Junior sister took first place again

The night was as dark as ink, and a layer of light mist filled the valley of Cangwu Secret Realm, like a huge gray curtain, shrouding everything in mystery and the unknown.

The moonlight shines through the sparse clouds and falls on the rugged mountain road. The mottled light and shadows dance on the ground, flickering like ghosts.

There was a faint smell of blood in the air, which was the smell of Bi Heng's blood gradually solidifying in the air, which made people feel nervous.

Wen Xingzhou stood beside Bi Heng's body, his eyes sharp as torches, carefully observing everything around him.

There was a gleam of determination in his eyes, as if he wanted to see through the truth in the fog.

Ji Tang stood aside, silently observing Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu's every move, secretly thinking about how to let the two of them inadvertently discover clues about the demon clan.

"Although the murderer's swordsmanship is superb, there is no special mark on it. I can't judge his origin from his swordsmanship." Ni Chaomu's voice echoed in the valley, breaking the silence for a moment.

Her voice carried a hint of helplessness, yet also revealed a hint of calmness and rationality. To uncover the truth, they needed more evidence than just the weapon itself.

Wen Xingzhou nodded, frowning slightly, as if thinking about something.

He looked at Ni Chaomu, a questioning glint in his eyes: "Does Immortal Ni know anything about the demons in the secret realm?"

Since it is the largest trial ground of the Immortal Sect, there are demons in the Cangwu Secret Realm, but this should be kept within the control of the Immortal Sect.

Wen Xingzhou asked this question to inquire whether Ni Chaomu had noticed any abnormalities among the demons in the secret realm.

Ni Chaomu pondered for a moment, his eyes gleaming with a sharpness in the night. "The demons in the secret realm have always been our focus. Recently, I haven't noticed any unusual activity from them."

Wen Xingzhou nodded, his brows slightly relaxed, but a vigilant light still flickered in his eyes:

"Even so, we can't let our guard down. Bi Heng's death was too sudden, and the killer's methods were very sophisticated. The Immortal Lord had already destroyed several summoning arrays before. It's very likely that Bi Heng died at the hands of these demons."

As Wen Xingzhou spoke, he began to form seals with his hands, muttering something. A gentle spiritual power surged out of his body and turned into a faint light curtain, covering Bi Heng's body.

Strange runes flashed in the light curtain, and the two people in the God Transformation Stage next to him were waiting for his inspection results.

Wen Xingzhou frowned slightly. He found that there was no trace of soul left in Bi Heng's body, not even a remnant soul. This was really too neat.

"There's no trace of soul in this corpse. It's completely dead and—"

He slowly uttered the remaining two words: "Strange."

Wen Xingzhou said in a deep voice, "Logically, even if someone was killed by a sneak attack with a sword, the soul would remain in the body for a while before slowly dissipating. But Bi Heng's soul seemed to be taken away in an instant, leaving no trace."

Ji Tang thought to herself, she knew Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu were cautious and they would not let go of any clues easily.

Wen Xingzhou's speculation was not unreasonable. However, for the sake of the family's interests, the demons could not be the final answer to Bi Heng's death. Since the plan had been laid, this death had to be made more valuable.

She lowered her eyes slightly, and quickly thought about how to guide Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu's thinking.

Ji Tang understood that he could not directly intervene in the investigation to avoid arousing suspicion, but he could use clever methods to divert their attention to other directions.

At this moment, Wen Xingzhou's voice rang out again: "Ni Xianjun, Ji Xianjun, what are your thoughts on the cause of Bi Heng's death? Could it be caused by conflicts within the Xian Sect?"

His eyes were gentle but vaguely oppressive as he stared at the two of them, as if seeking a definite answer.

Under the pressure of a powerful grandmaster, what they think in their hearts should be what they say out loud.

Ni Chaomu pondered for a moment, a thoughtful glint in his eyes. "Conflicts within the Immortal Sect do exist, but Bi Heng, as the son of the Tianyuan Sect's leader, holds a high position. He has gathered a group of supporters since entering the secret realm. It's difficult for ordinary disciples to take action against him."

"Furthermore, judging by the situation at the scene, the murderer's methods were very sophisticated and it doesn't seem like the work of an ordinary disciple."

Ji Tang's heart moved when he heard this, this might be a good opportunity to guide.

