Immortal of the Nine Realms

Elder Jin Nan seemed surprised that Crown Prince Xia Yu was involved in this mess. This was a promising talent who would enter the Heavenly Southern Sect—someone who had managed to ring the bell seven times.

Elder Jin Nan became serious. "Fellow Daoist Fang, do you have any evidence?"

If he brought someone who was involved with the Spirit Blood Sect into the Heavenly Southern Sect, the consequences could be extremely dire to the sect. He had to be extremely careful here.

"He’s lying, Elder Jin Nan! This guy has been jealous of me since childhood. Yes, jealous!” said Crown Prince Xia Yu hastily. “He wants to suppress me just like he suppressed Li Huafeng!"

Elder Jin Nan shot him a glance. "You, be silent right now."

Crown Prince Xia Yu zipped his mouth shut, but his eyes seemed to spew fire as he stared at Fang Chen.

The Grand Xia Emperor trembled slightly, and he was so angry, a faint trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Seeing this, Li Guozhu and others yelled, “Please calm down, Your Majesty!”

The Grand Xia Emperor waved his hand and turned to Fang Chen. “Lord Fang, are you saying that my son colluded with Xiao Shence and has been colluding with the Spirit Blood Sect?” He suddenly snapped, agitated, and hollored, “I am your uncle! Just tell me the truth! Was Xia Yu a part of this or not?”

Uncle?!

Jin Nan and Zhen Yue glanced at each other. They didn’t expect the Grand Xia Emperor to be related to Fang Chen in such a way.

“This has nothing to do with the crown prince! You better not spew nonsense!” roared Xiao Shence.

His words told one story, but his face told another. His expression was a dead tell to what the truth was.

“There are still several Blood Pills you haven’t consumed in your residence, crown prince. Looks like you didn’t have time to destroy them either.” Fang Chen showed a smile. “Oh... wait. Or was it that you were not willing to get rid of them? But that makes sense; these are precious cultivation resources at the end of the day.”

Crown Prince Xia Yu's expression flickered back and forth.

He indeed still had some Blood Pills stashed away in his home. He didn’t dare to carry them to the Heavenly Northern Sect right now because of the presence of Elder Jin Nan and other cultivators.

Had Fang Chen sent someone to the crown prince’s mansion to find and confiscate the Blood Pills?!

Huang Sihai once again took out a few porcelain bottles and handed them to Elder Jin Nan and Abbess Zhu Yue for inspection. The two were able to tell at a glance that the pills inside were indeed Blood Pills, and they were refined with a ton of essence blood, too.

Orthodox cultivators would not consume and refine such pills. So, taking them would be useless. It would only risk the cultivator succumbing under demonic influence.

"In addition, there was a period where several Spirit Blood Sect cultivators stayed in the prince's mansion. You can just ask the palace maids as well as the eunuchs in the prince's mansion, and everything will be clear." Fang Chen smiled and continued, "Do you still refuse to admit it even at this point, Xia Yu?"

"You're lying!" barked Xia Yu, gritting his teeth. Beads of sweat the size of beans oozed out of his forehead.

Elder Jin Nan sighed lightly. "I have a pill that I managed to obtain by killing a demonic cultivator some time ago. This pill is called the 'Earth Corpse Mind Corrupting Pill.'"

"Earth Corpse Mind Corrupting Pill?" Abbess Zhu Yue's expression changed slightly. "Such a pill has never appeared in the Flame Empire before...."

Abbess Qing He’s eyes were curious. "What is that pill, Master?"

Off to the side, Li Daoye’s expression changed repeatedly. He then shot Xia Yu an odd, pitying look. He seemed to have heard of the Earth Corpse Mind Corrupting Pill before.

"This pill is specifically used by demonic cultivators to interrogate other cultivators. Ordinary cultivators will find it hard to resist it. If an ordinary person were to take it, they will not only not answer any questions they are asked, but the pill will also damage their foundation and hinder their future cultivation," explained Abbess Zhu Yue.

Hearing this, Xia Yu broke into a cold sweat, and his eyes snapped toward Elder Jin Nan with horror.

