234: The matter is settled.

"Since that is the case, could you two Fellow Daoists swear a heavenly dao oath?" Elder Xue said in a heavy voice.

Ye Hao and the other did not move, but a cold light flickered in their eyes as they gave him a faint glance. "Do you still have a choice now, Fellow Daoist?"

The last sliver of hope on Elder Xue's face shattered. He curled his lips in self-deprecation, his laughter dry and cracked:

"Indeed!"

The moment the words fell, he abruptly raised his left hand. The ancient storage ring in his palm glowed with a faint spiritual light; it contained all the assets he had accumulated over hundreds of years of cultivation.

However, in the next moment, his knuckles suddenly tightened, and the little spiritual power remaining in his body surged from his palm. With a crisp "crack," the storage ring that had accompanied him for half his life was actually crushed!

Since there was no way out, he would never let others gain even the slightest benefit.

At the same time, Li Pingan threw a punch. The punch's force shattered his Nascent Soul. Elder Xue could not even let out a scream before his life ended and his Dao vanished.

Looking at the falling corpse, Li Pingan withdrew his fist, his brow furrowing slightly as he sighed softly. "It's a pity we still couldn't find out the truth. What exactly is the Chusheng Sect plotting by capturing the villagers?"

Ye Hao offered a word of comfort.

"At least we've confirmed that this matter is definitely related to the Chusheng Sect. It wasn't aimless, and it's not like we've gained nothing."

After speaking, he turned to look at Zhao Jingchen. With a flick of his finger, a jade bottle that was lustrous all over and emitted dense Spiritual Qi flew out from his storage ring and was thrown straight over.

"Fellow Daoist, your injuries have not yet healed. Take this bottle of fifth-grade elixirs. You can leave after you've healed yourself."

These fifth-grade elixirs were one of the spoils of war retrieved from Elder Han's storage ring.

Ye Hao's action was both to settle the debt of gratitude for today's assistance and to establish a good relationship with the Tianque Sect.

If the two of them really were to conduct a thorough investigation of the Chusheng Sect in the Rain God Continent in the future, as the Tianque Sect was one of the Three Great Sects, being on good terms with them would undoubtedly make things much smoother.

Zhao Jingchen reached out and caught the jade bottle, his heart stirred.

He hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and bowed, saying solemnly, "Thank you, Young Master Ye and Young Master Li, for saving my life. I will keep this kindness in my heart."

Although he knew that the information about Pingquan Village they initially gave him was a setup, if Ye Hao and the other hadn't intervened, he would have already become Elder Xue's prisoner, or perhaps even lost his life.

Besides, investigating the truth about these villagers was his own decision. Landing in such a situation now, he could blame no one else!

Just at this moment!

Two sounds of breaking air suddenly rang out, and two figures, one in green and one in gray, arrived quickly like startled swans.

"Senior Brother!"

An anxious call rang out as Lin Xiuqin, dressed in green, rushed to Zhao Jingchen's side and looked him up and down.

"You're quite badly injured?"

"Who did this?"

Having said that, she turned to look at Ye Hao and Li Pingan, her gaze instantly becoming wary, and her hand unconsciously rested on the sword at her waist.

Zhao Jingchen quickly explained, "Junior Sister, it has nothing to do with Young Master Ye and Young Master Li. It's the Chusheng Sect. The ones capturing the commoners at the foot of the mountain are also Cultivators from the Chusheng Sect."

After finishing, he looked at the tall, cold-faced middle-aged man in a gray robe standing beside Lin Xiuqin.

Zhao Jingchen bowed and saluted, "Disciple Zhao Jingchen pays respects to Revered Master!"

He hadn't expected his Junior Sister to actually invite Revered Master here.

But... wasn't Revered Master going to look for that soul refining primordial pill?

Or rather, had Revered Master already found another Medicinal Pill to treat the Divine Soul?

At the same time, Ye Hao and Li Pingan were also looking at this middle-aged man.

The aura around the man was as steady as a deep pool, making it impossible to see his cultivation base or Realm. However, Ye Hao sensed through his intuition that this middle-aged man felt even more profound than Senior Qin.

