Seeing Du Sheng bow to him at a ninety-degree angle, a smile flickered in Ye Ling's eyes.
Although his divine weapon controlled half of the world's top powers, their reach did not extend to Jiang City. Their influence there was far less than that of the Du family.
Ye Ling was currently planning how to lead the Jiang family slowly into an abyss, and to achieve this, leveraging the Du family's strength was precisely what he needed.
The Du family could not directly threaten the Jiang family's position, yet their influence was enough for the Jiang family to take notice.
Ye Ling said, "If you have the intention to follow me, then first help me accomplish the first task."
"Master, please command. Du Sheng will do his utmost," Du Sheng replied respectfully.
"No need to be so serious. This matter is merely a simple request for your Du family," Ye Ling chuckled. "I want you to immediately cease all cooperation with the Jiang Group and instead cooperate with the Su family."
Upon hearing Ye Ling's words, Du Sheng was first taken aback. He wanted to ask Ye Ling the purpose behind this action, but he ultimately dared not voice his question and replied respectfully, "I understand."
The Du family's current stance was to follow Ye Ling and be his vanguard.
Until the Du family gained Ye Ling's favor, they would do as he said, and asking for reasons was an unnecessary endeavor.
It would not earn them any favor.
"Very good. I hope you can handle this matter well and not disappoint me."
Ye Ling was quite satisfied with Du Sheng's performance. After nodding to Du Yameg, he turned and left.
"Farewell, Master!"
Du Sheng and Du Yameg bowed respectfully, watching Ye Ling depart.
Seeing Ye Ling about to leave, Zhang Daoyuan also greeted Du Sheng and then hurried after Ye Ling.
His visit to the Du family this time was partly to return the Phoenix Eye, as Du Sheng's life depended on it, and he would not stand idly by.
On the other hand, the evil spirit within the Phoenix Eye had not been removed, so he came here to find out who wanted the Phoenix Eye.
Although Ye Ling's appearance was quite unexpected, he still had to brace himself and chase after Ye Ling to investigate certain matters.
...
"Little friend, wait!"
Outside the Du family villa, Zhang Daoyuan caught up with Ye Ling.
"Is something the matter?"
Ye Ling looked at Zhang Daoyuan and asked indifferently.
After the incident at Xishan Manor, Ye Ling's impression of Zhang Daoyuan was not very good. If Ye Ling had been in a more irritable mood at the time, Zhang Daoyuan might have perished in the inferno.
"Little friend, I'd like to ask, what do you intend to do with the Phoenix Eye?" Zhang Daoyuan asked tentatively.
"What business is it of yours?" Unfortunately, Ye Ling did not humor Zhang Daoyuan and had no intention of answering him.
Seeing Ye Ling's extreme impatience, Zhang Daoyuan realized he couldn't beat around the bush with Ye Ling and quickly said, "Little friend, an evil spirit is hidden within the Phoenix Eye. If you ignore it, you might harm yourself!"
"Evil spirit? You mean this thing?"
Ye Ling spread his palm, and a mass of twisted black mist churned in his palm, within which a human face could faintly be seen.
"This is it. How did you…?"
Seeing the black mist swirling in Ye Ling's palm, Zhang Daoyuan was greatly alarmed and stared at Ye Ling with disbelief.
He had tried every method to lure out the evil spirit within the Phoenix Eye, but none had been effective. He had originally planned to take the Phoenix Eye back to his sect and have his fellow disciples work together to lure out and eliminate the evil spirit…
But now, the evil spirit was trapped in Ye Ling's palm?
When had he done this?
Zhang Daoyuan carefully recalled the events at the Du family and confirmed that Ye Ling had obtained the Phoenix Eye not long ago, and after obtaining it, he had simply put it in his pocket without any apparent action!
"How could a mere broken spirit escape my notice?"
Ye Ling clenched his five fingers, and the mass of black mist was directly crushed by Ye Ling, its aura rapidly disappearing.
When Du Qiu produced the Phoenix Eye, Ye Ling had already detected an evil spirit hidden within it. Moreover, judging by the degree of its integration with the Phoenix Eye, it had been hidden there for some time.
However, the consciousness of the evil spirit within the Phoenix Eye was fragmented, and Ye Ling had not obtained any useful information from it.
Seeing Ye Ling effortlessly eliminate the evil spirit, Zhang Daoyuan stared at him, dumbfounded, with a tempestuous storm raging in his heart.
