Liu Xing began to speak. He recounted everything from his arrival in Mystic Moon City up to his conversation with Bai Lin. However, he decided to hide the name Bloodwing Sect, referring to it only as an ancient sect he knew nothing about.

After hearing his explanation, the grand elder nodded. "A demonic cultivator killing people for their bloodline. In my long life, I've encountered a demonic cultivator with a similar method. This Wei Yi kid is probably trying to advance his cultivation or awaken his dormant bloodline. Whatever he's doing, he made a mistake. He messed with the wrong clan!"

"G-grand elder, do you intend to confront him?" Xia Yongzhi asked.

The grand elder snorted. "Yes, I will confront him, but later. Now I want to retrieve Xia Shizi's and your son's bodies." He then faced Liu Xing. "Purple Moon Sect disciple, follow me. Your arrival here is timely. I want you to witness what happens here. Tell your sect that what I do to Wei Yi and his despicable clan later is justified."

The old man's black eyes pierced Liu Xing, as if challenging him to defy him so he could kill Liu Xing. Liu Xing desperately wanted to nod, but he couldn't do it yet.

"Grand elder Xia, what I said about Wei Yi is still speculation. There's no concrete evidence that points to him orchestrating all these murders."

The grand elder snorted. "I will get that evidence. So follow me, or die. Your choice."

This time, Liu Xing decided to nod.

"Xia Yongzhi," the grand elder said. "I'm disappointed with you. When I entered seclusion, you were merely at the Lock Opening seventh stage, and now, you're still in the same realm. If only Xia Shizi had shown interest in becoming the clan leader, then I wouldn't need to deal with your weakness. Still, you're a clan leader, and while I despise your weakness, I respect your position, so I'll tell you bluntly about our clan's future. It's bleak. Not only are there no clansmen with great talent, but our bloodline is also becoming thinner with each generation. If you don't do something, this Xia clan will die in your generation."

Xia Yongzhi clenched his fist. "You know I have a plan, grand elder."

The grand elder narrowed his eyes. "What you're doing is gambling."

"Indeed, but as you said, our clan is on the brink of destruction. A gamble that can catapult our status is worth taking."

After he said that, Liu Xing heard several footsteps. Turning around, he saw a guard carrying a child on his back. The child had a familiar face, with a bruised jaw and several blue marks on his face.

Xia Weiyuan peeked from behind the guard, and when the guard put him on the ground, Xia Weiyuan looked down, as if he were a shy boy who had recently made a mistake and was waiting to be punished.

"Xia Weiyuan, come here," Xia Yongzhi said. Xia Weiyuan walked toward him. "Greet the grand elder."

Xia Weiyuan knelt before the grand elder and clasped his hands. "Xia Weiyuan greets the honored grand elder!"

"Come here," the grand elder said, and Xia Weiyuan began to walk toward him. When he was close, the grand elder suddenly grabbed the collar of Xia Weiyuan's clothes and lifted him up, so they were face to face. Then, the grand elder sent a large amount of qi through his hand into Xia Weiyuan.

Xia Weiyuan screamed. Every inch of his body glowed white, his eyes shining like flashlights, and the white light illuminated everything around, as if he were a sun about to go supernova.

Seeing this, Liu Xing's eyes widened. What was this grand elder trying to do? Was he trying to kill Xia Weiyuan? Xia Weiyuan was a mortal child. Sending that amount of qi into a mortal was like pouring magma through normal veins. But the kid's body reacted strangely too. He shouldn't be glowing, he should be dead.

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Instantly, Liu Xing knew that this Xia Weiyuan kid was special.

"The killer of Xia Shizi is there," the grand elder said while pointing to the east.

"No," Xia Weiyuan said simply, his body still glowing and his eyes white as paper.

The grand elder repeated his question but pointed in other directions. Finally, when the elder pointed north, Xia Weiyuan said, "Yes."

After that, the elder released Xia Weiyuan and dropped him to the ground. As he lay there, eyes closed, he stopped glowing, his breathing harsh as if he had lung problems.

