Chapter 2257 — Startled

And this area being free of danger—that was the real danger! The two of them had most likely already stepped into the territory of another tribe of spirit beasts, and only for that reason could this place be so safe, with no fierce beasts prowling about.

Wei Zhao decided to rest a while first, let Sun Jingyan eat something, and take the chance to observe the road conditions himself...

Meanwhile, over at the Tagan family, Old Six had already made his way smoothly up to the upper range of the mountains. Following the soul aura of Old Thirteen, he tracked his way over—and when he saw the great hall, now damaged beyond all recognition, he could not help but draw a sharp breath of cold air!

He knew exactly what this great hall had looked like in the beginning. True, back when they had besieged this sect, the hall had already been damaged, but never to such a severe degree. And judging by the traces of flying sand, scattered stones, and debris on the ground, they had all been freshly formed—meaning a great battle must have taken place here not long ago, and this hall had been reduced entirely in the course of that battle!

Old Six's heart tightened at once. What caliber of expert could have caused destruction like this? At the very least, a showdown between experts at the peak of the late Heaven Rank—Old Thirteen could never have caused such immense damage; his strength was nowhere near enough to wreck it!

Could it be that a peak late Heaven Rank expert had joined the fight? Old Six's heart clenched, and he suddenly thought of that old madman who had escaped back then. Word had it that he had shown up in the upper range of the mountains a few times since, but Old Thirteen and he had kept to their own sides of the river, never crossing blades. Their master's opinion at the time had been to leave him be for the moment—perhaps clues to some great treasure could be found on him...

Could that old madman have entered the battle? Old Six's brows knitted tight. Had he known this would happen, he would rather have brought more men and put the old madman down for good, rather than let Old Thirteen lose his life!

Old Thirteen might have been Old Six's own younger brother, but within the sect, the bond between fellow disciples was much the same as between blood brothers. So with Old Thirteen dead, he and Old Twelve felt much the same—only a little more grief-stricken.

After observing his surroundings for a long while, Old Six detected not the slightest fluctuation of true qi. Once he was sure there should be no experts lying in ambush nearby, he strode quickly up to the great hall.

Up on the hall platform, the first thing to meet his eyes was a gigantic crater of the highest order! That crater drew another sigh from Old Six! Was this the handiwork of a peak late Heaven Rank expert? Even he himself probably could not manage it, could he? He supposed only their eldest senior brother, second senior brother, and their master—those three alone—could unleash a move of such might.

The scene before him filled Old Six with a chill of dread. Previously, he had thought himself a peak late Heaven Rank expert, more than capable of handling matters here; relying on martial techniques and strength greater than others of the same rank, he had believed himself equal to the task!

But now he felt the situation had surpassed his imagination. It was getting thorny! Among experts of the same peak late Heaven Rank, strength still varied—some drew infinitely close to the plane of the Heavenly Dao, while others had only just stepped into it!

Moreover, everything depended heavily on each person's innate aptitude, the cultivation methods and oral formulas they practiced, their martial techniques, and their weapons. Old Six might be a peak late Heaven Rank expert, but among the sect's disciples he could only rank sixth—the five peak late Heaven Rank experts ahead of him were all stronger than he was!

Worried about Old Thirteen's condition, Old Six could only press down the horror in his heart for the moment and keep walking forward. But he had not gone far when he saw what lay within the crater—and even a man who had witnessed his share of killings could not help but go numb!

In the crater, Old Thirteen had died with his eyes wide open, refusing to close them. His jaw was already partly missing, his four limbs were gone entirely, and a great bloody hole gaped in his chest and abdomen—as horrifying as horrifying could be, as though he had been blown apart by a bomb!

Such a gruesome way to die sent a chill of dread through Old Six. Had the other side used some kind of nuclear weapon? After all, for Heaven Rank experts, ordinary bombs and grenades had next to no effect—even bazookas and armor-piercing shells would only wound them if they were caught off guard!

But to blast a Heaven Rank expert to a pulp—that would take something like missiles or nuclear weapons. Yet if such weapons had truly been used, could the Ulanhot Mountains still be standing?

Besides, although Ruileida Town was one of those private armed towns under no one's jurisdiction, and the nominal small nation above it would not interfere, even for the Tagan family, getting their hands on atomic bombs and missiles was no simple matter—all but impossible.

So in his heart, he still leaned toward this being the work of an expert—but just what caliber of expert?

Originally, Old Six had come here bent on avenging his brother, but by now the desire for revenge was no longer so urgent. He had to find out just who possessed such heaven-shaking might, who had caused such immense destruction.

This person was nothing short of a formidable enemy to the sect! All these years, the sect had been scheming with all its heart toward that great undertaking, and it was on the verge of coming to pass—there must be no slip-up at this critical hour!

At that thought, Old Six first stowed Old Thirteen's corpse into a bag. As for the missing limbs, there was no finding them now; all that could be seen was Old Thirteen's body, reduced to something like a human stick.

He was desperate to know the cause of Old Thirteen's death, but what concerned him more was his own safety—and the safety of Old Twelve and the others down the mountain!

Hurriedly taking out a sheet of paper, Old Six wrote on it: "The enemy is too strong. If a powerful figure comes down the mountain, do not strike rashly. Focus your investigation on those two, Zhang Naipao and his companion, but if there are experts accompanying them, do not act on impulse!"

Having written his instructions, Old Six drew from his robes a bird resembling a carrier pigeon—but it was no pigeon at all, rather an ancient spirit beast, used in ancient times by the various sects to relay messages. In both intelligence and speed, it far surpassed any carrier pigeon.

Only, there were few of them left in the sect these days. Old Six had brought this one out this time precisely so that word could be sent back to their master in time.

Folding the note he had written, he tied it to the ancient bird's leg. Then Old Six let go and gave his order: "Go. Find Old Twelve!"

The ancient bird shot up and flew swiftly down the mountain! And Old Six, having concealed the fluctuations of true qi from his own body, began to search warily around the great hall! (To be continued..)

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