Chapter 4973: There's A Clue

"What does it mean if the disappearances have stopped recently?" Yunyun asked.

"Perhaps it is because this hunter was afraid of Conceal Conqueror and Eight-stallion Dao Lord." Ming Shi said.

"That's plausible." The schoolmaster said.

If no other top masters disappeared during the reign of Eight-stallion and Conceal Conqueror, then this suspicion was possible.

These two were unstoppable. Conceal was merciless and precise, even surpassing Eight-stallion. Nonetheless, Eight-stallion had the immortal shield on his side.

Thus, if such a hunter was looming in the shadow, they wouldn't dare to provoke these two powerful existences. A failed ambush would leave them exposed; the hunter would become the hunted then.

"Maybe this person left for the upper continents already." Ming Shi speculated: "They might be bored of the lower continents and want stronger prey."

"Who knows?" Li Qiye smiled while shaking his head.

"You disagree?" She stared challengingly at him.

"Are they confident in hunting conquerors with twelve dao fruits? It would be suicidal otherwise." Li Qiye said.

"Right." She agreed right away: "It would have to be legendary supreme existences or conquerors and dao lords with anima."

There existed a phrase describing the apex - twelve fruits to craft the perfect vessel for anima on the route to immortality.

In essence, after proving themselves worthy of twelve dao fruits, they would be able to form a perfect vessel for the creation of an anima tree. Once this tree became large enough, they could start thinking about immortality.

This applied similarly to dragon lords as well. Their twelve sacred fruits also served as a base of a sacred tree.

The upper continents absolutely had characters of this level. Thus, the risk of hunting in a place filled with these monsters was immense.

"It's almost certain that there is a clear line drawn in terms of cultivation, not anything above six dao fruits. The lower continents are perfect for this." Li Qiye smiled.

"So that's why the targets were chosen right away. Have to pick the fruits when they're riped." Yunyun said.

"That's scary, does that mean the lower continents won't be able to produce powerful conquerors and dragon lords? People will live in fear once they find out." Ming Shi shuddered.

"This is an interesting scenario but it seems unlikely that it has been going on for too long. If one or many of these hunters were around in the ancient past, they would have been exposed by brilliant characters such as Demon or Luminous Conqueror." The schoolmaster said.

"I agree." Yunyun said but didn't have any good input on the actual timeline.

"There are dragon lords with five sacred fruits now in every lineage. I don't think any of them is known to be missing, only the divine empress dowager's group from long ago." Ming Shi became curious.

"There is one possibility." Li Qiye said.

"What is it?" Yunyun asked.

"There could have been an incident or a failure, forcing them to stop. Next came Conceal and Eight-stallion and the suspect needed to lay low." Li Qiye said.

"Mmm" Ming Shi said. This sounded reasonable, at least given their current knowledge.

"So the trail goes cold." Yunyun said. She needed the divine empress dowager's help to obtain something for The Alliance.

"Is there no other way?" She asked, not wanting to give up.

"Perhaps." The schoolmaster said.

"Please let us know, Schoolmaster." Yunyun hurriedly said.

"This issue shakes me to the core." the schoolmaster said: "I do want to find the answer as well and have been thinking about it. There might be someone who can give us more clues regarding this matter. After all, his identity is special."

"Who is it?" Ming Shi asked.

"Shadowrider." The schoolmaster said with a serious expression.

"The legendary assassin?" Ming Shi was surprised.

"Yes, the second-place member of the Ten Monsters." The schoolmaster confirmed.

Though Wild Dragon was number one, people believed that he didn't want to provoke Shadowrider either.

Three cultivators were feared the most in the lower continents. First was obviously Wild Dragon - a heinous butcher with a penchant for chaos.

Second was Bloodblade Sea who never gave up before killing a target. He would travel to the end of the world for this sake. Moreover, since he had no affiliations with anyone, there was no shackle tying him down.

However, he didn't kill the innocent and always had a reason for drawing his blade. As for Wild Dragon, he didn't mess with lineages he deemed troublesome. For example, Deity, Immortal Platform, Untethered

This wasn't the case for the third member of this list - Shadowrider, an assassin that could be bought with money.

There were no rules or criteria slowing this assassin down. The target could be a famous master or an unknown junior. The only thing certain was that they would be struck down during their most vulnerable moment.

The fact that this was a dragon lord with five sacred fruits only made it worse for the inhabitants of the lower continents.