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

The moment this thought crossed Song Zhao's mind, he mobilized all his magical power to activate his Golden Core Eye, trying to see the person's face clearly.

To everyone's surprise, the person was completely covered up, with a mask on their face, so nothing could be seen except for their eyes.

At this time, Song Zhao was about two miles away from the murderer's location.

If we suddenly give chase at this point, we might alert the enemy, and they will flee without hesitation.

However, if you approach slowly, the other party may notice over a long period of time.

"Right, use the flying sword technique!"

Song Zhao's flying sword "Heyi" quietly emerged from his sleeve, its tip poised to strike.

His flying sword technique was entirely self-taught, without any formal teacher.

That's why the witch in the Heavenly Demon Pearl thought he was a genius in swordsmanship.

However, this also has a fatal flaw: he is unsure how fast his mastered flying sword technique is over a distance of two miles.

"Two li, at most two breaths!"

Song Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing all his divine sense and magical power on the flying sword, intentionally pushing its speed to its peak.

"go!"

With a shout, the flying sword "He Yi" suddenly shot out from his sleeve, extremely sharp, drawing a white lightning bolt in the air.

In the blink of an eye, the flying sword had already reached the man.

"It seems I underestimated my own strength; a distance of two miles is less than half a breath..."

After the person realized what was happening, it was too late to dodge, and they could only instinctively use their hands to block.

puff!

The sword energy pierced the man's palm, turning his entire hand into a bloody mess.

Such fast sword energy!

The man felt a sudden chill and staggered back several steps, a pagoda appearing in his hand without his knowledge.

The pagoda had a strange shape, lower on the left and higher on the right, covered with dead wood and entwined with vines. On the front was a human face contorted in pain. At first glance, it was not a righteous magical artifact.

Instead of retreating, he advanced, wielding the pagoda, facing the painful human face with its mouth open, spitting out a dark, evil light that shone on the flying sword!

The dark, malevolent light seemed to possess some kind of magic, severing the connection between the flying sword and Song Zhao's consciousness!

With a clang, the flying sword "Heyi" landed.

"Your flying sword is mine now."

The black-clad cultivator bent down to pick up the flying sword, but caught sight of Song Zhao rushing towards him out of the corner of his eye. He laughed and said, "Still dare to come here to die?"

"Suppress!"

The pagoda in his hand rose into the air, growing to the size of a small mountain, and headed straight for Song Zhaozhen who was coming!

Looking up, Song Zhao saw that the bottom of the tower was the gaping maw of a taotie, with rings of sharp, serrated teeth inside, gleaming coldly and terrifyingly.

He was now certain that the black-clad cultivator was most likely the murderer who killed Zhang Xing.

Boom!

The evil pagoda stood on the ground, tearing off a large area of ​​land and creating a three-zhang-square pit beneath it.

Song Zhao, relying on his Golden Core Eye to foresee the trajectory of magical power, narrowly escaped the attack, remaining only a hundred feet away from the black-clad cultivator.

"A Qi Refining cultivator, how can he be so agile?"

The black-clad monk wiped the flying sword "Heyi" in his hand, looking somewhat puzzled.

He then conjured a white bone mirror, pointing it forward, covering almost every possible direction Song Zhao might go.

"Come, lovely soul."

The White Bone Mirror emitted a sound of bones squeezing, and a deep, eerie white light shone through it!

"It's too late!"

The attacks and clashes between the Evil Pagoda and the White Bone Mirror occurred in the blink of an eye.

Even though Song Zhao's speed at the Qi Refining Realm was already unparalleled, he still couldn't dodge in time.

The bone light shone on him, and his soul appeared clearly in the mirror of the white bone mirror opposite him.

Fortunately, thanks to the nourishment of the Netherworld Spring, the soul was not taken away by the White Bone Mirror, but instead remained firmly rooted in the sea of ​​consciousness.

"Huh? His soul is actually that resilient?"