She smiled slightly and continued her speculation, "Wen Xianjun, Ni Xianjun, do you think it could be the work of masters from other sects or families? After all, the power of immortal sects is complex, and there are bound to be some competition and conflicts between them."

Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu were stunned when they heard this, and then fell into deep thought.

A gleam of light flashed in Wen Xingzhou's eyes, and he realized that what Ji Tang said was not unreasonable.

The forces within the Immortal Sect are complex and intertwined, with competition and conflicts occurring from time to time. If Bi Heng's death is related to these sects or families, then things would become even more complicated.

Ni Chaomu also nodded slightly. She also felt that Ji Tang's words made some sense.

Ji Tang nodded secretly in her heart. Her words had attracted the attention of Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu, making them temporarily shift their gaze away from the demons.

She smiled slightly and continued, "Also, from what I know, Bi Heng's popularity within the Immortal Sect isn't very good. After entering the secret realm, he's had repeated conflicts with other disciples. Even Immortal Lord Wen's junior sister nearly fell for him at first, wasn't she?"

"With such a high profile, if the murderer is a master from another sect, then they would have a greater chance and motivation to do it."

Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu both looked at Ji Tang. The former said in an ambiguous tone, "Ji Xianjun seems to understand quite a bit about Junior Sister's affairs."

Ji Tang nodded openly and admitted, "I am indeed very interested in Ning Xianjun. After all, he is the last disciple of the Immortal Lord. It should be said that there are very few people in the Immortal Sect who don't pay attention to Ning Xianjun."

"I was bored in Xizhou earlier, so I took a walk in the secret realm. That's why I was ambushed by those damned monsters."

"That's right! Speaking of the demon clan, Bi Heng's soul disappeared so cleanly, so the possibility of the demon clan taking action is not low."

Ji Tang said this with a somewhat shocked tone, and Ni Chaomu nodded in agreement.

Wen Xingzhou's eyebrows twitched, and then he said with a smile, "What Immortal Lord Ji said is also a consideration. Since we are here, let's split up and investigate. Gather here in three days and give an explanation to Sect Master Bi as soon as possible."

The three nodded to each other and then started investigating in different directions. Ji Tang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that her guidance had initially worked. The next step was to see if their "evidence" was ready.

After leaving Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu, Ji Tang headed alone towards the depths of the secret realm.

Although she had some guesses about the cause of Bi Heng's death, she pretended to be shocked and confused on the surface, as if she was very surprised by the possibility that the demon clan was involved in the case.

She knew that she had to act carefully and not let Wen Xingzhou and Ni Chaomu discover her true intentions.

Along the way, Ji Tang used his spiritual power to expand his perception range to the extreme, carefully exploring every corner around him.

At the same time, He Ling was sitting in a secluded place in the secret realm, playing with a stone emitting a faint golden light in her hand.

Although this stone looks ordinary, it contains extremely powerful power.

If Wen Xingzhou and others saw it, they would be able to sense that it was Bi Heng's aura emanating from it, and thus deduce the truth behind Bi Heng's death.

And if Ji Tang were here, he could instantly tell what the stone was. This was the greatest thing researched in the altar. They called it - Soul Crystal.

Soul crystal is an extremely evil and cruel product, which is made by refining the souls of living beings.

In the altar, the traitors of the immortal sect and the demons used various evil spells and formations to forcibly extract the souls of living beings from their bodies, and then through a series of complex refining processes, condensed these souls into pieces of glowing stones, namely soul crystals.

The soul crystal contains all the soul power of the refined creatures. These powers are used by the demons to forcibly improve their own cultivation and strength.

By absorbing the soul power in the soul crystals, they can quickly enhance their spells, martial arts and physical fitness, and even break through the bottleneck of cultivation and reach a higher level.

However, the soul crystal production process is extremely cruel, and the creatures being refined will suffer great pain and torture during the process. Their souls are forcibly torn out of their bodies, and then continuously compressed, twisted, and torn during the refining process until they are finally condensed into soul crystals.

In this process, living beings not only have to endure severe physical pain, but also extreme pain and despair in their souls. Their consciousness and emotions are completely destroyed, and eventually they turn into a piece of lifeless and emotionless stone.

The soul crystal in He Ling's hand was taken from Bi Heng's body.

At the moment when Bi Heng was killed in a sneak attack, his soul was forcibly extracted from his body by He Ling's inner demon using evil magic, and then after a series of refining processes, it condensed into this soul crystal emitting a light golden light.

