Chapter 497: Treasure Hunt
"But..." Lin Feng stammered, his face filled with panic.
Seeing his expression, the gazes of the crowd turned grim.
Zhao Dong sneered, "Hasn't the Great Elder been pressing me about the whereabouts of the Enlightenment Stone? Why are you unhappy now that I'm going to search for it? Could it be you're afraid your scheme will be exposed and you'll lose your life?"
"You! You're talking nonsense!" Lin Feng quickly denied.
Dongfang Shi waved his hand. "Enough. Since Zhao Dong is willing to lead us to the Enlightenment Stone, I am willing to give him a chance. The Enlightenment Stone is our sect's most precious treasure. There can be no mistakes. The final decision will be made after we find it."
With that, Dongfang Shi personally walked over to Zhao Dong, escorting him forward.
Su Li, enduring his injuries, followed close by, his gaze fixed warily on Lin Feng to prevent any sudden attack.
He activated his Divine Sense. As a Cultivator, Zhao Dong's Divine Sense was not only vast in range but also multifunctional.
「An hour later.」
Zhao Dong had searched most of the Qingyun Sect with his Divine Sense.
Seeing that Zhao Dong still hadn't found it, Lin Feng said angrily, "Zhao Dong! Are you deliberately leading us in circles? You're courting death!"
Zhao Dong suddenly stopped and sneered. "Why the rush, Great Elder? Could it be that you know where the Enlightenment Stone is? Or is it hidden in your residence?"
"Nonsense! My residence has a special Formation. Even Su Li couldn't get in, and I would sense any disturbance. How could the Enlightenment Stone possibly be in my residence!?"
"Hehe, but what if you put it there yourself?" Zhao Dong gave a mischievous smile, then turned to Dongfang Shi and asked, "Where is Lin Feng's residence?"
WHOOSH!
Lin Feng's face turned deathly pale. Just as he was about to retort, the Black Feather Sword in Su Li's hand was pointed directly at his neck.
Lin Feng's behavior was so abnormal that Dongfang Shi simply disregarded him and pointed in a direction.
Without hesitation, Zhao Dong strode off.
Upon reaching Lin Feng's residence, Zhao Dong immediately released his Divine Sense. It entered the dwelling, and in just a moment, he encountered a basement whose aura was concealed by another formation.
Zhao Dong smiled. "I think I've found it."
"Are you sure!?" Dongfang Shi's eyes widened. This was Lin Feng's residence!
"You're spouting nonsense! How could my residence possibly hold the Enlightenment Stone!?"
"Enough!" Dongfang Shi shouted coldly. "We'll know whether it's here or not once we look, won't we?"
"But I am the Great Elder of the Qingyun Sect! After a search like this, how can I possibly maintain my standing!?" Lin Feng still tried to argue.
Dongfang Shi said grimly, "If we don't find the Enlightenment Stone here, I will personally kill Zhao Dong to clear the Great Elder's name. Isn't that enough?"
At this point, Lin Feng had no grounds left to argue. He pushed open the doors to his residence and ushered everyone inside. He could only hope that Zhao Dong hadn't discovered the basement.
However, as Zhao Dong passed him, he revealed a wicked smile. Initially, he had been worried the basement might not contain what he was looking for, but Lin Feng's reaction had solidified his resolve.
Stepping inside, Zhao Dong went straight to the basement behind the main hall. He pointed at the door. "This is it. Unless I'm mistaken, the Enlightenment Stone is definitely inside!"
Dongfang Shi looked toward Lin Feng and said ominously, "Great Elder, open the basement."
"I... I..." Lin Feng stammered, trembling. "This basement has been abandoned for a long time. I... I forgot the spell to open it. There's nothing but useless stuff inside; it's better if we don't look."
Lin Feng's words caused Dongfang Shi and the others to narrow their eyes. His attitude was too strange.
Zhao Dong said, "Since you've forgotten how to open it, we'll just have to blast it open."
"My apologies, Great Elder!" Without giving Lin Feng another chance to speak, Dongfang Shi threw a punch.
BOOM!
The ground shook. The main hall began to tremble as dust rained down from the ceiling. However, the Formation merely cracked.
"It's that sturdy?" Dongfang Shi frowned and struck again.
It took a full three punches before the basement's Formation finally shattered.
The moment the basement door blew open, a palm-sized crystal stone emitting a faint blue light appeared before everyone.
"The Enlightenment Stone! It really is the Enlightenment Stone!" an elder exclaimed, immediately jumping down to retrieve it.
Furious, Dongfang Shi whirled around and demanded, "Lin Feng! I never thought the traitor who stabbed us in the back was you!"
"No! I didn't put it here! It must have been this kid! He deliberately planted it here to frame me!" Lin Feng cried, still trying to defend himself.
Zhao Dong sneered. "Great Elder, aren't you contradicting yourself? You just said that not even my elder brother could enter your residence and that you would know of any disturbance. Yet now you claim I came in, planted the Enlightenment Stone, and framed you. Does that sound plausible?
"Moreover, everyone here saw the formation on this basement. It was bizarre and complex—so sturdy that it took Elder Dongfang three punches to break. Once shattered, it filled this hall with dust and debris. With my meager cultivation at the first layer of the Martial Saint realm, how could I have possibly entered this place silently, opened this basement, and put the Enlightenment Stone inside?
"And most importantly! You claimed you personally saw me steal the Enlightenment Stone and that you fought me right afterward. If that's true, how could I have possibly had the time to flee from you, run all the way here to hide it, and then run back to the sect's main gate in such a short amount of time?
"I imagine that would be difficult not just for me, but even for my elder brother. And if I were truly capable of pulling all that off perfectly, could the mere Qingyun Sect possibly hold me captive?"
Each sentence struck everyone's hearts like a clap of thunder. Their gazes fixed firmly on Lin Feng.
His mouth hung open and his face was a mask of panic as he tried to come up with another defense. However, Zhao Dong's final remark left his lies with nowhere to hide.
Zhao Dong announced proudly, "And now for the final, most critical point."
He pointed to the Treasure Vault key on Lin Feng's waist. "If I wanted to enter the Treasure Vault unnoticed, I would certainly need the key. So why is it still on your person?"
"That's because you stole..." Lin Feng began to say.
Zhao Dong sneered, "Don't even try to say I stole your key. If I had, and it's now back on your person, does that mean you snatched it back from me? But if you were able to snatch the key back, why couldn't you also retrieve the Enlightenment Stone!?"
The words landed like a thunderclap. All the evidence clicked into place, forming an airtight case. Even if Lin Feng had ten thousand mouths, he couldn't offer a single word of rebuttal now.