Chapter 1155: Payback
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Suddenly, jade green vines spread out from Ye Futian towards Xiao Sheng and wrapped around him.
They had a powerful breath of life within them. They poured into Xiao Sheng’s body, but Ye Futian found that as soon as they did, they turned black. Corroded and withered, their vitality peeled away.
And there were even dark lines stretching out towards Ye Futian.
Ye Futian cut the vines and saw that Xiao Sheng was covered in a dark fog. His whole body had turned black.
“Xiao Sheng!” Old Man Xiao, Xiao Qianhe, and the other members of the Xiao clan had all gone pale. They tried to rush forward, but Xiao Sheng’s body was already descending to the ground. There was no breath of life left within him.
His life force had been completely cut off. He was dead.
“This…” Below them, everyone’s eyes were fixed on where they were, staring at Xiao Sheng’s corpse as it fell.
He was dead?
Ye Futian had not even done anything, and Xiao Sheng had still died?
They all trembled on the inside. They finally understood. No wonder Ye Futian had come here with so much force. It looked like he was already sure about many things; he did not know who was helping Xiao Sheng.
And had Xiao Sheng killed himself, or had he been killed?
But no matter if he had done it actively or passively, Xiao Sheng had known everything. He had calmly met his death. He knew that since things had come that far, Ye Futian would never let him go. Even if he agreed to spare his life, he would take something to pay Xia Qingyuan back with.
He had collaborated with people from Emperor Li’s Realm and attacked the greatest contributor to the victory at the Battle of Empty Realm. Even if he didn’t die, he would be reduced to a mediocre and unambitious life. To a cultivator, that would be even more miserable than death.
Especially to a cultivator who had touched the Saint plane.
Xia Qingyuan’s figure flashed, and she appeared in front of Xiao Sheng, a slightly ugly look on her face.
At that moment, she was extremely conflicted.
Xiao Sheng had died like this. He had obviously been hiding his maliciousness, but she did not know if he had actively done this, or if he had been led into it.
But no matter which it was, Xiao Sheng had known all along. He had let someone plant poisonous seeds within him, leading him to this violent death.
Ye Futian descended beside Xiao Sheng. Behind him, Zhuge Mingyue said, “Ling’er and Phoenix were poisoned as well.”
This was clearly the work of the same person.
This person must be a powerful cultivator. Even using someone else, he had almost managed to kill Ling’er and Phoenix with poison, and in the end, Emperor Xia had gotten involved. Not to mention, Xiao Sheng had let them plant toxins within him, causing his death.
Ling’er’s admirer had probably died in that same way. But the difference was that he probably did not know he was being poisoned.
In his prime, Xiao Sheng could maybe have resisted him for a bit, but under Ye Futian’s attacks, he was extremely weak. He had lost the power to resist the poison’s infection, and so he had died to the poison in an extremely short period. But even so, it was still evident that the poison was powerful.
“Princess Xia Qingyuan, are there any powerful Saint level cultivators who are skilled with poison?” asked Ye Futian. The person who did this was powerful and was outside the control of Emperor Xia’s Realm, so they must be someone famous.
“There are many Poison Saints, but I can’t think of who it might be. I looked into the affair with Ling’er and Phoenix but haven’t reached a conclusion yet. Moreover, since he dared to use poison, it must be someone who is hidden very well,” answered Xia Qingyuan.
Ye Futian was silent. He naturally understood what Xia Qingyuan meant.
Since Xiao Sheng was only one of the participants, there must be someone else behind him. This person must be very skilled, much more so than Xiao Sheng. He acted meticulously and did not make mistakes.
If he had not forced Xiao Dong to act, there would not be enough evidence to prove anything now, like a knot that could not be untied.
What was more frightening was that every incident seemed to be just a pure coincidence.
If he had really died in Dali Dynasty, then everything would have ended there. There would have been no disturbance in Emperor Xia’s Realm, just as if the people of Dali Dynasty had uncovered his identity, and he had been killed.
“Qingyuan.” Old Man Xiao stood before Xiao Sheng. A faint sense of sorrow could be detected from him.
Among the juniors of the Xiao clan, Xiao Sheng was the most talented. Previously, he had been the most cherished disciple of the third generation, and now he had become a Saint. He had once again given everyone high hopes but had come to a tragic end like this.
He had admitted his guilt and been executed by poison.
Moreover, this turmoil would certainly drag in the whole Xiao clan, even though due to Queen Xiao’s status, Emperor Xia’s Palace would not do anything against them.
But what had happened had happened, and they could not pretend like it had not. The people of Emperor Xia’s Palace knew it for sure, as did the powerful forces of Emperor Xia’s Realm.
After today, the Xiao clan would still be a powerful family, but they could not continue to advance. Old Man Xiao’s banquet had probably been the height of their glory, unless a miraculous figure appeared in the Xiao clan, giving them a chance to fight back.
Of course, this all presupposed that the Xiao clan had nothing to do with Xiao Sheng’s actions. Otherwise, they would be dragged in, and the turmoil would be far from over.
