# Chapter 165: The Suspicious Formation
All eyes turned to him.
Jiang Wang frowned and asked, "Did you kill him?"
This was not a good sign.
The opportunity had yet to appear, and someone was already dead.
This portended that the competition to come would be bloody and savage.
The peculiar nature of the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm made it an isolated island of human nature—an island where ethics, morality, and law... every rule that governed mankind had no hold whatsoever.
In the present age, in any nation withsound laws, a killer would face punishment. Transcendent cultivators could snuff out countless lives with a snap of their fingers, but hardly any who wished to live in the light would do so.
Because even for a transcendent cultivator, killing carried consequences.
That was why heretic cultivators and practitioners of unorthodox paths were reviled as enemies of all, driven into the shadows.
But in the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, all worldly constraints ceased to exist.
Because here, nothing one did would be known. Nothing required taking responsibility.
Therefore anything could happen.
Those who committed atrocities often concealed their faces; those who schemed and framed often hid their names.
A great scholar of the Dusk-Drum Academy had once said—human nature in darkness simply cannot be tested, for human nature is darkness itself.
The wealthy-hatted cultivator's face was grim: "It wasn't me!"
This man had a flat nose and a dark complexion, already ill-favored by nature. When his expression soured, it could no longer be described merely as unpleasant. It added two measures of something almost frightening.
So that was how it was.
Everyone must have heard the scream and rushed to the main hall, arriving one after another.
Of the four who arrived later, none had likely witnessed Tian Yong's death firsthand. That was why they only vaguely surrounded the wealthy-hatted man without anyone making a move.
"It wasn't you?" The woman at the northeast corner spoke coldly. "I heard the sound and came running—it took less than three breaths, and you were already standing over Tian Yong's corpse. Could you really have been faster than me?"
"Seven breaths."
"Five breaths."
"Six breaths."
The other three reported their respective times. Some had come from the front hall, some from the rear, and one had gone back to the Crimson Jade Archway to search for clues again.
"You all saw me coming," Jiang Wang said, meeting their gazes.
The wealthy-hatted man's expression turned even uglier: "Of course I was faster than you—I heard the scream, turned my head, and he was already dead!"
"Then that's even more interesting," the woman sneered. "Was he killed by your ugliness?"
"You!"
The wealthy-hatted cultivator was indeed rather hard on the eyes. Enraged, he snarled, "Believe it or not, I don't care. The man wasn't killed by me. But if you want to start something, come at me!"
"Lian Que, don't be hasty with your spite. Tell us what happened." An older-looking cultivator spoke up.
He seemed to know the wealthy-hatted cultivator, though their relationship was not apparently close.
Though his words helped Lian Que out, he did not move from the path that blocked him.
The one standing before Jiang Wang was a man in a long cloak. He had likely been exploring the same direction as Jiang Wang, arriving just after him.
After Jiang Wang appeared, he silently sidestepped, maintaining ample caution.
He now spoke as well: "Indeed, tell us how you killed Tian Yong—a scion of the Tian clan of Daze Commandery, no doubt carrying quite a few treasures?"
His voice carried an inexplicable chill, devoid of any human warmth.
Lian Que glared at him furiously, but he was not, after all, a fool. He had no desire to invite a concerted attack from all present.
Forcing patience, he explained, "I originally went to the rear hall to search for the opportunity, but then I suddenly thought—the main hall hasn't been thoroughly searched yet. Others must have looked already, but it's not as reassuring as doing it myself. So I turned back.
"As it happened, I ran into Tian Yong in the hall. He had just returned as well. We exchanged a few words, swapped some information. I didn't want to search for clues right in front of him, so I decided to go to the rear hall first. Right then I suddenly heard his scream. I turned and looked—he was already dead.
"I hadn't even had time to examine the cause of death when you all showed up!"
"If what you say is true—then who could kill Tian Yong in such a short time? And do so without Lian Que noticing? Is there someone that strong below the Dragon-Rising Realm?" It was the same woman who pressed the question.
"There might be. But such a person is not in this Dragon Palace. And if it were him, he would not hide." The older-looking cultivator spoke.
The woman's expression stiffened; she knew whom the man was referring to. She immediately said, "Since Wang Yiwu is not here—then obviously Lian Que is lying. What, Zhao Fangyuan—will your Four Seas Commerce Alliance still shelter someone of the Lian clan?"
The older cultivator shook his head. "I only feel that, with the opportunity not yet appearing, there is no need for us to fight and kill each other. Of course, if Lian Que has chosen to kill early, we may as well expel him from the contention first."
Expelling someone from the contention could only mean one thing—killing him.
This cultivator of the Four Seas Commerce Alliance, who had seemingly spoken in Lian Que's defense, was the first to display killing intent toward him!
The cloaked cultivator chimed in with a cold voice: "So it should be."
The female cultivator at the northeast corner also subtly closed two steps closer.
In truth, regardless of whether Lian Que was guilty, with one fewer competitor, each remaining person's chances improved.
Especially since the Chi Yang Lian clan's standing was exalted, and Lian Que's strength was formidable.
Removing such an opponent early was undoubtedly a boon for everyone else.
"The opportunity hasn't even appeared yet, and already you're all killing each other—aren't you being a bit hasty?" Jiang Wang walked several steps into the hall.
For one thing, he did not agree with the judgment that Lian Que was the killer. For another, these three were showing signs of forming a small faction. If he allowed them to kill Lian Que now, once they tasted success, they would likely follow the same pattern, expelling the others one by one.
This was extremely disadvantageous to him, who stood alone. He had to put a stop to it.
"Perhaps it was poison." A tall man at the main hall's entrance spoke.
He had remained silent until now.
"Would it not be better to first examine Tian Yong's corpse and determine his cause of death? There is no rush to decide."
"Then," Zhao Fangyuan said, "who is skilled at examining the dead?"
The Qi Kingdom's commerce was thriving, and trading alliances possessed formidable strength. The two largest—Treasure Gathering Commerce and Four Seas Commerce Alliance—maintained military might not inferior to any ordinary noble house.
Zhao Fangyuan, born of the Four Seas Commerce Alliance, had nothing to fear from Lian Que. But with Jiang Wang and the tall man both expressing opposition, even if the remaining three of them joined forces, it would be a three-on-three standoff. So he let it go.
"I will." The tall man said, "I am Ji Xiu of Dongwang Valley. I have studied the art of examining the dead."
Dongwang Valley was a medical Dao sect renowned across the world; such credentials inspired trust. It was also an independent sect, belonging to no nation, and thus relatively impartial in its stance.
Lian Que glared at Zhao Fangyuan, looking as though one wrong word would send them to an immediate deathmatch. But he stepped aside, allowing Ji Xiu to approach.
Jiang Wang had no objection. Tian Yong's cause of death was of vital importance—it concerned everyone's personal safety.
If it was poisoning, they needed to know what poison it was, so they could guard against it.
If it was a killing by sheer force, they needed to know who the perpetrator was. Was it one of the cultivators who had entered together, or some hidden danger within the Dragon Palace?
Even if it had been Lian Que who killed him, they needed to eliminate that dangerous element.
And just as Ji Xiu walked to Tian Yong's corpse, crouched down, and was about to begin his examination—
A sudden catastrophe occurred!