Although Xu Ziqing was puzzled, he did not sink his consciousness into the ring to ask about it now. The truth of the matter was still unclear, so it was better to be even more cautious.
While he was secretly worrying, he looked up and saw someone approaching from not far away.
The man walking in front wore brocade robes with wide sleeves. His bearing was calm and elegant, carrying both the air of an immortal cultivator and the graceful ease of a young nobleman. It was Tang Wenfei, Golden Core Perfected One and the current gatekeeper of the Dragon Ascension Gate.
Two people walked beside him. One wore splendid clothing and had an arrogant expression. The other wore plain gray robes and seemed somewhat steadier. They were Hu Guangyuan, the great-grandson of the Boundless Sect Master, and Zhang Chi, the sect’s true genius, whose cultivation was close to Qi Refinement layer 10.
Hu Guangyuan and Zhang Chi had clearly gone to report the incident to Tang Wenfei after what happened. That was why they had come together now. No one knew how Tang Wenfei would regard the matter or how he would handle it.
Seeing the Golden Core Perfected One arrive, everyone immediately stopped talking and saluted. “Senior Tang.”
Tang Wenfei waved a hand. “Let me take a look first.”
The cultivators hurriedly moved aside so Tang Wenfei could approach.
Tang Wenfei stopped before Elder Fang’s corpse and lowered his gaze. Then his brows drew together.
Seeing his expression, the cultivators’ hearts stirred. If even the gatekeeper frowned, was this matter especially difficult to resolve? Or was there perhaps some hidden story behind it?
For a time, everyone’s thoughts raced and all sorts of suspicions arose.
Tang Wenfei’s expression turned solemn. “Elder Fang was injured by sword force.”
Sword force!
The cultivators looked at one another, completely confused.
Many of them used flying swords, but very few could actually release sword qi. Most cultivators treated the flying sword simply as a magical artifact because of its powerful offensive capability and had never studied swordsmanship deeply.
Thus some knew of sword qi, but none knew what sword force was.
A few members of the Divine Saber Sect, however, could offer some analysis.
Zhang Tiantai said, “Those of us who cultivate the saber can condense saber light after many years until it takes on a semi-misty form. That becomes saber qi. The saber is domineering and forceful, so it is relatively easy to give that power shape. If saber qi is condensed further, it becomes saber force. For saber cultivators like us, once saber light condenses it generally takes the form of a saber, so we rarely distinguish strictly between qi and force. Since saber and sword are both killing weapons, perhaps the principle is the same.”
By this reasoning, sword force should simply be sword qi that had taken form, somewhat stronger than ordinary sword qi.
Tang Wenfei shook his head. “Saber qi is easy to condense. Sword qi is not. The saber is broad and forceful, fierce and domineering, with few exceptions. The sword is subtle and endlessly variable. Unless one comprehends sword intent, sword qi cannot condense into sword force. And unless sword qi condenses into sword force, one cannot truly be called a sword cultivator.”
After saying this, his gaze swept across the faces of the gathered cultivators one by one.
Tang Wenfei’s expression was mild, but everyone he looked at felt enormous pressure descend upon them, as though even their internal organs had been seen through and nothing could remain hidden.
Anyone who met his gaze lowered their eyes and dared not look back.
Tang Wenfei examined everyone in turn until his gaze reached Xu Zifeng. Only then did it stop.
“Xu Zifeng?” he asked.
The cultivators were all startled and turned toward Xu Zifeng.
Xu Zifeng stood tall and straight, with handsome brows and bright eyes, his bearing extraordinary. What drew even more attention, however, was the sword pressure surrounding him. Unlike those who merely favored the offensive power of flying swords, his aura was purer and carried the sharpness unique to the sword, the gentleman among weapons.
He was a young genius famous throughout the small world. At only a little over twenty years old, he had already transformed sword light into sword qi, a monstrous achievement. But although being able to release sword qi was extraordinary, saying he could kill an Essence Transformation expert would still be giving him far too much credit.
Yet Tang Wenfei was looking at him this way now. Had he noticed something the others did not know? With only a little speculation, people could not help wondering whether Xu Zifeng had already condensed his sword qi into sword force.
Xu Zifeng possessed pride, but he was not blindly arrogant. How could he fail to understand everyone’s suspicions? If he had truly done it, he would admit it openly. Unfortunately, he only knew how to turn sword light into sword qi and had not yet even touched the threshold of sword force. He would never lie about such a thing. He raised a hand neither humbly nor arrogantly. “It is this junior.”
Tang Wenfei nodded. “Demonstrate your swordsmanship for me.”
Xu Zifeng nodded as well. “This junior obeys.”
With a slight movement of his fingers, a flying sword was already in his hand. He casually swung it, and a streak of white sword qi suddenly shot from the tip straight toward the mountain wall ahead.
Bang! Stones burst from the wall. The sword qi pierced through and left a hole roughly the size of a fist.
The power of that sword qi was indeed considerable. Yet cultivators above Essence Transformation could all see that it was not enough to take their lives.
Tang Wenfei nodded faintly. “You have some attainment, but you are still far from condensing sword force.” He paused. “Do you intend to become a sword cultivator?”
In other words, although Xu Zifeng intended to become a sword cultivator and was already regarded as one by many people in the small world, he could not truly be called one before condensing sword force.
When the others looked at Xu Zifeng again, their expressions became complicated. They did not know whether to secretly laugh at him for not yet being strong enough or congratulate him for being cleared of suspicion.
