The capital was put on lockdown, while Old Huang quickly apprehended the officials Xia Yu had named out.
Some of them tried to hide. Some of them were anxiously waiting for further news. Either way, no one managed to escape.
In less than an hour’s time, all of them were dragged to the Palace of Great Peace. Their faces turned pale when they saw the people gathered in the room. Some even peed their pants.
“Where did Enforcement Envoy Liu escape to?” Fang Chen asked.
Xia Yu dazedly replied, “He’s already dead.”
The crowd exchanged looks. This outcome was not beyond their expectations, as a dead man told no secrets.
“Daoist Fang, we can’t spare any of them.” Elder Jinnan eyed Xiao Shence and the others.
“Let’s kill them on the spot.” Fang Chen nodded.
Old Huang raised his saber and executed these officials one after another within a matter of seconds. Xiao Shence’s eyes were calm in his final moments. He didn’t curse or struggle, as if he had resigned himself to his fate.
“What a pity. That’s a cultivation talent of seven tolls.” Elder Jinnan looked at Xia Yu before slowly raising his palm.
The Great Xia’s emperor couldn’t bring himself to watch his son’s death, so he closed his eyes. Xia Yun harbored no feeling for Xia Yu, but he was utterly disappointed by the latter’s actions.
“Hahaha!” Xia Yu suddenly burst into laughter. Saliva flowed from the edges of his lips, and he looked as if he had lost his mind.
“Hm?” Elder Jinnan halted his movement.
The crowd frowned. Did that pill erode Xia Yu’s sanity and turn him into a fool?
“Elder Jinnan, can we spare his life if he has truly lost his sanity?” Xia Yun asked.
Before Elder Jinnan could reply, Abbess Moonchaser walked forward and took a closer look at Xia Yu. A moment later, she shook her head and said, “I can’t tell if he’s faking it or not.”
“The Earth Corpse Gu Pill can indeed erode a person’s sanity. He has never cultivated before, so it’s possible that he’s unable to withstand the pill’s potency,” Elder Jinnan murmured.
Li Guozhu and the others’ eyes lit up with hope. No matter what, Xia Yu was still their Great Xia’s crown prince. They were inclined to spare Xia Yu if he had truly lost his mind, especially since he wouldn’t be able to do harm anymore.
Fang Chen walked up to Xia Yu and said, “You have sinned too deeply. I have no reason to spare you whether you have truly lost your mind or not. Rather, it’d be a humiliation to keep you alive when you have already turned into a fool.”
“Hehehe…” Xia Yu smiled foolishly back.
“He must have lost his mind,” Elder Jinnan remarked. “I don’t sense any emotion from him.”
Abbess Moonchaser nodded.
It was no easy feat to feign madness in front of two Foundation Establishment cultivators.
“It looks like it’s real.” Fang Chen nodded.
He raised his hand, lightly placed his finger on Xia Yu’s forehead, and infused a surge of spirit ki into the latter’s head. The next moment, Xia Yu’s brain was crushed into paste.
There was still a silly smile on his face, but his body slowly stiffened as he breathed his last.
Li Guozhu and the others were stunned. Fang Chen killed Xia Yu?!
“He’s our Great Xia’s crown prince, after all. Let him go off with dignity,” Fang Chen said.
No one said a word. Elder Jinnan and Abbess Moonchaser refrained from saying a word either. Xia Yu did deserve to die for colluding with the Blood Spirit Cult.
“Old Huang, clear the corpses,” Fang Chen ordered.
Huang Sihai quickly dragged Xia Yu and the others’ corpses out of the Palace of Great Peace.
The Great Xia’s emperor looked as if he had aged a few years in an instant. He first looked at Fang Chen, followed by Xia Yun and the others, and in the end, he heaved a soft sigh and said, “I’m not suited to be Great Xia’s emperor. I’ll announce my abdication through an edict today. You may pick a suitable successor from my remaining sons.”
