An Unexpected Identity!

The evidence before them was practically ironclad. Even the old woman's face turned ashen. The essence of this power was composed of fragmented images extracted directly from Leng Qingze's soul. In other words... It was impossible that Leng Qingze had not done these things. Whoosh! Crack! Crack! Crack! A series of crisp snaps echoed in rapid succession as Leng Qingze's limbs were shattered in an instant! Ye Xuan's mind was flooded with murderous intent, but he clung to his last shred of reason to keep from killing the man on the spot. Purplish-black finger marks bruised the man's throat as Ye Xuan spoke in a bone-chilling voice. "Speak! Who put you up to this?!" "Who was that person?! What was their motive in taking Bingxin?!" Leng Qingze's face had flushed a deep eggplant purple, leaving him completely unable to speak. Not far away, the old woman stood as though her very soul had been hollowed out, her gaze blank and numb. She looked up at the tortured man, her lips parting. Her tear-filled eyes met Ye Xuan's raging fury, but after opening her mouth, she could not bring herself to utter a word. Li Guanqi released a wisp of gentle energy to support the old woman, then used spatial force to push open the hall doors. Though Li Guanqi said nothing, he made his intention clear. No matter what she did, the old woman could not stop Ye Xuan. Rather than staying, it was better for her to leave now. Given Ye Xuan's temperament, Leng Qingze's life was certainly forfeit. Not only did Li Guanqi understand this, but the old woman understood it as well... From the moment she had moved to intervene, one could tell she had already guessed this matter was tied to Leng Qingze. Her reason for stepping in was simply a plea for Ye Xuan to let it pass for the sake of family ties. Yet she had still underestimated Ye Bingxin's importance in Ye Xuan's heart. She had also underestimated the limit of Ye Xuan's patience with Leng Qingze. As the old woman rose, her frame hunched even further, as though she had aged decades in a single instant. Trembling as she stood, where was there any trace left of a Mahayana realm expert's majesty? Raising her hand, she dabbed at her tears with her sleeve, her cloudy eyes rimmed in red. Her mouth parted in a helpless sigh, and she turned toward the palace doors. Yet the moment she turned away, the tears in her eyes could no longer be contained. Her stooped body turned back to look at Leng Qingze, her voice trembling. "You... foolish, foolish fool!!" Her gaze shifted to Ye Xuan. Her heart ached for her son, her thin lips quivering without producing a sound. She knew she was powerless to change anything, and with Ye Bingxin's whereabouts completely unknown, a storm of worries weighed upon her mind. Li Guanqi watched the scene in silence, sending a thread of pure primal energy into the old woman's body to help unblock the stagnation built up within her meridians. Once the old woman was gone, the heavy doors slammed shut with a resounding boom. "Ahhh! Xuan'er... Xuan'er, don't kill me! I'm your own uncle!" Yet the only response he received was the icy frost in Ye Xuan's eyes. With arm bones piercing through flesh, Ye Xuan tore the man's garish, flashy robes to shreds, his eyes cold as he rasped, "Speak! Who is pulling the strings from the shadows?! Where is Bingxin?!" Leng Qingze panicked. He had watched the old woman leave. Without her presence, Ye Xuan had even less reason to spare him on account of being his so-called uncle. In Ye Xuan's eyes, he was nothing! He... truly might die here! Even now, Leng Qingze had failed to realize that Ye Xuan genuinely intended to kill him. Li Guanqi sighed, set down his teacup, and spoke frankly. "Senior Ye, questioning him like this... you won't get anything out of him in a whole hour." "As things stand, keeping quiet gives him a chance, whereas talking guarantees his death." "As long as he keeps his mouth shut, you'll spare his life for Bingxin's sake." The moment those words fell, Leng Qingze's face shifted violently! That was precisely what he had been thinking. So long as he stayed silent, a glimmer of hope remained, and Ye Xuan would be forced to hesitate. But if he confessed everything... Ye Xuan would no longer have any reservations, and nothing but death would await him. Ye Xuan turned to Li Guanqi, his brow tightly furrowed, his voice laced with urgency. "Guanqi, do you have a way?" Li Guanqi slowly stood up and walked straight toward Leng Qingze. He, too, wanted to know who on earth was behind this! He intended to draw out the soul and use a blood art technique to inspect Leng Qingze's memories. He even suspected the culprit had intentionally set Leng Qingze up to die. With the mastermind's strength and cultivation, erasing Leng Qingze's memories before leaving would have been trivial. As long as Leng Qingze's memories were wiped, even if Li Guanqi used the power of Spirit Absolution, he would never find substantive proof. The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth curved slightly as he muttered inward, *What a sinister bastard...