Xia Qingyuan looked up at Old Man Xiao and heard him say, “Xiao Sheng was involved in this affair, and how he has paid the price. But I promise you that the Xiao clan had nothing to do with this. I will help you investigate this. If I find out who else was involved, I will not let them escape.”
Although his heart was filled with sorrow, he still had to show this kind of attitude.
He was furious at the one who had helped Xiao Sheng and made him take this drastic step, and who had dragged the Xiao clan into all of this.
If it were truly someone from the Xiao clan, he would certainly not let them go.
“Mm.” Xia Qingyuan nodded slightly. Although the things that Xiao Sheng had done were terrible, he had paid the price for them. But the person who was acting in the shadows was even more contemptible.
Xiao Sheng was not powerful enough to have arranged all of this. So it must have been the one working behind the scenes who had done it.
Their skill was so great that even she was shocked. It had been such a long time, and they had still not made a mistake.
When Xiao Sheng had died, all the threads had been severed.
Ye Futian stood there silently. Many people from the Xiao clan were looking at him furiously, especially Xiao Sheng’s father, Xiao Qianhe.
No matter what Xiao Sheng had done, he was still his son. He had become a Saint and should have had a limitless future, but he had come to grief instead.
Xiao Sheng may have done some things that he should not have done, but he had not really wanted to collude with Emperor Li’s Realm; he just wanted Ye Futian to die. That was all.
And now he had been hounded to death by Ye Futian.
Before, no one could have imagined that a junior cultivator of Emperor Xia’s Realm could kill Xiao Sheng and even weaken the Xiao clan. Given the Xiao clan’s power, even an exceptionally talented junior cultivator would not be able to disturb them in the slightest. And even if they wanted to kill him, so what?
But Ye Futian had been able to ruin them due to his outstanding talent, which could not be found anywhere else in Emperor Xia’s Realm. Even when he went to antagonize the Dali Dynasty, he had had a meteoric rise.
Ye Futian turned and left.
He felt that the Xiao clan had not been involved. It was only Xiao Sheng who hated him, and Old Man Xiao was not that stupid.
But he still had to investigate. Xia Qingyuan would continue to search for more clues.
Xia Qingyuan looked at the people from the Xiao clan, then at the retreating figure of Ye Futian. Then she turned around indifferently and followed him, whispering, “What are you planning to do next?”
Ye Futian kept walking, and his fellow palace members followed him. They left with Xia Qingyuan.
Below, countless people watched the two of them walking side by side. There seemed to be a particular meaning to this scene.
There were countless cultivators in the vast Emperor Xia’s Realm, but none of those in the same generation as her had the right to stand beside Xia Qingyuan, except perhaps for that white-haired youth.
Ye Futian did not think too much about it. When he heard what Xia Qingyuan asked, he was silent for a while, then answered, “Princess, previously, I wanted to seize Xiao Sheng by force and wrest the answers from him, but now he is dead. As for clues, we only know that it was a Saint-level cultivator skilled in the art of poison. But you already said that we could not find such a man, so there is only one clue left.”
“What clue is that?” asked Xia Qingyuan.
“Saint Xihua,” said Ye Futian. “We’ve already proved that what happened to Ling’er wasn’t just a coincidence. Saint Xihua chose that time to suddenly take revenge on the Holy Zhi Palace. But you said that it was only a casual attack, and then they fled. They had no determination at all. So, someone must have been directing things behind the scenes.”
If it weren’t for the things that Ling’er and Phoenix had encountered, no one would have suspected that there was someone behind the scenes pulling strings. After all, vengeance would have been served.
But looking back on it now, things weren’t so simple. Everything had probably been to test whether he was there or not.
“Saint Xihua has had people watching you all along. They must have had a part in this. Let’s grab them,” said Xia Qingyuan. “They are still in the Nine States now, lying low and cultivating in the Endless Sea.”
“Excellent, we will go there,” said Ye Futian. The Endless Sea was vast. It was indeed a good place to hide from the world and cultivate. If it had not been for Xia Qingyuan having people watch them, it would not have been easy to find them.
In the Sacred War of the Nine States, the great holy lands had laid siege to the Holy Zhi Palace. The palace had taken heavy casualties. This was all set off by Saint Xihua. At that time, the only enemy of the Holy Zhi Palace had been the Great Zhou Sacred King. Saint Xihua had entered and allied with the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, and afterward, the Hall of Holy Light and Zhisheng Cliffs had gotten involved as well.
As for the palace itself, a terrible holy war had broken out there, and Jieyu had died.
Now, Saint Xihua was involved in these matters once again. Old debts and new debts would have to be paid back together.
The group continued forward towards Emperor Xia’s Palace.
A great matrix for sending people directly to the Nine States was there, which would speed things up considerably.
Not long after, Ye Futian, Xia Qingyuan, and the others activated the matrix, and amidst a swirl of light, the whole group disappeared from the Upper Worlds.
The sky above the Endless Sea was as blue as the water. One could not see the end of it in a single glance. The wind and waves howled as a beam of powerful light descended. A group of people was coming from the sky!