"Because this demonic beast was injured." Ji Mofan also fell from mid-air, his sword blade piercing into the beast's spiritual core, stirring it in the flesh and blood, and picking out an inner core wrapped with a faint water elemental power.
Ge Gen was somewhat puzzled, "How did Master figure that out?"
"These are the traces of a contract that was once made." Ji Mofan gently brushed his fingertips across the inner core, and the spiritual energy on it swirled around his fingertips.
"But just recently, someone forcibly severed this connection."
Ge Gen nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
He knew that forcibly severing the contract would cause harm, but he didn't understand how his master could be so certain of this without even touching the inner core.
"Look into his eyes." Ji Mofan sighed, and with a flick of his blood-stained sword, as blood droplets rolled down, he pointed at the demon beast's murky, lifeless eyes that stared straight at the sky.
"The gray and chaotic appearance clearly indicates that he has been subjected to a powerful impact from spiritual energy. However, there are no obvious wounds visible on his body. The only thing that could cause this is the breaking of the contract."
"But who would do that?" Ge Gen wondered. "If the contract is severed, not only the contracted beast, but the contractor himself will also be harmed."
“There are actually three types of contracts. What you’ve described is only the equality type,” Ji Mofan said. “The other two are master and servant, and family and relatives.”
"The difference between this and equality is that in a master-servant contract, the party with the initiative is the contractor, while in a familiar, it is the contracted beast."
"Such contracts arise when there is a significant disparity in strength between the two parties. The party in control has the right to unilaterally terminate the contract without incurring any repercussions from the contract rules."
Ge Gen nodded seriously.
Ji Mofan couldn't help but fall silent.
At first, he didn't understand how Shi Rusi knew that there was a monster waiting to attack others here.
Now it's obvious that someone is deliberately waiting here, preparing to control their contracted beast to take Ge Gen's life!
But perhaps it was because he saw that Ji Mofan had arrived nearby two days ago that he hurriedly broke off the contract and fled in panic.
...There were very few suspects this time as well.
Most cultivators who can form contracts with water-attribute demonic beasts also possess water-elemental roots. Without a doubt, Qi Fengyu is the only one with both the means and the motive.
Although that sickly fellow couldn't defeat a powerful enemy, if he had the help of a Foundation Establishment stage demon beast, it wouldn't be impossible for him to eat kudzu root.
So, was the so-called "accident" involving Ge Gen in his previous life also orchestrated by Qi Fengyu behind the scenes?
Ji Mo Fan frowned.
How could this be? The Yun Cang Sword Sect's cultivation method emphasizes righteousness. If it were just petty theft, that would be one thing, but if it involves murder, how could the disciples' soul lamps on the peach and plum trees not show abnormalities?
He originally thought that even if this matter was related to Qi Fengyu, it would most likely be done through someone else.
But now it seems that he might actually take the stage himself?
Upon reflection, it's not hard to understand; after all, it's inappropriate to entrust the task of murder to anyone.
Shen Yun, who was closest to him, cherished him the most. He would never agree to do something that would inevitably corrupt his Dao heart.
Not to mention Li Geyue, who has been locked up in solitary confinement recently and can't get out at all.
Moreover, Qi Fengyu probably also sensed that this kid was gradually drifting away from him recently.
There was originally another option: hiring assassins. But Ji Mofan had recently reorganized the Yun Cang Sword Sect's accounts, leaving Qi Fengyu with a lot of money, if not completely depleted, then scattered and broken. Where would they find the spare cash to hire assassins?
He already possessed a magical artifact capable of deceiving the laws of the secret realm, so it's not surprising that he would take the opportunity to follow him in.
So, in this life, because they saw that Ji Mofan was not easy to fool, they switched to Ge Gen, who seemed easier to bully?
Ji Mofan casually tossed the inner core to Ge Gen, no longer wanting the child to waste his days in the Shallow Ocean Secret Realm. Opportunities here were limited, and staying for seven days wouldn't yield any further gains.
He took the person directly back to the Yun Cang Sword Sect.
The time limit for obtaining the spiritual spring from Shen Yun last time was simply thrown at Ge Gen's head this time, leaving him to ditch in a corner of the back mountain of Medical Peak.
He has already used up quite a bit of his own knowledge; taking this shortcut again would only make his cultivation level unstable.
Ge Gen, on the other hand, had been chopping fish in the secret realm for two and a half days, and his meridians were exhausted. He needed to soak in the abundant spiritual energy to relax.
When Shi Rusi returned and entered the main hall to report to Shen Yun on the gains and losses of this training, Ji Mofan noticed his subtle gaze directed at him.
"Junior Brother Shi, please speak freely." He waved his hand lightly.
Shi Rusi seemed a little hesitant, "It's just that... this time when we led the team to go on a training trip, there were 57 people when we left the sect, but only 56 people returned... We couldn't find our senior brother's disciple, Ge Gen."
"Did you not find it, or did you not look for it at all?" Ji Mofan gently swept the tea in his hand with the lid of his teacup, his eyes lowered as he did not look at him.
Shi Rusi was somewhat taken aback by his unusually calm reaction.
Didn't they say that the senior brother cared a lot about his little disciple? He even stood up for him in front of everyone and punished Shi Junxing for making a mistake on the stage.
How come you can still sit comfortably in your seat even though you hear someone has disappeared?
"What's going on?" Shen Yun frowned unhappily.
"Elder, this disciple is also unaware." Shi Rusi hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed his head. "This disciple only followed the elder's instructions and told all the junior brothers and sisters to gather at the designated location after completing seven days of training on their own, so that we could kill the Foundation Establishment stage demonic beasts found in the secret realm together."
"But when the time came, we waited and waited, but Nephew Gegen did not come."
"I think it's possible that Junior Nephew Gegen was injured during his seven-day training, so he tore up the teleportation talisman first and went to the sect's flying artifact to recuperate."
"He wasn't the only one missing when we gathered, so I didn't think much of it at the time. After all, the Shallow Ocean Secret Realm isn't that difficult, so nothing too serious should happen."
"But after we all left the secret realm, we couldn't find Junior Nephew Gegen anywhere, neither on the sect's flying artifacts nor in the surrounding villages..."
"Bang!"
The tabletop shook from being slapped, and the vase with small flowers on it almost fell to the ground.
"Nonsense!" Before Ji Mofan could say anything, Shen Yun attacked Shi Rusi first, "Shi Rusi, I chose you as the leader of this training trip not so that you would let your team members run wild!"
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