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With those words, the silence that followed the departure of Envoy Ming broke into a million pieces. Fierce denials and arguing ranged all around as everyone put forth their disbelief and other opinions hastily.

"I don\'t believe it. He must have used some tricks. If not, how can he accomplish what he did?" the one from the White Plume Sect said a little agitatedly.

As a proud son of heaven who had been heavily nurtured by the White Plume Sect, he had always been arrogant. Even he wasn\'t capable of handling two early-stage Violet Palace realm cultivators together. He refused to believe that someone else could do what he couldn\'t.

White Plume Sect was a first-tier force. To become the key target of grooming in such a force, he had always felt that his talent was no less than those so-called Holy Sons in the hegemonic sects. To him, this was completely absurd. He would rather believe that some underhanded tricks were used than believe that he wasn\'t as strong as a contemporary.

So, he stated his opinion quite loudly.

"I agree," another burly cultivator said a little angrily. "I don\'t believe Envoy Ming\'s words at all. Furthermore, Envoy Ming only arrived after both cultivators were dead and the person left. He may not know everything about how they died. Moreover, Envoy Ming didn\'t even know his cultivation level."

"Exactly," another thin cultivator chimed in. 

"But, I heard that this person was really ferocious," another cultivator suddenly piped up. "If I am not mistaken, that person is the one who annihilated the Wang Clan all on his own. Maybe, he really has the power."

"Bullshit!" the disciple from the White Plume Sect shouted as if someone had stepped on his tail. "What Wang Clan? I can also annihilate ten clans like those clans without any foundation. How can that compare to killing elites a major cultivation realm from famous sects?"

"Exactly," the burly one affirmed.

"You know what," the disciple from the White Plume Sect suddenly said with a strange glint in his eyes. "I am going to prove you all that he isn\'t that strong. I will find him and defeat him to prove that he really used some underhanded methods to accomplish his killings."

"You think, you are the only one capable of doing that," the burly one asked angrily.

"Exactly," the thin cultivator snorted. "How about this? We are all doing nothing here. We are just wasting time as our seniors battle for treasures. I am bored out of my mind. I am sure you guys are too. So, I have a novel idea,"

"What?" the burly one asked angrily.

"How about we all head out and hunt down this guy? We can determine who amongst us is the strongest by this. Whoever hunts down this guy and defeats him will be acknowledged by us all as the strongest. What do you guys think?"

"Hang on, this is my idea. Why are you all joining in?" the disciple from the White Plume Sect asked angrily.

"What?" the burly one asked slyly. "Are you afraid that you will lose if we all join in the hunt?"

"Dream on," the one from White Plume Sect snorted. "Fine, let\'s all decide who is the strongest by this means. I just hope you are all prepared to lose."

"We shall see," others snorted.

"Wait a minute," the disciple from the Iron Mountain Sect suddenly spoke causing everyone to turn towards him. "Did you all forget that Envoy Ming is already hunting this murderer?"

"So what? Your Envoy Ming\'s cultivation may be a major realm ahead of us. But, it doesn\'t mean he will be able to catch up with the murderer before his trace vanishes. That guy was running fast. You Envoy Ming also wasted some time talking to us. There is no guarantee he will be able to hunt down this murderer," the one from White Plume Sect snorted.

"Exactly," the burly one smiled mockingly. "We all have the same starting point. This is a fair way to compare all our resources and talents. This is a hunt. Whoever gets the prey first and defeats it will be the winner."

"What if Envoy Ming can really find the trail?" the Iron Mountain Sect disciple didn\'t relent.

"Then, it can be only our misfortune. But, I sincerely doubt that is possible," the thin cultivator stated calmly.

*****

A few miles out of the Greenwood Forest, that was exactly the case.

Envoy Ming stood with a gloomy look on his face. The trail suddenly ended at this point. He didn\'t know where his target was now.

Duncan didn\'t know that his random switching of direction had helped him avoid a calamity. Right now, he was rushing away from Greenwood Forest with all his might. 

As fate would have it, the random direction he picked out didn\'t have anyone present. Duncan subconsciously avoided any intersections with random travelers journeying around the Star Empire. Whenever he came across someone, he would switch directions and head off based on his instinct.

