High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

Adrian immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Xu Mingjing?"

Pei Zhao nodded: "Yes, the master taught him for a period of time back then."

"He learned the principles of Yin and Yang at that time. It's not surprising that you find them similar."

Via loosened her fingers, letting the wisp of black and white energy dissipate.

They naturally knew about Xu Mingjing.

News of the Dead Zone in the Demon City had already spread. He had even killed the three sleeping Ninth Realm experts. Even though they each had their own reliance, no one would regard such a person as an ordinary Eighth Realm expert who could be dealt with at will.

However, they were unaware of this relationship between Xu Mingjing and the adults.

Pei Zhao walked down the ridge and stopped beside a crumbling stone pit. Several pieces of clothing were scattered at the bottom of the pit, and there were dried bloodstains nearby. A wisp of divine soul fluctuation that did not belong to Xu Mingjing was slowly disappearing.

Looking to the side, there are several other similar marks.

Pei Zhao's expression finally became more serious. Someone had died here, and more than one person.

Herbert noticed it too, and whispered, "There are at least four different spiritual powers, and they don't look weak at all."

Adrian paused for a moment, assessed the direction Xu Mingjing had left in, and then looked up to the north.

A faint golden-red light shone on the distant horizon, and even across the rolling mountains, a deep rumble could be heard. Waves of energy, a mixture of demonic and supernatural power, emanated from there, indicating that the battle taking place in the Northern Underworld was far more intense than what was happening here.

"Is he also after Bei Ming?"

"Judging by the direction, yes."

Pei Zhao stood up and looked in the direction Xu Mingjing had left.

The yin and yang energies there were already very faint, and it was difficult to discern them any further ahead. However, given the commotion caused by Beiming, it would be hard for anyone nearby not to notice it.

Adrian crossed his arms.

"If this person gets involved, things will become difficult for us."

Their mission is to kill Shen Chang'an, and they must preserve his body as much as possible. They already need to be careful with the demons alone, and now there is Xu Mingjing, whose whereabouts are the same and whose attitude is unclear. No one can guarantee what will happen along the way.

Via glanced again at the traces of battle around her, her expression much more solemn than when she had just landed. Four eighth-realm cultivators practicing the same origin technique had surrounded and killed each other here, yet none of them had managed to escape. Xu Mingjing's methods were clearly even more troublesome than rumored.

Herbert asked, "Should we send the message back first?"

Pei Zhao pondered for a moment, then took out a communication artifact and briefly recorded Xu Mingjing's appearance at the location and the discovery of signs of battle. After doing this, he put the artifact away without waiting for a response.

"Let's check the situation in a bit."

He still kept the item Xu Xiuqi had given him safely on his person. However, it was a method left behind by Shen Chang'an and could not be used to solve the current unknown troubles.

"Don't go looking for Xu Mingjing, and don't take the initiative to contact him. Once you get to Beiming, first confirm Shen Chang'an's location, and then see if there's a suitable opportunity."

Adrian was about to speak when a heavy rumble suddenly came from the north.

The clouds in the distance suddenly lit up, then seemed to be torn apart from below by something, with large swaths of cloud churning to both sides. Even though they were far apart, the loose gravel beneath their feet was shaken by the tremors and rolled down the slope.

Via gazed at the horizon, her eyes slightly narrowed.

"They were hit pretty hard over there."

Beneath the golden-red light of the sky, vast swathes of black mist were slowly spreading along the horizon. The situation in Beiming was even more chaotic than they had anticipated before their arrival.

Pei Zhao concealed his aura and turned to head north.

"Let's go, let's get closer to the beach before we look at it."

......

The outer edge of the Northern Sea.

Murong Yan and Murong Qing crossed a mountain ridge and landed on a sheltered rocky slope to rest for a while.

After days of traveling, both of them had exhausted a lot of their spiritual energy. Murong Qing sat down on a flat rock, meditated for a moment, but kept his gaze fixed on the north.

Dark clouds hung low in the distance, obscuring the black sea in the mist. Occasionally, large flashes of light would appear from beneath the clouds, followed by a deep, rumbling sound that echoed from afar.

Another surge of violent spiritual energy came from the sea.

The pebbles around the rocky slope trembled slightly, and the sea breeze blowing in our faces suddenly picked up a bit.

Murong Yan raised his head, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Even from the periphery, she could feel the power of those colliding forces. A significant battle was clearly taking place in Beiming, but the distance was too great to discern the opposing sides.

She took out her terminal and glanced at the message she had previously sent to Shen Chang'an.

There has still been no reply.

Seeing that she put away the terminal, Murong Qing didn't ask any more questions, quickly ended her meditation, and stood up.

"Let's go there as soon as possible, something's not right over there."

Murong Yan nodded, gazing at the light that had once again illuminated the depths of the sea.

"Walk."

The two figures took to the air again, crossed the mountain ridge ahead, and headed towards the direction from which the spiritual energy fluctuations came.

……

On the outskirts of Beiming, on a dirt road worn by the demon army, two Wind Chasing Horses were walking one after the other.

Baiyin sat on horseback, holding half a biscuit in her hand, eating while watching the gradually denser mountain ranges in the distance. After traveling for several days, the surrounding scenery was no longer an endless grassland. They were now not far from Beiming, and could already feel the noticeable increase in air humidity.

Suddenly, two streaks of light swept across the sky.

Bai Yin raised her head, forgetting to chew the biscuit in her mouth, and watched the two figures quickly disappear into the distance for a while.

"Why did two more fly over?"

Along the way, they had encountered several groups of cultivators on their journey, including demons and figures that flashed by so quickly they couldn't be recognized. The two auras they had just encountered seemed somewhat familiar, but by the time she tried to take a closer look, they had already disappeared behind the mountains.

An Nuan turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just two more flew by a moment ago, and I didn't see who they were."

Bai Yin shook her head, stuffed the remaining half of the pancake into her mouth, and mumbled, "It seems like they're also going north."

An Nuan looked up at the direction where the two streaks of light disappeared, said nothing, gently pulled the reins, and the Chasing Wind Horse continued forward along the dirt road.

Baiyin hurriedly urged her mount to catch up.