Chapter 1011: King Tuye

At this moment, Ruo Qingyuan not only had his heartbeat stopped, but his already injured body was also withered, skin and bones, with bulging eyes as if he had seen something extremely terrifying. His hand clenched tightly, a dose of venom not yet released, and he was struck dead on the spot.

Is it?

Standing above with a grim face, Poison Master Bai seemed to have noticed something and turned to look at Poison Master Hai beside him.

Yes...

The latter nodded solemnly.

"Just as I guessed!"

White Poison Master's eyes narrowed, his voice like a blade, carrying a chilling murderous intent: "An alien tribesman..."

Hearing this, Zhang Xuan frowned: "Are you saying... that Ruoqing Hall Master was killed by an alien tribesman?"

Although the Poison Master's reputation was poor, he had not, like the Sorcerer, defected to the alien tribes; otherwise, no matter how deeply hidden, the Master Teacher Hall would have unearthed him.

With no connection between them, yet appearing here to slay a hall master—what was going on?

Judging by the other's tone, he had evidently confirmed it.

"If the hall master's corpse is withered, it means his essence and blood were drained. This kind of attack technique is unique to the Spirit Race..."

White Poison Master nodded and explained.

"Drained of essence and blood?" Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted as he looked again at the hall master's corpse, his expression turning grim.

As the other had said, the essence and blood within the hall master's corpse had been completely drained, as if devoured by something, a horrifying sight.

Essence and blood are the foundation of human life. To have them forcibly extracted—the suffering endured was unimaginable. This was no mere killing but a slaughter!

"So this is the attack method of the Spirit Race?" he thought, shocked.

Although he had slain many Spirit Race members, they had mostly been killed before they could strike, so he had little experience with their brutal methods. Seeing the hall master's corpse, he now understood why humanity had so feared this race in ancient times.

Once the essence and blood were drained, even the most divine medical skills could not save the victim.

"The Spirit Race must have come to seize that book!"

White Poison Master continued.

The intruder had infiltrated this place, choosing neither earlier nor later but precisely when Ruo Qingyuan reached the hall master's tomb and searched for the book to kill him. The motive was obvious.

Sea Poison Master nodded, his gaze sharp as lightning: "He was just killed, and the sound was only heard recently. The murderer shouldn't have fled far. If we pursue now, we might still catch him..."

With that, he carefully scanned the surroundings, but after a moment, he shook his head helplessly.

The opponent had a strong sense of counter-surveillance, killing the Palace Lord in one move without leaving any trace. The island was so large that if they chose the wrong direction, given the opponent's strength, it would be almost impossible to track them again.

"Let me take a look!"

Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.

They had rushed over as soon as they heard the commotion. Under normal circumstances, the culprit should not have fled too far.

As long as they hadn't escaped, with the current strength of White Poison Master and Sea Poison Master, they should be able to easily subdue him and avenge the other.

Using his Eye of Insight, he carefully examined the pit and soon spotted a trace on the ground.

"He went that way!" He pointed a finger.

"That way?"

Seeing the direction he indicated, White Poison Master and the others were puzzled.

It was exactly the direction they had come from.

They had rushed all the way and hadn't seen anyone escape. Moreover, that was the headquarters of the Poison Hall. After killing the Palace Lord, wouldn't heading toward the headquarters instead of trying to escape be suicidal?

It wasn't that they didn't trust this Sun Qiang, but without the ancestor's will, he was merely a Saint-level cultivator, far inferior to them, who were at the fifth level of the Saint Domain.

"Follow me!"

Knowing that if the murderer escaped, the book might never be seen again, Zhang Xuan didn't explain and hurriedly flew in the direction he had indicated.

Seeing his certainty, White Poison Master and the other stopped hesitating and quickly followed.

Before long, they emerged from the Palace Lord's tomb. Zhang Xuan looked around and frowned.

This alien spirit was very cunning. There had been traces before, but now even the Eye of Insight couldn't detect any.

However, this was enough to show that the fellow was probably hiding nearby and hadn't had time to escape yet.

"Where is he?"

This was a flat area, surrounded by some low buildings and scattered vegetation. One could take in the whole scene at a glance; logically, there was no place to hide.

"Unless..." His pupils contracted, and Zhang Xuan couldn't help but look down.

If he wasn't in the sky or on the ground, there was only one possibility... he was hiding underground.

But there were no holes around, and the ground surface was as smooth as new. Even if he wanted to get in, he couldn't.

"What's wrong? Do you mean that person is hiding underground?"

Noticing his confusion and doubt, White Poison Master came up to him.

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan nodded. "The traces disappear here. Apart from underground, I really can't think of where else to go!"

"That's simple. Whether it's underground or not, we just need to check!"

Nodding, Poison Master Bai didn't say much more. A light flashed from his primordial spirit acupoint, and a figure identical to him emerged.

Primordial spirit leaving the body!

With a slight flicker, it drilled toward the ground, entering it in the blink of an eye and disappearing from sight.

