Chapter 7 - 7

Chapter 808: Troublemaker (2)

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A short while later, General Zhao's voice rang out from outside the room, "Zhao Rui is here."

"Please enter, General Zhao."

General Zhao entered and stood beside Feng Ji. After giving the Invincibles a bow, he said, "Hou Zhen has returned to Great Ming, but the two of us had spent the majority of our time in the pursuit together. Thus, you can simply question me for anything you wish to know."

Great Song King said, "According to Zhang Ying, the two of you were in pursuit of the Six-Winged Divine Sect members. Tell us the process." The source of this content ɪs novel⸺fire.net

General Zhao nodded, "After Great Xia found out that Feng Ji's identity was exposed, I went hunting for the two Sunmoons of the Six-Winged Divine Sect under Marquis Xia's order. In the middle of the pursuit, they separated. We could only follow one of them. We opted to follow the team led by Silverwing. As for Goldwing, he personally acted to lure the Sunmoons of the eight families away and started leading them all over the Human Realm."

Great Song King said, "Do you feel that Silverwing had the opportunity to kill Liu Qi and the others during the pursuit?"

Zhao Rui remained silent.

Marquis Xia said, "Answer honestly."

After a short silence, General Zhao said, "Unlikely. But I only had my attention on Silverwing. I can only say that it was unlikely, but I can't guarantee that it was impossible."

"Had you encountered Chen Yong or Feng Ji during the pursuit?"

"No."

"Would they have the opportunity to kill those people?"

"I don't know."

Great Song King nodded. He looked at the woman and said, "Zhang Ying, do you have any questions for General Zhao?"

The woman said, "Goldwing was tangled with us during the pursuit. During the death of General Liu, we were actually in the vicinity of Great Yuan. We are sure that Goldwing wouldn't have the time to cover the distance and perform the murder. As for Silverwing, it was very unlikely for him to find an opening to do so as well. Only Chen Yong and Feng Ji had remained unmonitored during the murders."

She asked, "General Zhao, were Chen Yong and Feng Ji avoiding the two of you during the pursuit?"

General Zhao answered, "We don't have any proof of that, so I can't answer this question."

"When you were pursuing Silverwing, did they manage to kill or capture Chen Yong?"

General Zhao sank into a short silence before shaking his head, "Unlikely."

"Do we even need to ask anything else?"

The woman announced, "They were deliberately avoiding the rescue party. The cultists did not have the opening to commit those murders. Apart from Feng Ji and Chen Yong, who else would kill those people?"

Hong Tan said, "Haven't you heard of cloning abilities? Also, I suspect you guys weren't actually tangled with Goldwing. There were eight of you, but a single Sunmoon was able to lead all of you around like he was walking a dog. Are you not ashamed?"

"Hong Tan!"

"..."

The Sunmoons around Yuan Qingdong started shouting in protest.

Hong Tan remained completely calm as he said, "What's with your response? Am I wrong? Eight Sunmoons were led by the nose by a single Sunmoon for several months. Were you people really that weak or was that deliberate? Or perhaps you were simply providing an alibi for him while he committed all those murders. Who knows?"

Finally, Yuan Qingdong opened his mouth. He sighed and said, "Goldwing was a sixth-stage Sunmoon. He was very strong. The eight of us were only early-stage Sunmoons. We managed to encircle him several times, but he was able to escape each time."

"In short, you guys are garbage?"

After a short pause, Yuan Qingdong said, "If you insist on putting it that way, then yes. We were too weak. We failed to live up to everyone's expectations."

"Qingdong!"

One of them protested unhappily, but Yuan Qingdong was indifferent. Garbage? So be it. There was no need to argue against that. It was pointless. They might as well agree that they were incapable. What would that even do?

After all, they couldn't change the fact that eight of them had failed to capture one Sunmoon. They wouldn't be able to explain themselves out of this. Hong Tan was surprised to see that Yuan Qingdong had also learned to act shamelessly.

He smiled and said, "Since you guys are garbage, Goldwing could have totally sneaked away to commit those murders under your nose. Anything is possible. Am I right, Vice Principal Yuan?"

After thinking about it, Yuan Qingdong nodded, "Yes. Anything is possible. We can't guarantee that anything is impossible. Thus, we need Feng Ji's statement. After all, he was in the thick of everything. What do you think, Faculty Head Hong?"

After a war of words, they once again returned to where they were. Feng Ji was still the focus.

Hong Tan said nothing. He glanced at both Yuan Qingdong and Zhou Mingren indifferently before lying back on his chair. He patted Wu Jia's head and spoke through voice transmission, "Stay calm. Your grandteacher won't give up on your teacher. Listen to your grandteacher. You're the biggest worry of your teacher. Don't say anything rash, do you understand?"

Wu Jia nodded silently.

The look in Feng Ji's eyes changed as he suddenly said, "I'll testify. The truth is that I remembered nothing after waking up. When General Wu caught me and questioned me about my purpose there, I thought that Brother Chen had escaped after committing the murder. Worried about him, I decided to confess to the crime."

A clamor erupted in the room. Feng Ji had finally changed his testimony.

Feng Ji said, "I don't know anything. I only remember that Brother Chen was there to save me when I was being hunted. After an ambush, I lost my consciousness. Ever since then, I had been delirious. I only regained my clarity of mind after the arrest. Elder Hong was right. I was stupid. I nearly ruined myself. And I shouldn't have talked so much nonsense and caused everyone to suspect Brother Chen."

"Bullshit!"

The woman berated, "You were delirious? Previously, you claimed that you never met Chen Yong. But now, you're claiming that you met him but you were delirious. Feng Ji, after changing your statement repeatedly, how can we still trust you?"

Feng Ji said, "Like I said, that was a mistake as I didn't think it through. Now, I finally realize the right thing to do. I should tell the truth and have the Invincible lords here rescue Brother Chen instead. Also, Goldwing and Silverwing might not be the whole of the Six-Winged Divine Sect. After so many years in the sect, I suspect that there are actual six-winged divines hidden in the sect. These divines might be the murderers. Why did none of you notice anything?"

"..."

Hong Tan smiled. This was what he wanted. It wasn't a good idea for Feng Ji to plead guilty. Instead, he should deny involvement. Where was the proof? The multiple character faction had been trying to find the traitor Invincible for many years. They had their suspects, but due to a lack of proof, they couldn't do anything.

Thus, these people would need solid proof if they wanted to pin the crime on Chen Yong. Did they think that they could corner the multiple character faction so easily?

Suddenly, someone else spoke, "Lords, I have something to say."

An expert clad in amor stood up and said, "During the murder of Liu He, I was the first to reach the crime scene. There, I found a drop of blood left behind by the murderer..."

Hong Tan yawned and said, "Is there anyone else with you? How are you sure that the blood was left by the murderer? The cult has the habit of framing their crimes on others by leaving blood behind. Don't tell me that you have my student's blood in your possession."

The armored individual frowned and said, "On that day, multiple officials of the Rising Sky Army arrived together. There is no doubt that a drop of blood was found there. As for whether that was planted by the cult, we couldn't reach a conclusion right now."

He took out a drop of blood.

Great Han King grabbed the drop of blood. After taking a look, he tossed it to Silk Destroying King and said, "Silk Destroying, try to see if you can reproduce the appearance of the blood's owner."

"Sure."

Silk Destroying King smiled. Suns and moons spun in his eyes, as though time itself was being turned back. Under everyone's shocked gaze, the drop of blood started projecting a human silhouette.

With a taut face, Su Yu looked over nervously. Was that his martial uncle's blood? And were Invincibles really capable of something so magical? From a drop of blood, they could actually reproduce so many things. This had touched upon the realm of time.

After a while, the silhouette became clearer and clearer. When Feng Ji saw it, he exhaled in relief and said, "This is a member of the Six-Winged Divine Sect. He's a vice sect master, a seventh-stage Mountainsea called Redwing. I did not expect him to be the murderer."

Hong Tan gave the armored individual a deep look and smiled calmly. A middle-aged man with gloomy eyes appeared before everyone. The projection looked incomparably lifelike.

After taking a look at the projection, Silk Destroying King casually dispersed it and shook his head, "He's already dead. There is no pull toward his blood. Since the murders have continued even after his death, there might be more than one murderer. There is also a possibility that this drop of blood is unrelated to this case."

Feng Ji said, "There must be more than one murderer."

"..."

Silk Destroying King smiled but he didn't say anything.

In truth, everyone was already sure who the murderer was. They only lacked proof. They could easily deduce that Chen Yong was the culprit.

