The next moment, under their shocked gazes, a blue light had already shot out of the grand formation. Then, like a bird that had lost its wings, it plummeted straight down.
With a "crack," it smashed onto the floor of the hall below, breaking into two pieces on impact.
The two cultivators, horrified, did not hesitate. Two streams of divine sense simultaneously swept towards the memorial tablet on the ground.
The blue light on the shattered memorial tablet had already disappeared, and the ancient seal script on it no longer flickered. It had turned into three gray, still relatively complete, but now separated, characters—"Zheng Nanming."
"This is, the Third Island Master…"
The two cultivators shot to their feet. One of them, his face filled with terror, made a beckoning gesture and quickly drew the two shattered pieces of the memorial tablet into his hand.
His hands trembled violently. He tried his best to piece the two tablets together, but his hands were shaking like a chicken pecking at rice. The two pieces of the tablet clattered together with "thud, thud" sounds, but just wouldn't fit.
"Give it to me!"
The other person was relatively calmer. He snatched the memorial tablet. Although he was also trembling, he placed the two pieces of the tablet side by side on the ground in front of him and finally managed to put them together.
After confirming the name again, a bone-chilling cold spread through their bodies.
"Quick… quick, quick, a… a… a great disaster, send a… a voice transmission to the several Island… Island Masters!"
One of them urged the other while fumbling for an emergency voice transmission talisman. The other had also quickly taken out a voice transmission talisman.
But in their hearts, an boundless chill had uncontrollably risen.
"The god-like Third Island Master—has fallen!"
…
A few breaths later, on the entire island of the Qionglin Sect, three towering auras rose into the sky. A voice like rolling thunder shot straight into the clouds.
"Except for the patrolling disciples, everyone is to stay where they are and not move about freely. The Law-Enforcement Hall will investigate the identity of every single person. No one is to leave the sect again!"
As the words sounded, a terrifying pressure descended from the sky, enveloping the islands. In an instant, the seawater crashed against the reefs, stirring up a thousand layers of angry waves. A sinister wind howled between heaven and earth.
In the sky and the forests, many demonic beasts could not withstand this pressure. With a series of "bang, bang, bang…" sounds, they exploded into clouds of blood mist, dying instantly.
On this day, just as night had fallen, everyone in the Qionglin Sect was stunned into a standstill. The sect tokens on their bodies flashed continuously, emitting circles of light that protected them in the center.
Within the light, the faces of the low-level disciples were pale, without a trace of blood. The various spirit beasts they raised were even more so, prostrated on the ground, trembling and letting out a series of whimpers.
A patrol squad, in their terror, watched as the Great Island Master, his face so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it, departed. The Great Island Master had suddenly appeared before them, his aura as sharp as a blade, which had truly frightened them pale.
Fortunately, the Great Island Master had only asked them what they had seen and heard during their patrol before quickly leaving, taking his sky-high killing intent with him.
The captain of this small squad looked at his men. Under the pressure of the Great Island Master, his own legs were also trembling. Seeing the people below looking at him, he could only force himself to remain calm and glare fiercely.
"Continue the patrol. Report immediately if you find anything unusual! If you want to live a little longer, then shut your mouths and don't talk nonsense."
Until now, these people didn't know what had happened on the island, including the squad captain himself. But even a blind man would know that something major had happened.
But he didn't dare to let these people discuss it here. That would be courting death. After a low reprimand, he immediately led his men to continue patrolling along the established route.
And as he flew, he immediately took out a jade slip. Following the instructions the Great Island Master had given before he left, he began to quickly memorize and record a list of all the disciples who had entered and exited during the previous period. He had to hand it in later.
A bald man in a purple robe was flying quickly. The loose purple robe could not hide his bulging muscles, making him look like a rock giant.
He had just interrogated the third patrol squad in a very short time and had not yet found anything unusual. Due to the urgency, he could only conduct a quick inquiry.
At this moment, he was simultaneously communicating with the Second and Fourth Island Masters via voice transmission in his mind.
The Second Island Master, whose arms had been cut off by that old ghost from the Tianli Clan, had also rushed out of seclusion. At this moment, he was in the Third Island Master's cave residence, conducting a further, detailed investigation.
As for the Great Island Master himself, he was quickly investigating all the abnormalities within the island. The Fourth Island Master had already flown out of the grand formation to scan all the nearby areas.
The Second Island Master's voice transmission came over. In the Third Island Master's cave residence, there were only some signs of a fight in the front courtyard; no other problems could be found.
After observation, he was able to deduce a few clues:
First, the culprit should have only entered the courtyard, and it was someone familiar to the Third Island Master.
