Chapter 916 - 737: Judged by Crime

"Roar!"

’Boom!’

’Bang bang bang!’

Although it was late at night, the sky above Fan City was filled with loud disturbances.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, the wind howled, white clouds surged furiously, a mix of roars, explosions, howls, and rumblings engulfed the air, as if the apocalypse had arrived.

The ordinary people in the city, frightened, shrank away in their homes, not daring to venture out, fearing they would be caught in this sudden disaster.

"Brother Hai, your disciple also met with disaster?" From high in the sky, an old voice restrained with rage echoed.

Cao Xuegang, the Vein Master of the Ape King Seal Lineage, was livid with rage, his face flushed, his breath boiling like molten lava.

"Brother Cao, my beloved disciple Jun’s talent is rare in a thousand years. He was meant to be the designated Sect Leader for the next generation, destined to lead our sect to new heights.

But now he’s been harmed by a villain. I must dismember him! I will leave no one alive from his family!"

The speaker was an elder surnamed Hai from the White and Tiger Seal Lineage. His eyebrows and beard were snow-white, his eyes glaring wide open, filled with hatred and murderous intent.

"This person dares to harm disciples from our three lineages. Such audacity! Today we must drag him out!

...My Martial Artist Spiritual Sense tells me Ping’er was last seen outside the city. We should hurry there; we might find something!"

The elder from the Lion Seal Lineage was a one-eyed man with several knife scars on his cheeks, looking fierce.

Upon hearing this, the three transformed into dazzling beams of light and sped towards outside the city.

Seeing the anomalies above gradually dissipate, the people in the city breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside the city.

Three vast Divine Senses swept the area like precise radar, examining every inch of space meticulously, leaving no corner untouched.

"Hmm?"

At one moment, Cao Xuegang, Vein Master of Ape King Seal, focused his gaze, seemingly discovering a clue.

He descended from the sky, his form flickering, arriving at a large depression in the ground, murmuring, "I can sense the aura of my lineage’s cultivation technique."

Pursuing that familiar aura, following the clues, he finally came to a long slender stone strip.

The stone strip was only as thick as two fingers, with a piece of white and red cloth stuck on it—red was blood, white was the original color of the cloth.

"This is...??" Cao Xuegang’s pupils suddenly widened, his right index finger involuntarily raised, a faint red light silently shot toward the cloth.

’Snap!’

However, a silver light abruptly appeared in mid-air, intercepting the red light precisely.

The two rays of light dissolved each other without causing any disturbance.

"Old Cao, what are you doing?"

The one-eyed elder from the Lion Seal lineage landed coldly, his gaze burning as he stared at the shredded cloth on the slender stone strip.

"This seems to be..."

The cold smile on the one-eyed elder’s face froze suddenly, his expression turning dark and uncertain.

Noticing the actions of the two, the elder surnamed Hai from the White and Tiger Seal also rushed over.

When he saw the blood-stained cloth strip, his emotions collapsed instantly.

"Jun!!!!!!"

His roar echoed, shaking the clouds, a visible and terrifying white sound wave swept out, crushing everything it touched.

"Cao Xuegang!!!"

"Brother Hai, there must be some misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstand your grandmother’s hammer!"

’Boom!’

Then, two long rainbow-like pillars of Qi-Blood, one red, one white, violently collided.

The collision caused the void to tremble intensely, yet neither side could overpower the other.

"Both of you, wait a moment. There are many suspicious points here!" The one-eyed elder from Lion Seal Lineage intervened.

A silver-white lion forcibly positioned itself between the two light pillars, using its body to mediate.

These two Qi-Blood pillars contained the deep power of the two top Vein Masters, akin to near-full-strength strikes.

But when met by the silver-white lion, they were firmly blocked outside its body, unable to advance an inch.

This demonstrated the elder’s formidable strength, implicitly above the other two.

By now, numerous curious martial artists had gathered around, eager to learn the ins and outs of the situation.

Of course, those daring to observe were confident in their own strength, many were significant figures at the Vein Master level.

Witnessing the one-eyed elder blocking attacks from two fellow masters single-handedly left them all shocked.

