Chapter 190: Conclusive evidence
Chapter 190: Conclusive evidence
"After many years, I never expected that Friend Mao still remembers me. It is truly an honor." The black clouds slowly dispersed, revealing a purple-faced man in a black robe, with a dignified appearance.
Judging from the imposing manner of this person, he is obviously a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The disciples of the Biro Cave showed worried expressions. The enemy had two Foundation Establishment cultivators, while the Biro Cave only had their Grand Cave Master. Although the number of cultivators in the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement stages on both sides was roughly the same, and the Biro Cave had a slight advantage in terms of terrain, the decision-making power in the battle clearly lay with the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
As a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Grand Cave Master of the Biro Cave was the strongest besides the Elder. His strength was not weak, but facing two opponents of similar strength, it was obvious that he couldn’t gain any advantage.
"It’s him!" Wu Lu exclaimed when he saw the person.
"Wu Lu, do you recognize this person?" Yuan Ming asked when he saw Wu Lu’s reaction.
"I was assigned to the Qingfu Hall some time ago and saw the portraits of important figures from various major forces in the Southern Region that the sect collected. If I’m not mistaken, this person is Ou Ji, the leader of the Southern Branch of the Dawn Alliance, a Foundation Establishment cultivator," Wu Lu explained.
Yuan Ming looked at the three people in the air and then at the crowd on the opposite side, his thoughts spinning.
He followed the large group of people to the mountain gate for two reasons. On one hand, he didn’t find an opportunity to escape along the way, and on the other hand, he wanted to see the strength and number of the attackers.
Seeing the current situation, he had a rough idea in his mind.This time, the Biro Cave was in big trouble. He didn’t know if the mysterious Elder would really show up, and if he had the ability to turn the tide.
"Ou Ji, the Biro Cave and your Dawn Alliance have no grudges in the past and no enmity recently. Are you openly violating the Ten Rules of the Northern Region by leading your people to attack our Biro Cave’s mountain gate?" the Grand Cave Master questioned sternly.
A long time ago, the cultivation forces in the Southern and Northern Regions once formed an alliance to fight against a powerful enemy. They established the Ten Rules of the Northern Region to regulate the behavior of the cultivation sects.
Although the alliance no longer existed, the Ten Rules of the Northern Region were still implicitly accepted by various sects and had been in use until now. One of the rules was: "Do not attack other forces without reason."
"So the Biro Cave also knows about the Ten Rules of the Northern Region. Do you remember the third rule, ’Do not kill mortals without reason’? Your Biro Cave has been capturing mortals, killing those without spiritual roots, and enslaving those with poor aptitude as beast slaves, causing the population of the Southern and Northern Regions to continuously decline. How do you explain this?" Ou Ji sneered and asked.
"Nonsense! The Biro Cave has always acted in accordance with the rules and regulations. We have never killed mortals in large numbers!" The Grand Cave Master’s heart trembled, and he immediately denied it righteously.
"Is that so? Ma Xiaoyou, come out," Ou Ji said with a faint smile, turning his head and shouting.
A figure flew out from the crowd of black-clothed people and landed beside Ou Ji. It was a young man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, with the appearance of a Central Plains person.
"Ma Xingkong!"
"He’s still alive!"
The disciples of the Biro Cave were in an uproar.
Yuan Ming looked at the young man with surprise, examining him with his eyes.
Ma Xingkong’s name was well-known. He was still the target of the Biro Cave’s hunting missions. After leaving the sect, he actually joined the Dawn Alliance?
"Friend Mao, you must also know this Ma Xiaoyou. He used to be a proud disciple of the Biro Cave. He knows best whether your Biro Cave has killed mortals or not," Ou Ji said calmly.
The Grand Cave Master remained expressionless, appearing calm, but he was secretly anxious.
Ma Xingkong had risen from being a beast slave in the Biro Cave. He was lowly in status and had participated in many massacres of mortals and the collection of their souls. He knew the whole process very well. If he were to speak out publicly, things would be difficult to handle.
