Chapter 252: The Lord of the Soul Temple, Settling Accounts with Song Qing
Xiao Ze searched the entire underground space once more, making sure he hadn't left any treasures undiscovered, before returning with Qing Lin to the Dan Tower.
Soon after, an elderly man with an imposing presence arrived in the southern mountains. Despite his white hair and beard, his face looked youthful.
The old man coughed softly, and his dark blue eyes scanned the southern mountains.
"This sub-temple is within the Dan Tower's territory. It's normal for it to be discovered and destroyed. Why did I have to come personally...? Ah."
Although the old man was visibly annoyed, he tore through the space and headed to the Gui Kou mountains.
Soon, he appeared above the Soul Temple sub-temple in the Gui Kou mountains.
Seeing the collapsed black building, his expression didn't change. However, when he approached to investigate, he let out a sound of surprise.
The old man extended his hand toward the void in front of him, and with a simple gesture, he gathered the moisture from the black building.
"This concentrated water residue... Could the invader be a water attribute cultivator? There aren't many active water attribute cultivators in Zhongzhou."
"Especially those capable of killing two elders of the Soul Temple and destroying a sub-temple in a single attack."
The old man gently moved his hand, returning the moisture to its original place.
"Rare to find another water attribute cultivator. If we catch him, we could exchange some ideas before killing him."
While searching for clues in the ruins, several figures shrouded in black mist appeared.
"Greetings, Supreme Lord!" The Soul Temple guardians respectfully greeted the old man.
This old man was one of the Supreme Lords of the Soul Temple.
"Are you the only surviving guardians of this sub-temple? Tell me what you know."
"Yes, Supreme Lord." The guardians were frightened, fearing they would be sacrificed for the destruction of the sub-temple.
"We were following orders from the elders when the sub-temple was attacked; we don't know much more."
"What use are you then?"
The Supreme Lord of the Soul Temple growled, making the guardians tremble.
"Supreme Lord, the two elders seemed to intend to attack the new alchemist master of the Dan Tower, Xiao Ze."
"Is that all? A newly ascended alchemist master can gather the strength to destroy a sub-temple of the Soul Temple?"
"This..." The guardian had no response.
"Well, investigate if Xiao Ze has any water attribute followers."
"Moreover, many soul entities were found around. They must have been released by the invader."
"Capture them and extract their souls to see if they have seen the invader."
With no further clues in the sub-temple, the Supreme Lord sent his guardians to investigate and capture those entities.
The guardians, relieved, realized they would not be sacrificed for the destruction of the sub-temple, at least not for now.
"Abandon this sub-temple. I don't know what they were thinking, establishing it so close to the Dan Tower."
The old man turned to the guardians.
"If you manage to get results, you can join another sub-temple. If not... do it quickly!"
Having said this, the old man left, leaving the guardians trembling with fear.
"What do we do now?"
"What else? Let's assign the tasks. Who is going to investigate? Who is going to capture the soul entities?"
"I will capture the soul entities. Don't try to cheat, or we are dead. Once you enter the Soul Temple, there is no escape."
A high-ranking guardian spoke, and the others nodded.
Meanwhile, Xiao Ze and Qing Lin returned to the Dan Tower. First, he went directly to the large black tower.
He had no intention of confronting the Great Elder; he preferred to inform the three presidents directly so they could decide.
Upon learning of Song Qing's disappearance, the Great Elder had shown much concern for his disciple.
Convincing the Great Elder of Song Qing's betrayal would be difficult. Therefore, it was best to inform the three presidents directly.
With his current status, it was not difficult for Xiao Ze to see the three presidents.
Inside the hall of the Dan Tower, Xuan Kongzi saw Xiao Ze enter with Qing Lin and showed curiosity.
"Greetings, President Xuan Kongzi!"
"Xiao Ze, what brings you here? I thought you were with the Great Elder resolving the disappearance of the Dan Tower disciples."
"The matter is almost resolved. Soon I will go to the Council of Elders to have my merit evaluated."
"Thank you, President Xuan Kongzi. But I didn't come just for that."
Xiao Ze bowed and took out a soul bag, releasing the souls of the Dan Tower disciples.
Xuan Kongzi, seeing the souls, was astonished but quickly realized they were the missing disciples.
Xiao Ze addressed the disciples.
"This is President Xuan Kongzi. Tell him what you have experienced. He will bring you justice."
The disciples looked at each other, surprised that Xiao Ze could see the president.
One of them, after hesitating for a moment, stepped forward.
"President Xuan Kongzi, we were attacked by the Soul Temple, but the worst part was that Elder Song Qing, who was protecting us, betrayed us and joined the Soul Temple."
"What?!" Xuan Kongzi threw down his pen, frowning. "Tell me more!"
After listening to the disciples' account, Xiao Ze added:
"Only the Great Elder and his group knew that I was in the southern mountains, and right after separating from them, I was pursued by the Soul Temple."
"I used my hidden cards to kill two elders of the Soul Temple and rescue these disciples."
Xuan Kongzi, with a somber face, notified the other two presidents and sent two elders to bring the Great Elder and Song Qing to the black tower.
This situation had to be handled with the utmost seriousness!
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