Li Guozhu and the others took a sharp inhalation of air.
Before they could try to stop him, Xia Yun nodded and said, “Yes, you’re not suited for this position. You didn’t notice a thing when such chaos was happening right beneath your eyelids.”
With Xia Yun saying so, Li Guozhu and the others could only hold their tongues. They hadn’t expected the matter today to blow so big as to result in their emperor’s abdication.
“Daoist Fang, shall we head to your manor?” Elder Jinnan asked, displaying zero interest in Great Xia’s politics.
“Of course.” Fang Chen nodded with a smile.
The threat concerning the Blood Spirit Cult had concluded for now, allowing Fang Chen to rest at ease.
Upon returning to the Fang Manor, Fang Chen took out 200 low-grade Purple Lightning Talismans and gave them to Elder Jinnan. These talismans were made out of normal materials; it didn’t cost him anything except for his time and effort, so he didn’t mind giving them away.
To Elder Jinnan, these 200 Purple Lightning Talismans proved that Fang Chen had a formidable background. At the very least, there was not a single sect in Infernoblaze with the means to take out 200 Purple Lightning Talismans like that.
“I shan’t stand on ceremony.” Elder Jinnan stowed the Purple Lightning Talismans into his storage ring. He then took out another storage ring and looked at Fang Chen and Abbess Moonchaser. “This was left by that corpse cultivator. Shall we split the items inside equally among us?”
“We should.” Abbess Moonchaser nodded.
The three of them assimilated the storage ring and took the items inside out to do a quick stock take. Inside the storage ring were 400 low-grade ki stones, a mid Yellow-tier flying sword with 26 daosoul imprints, and plenty of Blood Pills.
“400 low-grade ki stones—he must have robbed a lot of people,” Elder Jinnan sneered. He was surprised by how wealthy the Foundation Establishment Blood Spirit Cultist was.
“It won’t be easy for us to divide this among ourselves. The flying sword is worth at least 1000 low-grade ki stones, and these Blood Pills are useless to us…” Abbess Moonchaser murmured.
“I have taken advantage of Daoist Fang by taking 200 Purple Lightning Talismans from him. While the flying sword is formidable, it has been poisoned by corpse ki, such that it would have to be cleansed for years before it can be used. It’d be worth at most 700 to 800 low-grade ki stones in the market.
“How about this? I’ll throw in 400 low-grade ki stones and take the flying sword. I don’t need the Blood Pill and the storage ring,” Elder Jinnan said.
“All right.” Abbess Moonchaser accepted the offer without much hesitation.
Fang Chen took 400 low-grade ki stones and the storage ring, whereas Abbess Moonchaser took the Blood Pills and another 400 low-grade ki stones.
“Daoist Fang, do drop by our South Heaven Sect if you have time,” Elder Jinnan said.
After trading some pleasantries, he left the Fang Manor with his newly-accepted disciples.
“Daoist Fang, this Spirit Gauging Bell isn’t of high quality, and it has sustained considerable damage too. I’ll gift it to you.”
Abbess Moonchaser waited for Elder Jinnan to leave before taking out a Spirit Gauging Bell. It was only three meters tall, and it was covered with cracks. The daosoul imprints on it were not stable either.
It might be a trashy Spirit Gauging Bell, but it was still a rare artifact considering how not a single cultivator in Infernoblaze was capable of forging it. Abbess Moonchaser was being very generous by gifting it to him.
“You have my gratitude.” Fang Chen nodded with a smile.
He assimilated the Spirit Gauging Bell on the spot, which allowed him to freely control its size. He contracted it until it was around the size of his palm before storing it in his storage ring.
Abbess Moonchaser chuckled. She glanced at Abbess Clearlotus.
Fang Chen knew what she meant, so he said with a smile, “I’ll impart the Purple Lightning Talisman’s heritage to Abbess Clearlotus over the next few days.”
“I’ll be counting on you then, Daoist Fang.” Abbess Moonchaser smiled.