Could it be that he was a Deity Transformation Realm Cultivator?

Chu Haotian did not immediately respond to Zhao Jingchen's greeting. His gaze first swept over the corpses of Elder Xue and Elder Han on the ground below, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Two Nascent Souls, two Golden Cores!

Then he looked at Ye Hao and Li Pingan, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.

They actually had cultivation bases of the Golden Core Ninth Layer. To reach such a Realm at this age, could they have come from the Huangji Prefecture to travel?

At least in the Rain God Continent, Chu Haotian had never heard of such a Prodigy.

Looking at the other person, he hadn't expected to see the relatively rare path of Martial Arts. Moreover, judging by the condensed Blood-qi and Martial Intent around him, he seemed to have already touched the threshold of the fifth level of Martial Arts!

"Greetings, Senior!"

Ye Hao and Li Pingan bowed with their hands cupped, neither humble nor arrogant.

Zhao Jingchen, worried his Revered Master might misunderstand, quickly explained, "Revered Master, thanks to these two Young Masters this time, this Disciple managed to save his life. They are also investigating the disappearance of those villagers."

Seeing that his Revered Master's expression was calm, Zhao Jingchen feared he might misunderstand that Ye Hao and the other were involved in the previous trouble, so he quickly bowed and explained:

"Revered Master, this Disciple's escape was all thanks to the help of these two Young Masters. They are not evil people; they are also investigating the disappearance of the Pingquan Village villagers. Just now, it was these two Young Masters who suppressed and killed that Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Chusheng Sect."

Chu Haotian gave an "oh," and his gaze fell back on Ye Hao and Li Pingan. He asked calmly:

"I wonder which Sect you two Fellow Daoists are from? To have such cultivation at such a young age, the Sect behind you must be no ordinary power."

Li Pingan said calmly, "Senior overpraises us. The two of us come from the Dao Seeking Sect and are merely here in the Rain God Continent for some tempering. It just so happened that we heard about the disappearance of the commoners at the foot of the mountain while in Yunxi City, so we came to investigate."

"Dao Seeking Sect?"

Chu Haotian narrowed his eyes slightly; as expected, they were Cultivators from another prefecture here for tempering.

Although he had never heard of the Dao Seeking Sect's deeds, since they could train such a Prodigy, it certainly wouldn't be an ordinary power.

He didn't dwell on it too much. In the Cultivation World, Sects were as numerous as trees in a forest. It was normal for some hidden Sects to have little fame but be filled with crouching dragons and hidden tigers.

Chu Haotian raised his hand and took out a Mysterious Iron Token from his Storage Pouch. The front of the token was engraved with a vigorous character for "Heaven," while the back featured complex cloud patterns.

With a flick of his finger, the token flew toward Li Pingan, hovering in front of the two of them.

"If you two Fellow Daoists encounter any trouble while traveling in the Rain God Continent, you can present this item. Anyone who recognizes this token will give you some face."

Li Pingan reached out and caught the token. It felt cold and heavy in his hand, with nothing particularly strange about it.

It was likely just a very influential token. He immediately cupped his hands in thanks, "Thank you for the generous gift, Senior. This Junior is immensely grateful."

Chu Haotian waved his hand and said no more, turning to Zhao Jingchen and Lin Xiuqin:

"The matter here is settled. Come back with me."

Hearing this, Zhao Jingchen thought of the more than two hundred households of commoners below and quickly asked, "Revered Master, how should we handle the villagers of Pingquan Village? Will the Chusheng Sect Disciples strike again?"

The area below was already empty.

Without the suppression of spiritual power, the commoners below had already scattered and fled to hide.

Chu Haotian didn't think much of it and replied in a flat tone, "It's fine. I will arrange for Disciples to stay here and watch for a few days later. The Chusheng Sect lost Elder Xue this time and failed to achieve their goal; they've already suffered a significant setback. I expect they won't dare to strike here again for a short while."

After speaking, he turned around with his two Disciples. The three figures turned into streaks of light and soon disappeared into the horizon.