Sophie Qiu no longer felt any discomfort. Sensing the tense atmosphere, she decisively ordered her people to leave. She had only come to observe and see if she could gain any advantage, but with things on the verge of erupting, it was safer to keep her distance. If she accidentally angered the Ghostmaster, she could be discarded at any moment—a fate she was keen to avoid!
The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily on everyone, yet no one dared to make a move or act rashly.
With a sharp 'smack!' the silence was shattered. Maxwell Jing twirled his folding fan, glanced at the crowd, and shook his head regretfully. "Why did you stop fighting? I haven't had my fill yet!"
Suddenly, a hidden arrow shot straight at him. Ethan Gu quickly pulled him into his arms, and a silver needle instantly flew toward the source of the arrow. A scream rang out—everyone turned to look, but before they could see who it was, the person had already turned into a pile of white bones!
Maxwell Jing glanced at the pile of bones, then patted the arm tightly wrapped around his waist. Watching Ethan Gu's tense jaw, he raised an eyebrow. "Why so nervous? If I couldn't dodge something like that, I'd have died countless times by now!"
Ethan Gu narrowed his eyes at him and said coldly, "You should have died a few more times."
Hearing this, Maxwell Jing tugged at the corner of his mouth, rubbed his nose, and obediently fell silent.
Everyone wondered who would dare attack the Ghost Guild's Right Guardian at such a moment. Knowing the Ghostmaster was already furious, someone still dared to provoke him! Even if they feared nothing, why drag everyone else down with them? They cursed the assailant in their hearts and watched Damien Gray closely, but with the Ghostmaster's mask, they couldn't read his expression at all.
Even if he took off the mask, someone as enigmatic as the Ghostmaster—Damien Gray—was not someone they could ever truly understand.
Everyone kept their eyes on Damien Gray, fearful he might lash out at any moment. No one noticed the subtle tension between Ethan Gu and Maxwell Jing. Only Yuna Ye looked dejected—there was truly no place for her between them. Why hadn't she met Brother Ethan earlier?
She glanced at Shuyang Ye, who, though injured, seemed mostly unharmed. At least her father was safe, and that brought her some comfort.
In truth, Damien Gray had intentionally gone easy on Shuyang Ye. There were things he had yet to figure out, and now was not the time for Shuyang Ye to die.
Maxwell Jing's lowered gaze was thoughtful. As the Ghost Guild's Right Guardian, he had surely made plenty of enemies. He hoped the attack was aimed only at him; otherwise, whoever struck now was deliberately provoking the Sect Master. What was their true aim?
What Maxwell Jing realized, Morgan Shangguan and Damien Gray understood as well. The two exchanged glances, both sensing the truth. The shadowy figure had done so much already—if they didn't act now, that would be strange. So, it was unlikely the attack targeted Maxwell Jing alone; it was probably connected to the person lurking in the shadows.
It seemed they didn't want things resolved too easily, but instead intended to escalate the chaos. What was their ultimate goal? Simply to throw the martial world into turmoil? With the treasure at stake, disorder was inevitable—by the Harvest Moon Night at the latest. There was no need to rush, nor to force everyone into a life-or-death struggle now.
Her gaze drifted toward Violet Snow, who still sat calmly in her seat, expression unchanged. Morgan Shangguan's eyes flickered—Violet Snow's composure was, paradoxically, abnormal. She was almost certain Violet Snow was connected to the shadowy figure. Now, with someone attacking Maxwell Jing, even if Violet Snow didn't care about him, she should at least be anxious about Damien Gray. Yet Violet Snow remained poised, her face placid, as if she had foreseen this scene and wasn't worried that Damien Gray would be implicated. Clearly, the assailant was tied to the person in the shadows!
Yet even now, she couldn't figure out what the person in the shadows was truly planning.
Now, both the Lotus Sect and Rakshasa Palace were under his control—perhaps even more than those two. So why was he still hiding and scheming? If it were anyone else, with those sects in hand, they'd still fear the Ghost Guild and Cloud Guild. But this man was different; he possessed powers no one knew about.
So what was he plotting from the shadows? Did he want to rule the world? Even without all these machinations, he had enough power to stake his claim.
Was he worried that something in the treasure might fall into someone else's hands and become an obstacle? Then why hadn't he tried to claim the treasure himself? With his abilities, he shouldn't be concerned about anyone stealing it from him.
If he wanted to use them to obtain the treasure, then he shouldn't be stirring up so much trouble—he should be urging them to search for it quickly. If chaos broke out now, who knew how many would die? Once the martial world's strength was depleted, finding the treasure would become much harder.
Even if he was cautious and feared the martial world would grow too strong and snatch the treasure away, there was no need to act now. He could wait until they'd located the treasure, then eliminate the martial artists at his leisure. With his power, disposing of them would be a trivial matter!
Violet Snow might appear unaffected, but inside she was far from pleased. She knew exactly why she'd come, and that person had indeed been brought by her—but the attack hadn't been her command!
She'd loved Damien Gray for so long and understood his temperament well. There was no need for such a move now, but the attacker, seeing the righteous side waver, had struck to escalate the situation. Clearly, the master didn't trust her, so they'd sent someone unruly to assist!
Damien Gray seemed completely unfazed, not even bothering to investigate who had made the attack. He simply cast a cool glance at Liam Liu.
Though it was only a brief look, Liam Liu couldn't help but step back. That terrifying feeling lingered, making his heart race. Seeing Kimberly Liu's miserable state, he felt a chill deep inside—he didn't want to end up like Kimberly Liu, a ruined man unable even to end his own suffering.