Silk Destroying King sighed and said, "It's pointless to continue talking. Since Feng Ji's statements contradict each other, we need to search his memories. Even if Feng Ji is innocent, after pleading guilty, we need to make everything clear. Of course, we will hide your secrets for you, Feng Ji. The search will also injure you somewhat. If you're found to be innocent, we will compensate you for this. Otherwise..."

Most people were fine with that, but Hong Tan protested, "This is unacceptable. Memory search will ruin one's very foundation. Feng Ji is a hero who had spent decades as a spy in the cult. How can he be subjected to this treatment? As for his contradictory statements, he had already given the reason for that. It is unreasonable to perform a memory search based on suspicions alone. If I suspect that Old Zhou killed my student, are you going to search his memories as well?"

Zhou Mingren smiled and didn't argue.

Chapter 809: Troublemaker (3)

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Silk Destroying King frowned and said, "Hong Tan, are you saying that we should stop the investigation?"

Hong Tan shook his head, "Of course we must continue the investigation. How else are we going to answer the dead officials and our active soldiers? But Feng Ji is a hero. I suggest we capture the two Sunmoons of the Six-Winged Divine Sect first and perform memory search on them. Then, we can capture the Sunmoons of the eight families and investigate if they are colluding with the cult. Only then can we resort to searching Feng Ji's memories.

"Instead of investigating the cult and incompetent fools that have failed in their task, you're investigating a hero first. That's inappropriate. Are you targeting Feng Ji just because he's weaker?"

Hong Tan had never been a talkative person, but at this moment, he had a lot to say. And his arguments were clear and strong.

"Silk Destroying King, I am merely following my heart. If the lords here feel like as Invincibles, you can do as you wish, there is nothing I can do. After all, the Six-Winged Divine Sect is backed by the six-winged divines and the eight families are backed by eight Invincibles. Feng Ji is indeed the easier target." Follow current novels on Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

"..."

Silk Destroying King laughed, "Why don't you directly say that we fear the strong and bully the weak?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Hong Tan lowered his head and said, "I know that the lords here are only doing this to find the real murderer and avenge the dead officials. You may do what you deem fit."

"Hong Tan." Silk Destroying King said, "There is no need to try provoking us. You're still lacking compared to your teacher. Back then, he would scold us straight to our faces. You're not as gutsy as him.

"But you're right. However, Sunmoons are very hard to find when they focus on hiding. We would have caught them long ago otherwise. As for the Sunmoons of the eight families, with so many of them operating together, it is unlikely that some of them are colluding with the cult. What do you think?"

Hong Tan said, "You're right, Lord. Seems like Feng Ji is the most suspicious individual. It is right that his memory should be searched."

Silk Destroying King waved his hand, "There is no need to play this game with me. It doesn't work for me. I propose to search the memories of Feng Ji and one or two Sunmoons of the eight families. Is this agreeable?"

Great Han King looked over in astonishment. Great Song King had an odd expression as well, but he said nothing. Meanwhile, Yuan Qingdong and the others had unsightly expressions. Them?

Investigating them?

The woman beside Yuan Qingdong protested, "Lord, the eight of us represented the eight families and the Knowledge Seeking Realm. How will we do something like colluding with the cult?"

Silk Destroying King said, "Yes, but everyone is saying the same thing. It's very hard for us to settle on what to do. The two of them are from the Knowledge Seeking Realm so it's very hard for them to make this decision. But I'm from the War Shrine. I don't mind being the bad guy here. If your fathers and ancestors disagree, they can look for us. Alright. Pick two of you. I won't search the memories of everyone since I don't want to offend too many people, right? Don't worry. I'm a man of my word. Your deepest secrets are safe with me. I'll also compensate you for your losses after the investigation."

A suffocating silence enveloped the room. Was the Silk Destroying King really going to investigate the eight families? Was he really going to offend eight Invincibles for this? Was it possible that he was only putting on a show?

Silk Destroying King knocked on the table and said, "We're agreed, then. This is the best solution if we are to stay impartial. We can't continue our investigation otherwise. It's not a bad thing for you guys since you can prove your innocence. You don't want Hong Tan to keep calling you guys garbage and traitors, right? That will affect the reputation of the eight families and the Knowledge Seeking Realm. Your credibility will drop. It's not a good thing for you."

"Lord!" The youth with white brows said, "We cultivate the secret cultivation methods of our Invincible ancestors. We also know a lot of family secrets. It is inappropriate to search our memories. It's not that we're not cooperating, but it's really inappropriate."

"That's right. Lord, we are all Invincible descendants and Sunmoons. Why would people with our status collude with the cult? What can the cult even give us?"

The Sunmoons protested vehemently. Nobody would agree to have their memories searched. Even a regular person wouldn't, much less people like them who were Sunmoons, Invincible descendants, and rulers of the holy land.

The smile on Silk Destroying King's face vanished as he said, "That will only make investigation more difficult. You guys disagree while Feng Ji feels like it's inappropriate. Why don't we question the dead, then? But most of the victims had died without leaving an intact corpse behind. If there is any blood left behind, I can try to reconstruct the past, but this won't be too accurate and helpful. It will only show us several scenes. We have no way of guaranteeing that these scenes are genuine or planted."

The youth with white eyebrows frowned and said, "Lord, we have to be flexible when it matters. Feng Ji has the biggest suspicion. And he did admit to being the murderer before retracting his testimony. I believe we should search his memories to verify the authenticity of his words."

Marquis Xia sighed and said, "Alright, it's pointless to argue. Let's vote on it. Those from the two holy lands can vote for it. It has been many years since we opened a voting session. We have three Invincibles and many Invincible descendants present. Even the representatives of the various prefectures are here. We can vote for it. The minority will obey the majority. Nobody can say no to the voting result. After all, the big picture is the most important of all."

"I propose three alternatives to be put into a vote. Firstly, search Feng Ji's memories. Secondly, search the memories of both Feng Ji and the eight Sunmoons. Thirdly, we don't search anyone's memories and take it slow with the case. What do you think, everyone?"

"..."

Some people had odd expressions when they heard that. Marquis Xia continued, "The representatives of the thirty-six prefectures are here. They are entitled to thirty-six votes. As for the two holy lands, there are thirty-eight of them here, so each of them will get a vote as well. Wait, since the Silk Destroying King does not have a prefecture, he doesn't have a subordinate to vote for him. We will give him one vote as well."

With an odd look in his eyes, Silk Destroying King asked, "What if we end up with a tie for all three alternatives?"

Marquis Xia smiled, "We need a lot of coincidence for that to happen. It is unlikely, but if it really ends up that way..."

Marquis Xia rubbed his chin and waited for a bit before looking at Zhao Tianbing and said, "We will have the weaponsmiths act as the tiebreaker. They will vote on behalf of the Heavenly Forge King. What do you think, lords? Heavenly Forge King does not have a prefecture as well, but all weaponsmiths view him as the leader. With so many earth weaponsmiths present, I believe they can represent the weaponsmith field as a whole."

Silk Destroying King smiled and said, "Forty votes? This is almost comparable to the voting session held back then to decide if we should ally ourselves with the immortals. Interesting. I still remember how back then, Great Qin King and a few others told us to vote if we want to ally with the immortals and fight the divines and devils until the very end. What a surprise that we're doing it again for this matter."

Marquis Xia said, "It's also fine if we don't vote. The three of you can make the final decision, lords."

With three Invincibles present, they could make a decision without voting. But what choice should they make?

Great Han King was straightforward, "We vote."

He did not want to make a call immediately. But the three options proposed by Marquis Xia were all terrible options. Because at the moment, Feng Ji represented Xia Family.

And on the other side were the eight families. Hong Tan had directly pushed them opposite of the Xia Family. It might seem like they were voting on a solution to the murder case, but in truth...Great Han King gave Marquis Xia a deep look.

Rather than calling this a vote to determine what to do with Feng Ji, it would be more apt to say that this was a vote for the Xia Family to get a clear look at things. This would help them see clearly the current situation in the Human Realm. Who would the other powers support?

If the Xia Family could obtain majority support, they might as well stop the investigation. It was very likely that ultimately, the case would end without a proper conclusion. It was very likely that the Xia Family would step forth and protect Feng Ji.

Great Han King sighed inwardly. Had humanity fallen this far? Internally, they had completely split apart. The three proposed options represented three groups of people: those supportive of the Xia Family, those antagonistic toward the Xia Family, and those who were neutral. This voting would make the stand of every power clear.

Hong Tan suddenly said, "Why is searching only the memories of the eight family Sunmoons not one of the options? Isn't this somewhat unfair?"

Marquis Xia rolled his eyes, "Cut the crap. The eight Sunmoons are minor suspects compared to Feng Ji. No matter the result, Feng Ji's memories will be searched. Don't ask for too much."

