Swordholder

"Let's go see if there are any other people who want to die."

As Chen Yuan spoke, he led Li Wei and Nuomi away, disappearing from the spot.

……

The place where lives were lost, outside the barrier.

In the void, on the deck of a Dharma ship.

Bai Ze sat opposite an elderly man with white hair and beard, sipping tea and chatting amiably.

"Brother Bai, what do you think of the quality of this batch of medicinal herbs?"

The white-haired old man glanced at the place where lives had been lost, a smile playing on his lips, and asked.

Bai Ze smiled slightly and nodded, saying, "They're all good. Most of them come with their own spirit seeds, or they are spirit seeds produced by later mutations. They are of superior quality."

The white-haired old man stroked his beard and smiled, "That's good. We can't let His Highness's important matters be delayed."

Bai Ze nodded, "Don't worry, I guarantee I'll deliver a batch of top-quality humanoid medicine to Elder Du within the deadline."

The white-haired old man nodded in satisfaction, looked at Bai Ze, pondered for a moment, and said, "Those rare medicinal herbs you released inside should be almost ripe, right?"

Bai Ze nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "Most of them have already turned silver and are nearing maturity. They'll be ready to be harvested in a while, and then, together with this batch of humanoid medicines, we'll forge a batch of Saint-grade Dao Platform Pills for Your Highness."

Hearing this, the white-haired old man was even more satisfied.

He was the Grand Elder of the Alchemy Pavilion in the Tianjiang King's Palace, and his name was Du Xuanzi.

As for Bai Ze, he was the steward in charge of managing the spiritual herbs.

"Gah!"

Just then, a screeching sound resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

Bai Ze and Du Xuanzi put down their teacups and turned their heads to see a black crow flying towards them, circling above their heads.

"What happened?"

Bai Ze frowned slightly as he looked at the crow, which seemed anxious.

"Ugh! Everything's a mess, completely a mess!!"

The crow cawed.

"Where is the mess? Tell me in detail."

Bai Ze frowned and shouted.

The crow landed on the table, took a sip of tea, and then said, "Three damned little devils appeared in the Land of Fallen Souls. They picked all the spiritual herbs and fruits you planted, Senior Bai—no, they uprooted them!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Ze frowned slightly, but calmly continued drinking his tea. "If you've already pulled it out, so be it. Anyway, it's not a spiritual herb from the central area, so it doesn't matter if you pull it out."

They can simply vomit up whatever they take in, since they themselves are essentially human-shaped medicinal plants.

"No!"

The crows cawed strangely, flapping their wings, "They not only uprooted the spiritual herbs and fruits on the edge of the central area, but they also took all the spiritual herbs and fruits from the central area!"

Bai Ze and Du Xuanzi's gazes finally softened, and they both stared intently at the crow flapping its wings.

"What did you say?"

Bai Ze's voice deepened, carrying a hint of coldness.

"Gah!"

The crow cawed strangely, "Elder Bai, don't be anxious."

Bai Ze frowned, his gaze suddenly sharpening as he sensed something amiss. "With so many ferocious beasts at the Purple Mansion Realm guarding the central area, how did those human brats manage to steal those spiritual plants and fruits?"

"Gah, several of those ferocious beasts at the Purple Mansion Realm have also died; their spiritual seeds have been dug out."

The crow spoke again, its voice like a thunderclap, "Then the remaining Purple Mansion Realm ferocious beasts were terrified and scattered in all directions, not daring to fight those three little guys."

"Then the remaining ferocious beasts below the Purple Mansion Realm suffered a terrible fate. They became prey for those three little guys, were all killed, their souls imprisoned, and their hearts ripped out."

Seeing Bai Ze's expression slowly freeze, the crow spoke again, "Elder Bai, it's as if the spirit seed you were raising has been taken away, pot and all."

Bai Ze could no longer remain calm. He jumped to his feet and roared, "Damn it, who did this?!"

"Two human boys and a little girl."

"That's what the crow said."

Bai Ze's pupils contracted. Upon seeing this group, he instantly knew who it was: "Those three little bastards, Chen Yuan."

But then he realized what was happening and exclaimed, "How is this possible? How could they still be alive?"

His words startled the others, who gradually emerged from the Dharma boat, mostly middle-aged and elderly people.

They stared in astonishment at the crow flapping its wings in the air.

"Gah!"

The crow cawed again, screeching, "Dead, all dead!"

