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nPeng Zhen and the rest were visibly terrified that they couldn’t move an inch. The scarlet-robed man had fully unleashed the pressure from his palace stage cultivation that suffocated everyone present. Ellie screeched in defiance as she tried to maintain her altitude but her wings felt as heavy as 10 tonnes of metal.

n“Interesting, a core formation beast that is able to resist my pressure. Its bloodline must be pretty high. What a steal! Huh, that robe. It seems like you’re from the Order. I come in peace I just want the leopard storage pouch and the saber that you took from my junior brother. Give me those two things and I’ll let you all go,” the man said as he smiled calmly waiting for a response.

nBarely did he finish speaking when Feng Xin without a second to waste detonated one of the talismans. A whirlpool of black and yellow was immediately formed as it rapidly charged toward the scarlet-robed man. Ellie got dragged into a tiny part of the whirlpool. She screeched as she tried to escape it but she couldn’t fly even a single inch away from that whirlpool despite not being the target of the attack its passive effects made it difficult for her to fly away. A huge frosty light was produced which tried to tear through a tiny part of the whirlpool. It was Feng Xin who had attacked. His hair turned white and the iris were pale blue as his sword was dazzling white like his hair.

n“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh,” Feng Xin loudly yelled as he tried to slice a tiny part of the whirlpool.

nSwoosh

nAn opening was created in just a moment.

n“NOW ELLIE BEFORE IT DRAGS US BACK IN,” Feng Xin yelled as he urged Ellie who was quick to react as she took advantage of the brief weakness to escape the sphere of influence of the whirlpool. The only reason they had even managed to etch out an escape was that they were caught in the tiny part of it, unlike the scarlet-robed man who was in the thick of it.

n“Don’t fly away just yet,” Feng Xin hurriedly said as he noticed Ellie trying to make a run for it.

nA blood-red wave like a cascading ocean was formed as it clashed against the whirlpool. The whirlpool was being whittled down by the second. Feng Xin stared at one of the two remaining purple talismans in his hands as if he was debating something.

n“Better safe than sorry,” Feng Xin as if coming to a decision inserted his qi and crushed one of the talismans. The qi around the area was swallowed by a vacuum and a green translucent figure was formed from that qi. The figure resembled Yang Qing except it looked lifeless and still.

n“Fist of the grand solar eclipse” a worldly voice sounded as the green translucent pulled his right fist back. The image of the eclipse formed on the fist as the figure punched into the whirlpool.

nBoom a loud thunderous explosion sounded that made even the air visibly vibrate. Without even being told Ellie was already bolting away. Feng Xin hurriedly grabbed Peng Zhen before they fell off. The impact of the attack had already knocked both Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen out as they bled from all of their orifices. Feng Xin had a huge ringing in his ears with his internal organs screaming in pain. The aftereffects of that attack had shaken his internal organs.

nRight now he didn’t have any thought of figuring out the result of the attack. Ellie had one of her wings injured in the aftermath of the explosion. It had jolted some of the minor meridians attached to that wing. She was coughing out blood as she fiercely flew. Feng Xin channeled some of his qi into her to protect her internal organs from further damage. It took almost 20 minutes before they saw the signature outline of the white fork mountains. The peaks were steep, sharp, and slender just like the mouth of a fork.

n“Ellie, bear with it we’re almost there,” Feng Xin whispered as Ellie responded weakly with a soft screech. Feng Xin stared ahead before a small smile appeared on his face as he patted Ellie.

n“It seems like help has arrived just on time,” He said as he breathed in a sigh of relief as he stared ahead. A blue-cloaked figure was moving rapidly in their direction and in less than two minutes he was already there.

n“You must be Feng Xin? I’m Hu Fang branch head of the Green mountain branch of the Order. By the look of things, I’m glad I decided to hurry here. Where is the one who did all this? Is he alive or dead or has he fled away?” Hu Fang quickly asked as he examined Feng Xin and Ellie as he quickly turned his head and stared in a certain direction that seemed to be similar to the direction Feng Xin had escaped from.