* Yet a moment later, his brow furrowed as another thought struck him. *Toying with human nature... why does this feel a bit like Xun Tian's style?* Under Leng Qingze's terrified gaze, Li Guanqi abruptly slammed a palm down upon his skull. Fingers clenching tight, Li Guanqi's eyes turned icy as he yanked outward. A terrifying force wrenched the man's soul directly from his body! The soul body, shimmering with faint azure light, was dragged into the open. Leng Qingze's soul knelt on the ground in panic and terror, begging incessantly for mercy. Yet Ye Xuan had already set his heart on killing him. Li Guanqi raised his hand to seize the soul, then slowly closed his eyes. In an instant, screens of shimmering spiritual light unfurled before the two of them. Various scenes flickered across the screens—the fragmented memories of Leng Qingze. Toying with female cultivators, stealing sect manuals and secret arts to pawn at auction houses for money... Innumerable misdeeds of this sort played out, causing Ye Xuan to tremble with rage as he watched. Soon, a mysterious black-robed figure appeared within the imagery. The figure handed a gleaming spirit pill to Leng Qingze. At the same time, a blood-colored array plate was passed into his hands. From beginning to end, the man in the memory appeared thoroughly excited, without the slightest hesitation or inner conflict. The black-robed figure was cloaked from head to toe, concealing every trace of their form. Soon, the memory faded, followed by scenes of Leng Qingze secretly planting the array plate in the dead of night. Yet at the very instant the memory dissolved, Li Guanqi suddenly snapped to attention! Because in that scene, the fluttering sleeves and the aura of the black-robed figure carried a hint of familiarity... Li Guanqi snapped his eyes open, took a deep breath, and spoke in sheer astonishment. "Luo Siyang!" Bang! The light screen shattered. Ye Xuan's brow furrowed tightly as he asked in a deep voice, "Luo Siyang? The Luo Clan of Nanjiang?" Li Guanqi took several deep breaths before finally settling his emotions. He had never expected the person who made contact with Leng Qingze to be someone he knew! "Yes... there's no mistake. That black-robed figure is definitely Luo Siyang!" Ye Xuan frowned, utterly unable to comprehend why someone from the Luo Clan would target Ye Bingxin! The Luo Clan... was one of the Nine Great Clans of Nanjiang! "How can you be so certain it's Luo Siyang of the Luo Clan?" Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes. Things were beginning to get interesting... Or rather... Matters were turning out somewhat beyond his expectations. He had assumed Gu Xici was behind this. Yet the aura lingering in the cultivation chamber had not belonged to Gu Xici. And now, through Leng Qingze's memories, he discovered that the Luo Clan was involved as well. "Because... I was the one who severed the arm he lost." "However, I should have destroyed his dantian back then. How could he possibly have recovered so quickly?" Ye Xuan glared viciously at Leng Qingze's weakened soul. With a ruthless sweep of his hand, several beams of sword light flashed across the room! Chilling sword qi instantly carved the man's physical body into pieces, blood pooling across the floor, while his soul was shredded into nothingness in the blink of an eye! Li Guanqi looked on impassively. Leng Qingze's death was Ye Xuan's family business, and he had no place to interfere. "A Tribulation Transcendence realm expert making a move... Luo Siyang... Ye Bingxin." Suddenly, Li Guanqi turned to Ye Xuan, frowning as he asked, "Where did you say the Luo Clan was located?" "The Luo Clan is one of the Nine Great Clans of the Ethereal Immortal Domain, situated in Nanjiang. Why?" "Nanjiang?!"