Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Lin Qing Ling

Ye Zhao Zhao panicked: “Lin Qing Ling? How did she get here so fast? Why is she coming?” Her face went pale as she asked: “What should we do, should we leave right now?”

The System spoke calmly: “The aura of an Integration expert has locked down the whole imperial palace. If you make the slightest move, you will be discovered at once.”

Ye Zhao Zhao grew even more anxious: “Then what do we do, just wait?”

The System said: “So what if we wait? Lin Qing Ling is here, so what? What did you do? You are only an innocent rogue cultivator.”

Ye Zhao Zhao froze, then came back to herself. [Right.]

She had already changed her identity.

Also, the System’s Soul-Return Art was flawless. Even a Tribulation Crossing Stage expert could not notice anything wrong.

Right now, she was the rogue cultivator Fang Qing Yu.

Ye Zhao Zhao would fear Lin Qing Ling.

But Fang Qing Yu would not.

“You need not run. If you can win Lin Qing Ling over, it will deal a crushing blow to Li Shuang,” the System reminded.

Ye Zhao Zhao nodded as her eyes lit up.

She had already drawn half the people from Emotionless Peak to her side.

The progress was very promising.

Now Lin Qing Ling had arrived too.

If she also won Lin Qing Ling over, how could Li Shuang compete with her?

On the altar, the Devil Heart shattered and its falling pieces lost their bloody haze. Instead, they flashed with a clear red glow, like chips of diamond.

Emperor Chen Lie gaped, truly stunned by the sight, then hurried to say: “Honored Immortal Elders, you are incredible! This Devil Heart forced my son and me to do so many things, truly a terrible sin. Today you personally destroyed this Devil Heart. That is great Heavenly Merit! On behalf of the people of the Chenrong Kingdom, I thank you for your help.”

As he spoke, he bowed again and again to the group.

Still on his knees, he shuffled toward Li Shuang and kept knocking his head to the floor.

Li Shuang watched coldly, her brows drawing together.

This Emperor Chen Lie…

Something still felt off.

At that moment, a dark spark shot from Emperor Chen Lie’s palm.

It was a Nascent Soul Stage strike, and at point-blank range.

He was just about to show a smug smile.

Suddenly, a strange light flickered.

His mind went blank for an instant, and in the next heartbeat Li Shuang kicked him flying.

Emperor Chen Lie clenched his teeth. Now that he was exposed, he turned to run.

[Righteous Path disciples always say they do not hurt the innocent, right?] He thought that if he used innocent people as shields, they would hold back.

Just as the thought formed, a vast force slammed down. Emperor Chen Lie was pressed flat to the ground. A pill flicked into his mouth, and he swallowed before he knew it.

Li Shuang and the others did not spare him another glance. Instead, they looked up with surprise and joy at the new arrival: “Master!”

Lin Qing Ling had arrived early.

Lin Qing Ling looked at them with quiet pride: “You all did well.” Then her face went blank as she turned to Emperor Chen Lie: “Tell the truth. What exactly happened tonight?”

Emperor Chen Lie tried to lie out of habit.

But whatever pill Lin Qing Ling had given him, it made him speak the truth without thinking.

“To open the Grand Bloodfiend Body-Refining Grand Array, you need Imperial Clan blood. The purer the blood, the better, and the higher the cultivation, the better!” Emperor Chen Lie’s face twisted: “That old monster thought I did not know. He tricked me into training so he could sacrifice my bloodline at the last moment to complete his grand plan!”

“But I refused to sit and wait for death. I knew I could not beat him. So I worked to pull Sword Sect disciples into the mess. I thought you would fight each other to exhaustion, and then I would clean up and take all the benefits. I never expected the Devil Heart and that old monster to be so useless and die so easily!”

“If the Sword Sect investigates closely, they will find something wrong with me. Rather than sit and wait, I chose to gamble everything.”

“I made a deal with the Demon Clan. If I brought back Li Shuang’s head, they would grant me Demon Clan True Blood to put me on the true body refining Great Dao. Once I killed Li Shuang, I would flee to the Demon Clan and have a vast world waiting for me.”

As he spoke, he glared hatefully at Li Shuang: “Who knew this woman was already on guard.”

Li Shuang’s face stayed calm.

Emperor Chen Lie truly could act.

He fooled her to the point that even the Passion-Severing Mantra did not sense his malice right away.

But when he tried to strike her, the mantra reacted.

Plus, Li Shuang had been on guard herself, so she naturally did not fall for it.

“Interesting,” Lin Qing Ling sneered.

She destroyed the meridians all over Emperor Chen Lie’s body and bound him. They would wait for the Disciplinary Hall to arrive and question him properly.

When the Veracity Pill’s effect faded and Emperor Chen Lie realized what he had confessed, his face turned dark as iron.

“Immortal Lin!” Liu An rushed over with other cultivators.

Ye Qing Er and the others also woke up and came along.

“Your case will be judged by the Disciplinary Hall in due time,” Lin Qing Ling said coolly. “Emperor Chen Lie colluded with the Devil Path and the Demon Clan. Lock him up first and wait for the Disciplinary Hall. Also, the capital is uneasy. The Devil Path is gone now. Take people and calm the citizens.”

She had already sent word to the sect. The Sword Sect would send people soon.

Liu An accepted at once.

Eager to atone, he did not dare delay. He had Emperor Chen Lie thrown into the water dungeon of the imperial city and set strict Wardens.

Then Liu An led the others to soothe the people all across the capital.

Ye Qing Er and the rest had just awakened to hear of the night’s shocking events. They followed Liu An to help without fuss.

“This Senior,” Ye Zhao Zhao said, gazing at Lin Qing Ling with sincere admiration: “Thanks to your timely arrival, this crisis vanished before it began. I wanted to help too, but I am only a rogue cultivator. For some reason Senior Sister Li locked me in the Hall of the National Preceptor, so I could not help at all.”

She showed a sad look as she added: “I do not even know what I did wrong. At a time like this when we need all hands, they still tied down a Golden Core Stage cultivator like me in the Hall of the National Preceptor. Senior Sister Li, are our misunderstandings still not cleared up?”

Ye Zhao Zhao looked at Li Shuang with pleading eyes.

Lin Qing Ling’s expression turned subtle.

[This feeling again. Who else could this be but Ye Zhao Zhao.]

“You, come here,” Lin Qing Ling said to Ye Zhao Zhao with a smile.

Ye Zhao Zhao’s heart stirred. Was Lin Qing Ling about to speak up for her? She walked over.

But as soon as she reached Lin Qing Ling—

A terrifying force crashed down.

“Not good!” the System cried, trying to drag Ye Zhao Zhao away.

But Lin Qing Ling was ready. She sealed the space around Ye Zhao Zhao with her spiritual power from every direction.

When Ye Zhao Zhao tried to move, she hit an invisible wall and was forced back to her spot.