Chapter 292 - The Plot

The captain of the Constables cast a scathing look at Xiao Chen and hissed venomously, “You’d do well to remember that you are still on probation, Xiao Chen. Any infriction now would see your qualifications to join the Sword Assembly revoked!”

A devilish sneer curled at Zhu Danfeng’s lips. “This man intrudes upon the peace of my estate, took the Immortal Lingzhi that was mine, and wounded my students! What say you, a captain of the Constables of the League?”

The captain turned his head to look around and studied the students of the Order of the Divine Fire still writhing in pain and moaning on the ground. He threw a salute to Zhu Danfeng and said, “We’ll provide a satisfactory resolution for your benefit, Master Zhu. But we’ll need you to come with us for a statement.” With that, he thrust a finger at Xiao Chen, barking to his men, “Arrest this man!”

Tens of Constables immediately enclosed around Xiao Chen, who swung his saber before jabbing it into the ground, much to the apprehension of the Constables who dared not approach him.

“What’s this, Xiao Chen?” The captain glared insidiously. “Do you wish to evade arrest?”

Xiao Chen scoffed. “Your timing seems rather too impeccable to be true, Captain, don’t you think? And here you are, conveniently appearing at the earliest hint of trouble and demanding to have me arrested for nothing?”

“Of course. We Constables merely enforce the law. We leave the sentencing to the Stewards at the citadel where you will be interrogated and tried,” he remarked brusquely. With a wave of his hand to his subordinates, he shouted, “Take him!”

“Sigh…”

An ancient voice reverberated from the horizons, echoing with such majesty that everyone froze. A bolt of purple light shot down from the sky and dissipated to reveal the form of a wizened man in rich silken robes of purple.

Zhu Danfeng’s look immediately turned ugly as soon as he recognized who it was. The captain of the Constables strode over to the old man and bowed, “Master Xiaoyao.”

Zi Mo gave Xiao Chen a curt look before his gaze clapped on Zhu Danfeng and the Captain. “Leave this boy to me, Captain, and I will see to it that he troubles you no more. I’m sure there’s no need for such red tape.”

“Very well, Master Xiaoyao, since you say so,” the captain remarked politely. He motioned to his men and commanded, “Let us leave!” But not before passing before Zhu Danfeng and muttered furtively, “I’d suggest that you let the matter go, Master Zhu, seeing as it is nothing but a trivial fracas.”

Zhu Danfeng’s eyes flared with hatred. But that was all he could do; he knew all too well about Xiaoyao Zi’s reputation as the most unfathomable of the Jade Qing Seven. Not even his senior, Wan Gufeng could defeat him, never mind himself.

Zi Mo gave him a disdainful look and tugged at Xiao Chen’s clothes, pulling him up with him as he began to take flight. “Enough gawking about, boy. Come with me!”

The crowd of onlookers immediately dispersed. “Watch yourself, d*mned boy! What were you thinking? Creating another ruckus as soon as you’ve returned? You’re lucky Xian’er got to me in time.”

“Sorry.”

Xiao Chen looked at the still unconscious Zhiluan hanging on for dear life, his face curdled into a worried frown. When they returned to the yard of their lodgings minutes later, Murong Xian’er burst into tears just as soon as she saw the bloodied and scrawny Zhiluan.

A couple of hours later, in a room dimly lighted by a single neglected and wavering candle, Zhiluan was still sprawled on its bed, in a deep coma. Murong Xian’er, looking pale and dirty, sat by the bed with her face washed with sweat and tears. “Wake up, greedy cat… Please wake up,” she wailed. She pulled at Xiao Chen’s sleeves, “Please Big Brother… Save him… I don’t want this greedy cat to die…”

Xiao Chen was badly distressed himself. “Seniors Zi Mo and Fengxi,” he turned to them and said, “Is there no other way to save him?”

Fengxi waved a hand grimly, “Something could still be done if he’s a human. But Immortal Lingzhis are but plants enriched by the natural Spiritual Qi from the earth. There’s nothing we can do but watch as his Spiritual Qi slowly ebbs away…”

“NO! GREEDY CAT CANNOT DIE!” Murong Xian’er howled with anguish.

Xiao Chen placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. He sighed. As a plant, Zhiluan would not be actually dying; instead, it would turn back into a plant from its present form. But it would be another hundreds or even thousands of years before it could once again muster enough Spiritual Qi to transform…

Given their recent experiences together, Xiao Chen had grown fond of him. But not for his sake so much as for Xian’er’s who missed him dearly, he knew he had to do something. “Senior Zi Mo, is there really nothing I can do?”

Zi Mo shook his head. “Perhaps a place where the Spiritual Qi is most rich and robust might help. The raw spiritual energies might be able to heal him,” Zi Mo muttered hopefully.

“Spiritual energies? I have a lot!” Murong Xian’er exclaimed. But before she could do anything, Xiao Chen stopped her.

Despite her immensely vast spiritual energy, Xian’er’s powers were nevertheless finite; there might come a day when her energies were terribly exhausted and she would disappear as well. It was a loss that Xiao Chen could never be able to bear.

“I think I know one such place. There’s a spring in the Violet Illusory Lands which might be able to serve this purpose adequately,” said Xiao Chen.

Zi Mo nodded. “Feel free to try. But I would not put my money on any chances of success…”

Xiao Chen looked outside and saw that it was already dark. He sighed. “Please let me see you out, Seniors,” he said to them.

