222: Bishui Village

The next day!

As the first light of dawn appeared, atop the eighth floor of the Demon Suppressing Tower, Yunche Daoist stood leaning against the railing, his gaze fixed on the Arena Stage not far away.

The martial arts arena, usually filled with deafening clamor, was surprisingly quiet today, with only a few scattered cheers drifting in on the wind.

It seemed today's slaughter on the Arena Stage was somewhat dull and uninteresting.

Soft footsteps sounded behind him as an Elder dressed in black martial attire quietly appeared, bowing and saying in a deep voice, "My Lord, those two from the Dao Seeking Sect have already left Yunxi City. Judging by the direction they took, they should be heading toward Bishui Village first."

Yunche Daoist did not turn around, his tone flat and emotionless: "I didn't expect them to move so quickly. It seems the slots for the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool are indeed quite attractive to them."

The Elder hesitated for a moment, but eventually could not suppress the curiosity in his heart. He cupped his hands and asked, "My Lord, there is still one thing I do not understand. Why did you specifically choose these two to investigate this matter?"

"There are no shortage of capable people within our Demon Suppressing Tower."

"It's simple," Yunche Daoist spoke slowly. "Because they are Cultivators from another continent."

"This subordinate is dull-witted; please enlighten me, My Lord," the Elder said, becoming increasingly puzzled.

"Don't you think it's more appropriate for two traveling Cultivators from another continent, who have no ties to the Rain God Continent, to uncover the truth of this chess game?"

The Elder was stunned for a moment, then came to a realization but didn't dare think too deeply. He simply bowed and said, "Then does this subordinate need to secretly guide their investigation or provide some assistance?"

"No need for such unnecessary actions," Yunche Daoist waved his hand. "We only need to wait quietly for news. Judging by the recent movements of the Chusheng Sect, that person's time is likely running out."

The Elder nodded in agreement and added, "Presumably, this is also related to the attack on the Third Demon Suppressing Tower. With that defensive line damaged, they are likely anxious to break the deadlock."

Hearing the words "Third Demon Suppressing Tower," Yunche Daoist's shoulders shook slightly, and then he let out a low chuckle:

"Tell me, among these Eighteen Demon Suppressing Towers, besides the Tower Master of the third one, how many others have quietly sided with 'that side'?"

The Elder naturally knew what "that side" referred to—those who had defected to the Demon Race Cultivators.

His expression changed slightly, and he quickly bowed, saying, "This subordinate does not dare to make wild guesses."

Yunche Daoist did not intend to make things difficult for him, and his tone softened slightly: "Forget it, you may leave."

Not sensing the person behind him leaving, Yunche Daoist paused and then turned around: "Is there anything else?"

The Elder reported in a deep voice: "Reporting to My Lord, an Elder from the Five Elders Gate has arrived. From the looks of it, they should be here regarding matters related to the opening of the ten thousand demon blood quenching pool."

Yunche Daoist's brow furrowed slightly, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes as he said coldly, "This group of trash who only rely on Family influence... if only they had the ability to get on the Arena Stage and slaughter those of the Yao Race. Lead the way!"

In the territory of the Rain God Continent, the Three Great Sects, standing like a tripod, were considered top-tier powers that intimidated the region.

The origins of the Eighteen Demon Suppressing Towers can be traced back to these Three Great Sects.

During the war with the Demon Race Continent back then, nearly a million Demon Race Cultivators were captured, and the three Sects joined forces to build the Demon Suppressing Towers.

Successive Tower Masters were also selected and appointed from the core Elders of the Sects, their Foundations closely linked to the Sects.

However, as time passed and things changed, the ties between the Eighteen Demon Suppressing Towers and the Three Great Sects gradually diverged; some still shared weal and woe, while others slowly drifted apart, each forming a relatively independent structure.

And standing behind this first Demon Suppressing Tower was the Five Elders Gate, one of the Three Great Sects.

Interestingly, the Five Elders Gate was originally formed from five deeply-rooted cultivation Families that eventually merged into a single Sect to band together for warmth and to resist risks collectively.

Even today, no position of Sect Master has been established within the Sect; the core of power has always been the five Grand Elders. Whenever a major decision or a matter concerning the Sect's rise or fall arises, it is jointly discussed by these five Grand Elders and decided by vote. This rule has been followed to this day and has never changed... Setting off from Yunxi City, Ye Hao and Li Pingan headed east all the way, traveling in the direction they had tracked that woman that day.

They soon arrived at the place where they had witnessed the fight that day.

After a brief search nearby, they found Bishui Village.

The village was nestled against the mountains and near the water, with staggered green tiles and white walls, and the old locust tree at the village entrance was still lush and leafy.

From the chicken coop not far away came the "cluck cluck" of chickens, and a few ducks were leisurely swimming in the small river by the village. Most of the doors and windows of the houses were intact, and the courtyard walls were undamaged, showing no messy traces of having suffered an attack.

"Something feels off!" Li Pingan asked in a deep voice.

Ye Hao also looked around. Although the village was peaceful, not a single person could be seen.

This scene... did not look like a Yao Race attack.

"Let's go in and take a look first."

The two soon arrived in front of a courtyard with its main gate tightly shut.

Seeing a brass lock hanging on the courtyard gate, Ye Hao flicked his finger, and a wisp of Spiritual Qi flew out silently. With a soft "click," the brass lock fell off.

The two pushed the door open and entered.

The courtyard was tidied up cleanly, with neat stacks of firewood in the corner, and there were no strange traces even inside the house.

It didn't feel like an attack; it felt more like the entire village had moved away together.

Li Pingan walked out of the courtyard and checked several more households in succession. The situation was exactly the same as the first: doors were either closed or slightly ajar, the houses were fully equipped with items, but they were all empty.

"Junior Brother, could these people have been taken away silently by something? For example... an illusion array? Or some kind of Yao spell that can make people lose their senses?"

He followed the path of the Martial Dao and was not familiar with these things, so he could only ask for Ye Hao's opinion.

Ye Hao remained silent for a moment. "There are too few clues now, so it's hard to judge. We can only go to Pingquan Village to take a look first. Perhaps there..."

Before he could finish, Ye Hao suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly, a wisp of Spiritual Qi quietly condensing at his fingertips as his expression became alert:

"Wait, something's wrong. This village doesn't seem to be completely empty."

He had just suddenly discovered a slight fluctuation of Spiritual Qi inside the fifth house on the left.

Although it was very subtle, it was indeed detected by Ye Hao.

Before Ye Hao could suggest going to check, Li Pingan's expression grew serious, and he said in a deep voice, "Someone is coming! More than one!"

Ye Hao also heard the sound of something breaking through the air in the distance.

The two exchanged a glance and quickly dodged behind a nearby courtyard wall, holding their breath and completely concealing their figures.

In just a moment, over ten figures appeared in the sky above the village.

Eight Cultivators stood on long swords, their sleeves fluttering, all wearing uniform green clothing. The leading man and woman arrived by riding the wind.

The group landed steadily on the open ground in the center of the village.

The leading man had a cold face, with sword-like eyebrows slanting toward his temples: "Strange, why is this village so intact? It's a world of difference compared to the previous ones."

The woman beside him had a slender figure, and her green dress complemented her fair complexion. She looked at the eight fellow disciples behind her: "Search every corner of the village separately. Report immediately once any clues are found; do not act on your own."

"Yes!" the eight people responded in unison.

One of them headed toward the house where Ye Hao had previously sensed the Spiritual Qi fluctuation.