Chapter 398: Chapter 197: Character Plate, Chang Family Crisis, Departure Preparations

The one-hundred-zhang-tall White Bone Altar at the very center held out for less than ten breaths before being devoured by the Beidou Spirit Fire.

The fracturing bones were incinerated into ash before they even had a chance to fall.

Waves of heat rose, nearly forming a wind of their own.

The swirling embers drifted down from the sky like snowflakes, a sight that lasted for a full quarter of an hour.

’Huh, it didn’t burn completely?’

However, when the Spiritual Fire receded, Xiao Chen swept the area with his Divine Sense and discovered what appeared to be a Character Plate left in the very center.

He reached out, and a surge of True Essence wrapped around the Character Plate, pulling it into his hand.

The Character Plate wasn’t large—six inches long, one inch wide, and about a finger’s breadth thick.

But holding it, he could tell it was extraordinary. It felt like neither gold nor jade, neither wood nor iron; he couldn’t tell what material it was made from.

Three large, blocky characters were carved vertically down its front.

But Xiao Chen couldn’t recognize them.

He flipped it over and saw a line of small characters on the back, which were equally illegible.

’Wait, this script looks just like the Lesser Seal script on that painting. Could it be from the same source?’

He suddenly found it familiar, and upon closer inspection, confirmed it was remarkably similar.

’Interesting. Now I have at least one solid clue.’

’This special script is probably related to the Demon Cultivator community.’

’It’s likely some kind of coded script they created to evade pursuit by Orthodox Cultivators.’

’Then again, I don’t recall seeing any mention of this in the Yellow Springs Secret Scripture.’

’This means the Yellow Springs Dao didn’t use such a script back in its day. It seems there’s another story behind this.’

He would probably need to gather more clues to understand the full situation.

’In any case, if it couldn’t be burned, it must be something good.’

Xiao Chen had a unique way of judging unfamiliar Spiritual Objects. ’I’ll just hang onto it for now. I’m sure I’ll get a chance to figure it out eventually.’

He inspected the scene one more time.

After confirming there was nothing left but a field of bone ash, he used Sword Control to fly off and inform Thunder Sound True Man and Master Yaohua.

He made a point of emphasizing the need to crack down on Tribulation Cultivators.

Now that the Demonic Calamity was completely over, it was time to restore order in Hezhou and suppress the Low Tier Cultivators who were taking the opportunity to cause trouble.

Oftentimes, man-made disasters were just as great a threat.

If he just said one more word of caution now, he might be able to save the lives of a few Low Tier Cultivators. It was a small effort for a worthy cause.

As he was leaving the main hall of the Lingyuan Sect, a sudden shout rang out from the side.

"Elder Xiao, help me!"

A figure rushed right in front of him and knelt on the ground with a THUD. "I beg you, Elder, please say something to save my younger brother’s life."

Xiao Chen took a closer look and saw it was Chang Shunping, whom he hadn’t seen for days.

His face was haggard, and he looked as though he had lost a great deal of weight.

He immediately began to plead tearfully, "I beg for your clear judgment, Elder! The Chang Family has always been exceedingly cautious. We have never colluded with the Demon Sect."

"It’s even more impossible that we would secretly ally with the Divine Fire Sect. This is a complete injustice!"

Xiao Chen was a bit stunned. From what he knew of Chang Shunping, the man didn’t have the nerve to collude with Demon Cultivators.

’What’s all this about?’

"Cultivator Chang, don’t be hasty. Get up and explain slowly."

Upon careful questioning, he learned that after routing the Divine Fire Sect a few days ago, the Lingyuan Sect had immediately launched a massive, territory-wide manhunt.

The main objectives were to eliminate the fish that had slipped through the net during the battle and to deal with the traitors who had assisted the Divine Fire Sect.

They were also taking over the ownerless Spirit Fields and Spirit Veins left behind in the wake of the Demonic Calamity.

For some people, this latter task was of the utmost importance.

And so, the Chang Family became the unlucky ones.

Chang Shunping’s younger brother, Chang Shun’an, had been arrested.

He was imprisoned in the back mountains of Elemental Magnetic Peak as a spy for the Demon Sect, scheduled for execution after his accomplices were interrogated out of him.

Furthermore, the Chang Family’s properties had all been seized to search for evidence related to Demon Cultivators.

"Wait, are you sure there isn’t another reason?"

Xiao Chen was puzzled. He had a personal relationship with the Chang Family, and that was no secret.

’Chang Shunping is a sixth-level Foundation Establishment Cultivator, after all. There can’t be many families with the power to move against him, can there?’

’They wouldn’t have the guts to do this without concrete evidence, right?’

"There’s no other reason! My brother’s temperament is just like mine; he would never dare to stir up trouble."

Chang Shunping hurriedly explained, "Shun’an was stationed at the front lines before, and many of our peers can testify to that. As soon as the battle ended, Shun’an came straight home."

"We’ve been taking turns on watch at home these past few days and haven’t gone out at all."

He spoke with such sincerity that it didn’t seem like he was lying.

’If that’s the case, then let’s investigate.’

So Xiao Chen asked, "Where is your brother now? I’ll take you to see him first."

If he had truly been wronged, Xiao Chen wouldn’t mind lending a hand.

However, Yao Dehai, who was standing nearby, stepped forward in a timely manner and said there was no need to run back and forth. They could simply summon all the relevant parties here for a confrontation.

As he spoke, he arranged for people to be summoned and had tables, chairs, and tea brought over.

Soon, Chang Shun’an and the Pan Family cultivators who had arrested him were brought over together.

Along with them came several pieces of evidence.

These included a transcribed copy of a Demon Technique found in the Chang Family residence, the corpse of an unidentified cultivator discovered in their cellar, and two witnesses.

The first witness was a servant of the Chang Family.

He testified that the Chang brothers had refused to cooperate when they saw the Pan Family cultivators and had even physically resisted the investigation.

The second witness was a disciple of the Lingyuan Sect.

He had personally seen Chang Shun’an go alone to the Lingyuan Market during his leave in the first month to secretly meet with a Demon Cultivator.

That Demon Cultivator had since been captured and was executed along with others just yesterday.

However, he left behind a confession obtained during interrogation, in which he admitted to colluding with Chang Shun’an and obtaining Elixirs from him.

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