Xu Zifeng himself showed not the slightest discouragement. He said firmly, “This junior will only ever be a sword cultivator.”
His certainty was absolute. Tang Wenfei said nothing further, though his expression toward Xu Zifeng became somewhat cooler.
Seeing this, Xu Ziqing could not help wondering whether there were no sword cultivators in this Golden Core Perfected One’s sect. But he soon had no attention left for such thoughts because Tang Wenfei’s gaze began moving among the few cultivators who had been admitted on the basis of spiritual roots and were standing together.
Tang Wenfei said, “Elder Fang’s actions were most likely intended to harm someone among you.”
He spoke indirectly, but how could the cultivators fail to understand? Even without him saying it, everyone had already guessed as much.
As they had discussed earlier, Elder Fang of the Boundless Sect had left his cave late at night for one obvious reason: he intended to strike viciously at exceptional talents from another sect and remove them so his own sect might gain more opportunities.
And if he meant to eliminate another faction’s talent, naturally he would target those with the greatest potential who were also easiest to remove, especially when the senior assigned to protect them was not among the strongest.
Others may have entertained similar ideas, but none would have acted so hastily, much less before understanding the opponent’s background. Elder Fang’s death had served as a warning to them all. Somewhere in the shadows was a sword cultivator capable of killing an Essence Transformation expert.
Any secret schemes would now have to be reconsidered carefully.
The gathered cultivators were no fools. After thinking the matter through, their gazes gradually settled on one green-robed youth.
Only this person was the most likely target of Elder Fang’s attack.
Tang Wenfei’s gaze also came to rest on the youth’s face. “Xu Ziqing, did you hear anything unusual last night?”
The green-robed youth, Xu Ziqing, paused, then could not help smiling bitterly.
Indeed. If Elder Fang had intended to attack anyone, it could only have been Xu Ziqing.
There were three reasons.
First, only two single spiritual roots had appeared at this Dragon Ascension Gate Gathering. If Xu Ziqing had not possessed a single spiritual root, why would an Essence Transformation expert personally risk striking him?
Second, both single spiritual roots belonged to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, while Elder Fang’s Boundless Sect had longstanding friction with the Alliance. Naturally, they would not want to see the Alliance grow stronger.
Third, Xu Ziqing was only a member of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s Outer Alliance. This showed that even the Alliance itself had not previously known he possessed such outstanding aptitude. His status there was neither especially high nor especially low, merely acceptable. The Outer and Inner Alliances were not especially close. There were ties, but much of the relationship was based on mutual use. If Xu Ziqing lived, he would add another advantage to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. If he died, the Alliance might not necessarily go to war for him. Their trust in him was still insufficient, and certainly not enough for them to pay the cost of openly tearing relations apart with another great sect.
Moreover, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance had brought only two senior experts. Only one was at Essence Transformation, and that person was naturally expected to protect Young Alliance Leader Su Xin. Elder Peng, who guarded Xu Ziqing, was only at Foundation Establishment. Though the realms might sound close, in reality the difference was vast. He absolutely could not stop an Essence Transformation expert from killing someone.
If the other cultivators could reason this out, naturally Xu Ziqing could as well.
That was why bitterness touched his lips when he saw Tang Wenfei’s attention settle on him.
And the truth was that the matter really did concern him. He was not being wrongly implicated at all.
By now Xu Ziqing also understood why his friend Yun Lie had killed Elder Fang. It had simply been because Yun Lie was protecting him wholeheartedly.
Last night, a petty villain had come spying with the intent to kill him. Yun Lie had sensed it first and directly killed the man. For a dignified Essence Transformation expert to secretly attack a junior who had not even established his foundation for such a despicable reason was something Xu Ziqing disdained. He felt no guilt over the man’s death.
Thinking this through, Xu Ziqing silently circulated his cultivation method and steadied his state of mind. Then he answered honestly, “Senior Tang, this junior did not hear anything unusual last night.”
He truly had not seen Yun Lie act. He had only inferred what happened afterward. This was not a lie.
Tang Wenfei raised his brows slightly. “Then tell me what you did yesterday.”
Xu Ziqing smiled and remained calm. “Yesterday Miss Zhuo was injured. All of us from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance were deeply worried, so we went together to see her.”
Su Xin immediately added, “That’s right. Brother Ziqing went with all of us.”
After a night of recovery, Zhuo Hanyan’s internal injuries were already almost healed. Only the task of expelling the remaining true essence was left. Xu Ziqing had helped her enormously, and he had also been targeted by Elder Fang precisely because of his connection to the Rogue Cultivator Alliance. Zhuo Hanyan was not an ungrateful person, so she naturally spoke up and supplied the details Xu Ziqing himself might find awkward to mention.
“Xu Ziqing possesses a single Wood spiritual root. I was badly injured, so he repeatedly exhausted his spiritual power sending Wood-attributed spiritual power into me to stimulate my vitality. It took nearly half the night, and he was exhausted afterward. Once he returned to his cave, he likely would not have heard anything.”
The other members of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance echoed her immediately. “We can all testify for him!”
Xu Ziqing gave them a grateful smile before looking back at Tang Wenfei. “After returning to my cave, my mind was too exhausted to concentrate, so I did not meditate and simply went to sleep. I woke only when Su Xin came to call me this morning. As for Elder Fang… this junior truly did not see him last night.”