536: Identity leak

Somewhere upstream of a Xu River tributary, a black-red figure suddenly appeared; it was Hei Mo, who had rushed over to investigate.

At this moment, the black-red Qi flow surrounding him was even more turbulent than when he was at the fortress, and each step he took caused ripples in the surrounding space.

The moment he landed, Hei Mo closed his eyes, and his Divine Thought spread out like a tide, carefully capturing the residual Qi in the air.

A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, his brows tightly furrowed. He clearly sensed the residual Qi of Black Yuán and others in this area, and the Qi also contained faint battle fluctuations, indicating that a small-scale skirmish had occurred here.

However, what was strange was that the battle traces were exceptionally faint, and there was no death Qi remaining from fallen beings.

Clearly, this was not where Black Yuán and his group had fallen.

He had encountered such a situation in over a dozen places on his journey south, each with the Qi of Black Yuán and others, yet none could be considered a true battlefield.

When they were born, the clan had already used deduction secret arts to uncover the truth of Black Yuán's demise, but for some unknown reason, all deductions were blocked by an invisible force, making it impossible to even reveal a vague outline of the culprit.

In desperation, he could only use this most foolish method, tracing the Xu River tributary little by little, trying to find the true battleground.

However, from these scattered Qi, Hei Mo captured another crucial Qi, which was the unique Qi of the Ancient Ruin Beast. Clearly, Black Yuán and his group had indeed found traces of the Ancient Ruin Beast, and had even had a brief conflict with it.

Hei Mo's eyes darkened, and he no longer lingered. The black-red Qi flow around him surged, and his figure transformed into a streak of light, continuing to trace the Xu River downstream.

This search lasted for several days.

During this period, Hei Mo investigated dozens of other areas with residual Qi, but still found no traces of death.

It wasn't until this day, when he reached a certain section of the river at the boundary between the upper and middle reaches, that his Divine Thought suddenly captured intense energy remnants—the fluctuations left behind after the collapse of the Dao Ancestor's Origin, mixed with a lingering trace of death Qi.

“This is it!”

A cold light flashed in Hei Mo's eyes, and his figure instantly landed above the river.

He spread his Divine Thought, covering an area of several hundred light-years, carefully sensing every wisp of residual Qi.

The next moment, he detected all thirteen traces of death Qi.

“Bastard!”

Hei Mo suddenly clenched his fist, and the black-red Qi flow instantly became violent. The temperature around him suddenly rose, scorching the Xu River water below and causing it to bubble.

As a Peak species among the Tianyang aliens, when had the Black Crystal Blood Flame Clan ever endured such a provocation? The simultaneous demise of eleven Dao Ancestors of their own clan, plus two powerful individuals from allied races—this was an utter humiliation!

He suppressed his anger, and his Divine Thought investigated again, distinguishing the Qi at the scene one by one.

Finally, amidst the chaotic energy remnants, he sorted out fifteen Qi trajectories. Thirteen belonged to the fallen allied powerhouses, and the other two belonged to the Ancient Ruin Beast, one strong and one weak. This perfectly matched the Ancient Ruin Beast Qi he had captured earlier.

“If they were killed by the Ancient Ruin Beast, it would be too strange.”

Hei Mo's brows were tightly furrowed, and he felt a doubt in his heart. Black Yuán's group had two Peak three-step Dao Ancestors, and a host of other Dao Ancestors assisting them. Even that adult Ancient Ruin Beast could never have annihilated them all; at most, it would have been a mutually destructive battle.

Unless that Ancient Ruin Beast had achieved a Breakthrough to the four-step Dao Ancestor Realm, only then would it possess the overwhelming power to accomplish this.

However, he carefully sensed the residual Qi of the Ancient Ruin Beast and found that not only did the Qi show no signs of a Breakthrough, but it was also considerably weaker than its Peak period, clearly indicating that its Origin had been damaged after a great battle.

This completely overturned the possibility of the Ancient Ruin Beast being the culprit. There must have been a third party involved at the scene, and this perpetrator's strength was extremely powerful, possessing means to erase their own Qi traces, which caused the clan's deduction secret arts to fail.

“Who on earth was it?!”

