Liu Xing began to speak, recounting everything from his arrival in Mystic Moon City to his conversation with Bai Lin. However, he decided to hide the name Bloodwing Sect, referring to it only as an ancient sect he knew nothing about.

After hearing his explanation, the grand elder nodded. "A demonic cultivator killing people for their bloodline. In my long life, I have encountered several demonic cultivators with similar methods. This Wei Yi kid is probably trying to advance his cultivation or awaken a dormant bloodline. Whatever he is doing, he made a mistake. He messed with the wrong clan!"

"G-Grand Elder, do you intend to confront him?" Xia Yongzhi asked.

The elder snorted. "Yes, I will confront him, but later. Now I want to retrieve Xia Shizi's and your son's bodies." He then turned to face Liu Xing. "Purple Moon Sect disciple, follow me. Your arrival here is timely. I want you to witness what happens here. Tell your sect that what I do to Wei Yi and his despicable clan later is justified."

The old man's black eyes pierced Liu Xing, as if challenging him to defy him so he could kill him. He desperately wanted to nod, but he could not yet.

"Grand Elder Xia, what I said about Wei Yi is still speculation. There is no concrete evidence that points to him orchestrating all these murders."

The grand elder snorted again. "I will get that evidence. So follow me, or die. Your choice."

This time, Liu Xing decided to nod.

"Xia Yongzhi." The grand turned his head. "I am disappointed in you. When I entered seclusion, you were at the Lock Opening seventh stage, and now, you are still in the same realm. If only Xia Shizi had shown interest in becoming the clan leader, then I would not need to deal with your weakness. Still, you are a clan leader, and while I despise your weakness, I respect your position, so I will tell you bluntly about our clan's future. It is bleak. Not only are there no clansmen with great talent, but our bloodline is also becoming thinner with each generation. If you do not do something, this Xia clan will die in your generation."

Xia Yongzhi clenched his fist. "You know I have a plan."

The grand elder narrowed his eyes. "What you are doing is gambling."

"Indeed, but as you said, our clan is on the brink of ruin. A gamble that can catapult our status is worth taking."

After he said that, Liu Xing heard several footsteps. Turning around, he saw a guard carrying a child on his back. The child had a familiar face, with a bruised jaw and several blue marks marring his face. Xia Weiyuan peeked from behind the guard, and when the guard set him on the ground, he looked down, as if he were a shy boy who had recently made a mistake and was waiting to be punished.

"Xia Weiyuan, come here," Xia Yongzhi said. Xia Weiyuan walked toward him. "Greet the Grand Elder."

Xia Weiyuan knelt before the grand elder and clasped his hands. "Xia Weiyuan greets the honored Grand Elder!"

"Come here," the grand elder said, and Xia Weiyuan began to walk toward him. When he was close, the grand elder suddenly grabbed Xia Weiyuan's collar and lifted him up so that they were face to face. Then, the grand elder sent a large amount of qi into Xia Weiyuan through his hand. When the qi slammed Xia Weiyuan, he screamed, and every inch of his body glowed white, his eyes shining like flashlights, and the white light illuminated everything around them, as if he were a sun about to go supernova. Seeing this, Liu Xing's eyes widened. What was this grand elder trying to do? Was he trying to kill Xia Weiyuan? Xia Weiyuan was a mortal child. Sending that amount of qi into a mortal was like pouring magma through normal human veins. But the kid's body reacted strangely too. He should not be glowing. He should be dead.

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Instantly, Liu Xing knew that this Xia Weiyuan kid was special.

"The killer of Xia Shizi is there," the grand elder said, pointing to the east.

"No," Xia Weiyuan said simply, his body still glowing and his eyes white as paper. The grand elder repeated his question but pointed in other directions. Finally, when the elder pointed north, Xia Weiyuan said, "Yes."

The elder released Xia Weiyuan and dropped him to the ground. As he lay there with his eyes closed, he no longer glowed, his breathing harsh as if he was a child with asthma who had run a hundred meters.