With his cultivation level, he might be able to kill the opponent in an instant, or even directly crush them with his spiritual pressure. But now, with Ou Ji’s protection, he had no choice.
"Ou Ji, the Grand Cave Master of the Biro Cave, has violated the Ten Rules of the Northern Region and killed mortals. There is irrefutable evidence! During the few years I joined the Biro Cave, I was forced to participate in nine massacres of mortals and the collection of their souls. The specific details of these nine missions are recorded here. A simple investigation will reveal the truth," Ma Xingkong took out a white jade tablet and infused it with his mana.
The jade tablet enlarged in the wind, and rows of words appeared on it, detailing the time, location, and number of people killed in the nine missions.
The disciples of the Biro Cave looked somewhat uneasy. They had heard of such tasks of killing and collecting souls, and many of them had even directly participated in them. At that time, they only thought that the contribution points were good and didn’t feel anything was wrong.
"Ma Xingkong is a defector from the Biro Cave. How can his words be trusted? It’s just baseless slander," the Grand Cave Master said calmly as ever.
"I knew you would deny it. Take a look at this," Ma Xingkong sneered and summoned a blue bead. A bright blue light shot out from the bead, spinning around and forming a blue water curtain. On it, scenes of Biro Cave disciples killing mortals and collecting their souls appeared.In the world of cultivation, there is a special type of artifact called the "Leaving Shadow Artifact" that can record past events. This blue round bead is obviously one of them.
The Grand Master’s heart sank. With so many recorded images as evidence, it was undeniable that the disciples of the Biro Cave had killed mortals.
"The Biro Cave’s crime of killing mortals is undeniable. The actions of the Dawn Scattering Alliance today are the punishment from the heavens. Attack!" Ouyi shouted loudly.
The members of the Dawn Scattering Alliance shouted in unison and rushed forward. The disciples of the Biro Cave quickly met them in battle. The clash of artifacts and spells created a spectacular scene.
With the Grand Master present, Yuan Ming could only follow the others and charge forward. He wielded his Nine-Ring Golden Blade and blocked a black shuttle artifact.
The owner of the black shuttle artifact was a tall and thin man. His cultivation had reached the peak of Qi Refinement, and his artifact was also extraordinary, reaching the middle-grade level. It emitted black flames and created illusory shadows that were difficult to distinguish, displaying a mysterious power.
However, Yuan Ming’s cultivation and spiritual consciousness were much stronger than his opponent’s. No matter how the black shuttle artifact changed, it couldn’t escape his spiritual consciousness.
The Nine-Ring Golden Blade transformed into nine golden blade shadows, forming a golden net that easily trapped the black shuttle artifact.
The tall and thin man on the other side couldn’t break free from the blockade of the golden net no matter how he activated the black shuttle. He knew that the opponent’s strength was slightly higher than his own. However, besides maintaining the fight against him, the opponent didn’t strengthen his attacks, leaving him in a dilemma.
Yuan Ming controlled the situation and intentionally let the opponent gain a slight advantage. He was also afraid of being attacked by other members of the Dawn Scattering Alliance, so he looked at the nearby battle.
With his gaze, he saw Wu Lu also charging forward. He pointed his index finger towards the sky and then engaged in a battle with a member of the Dawn Scattering Alliance. Both of them had similar cultivation levels and their artifacts had similar power, making it difficult for either of them to gain the upper hand.
In terms of numbers, there wasn’t much difference between the two sides. The disciples of the Biro Cave were slightly weaker in momentum, but they had the assistance of spirit beasts and the advantage of the terrain. There was no clear indication of who was stronger or weaker for the time being.
In mid-air, with Ouyi’s assistance, the bloody battle no longer faced the Grand Master head-on. The three of them used their techniques to fight each other from a distance.
Facing the continuous attacks from the two, the Grand Master was somewhat overwhelmed. However, the white net he activated was constantly swirling and changing in size, capable of both offense and defense. This made Ouyi and Blood Battle hesitant to approach too closely.