He then looked at Yuan Qingdong and said, "Am I right? Regardless of whether you guys will be investigated, Feng Ji will be there alongside you guys. This way, we can ensure fairness."

Yuan Qingdong and the others had unsightly expressions. So in the end, all of them were being implicated. Were they really supposed to allow that to happen if the second option obtained the majority vote?

While they were still hesitating, Silk Destroying King spoke impatiently, "That's settled, then. If you disagree, we will lock Feng Ji up for now while we search for the real murderer. He won't be released until the real murderer is found. Is this option preferable for you?"

Before they could say anything, Silk Destroying King coldly said, "We're busy people. We don't have the time to waste with all of you. This is the perfect way to ensure fairness to all parties involved. If you still can't agree to this, we won't waste more time on this case. You guys can deal with it yourself."

Everyone shut their mouths. At this point, they would only offend Silk Destroying King if they kept bickering.

"Let's proceed with the vote."

With a wave of Silk Destroying King's hand, thirty-nine jade talismans flew out. Thirty-six of them flew to the representatives of the prefectures. The two holy land representatives received two of the jade talismans while the final talisman flew toward the weaponsmiths.

The last vote belonged to Silk Destroying King himself. As for Great Han King and Great Song King, the representatives of their prefectures were present so they acted like a pure observer.

Marquis Xia smiled and said, "Everyone, please write one, two, or three on your talismans. If you need help to make this decision, you may contact your prefects. We will be collecting the jade talismans after half an hour."

Silence enveloped the hall. A lot of the representatives took out their voice transmission talismans and started contacting their prefects. This was not something they could decide on.

Marquis Xia added, "Don't worry. All votes will remain anonymous. Of course, Silk Destroying King knows all the votes so we have to rely on him to maintain secrecy."

"That is only natural."

Silk Destroying King laid down on his chair and glanced at the two beside him before sending a voice transmission, "Isn't this interesting?"

The two ignored him. This was definitely not interesting. Rather, it was very troublesome. Both the Xia Family and Silk Destroying King were the same. They were super troublemakers.

Chapter 810: Vote Shenanigans (1)

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Voting!

The atmosphere in the room turned terrifyingly cold. People like Yuan Qingdong had unsightly expressions. They were the representatives of the holy land. How were they supposed to vote for this?

Meanwhile, Marquis Xia who had deliberately created this situation and Silk Destroying King who had allowed it because he wanted to see the world burn looked completely relaxed, as though this matter had nothing to do with them.

With an indifferent smile on his face, Marquis Xia played with the jade talisman in his hand.

***

Among the weaponsmiths.

Zhao Tianbing looked incomparably solemn. The earth weaponsmiths started conversing through voice transmission, "What should we do?"

Marquis Xia made the whole thing sound so simple. If they voted on the first option, they would offend the Xia Family. If they voted on the second option, they would offend the eight families. If they voted on the third option, they would look unprincipled.

Zhao Tianbing asked through voice transmission, "Senior Hu, what do you think we should do? We're representing Heavenly Forge King here."

Hu Qi indifferently replied, "We also represent the weaponsmiths of humanity. Around one-sixth of the fifty-something earth weaponsmiths of humanity are present today. All of us are also well-connected individuals so we can actually represent even some of the weaponsmiths that are not here today. We will be voting for the weaponsmith field as a whole. Thus, Heavenly Forge King's personal stance does not matter. In the event of a war, the top experts will require fewer weapons than the lower-leveled cultivators."

"War!"

Their hearts thumped when they heard that word. Zhao Tianbing looked at Hu Qi solemnly. When he turned to look at the smiling Marquis Xia again, his face turned grave. Right this moment, a dark silhouette appeared outside. That silhouette seemed to be covered in complete darkness.

Right after stepping in, the newcomer said, "I think the first option is the best. In truth, these options are quite pointless. We all know that Chen Yong is the murderer. Why act like we're all clueless? And everyone also knows very well if the eight families are colluding with the cult or not. The cult is still not qualified to have the cooperation of the eight families."

The newcomer was someone with an imposing presence. Someone among the crowd recognized him. That was an old man with a powerful aura, an eighth-stage Sunmoon. He was the leader of one of the eight families of the Knowledge Seeking Realm, second son of Great Zhou King, and the younger brother of Zhou Potian. His name was Zhou Pochong.

When he entered the room, he gave the three Invincibles a slight bow as a sign of respect. He was usually a silent person who kept mostly to himself, but as of this moment, he was imposing and domineering.

Great Han King sighed and shut his eyes in silence.

Silk Destroying King grinned and asked, "Pochong, did your father send you here?"

"No. I'm here representing the Knowledge Seeking Realm."

Silk Destroying King laughed, "Interesting. Can you even represent the Knowledge Seeking Realm?"

Zhou Pochong calmly replied, "The eight families run the Knowledge Seeking Realm together. Since the world does not recognize the holy land as the holy land of humanity, then it must be the holy land of the eight families. And the eight families are fine with me as the representative."

Silk Destroying King said, "Sure. I don't care, either way."

"Thanks, Silk Destroying King."

Zhou Pochong bowed at the Invincibles again before scanning the crowd. With an apathetic voice, he said, "For murdering several military officials of humanity, Chen Yong's crime can't be pardoned. This is clear. Why make it this complicated? Meanwhile, Feng Ji has also committed a crime by giving a fake testimony. Why should we vote for the sake of a criminal? Chen Yong has already turned into a devil. Since he is a devil, he should be killed without mercy."

Hong Tan stood up and coldly said, "Zhou Pochong, are you even qualified to make this decision?"

"Yes." Zhou Pochong said, "I represent the Knowledge Seeking Realm. The holy land. The academy elders are all under the jurisdiction of the holy land. Since he has committed a crime, the Knowledge Seeking Realm has the right to punish him. Hong Tan, do not repeat your mistake again and again."

Hong Tan's aura rose while his eyes turned even colder than before. "Mistake? Me? You are the one who should stop making one mistake after another. Are you getting so used to bullying our line that you now believe it is how things should always be?

"How much have we sacrificed for the world and humanity? Others might not know this, but how can you not know? Why do you insist on a complete fallout with us? Do you really think that you can represent the world?"

Zhou Pochong countered, "Sacrifice? Everyone is making sacrifices for the sake of humanity. Hong Tan, don't make the mistake of thinking that you and those from your line are noble existences. Your teacher's stubborn attempt at a breakthrough back then had caused massive losses to humanity. Do you really want me to reveal everything about the matter from fifty years ago? Ye Batian was the one who had caused all the suffering for your line. You are suffering from the karma he sowed."

"Karma?" Hong Tan's aura erupted, "Karma? You call that karma? Without that incident, how would all of you get the chance to grow and develop in peace for fifty years? Our line had been trampled on for fifty years. Why did that happen?

"We don't owe you anything. The debt we owe due to the dead Invincibles has been cleared by Zhou Polong himself. Who the fuck are you to talk about that? Did your father die for my teacher?"

"..."

Zhou Pochong scolded furiously, "Hong Tan, watch your damn mouth! How dare you insult a prefecture founding king before three Invincibles? Back then, the prefecture founding kings had sheltered millions upon millions of humans. How dare you insult the number one cultural researcher of humanity? Hong Tan, are you courting death?"

Hong Tan's cultural weapon appeared as he said, "Do you want to kill me? Bring it on. Zhou Pochong, can a piece of trash like you even kill me? It has been decades but you're still such a piece of trash. Back then, you were beaten like a stray dog by my teacher. Why are you so arrogant now that my teacher is no longer around?"

"You're courting death!" Zhou Pochong was infuriated. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel(ꜰ)ire.net

Right at that moment, Silk Destroying King said, "Alright, alright. What are you doing? I get that you're both putting on a show, but you should stop wasting everyone's time. We will focus on the voting for now. If you still want to fight after that, feel free to do it. You can even fight until one of you is dead after we leave. Just stop playing these tricks in front of us."

Silk Destroying King had a mocking smile as he said, "Even after so many years of conflict, are you guys still not done? Sure. You guys will have plenty of chances to fight in the future. Everyone, think properly and cast your vote. I don't have anything else to say."

Zhou Pochong stopped talking. Hong Tan also calmed down. They were merely putting on a show. With three Invincibles present, they wouldn't have the chance to really fight to the death.

But after a short silence, Zhou Pochong suddenly said, "Even if Chen Yong is the murderer, we can agree with sparing him death. But he must join the Vanguard Regiment with compulsory participation in every battle."