"Brother Meng’s strength has reached such a level?"

"Another True Martial Realm Perfection, the Lion Seal Lineage is indeed fearsome. This time they might surely ascend to the top!"

"The Vice Vein Master of Lion Seal is not weaker than the Vein Masters of White, Tiger, and Ape King Seal. Truly worthy of the five main lineages, their foundation is profound..."

It turned out, the one-eyed elder Meng Yuan was merely the Vice Vein Master of Lion Seal Lineage, not the top figure.

If the Vice Vein Master is this strong, how powerful is the Vein Master?

From the surrounding discussions, it was known that the Lion Seal Vein Master Wen Ye had been in seclusion, quite mysterious, and had not appeared yet in this Martial Arts Tournament.

"Both of you, give me some face, will you?" The one-eyed elder Meng Yuan smiled, "Acting hastily before the truth is clear would only pain friends and please enemies, right?"

"Fine! I’ll give Brother Meng some face." Cao Xuegang, Vein Master of Ape King Seal, said.

"Hmph!" The elder surnamed Hai from White, Tiger Seal was still displeased but didn’t continue attacking.

The three resumed their search.

Soon, Meng Yuan’s angry roar like a blood-curdling cuckoo cry sounded.

"Ping’er!!!!!"

The other two elders rushed over with a ’whoosh’, seeing a blood-stained piece of the Golden Armor on the ground.

"This Golden Silk Armor was a gift for Ping’er when he came of age. He’s worn it ever since..." The one-eyed elder Meng Yuan’s voice became deep, his eyes bloodshot, filled with boundless hatred.

He sensed carefully again, his face darkening even more: "I smell... the Ape King Seal’s aura!"

Saying that, a crimson silver lion stepped into the void, roaring its mouth open, rapidly pressing towards Cao Xuegang, Vein Master of Ape King Seal.

However, this time it was blocked by a giant White Tiger.

The elderly man with the surname Hai said gloomily, "Brother Meng, you just mentioned investigating thoroughly, so why can’t you hold back now?"

Squinting his one eye, Meng Yuan immediately withdrew the Martial Seal and said harshly, "You’re right, the urgent task is to find the whereabouts of the Ape King Seal disciples."

"My disciple Songyan was also harmed, and the situation is still unclear!" Cao Xuegang felt very aggrieved.

Clearly, he was a victim too, yet he had to endure repeated doubts.

The three reluctantly reached a consensus, then continued searching and finally found a fragment of Ding Songyan’s bone.

On it, they simultaneously sensed the aura of the fourth Martial Seal, the Human King Seal.

At this moment, an extremely old, silver-haired, black-robed elder staggered towards them.

"Mo’er, Mo’er!"

The elderly man in the black robe was very old, his qi-blood was declining, and the skin on his face was extremely loose, looking much like chicken skin.

With tears in his eyes, he looked at the three: "My successor, Li Mo, also fell here."

The three were immediately silent.

Cao Xuegang spoke up, "Senior Chen, let’s search for traces of Li Mo."

As it turned out, he was an old acquaintance with the Vein Master of the Human King Seal lineage, and they had known each other for many years.

Finally, the four joined forces and found a piece of clothing belonging to Li Mo, the prodigy of the Human King Seal.

There was no obvious Martial Seal aura on Li Mo’s clothes.

By this time, the truth was still befuddling and elusive.

Who was it that killed Li Mo?

Li Mo also fell almost simultaneously, the only thing the four could confirm.

"It seems the four had a conflict over something, and killed each other, dying together..." murmured an onlooker, voicing a guess that best fit the clues.

"Mo’er and Songyan grew up together like brothers, how could they turn on each other?" The chicken-skinned elder shook his head, dismissing this speculation.

The elder seemed to hold high prestige, his words carrying weight.

The top members of the four schools began searching for clues within their own sects.

Soon, they learned from a young disciple of the Ape King Seal that Ding Songyan went outside the city to meet with Lou Yi, the Vice Vein Master of the Treasure Vase Seal lineage.

At that time, Lou Yi was staying with fellow disciples at the tavern, when unexpectedly four groups of forces arrived aggressively, surrounding the tavern.

