Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 236 The Bewildering Sound
The Kui Niu is an ancient mythical beast. The Mirage Sect once used its sect's grand formation to conjure up the Kui Niu, which shattered the hundred-mile-long tsunami stirred up by Qu Heng with a single step.

When illusion is mistaken for reality, and power is sufficient, it becomes indistinguishable from the genuine article.

The two Kui Niu divine thunderbolts before him were not the actual descent of divine beasts, but when the divine thunderbolts exploded and two ten-zhang-tall Kui Niu appeared, they still caused Master Yue Song to be flustered.

These two mythical beasts possessed immense power; with a single kick of their single legs, they left a deep crater in the ground, and the violent tremors even sent giant waves crashing onto the beach.

These two Kui Niu leaped ten zhang high, their bodies wreathed in purple lightning, and stomped down towards Master Yue Song.

Master Yue Song dared not take the hit head-on; his body transformed into splashing water droplets, which scattered as the Kui Niu trampled down.

The two enormous creatures trampled a huge sand pit on the shore, but the purple lightning turned the surrounding sand into crystal.

When Master Yue Song reappeared, he was already high in the sky, and his face had become extremely gloomy.

These two mythical beasts must not be allowed in the port, otherwise countless mortals will die or be injured with a single kick.

"Zi Yan has truly gone mad, bestowing such a magical treasure upon an idiot?!"

Master Yue Song wished he could kill Yu Xing. How dare this kid throw out such a magic weapon on Tianxin Island's territory?

But killing Yu Xing now is useless. The Kui Niu Divine Thunder is not supported by Yu Xing's spiritual energy. These two divine beasts will not stop until their own spiritual energy is exhausted.

"Luckily, this is at the beach."

Master Yuesong sighed, waved his hand, and condensed tens of thousands of tons of seawater from the ocean, transforming it into a giant whale, which slammed down on one of the Kui Niu.

Tianxin Island is a sect based at sea, and its most powerful magic is naturally water magic.

The enormous whale, composed entirely of seawater and crystal clear, slammed down with the force of ten thousand tons. The Kui Niu had nowhere to hide and could only unleash billions of bolts of lightning, shooting them towards the whale.

Lightning boiled the seawater, countless bubbles rose from the giant whale, and blue flames shot out.

The water whale suddenly turned into a whale on fire.

But this is of no use; the power of the water is not diminished much.

The giant whale crashed down, pressing the Kui Niu (a mythical bull-like creature) directly into the ground. The condensed seawater, like a heavy hammer, slammed fiercely onto the earth.

The entire Pearl Harbor felt the violent tremor; both mortals and cultivators were awakened by the earth-shattering roar.

Chen Ye was waiting in his room for the mastermind to cast a charm spell on him, but after waiting all night, the mastermind didn't appear. Instead, he was greeted by this loud bang.

Chen Ye was startled and quickly went to the window to look out. He saw purple lightning flashing in the distance and heard various booming sounds.

Chen Ye said in surprise, "Who's having a magical duel? Yu Xing doesn't have that ability, does he?"

Mo Ci's voice came from beside Chen Ye. His master had returned at some point and said to Chen Ye, "It's the cultivators from Tianxin Island fighting two one-horned bulls. I don't know what those things are, but they look pretty powerful. They're magic weapons that Yu Xing threw out. The Mirage Sect is indeed a major sect. They can throw out magic weapons like that so casually. They're really amazing."

Chen Ye asked in surprise, "Master, when did you get back?"

Mo Ci said, "Just now, I heard the sound and came back to check. If you had been ambushed, I was thinking of running away with you."

Chen Ye laughed and said, "Can't you think of the bright side?"

Mo Ci emphasized, "Better safe than sorry. You're already at the seaside, don't you understand?"

"Master is right, but you've been running around all day, have you found anything? A drug that can only be made with virgin tears shouldn't be too difficult to investigate, right?"

Mo Ci said, "We have found quite a few clues, but the problem is that there are too many clues, as if there is no concealment at all."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye said in surprise, "Oh, tell me about it?"

