those eight Qi Condensation disciples. This meant the other party already knew the purpose of the green gourds and might have even guessed the secret within the Wheel of Life and Death . They just never imagined that the other side seemed to have seen through it all.
'How did the Malevolent Spirit Sect find out this secret?' The Golden Core cultivators of the three sects all thought of this momentous question at the same time.
But with the demonic cultivators approaching menacingly, it was already too late to hide the storage pouches.
"I wonder what Brother Yan intends to do?"
"Brother Lin, what is the meaning of this?"
Two voices came from the peaks of the Supreme Mystery Teachings and the Ten-Pace Courtyard respectively. At the same time, two figures flashed like lightning, blocking Yan Motian and Lin Mingyu .
It was Immortal Elder Hangwu and Sword King Xiahuà. The two of them stood in different directions, their faces so dark it looked as if water could drip from them.
Sword King Xiahuà's voice was low as he blocked Lin Mingyu . "I wonder what Brother Lin means by this? Did you hear some slander from the Malevolent Spirit Sect ? Please explain clearly, Brother Lin."
On the other side, Immortal Elder Hangwu also made a proclamation. "Brother Yan, I wonder how our disciples have offended you? Are you perhaps trying to settle scores after the fact?" His words were a deliberate attempt to divert attention.
"Hmph, cut the act. I say, Hang Wu, what happened? You all know. By being so protective, are you afraid of what I might find? I said I won't harm these juniors, and I won't. Just call them over for a quick check," Yan Motian said, his face grim.
"What is Brother Yan saying? Even in your secret realm, you can't be completely unreasonable, can you?" Immortal Elder Hangwu's expression changed, and his gaze immediately turned sharp. Although their dozen or so Golden Core cultivators were in the secret realm, he didn't believe the other party would dare to kill them.
On the other side, Xiahuà looked at Lin Mingyu and said lightly, "Brother Lin, don't fall for someone else's scheme." After speaking, he glanced in the direction of the Malevolent Spirit Sect behind Lin Mingyu .
Lin Mingyu smiled. "Whether I've fallen for someone's scheme will be clear after a check. I will definitely seek an explanation from him later. But Sword King Xiahuà had best not let anyone touch the storage pouch on that martial nephew of yours. Otherwise, it will be hard to explain." He then pointed with his jade fan at several Golden Core cultivators who seemed to be subtly shielding the unconscious Wang Lang.
"I still don't understand what you mean. Did my martial nephew take some treasure of yours during the trial? As long as Brother Lin says what it is, we will see how to handle it. If it was obtained normally, then it cannot be returned. If it's for other reasons, do you think we would covet such an item?" Xiahuà didn't turn his head, but directly blocked Lin Mingyu's path.
On the other side, Yan Motian's aura was already churning endlessly. "Will you hand them over or not?"