He turned around and Xu Shu spoke in a low voice, "Saint Heir, leave this matter to me... You need not get involved in these karmic ties."
Lu Jin’an nodded and handed the letter to Xu Shu, simultaneously transmitting, "Keep Zhou Yuanfu in the dark for now."
Xu Shu stepped forward, maintaining a calm expression, "Our Wandao Sect Saint Heir was assassinated, and the mastermind is still within Jiuhua City. If anyone can provide clues or assist in capturing them alive, Wandao Sect will reward generously."
As his words fell, Xu Shu waved his right hand, and the names on the letter, except for Zhou Yuanfu, appeared mid-air in the form of spiritual energy.
Just as the spiritual energy names surfaced, a commotion erupted among the cultivators at the door.
"You actually dared to assassinate Saint Lu!?"
Immediately, two people within the crowd were restrained by other cultivators, while more cultivators quickly dispersed to seek out the owners of those names.
As the two named individuals were pinned down, Xu Shu acted at once to prevent possible suicide attempts.
Lu Jin’an spoke calmly, "Junior Master Xu, first take them back to the flying boat."
Xu Shu waved his large hand, and spiritual energy enveloped the two, sending them flying to the Wave Breaking Boat stationed outside Hanshan Temple by Wandao Sect.
Lu Jin’an released his divine sense, enveloping the entirety of Jiuhua City, and took a step forward, disappearing from the spot.
Xu Shu didn’t leave immediately but used his divine sense and spiritual power to protect Lu Jin’an.
He turned back to look at Junfu Bodhisattva, who had his eyes closed, and smiled slightly, "You better hope Lingshan has nothing to do with this, or we’ll flatten your mountain range."
Junfu Bodhisattva opened his eyes to glare at Xu Shu, aware of the power disparity between the Tribulation Crossing Realm and Immortal, as well as the difference in power between Lingshan and Wandao Sect, making him wary of saying more.
If tensions escalated due to careless words, even Sumeru Mountain wouldn’t be able to protect Lingshan.
Watching Xu Shu’s figure vanish through the main gate of Cijing Temple, Junfu Bodhisattva clenched his fists and spoke fiercely, "Investigate, find out the identity of that novice and give Wandao Sect an explanation!"
After discovering the names of the culprits and with the majority of cultivators gladly assisting, the ten people, excluding Zhou Yuanfu, were swiftly apprehended.
Even as an Early Divine Arrival Immortal not present at the scene, Xu Shu only needed to exert minimal effort to suppress attempts at suicide by a few individuals.
Lu Jin’an had only two targets: Zhuang Wanshui and Cheng Yungen, Upper Realm possessors, but he personally dragged only Zhuang Wanshui back to the flying boat.
Not accurately capturing both Upper Realm possessors would raise suspicions.
Lu Jin’an nonchalantly tossed the two men to the side of the flying boat’s anchor and said to Pei Wanyu, "Master, they’re all caught."
Pei Wanyu glanced at the two Buddhas behind Bao Yue Buddha, who slightly exhaled in relief, and said indifferently, "Do you still think you can get up without a proper investigation?"
Bao Yue Buddha’s complexion darkened slightly, but a sense of powerlessness welled up inside.
Even when the Buddhas from Sumeru Mountain arrived at Lingshan, not even the True Buddha of Lingshan appeared, what could he say?
He could only continue kneeling.
But... the amount of onlooking cultivators was overwhelming!
For a Buddha to kneel before this crowd of Tribulation Crossing Realm and Unity Realm Stage cultivators... the Wandao Sect had practically dragged Lingshan’s honor through the mud!
Bao Yue Buddha closed his eyes, silently reciting the Buddhist sutra in his heart, seeking inner peace.
"You better pray this has nothing to do with Lingshan, or I’ll be taking your head first!"
Having said that, Pei Wanyu took Lu Jin’an onto the deck of one of the Wave Breaking Boats.
Bao Yue Buddha lowered his gaze, increasing the speed of silently reciting the Buddhist sutra in his heart.
He wasn’t worried about Lingshan being implicated, but among those just captured... there were demon cultivators from Wuji Demon Sect.
Demon cultivators harming the Mortal World... it was one way to accumulate merit.
On the flying boat deck, Pei Wanyu raised her slender hand, enveloping the entire flying boat with a barrier, blocking external perception.
Not having found suspected Buddha monks in Jiuhua City, Lu Jin’an thought little of it and directly drew Netherworld Validation, approaching the captured ten.
Without a word, he executed one with each sword strike, allowing the three-headed corpse demon from Yinming Space to devour them, then began probing their memories.
Besides Zhuang Wanshui and Cheng Yungen being Upper Realm possessors, the others were all from the Demon Path.
Among them were even three demon cultivators from the Wuji Demon Sect.
The three demon cultivators from Wuji Demon Sect each had their roles, one to cause chaos the night before the Ten Domains Martial Arts Competition, one to expose identity during the competition, and one to keep an eye on his movements.
Since Zhou Yuanfu was plotting an assassination.
And Zhuang Wanshui and Cheng Yungen were collaborators.
The prepared killing move was the Divine Might Heavenly Punishment Array.
A killing array designed to augment the Thunder Tribulation during the Crossing Tribulation.
Yet their memories held no specific details on when the assassination was to be executed.
Lu Jin’an opened his eyes, roughly recounting to his master, but due to the troublesome ’all spoken shall be known’, he didn’t disclose the identity of the two Upper Realm possessors.
Revealing it was meaningless since Lu Jin’an hadn’t obtained a new list of possessors from the two’s memories.
From their memories, Lu Jin’an could see that although the two had formidable abilities among their peers, they were marginal players among possessors.
Their role was auxiliary, aiding the core possessors in faster cultivation advancement.
Hearing his good disciple’s explanation, Pei Wanyu, arms crossed, tapped her fingers against her arm, "These baldies really will do anything for merit." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel·fire.net
Leaning against the railing, Lu Jin’an pondered for a moment and then spoke, "This incident only occurred within Lingshan’s jurisdiction, so Lingshan may just be one piece of Sumeru Mountain’s larger machinations."