"Feng Lingtian is dead, Mo Wuchen is dead, and that woman Gao Le is dead too..."

Upon hearing this, Bai Ze's expression changed drastically. "How is that possible? Isn't True Person Tianwei still here? He's a Nascent Soul Realm expert; who could kill him?"

The crow said, "There is a black umbrella, a super big and eerie black umbrella, that covers that area. I can't see it or hear it."

Upon hearing this, Bai Ze's pupils suddenly contracted. "What black umbrella?"

The crow couldn't explain it.

But his words did indeed shock everyone around him.

"What? Feng Lingtian and the others are dead, and even True Person Tianwei is dead? How is that possible?"

"A strange black umbrella, could it be haunted?"

……

These people were shocked, their faces filled with disbelief.

Bai Ze completely lost his composure, slammed his hand on the table, and roared, "Immediately issue the order to end this trial immediately."

"Gah!"

The crow cawed and hurriedly said, "But, Elder, isn't this trial supposed to last ten days? Only seven days have passed, there are still three days left."

Bai Ze became extremely irritated upon hearing the crows' cawing. "If I give him another three days, won't that little brat slaughter all the ferocious beasts inside?"

After a pause, Bai Ze spoke again, "We must also go in and investigate immediately to see who was capable of killing experts like Tianwei Zhenren!"

Seeing Bai Ze's bloodshot eyes, the crow was about to caw, but was silenced by his glare.

"Alright, I'll go in right away and tell them to come out quickly, that the trial is over."

After the crow finished speaking, it flapped its wings and ran away in a flash, afraid that if it was even a step too late, it would be crushed to death by Bai Ze.

Bai Ze sat down again with a gloomy expression, looking at Du Xuanzi, who had a calm expression opposite him.

The middle-aged people and some elderly people standing around were all dumbfounded, their minds in turmoil.

"Mr. Du, what should we do about this?"

Bai Ze sighed, his head throbbing, and said, "Many of the ferocious beasts in the Land of Fallen Life were spirit species raised by the bigwigs of the Western Frontier Prefecture. They can't be touched easily. Now that they've been killed on a large scale, we'll have a hard time explaining ourselves."

Du Xuanzi narrowed his eyes, staring at Bai Ze. "You want to hand over the three little ones?"

Bai Ze nodded. "There's nothing we can do about that."

"No!"

Du Xuanzi refused outright, "The spiritual seeds within those three little ones are extraordinary. They are already the humanoid medicines I have reserved, and there must be no mishaps."

Bai Ze sighed helplessly, "What about the other big shots? How do we explain this?"

Du Xuanzi pondered for a moment and said, "Just say that the ghost messengers from the Dark Night Netherworld have come, and that they were the ones who did it, which is why we ended the trial ahead of schedule."

Bai Ze was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened slowly.

"Besides, aren't Feng Lingtian and the others dead? Attributing their deaths to them, saying that it was those ghost messengers who did it, is perfectly reasonable."

Du Xuanzi spoke again, offering a reason.

Bai Ze's eyes narrowed!

The fact that they were able to slaughter Tianwei Zhenren, and that they even used the eerie black umbrella, coupled with the crow's observations... all of this suggests that only a ghost messenger from the Dark Night Underworld could have done such a thing.

Moreover, the place where lives were lost was a hunting ground enclosed by the Western Frontier Prefecture, so it's understandable that the ghost messengers launched a surprise attack here.

Du Xuanzi glanced at the people standing beside him, and they instantly held their breath and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

These people were all elders and alchemists from the Alchemy Pavilion of the Western Frontier Prefecture, so they would naturally listen to Elder Du Xuanzi.

"Okay, let's do it that way!"

Bai Ze gritted his teeth and spoke in a deep voice.

If this matter isn't clarified and cleared up, it will bring a lot of trouble upon himself.

Du Xuanzi took a sip of tea, paused, and said with a smile, "Those three little ones have consumed so many spiritual plants, fruits, and seeds. I wonder if their constitutions will be able to transform them into Saint-grade human medicines? I'm really looking forward to it."

Upon hearing this, the alchemists standing around all gleamed with fervor!

Bai Ze's lips twitched, speechless.

If those three little guys ate so many spiritual plants, fruits, and seeds, but failed to transform their flesh and bones into super humanoid medicines... and instead just emptied their bodies like shit, wouldn't that be a waste?

Thinking of this, Bai Ze felt a pang of heartache!

……