This was the thing that helped him avoid Envoy Ming\'s pursuit. After losing Duncan\'s trail outside Greenwood Forest, Envoy Ming resorted to asking travelers whether they had seen someone. Duncan\'s random switching of directions without any premeditated plan and avoidance of travelers completely stumped Envoy Ming\'s plans entirely.

When Envoy Ming learned from his junior about the contest they had all chosen to partake in, he almost flipped out. Losing his chance to move up in the cultivation world was one thing, but for others to make a contest of it was something else. It almost made him cough blood.

Still, he sneered as he realized how naïve these idiots were. Could someone who could kill two cultivators at the early Violet Palace realm while still being in the peak of the Spirit Sea realm be easy to hunt and capture? He didn\'t think so.

Envoy Ming was aware of the arrogance these heaven-blessed talents have. He had witnessed it firsthand in his sect. In his long life, the times these talents ended up dying because of overestimation were not small in number. 

Of these heaven-blessed talents, only one in a hundred reached the level of Transformational Experts. The rest inevitably died on the road due to their arrogance and complacency.

These heaven-blessed talents always seem to lack common sense. They would always try to outdo each other and try to gain fame by every means possible. For someone of mediocre talent like Envoy Ming, this behavior of courting death didn\'t seem very bright.

He often lamented the fact that the heavens had blessed these idiots with great talent, while he still struggled to break through the Foundational realms after several decades of cultivation.

However, he also realized one thing. Of those heaven-blessed talents who indulge in these whims, the ones that survive their stupidity and learn from their experience would usually become a veritable powerhouse in the future. Their future wouldn\'t end after being Transformational Experts. They will most likely become Ascendant Beings as well.

This time, he realized, a hornet\'s nest had been stirred. These heaven-blessed talents from various sects were now clamoring to hunt down the murderer he had his eyes on. 

Envoy Ming knew very well that the first couple of these talents wouldn\'t survive the encounter with the murderer. While he was willing to sit back and watch these idiots rush to their deaths like moths to flame, he wasn\'t willing to let go of this opportunity to rise up in status.

He had the confidence that the murderer would easily dispatch these arrogant fools who were also at the peak of the Spirit Sea realm. But, what he was worried about was the aftermath of such a thing. Envoy Ming knew that all these talents were the main group of disciples whom their respective sects had poured countless resources into. 

Their deaths would surely anger the sects behind them. As a result, other experts like him will come out to deal with the murderer. And these men will be his competition. He should hurry to find and deal with this murderer before these competitors come out in numbers.

As much as he would like to take this opportunity to weaken the future of other sects, he couldn\'t afford to play the long game. So, Envoy Ming, reluctantly grit his teeth and sent a call to the Iron Mountain Sect disciple who was in Greenwood Forest.

After instructing the disciple to keep tabs on those idiots and stressing him to contact him immediately if any trail of the murderer was found, Envoy Ming took a deep breath and looked in the direction of Greenwood Forest.

The fight in Greenwood Forest was raging. Now that he was outside of the forest, he could clearly see that something was very wrong with the events happening there. Even though he had been aware of the issues while he was inside the Greenwood Forest, he didn\'t feel this strongly about the issues.

Now that he thought about it a bit, alarm bells started ringing in his head. It was clear to him that his vigilance and decision-making capabilities were being stifled while he was inside the forest. Only after stepping out did he feel the difference keenly. 

Things like this are the most troublesome. Every cultivator often prides themselves on their instincts. If the instincts were being muted, cultivators would most likely be like blind men in a city. Things that interfere with the decision-making capabilities of cultivators aren\'t some common things. They are incredibly rare. 

He would need to report this to the sect. Several higher-ups in the sect were now inside Greenwood Forest. Any mishap would cause severe damage to the sect. With a put-upon sigh, Envoy Ming took out a message talisman and sent his findings directly to the Sect Lord of the Iron Mountain Sect.

He only hoped that whatever was being cooked in that forest wouldn\'t damage the Iron Mountain Sect too much.

*****

A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...

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