Hei Mo's voice was filled with hostility, and his Divine Thought repeatedly swept over the scene, yet he could not find any crucial clues about a third unfamiliar Qi.

Just as he grew anxious, his gaze suddenly fell upon the Xu River water below. The Qi at the scene would be dispersed by the Chaos Qi flow, but the exotic beasts in the Xu River lived there year-round and might have witnessed what happened!

Thinking of this, Hei Mo no longer hesitated, leaping and directly plunging into the Xu River.

As soon as the river water reached his ankles, the surrounding exotic beasts felt a fatal pressure and scattered in all directions.

But how could Hei Mo give them a chance to escape? The black-red Qi flow spread from around him, transforming into a giant energy net that enveloped the entire water region for dozens of light-years.

Any exotic beast in the net, regardless of strength, that attempted to resist would instantly be scorched to death by the black-red Qi flow.

He grabbed several enormous exotic beasts and directly used Dao power to invade their Sea of Consciousness, reading their memories.

However, these low-level exotic beasts were too weak; they had fled far away when the great battle occurred, only remembering the terrifying energy fluctuations at the time, but not seeing the appearance of the combatants.

Hei Mo did not give up and continued to search in the river, forcibly reading the memories of any powerful exotic beast he encountered.

For a time, this section of the Xu River became a disaster zone for exotic beasts, with countless beings dying under his wrath.

Half a day later, in a water region two hundred light-years away, Hei Mo suddenly burst out of the river, carrying a silver-white fish-beast. This fish-beast was ten thousand zhang long, and its strength was already close to a two-step Dao Ancestor. It contained complete images.

After Hei Mo finished reading the fish-beast's memory, his face was filled with a sinister expression, and he gritted out two words: “Human Race!”

In fact, as early as at the fortress, he had suspected the Human Race, as the Human Race's mine was nearby and was the most likely to have clashed with Black Yuán.

But at the time, seeing no unusual activity at the Human Race mine, and knowing that no powerhouse capable of overwhelming two Peak three-step Dao Ancestors had ever appeared among the Human Race, he had temporarily dismissed his suspicions.

He never expected that it was indeed the Human Race who had acted, and from the images in the fish-beast's memory, that Human Race Cultivator's strength was extremely terrifying, capable of killing a Dao Ancestor with a mere flick of his hand!

“Pfft!”

Hei Mo opened his mouth and directly bit into the fish-beast in his hand.

His sharp teeth instantly tore through the fish-beast's flesh, and hot blood flowed down the corner of his mouth. He thus ate the fish-beast's Physical Body raw, right in front of the Xu River's exotic beasts.

After a while, Hei Mo casually tossed the fish-beast, which had been gnawed down to a mere skeleton. The skeleton fell into the water and was instantly devoured by other exotic beasts.

He licked the bloodstains from his lips with his tongue, a brutal glint flashing in his eyes: “A Human Race Genius, is it?!”

From the fish-beast's memory, he clearly saw Xu Qing's appearance. He hadn't recalled it earlier, but after this, it came back to him.

Xu Qing's matter had long been known to the five Peak species, and as a high-ranking member of their lineage, he had naturally seen images of Xu Qing.

He hadn't expected that in just a few thousand years, this Human Race Cultivator had grown to the point where he could kill thirteen Dao Ancestors at once!

Thinking of this, Hei Mo became excited. There was a bounty within the Tianyang aliens: killing or capturing a top Human Race Genius could earn massive Merits (merit points).

The stronger Xu Qing was, the richer the reward he would receive. This was a tremendous Opportunity!

In the fish-beast's memory, after killing Black Yuán and others, Xu Qing had gone downstream along the Xu River. This was truly a case of not taking the path to Heaven, but instead forcing his way into Hell.

Hei Mo sneered, thinking Xu Qing was overly confident, daring to remain in the Xu River region after killing his clansmen. It was simply courting death.

However, he did not underestimate the situation.

The area downstream was not under the jurisdiction of their lineage, but belonged to other sub-lineages.

If someone from another sub-lineage discovered Xu Qing first, this Opportunity would fall to them.

He immediately took out a communication jade slip, injected Dao power, and sent a message to the patriarch regarding Xu Qing's strength.