"Master, be careful. Little White has detected a faint trace of malicious aura and demonic energy. It wasn't just demonic cultivators here last night; there were also ghostly entities!"

Little White's voice suddenly echoed in Alaric Ye's mind.

Currently, Little White was the most advanced among the many spirit insects Alaric Ye had nurtured. As a demonic creature, she was naturally much more sensitive to auras than human cultivators.

Alaric's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Both ghost cultivators and demonic cultivators? Are they collaborating, or did the demonic cultivators release their ghostly pets to cause chaos?"

Although Alaric had gathered some information, he didn't rush to share it with everyone. Firstly, he couldn't casually expose Little White, as she was his trump card for survival.

Secondly, he was waiting for Zhou Yuan's investigation results. If Zhou Yuan came up empty-handed, Alaric would find another way to share the information.

Alaric and his group navigated through several narrow alleys, soon hearing the heart-wrenching cries of a woman in the distance.

Ma Changwen sighed, "Immortal Elders, seven people went missing in the town last night. One of them is Li Erniang's only son. Her husband was killed by wolves ten years ago while herding horses. She raised her son alone until he was seventeen. Recently, she even arranged a marriage for him. Who would have thought that before the bride could even enter the house, her son would disappear? It's truly tragic."

"I remember that child. He was very sensible from a young age, helping his mother herd horses since he was thirteen. He was honest and kind-hearted."

Everyone's mood grew heavier.

Li Erniang's family was just one of many victims. Dozens of other families had faced similar tragedies.

Before long, they arrived at Li Erniang's residence. The elderly woman, her hair white, was kneeling by her son's bed, wailing. Upon seeing Alaric and his group, she immediately kowtowed, her forehead bleeding.

"Please, Immortal Elders, save my child. He's only seventeen. Everyone in town knows he's kind and sensible. He shouldn't die. Any suffering should be borne by his mother... Please, save him!"

Zhou Yuan quickly helped Li Erniang up.

"We are here under the sect's orders to eliminate demons and rescue the victims. The priority now is to find and identify the culprit. Once we do, everything will fall into place!"

"Did you hear any unusual sounds last night? Or see any suspicious figures, even if they didn't look human?"

Zhou Yuan didn't offer comforting words to Li Erniang, as he couldn't be sure if her son was still alive, nor did he know the fate of the other missing people.

Li Erniang's emotions stabilized a bit.

"Immortal Elder, due to the recent unrest in town, my son and I wanted to move, but we have no relatives in nearby towns. To prevent any accidents, I made a bed on the floor in my son's room and slept there with him. Knowing the dangers at night, I woke up every half hour to check on him and reminded him not to sleep too deeply."

"In the first half of the night, I woke up several times and found nothing unusual. But in the second half, I somehow fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up in the morning, my son was gone!"

"I asked the neighbors, but no matter how hard I searched, there was no trace of him!"

Tears streamed down Li Erniang's face again.

"It's all my fault for sleeping so soundly..."

Zhou Yuan comforted her, "You don't need to blame yourself. Even cultivators get tired, let alone mortals. Please step outside; we need to cast a spell to investigate your son's whereabouts."

Li Erniang quickly left the room with the other townsfolk, including the town chief, Ma Wencai. The room's door was closed again.

Zhou Yuan said, "Li Erniang is deeply concerned for her son and shouldn't be the type to sleep heavily. Her deep sleep in the second half of the night was clearly influenced by demons. If demons were here, they would have left traces of their aura!"

As he spoke, Zhou Yuan tapped his Universe Bag, and a fist-sized transparent crystal ball flew out. He formed a hand seal and directed a stream of mana into the crystal ball.

The crystal ball began to glow brightly and spin rapidly. Soon, Alaric felt a faint suction, as if the Spiritual Qi within him was being drawn towards the ball.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Noticing the group's confusion, Zhou Yuan explained, "This is a mid-grade artifact called the Qi-absorbing Sphere. It can absorb and store various auras, such as malicious aura, death aura, and demonic energy. It's usually used to store these auras for alchemy."