Mo Ci explained, "You know that this Pearl and Treasure Pavilion is also a brothel. I took a short walk around and inquired among the mortals, and found that there are quite a few virgins in this building. Judging from their age, they are all probably still virgins. Coincidentally, I also heard that there was a play that was performed the day before yesterday, and it received rave reviews. People said that it made people shed tears involuntarily."

"What a coincidence?"

Chen Ye had just arrived at the Pearl Treasure Pavilion when a new play was performed the day before, bringing tears to people's eyes. Coupled with the drug that required tears as a catalyst, this could hardly be considered a coincidence. It sounded like the play was aimed at Chen Ye.

But Mo Ci said, "It's not a coincidence. This new play has been running for a while now, and people started singing it about two months ago. But to say it's not a coincidence isn't entirely true, because right after this new play was a huge success, the Pearl and Treasure Pavilion came up with a gimmick: 'Beauty's Tears Accompanied by Wine.'"

“Every time this play is performed, people collect the tears of the young girls on the spot. These tears then become treasures that make money from the pockets of wealthy merchants and nobles. The tears shed by the courtesans are sold for exorbitant prices.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye immediately sensed something was amiss: "In other words, the person behind the scenes could easily collect the Virgin's Tears and easily switch them with a little manipulation. Moreover, since it's a service for mortals, Fang Zhixuan probably didn't take it seriously."

The Pearl and Treasure Pavilion separates cultivators from mortals. Although it's the same building, guests on both sides won't see each other. But the people inside the building are different. The cooks are definitely mortals, so both sides must share a kitchen.

If someone with malicious intent obtains a virgin's tears, they can use them in combination with sleeping pills to poison her at any time.

"I'm afraid I'm not the only one who's been poisoned. No wonder Yu Shenxing lost his composure today. I heard he arrived earlier than me, so he's probably been drugged too. The others are the same. The cultivators from the Mirage Sect and the Cloud Peak Immortal Sect must have been poisoned, which is why they were so easily affected by the auditory hallucinations and caused such a big mess."

Chen Ye looked towards the coastline. The lightning seemed to have weakened a bit, but the rumbling sound had not yet subsided.

The loud noises had awakened Zhuguang Port, and the panicked voices of many people could be heard in the night. If this continued, things might get out of hand.

“Tianxin Island has been operating here for a long time, so a little tremor shouldn’t cause any major problems…” Chen Ye pondered for a moment, then said, “If the mastermind behind this really has a conspiracy, it certainly won’t be resolved so easily. I just hope that this Pearl Treasure Pavilion has more than one Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.”

As soon as Chen Ye finished speaking, a loud noise came from the other side.

The master and apprentice simultaneously turned to look at the entrance; the sound was coming from inside the Pearl and Treasure Pavilion. Chen Ye sighed and stood up.

Mo Ci said, "Are you trying to run away? I'll take you with me; I'm faster than your bird."

"Master, his name is Black Whirlwind, don't call him 'my bird' next time." Chen Ye corrected him earnestly, but immediately added, "We can't run away. If we run now, it'll mean offending everyone. We have to go find Yu Shenxing and Fang Zhixuan and see if there's anything we can do to help. Sigh, that's just how human relationships are!"

Chen Ye pushed open the door with a sigh. He was surrounded by layers of misty energy. The Eighteen Levels of Hell Divine Power was ready and could pull everything around him into hell at any time.

Mo Ci could only follow, hiding inside the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Although he was a little reluctant, Mo Ci was immediately excited, as this was the first time the master and disciple had joined forces to fight an enemy.

Chen Ye walked out of the room and headed towards the guest rooms of the Yunlu Immortal Sect cultivators.

I remember Yu Shenxing saying that everyone was on the same floor, and we could get there quickly by just walking along the corridor.

To Chen Ye's surprise, before he could find Yu Shenxing, he saw several disciples of Tianxin Island fighting with the Mirage Sect.

Right there in the corridor, two disciples from Tianxin Island joined forces, using water to form ropes, intending to capture the disciples of the Mirage Sect. The Mirage Sect disciples, however, refused to sit idly by; they created phantoms, causing the water ropes to miss their mark.

The two sides fought and cursed each other, saying nothing nice, as if they were mortal enemies.