"Grand elder, you sent him too much qi. What if he's crippled?" Xia Yongzhi said as he walked toward Xia Weiyuan, checked his pulse, and sighed in relief.

Instead of answering, the grand elder only snorted. "Disciple of Purple Moon Sect. Let's go."

As he said that, he flicked his right hand, and a wide silver sword suddenly appeared in front of him. The silver sword hovered in the air, and the grand elder jumped on top of it. Then the silver sword flew him to the north.

Liu Xing glanced at Xia Yongzhi and Xia Weiyuan. Xia Yongzhi now carried Xia Weiyuan on his back, and he sighed as if his day was full of misfortune.

He eyed Liu Xing and said in a quiet voice, "Take care."

Liu Xing nodded, trying to digest what had happened. But soon, he realized that the grand elder was already far away, so Liu Xing summoned his gun, activated his Lightning Cloak, and tried to chase him. In the air, Liu Xing used his shield to maneuver and accelerate. After several moments, Liu Xing was steadily following the grand elder several meters behind. He could see the bent back of the grand elder clearly.

As he followed him, Liu Xing's brain worked hard. The first question was: what had happened to Xia Weiyuan? Why was he glowing? The answer was actually simple. Xia Weiyuan had a bloodline.

A bloodline that could glimpse the truth.

It made sense. The old man pointed and stated that the killer of Xia Shizi was there, in the direction he pointed, and Xia Weiyuan answered as if he knew where the killer was.

This explanation made Xia Yongzhi's actions more reasonable. If Xia Weiyuan had a bloodline that could pierce truth, maybe the effect also made Xia Weiyuan unable to tell lies.

Still, Liu Xing couldn't know for sure, and while Xia Weiyuan became more interesting, he needed to think about the implications.

First, the fact that this grand elder used Xia Weiyuan's ability in front of him, a stranger, was a weird move. Even if he was a Purple Moon Sect disciple, there should be no reason to do it in front of Liu Xing. After all, Xia Weiyuan was probably the Xia clan's secret.

The only explanation for this was that the grand elder didn't care whether Liu Xing saw it or not, which was suspicious. This grand elder cared about the Xia clan, as evidenced when he berated Xia Yongzhi, and he too should know that keeping Xia Weiyuan's secret was the best course of action. After all, he couldn't see into Liu Xing's heart. What if Liu Xing became interested in Xia Weiyuan and tried to snatch him away?

Thinking this, Liu Xing came to a conclusion. The grand elder would probably kill him in the future. After all, if the elder could ensure Liu Xing's death later, then there was no problem letting Liu Xing see the true value of Xia Weiyuan. When Liu Xing reached this conclusion, the grand elder suddenly turned his head. His black eyes gazed at him, and Liu Xing felt the air around him suddenly grow cold and heavy. Seeing those eyes, Liu Xing's heart beat faster and faster. He wondered whether the old man could read his mind.

"Faster," the grand elder said.

Liu Xing swallowed hard, then used the shield to accelerate until he was right behind the old man's back.

As Liu Xing wracked his brain to predict what the old man would do to him later, as well as thinking about how he could escape, the old man suddenly slowed down. After a moment, the flying sword he rode stopped, and Liu Xing killed his momentum and stood atop his shield diagonally behind the old man, observing the place in front of them.

The area in front of them was strange. Instead of green trees, lush grass, and colorful flowers of a normal forest, this place was filled with trees made of bones. Their branches curved like ribcages, their limbs resembled tigh bones, and their leaves were shaped like wide, slim shark teeth. Some of their roots stuck out from the red ground, looking like bony fingers. The base of each white tree was red and muddy, as if someone had dumped a bucket of blood at its foot.

"You said your name is Liu Xing, right?" the old man asked as his flying sword slowly descended.

Liu Xing willed his shield to follow the grand elder. "Yes, what's your name, grand elder?"

The old man was silent for a moment. When the flying sword touched the ground and he stepped off it, he answered, "My name is Xia Juetian. You need to remember this name carefully, as you'll have to report about me to your clan."

Liu Xing nodded. "All right."

"Do you have a method to communicate directly with your sect?"

"Directly, no, but there is a method to contact my sect indirectly."