“I’d be grateful enough if you can just keep yourself out of trouble.” Zi Mo waved him off. “Before I forget, remember that there are more than just students from the Five Continents joining this year’s Sword Assembly. Various schools and sects, especially those which have remained hidden in mystic domains have emerged. Do your best. Your name will win great respect and esteem if you can win this tournament.”

Xiao Chen watched the two old man out of the door before he retreated out to the yard with Murong Xian’er still sobbing inside. The courtyard was relatively quiet with the soft breaths of the night’s breezes adding to the chill.

After a moment, two shadowy figures—Qingluan and Ziyun’er—landed before him in a thud.

“Your command, Master?”

Xiao Chen peered into the darkened sky above them. A glint of malice flashed in his eyes as a single word escaped his lips—”Death.”

…

The entirety of Tianyuan City woke up the next day to a piece of horrifying news. The entire contingent of the Order of the Divine Fire, numbering to several tens of them, had been found gruesomely slaughtered. But strangely, nothing was damaged or broken; everything—the doors, windows, and all other items—were found intact with scarcely any signs of a fight.

A hundred Constables were dispatched to help with the investigation of the grisly murders but to no avail. Whoever it was, the killer had left nothing for which the Constables could work on. Everyone in the estate—the several tens of students and acolytes of the Order, including Zhu Danfeng, whose own soul had all but completely destroyed—was so deftly assassinated and slaughtered that they barely had any time to react at all.

News of the death of the contingent of the Order, which included several members with powers of the Core Forming Realm and a conjurer whose magic neared the Nascent Soul Realm, blazed through the entire city-state in a single day, putting fear into the commons of Tianyuan City. It was not the horrid murders that appalled them, but rather the murderer’s ability to commit the deed without so much as a mouse stirring.

Many came to suspect Xiao Chen, who was only in a fight against the Order the day before. Word traveled fast in the city, and before long, whispers and murmurs rose from every corner of the city with rumors of the city’s most enigmatic young man getting involved in the heinous massacre.

Be that as it might, there was nothing the League could do, not without any definite proof implicating Xiao Chen. But this did not prevent the elders of all schools and sects from issuing a strict warning to their students: Keep away from this man and offend him not!

At the same time, a shrunken old man perched at the top of a precipice high atop the Jade Terrace Mountain. His red robes fluttered and snapped in the wind while the sinews on his neck were taut with veins bulging with anger, him wearing an ugly and hateful look on his face.

“I will avenge you, Brother Zhu…”

Wan Gufeng breathed venomously. The Order of the Divine Fire has suffered losses so huge that their only Tier Four Elixir King was no more, the deaths of tens of students with promising talents to say the least.

There was nothing but only hate and malice for Xiao Chen, he brooded. But he could only sit and watch as long as Xiao Chen remained under the watchful eyes of the League in Tianyuan City.

The crunching of gravel alerted him to the presence of somebody behind him suddenly.

“WHO GOES THERE!” A man in green was walking closer to him from behind. Wan Gufeng regarded the stranger coldly, “Who are you?”

“My name is Ling Yuanshan of Clan Ling,” said the gnarly old man politely.

“Ah? A member of Clan Ling?” Wan Gufeng’s eyes narrowed as he studied the newcomer briefly, “What do you want?” There was hardly a shred of kindness in his voice. Wan Gufeng was confident that his powers trumped the stranger by lengths and miles and the Clan of Ling wielded authority only in the Eastern Continent; there was nothing about this newcomer that he was afraid of.

“Is it not said that the enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Ling Yuanshan smiled sardonically.

Out of the factions that professed no love for Xiao Chen, the Clan of Ling harbored the deepest loathing and contempt for him. The deaths of Ling Yuxuan and Ling Yingfeng, among many others, and most prominently, the near-destruction of the lord of Clan Ling, Ling Ruoxu’s soul at Canglan City had all but set into stone the never-wavering bitterness the clan reserved for Xiao Chen.

“You know the origins of this boy?” Wan Gufeng asked curtly.

“He’s not of the Jade Qing Sect, nor is he the heir of the Ancient Immortal Clans. My best guess is that he comes from the Human World.”

The news brought Wan Gufeng whirling to face his newfound ally with shock and disbelief on his face. But he quickly recollected himself, cracking his knuckles as he growled deeply, “I see… He’s been sent here by the schools of sorcery and magic in the Human World.”

Ling Yuanshan nodded.

“Very well! I’ll destroy the school from whence this wretched cur comes from!”

“Patience. There’s yet any end to the promising potential we’ve seen from him. What’s more, he has the support of both the Jade Qing Sect and the Xianyong Sect behind him. I dare say it’s nothing short of foolhardy to act now and allow them to find out that we are the ones behind the destruction of his former school.”

Wan Gufeng’s forehead wrinkled as he squinted in thought, finding himself agreeing with Ling Yuanshan. “I’d hope that you have something good then. I’m all ears.”

Ling Yuanshan merely grinned wickedly as a hint of rancor gleamed in his eyes. “We’ll have to hatch a plot; one that would make him a pariah. Make him an outlaw of the Violet Manor. It would be for the best if the League arrests him and seals his soul. As far as I’m concerned, this boy seems to share certain connections with members of the Devil’s Path…”

…

Faraway in the bowels of Tianyuan City, Xiao Chen was in his room, watching the still-unconscious Zhiluan. His face was tensed with concern for his friend when he felt a cold shudder, a premonitory dread as if a storm was coming, just when a voice from behind broke the still silence in the room.

“Master.”