"That… that's the remnant soul of a Ghost King. How could you so easily…"
Zhang Daoyuan couldn't believe that Ye Ling had just eliminated the evil spirit like that, thinking he was dreaming.
"Oh? That evil spirit is actually the remnant soul of a Ghost King? It sounds like it has some background?" Ye Ling's interest was piqued, and he asked Zhang Daoyuan.
This Phoenix Eye, like the other half, was also a key to unlocking a certain place.
And since the spirit was a Ghost King residing within the Phoenix Eye, Ye Ling couldn't help but connect the two matters.
In Ye Ling's memory, his Ye family was just an ordinary family, with no contact with any extraordinary individuals. Yet, they were ultimately annihilated, and even Uncle Shen, who investigated the cause of their deaths, was cursed by an extraordinary individual…
If the destruction of the Ye family was unrelated to this Phoenix Eye, Ye Ling would never believe it.
Seeing Ye Ling inquire, Zhang Daoyuan also suppressed his shock and said to Ye Ling, "This evil spirit is the remnant soul of the Tian Luo Ghost King, who was defeated by my sect's ancestor three hundred years ago."
"To prevent the Tian Luo Ghost King from reviving, our ancestor sealed the Ghost King's remnant soul within a spiritual artifact. When the Ghost King's power weakened, we, the descendants, would eliminate it."
"However, a hundred years ago, the Zhengyi Sect suffered a great calamity, and all the spiritual artifacts within the sect were destroyed. The Ghost King's remnant soul scattered across the land, attaching itself to various spiritual artifacts."
"To prevent the Ghost King's revival, we Heavenly Masters have traveled the world for the past century, searching for spiritual artifacts everywhere to eliminate the evil spirits within them."
"Tian Luo Ghost King…"
Ye Ling murmured the name. He had also seen this name in the memories of the Yin Curse Elder.
According to the Yin Curse Elder's memories, the Tian Luo Ghost King was a general under the evil gods he worshipped, possessing unparalleled strength and dominating the world.
However, the sacrificial formations the Yin Curse Elder used at the time were all jumbled and had no effect in sacrificing to the evil gods, so Ye Ling had paid no mind to this general.
Ye Ling also recalled that in the basement where Jiang Tianhao dismembered the homeless man, there were many strange and eerie patterns on the walls. If those patterns were fully unfolded, they could vaguely form a human face…
The appearance of that human face seemed similar to the spirit Ye Ling had just crushed.
Thinking this way… this Tian Luo Ghost King was also related to the downfall of the Ye family!
With this thought, Ye Ling asked again, "Old Daoist, you travel the world searching for spiritual artifacts. Do you know if there was anything unusual about the Ye family massacre six years ago?"
"The Ye family tragedy?"
Zhang Daoyuan was taken aback, then said, "This old Daoist has also heard of that matter. I vaguely feel that it was not a simple business war, and I always felt that someone annihilated the Ye family to conceal some secret, with the business war being merely a facade."
"At that time, this old Daoist had already obtained the Phoenix Eye from Du Sheng and intended to investigate Xishan Manor to see if the Ye family massacre was related to the Tian Luo Ghost King. Unfortunately…"
At this point, Zhang Daoyuan sighed as he looked at Ye Ling, not continuing.
They both knew what happened afterward.
Xishan Manor was burned down, and the investigation naturally could not proceed.
Ye Ling was unconcerned, saying, "On the surface, the Jiang family annihilated the Ye family. Since you even went to the Li family, there's no reason why you wouldn't investigate the Jiang family, right?"
Zhang Daoyuan nodded. "This old Daoist did indeed investigate the Jiang family. The eldest son of the Jiang family, Jiang Tianhao, has extremely heavy malevolent energy and has killed many people. Moreover, judging by his aura, he should have apprenticed himself to the Yin Curse Elder."
"These days, this old Daoist wanted to find out where he killed people and, at the same time, find the Yin Curse Elder to act on behalf of heaven."
"Unfortunately, three days ago, this old Daoist lost track of Jiang Tianhao. Perhaps he discovered that this old Daoist was investigating him and went into hiding."
Ye Ling said indifferently, "Jiang Tianhao was killed by me, and his master, the Yin Curse Elder, was also dealt with by me. Do you have any other clues?"
Zhang Daoyuan: "..."