At the same time, a Foundation Establishment stage flying giant python summoned by the Grand Master circled around the three of them, waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack. This made it difficult for Ouyi and the others to fully focus on dealing with the Grand Master.
Yuan Ming secretly nodded in approval of the Grand Master’s countermeasures. The current situation seemed manageable. If the Biro Cave side could stabilize the situation and hold on until the appearance of the mysterious elder, they might be able to survive this crisis.
A scream of imminent death sounded not far away, followed by a powerful surge of spiritual energy extinguishing. It was obvious that a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator had died.
Yuan Ming took a quick look in the direction of the sound.
He saw an elder of the Biro Cave with a red face and a bald head lying on the ground, a bloody hole appearing on his forehead, with red and white substances flowing out.
Standing in front of the red-faced elder was a white-robed youth with a high-curved corner of his mouth, his face covered in colorful paint. A slender golden light flickered between his fingers without stopping.
"It’s him!" Yuan Ming’s pupils contracted.
Although he had changed his attire, Yuan Ming couldn’t be mistaken about the appearance of this white-robed youth. He was the clown who had killed someone in broad daylight in Blackrock City.
The white-robed youth put away the storage artifact of the red-faced elder and continued to fly towards another tall and bearded elder of the Biro Cave not far away.
The golden light from his fingertips shot out earlier, aiming at the back of the bearded elder.
The bearded elder was engaged in a lively battle with a member of the Dawn Scattering Alliance at the Foundation Establishment stage. However, he had been paying attention to the white-robed youth for a long time. Seeing this scene, he quickly activated his spirit beast to block the attack from the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, while he himself dodged to the side.
This person seemed to have also cultivated a footwork technique and was quite agile, barely avoiding the attack of the golden light.
The white-robed youth opened his mouth and spat out a blue light that was emitting a blue glow. It quickly extended in all directions, enveloping the bearded elder.
The blue light instantly expanded to a size of seven or eight zhang and its speed was extremely fast. The bearded elder had no way to avoid it this time, so he had to summon a red copper mirror to defend himself.
The mirror spun rapidly, instantly growing to several zhang in size, meeting the descending blue light and preventing it from falling.
Before the bearded elder could make any other moves, a golden figure attacked him. It was the slender golden light that had missed earlier, shooting towards the bearded elder once again.
The bearded elder hurriedly controlled the copper mirror to defend himself. The surface of the copper mirror showed no abnormalities, but after a tremor, it unexpectedly didn’t move.
The blue light contained extremely strong stickiness, firmly sticking the copper mirror to it, making it unable to move even a bit. Meanwhile, the slender golden light had already arrived in front of the bearded elder.
"Damn it!" The bearded elder had no choice but to give up controlling the copper mirror and once again use his footwork technique to dodge.
However, the white-robed youth appeared in front of him without knowing when. With a wave of his hand, three golden light blades slashed horizontally, fiercely aiming at the bearded elder’s neck.
The bearded elder was startled and hurriedly patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist.A gigantic black spider, about ten feet tall, flew out from the midst. Its body was pitch black and shiny, resembling a body made of gold and iron. Its two front limbs, sharp as large blades, flexibly met the golden light blades.
The young man in white chuckled softly, forming a hand seal. Somehow, the three golden light blades penetrated the black spider’s defense. One of them made a "swish" sound, slicing off half of the spider’s head, while the other two fiercely struck Elder Whiskers.
A layer of black light surged from the black robe worn by Elder Whiskers, appearing to be a magical artifact. However, under the slash of the two golden light blades, it directly disintegrated.
Elder Whiskers’ eyes showed a look of terror. He raised his hand, intending to do something, but it was already too late.
The slender golden light pierced into the back of his skull, passing through his forehead.
The light in Elder Whiskers’ eyes dimmed instantly, and his body fell to the ground with a thud.