Chapter 410

Chapter 410: Leaving, Ancestor Yu Zhu

The Emperor did not doubt Minister Yu’s ability. Although he also did not want to suspect the people by his side, as a ruler who had clawed his way out of a brutal struggle for the throne, he understood this truth better than anyone: [Power tempts people.]

He closed his eyes. He seemed to think about many things, and also seemed to think about nothing. After a long time, he opened them again; his gaze was calm and blank: “Minister Yu, step back for now.”

But Yu Zhi Yi only hesitated and did not leave.

“What is it?”

After thinking it through, Yu Zhi Yi decided to be honest: “Your Majesty, I need to leave for a while.”

The Emperor paused: “Didn’t you just come back?”

Yu Zhi Yi gave a bitter smile: “I offended Immortal Qing Feng, which is the same as offending the entire Grand Void Sect. The only plan now is to return to my sect for shelter. That way I can also make sure the Great Sheng Empire won’t suffer revenge from the Grand Void Sect.”

The Emperor fell silent.

The comfort from regaining his health, plus the heavy news Yu Zhi Yi had just dropped, had made him forget Immortal Qing Feng for a moment. Now he noticed the problem: “Where is Immortal Qing Feng?”

A faint guess rose in his heart. If Immortal Qing Feng were still in the Capital City, Yu Zhi Yi would never have dared to come find him.

His guess was bold already; no matter how far his mind wandered, he still wouldn’t dare imagine that his own minister had killed Immortal Qing Feng.

Yu Zhi Yi certainly wouldn’t tell the whole truth. She could only say: “He’s not in the Capital City. I watched in secret for a long time before I dared to risk coming to you.”

He really was not in the Capital City-his body still lay outside the Plum Garden. Yu Zhi Yi had observed in the dark for a long while, in case people from the Grand Void Sect had already arrived at the Capital City. She was not lying.

“I will get rid of that spirit creature before I go. If Immortal Qing Feng returns one day and sees that you’re fully recovered, he won’t meddle in the fight for the throne. You can rest easy.”

The Emperor connected her words with the recent events and guessed she was telling the truth. These people with great power likely could not directly take part in mortal power struggles.

His heart settled. As long as those mighty figures didn’t step in, his dear brother wouldn’t be able to stir up any real waves. As for the Empress Mother…

He had always respected and loved her, yet she had brought that spirit to harm him. He did not want to dig into whether the Empress Mother knew the spirit’s true identity, nor did he want to waste energy guessing whether she understood what Prince Xiao Yao wanted to do. [From now on… she will just be an idle Empress Dowager.]

The nightshade spirit wasn’t very strong. Yu Zhi Yi didn’t spend much effort to destroy it and obtained a thousand-year nightshade in the process. Although this herb grew in the mortal world, after so many years it barely counted as a spiritual medicine. It happened to be the main ingredient in a pill recipe she had recently acquired.

After finishing everything, she had planned to eliminate You Bing Yue as well, but discovered You Bing Yue was no longer in the Capital City. Yu Zhi Yi thought for a moment, then gave up searching. People from the Grand Void Sect would arrive soon; she had no time to waste. That woman could keep her life for now. Anyway… even if Yu Zhi Yi did nothing, that woman wouldn’t be able to jump around for long.

After a quick mental check to make sure she had missed nothing, Yu Zhi Yi left the Capital City. The Hidden Realm awaited. She went.

As for her family, she wasn’t too worried. Earlier, when she wasn’t certain she could kill Immortal Qing Feng and feared he might kill her instead, she used the Eldest Princess’s flower-viewing banquet as cover and secretly sent her mother and Red Luan away. As for Yiluan Charity-because it concerned the Emperor’s reputation, even without her, the Emperor wouldn’t ignore it. And once the Emperor brought Yiluan Charity under his protection, then even if people from the Grand Void Sect came and learned of the grudge between her and Immortal Qing Feng, they wouldn’t dare act rashly.

What Yu Zhi Yi didn’t know was this: not long after she left Plum Grove Villa, a Taoist figure hurried to the wrecked formation site.

“Formless Thunder-Slaying Array? No…” A noble, cold beauty examined the place closely: “There are traces of the Formless Thunder-Slaying Array, but it’s not quite that. And a Constellation Array… also not right.”

A faint crease appeared on the woman’s smooth forehead. She stepped into the formation’s remains to study further, but all the formation flags had been taken. She could only judge from the leftover marks and lingering aura. It was clearly a killing ground. Before she arrived, whoever had been trapped inside had suffered fierce bombardment.

She didn’t feel much about that. The Cultivation Realm was always like this-the weak are meat, the strong are eaters. And if a weaker person had methods and skill, it was possible to turn all resources to reverse-kill a stronger foe.

She just couldn’t tell why the formation also carried another aura that felt very familiar. [Those little rascals are all cunning-how could they be trapped by a mere mortal-world formation?]

Shaking her head, she set that bit of doubt aside. Her figure flickered, and she appeared outside the Capital City. People came and went, and no one felt anything strange about the woman who had appeared out of nowhere.

She closed her eyes to sense, and quickly found a familiar presence. “Zi Heng.”

Du Zi Heng turned at the familiar yet distant call; his eyes lit up: “Immortal Yu Zhu!”

Immortal Yu Zhu looked at the tall, well-shaped man, and surprise flashed in her gaze. She had known he was handsome the first time they met. After a few years, he had grown into a noble young man like an orchid in a clean valley, no worse than the geniuses in the Hidden Realm.

She was about to speak when her Sound Transmission Talisman suddenly vibrated. She apologized to Du Zi Heng, then raised the talisman.

“Ancestor Yu Zhu, Qing Feng has died within the Great Sheng Empire’s borders. The killer is unknown. Please, you must find the culprit!”

…

Yu Zhi Yi was on the road. She walked so fast her feet almost threw off sparks. Traveling day and night for seven days, she reached the foot of a massive mountain range. The Five-Emperors Coins had guided her to this point. Beyond this, no matter how she cast, she could not get any result.

“It should be around here.” She gently rubbed the warm copper coins. Peaks stretched without end before her, and farther away the ridgelines were swallowed by the vast sky.

Yu Zhi Yi lifted her foot to go on, but before her toes even touched the ground, a sudden turn of thought made her take out the coins for another cast. This time, she wasn’t asking for the Heavenly Secret Sect’s location-she asked which way she should go.

The coins fell steady into her palm. Yu Zhi Yi glanced down: “Southwest?”

She had planned to head northwest-the direction pointed out before when she cast for the Heavenly Secret Sect. But the new result was completely different, the opposite of the earlier sign. Still, both ways led west. She guessed there might be a high-level illusion ahead, or the mountains might be too steep, while the southwest might be an easier path.

She trusted her instincts. Though her self-divinations were often wrong, whenever a cast was right, she always felt it. Like now. Without hesitation, she set off.

Soon, her figure vanished into the endless mountains. Not long after she left, two figures riding flying swords swept in from the northwest. They landed and looked around. One asked in confusion: “Didn’t Ancestor Yu Zhu say that Yu Zhi Yi would pass here? Why is there no one?”