Chapter 38: Prime Culprit
After received the Moon Wheel and [Frost Dragon Halberd], Ye Xinghe inhaled a deep breath, before he jumped and once more dived into the pond's depth.
He swam and dived rapidly into the deep bottom of the icy pond, where he saw some glittering pure white ice crystal on it.
"These are… [Cold Snow Essence]!" Ye Xinghe shouted excitedly.
When he was rescuing Xia Yuning earlier, Ye Xinghe already saw that there was something shiny at the bottom of the pond, but as he was too worried about her safety, he prioritized in helping Xia Yuning first and ignored those shiny things. As he was returning to the cave, however, Ye Xinghe was really impatient to find out what those shiny things at the bottom of the pond were.
As far as he knew, [Cold Snow Essence] was a kind of natural oddity that could only be formed in the depth of polar glacier. Furthermore, it was also an extremely rare kind of natural oddity that one could only met but cannot seek. So, how could it appear here?
Moreover, this place had over one hundred of [Cold Snow Essences]!
These [Cold Snow Essences] could only be formed by natural process, and these [Cold Snow Essences]… didn't look like something that was intentionally left behind by someone. Perhaps, these [Cold Snow Essences] were related with the [Frost Dragon Halberd] or its previous master!
[Cold Snow Essence] was extremely valuable. It could be used to forge puppet soldiers, assisted one's cultivation, and even for a means of therapy! In any case, this kind of natural oddity is priceless.
Since these were things without owner, naturally there was no need for Ye Xinghe to be polite. He collected all these [Cold Snow Essences] and wrapped them all in a plain cloth. After finished wrapping all of it, he quickly got out from the icy pond and ran towards the cave's entrance.
Had gotten these many harvests, Ye Xinghe was really excited. In the Blue Carp Town, there were three aristocratic families, and the heirs of each aristocratic family had weapon that was forged from fine steel. In the past Ye Xinghe really envied them, and in his immature mind, he pledged that one day, he absolutely must have his own weapon that was forged from fine steel.
However today, not only he got [Frost Dragon Halberd], a spirit treasure that was far more precious than fine steel weapons, but he also received these many [Cold Snow Essences].
This enormous harvest really shook his mind!
With this [Frost Dragon Halberd], his fighting strength would undoubtedly rise by several levels! Even if he bumped into ordinary 5th Heavenly Layer expert, Ye Xinghe would not be afraid, because even just the cold air that was produced by [Frost Dragon Halberd] was already very difficult for 5th Heavenly Layer Realm Expert to resist.
However… he also understood that he must hide this [Frost Dragon Halberd] carefully. Ye Xinghe was aware of the saying 'a commoner's talent can arouse jealousy'. Such a precious treasure, if it was known by experts that would rob him of it, wouldn't it just inviting one's calamity?
Ye Xinghe was running excitedly toward the cave's entrance, where he saw An Xueyun was standing there, an anxious expression couldn't be hidden in her pretty face. This made Ye Xinghe became startled and halted slightly, before he asked An Xueyun, "What happened? Where is Xia Yuning?"
"Xia Yuning had discovered a Black-robed man, then immediately chased him. She asked me to wait for you! She told me that she would leave behind some marks along the way, to let us follow her after you come back!" An Xueyun explained anxiously.
Ye Xinghe's eyebrows wrinkled slightly, Black-robed man?
Could it be? Was him the prime culprit of everything that was happening all this time?
However, Xia Yuning was too harebrained. She pursued them rashly, all alone, what would she do if she fell to danger? At that time, everything would already be too late!
"Let's go!" Ye Xinghe said urgently, he got some bad premonition. Although he only knew Xia Yuning for a short time, but he really felt worried for her safety.
The two forms grazed together in the mountain area.
Just as they running for dozens meters, they suddenly heard a whistling sound in the air, and an unexpected attack was aimed toward Ye Xinghe and An Xueyun.
"It's not good, be careful!" realized the sudden ambush, Ye Xinghe immediately pushed An Xueyun to the side. The two of them tumbled in the air before landed on a thick patch of grass.
The attack missed its target, and hit nearby huge tree, made it trembling from the force of collision.