nHu Fang was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his early forties. He was tall and slender in build with a scholarly air surrounding him. He had short blue hair with a short well-groomed mustache. His eyes were blue with hints of black. Looking at them was like looking at a river. From what Feng Xin knew about him, he was diligent at his work and well-liked by many, and was sure in to head one of the major branches. However, he volunteered to be stationed all the way out here in the outskirts of the green mountain county which was part of a rank 3 kingdom the Emerald peak kingdom. A kingdom famous for having over 10,000 mountains each with its distinctive characteristics.

n“Glad you could make it branch head Hu Fang. I don’t know if the attacker is alive or dead. The moment he was in range I detonated two talismans in succession and left swiftly after. As you can see I didn’t have the luxury to wait and find out the result of the attack. From the pressure waves he was emitting he seemed to be in the early stages of the palace realm and if I had to guess maybe in the 2nd or 3rd stage there,” Feng Xin said as he quickly removed a few green pills from his storage ring and fed them to Ellie. 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢

n“Did you manage to confirm his identity?”

n“Seeing how he was asking for the Ao Yin bone the moment he saw me I guess he is from the blood ghost hands,”

n“Mmmh this is rather tricky. In your state it would be careless of me to leave you alone then again letting go of someone from the blood ghost hands one at the palace stage at that is rather hard,” Hu Fang said as a deep frown formed on his face.

n“You can go ahead and check on the assailant and see if he is alive. Ellie will fly at a slow pace so you can easily catch up with us and I have a few more talismans to ensure my protection against someone at the palace realm at least.” Feng Xin said as he produced two more purple talismans from his storage ring to try and ease Hu Fang’s predicament. It worked because Hu Fang showed a relaxed expression the moment he saw those two talismans.

n“Then I’ll be off then Feng Xin, be careful. At the slightest sign of trouble detonate the talisman I should be able to sense it and come swiftly,” Hu fang said as he immediately flew away in the direction of the scarlet-robed man.

n…………………………… (Present time)

n“So that’s what happened. When branch leader Hu Fang arrived at the scene he only found a dismembered arm and a large pool of blood but the scarlet-robed man was nowhere to be found. He gave up on trying to locate him and decided to head back to me and guided me halfway then went back to his branch and Ellie and I made the rest of the journey on our own as she had fully healed by that time.” Feng Xin finished narrating the turn of events as the rest listened aptly. Cheng Yuan was the most shocked of all especially once he heard of the involvement of the Blood ghost hands syndicate. He couldn’t help but worry about the future of the sect.

n“Peng Zhen you bastard what did you get us into!!!” He internally yelled as he glared at him. Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen had already awakened midway through Feng Xin’s narration. They were glad and surprised to be alive. They never expected to escape from a palace stage expert. During the attack, they passed out the moment the whirlpool was triggered.

n“Hahaha, Feng Xin you didn’t even try to see if the guy was killed by the talismans. How afraid of him were you?” Yang Qing’s laughter started echoing around the courtroom.

n“It’s because of you I reacted that way. You beat me in less than two minutes when you’re just at the 1st stage of the palace realm and that was when you held back as you like to kindly remind me ALL THE TIME SINCE THEN, shameless bastard. What makes you think after being beaten by a first stage I’d have the confidence to try my hand against someone possibly at the 3rd stage who definitely won’t hold back? Of course, I ran, I couldn’t get away from there fast enough and those dangerous talismans of yours were also a contributing factor in me deciding to escape,” Feng Xin snidely remarked not at all ashamed at running. From his pompous expression, he even seemed rather proud of it.

n“Okay okay, no need to get touchy you’ve always had a gifted sense of saving your own hide ever since our institute days. Now that all key members are present it’s about time we draw this case to a close,” Yang Qing said as he eyed Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen. The duo felt like all their secrets were laid bare beneath that gaze they couldn’t help but gulp in trepidation.

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