He looked at the crowd and slowly said, "Small skirmishes have been increasing in intensity on the frontlines. The divines and devils have arrived at the eastern sector. The immortals have also ended seclusion. The allied army of their eighteen schools has been deployed to the north of our frontlines. The central sector has always been chaotic, but even the allied army of the demonic beasts has been approaching the west of our frontlines. The dragons are demanding that the Human Realm release all captive dragons. An alliance of thirty-two minor realms is also demanding that the human race withdraw from all our occupied minor realms."

After reporting the situation on the frontlines, Zhou Pochong raised his voice, "A great war is coming. The myriad races are rising up. The Myriad Realms will be enveloped in chaos. Everyone, can humanity afford to sink into internal strife at this moment? For Chen Yong? For Feng Ji? For the sake of those two, are we going to fight among ourselves?"

He looked at Marquis Xia and spoke loudly, "Xia Longwu is going to affirm his dao soon. Based on what we can see, survival is impossible. I believe you're aware of the sole option he has if he really wants to survive his breakthrough."

The secrets everyone had avoided mentioning normally were all being spoken clearly. Marquis Xia remained in silence.

Zhou Pochong said, "Must he ruin his future with his own hands? Is the Human Realm capable of resisting the alliance of all the other races? This is a great crisis that will decide if the human race will continue existing. This is an even bigger crisis than what we faced over four hundred years ago!"

This was a crisis for humanity as a whole.

Many people were shaken.

***

After listening to all that, Su Yu finally understood something.

This was a crisis that would affect all humanity. And certain individuals were meant to resolve this crisis. These individuals were fated to be used as sacrifice. These people were meant to buy more time for humanity and the Human Realm with their very lives.

With a few individuals, they could buy a hundred years of peace for all humanity. Was this worth it? Yes. Su Yu couldn't help but recall what Bai Feng once asked him. Was Xia Yuwen wrong to sacrifice the lives of ordinary soldiers to kill an enemy Cloudbreach?

Wasn't a Cloudbreach worth a lot more than even a hundred regular soldiers? Initially, Su Yu did not care too much about that question. That had nothing to do with him, so he didn't feel too strongly about that.

But subsequently, Bai Feng asked him how he would feel if his father was among the ordinary soldiers to be sacrificed. Su Yu answered that Xia Yuwen should die.

And now, he was faced with the same question. Sacrificing a few individuals to buy a hundred years of peace for everyone else. Was that worth it?

Perhaps...the answer was yes. But when the individuals meant to be sacrificed were his teacher, his martial uncle, and his grandteacher...was that still worth it? No!

Whoever proposed this idea should be the one to die instead! Yes. This was double standards in action, but such was reality. If these people were outsiders who were unrelated to him, he wouldn't care. He would have a hundred years to peacefully attempt his dao affirmation. Why should he care? But these individuals were not outsiders to him.

Chapter 811: Vote Shenanigans (2)

Su Yu looked at the crowd and sighed. Could he even blame these people for making this choice? Even he himself thought that he would agree if those people weren't related to him. Why should he expect others to make the choice he himself wouldn't make?

"Multiple character faction...Great Xia's multiple character faction is not the multiple character faction of humanity!"

Su Yu finally comprehended this fact. He had been too naive. He had been thinking that the Invincibles were dumb for failing to see why the myriad races were terrified of the multiple character faction. But he realized that they knew everything.

However, Great Xia's multiple character faction was not humanity's multiple character faction. Perhaps...in everyone's eyes, they were the outliers. As that realization hit him, his tribulation character started showing signs of advancement. If it succeeded, it would be his first fourth-tier character. Get full chapters from NoveI★Fire.net

He gazed at Bai Feng, Hong Tan...and finally, Marquis Xia. Bitterness enveloped his heart. He realized a lot of things he didn't realize in the past. There were things that one couldn't see until it was time for one to make a choice. He also realized that the Xia Family was an ally of the multiple character faction, after all.

Suddenly, Marquis Xia said, "The Xia Family does not wish to get too involved in this. I need to make one thing clear. Our first priority is Longwu's dao affirmation. As for everything else, just don't push things too far."

"..."

Su Yu blanked out. What was Xia Xiao'er trying to do here? Was he giving up without a fight?

Someone suddenly gave him a light kick. When he looked over, Xia Huyou smiled and sent him a voice transmission, "The blade of Xia Family is getting blunt. A blunt blade is harmless. Everyone will have the courage to come and take a look at this harmless blade. If we grind our blade right now, it will be too sharp. Everyone will go back in hiding out of fear."

Su Yu gazed at Xia Huyou silently.

Xia Huyou grinned and continued speaking with another voice transmission, "Let me tell you a story. There used to be a tiger. At its prime, it was incomparably ferocious. Everyone was afraid of it. Nobody dared to provoke it. They only focused on avoiding this ferocious tiger. Eventually, the tiger grew old. Its claws and fangs started dropping. But its reputation remained. When someone tried to challenge it, the tiger roared fiercely and scared the challenger away.

"One day, a brave hunter arrived. He believed that the tiger was old, so he wanted to try his luck. The old tiger roared fiercely before telling the hunter to leave while gasping for breath. The tiger said that it was not old yet and it should not be provoked. Brother Cui, in this situation, do you think the hunter would leave or proceed to fight the tiger?"

Su Yu replied, "Fight the tiger."

"Exactly. But the hunter was still slightly afraid. Thus, he gathered ten nearby hunters before challenging the tiger again. The tiger roared fiercely before telling everyone that it was very strong while panting for breath. If you were the hunter, what would you think?"

Su Yu thought about it and answered, "False bravado. The tiger could no longer fight. Everyone should join hands and slay the tiger before sharing the profits."

Xia Huyou's smile grew wider as he said, "Exactly. A tiger with false bravado. Thus, everyone gained the courage to challenge it. But if the tiger had merely silently stared at you, would you dare to try your luck against it?"

"No."

"Yeah. Thus, the tiger needed to roar loudly. That way, everyone would gain the courage to slay it." Xia Huyou said, "Also, the tiger was also protecting a great treasure. What would you do if you were the hunter?"

"I would observe and wait for more hunters to arrive. It would be even better if someone else moved forth to test the tiger's strength. If it was proven that the tiger was already weak, I would work with everyone to kill it and split the treasure among ourselves."

Xia Huyou asked, "At that time, would there be a lot of hunters around?"

"Definitely. Those interested to slay the tiger would all be around."

"But if the tiger suddenly regained its claws and fangs right before its death, what would happen?"

"..."

Su Yu sighed and said nothing else. He finally understood what the Xia Family was planning. They were playing the role of that tiger.

False bravado and loud threats without any action to back their words. They were waiting for all the hunters to arrive. Right before its death, the tiger would kill all those hunters. That way, the tiger cub or the treasure it protected might be able to stay safe.

Su Yu finally understood everything. He finally knew why the Xia Family had been so loud yet helpless at the same time. They were trying to tell everyone that they were weak. They were fishing.

They seemed very experienced in this. New anglers enjoyed reeling in the catch right after they felt something, but most of the time, they would end up with a broken fishing rod with nothing to show for it.

Experienced anglers knew to be patient and only reel the catch in slightly before letting it go again. All this was for the sake of sinking the hook deeper into the fish. The fish had taken the bait. But the hook was not deep enough yet.

Furthermore, there were more fish in the vicinity. If the angler wanted to catch all the other fish, they had to be patient with it. It would be even better if they reel the catch in after all the fish took the bait.

But would the bait, fishing rod, and line be durable enough for this?

***

Su Yu sank into thought.

Marquis Xia's threat sounded strong, but it also gave off a feeling of weakness.

After issuing the threat, Marquis Xia spoke impatiently, "No matter what, this is Great Xia. Feng Ji is a part of Great Xia. Think carefully before casting your vote. Also, Chen Yong is not a criminal. Zhou Pochong, stop passing your judgment on him. That's all I have to say. Let's stop wasting time and proceed with the vote."

Then, he wrote something on his jade talisman. Nobody saw what he wrote. He had actually written "one" on it. Yes. He had voted to perform a soul search on only Feng Ji. When Silk Destroying King received the vote, he gave Marquis Xia a deep look.

Marquis Xia had actually voted for the first option: to search Feng Ji's memories!

At this time, Great Ming's representative walked toward Hu Qi and said, "Elder Hu, the prefect said that you may vote for Great Ming."

Hu Qi blanked out. What? But immediately after, she understood Zhu Tiandao's meaning. The prefect wanted her to ask Su Yu for his choice before casting the vote. But She believed that there was no need to ask. He would naturally vote for the second option: investigate the eight families.

"Is the prefect using this chance to sell the kid yet another favor?"

Hu Qi was quite speechless. The prefect was truly not letting go of any chance to sell Su Yu a favor.

She sent a voice transmission to Su Yu and said, "I'll be voting for the second option. The prefect might have...guessed something."

She did not tell the prefect about Su Yu's departure. But she also knew that Zhu Tiandao was very smart. He must have guessed the truth. Zhu Tiandao wouldn't have sent the representative to her for the vote otherwise.

After a short hesitation, Su Yu replied, "Please wait a moment."

Hu Qi blanked out.

Numerous thoughts appeared in Su Yu's mind, including Xia Huyou's words. He looked at Marquis Xia and saw that the marquis was constantly looking around, as though he was observing everyone's reaction. The marquis met Su Yu's gaze for a short moment, but he looked away again after a smile.

"Casting the bait...and catching the fish..."

While Su Yu was deep in thought, Xia Huyou sat beside him with a calm smile, as though he was completely unaware of the crisis the Xia Family was in.

"A fierce tiger...won't be able to catch a big fish!"

Suddenly, Su Yu looked at Feng Ji before lowering his head again. His martial uncle was the one who had sent Feng Ji back. Back then, his martial uncle had easily landed Di Feng and Huang Qifeng in big trouble by creating a witness to testify that they were the ones spreading the rumor. He was even able to force Zhou Mingren to resign as a vice principal with that ploy.

"Would this work against Invincibles?"

Su Yu was able to guess his martial uncle's plan. Feng Ji would have his mind searched to prove his innocence. It was actually a good thing for him as that was the only way he could obtain true freedom.

"Senior Hu, please vote for the first option."

Hu Qi's heart skipped a beat. First option? Why? Su Yu was not voting to have the eight families investigated. What was the meaning of that? Zhu Tiandao had given Su Yu the choice. Why?

If he only wanted to sell Su Yu a favor, he could have picked the second option directly. There was no need to ask Su Yu about it. Numerous thoughts filled Hu Qi's mind. Finally, she stopped thinking and wrote "one" on the jade talisman.

***

Yuan Qingdong and his colleagues were feeling incomparably nervous.

Zhou Pochong walked over and spoke through voice transmission, "What are you afraid of? We will win the vote. Who would offend the eight families for the sake of Feng Ji? Don't forget that we have eight Invincibles behind us."

"Start contacting the various prefectures. Qindong, contact Great Yuan. Zhang Ying, contact Great Liang."

After making some arrangements, Zhou Pochong walked toward Great Zhou's group. Of the forty votes, the Knowledge Seeking Realm had one vote. Out of the thirty-nine remaining votes, they only needed to secure nineteen votes for victory.

Of course, this voting session would not only determine the fate of Feng Ji and some other people. It might even show the future trend of the entire Human Realm. Numerous voice transmissions were being sent as everyone discussed among themselves.

One jade talisman after another was submitted to Silk Destroying King.

He casually tossed all the jade talismans onto the table in front of him with a smile on his face. Suddenly, Great Han King asked, "Silk Destroying, what's your vote?"

Silk Destroying King said, "Me? I'm here to watch the show. I'll be staying neutral by voting the third option."

Great Han King gave him a deep look and asked nothing else.

But at this moment, Silk Destroying King asked, "How about the two of you?"

They represented the stance of two prefectures.

Great Song King smiled and said, "I'll be picking the third option as well. Sigh. There are things that are better off left alone."

He glanced at Hong Tan and Zhou Pochong before continuing, "We're old friends. Back then, we once fought side by side in numerous bloody battles. But now, we have to walk our separate ways due to some issues. I...don't know who's right or wrong."

Who was right? And who was wrong? He didn't have an answer to that. His emotions were rather complicated.

Silk Destroying King smiled and continued collecting the votes. After some time, he said, "Everyone, you need to hurry up. Twenty-eight votes have been collected. There are twelve votes left. The result better not be a tie or it would be boring."

Chapter 812: Vote Shenanigans (3)

The weaponsmiths had yet to cast their vote.

While they were hesitating, Zhao Li walked over and chided them, "What are you doing? Vote! Just vote for the second option! If they are going to be searching someone's memories, do it to everyone! Since you're having a hard time making your choice, let me make this choice. You guys are scared but I'm not!"

Numerous gazes landed on Zhao Li.

He merely snorted at them. Even with Zhou Pochong's gaze on him, he showed no fear. He said, "The fuck are you looking at? I'm voting for the second option. What are you going to do about it? The Zhao Family has been weaponsmiths for generations. Countless people owe us favors. Back then, my old man frequently forged weapons for free. Do you guys dare to kill me just because of a vote?"

Zhao Tianbing was left somewhat speechless. This junior brother of his had gone crazy because of Su Yu.

Nevertheless, he still opened his mouth and said, "In that case, we'll vote for the second option. Since we all want to solve the case and ensure fairness, this is the best choice. This is only the choice of me and my junior brother. It does not represent the weaponsmithing field as a whole. If you guys don't think this is appropriate, you can take the vote from us as well."

Hu Qi said, "I agree as well. Let's vote for the second option."

She was confused about Su Yu's option, but she had still decided to stand beside Zhao Li and Zhao Tianbing so that they didn't need to fight alone.

Elder Chen of Great Xia also coldly said, "I agree to vote for the second option as well."

"I concur."

"..."

Some of them remained silent, but with several earth weaponsmiths agreeing on the second option, the result was rapidly concluded. This was the first group present to make it clear what they were voting for.

Of course, everyone was also assuming that Great Xia would choose the second option. Great Ming and Great Qin were very likely to pick that option as well. Thus, at least four prefectures would pick the second option.

The War Shrine would most likely pick the second option too. Thus, at least five votes would go to the second option. More and more jade talismans were returned to Silk Destroying King.

When Silk Destroying King saw Great Ming's vote, his heart thumped. He said nothing and continued mixing the jade talismans together, as though he was playing with some interesting toys.

Thirty-five jade talismans had been gathered before him.

Only five were left.

Great Zhou, Great Qin...

The powerful prefectures had yet to cast their vote. After a while, they finally voted. Forty jade talismans, including Silk Destroying King's talisman, were gathered. Everyone focused on Silk Destroying King. They had agreed to him presiding over this session because as a king who was not a prefecture founder, he was relatively neutral.

Everyone believed that he would pick the third option, a vote that was no different from abstaining from voting. But instead, "one" was written on his jade talisman. He had actually agreed to search Feng Ji's memories.

"Everyone has voted." Silk Destroying King smiled, "I can't help getting excited. What would the final result be?"

Great Han King, "We don't know, but you already know, right?"

Silk Destroying King said, "What are you talking about? The host will still need to keep things lively, right? Just pretend I don't know."

He then casually tossed the jade talismans into the air. All forty of them spun at an astonishing speed. Even the other two Invincibles were unable to take a clear look at all the talismans.

"I'm keeping the identity of the voters anonymous from even Great Han King and Great Song King. That way, none of you have to worry about reprisals in case they're unhappy with your vote. I'm very dependable, right?

"As for my own preference, be rest assured. I have no prefecture and descendants. I only have a few students. None of this concerns me. Furthermore, I am a warrior. My students are warriors as well."

Having said that, he flashed the crowd a massive smile and asked, "Is everyone curious about the result?"

"..."

Everyone gazed at him silently. What a stupid question. Could he reveal the result already?

Silk Destroying King continued taking it slow, "To be honest, secret ballots are incredibly interesting. Alright, I'll reveal the votes now. I'll do it one vote at a time to keep things exciting."

He did not give anyone the chance to protest as he picked a random jade talisman and said, "I wonder whose vote this is. First option, search Feng Ji's memories."

Everyone remained silent.

"Second vote. It's still the first option. Feng Ji, things aren't looking good for you. At this rate, you might end up suffering alone.

"Third vote, still the first option. Tsk, tsk. You guys sure are ruthless. Zhou Pochong, you were able to change the situation around right after arriving. Impressive, kid.

"Fourth vote, the third option. Wow. It's actually the third option. Who is this? You're completely unprincipled. Why don't you have the courage to pick a side and stick to it?"

"..."

A lot of people were left completely speechless. Was it unprincipled to pick the third option? In that case, what about Silk Destroying King himself? What was his vote?

***

Among the crowd, Su Yu tightened his grip on his armrest and looked at Silk Destroying King silently. The eighteenth vote picked the third option as well.

Up to this point, these were the results: ten votes for the first option, three votes for the second option, and five votes for the third option.

The first option signified that the voter stood against the Xia Family.

The second option signified that the voter stood with the Xia Family.

The third option signified that the voter was neutral.

The difference between the different camps was quite big.

Silk Destroying King shook his head and said, "What a pity. The nineteenth vote was cast for the third option.

"Twentieth vote. Second option.

"Half the votes have been revealed. Feng Ji, you have received ten votes. Zhang Ying, you guys have only received four votes thus far. Looks like you guys can avoid having your memories searched, after all."

Silk Destroying King smiled, "What a pity. I have been looking forward to searching the memories of more people."

"Silk Destroying, hurry it up."

Great Han King frowned. Was he done fooling around? Silk Destroying King laughed and continued. Before long, thirty votes were revealed.

With a voice of suspense, he said, "Fourteen votes for the first option, seven votes for the second option, and nine votes for the third option. With only ten votes remaining, we only need two more votes for the first option to seal Feng Ji's fate."

A total of nine votes had been cast to the neutral option thus far. With the neutral votes removed from the equation, only thirty-one votes remained. Thus, sixteen votes were enough to guarantee victory for any of the two remaining options.

Yuan Qingdong and his colleagues exhaled in relief. There were only ten votes left to unveil. They were already assured of their victory. Even if they couldn't get the two additional votes, they only needed more people to vote for the neutral option to secure a victory. After all, the gap between the two options was very big.

"Thirty-first vote, second option. Hahaha, Feng Ji, you sure are lucky. Thirty-second vote, second option. Tsk, tsk. Feng Ji, you got lucky yet again."

"..."

At this point, Feng Ji spoke up helplessly, "Lord, regardless of the result, I will still have my memories searched."

How was that lucky?

Silk Destroying King blanked out slightly before howling with laughter, "Yes, yes, you're right. There is no escape for you. Yuan Qingdong and friends are the ones that are hoping to escape."

"Thirty-third vote, third option. Fourteen to nine to ten."

"The deciding vote will be here soon!" Silk Destroying King spoke in a voice of excitement, "Will this be the first option? If it's the first option, the result will be sealed in advance. But if there is no vote for the first option after this, we the result will be a tie."

"Thirty-fourth vote, second option. What a pity. Fourteen to ten to ten. We have six votes remaining. The Xia Family is pretty impressive. You actually managed to garner nine supporters. Thirty-fifth vote, second option again!"

"..."

The people from the eight families were starting to get nervous. Why was it the second option so many times in a row?

"Thirty-sixth vote, third option."

"Oh shit!" Silk Destroying King yelled, "Fourteen to eleven to eleven! Thirty-seventh vote, third option. Wow! I can't believe this!"

Silk Destroying King shook his hand, "It's fourteen to eleven to twelve. Even if the remaining votes had all been cast for the second option, it would still be a tie. Feng Ji won't win no matter what."

After a short silence, Marquis Xia said, "Please continue."

Silk Destroying King smiled and said, "Thirty-eighth vote, second option. Thirty-ninth vote, second option."

At this point, even Great Han King's interest was piqued. He said, "It's the final vote. If it's the second option again, it will be a tie?"

Silk Destroying King nodded, "Yes. It will be a tie. In that case, we will pick the third option."

Only the final vote remained. Silk Destroying King scanned the crowd and flashed all of them a deep smile before raising the final jade talisman in his hand. "Two" was written on it.

It was a tie. It was actually a tie. But right before Silk Destroying King fully raised the final jade talisman, the "two" on it changed into "one".

After taking a look at it, he spoke with a regretful tone, "First option. Fifteen to thirteen. I regretfully inform you that you alone will have your memories searched, Feng Ji."

Yuan Qingdong and his colleagues exhaled in relief. Zhou Pochong was relieved as well. Good. There were fifteen votes supporting them and twelve neutral votes. Meanwhile, the Xia Family and their allies together were only able to gather thirteen votes. One of these votes came from the weaponsmiths, so that could even be discounted in terms of actual support of the various human prefectures.

While they were feeling relieved, Marquis Xia turned absent-minded. He leaned against the back of his chair and stared ahead blankly. Hong Tan was in a similar state.

***

Silk Destroying King also stealthily exhaled in relief.

Holy shit!

Even with Great Xia, Great Ming, him, and the final vote that he had tampered with picking the first option, the Xia Family was still able to gather thirteen votes. If they had actually voted properly, wouldn't the Xia Family receive seventeen votes? In truth, the eight families had only received eleven votes if one only counted those who truly supported them.

Of course, there was still some confusion regarding Great Ming's vote. But one couldn't deny that they were supportive of the Xia Family. Even if the vote of the weaponsmiths were removed, the Xia Family would still have sixteen votes.

Sixteen to eleven, with twelve neutral parties.

Silk Destroying King was inwardly relieved. When he glanced at Zhou Pochong and the others who were looking very happy, he smirked. Were they very happy with this result?

He went straight to the point and said, "With this result, Feng Ji alone will have his memories searched. The eight families are exempted from this. Hong Tan and Acting Prefect Xia, this is the result of the vote. You need to accept this and stop bickering about it."

Marquis Xia calmly answered, "Sure. I won't go back on my words. But this is really surprising. I did not expect to lose this voting session. Fifteen votes for searching only Feng Ji's memories. You guys are...impressive."

***

Meanwhile, Su Yu was being killed by his curiosity. He couldn't stop wondering about the Xia Family's vote. Did they vote for the first option or the second option? If they voted for the second option, it signified that including the Xia Family, only fourteen parties were supportive of them.

"But the actual support is probably equally split since I'm in Great Ming."

He felt slightly at ease after thinking it that way. The result was actually much better than expected. As far as he was concerned, the support was actually equally split. This was not bad at all.

At the very least, the eight families did not enjoy the overwhelming support of humanity. As for the ones staying neutral, he did not have anything to say about them. He would be happy if they could remain truly neutral and not create any trouble for them.

"This is fortunate. There is still hope."

Su Yu was actually quite surprised. Even in their current condition, the Xia Family still enjoyed such widespread support. Sure enough, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. The rıghtful source is novel⸺fire.net

Nobody knew that Marquis Xia was starting to feel nervous. He didn't know if things were as they seemed. He was unsure if Silk Destroying King had tampered with the votes. He only hoped that his guess was right or the Human Realm would really sink into chaos not far in the future.

Great Han King and Great Song King looked somewhat regretful, but none of them said anything. Sure enough, the world had split into three main camps. The multiple character faction and Xia Family had considerable support. However, it was still lower than expected. Clearly, the Xia Family's prestige had fallen greatly in recent years.

Fifteen to thirteen might not seem that big of a gap, but of the thirteen votes supporting the Xia Family, one came from the weaponsmiths who were not exactly united under one banner.

As far as the two kings were concerned, the actual split was fifteen to twelve. In short, the eight families enjoyed the support of only three additional Invincibles on top of their own Invincibles.

The voting session came to an end.

Chapter 813: Measuring The Trend (1)

The voting result was out.

The room felt a tad bit too silent even after a conclusion was reached.

Marquis Xia was leaning against the back of his chair and staring at the ceiling, as though he was daydreaming. The expressions of some people in the crowd changed as one message after another was sent out.

Great Xia lost.

Great Xia, or to be precise, the pro-war faction...had lost the majority support.

***

Great Ming.

Heart Paradise Island.

Zhu Tiandao was playing a game of chess with Niu Baidao when he received the message about the result. He softly said, "Fifteen to thirteen, with fifteen votes for searching only Feng Ji's memories."

Niu Baidao was stunned. He stared at Zhu Tiandao for a while with the chess piece in his hand before gloomily saying, "What was Great Ming's vote?"

The pro-war faction lost?

Was this the final nail in the coffin for Great Xia? Even after so many years of struggle? Fresh chapters posted on novel-fire.net

Zhu Tiandao was also playing with the chess piece in his hand as he said, "I allowed Su Yu to make the choice for us."

"..."

Niu Baidao laughed awkwardly and said, "Is that so? Isn't Su Yu supposed to be in seclusion?"

"Oh." Zhu Tiandao nodded indifferently and said, "In that case, he might as well extend his seclusion."

Niu Baidao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He knew it would be hard to hide anything from this fellow. He wasn't too bothered about it. Instead, he asked, "Prefect, I've always been curious. Is Great Ming pro-war or peace?"

"What do you think?" Zhu Tiandao answered with a question.

Niu Baidao thought for a very long time before saying, "We're not done with our preparations. But the divines and devils are not done preparing as well. Even the immortals are not ready for war. Everyone is still holding back for fear of triggering an all-out war in advance. But a hundred years later, they will all be done with their preparations. At that point, humanity might not have any advantage even with a few additional Invincibles."

"So you believe that if we're going to fight anyway, we should start fighting immediately?" Zhu Tiandao grinned, "Is that what you're trying to say?"

