Holy Maiden, wait a minute. Why are you asking me to cultivate again?

Zhang Xing laughed, then said somewhat awkwardly, "Nothing, I'm just taking a stroll."

"But you, Junior Brother Song, are out so late?"

Song Zhao gave the other person a strange look and said, "I'm going to find Senior Sister Huai."

"Oh, I see. It seems you're all recovering quite well."

Zhang Xing stepped forward, patted Song Zhao on the shoulder with a smile, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then left the Grand Elder's palace.

"Strange, what's going on tonight? Is everyone going out together?"

Song Zhao sensed something was wrong, but still walked towards Huai Xiaoxiao's courtyard.

Cui Yu's palace at the foot of the mountain is very large, and each disciple who comes here to cultivate can be assigned a courtyard.

Huai Xiaoxiao's courtyard is not far from Song Zhao's courtyard, only about half a mile away.

Knock knock knock—

Song Zhao stood on the steps and knocked on the door for a while, but there was no response from inside.

I don't know if he's closed the door or not in the yard.

"At this time of day, surely no one would be naked?"

He decided to use his Golden Elixir Eye to see if Huai Xiaoxiao was actually inside.

With his divine eye activated, he instantly saw through the scene inside the courtyard.

There was no one inside.

"Then let's ask again next time we encounter this situation."

Song Zhao took out the array plate, still feeling somewhat uneasy, so he threw it into his storage bag and sealed the compass needle that could locate the target with a spirit-sealing talisman.

When he returned to the courtyard, he closed his eyes to rest for a while.

At 11:45 AM, a scream came from outside!

Then the flames illuminated half of the palace.

Song Zhao was naturally awakened by the noise.

"Is this ever going to end tonight?"

He threw off the covers, got up, rubbed his sleepy eyes, put the flying sword "He Yi" into his sleeve, and followed the sound.

When he arrived at the scene, a group of outer disciples at the foot of the mountain had gathered around him.

Standing inside were the Grand Elder Cui Yu and the other disciples.

"Go find someone from the Enforcement Hall."

Cui Yu had no makeup on her face and a cold expression, clearly having been woken up as well.

"Make way, make way."

Song Zhao squeezed through the crowd and then realized what had happened.

In the center of the crowd was a corpse dressed in the uniform of the Tianwu Sect.

He recognized the corpse; it was Zhang Xing!

"This! This..." Song Zhao was speechless, staring blankly at the scene.

"Senior brother... Senior brother!"

"Who on earth had the audacity to commit murder within the Heavenly Martial Sect's own ranks?!"

The student Zhou Zhaoxi wept bitterly, holding Zhang Xing's body tightly for a long time, unwilling to let go.

Cui Yu glanced at Song Zhao: "Who do you think killed him?"

Song Zhao shook his head.

Little did he know who Zhang Xing had grudges against.

Could it be that the Blood Demon Cult members from the last market stormed into the sect?

"It shouldn't be a revenge killing..."

Song Zhao pointed to the storage bag at Zhang Xing's waist: "His storage bag is still there, which means that the person who killed him didn't have much of a grudge against him."

"Otherwise, we'll definitely have to take his storage bag."

Song Zhao was well aware of this; people in the cultivation world usually steal storage bags when they kill someone.

"Furthermore, there were no signs of a struggle here, indicating that the killer murdered him in a single encounter..."

Cui Yu nodded slightly: "I've observed all of what you've said."

"But Zhang Xing has no wounds on his body, why is that?"

"Yeah, why aren't there any wounds?"

"Died from poisoning?"

"How could poisoning leave no trace of resistance?"

"How did they die?"

"Could the wound be so small that it's invisible to the naked eye?"

"Hey, let's wait for the people from the Enforcement Hall to come. These days, even murderers dare to show up inside the sect."

"..."

The disciples were making random analyses, but they couldn't come up with anything convincing.

Song Zhao was not good at reasoning, but he had two suspects in mind.

But neither of them had any reason to kill Zhang Xing.

These two are Elder Cui Yu and Sect Master Dongfang Huaizhen.

Both of them could be spies of the demon race and possess the ability to kill Zhang Xing invisibly.

Soon, the officers from the Enforcement Hall arrived at the scene.

After the coroner's examination, the visitor came to a conclusion.

"Report to the Grand Elder."

"The deceased has been confirmed as Zhang Xing, an inner disciple, and the time of death is approximately 1:15 AM..."

No one was interested in the preamble, but when they heard the cause of death, everyone gasped in shock.

"Zhang Xing's physical body is intact, and no abnormalities were found in his bones, meridians, internal organs, etc. However, his soul was completely destroyed, and the preliminary judgment is that his spirit was killed."

"We need to send the body to the Enforcement Hall to get the most accurate conclusion from Hall Master Qiu."

"Excuse me."

After saying that, the officers from the Enforcement Hall covered Zhang Xing with a white cloth, then carried him away from the foot of the mountain and headed towards the Enforcement Hall halfway up the mountain.

"Soul annihilation?"

Song Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself, "Does Hall Master Qiu know that I possess the Yin Thunder Divine Power? Would he suspect me in this matter?"

He asked Cui Yu beside him, "Elder, is there any branch of our sect that specializes in the divine soul?"

"no."

Song Zhao felt a chill run down his spine. After a pause, he asked, "Does my sect have any disciples who are skilled in the art of the soul?"

Cui Yu pondered for a while, then shook his head again: "No, it seems this murderer is very mysterious."

A thin layer of sweat seemed to break out on Song Zhao's back. Looking at the spot where Zhang Xing's body had been placed, he felt uneasy.

This is like stuffing mud into your pocket; even if it's not shit, it's still shit!

In the entire Tianwu Sect, Hall Master Qiu probably only knows himself as someone who can use soul attacks. So the murderer is none other than him.

"No, I can't just sit here and wait to die!" A few drops of sweat appeared on Song Zhao's forehead, and his temples were slightly damp.

Cui Yu sighed, then solemnly addressed the disciples: "Whoever dares to defecate on my head, no matter who it is."

"Once the murderer is found, this elder will hang his head at the mountain gate and leave it exposed for ten days!"

"Otherwise, people will say that my Heavenly Martial Sect is incompetent, allowing the murderer who killed my disciple to go unpunished!"

Song Zhao's heart sank to the bottom, and she quietly left the crime scene.

"Hey, senior brother, why are you so sweaty?" an outer disciple asked Song Zhao curiously.

Song Zhao waved his hand: "It's nothing. I've been practicing martial arts and I'm a bit overheated lately. It's a normal phenomenon."

He almost forgot everything and returned to the courtyard, where he calmed his mind.

"At this point, I'm afraid only the sect leader can protect me!"

Thinking of this, Song Zhao dared not waste any time. He straightened his clothes, wiped away his sweat, and hurried toward the Yunlan Palace on the summit.

As for the explanation for his arrival, he repeatedly considered and revised it in his mind.

When he walked up the cloud-covered steps to the top of the mountain and arrived in front of the Cloud Palace, he found it to be unusually quiet.

The maids who were supposed to be waiting at the palace gate were nowhere to be seen.

"They've probably gone to rest."

"Wait a minute, why does the puppet need to rest?"

Song Zhao curiously pushed the palace gate and found that the white jade gate was not locked, but only slightly ajar.

"Sect Master, are you there?"

Subconsciously, he activated his Golden Core Eye, wanting to see if anyone was inside the palace.

To everyone's surprise, once activated, they saw Dongfang Huaizhen naked in a pool of water, fighting with another Dongfang Huaizhen in black!