"It can also absorb faint auras that the Divine Eye cannot detect."

"Look, this is the aura of Li Erniang's despair."

Following Zhou Yuan's finger, they saw a continuous stream of gray-white aura flowing in from outside the door. Using their spiritual sense, they could feel Li Erniang's desperate wails.

"And this is the aura of everyone's fear!"

Streams of gray-white aura flowed into the Qi-absorbing Sphere. Alaric focused on a black aura, sensing the fear of thousands of townsfolk as night fell.

"If you master the Aura Observation Technique, you can see various auras and fields with the Divine Eye, even without the Qi-absorbing Sphere. However, the Aura Observation Technique is a profound-level spell, and not every Foundation Establishment cultivator can learn it."

"Do not come into too much contact with these negative auras. As you sense them, they will also affect you, impacting your Dao heart!"

"Those who live in demonic lairs for a long time will become demons. Those who live in hell will become evil spirits!"

At that moment, a wisp of faint red mist was absorbed into the Qi-absorbing Sphere. The mist quickly transformed into a blood-red skull, devouring the other auras.

The skull grew stronger after consuming the auras of despair and fear, and everyone felt a powerful malicious aura.

Zhou Yuan said, "It's confirmed that a malevolent ghost was here last night, which fits my hypothesis."

Just as Zhou Yuan was about to put away the sphere, strands of black smoke, as fine as hair, were absorbed into it. The black smoke instantly dyed the entire sphere black, enveloping and devouring the skull.

"This is... demonic energy!" everyone exclaimed in unison, their expressions changing drastically!

Zhou Yuan frowned slightly.

"It seems likely that this was the work of the Abstruse Dark Sect's demonic person!"

Everyone was familiar with the Abstruse Dark Sect. In the Dragon-seeking Mountain Range's cultivation world, it was one of the four major demonic sects, known for controlling zombies and fierce ghosts with extremely sinister and cruel methods.

Hundreds of years ago, during the Immortal-Demon War, the Abstruse Dark Sect's ancestor was besieged and killed by several Nascent Soul ancestors of the righteous path. The sect's elders and disciples suffered heavy casualties, leading to its decline and restraint.

After lying low for hundreds of years, the Abstruse Dark Sect had regained its strength, and its disciples were becoming increasingly active.

Soon, Zhou Yuan opened the door.

Li Erniang immediately knelt, "Immortal Elder, have you found my son's whereabouts? Is he alive or dead?"

Zhou Yuan replied, "We've found some clues, but we can't confirm his life or death yet. We will continue our investigation. If he is still alive, we will do our best to rescue him."

"Thank you, Immortal Elder!"

Hearing that her son might still be alive, Li Erniang's spirits lifted. The presence of so many Top Xuan Sect disciples provided a sense of security.

Next, Ma Changwen led Alaric's team to over twenty households for investigation. The Qi-absorbing Sphere collected traces of malicious aura and demonic energy in each victim's home.

Alaric learned that generally, the auras left by demons and ghosts were very faint and quickly dissipated. However, when they used their powers, a large amount of malicious and demonic energy would leak out, lingering in the surroundings.

If someone died in a place with too much malicious aura, they could turn into an evil ghost.

Excessive demonic energy could affect a person's mind. Demons had extremely intense and extreme emotions, and being in demonic energy would amplify a person's emotions, making them irritable and even cruel.

Many legends told of emperors who married demonic women as queens, leading to their downfall. Once wise rulers, they would neglect their duties, indulge in the harem, and become tyrants, all due to the influence of demonic energy.

After visiting all the missing persons' homes, the two teams reconvened at the town chief's residence to exchange information.

The other team's leader, an inner disciple, had also used a Qi-absorbing Sphere to collect malicious and demonic energy. Their findings were similar to Alaric's team.

Zhou Yuan said, "The number of demonic persons should be small. Otherwise, they could have taken dozens or even hundreds of people in one night. But their cultivation must be high. The two fellow disciples who came before had fourth-level Qi Refining cultivation. To defeat and subdue them without a trace, the demonic person must be at least at the seventh or eighth level!"

