CHAPTER 565
Black Tower Mountain
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Li Shiyao listened quietly as her senior sister inquired about the mysterious powerhouse from the Eastern Realm.
Her senior sister occasionally glanced at her, as if seeking her opinion or gauging whether she sensed something amiss.
But she was just a clueless fool—what insight could she possibly offer?
Just follow the senior sister's lead. She's so powerful, she'll definitely handle it!
"Shiyao, are you full? Let's go!"
Huh?
Was that right?
Didn't Senior Sister say she was going to the Eastern Realm to take a look? Is Shiyu going too?
Li Shiyu timidly pointed her little finger at herself, her dazed expression shifting to astonishment, as if she couldn't believe it.
"Shiyao is coming too?"
Ye Qinghan smiled. "If not, then Shiyao pays her own way."
Li Shiyu: Σ(*ﾟдﾟﾉ)ﾉ!
"Fine, fine! Shiyu will go with Senior Sister!" Li Shiyu's pockets were emptier than her face—she certainly didn't want to be stuck washing dishes!
With that, the trio set off. The Black Tower River in the Eastern Domain wasn't close to Nanding City, but for cultivators like them, the journey wasn't particularly arduous.
Chatting along the way, they transformed into three streaks of light streaking across the sky.
Ye Qinghan and Xu Zhanfeng could actually travel faster. After all, Xu Zhanfeng had already reached the Great Perfection stage, while Ye Qinghan had trained at the Valkyrie Academy in the mansion. Whether their strength was exceptional was debatable, but their escape speed had definitely increased significantly.
Poor Li Shiyao, however, couldn't keep up. As everyone knew, frontline tanks were typically like this. Li Shiyao was simply too large, so her sluggish pace was only natural.
After nearly half a day, the trio finally came to rest atop a small mountain in the Eastern Domain. Even though Li Shiyao was a native of the Eastern Domain, she had never been to such a remote place before.
"That must be the Black Tower River, right? So this area we're in is Black Tower Mountain?"
Xu Zhanfeng shook his head. "Grandma, the river across is Black Tower Mountain. The mountain range we're in belongs to the Four Absolute Mountains."
Ye Qinghan nodded, then instantly deployed her dual divine senses. With her Huatian cultivation, her perception easily covered the surrounding area.
For now, she detected no suspicious entities nearby. Whether it was the mountain beasts, trees, grass, or rocks, Ye Qinghan found no signs of formidable foes, nor any traces of restrictions or formations.
"Where did that lackey of yours die? Take me to see it."
Ye Qinghan now found it rather peculiar. Logically, if a Soul Transformation Stage cultivator had fought a fierce battle here, traces would surely remain!
A Nascent Soul cultivator's battle wasn't some minor skirmish. How could there be absolutely no traces left behind?
Could the opponent's cultivation truly surpass the Nascent Soul stage? Possessing the power to instantly kill a Nascent Soul cultivator?
That seemed utterly unrealistic. Unless it was someone like a Valkyrie, how could such a feat be possible?
Truthfully, with her own power, annihilating a Nascent Soul cultivator wasn't beyond her reach.
But to do it without a trace, without anyone noticing? That's another matter entirely.
Following Xu Zhanfeng, they arrived at the location where the body had been discovered.
In truth, Ling Mountain had already sent people to inspect this location, yet they found no anomalies or traces.
Xu Zhanfeng pointed to a stone—this was where the Great Perfection cultivator met his end.
At first glance, the surroundings appeared normal. After all, according to Ye Qinghan's reasoning, there should have been some traces of divine power left within at least several dozen miles.
Yet, there wasn't even a single trace of blood, nor any lingering fluctuations of spiritual energy…
"Was there anything peculiar about the corpse?"
"Strange? Not at all. If anything, it's impossible to determine the cause of death."
Xu Zhanfeng chuckled at his own remark, and Ye Qinghan couldn't help but laugh too. More than laughter, though, was astonishment that Xu Zhanfeng dared to joke with him.
"I rather like this side of you, Xu. Keep up the good work." With that, Ye Qinghan patted Xu Zhanfeng's shoulder with a smile, his expression seemingly one of genuine satisfaction.
But Xu Zhanfeng dared not respond. The reason the First Lady held her position wasn't merely because she was the Master's disciple!
Li Shiyao sat quietly nearby, looking as though she'd just come out to play. She watched as the senior sister and Steward Xu, seemingly solving a mystery, deployed their supernatural abilities to scan the surrounding area.
"Senior Sister, would you like a bun?"
"Didn't we just eat? I'm not hungry yet. Shiyao, you eat them yourself."
Li Shiyu promptly pulled out a small pouch, took two meat buns from it, and began eating them without waiting for anyone else.
Just as Li Shiyu took a bite, she looked up to find a child crouched before her.
It was a boy, looking as though he'd just returned from playing in the fields. His face was dark and weathered, his skin rough and unattractive, with traces of mud still smudged across his cheeks.
The boy didn't speak, just crouched before Li Shiyao, watching her eat the buns.
Li Shiyao glanced at her senior sister and Xu Zhanfeng in the distance, then looked back at the child squatting before her.
"Do you want a bun?"
The boy still didn't speak, just crouched before her, his eyes—the only clean part of his entire body—fixed on her.
Li Shiyao was taken aback. Could this child be mute? Why wasn't he speaking?
She then took out another bun, tentatively pinching its edge with her fingers as she offered it over, as if afraid the child might bite her.
The child seemed equally afraid of Li Shiyao. Like a timid little monkey, he reached out hesitantly, pulling his hand back several times before finally taking the bun and eating it after repeated attempts!
"Can you speak?" Li Shiyao relaxed slightly when she saw the child take the bun and start eating, though she wasn't entirely at ease.
This strangeness, however, wasn't about the child's appearance or why he was in this remote mountain forest. It was a different kind of odd feeling.
Truthfully, Li Shiyao couldn't pinpoint exactly what felt off, but she knew something was amiss.
She sensed that this child before her was different from ordinary children—or rather, different from the creature known as "human."
If it were as her master had said—that everyone possessed a color, with good people and bad people displaying different hues—then Li Shiyiao could not discern any color at all from this child.
Perhaps it was the color of nothingness, or perhaps it was colorless entirely.
But it wasn't white—otherwise, Li Shiyao wouldn't have paid it such close attention.
The boy didn't answer. Instead, as if he hadn't understood, he mimicked Li Shiyao's expression, tilting his head with a look of utter confusion.
Seeing this, Li Shiyao promptly pulled another steamed bun from her small cloth bag and offered it to the boy.
Having experienced the previous friendly exchange, the boy now seemed to trust Li Shiyao a little more. Without much hesitation, he accepted the gesture of goodwill with both hands.
"Want some more?" Li Shiyao asked with an innocent expression, though her guard remained firmly up.
Even if she were a fool, Li Shiyao knew that a child appearing in a place like this was highly unusual!
Most crucially, neither her senior sister nor Steward Xu seemed to have noticed this little boy?
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