If Liu Xing were an inner disciple with a master, his master would have given him some kind of treasure or talisman or a way to communicate directly. But since he was merely an outer disciple, he did not have anything to communicate directly with the sect. The indirect method was to reach the nearest sect, nation, or empire and ask them to relay a message to the sect. Liu Xing had never used this method before, but he remembered one of his seniors sending a distress call after a mission went wrong, and he had been sent to help.

Elder Xia Juetian began to walk, and the flying sword vanished, likely stored inside some kind of spatial treasure.

They walked silently through the forest of white bones. Liu Xing predicted that they would soon encounter whatever had killed Xia Shizi and Xia Hongyi. Somehow, this place felt fitting for a creature that killed people and left their limbs behind. As he followed Elder Xia Juetian, Liu Xing prepared himself. He had no doubt that whatever was inside this forest was strong. He guessed their cultivation was higher than the Lock Opening realm, but the real question was whether Elder Xia Juetian could defeat them or not.

Liu Xing glanced at the white-haired old man in front of him. He tried to sense the vast qi radiating from Elder Xia Juetian. The elder was immensely powerful, far stronger than the moss Liu Xing had fought before. Liu Xing suspected the grand elder had at least seven cores and might soon combine them to create a sun. If the enemy was still in the Core Splitting realm, there was a good chance Elder Xia Juetian would win.

Liu Xing's mind wandered to what might happen afterward. Elder Xia Juetian had said he would kill Wei Yi and wipe out his clan. If Wei Yi truly was the mastermind behind all these murders, wouldn't that mean Liu Xing's mission from Bai Lin would be completed?

Thinking this, Liu Xing inhaled deeply. Though excitement flickered in his heart and a smile threatened to appear on his face, he controlled his expression. If Elder Xia Juetian killed Wei Yi, Bai Lin's request would be fulfilled, and Liu Xing would receive the Heaven Grade Technique. After all, Elder Xia Juetian came to kill Wei Yi based on Liu Xing's information. The issue was Elder Xia Juetian's intention to destroy the entire Wei clan. It felt wrong to Liu Xing—after all, a father's sin was not his son's, and the same logic applied to the rest of his family. But this was a xianxia world, where clans and sects could be annihilated because one person offended someone from a bigger, stronger group, leading to revenge from the survivors.

Shaking his head, Liu Xing stopped overthinking. The fate of the Wei clan was out of his hands. He was too weak in the grand scheme of things to do anything about it. Besides, what if they had helped Wei Yi kill people? A clan leader's strength benefited the whole clan, after all.

If he wanted to play the hero, he needed power, backing, and information to uncover the truth—and right now, he had none of those things. The best he could do was witness Elder Xia Juetian confront the killer behind these murders and then report back to the Purple Moon Sect.

As they walked deeper into the forest, Liu Xing started seeing strange creatures. When they passed a tree as big and wide as a house, with leaves that looked like human teeth, Liu Xing saw butterflies that seemed to be made of human ears flying around it. Each creature had yellow eyes like those of a snake. In another place, he spotted something that looked like a sea anemone made entirely of veins, with blood oozing from the tips.

After encountering more bizarre creatures, Liu Xing and Elder Xia Juetian arrived at a narrow clearing. The perimeter was lined with dozens of giant, straight bones that resembled pillars. One bone pillar stood out. It was so massive that if ten people joined hands to circle it, they wouldn't reach all the way around.

Ten meters above the ground, three human feet protruded from the bone, as if they had been chopped off and attached there. A rope was tied around the ankle of the middle foot, and hanging from the rope was a man, suspended by his neck.

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Liu Xing's eyes widened as he thought he had come across a person who had hanged himself. But as he studied the figure more closely, he felt a familiar prickle of qi. Narrowing his gaze, he realized that the figure was not fully human. Its skin was bright red, like that of a drunkard, and its wide grin made it seem as if it could unhinge its jaw like a garbage can lid. His hands and feet were made entirely of yellow snakes that resembled noodles, his ears were orange fruits, and peeking out of its clothing was a hand with a yellow eye in its palm.

"What an unsightly creature," Xia Juetian remarked.

In response, the spirit beast, which looked almost human, began to cackle as if it had just heard the funniest joke in the world. It swayed from side to side, and after a few moments, the rope around its ankle came loose. The creature fell for a moment, then landed gracefully on its two snake feet.

"W-what an unsightly creature," it mimicked, still smiling.

Xia Juetian snorted. "Who is your master? Is he truly Wei Yi?"

At the mention of Wei Yi's name, the beast's smile vanished. Its eyes narrowed, and its expression turned furious. "Wei Yi! Wei Yi! Wei Yi!"

The spirit beast kept shouting Wei Yi's name with a rage that suggested Wei Yi had wronged it deeply.

Xia Juetian clicked his tongue. "A half-coherent abomination made from stitched-together spirit beasts and humans. It will be hard to get any useful information from it. Let's just kill it."

Liu Xing felt that the creature's qi was vast enough to dwarf his own qi, causing sweat to bead on his forehead. But despite his growing fear, Elder Xia Juetian's presence calmed him down. After all, the grand elder was stronger than the creature.

"Elder Xia Juetian, what should I do?" Liu Xing asked. He did not want to be expected to fight something so far beyond his own strength.

"You will observe. Engrave everything you see in your heart. But if you get careless and find yourself in danger, I will not save you."

Liu Xing nodded. That was reasonable. He thought about making himself invisible, but after looking at Elder Xia Juetian, he decided to jump into the air and summoned his shield, hovering tens of meters above the ground. Although he was not on bad terms with the Xia clan now, he knew how dangerous Xia Juetian could be. Showing his invisibility technique to a potential future enemy did not seem wise.

Peering down, Liu Xing saw the grand elder standing calmly, his back slightly hunched. The spirit beast, meanwhile, had begun laughing again, emitting a sound so joyful it was hard to believe it had been furious just moments ago.

Liu Xing pointed his gun at the spirit beast just in case he needed to activate his invisibility. As he did this, the spirit beast looked up at him. Its eyes narrowed, and the eye in the palm of the hand peeking out from its chest fixated on him like a predator spotting its prey. But the spirit beast seemed to forget that Liu Xing was not the real threat. When it looked upward, Xia Juetian appeared right in front of it, his fist flying toward its face.

As the spirit beast turned its head toward the suddenly appearing Elder Xia Juetian, the elder's fist connected with its face. The impact sent the creature flying like a cannonball toward the massive bone pillar.

Liu Xing thought that it would crash into the pillar and knock it down, but with a quick movement, the spirit beast twisted its body in the air. Its yellow snake feet coiled like a spring, and upon impact, it immediately shot back at Elder Xia Juetian. Its two yellow serpent arms suddenly stretched out and whipped at the elder, leaving deep gouges in the ground as they whipped.

When the creature reached Elder Xia Juetian, he calmly parried each whip-like strike. The yellow snake arms and the human hands became a blur, moving faster and faster, until even Liu Xing could no longer follow their movements. All he could perceive was a rapid blur, much like when he used his Lightning Cloak technique, but the speed was beyond what his mind could fully grasp.

Watching from above, Liu Xing inhaled deeply. These two were merely warming up, and yet their simple, straightforward movements already revealed the immense gap between them and himself.

Determined to learn from their fight, Liu Xing decided to sit on his shield, observing every exchange below. While he could not fully comprehend the speed of their movements, he hoped he could elevate his own fighting style by studying them.

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