Xia Yongzhi rusehd toward Xia Weiyuan and checked his pulse. "Grand Elder, you sent him too much qi. What if he is crippled?"

Instead of answering, the grand elder only snorted. "Disciple of Purple Moon Sect. Let us go."

With that, he flicked his right hand, and a broad silver sword materialized in front of him. It floated in the air, and the grand elder jumped onto it. Then, the silver sword carried him to the north. Liu Xing looked at Xia Yongzhi and Xia Weiyuan. Xia Yongzhi was now carrying Xia Weiyuan on his back, sighing as if his day was full of misfortune. He eyed Liu Xing and said in a quiet voice, "Take care."

Liu Xing nodded, trying to digest what had happened. But soon, he realized that the grand elder was already far away, so Liu Xing summoned his gun, activated his Lightning Cloak, and tried to chase after him. In the air, Liu Xing used his shield to maneuver and accelerate. After several moments, Liu Xing was steadily following the grand elder several meters behind. He could see the bent back of the grand elder clearly.

As Liu Xing followed, his mind raced. Several questions swirled in his mind. Why was Xia Weiyuan glowing? Why did the grand elder ask Xia Weiyuan as if the child knew the location of the thing that killed Xia Shizi, and why was Xia Weiyuan able to answer?

He quickly came up with a hypothesis. Xia Weiyuan probably had a bloodline that allowed him to see the truth. It made sense. This made Xia Yongzhi's absolute trust in this kid more reasonable. If Xia Weiyuan had a bloodline that could pierce the truth, perhaps the same ability made him incapable of lying. However, Liu Xing could not know for sure.

As Xia Weiyuan became more interesting, Liu Xing had to consider the implications.

First, the fact that this grand elder used Xia Weiyuan's ability in front of him, a stranger, was a weird move. Even if he was a Purple Moon Sect disciple, there should be no reason to do it in front of Liu Xing. After all, Xia Weiyuan was probably the Xia clan's secret.

The only explanation for this was that the grand elder did not care whether Liu Xing saw it or not, which was suspicious. This grand elder cared about the Xia clan, as evidenced when he berated Xia Yongzhi, and he should also know that keeping Xia Weiyuan's secret was the best course of action. After all, he could not see into Liu Xing's heart. What if Liu Xing became interested in Xia Weiyuan and tried to snatch him away?

Thinking this, Liu Xing came to a conclusion. The grand elder would probably kill him in the future. After all, if the elder could ensure Liu Xing's death later, then there was no problem letting Liu Xing see the true value of Xia Weiyuan. When Liu Xing reached this conclusion, the grand elder suddenly turned his head. His black eyes gazed at him, and Liu Xing felt the air around him suddenly grow cold and heavy. Seeing those eyes, Liu Xing's heart beat faster and faster. He wondered whether the old man could read his mind.

"Faster," the grand elder said.

Liu Xing swallowed hard, then used the shield to accelerate until he was right behind the old man's back.

As Liu Xing wracked his brain to predict what the old man would do to him later, the old man suddenly slowed down. After a moment, the flying sword he rode stopped, and Liu Xing killed his momentum and stood atop his shield diagonally behind the old man, observing the place in front of them. It was strange. Instead of green trees, lush grasses, and colorful flowers of a normal forest, this place was filled with trees made of bones, with their branches curved like ribcages, their limbs resembled thigh bones, and their leaves were shaped like wide, slim shark teeth. Some of their roots stuck out from the red ground, looking like bony fingers. The base of each white tree was red and muddy, as if someone had dumped a bucket of blood at it.

"You said your name is Liu Xing, right?" the old man asked as his flying sword slowly descended.

Liu Xing willed his shield to follow the grand elder. "Yes, what is your name, Grand Elder?"

The old man was silent for a moment. When the flying sword touched the ground and he stepped off it, he answered, "My name is Xia Juetian. You need to remember this name carefully, as you will have to report about me to your clan."

Liu Xing nodded. "All right."

"Do you have a method to communicate directly with your sect?"

"Directly, no, but there is a method to contact my sect indirectly," he answered.

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