"State Preceptor, spare my life!"
"State Preceptor, it was His Majesty who asked me to..."
Chu Zheng’s pleas for mercy were cut short after only a half sentence when they were abruptly silenced by National Master Cheng Yuxiao, pinching his head to explosion. The nascent Primordial Spirit forming within had also been completely incinerated by a thread of crimson flame in the palm of the Great Chen Imperial Master, leaving not a trace behind!
Though nothing was interrogated, National Master Cheng Yuxiao knew everything.
With a face of steel-blue, Cheng Yuxiao simply remained silent for a moment before softly saying, "Clear the area."
Xu Jin understood the meaning of the State Preceptor: no one involved, no one present, was to be spared.
The State Preceptor just stood in place, flicking his finger effortlessly, and with each flick, a head burst open.
The same went for Xu Jin.
In less than ten breaths’ time, hundreds of Fourth Tier and the remaining dozen or so Fifth Tier had all been executed.
Those who came to their senses and tried to flee had no chance whatsoever.
At the same time, the State Preceptor sent another command to Elder Peng, who was guarding the National Taoist Institute.
With a sweep of his great sleeve, a fierce flame ignited at the edge of the Ten Thousand Spirit Divine Blood Array.
In the next instant, Xu Jin and the State Preceptor arrived among the pile of unconscious civilians, cautiously lifted them one by one with Star Power, and then neatly arranged them.
The more they rescued, the uglier the expressions became on Xu Jin and National Master Cheng Yuxiao’s faces.
The casualties were horrific.
Those civilians, having been piled up haphazardly, had met unlucky fates; some were crushed to death, others had broken necks, and yet more had suffocated.
The unconscious were no big issue, merely poisoned.
Both men’s Star Power was vigorous, especially the State Preceptor’s; with a mere move of his hands, he could hold up thousands of civilians and move them aside.
In the span of a few dozen breaths, the entire valley was filled with over a hundred thousand civilians, lying like corpses.
But during the rescue, they found that several thousand civilians had died unexpectedly.
The State Preceptor remained silent, yet Xu Jin’s chest burned with raging flames.
After rescuing the last civilian, Xu Jin abruptly turned to National Master Cheng Yuxiao,
"State Preceptor, does this foolish Emperor deserve death?"
"Then what are we waiting for! State Preceptor, why wait? Kill this foolish Emperor and establish a new ruler!" Xu Jin’s eyes spat fire.
Hearing this, Great Chen Imperial Master Cheng Yuxiao sighed deeply.
But Xu Jin grew impatient. "State Preceptor, if we don’t kill this foolish Emperor, are we supposed to keep him for New Year’s? State Preceptor, if you fear the infamy, let me do it! Cover for me, and I will infiltrate the Imperial Palace under Invisibility and assassinate this foolish Emperor!"
Hearing this, the State Preceptor sighed again deeply.
This made Xu Jin impatient, "State Preceptor, I understand your feelings, but do you not seem a bit naive in your loyalty?"
"Naive in my loyalty?"
Cheng Yuxiao gave a bitter smile, "Do I look naive to you? If I were, I wouldn’t have killed Chu Zheng."
"Xu Jin, do you really think the Imperial Family could be slaughtered by you and me? Or do you believe that the Dachen Imperial Family has survived a thousand years so simply?" National Master Cheng Yue Xiao asked.
"State Preceptor, if there’s any trouble, just tell me straight!"
In the next moment, Cheng Yuxiao directly placed the Nine Bright Chime before Xu Jin, "Do you know one of the conditions to inherit and refine this National Treasure Tao Artifact Nine Bright Chime?"
Xu Jin was perplexed.
"This Nine Bright Chime is a National Treasure, personally crafted by the founding Emperor of Great Dachen. The first seal of its restriction is that the refiner must not harm the holder of the National Treasure Seal, must not move against Dachen’s Emperor.
When I refined this National Treasure, this restriction was also refined into my body."
Looking at Xu Jin, Cheng Yuxiao continued, "I know what you want to say; a National Treasure, if discarded, then so be it! But it can’t be abandoned.
The National Treasure Seal and the National Treasure are cause and effect; if the Seal is not present, and I actively abandon this Nine Bright Chime, it will instantly destroy my Divine Soul!
The founding Great Emperor of Great Dachen fundamentally eliminated the possibility of the Great Chen Imperial Master causing chaos!"
Saying this, anger surfaced on Cheng Yuxiao’s face, "As you say, for an Emperor so cruel to his people, if possible, why would I keep him?"
Xu Jin’s brows furrowed, "So you’re saying, although the Nine Bright Chime is a National Treasure, it also controls you?"
Cheng Yuxiao shook his head, "Not exactly, it merely limits the owner’s potential to cause chaos."
"State Preceptor, that being said, you can’t act, but I can! Lead me into the Imperial Palace, and I’ll assassinate this foolish Emperor!"
Looking at the tens of thousands of corpses from Yangjiang County, Xu Jin’s desire to kill the Qian’an Emperor became fiercer than ever.
"Your potential is far too great, no need to accompany a foolish Emperor to death."
"In the Imperial Palace, there’s an Eighth Tier Ritual Officer, and within the palace, I cannot act! Moreover, even if you were to infiltrate the palace under Invisibility, you wouldn’t be able to kill the Qian’an Emperor.
The treasure that protects the life of a nation’s ruler is extremely powerful.
Not just you, even a Seventh Tier would have a hard time succeeding in an assassination." Cheng Yuxiao explained.
Xu Jin looked at the ground strewn with corpses, his face full of hatred, "Are we just going to let this be?"
Cheng Yuxiao shook his head, "This foolish Emperor must pay the price for his actions, but I cannot punish him for a short time due to the restrictions of the Nine Bright Chime. However, I can diminish his Authority and the moment there’s a suitable chance in the future, I will force him to abdicate!
But if we are to execute this foolish Emperor, we will have to wait for a more opportune moment."
"State Preceptor, if the chance arises, I will surely sever this foolish Emperor’s head, and bring it here, so he can apologize to the tens of thousands of wrongfully dead civilians of Yangjiang County!" said Xu Jin.
In fact, Xu Jin harbored even deeper and more ruthless thoughts.