128: Chapter 128 Clash at the Golden Core Realm

Sect Master Liu Bingbing sneered. She didn't trust anyone right now; people lied, but the information obtained from soul searching was the absolute truth.

She had no desire to hear anyone else's words. She only wanted to search their souls first to understand clearly how Murong Qingyue had fallen before doing anything else.

However, just as Sect Master Liu Bingbing was about to perform the soul search, a terrifying, scorching aura suddenly exploded. Sect Master Li Yan, who had previously been watching the show, soared into the air in fury and roared in the high sky.

"Who is it?! Who on earth killed my disciple?!"

Floating in midair, terrifying flames burst forth from his body, and a horrifying murderous intent flared in Sect Master Li Yan's eyes.

His gaze swept across everyone present before instantly locking onto the three people controlled by Sect Master Liu Bingbing.

"Liu Bingbing, stop right there! My disciple also met a tragic end. How can you be allowed to perform a soul search alone?! What if my disciple's death is related to your Shuiyue Sect?!"

Sect Master Li Yan shouted angrily at Sect Master Liu Bingbing.

He also knew soul-searching techniques. Such methods were extremely cruel—at best, those forcibly searched would become foolish, and at worst, experience Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

If Sect Master Liu Bingbing searched their souls first, he would not be able to get any information from these three.

By then, all information would be known only to Sect Master Liu Bingbing, and could he even trust her words?

What if Li Yunfei's death was actually related to the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Shuiyue Sect?

Hearing Sect Master Li Yan's words, Sect Master Liu Bingbing merely frowned slightly, but she had no patience to listen to his nonsense.

What did Li Yunfei's death have to do with her?

Right now, she only wanted to know who had killed Murong Qingyue!

Before Sect Master Li Yan could intervene, a terrifying suction force erupted from Sect Master Liu Bingbing's palm, forcibly soul-searching the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators who were pale and crying out for help.

Boom!

Seeing Sect Master Liu Bingbing ignore his warning and proceed with the search, fury burned in Sect Master Li Yan's heart, and he threw a fierce punch forward.

With that punch, a roaring flame tiger surged forth, darting rapidly through the air with a deafening roar. In an instant, it reached Sect Master Liu Bingbing's side and pounced violently toward her head.

Sensing the sudden attack,

Sect Master Liu Bingbing frowned. Her face turned icy cold as a massive ice lotus bloomed from her body, thrusting out terrifying ice spikes.

Under these ice spikes radiating extreme cold power, the roaring flame tiger instantly turned into plumes of grayish-white steam, dissipating into the sky.

Meanwhile, the ice spikes emanating extreme cold power launched by Sect Master Liu Bingbing lost none of their momentum, rapidly shooting toward Sect Master Li Yan.

Sect Master Li Yan surged forward as a massive shadow bloomed above his head. Immediately after, terrifying, towering flames swept across, transforming into flame Dragons that whistled and charged through the air, swallowing the ice spikes radiating extreme cold power.

Right at this moment, Sect Master Liu Bingbing also successfully completed her soul search on the three people.

Looking at the information she obtained from the soul search, Sect Master Liu Bingbing's expression turned even colder, and the Evil Qi in her eyes grew increasingly dense.

She had not obtained a single shred of information regarding the cause of Murong Qingyue's death from their memories. The aura of the treasure lingering on them had merely been acquired by accident amidst a horde of beasts.

However, based on the memories of the three, Sect Master Liu Bingbing noticed something unusual.

The three were clearly framed by the true mastermind behind the scenes. People from the Shangyang Sect, Qingmu Sect, and Chiyun Valley had all fallen into the trap, leaving the Lihuo Sect as the most suspicious.

Coupled with Sect Master Li Yan stopping her from searching their souls and attacking her without warning, the rage in Sect Master Liu Bingbing's heart could no longer be contained.

"Li Yan, you are courting death!"

With a frantic, furious roar, Sect Master Liu Bingbing struck dead the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators whose minds were already completely shattered.

Terrifying extreme cold Qi exploded from within her body, and an ice sword appeared in her palm as she swiftly charged toward Sect Master Li Yan to kill him.

Seeing the wildly enraged Sect Master Liu Bingbing kill the three who might have known something, Sect Master Li Yan was also overcome with anger.

At that moment, he had no time to think further. As fury blazed in his chest and with Sect Master Liu Bingbing attacking him, terrifying flames erupted from Sect Master Li Yan's body as fire Dragons roared forth.

The massive shadow above his head slammed a palm down; in an instant, flames burned across the sky, and the surrounding temperature spiked drastically.

Immediately after, Sect Master Liu Bingbing thrust her sword forward. A giant ice rift bloomed in the air, cleaving the towering flames in half as a wave of extreme cold Qi surged in all directions.

One hot, one cold—as ice and fire collided, the low-cultivation Cultivators present turned pale and couldn't help but step back repeatedly.

"Maniacs, they are all maniacs!"

Watching Sect Master Liu Bingbing and Sect Master Li Yan locked in fierce combat high above, Valley Master Gongsun Buxiu and the others quickly pulled their respective Sect members onto the spiritual boat, erecting a massive shield to protect everyone's safety.

Meanwhile, the three leaders of the Sects outside the battle—Valley Master Gongsun Buxiu, Daoist Changchun, and Zhao Yuanzheng—seemed to share a tacit understanding as they silently drew closer together.

"What do you think of this? The two of them are fighting!"

"How else can we look at it? We sit and watch. Now that they're fighting, you can't expect an old Daoist like me to go mediate, can you?"

"Heh... Changchun, stop being so hypocritical. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. We mean, should we take this opportunity to..."

Communicating secretly via voice transmission, their eyes remained fixed on Sect Master Li Yan and Sect Master Liu Bingbing, who were locked in a life-and-death struggle high above, displaying endless techniques.

At this moment, greed stirred in the hearts of all three.

Though the Five Great Sects usually lived in harmony without any major conflicts,

in reality, were it not for their misgivings—fearing each other's hidden cards or worrying that other Sects would take advantage of the chaos—they would have fought savagely long ago over precious resource domains.

Now, with a conflict erupting between Sect Master Li Yan and Sect Master Liu Bingbing into an intensely violent battle, it presented an opportunity for them instead.

If they could reach a tacit agreement to cooperate and seize this chance together, then starting today, the entire Southern Wilderness would undergo a massive reshuffle. Their three major forces would form a tri-fold balance, redistributing all the resources in the Southern Wilderness.

"Let's wait a bit longer. They haven't truly fought to the bitter end yet. Once one of them gets injured, we'll strike together."

Ultimately, after some deliberation, Valley Master Gongsun Buxiu made the final decision to observe for now before taking action.

After all, acting now was still too early; neither had truly fought to the bitter end, no one was injured yet, and neither was risking their life.

If they acted rashly, Sect Master Liu Bingbing and Sect Master Li Yan, sensing the threat, might unite against them. At that point, they would end up trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice—gaining no benefits and only bringing trouble upon themselves.

In fact, that was not even the most critical point. What mattered most was that Valley Master Gongsun Buxiu did not fully trust Zhao Yuanzheng, Daoist Changchun, and the others either. If a turn of events occurred, who knew if those two would flee or turn against him on the battlefield?