A Black-robed man grazed toward An Xueyun and Ye Xinghe's location.
"Be careful!" An Xueyun shouted and responded quickly, her hands had tied a seal, then fireballs charging out from the hand seal towards the approaching Black-robed man.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The fireballs exploded when they hit the body of that Black-robed man.
That Black-robed man grunted in low voice, yet the fireballs were unable to completely stop him. As he continued to run, he let a loud roar, the robes that he wore exploded, accompanied with eruption of boundless strength as his scale-covered fist furiously flew toward them.
This mysterious Black-robed man was a Dragon Martial Artist!
Ye Xinghe lowly shouted as he also jumped to welcome the attack, his Star Power crazily revolved before surging into his right foot as he kicked with it to accept the opponent's fist!
Bang!
A dull thumping sound heard, both sides were unable to gain any advantages on this collision, and were forced to take some steps back.
This guy… was a 5th Heavenly Layer Dragon Martial Artist!
Ye XInghe's right foot became slightly numb, and he realized that, although his opponent was also a strong expert of 5th Heavenly Layer Realm, his strength… seemed a bit weaker than Xia Yuning's. As he saw the jet black scales covering that guy's arm… his gaze instantly became cold.
"It's you!?" Ye Xinghe clenched his fist tightly.
The suspicions that Ye Xinghe, Xia Yuning, and An Xueyun shared together, now finally confirmed thoroughly! They really weren't wrong at all!
"You already recognize me, eh…" that Black-robed man untied the black cloth covering his face, then smirked, "Right, it is me."
That person… was the leader of their group, teacher Chu Xian!
An Xueyun's eyes became round, he stared at Chu Xian with disbelief. Although she already suspected him, when the reality truly presented in front of her… it still shook her mind. With a puzzled look, she asked, "Why did Teacher Chu Xian do such a vile act? You are a formal teacher of Heavenly Star Academy…why did you kill your own students?"
Heard this question, Chu Xian actually laughed out, and then immediately his expression sank coldly, and said, "Even if I told you why, you won't understand. A little aristocrat girl like you, should just stay in your mansion obediently! The outside world… was a dangerous place, you know? People getting killed by others, is not a strange thing!"
Ye Xinghe coldly looked at Chu Xian with a frown. A teacher of the school set up traps to slaughter his own students, definitely was not a simple matter. What in the world was his true goal?
The real reason, one that could justify their act of slaughter―
A thought flashed in his mind, made Ye Xinghe's eyebrows wrinkled slightly. He asked Chu Xian with a sinking voice, "Your true goal… Is it Xia Yuning?"
Xia Yuning that was pursuing the Black-robed man hadn't returned, yet another Black-robed man, Chu Xian, suddenly appeared before them. It's highly possible that Chu Xian was preventing them from rescuing Xia Yuning!
If there is a motive behind all this madness, then Xia Yuning, daughter of Northern Guardian Lord, granddaughter of the Heavenly Ancestor City's City Lord… was a big enough reason!
"Really now, I never thought that you are so clever, Xinghe… to be able to guess correctly in such a short time. That's right, she is our target. Usually, that brat was on constant surveillance… she always cultivated at Headmaster's side, and she also stayed at City Lord's Mansion in her free time. The chance to abduct her… was really scarce!" Chu Xian's gaze turned cold, "Who ask her to walk straight into the trap? We certainly won't miss this opportunity!"
In bystander's opinion, the location of Hunting Trial was absolutely safe, because the only entrance to this place was the now broken plank road. The plank road itself was a restricted area, and only teachers of academy with their students that was going to join the trial were permitted to enter. Most possibly, the City Lord also believed that the Hunting trial was safe enough, therefore permitted Xia Yuning to participate in the trial.
However, who could guess that as soon as Xia Yuning came, Chu Xian and his fellow traitors of Heavenly Star Academy ambushed them and started their killing spree in order to catch Xia Yuning?
"Since your goals was only Yuning, then why you also killed those many innocent people?" An Xueyun stared at Chu Xian, anger was unconcealed in her eyes.
"Innocent? Those little bastards, innocent? HAHAHA!" Chu Xian laughed wildly.