"Moreover, knowing that the sect would send more people to investigate and possibly hunt them down, they didn't flee. It's likely that they are at a critical stage of cultivating a demonic art or refining an artifact and can't afford to stop."

"Tonight, we will publicly announce that we are resting at the town chief's residence, but we will secretly patrol all night. We must eliminate the demonic person causing trouble to honor the victims!"

"Causing chaos within our Top Xuan Sect's jurisdiction is a blatant provocation. This cannot be tolerated. Prepare for a fierce battle!"

"Understood!"

"Fellow disciples, here are Essence Pills. They will keep you energized for three days and nights without sleep, but the downside is extreme fatigue afterward."

"Our cultivation levels aren't high enough yet. We still need one or two hours of sleep each day to stay mentally sharp. Take these pills. Even if we don't capture the demonic person in three days, the sect will send more powerful inner disciples to support us."

"I've already sent a message back to the sect via spirit crane, reporting our findings. The sect should send higher-level disciples to prevent the demonic person from escaping to other towns."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

Alaric knew that one Essence Pill was worth a Spirit Stone. He had a small bottle of them in his Universe Bag for emergencies. Zhou Yuan had just given out twenty Spirit Stones' worth of pills to the twenty people present.

It was clear that Zhou Yuan wasn't wealthy; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken fifty years to reach the sixth level of Qi Refining.

In the cultivation world, wealth equated to cultivation efficiency. While money couldn't guarantee Foundation Establishment, it could help one reach the tenth level of Qi Refining within decades.

Seeing the gratitude on everyone's faces, Zhou Yuan smiled, "No need to thank me. You lack experience in missions. These can be reimbursed. Just write an application at the mission hall. In the future, remember to claim any losses or necessary expenses during missions."

"There are also some gray areas in the rules. You can claim a bit more... but not too much. The mission hall won't be too strict on those who fight for the sect."

Everyone looked enlightened, and some even regretted not claiming previous mission losses.

Alaric swallowed an Essence Pill and noted Zhou Yuan's various tips.

Soon after taking the pill, Alaric felt a cool sensation spread through his meridians, banishing his fatigue and replacing it with a mild excitement.

Alaric knew he would soon adapt to this excitement.

The group watched the sunset over the plains from their room, and soon a full moon rose, bathing the night in its light.

As night fell, Zhou Yuan said, "Everyone, hide your presence. Let's move according to plan!"

The other team's inner disciple leader, a female cultivator, nodded slightly.

Under the cover of darkness, the two teams silently flew out of the windows on their flying swords, disappearing above the town chief's residence in an instant.

Zhou Yuan led Alaric's team into the clouds, using the Divine Eye to survey the ground. They covered the western part of Paoma Town, while the other team took the east.

Standing on their flying swords, everyone held their breath, making no sound.

The world was filled only with the sound of wind and insects.

A first-level Qi Refining cultivator would quickly exhaust their Spiritual Qi flying like this, but a third-level cultivator could easily fly for ten hours.

The stronger the mana, the easier it was to fly with a sword.

Alaric focused intently on observing the town.

With the town's unrest, the streets were empty at night, but every household seemed to have lamps lit, seeking comfort in the light.

As they waited, time seemed to stretch.

Two hours passed with no incidents, but the Top Xuan Sect disciples remained as vigilant as hunters, patiently lurking in the clouds without a word.

Near midnight, they suddenly felt a cold wind. Through their Divine Eyes, they saw a faint trace of blood-red malicious aura and black demonic energy at the town's edge.

If not for their high vantage point and intense focus, they might have missed it.

Zhou Yuan infused a paper crane with mana and whispered, "We've found the culprit's trail. Gather and concentrate our forces to eliminate it in one strike!"

【If you enjoy this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf. Writing traditional novels in this declining era requires immense courage. A five-star review is the best recognition you can give the author. Thank you for your support!】