The primordial spirit, like the soul, can change at will, unconstrained like the physical body. Although the ground was hard, entering it was still effortless.

Boom!

Not long after Poison Master Bai's primordial spirit entered the ground, everyone felt a tremor beneath their feet. Then they saw a figure burst out from underground with a whoosh, charging straight ahead.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Seeing this figure, Poison Master Hai roared and grabbed fiercely. His formidable power formed a massive palm print. Before it even landed, the buildings and tree trunks on the ground shattered.

At this moment, Poison Master Hai had already reached the fifth level of the Saint Domain. With a casual strike, he possessed the power to move mountains and drain seas, making him difficult to withstand.

Whoosh!

The fleeing figure, seeing his attack, knew that once hit, death was certain. He curled up in midair and plummeted straight down.

His speed seemed even faster than when he had leaped out of the ground moments ago.

Swish!

Like a stone, he smashed into the ground. Expecting to be injured and spit blood, he instead vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye, like a drop of water falling into sand.

"This is... the Earth Travel Technique!"

Leaving a huge palm print on the ground but finding no trace of the figure, Poison Master Hai's pupils contracted.

"Earth Travel Technique?" Zhang Xuan was startled, not understanding.

"It's an ability exclusive to special bloodlines, allowing one to travel underground like a primordial spirit, unhindered..."

After a quick explanation, Poison Master Hai shouted, "Bai Ting, pursue him from below while I stay above... We can't let this bastard escape!"

"Alright!"

Poison Master Bai's voice came from underground.

With his primordial spirit leaving the body, he could move freely underground. With the two of them, one above and one below, even if the opponent had the Earth Travel ability, he would surely be unable to escape!

Boom, boom, boom!

A violent tremor shook the surroundings, buildings collapsing like haystacks. Zhang Xuan and the others flew into the air and looked down, only to see two giant dragons entangled underground, leaving huge cracks wherever they went.

The cracks spread straight ahead, rocks tumbled, and turbid air waves shrouded the area.

White Poison Master had just broken through to the fifth level of the Saint Domain and had not yet achieved perfect control over his power. Fighting in the air was one thing, but underground, it undoubtedly brought great disaster to the Poison Hall.

If the earlier battle between Zhang Xuan's physical body and the Hall Master Ruo had made the thousand-year-old buildings of the Poison Hall miserable, now it was simply a devastating blow!

The earth churned as if a giant beast was writhing, turning countless magnificent buildings into ruins.

Swish!

After an unknown period, a figure shot out from the ground again, but this time without the previous speed. As soon as he appeared, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell heavily to the ground.

Sea Poison Master, who had been waiting outside, did not hesitate. He spread his five fingers and gently grasped, forming several cages of true energy that enveloped and tightly locked the figure.

"So it's an alien tribesman!" Zhang Xuan frowned as he recognized the opponent's appearance.

This fellow resembled the Golden Leaf King and others he had killed, exuding a sharp aura and having reached the fourth level of the Saint Domain.

"Young master, this is Earth Leaf King! He is also one of the ten kings of Qingtian, skilled in earth travel. His combat power may be inferior to mine, but when it comes to escaping, he can definitely rank first!"

Purple Leaf King's voice quietly came from the Thousand Ant Beehive.

This fellow was a Saint Domain fourth-level expert. As long as Zhang Xuan wished, his divine sense could easily extend out to survey the surroundings.

"Earth Leaf King? Another of the ten kings? How did he end up here?" Zhang Xuan couldn't help asking.

Of the so-called ten kings of Qingtian, he had now met half of them, and whether dead or subdued, they were all related to him.

Even this one was only caught because Zhang Xuan had helped White Poison Master and Sea Poison Master improve their strength; otherwise, with his earth-travel ability, someone of the same level could not have stopped him.

"It should be that this map is of great importance. The Qingtian Emperor was not at ease with Water Leaf King and me, so he secretly sent him along to be prepared for any contingency. After Water Leaf King was killed and I submitted, this fellow followed the master and Elder Xu here."

After thinking for a moment, Purple Leaf King speculated.

The location of the Poison Hall was unknown to all the kings; otherwise, they would not have ordered the city lord to search everywhere for Earth-Tibetan Flowers to lure the Poison Hall elders into a trap.

The reason he appeared here was probably because he had secretly followed them.

"Not necessarily following us. I think it's more likely he followed White Poison Master and the others." Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had been very careful when leaving Jingyuan City; if someone had followed, he would surely have noticed.

On the other hand, White Poison Master and the others had not anticipated this, which might have given the enemy an opportunity.

For others, the Poison Hall's maze was extremely powerful and impenetrable, but for Earth Leaf King, who could travel underground, it might not be so difficult.

This fellow was wary of the Poison Hall and had been hiding, not daring to act, until Hall Master Ruo acted alone, then he quietly followed. When Ruo took out the book, he launched a sudden attack.

According to previous speculation, with his earth-travel ability, he could have easily escaped. He probably never dreamed that White and Sea Poison Masters would break through overnight, trapping him on the spot with no way to flee.