Li Guanyi’s gaze shifted from the bronze stele placed in the corner and followed the Mystic Turtle Dharma Form to the innermost spot, where the antique decor surrounded an open space with bookshelves. There lay a scroll.
It was ten feet long and several feet high, with sharp brushstrokes that seemed to have thousands of mountains and rivers merged into the scroll.
The Mystic Turtle Dharma Form had come to a stop in front of this scroll.
It seemed to want to enter but was unable to penetrate some kind of ethereal barrier, so it paced back and forth in apparent anxiety, eventually landing on Li Guanyi’s shoulder with a look of urgency in its eyes. One claw tugged at the boy’s shoulder while the other pointed at the landscape painting.
It was almost about to cry out.
"There’s no way this thing can be taken away."
Li Guanyi looked at the Mountain and Water Scroll and recognized from the inscriptions on one side that it was the work of an ancestor of Chen Country, the Duke Chen, from five centuries ago. At a glance, he saw that although the Duke’s martial skills were peerless and he once looked down upon the world, his painting skills could only be deemed passable. If it weren’t for the Mystic Turtle’s insistence on staying there, Li Guanyi wouldn’t have paid it too much attention.
But he completely trusted the Mystic Turtle’s discerning eyes.
This creature even ignored Divine Weapon materials outright, which spoke volumes about the preciousness of this scroll. Li Guanyi concentrated his gaze on the Mountain and Water Scroll, gradually becoming engrossed in it as he felt that every stroke and detail of the landscape seemed to contain the beauty of fluctuating Jin Qi.
Li Guanyi’s expression became focused, and in a trance, he seemed to see a martial artist performing martial arts.
Each move was fierce and domineering, with Inner Qi fluctuating just like the mountains.
Eventually, he seemed to see a martial artist wielding a spear rushing towards him, the spear thrusting forward as if layer upon layer, endless ranges of mountains surged at him. Li Guanyi’s pupils constricted as he recognized the core of this move.
Thousands of mountains and rivers, unpredictable, were the perfect state of Mountain Shattering.
But this Mountain Shattering was endless to the extreme!
Countless overlapping mountains seemed to compound in an instant, forming a peak of infinite height and distance, overwhelmingly vast and desolate, transforming into a spear tip, fierce and domineering, crashing down on Li Guanyi!
Gathering momentum with Mountain Shattering, it exploded with the force of a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting!
This second move was far more vigorous and powerful than Mountain Shattering!
While Li Guanyi was immersed in the divine intent contained within the seemingly ordinary Mountain and Water Scroll hanging there, within the Imperial Palace of Chen Country, the Ritual Eunuch prostrated on the ground, forehead pressed to the floor, drenched in cold sweat, his complexion deathly pale.
The atmosphere was tense and icy, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe.
Whether it was from the traces of Chen Yuyun’s death or what was seen through the Primordial Light Skills according to Taoist Skill, there was no doubt that Situ Deqing was the assassin who killed Chen Yuyun.
The aim was to eliminate obstacles for the Crown Prince, for Tantai Xianming’s power, and for the influence of the civil service system. All the evidence they had was crystal clear.
But now, they had found Situ Deqing.
And this assassin, ranked tenth in the world, had become a corpse, nearly cut into three parts.
His waist was severed, his neck almost decapitated, his dead eyes wide open in apparent reluctance, while the White Tiger Evil Qi lurking in his remains had the supreme aura of a Divine General from the Military School, forceful and invincible, impossible to wield by any less than a contemporary top General.
If it was Tantai Xianming who had ordered the assassin to kill Chen Yuyun, then why was there such a turn of events?
Could it be that Yuwen Lie had bewitched Situ Deqing,
Having this world-ranked assassin kill Chen Yuyun, framing Tantai Xianming, and then silencing him by Yuwen Lie? Or was it that the Prime Minister had acted, causing Situ Deqing to fail in framing Yuwen Lie and then being killed in retaliation?
Both of these conjectures were possible, as both Yuwen Lie and Tantai Xianming had motives and benefits to carry out such an act. The Ritual Eunuch’s mind was almost too overwhelmed to keep up, feeling as if his head was on fire.
He couldn’t understand, he really couldn’t.
Emperor Chen remained silent for a long time, then suddenly said, "Summon Tantai Xianming."
The Ritual Eunuch’s heart tightened, sensing an oppressive feeling as if a storm was approaching, swallowed nervously, affirmed in a low voice, and almost ran out of the grand hall, feeling that despite the summer heat, the chill inside was nearly lethal!
He dared not delay and quickly found Tantai Xianming.
Tantai Xianming himself was doubtful, and with the sudden imperial decree today, he hurried to the Imperial Palace, seeing the body of Situ Deqing lying on the ground, even this world-renowned statesman and scholar felt his scalp tingle in an instant.
Emperor Chen sat on the throne, speaking indifferently, "Prime Minister, don’t you wish to say something?"
Tantai Xianming was silent for a long time, gradually bowed, and said, "Your servant is guilty."
Emperor Chen looked up and inquired, "Oh? Guilty of what?"
Tantai Xianming pointed at the corpse and said frankly, "Your servant failed to realize that Situ Qing, whom I recommended years ago to guard the Book Collection Pavilion, was indeed an assassin, and now he lies dead here; I am greatly at fault for recommending the wrong person."
Emperor Chen burst into great laughter, "Dodging the important and clinging to the trivial, proactively showing weakness."
"Hahaha, Tantai Xianming, Tantai Xianming, you who have served generations of kings, are indeed extremely cunning. But do you truly not know what he did? Or are you, even now, still lying?"
Emperor Chen’s laughter softened as he fixed his gaze on Tantai Xianming, continuing: