Peace Order
Chapter 358 - 156: The Elixir of Immortality, The Battle That Captivates the World

Chapter 358: Chapter 156: The Elixir of Immortality, The Battle That Captivates the World

Above, severing the floating clouds, below, cutting off the earth’s records?

Assisting the lords, commanding respect from the world?

Ji Yanzhong lived in the last dignified era of the Imperial Family of Central State. He still remembered those times when the Emperor offered sacrifices to heaven, earth, and society, when lords and kings from all directions came to worship, under the grandeur of the Great Emperor’s crown. It was a period where the entire world was united, yet it swiftly turned into a struggle for power and dominance.

Mighty overlords flocked from every corner.

The hopes of three generations of sovereigns couldn’t match the valor required to control the world with sword and whip.

As for this current generation’s Great Emperor, he didn’t even have the courage to draw his sword but instead sought out a magician to seal away the Chi Xiao Sword. Ji Yanzhong had felt a bit of pity and recognition for him, yet with the fall of those words, Ji Yanzhong’s Taoist Heart shattered hard.

A thought emerged in his mind.

Ah indeed!

Compared to that, the Emperor of Central State really wasn’t up to par.

After this thought surfaced, Ji Yanzhong found himself disdainful, just like those members of the Imperial Family he silently scorned when he first came to Chen Country, but he quickly noticed the strong surge of emotions in his heart.

He didn’t simply want to let the Chi Xiao Sword roam the world.

He even wished to pull that disgraceful Emperor off the royal pedestal.

The gap was so large that he wanted to cover his face and flee.

Who is this person!

Who is it!?

But in the next moment, the Chi Xiao Sword quieted down. Ji Yanzhong widened his eyes as the old man with white hair urgently said, "Ancestor Chi Xiao, don’t play dumb, just who is it, give me a straight answer!" However, the Chi Xiao Divine Weapon went dormant again, stubbornly silent.

"And the rest?"

"Why don’t you speak of the more fascinating stuff that follows?"

"Speak, will you!"

Ji Yanzhong widened his eyes today, lying within the chambers prepared by the Chen Kingdom’s Royal Family, staring at the wooden beams of the palace ceiling, counting them over and over, barely managing not to fall asleep, with a single thought spinning in his mind, over and over.

Who is it?

Who in the world is it?

And another person who couldn’t sleep after today’s banquet was there.

After bathing, Emperor Chen, dressed in simple black attire with his hair fastened by a jade coronet, stood before him while the body of Chen Yuyun laid atop a large slab of ice jade. Various magicians and Taoists were present, arranging tokens and talismans to set up a Formation.

Emperor Chen held a string of jade beads in his hand, calmly flicking them, pondering over the death of Chen Yuyun.

The Yuwen Family, or the forces behind the Crown Prince?

Yuwen Lie or Tantai Xianming?

The one who benefited most was the faction of the Crown Prince. If Tantai Xianming knew that Chen Yuyun was the illegitimate son, then he surely knew that the future Emperor’s seat would have to be Chen Yuyun’s. Thus, it would be in his interest to eliminate this person first.

But Yuwen Lie also fits.

Acting to disturb the courts of Chen Country, framing Tantai.

Others didn’t have the interest or motivation, at least not as much as these two.

Emperor Chen had personally inspected the wounds. The penetrating wound on the neck had to be the work of a top assassin, or someone wielding a Divine Weapon. He later went alone to examine the body of Chen Yuyun and found some abnormal conditions in the internal organs of the deceased.

The decay of the internal organs and certain acupoints was too rapid.

Unusual even beyond the norm.

After death, it’s natural for internal organs to decay, but the rate of decay was normally negligible.

Emperor Chen had intentionally placed Chen Yuyun’s body on the ice jade from Kunlun to prevent it from decaying, then proceeded to the banquet. After returning, he discovered that the body, which should not have decayed, still showed destruction of internal organs. This indicated the effect of some special Inner Qi.

Emperor Chen calmly moved the jade beads while the Ritual Eunuch returned.

Emperor Chen opened his eyes and said calmly, "Well?"

The Ritual Eunuch stated, "Si Qing, no trace has been found, for several days now."

Emperor Chen’s fingers stalled briefly, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze. He said calmly, "Tantai Xianming’s subordinates hold the tenth-ranked assassin Situ Deqing. I deliberately left him under close watch, but now he has disappeared."

"What do you think?"

The Ritual Eunuch prostrated on the ground, trembling: "This servant does not know."

Emperor Chen continued calmly, "Is it that Tantai Xianming has grown old, making such a mistake?"

"Or is it, that someone deliberately used Situ Deqing to frame Tantai Xianming, stirring up strife between me and him, alienating the Empress and the Imperial Minister, and causing great chaos in the land?"

"The one who harbors this intention,"

"If it’s not someone who craves chaos in the land and the clashing of arms, then it must be Ying Country."

"What do you think, is it Tantai, or a setup?"

The Ritual Eunuch’s forehead pressed hard against the ground, feeling as though the Emperor, who had been calm and gentle while hosting Ji Yanzhong, was now like a dragon on the verge of a ferocious outburst, and simply said, "This servant does not know."

The Emperor calmly declared, "I say, it’s a setup."

"Tantai wouldn’t use such a simple scheme."

"The possibility of a third party exists."

At that moment, a Taoist with white hair approached and said:

"Your Majesty, you have summoned me to investigate this death."

"Although it is difficult, with the Primordial Light Skills, I can perceive the last scene he witnessed, please grant me your permission."

Emperor Chen nodded his head, his expression serene.

"Granted."

The Taoist, seeming quite ill-tempered, dispersed the other alchemists, sending them all away, leaving only himself there. He then cast the Primordial Light Skills. The air grew deathly still, and the Ritual Eunuch’s forehead broke out in cold sweat. He kept his head down, daring not to look.

In the immense bronze mirror, only a blurry image was visible; the rain kept falling incessantly.

It seemed to be disturbed by some Yin Yang Skill.

Yet, even in the darkness, one figure remained distinctly visible—the last scene that Chen Yuyun saw before his death: within the dark golden rain clouds and the descending rain, a dark golden face mask, one side stained with blood, cold and indifferent, like the god of death itself.