"This thing can allow me to ascend directly to the Nascent Soul stage?"

After playing with it for a while, He Ling looked at the soul crystal in his hand and suddenly spoke.

The inner demon spoke proudly in her sea of consciousness: "Don't underestimate this small stone. You are lucky. Although that boy is not a good person, the quality of his spiritual roots is top-notch."

"Wait until that Grandmaster leaves, then you can refine it. By then, the quality of your spiritual roots will be improved."

He Ling's hands trembled violently, her face filled with astonishment: "It can actually change the quality of spiritual roots?"

The Inner Demon snorted coldly, his tone filled with disdain: "What do you think this is? This is a Soul Crystal, the highest reward bestowed by the Divine Being upon all believers. It contains the full power of a living being's soul."

"If you refine it, not only will your cultivation level improve, but it will also change the quality of your spiritual roots, making your cultivation path smoother."

He Ling was shocked. She originally thought that the soul crystal was just a treasure used to improve cultivation, but she didn't expect it to have the magical effect of changing the quality of spiritual roots.

You should know that the quality of spiritual roots is an extremely important concept in the world of cultivation. It directly determines the speed and talent of the cultivator's cultivation.

The quality of spiritual roots is divided into four levels: heaven, earth, black and yellow, among which heavenly spiritual roots are the best.

Cultivators with natural spiritual roots can cultivate at an extremely fast speed and can easily absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In the process of cultivation, they can comprehend more advanced spells and martial arts. They have huge potential and are envied by everyone in the world of cultivation.

Earth Spiritual Roots are second best. Although their cultivation speed is not as fast as Heaven Spiritual Roots, it is still far faster than that of ordinary people. They can absorb spiritual energy more easily and cultivate powerful spiritual power.

Xuan Linggen and Huang Linggen are relatively weaker, and the cultivation speed is slower. It takes more effort and time to reach a certain level.

Whether each person has natural spiritual roots or other spiritual roots is determined at birth and cannot be changed or taken away.

He Ling's original spiritual roots were not of high quality, which caused her to encounter many difficulties and challenges during her cultivation.

Although she has now reached the Jindan realm with the help of the blood sacrifice technique, this has also caused a large amount of demonic energy to accumulate in her body.

At present, she can still barely conceal the evil spirit, but if she advances again, the evil spirit will be difficult to conceal, and her cultivation secrets will be exposed.

Therefore, He Ling was shocked by the soul crystal that could improve the quality of spiritual roots.

If the quality of her spiritual roots is improved, then her ability to use spiritual power will also be greatly enhanced.

In this way, she can better conceal the evil spirit in her body and avoid exposing her secrets, while also being able to occupy a more advantageous position in the power struggle within the immortal sect.

"Which Grandmaster is this? Tell me, how can I make him leave as soon as possible?"

An extremely excited light flashed in He Ling's eyes. She couldn't wait to improve her cultivation and the quality of her spiritual roots.

The inner demon sneered and said a name coldly.

"Wen Xingzhou."

"This is not easy to deal with." He Ling sighed to herself.

This Immortal Lord Wen has unfathomable cultivation and his swordsmanship is superb. It is not easy to get him to leave.

He Ling silently analyzed that although Wen Xingzhou was the one with the lowest cultivation among the Grandmasters of Tianque Realm, his status as an elder of Xuanling Sect and the eldest disciple of the Sword Immortal made him more difficult to guide than the other Grandmasters.

"Don't even think about it. You can't hide in front of a Grandmaster. Go find Ji Tang, I'll tell you what to do."

He Ling's heart trembled, she knew that what the inner demon said made sense.

As a cultivator at the Grandmaster level, her perception and insight are extremely strong. If she acts rashly, she will easily be noticed by Wen Xingzhou.

Moreover, Wen Xingzhou's identity and status are extremely important in the Immortal Sect. He shoulders the heavy responsibility of protecting the Immortal Sect and fighting against the demons, and he will never leave easily.

"Go find Ji Tang?"

He Ling frowned slightly. Although she had indirect contact with Ji Tang, it was precisely because of these contacts and the news about Ji Tang she had heard in the past that she didn't want to have too much contact with him.

Whether Ji Tang can truly help himself is still an unknown.

However, since the inner demon said so, there must be a purpose.

He Ling circulated her spiritual power, put away the soul crystal, then stood up and followed the guidance of her inner demon, heading towards where Ji Tang was.