"You have a Seven Chimes aptitude. Your aptitude will probably drop if you consume this pill, maybe to Five or Six Chimes," said Elder Jin Nan to Xia Yu, "but this pill is a way for you to prove your innocence. If you really haven't done anything, I will still take you back to the Heavenly Southern Sect even if your aptitude drops."

Was this a unique method cultivators used?

The expressions of Li Guozhu and others flickered back and forth. To them, ordinary people, these pills were a true marvel!

"Choose whether you want to take it or not," said Elder Jin Nan offhandedly.

Xia Yu’s body stiffened, and he stared at the pill with fear in his eyes. After a few breaths, he chuckled bitterly, "If I am truly innocent and take this pill, won't my aptitude be ruined..."

"No. Either way, if you don’t consume it right now, I won’t take you back to the Heavenly Southern Sect. At that time, without cultivation techniques, your aptitude will truly be useless,” Elder Jin Nan pointed out indifferently.

"In that case, I don’t want to go." Xia Yu gritted his teeth. "If the Heavenly Southern Sect doesn’t want to accept me, so be it. There are other places that will. I have never conspired with Spirit Blood Sect cultivators, but I just won't take this pill!"

Elder Jin Nan's face darkened. "You don’t have a choice in the matter anymore!" he said as he suddenly clasped his hands together, and the pill was flung into Xia Yu’s mouth.

Xia Yu's face stiffened for a moment, then his eyes suddenly turned dull and unaware.

"I’ll ask you this once; have you conspired with Spirit Blood Sect cultivators?" asked Elder Jin Nan coldly.

He had asked, but he had already guessed the answer in his heart.

Xia Yu nodded slowly. "I did conspire with Spirit Blood Sect cultivators."

The Grand Xia Emperor slumped on the dragon throne when he heard that, and Ancestor Xiao Yu had his eyes pinned on Xia Yu, that disappointing junior of his family, his expression souring. He never expected that among his descendants, there would be someone who would one day bring disaster upon the Grand Xia Empire!

Xiao Shence's face was filled with despair, and he knelt down weakly on the ground.

Li Guozhu and others shook their heads one after another. No matter how absurd their imagination ran, they never expected that the crown prince of Grand Xia would do such a thing. He didn’t place the citizens of Grand Xia in his eyes; they were like ants to him!

"Humph." Elder Jin Nan snorted coldly, "Were you aware of their identity at the time? Did you know their purpose? Conspiring with them, what was your goal?"

Xia Yu's expression was vacant. "At first, I didn't know their identity. I only knew that they were cultivators with extraordinary methods. They later told me that they wanted to use Grand Xia as a furnace to refine a batch of Blood Spirit Pills, hoping I would cooperate with them. They promised that, as long as I cooperated with thim, they’d give me what I want.

“I thought about it for several days, then accepted their offer. I just wanted to make Grand Xia more prosperous, to rise from a ninth-tier empire to an eighth-tier, or even a seventh-tier empire! I just thought that sacrificing the lives of some of the citizens to achieve this goal wouldn't be a loss."

The expressions of the people around turned conflicted. Since Xia Yu was under the influence of the Earth Corpse Mind Corruption, his words expressed his true intentions. He wanted to strengthen Grand Xia. He wanted to become an emperor remembered by future generations. None of that was wrong.

However, the sole mistake he made was to treat the lives of Grand Xia's citizens as bargaining chips!

Suddenly, Fang Chen spoke. "How many people are aware of this matter?"

Xia Yu answered, "Former Commander Xiao Shence, Chief Pacifier Liu, Minister of Rites Qin Dong..."

He listed eighteen names in a row.

These eighteen individuals held important positions in the court, although not at the level of the Prime Minister, the affairs they managed were enough to have a significant impact on Grand Xia!

Tao Mingsheng and others inhaled sharply. It was hard to believe that Xia Yu had conspired with so many people!

"Tao Yu, Ye Qinghe, Li Huafeng. Were these three in on it?" asked Fang Chen.

Xia Yu shook his head. "I don't know."

Tao Mingsheng immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he knew his son well. If Tao Yu knew about this, he would’ve never gotten so close to the crown prince. He might’ve even risked his life to report this matter!

Finally, Fang Chen gave an order. "Ol’ Huang, go and capture all the people on the list. Don't let any of them escape."

Huang Sihai nodded. "Yes!"

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