And as for people familiar to the Third Island Master, given his status, after being in seclusion for many years, there were not many on the island now. Besides, even the core Golden Core disciples of the island could not easily meet a Nascent Soul Ancestor.
Second, the Third Island Master had met the person in a very casual situation. There was still warm tea in the pavilion, and the tea was not poisonous. And there was only one teacup, indicating that the visitor was not qualified to drink with the Third Island Master, but was very familiar with him.
Third, if the culprit was not qualified for the Third Island Master to take seriously, his cultivation was definitely not as good as the Third Island Master's. And all the signs of a fight were only in two places: the pavilion and in front of the cave residence gate.
Although they had not seen the Third Island Master's body, it could be guessed that the Third Island Master was likely ambushed but did not die immediately.
Then, either the culprit fled in a hurry after the ambush failed, and the Third Island Master died from a relapse of his injuries while chasing him to the cave residence gate; or the Third Island Master was ambushed and fled, but was eventually killed by the visitor near the cave entrance.
Fourth, the restriction of the cave residence was not broken. This meant that the visitor had the spell seal or token to open the formation's restriction. But this point was very strange.
Because from the shattering of the Third Island Master's life tablet to their discovery, at most only a dozen or so breaths had passed.
And based on other speculations, the visitor's cultivation was not very high. How could he, in such a short time, use his divine sense to erase the divine sense imprints left by the Third Island Master on his storage ring and token respectively?
The above were the clues deduced by the Second Island Master, but he was also full of confusion about the latter speculations…
The flying Great Island Master's brow furrowed continuously. At this time, he and the Fourth Island Master had interrogated several patrol squads both inside and outside. No strange cultivators or Nascent Soul level cultivators had entered the island today!
The purple-robed Great Island Master listened to the subsequent voice transmissions of the two in his mind. A circle of purple qi rose from his bald head. The consequences of this matter for the Qionglin Sect could be a catastrophe.
The situation, which had been barely maintained with the Sea-Breaking Beasts, could no longer be sustained. They had to fully activate the sect-protecting grand formation and then consider relocating the sect.
"Relocate?"
In the air, the Great Island Master's body suddenly shook violently. The moment he thought of these two words, his heart leaped in shock.
"The Tianli Clan?"
Just then, his figure flickered again and arrived in front of a squad on the side. This was a squad he had not interrogated before.
"Stop!"
As the purple-robed man's low, suppressed voice came out, the patrolling squad felt a blur before their eyes, and a figure had appeared in front of them.
One by one, they were shocked. In an instant, various magical treasures had appeared in their hands, or they had already formed hand seals and condensed their techniques.
"Who?"
"Who's there?"
"Great… Great Island Master!"
Several voices sounded one after another. Among the patrol squad, the few who reacted first, amidst their shouts of alarm, someone had already recognized the person who had come. They were so scared that they trembled, and in the next moment, they were about to salute.
"Have any strange cultivators entered the island today, or has anyone come to the sect to look for the Third Island Master? And within the last quarter of an hour, have you noticed anything unusual?"
The purple-robed man didn't give them time at all. With a gloomy expression, he fired off his questions.
"Reporting to the Great Island Master, during our patrol, no outside cultivators have appeared in our patrol area. The people we saw entering and leaving were all disciples of the island. Just now, everyone was also forbidden from going out. As for someone looking for the Third Island Master… there was no one…"
Before the squad captain could finish, the purple-robed man immediately ordered.
"That's enough. Compile a list of all the disciples who entered and exited within the last half an hour. In a quarter of an hour, submit it to the Law-Enforcement Hall. If any problems are found with the list you submit, your entire squad will all die!"
The purple-robed man was in a hurry. More than twenty breaths had already passed since the Third Island Master's life tablet had shattered.
Just by looking at how the person could secretly plot against the Third Island Master without a sound, one could tell that the other party's mind was meticulous. Any further delay would only make the chances of finding the culprit smaller and smaller.
And in his inspection area, there was one last patrol squad that had appeared in his divine sense. He had to roughly investigate the situation within the sect in a few breaths.
As for these patrol squads, they acted together, so it was not easy for the culprit to mix in. Therefore, he only needed to know if anything unusual had occurred for the time being.
Just as the purple-robed man gave his orders and was about to turn and leave, the squad captain immediately added another sentence.
"But… but the Third Island Master's disciple, Senior Brother Yang, left the sect more than ten breaths ago!"
"Hmm?"
The purple-robed man's figure instantly froze. He whipped his head around, and his pair of fierce eyes instantly fixed on the other's face.