"Not exactly. I don't support starting an all-out war immediately." Niu Baidao shook his head and said, "But we need to start making arrangements for war immediately. We need to prepare our military supplies in advance. We must also take an unyielding stance so that the divines and devils will take a step back to ensure the peace will continue. But to do so, we need to deter them by taking some lives.

"The divines and devils are actually trying to test us. Their demand for humanity to hand over Su Yu and the others is merely a test to judge humanity's current situation. Splitting the human Invincibles apart is merely the bonus. You already know this, Prefect."

Zhu Tiandao nodded and said, "Yes. But...a hundred years of peace will give us the opportunity to produce more Invincibles and even help some individuals grow in secret. That is actually a long time. It is not surprising that some people are moved by the offer."

Niu Baidao said, "True. Forget about all that. I still have the same question. What is Great Ming's stance? What is Great Ming King's stance?"

After a short silence, Zhu Tiandao said, "You're an old friend of my father. Thus, I can be honest with you. In truth, we were initially neutral. You know that. But now...I still need to wait and see."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Hope."

"Hope?" Niu Baidao hesitated slightly and asked, "Who's bringing you hope?"

Zhu Tiandao laughed, "Don't tell me that you're thinking about Su Yu. That brat is still lacking for now. My hope is on Liu Wenyan and Hong Tan..."

Zhu Tiandao sighed and said, "The fifth principal failed. I don't know if his students have the chance to succeed, but I still want them to bring me hope. As for the fellows that the others have been training in secret..."

He sighed and said, "Those fellows are very strong. I met a few of them before. Some of them have even reached the Sunmoon Realm. But they are too normal. Yes, they are stronger than regular single character cultivators of the same level, and they are also stronger than a majority of multiple character cultivators. But...they are too normal. None of them gives me the impression of someone capable of looking down on the world with disdain. None of them have the bearing of a supreme cultivator, a future Invincible."

He shook his head with disappointment and said, "But regardless of whether it was Ye Batian, Liu Wenyan, or even Xia Yunji and the others who had failed, I can still see some hope in them. Ye Batian was someone with boundless confidence that he would succeed. He acted in a manner that even upon failure, he would first turn the world upside down. That is also the case with his students. But those secretly trained individuals I met...did not give me the same sensation. They are not lacking in arrogance, strength, and talent...but something is still missing. I can't feel it from them."

"What do you want to feel from them?" Niu Baidao smiled, "You want the feeling of one who considers oneself unrivaled in the world?"

"No!" Zhu Tiandao said, "I can't quite put it into words. In short, something is missing in them compared to the many Invincibles I have seen before. Thus, I can't see any hope in them."

Niu Baidao said, "So you wish to see more hope before making your choice?"

"Yes." Zhu Tiandao said, "Otherwise, the Zhu Family would be more inclined to remain neutral and just go with the waves."

After hesitating slightly, Niu Baidao asked, "How about Su Yu?"

"Him?" Zhu Tiandao gave that question some thought before answering, "If he can gain the combat strength of a Sunmoon within three years, the Zhu Family will back him with all we have and assist him with his dao affirmation. Three years should be enough...I doubt the all-out war won't happen that soon. If he can gain the strength of a Sunmoon during that time, he will have our full support."

"You're asking too much." Niu Baidao shook his head, "He's still too young. He's only nineteen. After three years, he's only twenty-two. Is it fair for you to ask so much from him?"

"What a stupid question. The Zhu Family will gamble our very lives on him. If he can't give us the largest hope possible, how can I drag the entire Zhu Family and Great Ming down this path of no return?"

"Forget about that for now. Things are still looking quite good. I didn't ask who Su Yu voted for, but I reckon the Xia Family had probably voted to only read Feng Ji's memories."

"Things aren't that bad. This can be considered a tie. It is acceptable. At the very least, we know that about half of the Invincibles are still willing to fight. Even some of the neutral Invincibles are actually only waiting to see more hope before fighting. They are not necessarily afraid of fighting. As long as the Xia Family manages to show everyone this hope, they will be able to gain even more supporters. I'm only afraid that instead of hope, everyone will be served with despair instead."

Niu Baidao said nothing. He gazed toward the north, toward Great Xia. Please. Show everyone some hope.

A lot of people were still indecisive because they couldn't see any hope. Traveling the difficult path might be hard, but a lot of experts had also emerged from traveling difficult paths. Just by surviving under so many years of suppression, Great Xia's multiple character faction was showing everyone a ray of hope.

Inheritors of the fifth principal such as Liu Wenyan were still alive. In truth, a lot of people hoped that he could continue surviving. They wanted to see him succeed. They wanted to see him reach the fifth principal's height, to once again show them hope.

***

Great Xia City.

Silk Destroying King said, "We'll proceed with the soul search on Feng Ji, then. There are no objections, right?"

Nobody said anything.

With a flicker, Silk Destroying King appeared before Feng Ji. He turned to look at the other two Invincibles and asked, "Do you want to take a look as well? We want to prevent having the result questioned, resulting in multiple soul searches, right? If we do that, we might as well cripple him outright. That will make things ugly for everyone."

Great Han King and Great Song King looked at each other before appearing before Feng Ji with a flicker as well. All three of them gazed at Feng Ji.

Feng Ji was a lot calmer than before. He looked at the three Invincibles and said, "Lords, I have one question. If the search indicates that both Brother Chen and I are innocent while some other people are guilty, what are we going to do about it?"

Silk Destroying King gave him a deep look and said, "Some other people? Are you referring to the ambush on you in the Luminous Domain Mansion back then?"

"Yes." Silk Destroying King said, "Like Hong Tan said, appearance and aura don't prove anything..."

Feng Ji said, "I know. But at the very least, the suspect needs to have his memories searched as well, right? After all, he will be a suspect as well. It is only fair that he is subjected to a soul search. If the soul search on me indicates that Chen Yong is the murderer, will he be subjected to a soul search after he's captured to verify the fact?"

"Yes." Silk Destroying King said, "Definitely. After all, what you see might not be true. We need further verification. This is also a failsafe in case suspects like you are being framed for something you're not guilty of."

"So you're saying that if you find any information about the individual who had ambushed me back then and that individual is here, he will be subjected to a soul search as well, right?"

Silk Destroying King nodded, "Yes."

Feng Ji smiled and looked in Zhou Mingren's direction. One of the people there was Qian Ji, the same person who Feng Ji had mentioned earlier.

Right at that moment, Zhou Mingren's calm voice rang out, "Lords, if I'm remembering things correctly, a soul search can only detect the memories at the outermost layer, which correspond to recent memories. Older memories in the deeper layer are much harder to dig out, right?"

Qian Jun maintained the same expression, but he was inwardly relieved when he heard that.

Chapter 814: Measuring The Trend (2)

Silk Destroying King had a cheerful smile as he said, "Exactly. For example, Great Han King and Great Song King will count themselves lucky if they can find even the memories from three months ago. But...I'm different. I'm the King of Time. Little Zhou, time for you to learn something. For me, I can easily reproduce the events from nineteen or even a hundred and nineteen years ago. Isn't that interesting?"

Great Han King laughed and said, "Silk Destroying, stop bragging in front of juniors. No matter how worse off we are compared to you, we can still reproduce events as far back as three years ago. Meanwhile, you'll probably reach your limit with thirty years."

Silk Destroying King laughed, "You're such a boring person. You should stop bragging in front of juniors instead. It's fine. The matters of the Luminous Domain Mansion happened less than twenty years ago. I can give it a try. But it will be quite exhausting. Sigh. This is so annoying."

Right after those words were spoken, some people lost their calm. Soul search! They had all pushed for the soul search because even Invincibles couldn't search too far back. They could only search recent memories.

They had never heard of anyone capable of searching as far back as decades ago. Beside Zhou Mingren, Qian Jun had a complicated expression. Silk Destroying King said nothing else and reached out to grab Feng Ji's head.

Right at that moment, Su Yu felt like the world itself seemed to have changed. Silk Destroying King had disappeared! No, he was still there. But at the same time, he seemed to have left for a different plane of existence.

The eyes of Great Han King and Great Song King shone brightly as they gazed at the two. Su Yu and the others hurriedly tried doing the same, looking over with shining eyes. But all they could see was a dense fog.

***

Feng Ji's entire consciousness turned blurry.

He felt as though time was turning backward.

He was being dragged to the past by Silk Destroying King. During the journey, he saw the scenes of his life in prison during the past few days. All the scenes became a blur. When he regained his consciousness, he had arrived near Great Wu capital. Check latest chapters at novèlfire.net

At that moment, the tunnel of time trembled very lightly. It was almost undetectable. Silk Destroying King raised his brow slightly, but he said nothing and continued onward.

