Qiu Xuan Mountain, residence.

Xu Ping sat on the stone bench in the small courtyard, silently pondering whether there were any places where he might have exposed himself during the operations.

Recalling the entire process, from concealing his presence and attacking to finally cleaning up the battlefield, he carefully considered it several times before finally confirming that there were no loopholes, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This time, he took action deliberately to stir the pot.

If Jiang Tian was acting alone, then this trouble was completely resolved.

But if Jiang Tian had other comrades or forces behind him, his sudden disappearance would surely arouse their suspicion and action.

No matter what their intentions are, under the observation of two Golden Core Cultivators, their plans are definitely easier to expose than before.

"Now, we'll just have to see how the situation develops!" Xu Ping's eyes were solemn, unsure of what might happen next.

Would it get better? Or will it get worse?

He wasn't sure.

But regardless, it was far better than doing nothing and letting the situation deteriorate.

...

Xu Ping cleared his mind and took Jiang Tian's corpse out of the Storage Ring.

"Oh?"

"What's this?"

Xu Ping was slightly stunned, as a nearly transparent ultra-thin mask fell from Jiang Tian's face.

His corpse was now shrinking, turning into a short and emaciated middle-aged man.

"Is this mask what he used for disguise?"

Xu Ping picked up the ultra-thin mask, feeling puzzled.

He released his Divine Sense to probe the ultra-thin mask and couldn't help but exclaim.

The Divine Sense seemed to enter a void, yielding nothing.

"This mask has the ability to deceive and obscure Divine Sense perception."

As Xu Ping deepened his Divine Sense, he suddenly caught a trace of an ancient and eerie aura.

"This item is not simple."

Xu Ping's heart was secretly shocked, he planned to refine the ultra-thin mask after he finished searching all the items on Jiang Tian.

Having stored the ultra-thin mask, he began to search Jiang Tian's corpse for useful items but only found a single Storage Ring.

He easily broke the Divine Sense restriction on it and invaded with his Divine Sense.

"I've struck it rich!" Xu Ping's eyes flashed with a hint of delight.

The vast space was filled with various items: Spirit Stones, Pills, Magical Artifacts, Talismans...

He even found a top-grade offensive Magical Artifact, and along with the previously discovered top-grade defensive Magical Artifact, there were as many as two top-grade Magical Artifacts.

"These riches are even more abundant than those of an ordinary Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator." Xu Pin cheerfully stored everything in his own Storage Ring.

Then, he flicked his finger, and a fireball shot out from his fingertip, landing on Jiang Tian's corpse.

Boom!

In just a moment, Jiang Tian's corpse turned to ashes.

Next, Xu Ping used a Cleaning Talisman to summon a stream of water, washing away the ashes without leaving a trace.

"Finally... there's this mask!"

After finishing all this, Xu Ping took out the mysterious mask again.

Having initially probed it before, he knew this strange item was far from simple.

Now he intended to thoroughly refine it.

Xu Ping infused a strand of Mana into the ultra-thin mask.

Buzz buzz!

The ultra-thin mask directly absorbed the strand of Mana, emitting a shimmering glow, floating in mid-air, with an even greater suction emanating from it.

Xu Ping's expression remained unchanged as he continued to steadily input Mana.

Two hours later.

The ultra-thin mask stopped absorbing Mana; its glow intensified, vaguely establishing a subtle connection with Xu Ping.

Subsequently, some information automatically surfaced in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Lower Grade Treasured Artifact — Thousand Illusion Mask, capable of transforming into a thousand people!" Xu Ping's heart trembled.

This was a Treasured Artifact that could transform into another person.

To possess a certain face and identity, the simplest and most effective method was to kill a target and allow the mask to absorb their essence and soul.

This identity replacement was nearly perfect; even someone from a higher realm would find it difficult to detect any flaw.

Besides killing the target, collecting their blood and Mana aura and integrating them into the mask could achieve a similar effect, albeit slightly less effective.

"What a treasure!" Xu Ping was ecstatic; having such a Treasured Artifact in hand would make hiding or escaping remarkably easy.

"Let's test the effect!"

He applied the Thousand Illusion Mask to his face.

It felt like transparent human skin silicone.

Once affixed to his face, it felt cool and seamlessly merged with the skin.

In an instant, Xu Ping's facial features and demeanor changed dramatically, becoming a handsome and imposing young man.

"Jiang Tian!"

Xu Ping drew a water mirror with his finger, revealing his current appearance.

Not only had his appearance become Jiang Tian, but his eyes, hair, whole body skin tone, emitted aura, and Mana fluctuations all transformed accordingly.

"It's so perfect!"

Xu Ping was amazed; no matter how he looked, he was Jiang Tian himself.

"It seems Jiang Tian, no, it should be that this person killed Jiang Tian and replaced him, infiltrating Qiu Xuan Mountain."

"No wonder he could fool the Golden Core Cultivators; it seems to be the Thousand Illusion Mask's doing," Xu Ping thought to himself.

With such a Treasured Artifact at hand, there are countless things he could accomplish in the future.

After having fun with the Thousand Illusion Mask for a while, feeling already satisfied, Xu Ping put it away.

Though the gain today was immense, he wasn't swept away by the excitement.

"Next, I'll just wait and see how the situation unfolds."

...

Three days later.

When the people on Qiu Xuan Mountain searched every nook and cranny without finding a trace of Jiang Tian, they realized something was amiss.

A living Foundation Establishment Cultivator vanished without a sound?

Someone with such skill must be at least a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

And in Qiu Xuan Immortal City, there aren't many cultivators above Late-Stage Foundation Establishment who have no enmity with Jiang Tian; none of them would kill him for no reason.

"Could it be that a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator is hiding in Qiu Xuan Immortal City?"

This idea was far more reliable than before and was accepted by most people.

Under normal circumstances, the Third-rank Array could trap not only a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator but even a Fake Pill cultivator.

But now, with the Third-rank Array not yet repaired, and the pressure from the beast tide so immense, even Golden Core Cultivators are unable to spare time, let alone others.

As for using Qi Cultivators to search?

That's even less feasible; they wouldn't even see a shadow.

Thus Qiu Xuan Mountain could only stipulate that unless there were two or more Foundation Establishment Cultivators, no one was allowed to leave Qiu Xuan Mountain.

Following this incident, the once-confident people began to waver.

Indeed, when external problems haven't been resolved, internal issues arise!

As for Xu Ping, the initiator, his emotions remained stable, and Qiu Xuan Mountain's actions were within his expectations.

The most important factor would be the reactions of Jiang Tian's accomplices or any forces behind him.

Regarding the possibility that he had no accomplices or forces behind him,

Xu Ping felt that this was highly unlikely.

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