Before they knew it, the two were only ten feet apart.

This distance is almost enough to kill Song Zhao, who possesses the Primordial Yin-Yang Dao Body, with a single blow!

Send a punch!

The fist, accompanied by a strong gust of wind, slammed into the black-clad cultivator's forehead.

However, instead of the sound of skull cracking, there was a dull "crack".

The black-clad monk's head exploded like rotten wood, and wood chips fell like raindrops, covering the ground with a fine layer of wood shavings.

"A spell for taking someone else's life?"

Song Zhao changed his fist into a palm, grabbed the black-clad cultivator's neck, and with a sudden shake, the wooden puppet in his hand immediately fell apart!

"Hahaha, sword cultivator, body cultivator, and you've even cultivated your soul, Song Zhao, you're truly extraordinary."

The black-robed monk's voice sounded muffled, as if it had been processed.

When the sound dissipated, only the flying sword "Heyi" remained in place.

The White Bone Mirror and the Evil Pagoda also disappeared.

"What happened?"

A streak of red light landed beside Song Zhao, and the person within the light asked anxiously.

Song Zhao glanced at Cui Yu, speechless. "Elder, could you have arrived a little earlier?"

"I just encountered the murderer who killed Zhang Xing. The murderer's methods were too numerous and bizarre; I couldn't defend myself, and he escaped."

Cui Yu crossed her arms over her ample breasts: "Come to my room and explain his moves in detail."

As she spoke, she used her spiritual power to transform into an ant on the spot, to guard against the person reappearing.

"it is good."

Cui Yu's room was divided into an outer room and an inner room.

The outer room was filled with all sorts of food and drinks, taking up almost half the space, including pastries, flower wine, shortbread, dried meat, candied fruit, and so on...

The inner room is probably where people sleep and cultivate, and it's generally not allowed to go in.

Would you like something to eat?

Cui Yu pointed to the food on the table: "It's just right for a midnight snack."

Song Zhao shook his head and refused, instead telling her about the various methods used by the black-clad cultivators.

"Evil Pagoda, Bone Mirror, Substitute Wood Technique..."

"These three are all demonic artifacts. My sect has actually been infiltrated by the demonic path."

Cui Yu muttered to herself, but she knew in her heart what had happened.

The real names of those three things should be the Eight Directions Evil Tower, the White Bone Soul-Capturing Mirror, and the Nightmare Wood Substitute!

These things don't exist in Xuanzhou at all; only the supreme demonic sect from the Yuan Realm—the Innate Demonic Sect—can refine them!

However, the Innate Demonic Sect is more than hundreds of millions of miles away from the Heavenly Martial Sect!

What are they doing here? Could it be that they also know that something has descended upon Xuanzhou?

Cui Yu was filled with doubt and suspicion, so he could only comfort Song Zhao by saying, "I know about this matter. I will convene an elders' meeting tomorrow to discuss it."

Song Zhao nodded, wondering if tonight's events would dispel the public's belief that he was the murderer.

He left Cui Yu's room, muttering to himself, "That damned demonic cultivator, he actually tried to slander me, keeping me up at night!"

"He has so many magical artifacts. I need to get more of them too, otherwise I'll have too few options."

Song Zhao began to think seriously.

For example, if he had lost contact with the flying sword, or if the flying sword had been temporarily suppressed and unusable, he would only have his physical attacks left.

"The Yin Thunder Divine Power is a Foundation Establishment Divine Power. It can be effective against Qi Refining cultivators, but against Foundation Establishment cultivators, it will only have a minor effect."

"Old man, what are you worried about? I've already told you, hurry up and break through to the second level of the Dao Body. When your physical body is strong enough, that mirror will be of no use to you."

The witch's voice came, and she continued, "Besides, your sect leader happens to be troubled by inner demons; you could easily take advantage of that weakness!"

Song Zhao was stunned: "Senior, you saw everything?"