Before long, darkness surrounded them. They had arrived at the time when Feng Ji was delirious. At times, he would regain his clarity of mind for a short moment. He wasn't able to see much, but he did manage to witness the murders that had happened. They continued traveling. Eventually, Silk Destroying King saw Chen Yong.

"Take care of Jia for me."

Chen Yong left only that sentence behind before vanishing.

Silk Destroying King frowned. At that moment, the tunnel of time trembled lightly yet again. The shining eyes of Silk Destroying King flickered as he realized something. Chen Yong...how brazen. And how capable.

Suppressing the slight tremble of the tunnel, he continued onward with Feng Ji in tow. His legs moved at a rapid pace, as though he was stepping on moonlight to chase after the twinkling stars in the night sky. They continued moving past the countless scenes around them rapidly.

Before long, they arrived at the Starfall Mountain. Here, Silk Destroying King tried to see more instead of passing by these scenes like before. But the moment Zhu Tiandao appeared, the tunnel of time trembled for the third time. Once again, Silk Destroying King's eyes flickered as he suppressed the trembling tunnel.

He stopped paying attention to that event and moved even further forward. What he saw next was Feng Ji's life as a spy.

He saw what Feng Ji did in the Six-Winged Divine Sect, he saw Chen Yong's arrangements, he saw Feng Ji's cultivation sessions...

During those years, Feng Ji lived a relatively stable life.

They moved faster and faster. One year, two years, three years...in the blink of an eye, they were back to a certain point more than ten years ago. Silk Destroying King's expression was starting to change due to the rapid drain of his energy.

And finally, he saw it! He saw Chen Yong carrying a dying Feng Ji out of the Allheaven Battlefield.

A lot of people had been wondering how Chen Yong managed to bring Feng Ji back into the Human Realm. After all, his return was not recorded anywhere. But now, Silk Destroying King finally knew the answer. Great Han King and Great Song King finally knew the answer as well.

Outside the main human headquarters in the Allheaven Battlefield, Chen Yong extracted all the blood essence from the dying Feng Ji before destroying Feng Ji's body. Then, Feng Ji's sea of willpower was kept in a mythic destruction beast skull before being taken into Chen Yong's sea of willpower.

Chen Yong did not bring Feng Ji back to the Human Realm. He only brought some blood essence and a sea of willpower with him. Nobody would bother checking those things.

No wonder. No wonder they saw that scene earlier. There was a scene of Feng Ji walking out of a pool of blood earlier. That was actually a reconstructed body instead of his original body.

This had happened around twenty years in the past.

The three Invincibles had an odd look in their eyes. Chen Yong was too brazen and talented. Twenty years ago, he was already capable of preserving someone's sea of willpower and extracting one's blood essence to smuggle someone back into the Human Realm.

Feng Ji himself seemed to have learned about his body reconstruction for the first time. After all, he was unconscious when it happened.

In fact, they were only faced with darkness when they were traveling through the memories during the time when Feng Ji had yet to reconstruct his body.

Feng Ji had an odd expression as he looked at how Chen Yong completely destroyed his body with complete indifference. That was something that must have left its mark in his memories, but he must have forgotten about it due to his serious injuries. Nevertheless, his blood essence had still recorded this entire event.

Silk Destroying King did not stop there. He continued onward. It was getting harder and harder to continue forward. But Silk Destroying King merely snorted and pushed on. Before long, the Luminous Domain Mansion appeared before them. Numerous powerful presences rose all around them. That signified the presence of Invincibles in this location back then.

The pressure from those presences seemed to have traveled through time itself to block Silk Destroying King's path. Silk Destroying King snorted again. These were merely the presences left in someone's memory. What could they do to him? The pressure on him vanished with that snort.

Suddenly, from deep within Feng Ji's memories, a cold voice rang out, "Wang Hu, damn you!"

"Silkwyrm?"

Silk Destroying King blanked out slightly before he shouted in fury, "Fuck your mother! My new name is Silk Destroying King. Wait for me. I'll go out and fuck you up soon."

Silk Destroying King was naturally not his real name. His real name was Wang Hu. Naturally, Silk Destroying King would not retake that name until he washed his shame with the Silkwyrm King's blood.

With a rumble, the final Invincible pressure shattered.

At the same time, Silkwyrm Realm.

Silkwyrm King looked up at the sky with a frown. Had Wang Hu gone mad? Why was that fellow chasing after his past? Was that fellow beating his past body from someone else's past memory because that fellow couldn't beat him up in reality?

Was that fellow so desperate? To the point where he was settling with defeating some projection from the past? Silkwyrm King shook his head and decided to ignore that idiot.

After so many years of rivalry, Silkwyrm King was feeling very helpless as well. Even when he was hiding in the Silkwyrm Realm, that fellow would occasionally enter the Silkwyrm Realm itself to pick a fight with him. Fortunately, Silkwyrm King was slightly stronger in his own realm, allowing him to slightly suppress that madman.

***

Silk Destroying King continued onward.

Ahead of him was a large sea. It almost seemed boundless. In the middle of the sea was a door. The door was massive. And it stood there all by itself. At the moment, it was tightly shut. That was the door leading to the Luminous Domain Mansion.

Silk Destroying King was just about to enter the mansion with Feng Ji when an incomparably powerful undulation rippled out of the door and sent Silk Destroying King flying away.

"Fuck!"

He cursed furiously.

"Help me!"

Both Great Han King and Great Song King moved out and suppressed the door. However, the two of them were unable to reach that far in the past. Thus, their attacks hit nothing. Next, Silk Destroying King's projection was crushed into pieces. Yes. A single door had destroyed a projection of his body.

***

Inside the hall.

The fog around Silk Destroying King dispersed, revealing the unconscious Feng Ji.

Silk Destroying King had an unsightly expression, but his face returned to normal almost immediately. He spoke through voice transmission, "Shit! I actually can't enter the Luminous Domain Mansion even through past memories. That damn place is too abnormal."

Great Han King and Great Song King were quite shocked as well. Great Song King said, "If even you can't explore the mansion, it must really be the residence of the ancient Human Emperor."

"Who knows?" Silk Destroying King felt very helpless. With a calm expression, gaze abruptly landed on Qian Jun as he coldly said, "The search has been completed. He has been in a delirious state all along, so he knows nothing about the murders. We can only be sure of one thing. He was with Chen Yong before he fainted outside Great Wu capital.

"We don't have solid proof that Chen Yong was the murderer. But he is still a suspect. An order will be issued to recall Chen Yong to Great Xia. He will need to explain his recent whereabouts and his actions after he left Feng Ji."

Zhou Pochong frowned and asked, "Lord, are we only going to issue an order for him to return himself?"

Silk Destroying King asked, "What else are we supposed to do? None of us saw him committing those murders. But it is true that he's a suspect. Thus, we need him to return and explain himself. Are we supposed to be issuing a bounty for his head instead? Sure, you can do that if you want. But you also need to shoulder the consequences of that."

Zhou Pochong stayed silent. Consequences? Everyone understood what would happen if he went after Chen Yong without solid proof that Chen Yong was a criminal.

At this time, Great Han King spoke through voice transmission, "There might be some issues with his memories. Didn't you notice the slight tremble of the tunnel of time when we were moving through it?"

"Yeah." Silk Destroying King indifferently said, "But we should stop when we can. Do you really want to force the Xia Family to turn against those people? If we can smooth things over, we should do it to extend the peace. We naturally can't spare Chen Yong if we can find solid proof of his involvement, but now, we have no proof. So what if there are some issues with the memories? That won't change anything."

Great Song King asked, "And how should we answer to Great Qin King and the others? They will need an answer for this or the military will remain unstable. Who can bear the consequences of that?"

"It will be fine. The three of us will search the entire Human Realm and hunt for those two fellows from the Six-Winged Divine Sect. The Myriad Race Cult will be forced to abandon the two. We can use their heads as the answer for the military."

Three Invincibles would be personally searching the Human Realm to make life hell for the cult. The cult could very well end up abandoning the two Sunmoons. After all, if the search continued, they might lose more than two Sunmoons.

Great Song King helplessly said, "Fine. I hope that Great Qin King and the others can agree to this. Otherwise, it will be very hard for us to face them."

"That's something for you to worry about. I'm only in charge of inspecting the memories. And there is no proof that Chen Yong is the murderer in the memories. He must have modified Feng Ji's memories."

Great Han King nodded, "He sure is brazen. That fellow might have experimented on humans before. No matter what, he needs to be caught. But that will no longer have anything to do with us."

The three Invincibles reached a decision.