The War of the Gods in the Great Void God King

Jiang Fan breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Li Yang disappear.

He knew he couldn't leave on his own. If he tried to escape, the entire sect would assume he was the murderer of the two men. When the sect's higher-ups went to the Jiang family, he would implicate everyone in the family.

He looked around and quickly got to work.

He dragged the bodies of Sun Li and Zhao Mang to the edge of the cliff, then kicked some rocks to create the illusion of a landslide before throwing the two bodies into the bottomless Fallen Soul Cliff.

After doing all this, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he stood there, closed his eyes, and began to recall Zhang Tao's usual words and actions, trying to figure out the elder's greed and suspicion.

A moment later, Jiang Fan opened his eyes, his gaze calm.

He picked up the bronze sword from the ground and slashed his left arm, the blood instantly staining his sleeve.

Then, he sat down cross-legged, circulated the Golden Dragon King bloodline, forcibly suppressed the terrifying dragon might within his body, dispersed his originally condensed spiritual power, and disguised himself again as a weak and exhausted mortal.

After doing all this, he didn't even bandage his wound, letting the blood flow freely.

Before long, hurried footsteps and shouts came from afar: "Who is making such a racket here?!"

Zhang Tao, accompanied by several trusted disciples, hurriedly arrived at Fallen Soul Cliff.

He received a message from Sun Li saying that he had discovered Jiang Fan's abnormality, so he rushed over immediately. Unexpectedly, he sensed the residual spiritual energy fluctuations as soon as he arrived at the mountain pass.

Zhang Tao immediately spotted Jiang Fan lying on the ground, pale-faced, his left arm covered in blood. Sun Li, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Jiang Fan, where's Sun Li?"

Zhang Tao's sharp gaze swept across the surroundings before landing on Jiang Fan, carrying a scrutinizing and intimidating air.

Jiang Fan raised his head, his face filled with terror and helplessness. His voice trembled as he pointed down the cliff, his voice choked with sobs, "Master...Master, Senior Brother Sun...he...he was ambushed by a demonic beast!"

"A demonic beast?" Zhang Tao frowned and quickly scanned the entire area, but there was no sign of a demonic beast nearby.

"Nonsense, where did this monster come from?" Zhang Tao shouted sharply, taking a step forward, his powerful aura enveloping Jiang Fan.

Jiang Fan flinched, his eyes filled with terror, and said haltingly:

"Just now... just now, Senior Brother Sun and I were patrolling here when suddenly a huge black shadow darted out from under the cliff, moving extremely fast."

"Senior Brother Sun rushed forward to protect me, but the demonic beast was too powerful. In the ensuing battle, Senior Brother Sun's greatsword was even broken!"

"Unexpectedly, the monster spewed a mouthful of poisonous mist, and Senior Brother Sun was swept off the cliff... Then the monster immediately fled."

As he spoke, he showed a lingering fear in his expression, and even coughed twice as if he had inhaled the remaining poisonous fog.

Zhang Tao narrowed his eyes and stared intently at Jiang Fan.

He couldn't sense any spiritual energy fluctuations from Jiang Fan, and apart from that obvious wound, there were no other serious injuries.

Moreover, Jiang Fan's fear did not seem to be faked.

Moreover, Zhang Tao looked at the broken bronze sword again. Given the sword's toughness, even if Jiang Fan was physically strong, he couldn't possibly break it with his bare hands.

Thinking of this, Zhang Tao coldly asked again, "Why are you unharmed?"

"I...I was terrified. While Senior Brother Sun was fighting the monster, I ran behind a big rock and hid. After the monster dragged Senior Brother Sun off the cliff, it ran away immediately..." Jiang Fan lowered his head, looking cowardly and helpless.

Zhang Tao remained silent. He walked to the edge of the cliff and peered down, but could sense nothing but bottomless darkness.

He examined the ground carefully and found signs of a fight, as well as remnants of Sun Li's spiritual energy.

He lingered at the scene for a moment, his doubts still lingering, but Jiang Fan's behavior seemed too reasonable.

The fact that a useless person with no spiritual root survived a battle against a mid-stage Qi Refining disciple seems to have no other explanation than that he was terrified and hid.

Moreover, if Jiang Fan is the murderer, why stay here? Wouldn't it be better to just run away?

Could it really be a demonic beast? But how could a demonic beast capable of killing Sun Li suddenly appear in this back mountain?

A shadow crossed Zhang Tao's eyes. Regardless of the truth, Sun Li was dead, and therefore Jiang Fan, as the only one present, had to die.

Zhang Tao's gaze slowly swept around, and his spiritual energy spread out like a tide, inch by inch crushing the ground and rock walls.

Apart from a few trusted disciples standing breathlessly, the surroundings were so quiet that only the sound of the wind could be heard.

The last trace of hesitation in his eyes vanished, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips. Since no one else was present, then Jiang Fan's opportunity was his.

His right hand quietly fell down, and a jet-black bone-piercing nail was already fastened to his fingertip in his sleeve. It was waiting for the energy to lock onto him so that it could instantly pierce through Jiang Fan's brow and seize his opportunity.

Just as the murderous intent was about to erupt.

"Zhang Tao".

An aged voice boomed down from mid-air.

Zhang Tao froze. He slowly looked up and saw several figures approaching, who turned out to be several high-ranking elders from the Enforcement Hall and the Daoist sect.

The bone-piercing nail at Zhang Tao's fingertip was poised to strike; if these people had arrived even a moment later, Jiang Fan would already be a corpse.

However, as those figures landed, an invisible pressure instantly enveloped the entire area.

Zhang Tao's fingers trembled in his sleeve, forcing him to retract the bone-piercing nail. He also forcibly suppressed the overwhelming killing intent in his heart.

He quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Elder Li and Elder Chen."

Those who came were all powerful figures in the sect, with profound cultivation, far surpassing Zhang Tao, an elder in charge of miscellaneous affairs.

Elder Li was a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with piercing eyes. When he swept across the entire room, even Zhang Tao felt a sense of suffocation.

Elder Li ignored Zhang Tao and walked straight to the edge of the cliff, looking down into the abyss.

The other Elder Chen squatted down, his fingertips brushing against the broken rocks and remaining bloodstains on the ground, his eyes gleaming with insight.

"Zhang Tao, what exactly happened?" Elder Chen asked, his voice hoarse.

Zhang Tao took a deep breath and delivered his prepared statement. This time, however, he dared not embellish it and could only tell the truth:

"This disciple received a message from Sun Li saying that he had discovered something strange about Jiang Fan, so he rushed over."

"At this point, Jiang Fan was seen lying heavily injured on the ground, while Sun Li had fallen off the cliff. According to Jiang Fan, it was an attack by a demonic beast..."

As he spoke, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally drifted toward Jiang Fan, attempting to exert pressure through his eyes.

However, the senior elders did not heed his hint.

Elder Li turned around, his cloudy yet sharp gaze lingering on Jiang Fan for a moment before landing on the broken bronze sword.

Elder Li spoke calmly, giving his conclusion: "It is not surprising that some escaped demonic beasts occasionally cause trouble at the Fallen Soul Cliff in the back mountain."

Zhang Tao was anxious; how could he give up so easily?

He couldn't help but speak up, "But Elder Li, Sun Li is only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, not an ordinary demon beast..."

Elder Li interrupted him, his tone leaving no room for doubt, saying, "Sun Li acted rashly, abandoned his post, and was attacked and killed by a demonic beast. This matter is hereby dropped, there is no need to investigate further."