Chen Ye frowned as he listened. Even if Tianxin Island mistakenly believed that Yu Xing had attacked Master Yue Song and wanted to arrest the disciples of the Mirage Sect to punish him, they wouldn't have used such vulgar language, directly cursing his ancestors for eighteen generations and not even sparing his sect.

Has Tianxin Island turned against the Mirage Faction?

The disciples of the Mirage Sect were the same. They were clearly in the wrong, and it was one thing to resist, but how dare they point their fingers at Tianxin Island and curse them for forcing women into prostitution, calling it a demonic act? Saying such things, regardless of whether they were true or not, was just asking the other side to kill them.

As the fighting between the two sides grew increasingly heated, the disciples of Tianxin Island, who had originally condensed water into ropes, quickly transformed them into sharp ice spikes that covered the entire corridor, giving the Mirage Sect no chance to use illusions to evade them.

With nowhere to hide and on the verge of injury, the disciples of the Mirage Sect each unleashed their magical treasures to block the ice spikes, and then used their illusionary clones to transform into ferocious beasts, controlling them to pounce on the cultivators of Tianxin Island.

The illusions of the Mirage School shouldn't be taken for granted; if those lions and tigers pounced on you, they might actually tear off a piece of your flesh.

This time, bloodshed is really going to happen.

Just as the two sides were locked in a fierce battle, a deafening bell suddenly rang out.

The bronze bell with the mouth of a beast landed between the two groups of people, completely sealing off the corridor. The bell's resounding sound caused the cultivators on both sides to painfully cover their ears.

The sound of the bell shakes your soul, forcing you to turn back to the right path.

If one commits many evil deeds, one will be tormented to the point of wishing for death.

However, it seems that the cultivators on both sides are not evil people. The sound of the bell only made them cover their ears and unable to continue casting spells, but there were no mournful cries.

Having temporarily halted the fighting, Chen Ye was about to intervene when he suddenly heard the Mirage Sect disciples cursing at him: "It's you again, you despicable villain! You keep targeting our Mirage Sect, you shameless gigolo! You're vile and incompetent, only good at backstabbing!"

Chen Ye wasn't angry at all; instead, he looked around curiously.

Although those words just now came from the disciples of the Mirage Sect and the voice was flawless, Chen Ye definitely did not speak from a disciple of the Mirage Sect.

Chen Ye was well aware of the effects of the Bronze Bell Hell. Even if they hadn't done anything evil, as long as they were filled with resentment, they would be affected by the bell's sound, making it difficult for them to concentrate and rendering them speechless given their cultivation level. If they had no hatred in their hearts, how could they utter such vicious words?

Someone is pretending to be a disciple of the Mirage Sect.

No wonder Yu Xinghui argued with Yunlu Immortal Sect. He certainly didn't say those abusive words. It seems that he used the same method to frame them.

But where exactly is the person behind this hiding, and what methods are they using to disguise their voice?
Chen Ye's eyes darted around, and he replied, "Being a kept man requires a lot of talent. Are you trying to compliment my good looks?"

Those who were cursing seemed to have never expected Chen Ye to respond in this way, as if he were truly shameless.

After a moment's hesitation, a sneer came from the Mirage Sect disciple: "What a shameless, despicable man..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Chen Ye laughed and said, "You've given yourself away. They're all men. No matter how much they hate me, they wouldn't curse men too."

"How can I..."

But this time, after only half a sentence was spoken, the person behind the scenes fell silent.

These three words alone have already given it away.

Chen Ye chuckled; it was this hesitation that allowed him to seize upon the other party's weakness.

With a flick of his finger, Chen Ye unleashed a powerful gust of wind that landed on the ceiling of the corridor.

With a crisp crack, the decorative conch shell was smashed into pieces.

The Pearl Tower is decorated in a luxurious style, filled with jewels and underwater treasures. Seashells are not noticeable inside, but this thing is everywhere, so no one has ever discovered it.

It wasn't until Chen Ye smashed the conch shell that a series of buzzing sounds came from it.

Chen Ye shouted, "Listen up, all of you! Smash all the conch shells! That demon is using them to send messages and confuse you!"

(End of this chapter)