"Lou, get out here!!"

"When did you come into contact with my disciple Songyan? Confess right now, did you kill him?!"

"If you don’t provide a reasonable explanation today, your entire Treasure Vase Seal lineage will be wiped out!!"

Upon hearing the words, Lou Yi was somewhat stunned.

At the crime scene, he had already erased all traces of himself before leaving, believing there were no flaws to be seen.

As for divination, there was no need to worry, it was not something Martial Artists excelled at.

Unexpectedly, the opponents still managed to pin the crime on him based on bits and pieces of evidence.

"I’ve always been in the room, and didn’t go outside the city. As for why Brother Ding and the others went outside the city, I’m not sure..." Lou Yi ’patiently’ explained.

"Nonsense, if you didn’t go out, why would Songyan go?" The Ape King Seal Vein Master, Cao Xuegang, rudely interrupted him.

"This boy’s origin is suspicious, it’s like he suddenly sprang up from a rock.

I’d say there’s a nine-in-ten chance he’s the one causing trouble!" Hai, the elder from the White and Tiger Seal, asserted firmly.

"Zhou Xinghai should also be involved, a mere greenhorn can’t possibly accomplish such things alone!" Meng Yuan, the Vice Vein Master of the Lion Seal, said even more outrageously.

He wanted to pull the Treasure Vase Seal Master down, involving the whole lineage.

As for the chicken-skinned old Vein Master of the Human King Seal lineage, he just stood at the side silently, staring daggers at the people of Treasure Vase Seal, with clear malice in his eyes.

’Is this for real?’ Lou Yi was speechless.

These people had no evidence, and their arguments were full of holes, completely unrelated.

Clearly, they wanted to pin the blame on someone, so they targeted the Treasure Vase Seal lineage.

The true inheritors of the four large schools had died tragically, and with the matter already in motion, the truth was not important.

What mattered was that someone or a faction must be held accountable.

The Treasure Vase Seal lineage was declining, with widespread fame, coupled with poor relations with the Lion Seal and Ape King Seal; they were the perfect scapegoat.

Even if they hadn’t learned anything about him from the disciple’s mouth, they would likely still target the Treasure Vase Seal lineage.

"Weakness is the original sin." Lou Yi lamented in his heart.

No matter how flawlessly he acted, he couldn’t change the awkward position of the Treasure Vase Seal now, destined to be targeted.

As for the other members of the Treasure Vase Seal lineage, naturally, they were unwilling to take the blame.

The Vein Master Zhou Xinghai trembled with rage, "Given a crime, no excuse is needed. How could my junior brother harm your people?"

"I see him as not a good person, always collecting Martial Soul Books from various sects, with treacherous intentions!" Wang Chong, the Vein Master of the Wild Dog Seal, timely appeared to kick them while they were down.

"What does gathering Martial Soul Books have to do with today’s matter?" Scholar Yun Jin retorted.

"I have a suggestion, Fellow Lou’d best prove that he never went outside the city." The Vein Master of the Immortal Crane Seal, reputedly virtuous, surprisingly challenged, his wretched face showing he was trying to curry favor with several large schools including the Lion Seal.

"Even not going outside the city requires proof? Doesn’t that mean everyone in the city must prove it?" Senior Xu Feng was practically amused by their logic.

"Who knows if you are all birds of a feather, conspiring together?" Said someone from another unrelated sect.

Those remaining as onlookers coldly watched the whole scene, none willing to involve themselves.

They all understood that the Treasure Vase Seal lineage was likely innocent.

But in any world, those with the biggest fists called the shots.

The Treasure Vase Seal lineage, being too weak, had no choice but to suffer misfortune when targeted.

"Ha, who would have thought my Perfect Treasure Vase Seal lineage would fall to such a level, where anyone can trample on us?" Zhou Xinghai said mournfully.

"Admit guilt and confess now, and you might be given a chance.

Otherwise, you won’t have a chance to participate in this Martial Arts Tournament; you will be erased today." Meng Yuan, the Vice Vein Master of the Lion Seal, said in a cold, superior tone, issuing an ultimatum to the Treasure Vase Seal lineage.

...