護花近衛 - 第5065章 告狀報仇 - 墨香閣

"Brother Xue!" Fei Yangnian hastily saluted at the sight.

"From the look of it, you must know what really happened. Tell me—how did these two die?" Xue Jianming glanced down at the two corpses on the ground from his lofty height. Though he had no connection whatsoever with the Evil-Warding Sect, his ambition was to become the undisputed foremost figure of the younger generation in the Tai Gu Minor Jianghu. This excursion into the mortal world was a rare chance to build his reputation, and he would certainly not let it slip by.

The others exchanged glances, privately somewhat resentful that he was meddling in matters that did not concern him, yet none dared show it openly, and could only look on coldly from the sidelines.

"Replying to Brother Xue, the two of them were killed by a man—a cultivator of the primordial spirit," Fei Yangnian answered with utmost respect.

"A cultivator of the primordial spirit?" Xue Jianming and everyone else present started at once, failing for the moment to grasp what was meant. Frowning, he said, "Speak more clearly. A primordial spirit is a primordial spirit, and a cultivator is a cultivator. What is this 'cultivator of the primordial spirit'? Surely it is not some hidden expert of a Tai Gu sect?"

"Er—though I myself do not know what origin that man had, I can say with certainty that he was not one of ours from the Tai Gu Minor Jianghu. All I know is that it was a primordial spirit, yet one that could take physical form, and that its strength was exceedingly great. Brother Sun and Brother Yin were no match for it; it killed them with ease," Fei Yangnian explained.

"A primordial spirit cultivator that can take physical form? And one that can slay a peak late-stage Foundation Establishment expert with ease?" The crowd was utterly dumbfounded now, every brow deeply furrowed. A peak late-stage Foundation Establishment expert was not much weaker than any of them—did that not mean even they might not be a match for this primordial spirit cultivator?

"Such a being exists in the mortal world?" Xue Jianming eyed him dubiously. This matter lay entirely beyond the scope of his understanding. Stroking his chin, he conjectured, "Brother Fei, you surely have not some unspeakable difficulty, and so deliberately concocted such a tale while withholding the truth?"

Though he and Fei Yangnian were fellow disciples of the same sect, their dealings had never been deep. To establish his personal prestige, Xue Jianming was not above slaying even his own kin for the greater good.

"Absolutely not! I, Fei Yangnian, swear to Heaven that not one word of this is false. I beg Brother Xue to examine it clearly!" Fei Yangnian was startled. Seeing that the crowd plainly still did not believe him, he began from the beginning: "Brother Sun Bomei and I were on friendly terms in private, so when we set out on our training expedition we traveled together. Later we came to the mountains around Xima City in the mortal world, and there in the dense forest we encountered this primordial spirit expert. Brother Xue, you know how the Evil-Warding Sect dotes on such things—so he attacked it on the spot."

"And then?" Xue Jianming's expression gradually grew grave. In truth he did not much believe Fei Yangnian would dare deceive them all publicly, especially with such detail—for the more detailed a lie, the easier it was to find flaws in it. If Fei Yangnian truly had something to hide, he should have glossed over it in a sentence or two.

"At that time the primordial spirit's strength was still very weak—roughly late Heaven rank, I would say—but its methods were endless. Sun Bomei and I spent great effort pursuing and cornering it, yet in the end it still escaped. After that we searched constantly for traces of it, and it was half a month before we found it again," Fei Yangnian continued.

"Go on," Xue Jianming said in a low voice.