"You say Yang Youxian left the sect more than ten breaths ago?"
An uncontrollable pressure, like a thunderclap, instantly descended.
"Pfft!"
The poor squad captain felt as if a giant peak was pressing down on him. His chest tightened, his face instantly turned pale, and his figure was sent flying backward as a mouthful of blood shot out like an arrow.
Fortunately, the purple-robed man immediately realized something was wrong and forcefully suppressed his agitated mind. The patrol disciples who were hit by the aftershock also fell towards the ground one by one, either spitting blood or already unconscious.
The purple-robed man frowned. Without seeing him make any move, an invisible force had already lifted those people into the air.
And he, in a single stride, arrived in front of the squad captain and placed a palm on his chest.
The squad captain, who was already half-unconscious, felt a cool sensation enter his body. The stuffiness that had filled his entire chest immediately disappeared, and he instantly regained consciousness.
"Answer my question quickly!"
The purple-robed man's round eyes appeared in his line of sight, and his voice pierced straight into his soul. This made the squad captain shiver, and only then did he react.
"Yes, yes, yes, it was Senior Brother Yang Youxian. He looked very anxious…"
But before he could finish, the Great Island Master in front of him had already disappeared.
At the same time, a voice transmission appeared in the minds of the Second and Fourth Island Masters.
"There's a problem with Yang Youxian. Fourth Brother, can you find any trace of Yang Youxian? More than ten breaths ago, he left the island in a hurry!"
An old monster who had lived for more than a thousand years had a mind like a demon. He instantly made his judgment. And from the news from the Second Island Master, the one who fit the conditions was really this Yang Youxian.
"Yang Youxian? The Internal Affairs Hall said someone saw him return at dusk, but he didn't come to hand in his task!"
The Second Island Master was currently in the Internal Affairs Hall and immediately realized something was wrong.
"All the sect disciples within my divine sense have been ordered back by me, but there is no Yang Youxian. In one or two breaths, it's impossible for him to have flown out of my divine sense. The other disciples are flying towards the sect."
"A few strange cultivators were also warned by me and are standing in place. I am on my way there now, planning to capture them and bring them back to the sect first!"
This was the Fourth Elder's voice transmission. As the Great Island Master listened to the voice transmission, he had already arrived on the sea surface outside the sect. His overwhelming, powerful divine sense spread out in all directions.
And the moment his aura spread out, the Fourth Island Master's voice suddenly sounded urgently.
"Something's wrong, someone is suddenly fleeing towards the northwest!"
At this moment, the Fourth Island Master had just flown to the sky above three cultivators. The three cultivators were all at the Foundation Establishment stage and were looking at the murderous Fourth Island Master with terrified expressions, on the verge of fainting from fear.
They had just been locked onto by an aura and couldn't move. They were just small cultivators passing by the Qionglin Sect.
There were Sea-Breaking Beasts in the nearby sea, so those passing by here generally took a detour near the Qionglin Sect. And farther away from them, a figure suddenly fled…
The Great Island Master's divine sense instantly swept over. Sure enough, a black shadow was rapidly flying far away towards the northwest, and had actually broken free from the Fourth Island Master's aura lock.
"Hmm?"
The Great Island Master barely hesitated. His figure had already disappeared from its original spot. At the same time, his voice transmission sounded in the minds of the Fourth and Second Elders.
"Fourth Brother, capture all those people and perform a soul search on them one by one. Then, guard the sect with Second Brother. Our commotion has probably already attracted the attention of those few old demons."
"They will likely come to investigate, and may even take the opportunity to attack. You must guard the sect firmly. I will be right back!"
As he spoke, he had already flashed thousands of li away. Fortunately, the direction the person was fleeing was not the area where the Sea-Breaking Beasts were located. Otherwise, he really wouldn't dare to chase all the way there.
"Big Brother, perhaps the other party has a trap. Will you be alright alone…"
"Activate all the grand formations. It should be fine for Fourth Brother to guard for a while. I will go with you!"
The other two Island Masters, hearing the purple-robed man's voice transmission, immediately became anxious. After all, the Third Island Master had died without a sound.
With the Third Island Master's cultivation, to have left nothing behind, the other party was either exceptionally cunning or truly powerful.
The Second Island Master immediately sent an anxious voice transmission, but before they could finish, the purple-robed man had already interrupted his voice transmission.
"No, the sect is at its weakest right now. I will be extra careful. That person probably just borrowed 'Yang Youxian's' appearance, using some clever means to deceive the grand formation and Fourth Brother's detection. Even Third Brother didn't see through the disguise."
"Besides, if I am careful and want to escape, how many people in this world can stop me!"