Chapter 13: What? Have the Confucian Cultivators Gone Mad Too?

Before the astonished eyes of the students,

Xu Tian raised a hand and pointed. A long sword abruptly appeared in the void.

There was no needless talk. He simply pointed forward.

With that motion, the sword transformed into a streak of white sword-light and instantly crossed the distance through space.

“You dare?! No!!!”

Zhao Wudao let out a shrill scream.

The priceless magical robe on his body shattered at once.

And just as the sword-light was about to sever his head—“ROAR!”

A howl unlike any human voice suddenly erupted from within Zhao Wudao’s body!

His eyes instantly turned blue-violet.

Blood qi gushed out from all seven of his orifices and condensed in midair into a vivid flower!

That flower blazed brilliantly, actually trying to devour the streak of Vast Righteous sword-light.

“Overestimating yourself.”

Xu Tian’s gaze remained indifferent, and the white sword-light blazed even brighter.

The once dazzling flower, the instant it touched that righteous killing aura, became like snow beneath the blazing sun.

A shrill sizzling sound filled the air.

Slash!

The sword-light flashed past.

The ghostly face shattered apart, and Zhao Wudao’s head rolled to the ground with it.

The entire place fell silent.

At this moment, no one doubted Xu Tian’s words any longer.

Facts spoke louder than rhetoric!

They all understood that if the Prince of Qin had not acted so decisively, the Zhao Family might have remained hidden for many more years.

And no one could say how many common people would have fallen victim to them in that time.

Xu Tian did not even spare the corpse on the ground a glance.

His gaze passed through the crowd and landed on Chu Hao, who had shrunk into a corner and was trembling all over.

Chu Hao’s face was deathly pale, and his teeth would not stop chattering.

He might have been a wastrel. He might have wanted to stir up trouble. He might have wanted to help his elder sister seize power.

But he had never once thought of overturning Great Xia!

Nor had he known that the Zhao Family was playing with stakes this high!

To become host to a Blood-Drinking Flower was tantamount to worshiping an evil god!

That was treated as rebellion itself, a crime worthy of exterminating nine generations of kin…

“State Uncle.”

Xu Tian slowly walked over to Chu Hao. The people around them automatically moved aside and opened a path.

“If I remember correctly, the Zhao Family belongs to your Chu Family, does it not…”

“N-no… it doesn’t…”

Chu Hao’s legs went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees. Stammering, he tried to explain:

“I… I didn’t know… I truly didn’t know they were worshiping an evil god.”

“That damned Zhao Family… how could they be so bold… Isn’t this outright rebellion? I…”

“Mm, you did not know?”

Xu Tian looked down at him from above.

“That is good. Then if I go deal with the Zhao Family now, what will you do?”

“I approve with both hands! I’ll lead the way!”

Chu Hao shouted, finally coming to his senses.

Boundless cold light burst from his eyes as he ground his teeth and snarled:

“Good! Very good, Zhao Family! You eat from my Chu Family, drink from my Chu Family, and then sell out my Chu Family! What wolfish ambition!”

“There is no need.”

Xu Tian shook his head, his voice turning cold.

“I believe your Chu Family. But the common people of the realm may no longer believe it.”

With that, Xu Tian swept out a sleeve and turned toward the academy gates.

“In Great Xia, evil fiends must not be allowed to exist. The Blood-Drinking Flower should never appear again.”

“My lords, follow this prince and exterminate evil!”

In the next moment, waves of surging roars shook the entire academy.

“We go forth to slay monsters and exterminate fiends…”

The spirited students followed close behind him and swept out in a mighty tide.

……

Kunning Palace.

Smash!

A priceless jade cup was hurled violently to the ground, where it shattered into flying fragments.

Chu Lan’s chest rose and fell violently, and the face that was usually noble and elegant was now filled with shock and fury.

This time, she was not putting on an act.

She genuinely could not hold herself together anymore.

The news that had come in was enough to break her composure completely.

Xu Tian was leading a crowd of Confucian scholars, shouting about exterminating evil fiends, as they rushed straight toward the Zhao Family.

What was Great Xia now? Was it even still Great Xia?

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had gone mad, acting without regard for law or discipline and slaughtering sect strongholds at will…

The frontier army had gone mad, detaining foreign merchant ships without the court’s approval…

And now it was the turn of the Confucian scholars?

The Confucian scholars, who were always careful with word and deed—how had they suddenly become this arrogant today?

Traveling in great groups, making a spectacle of themselves through the streets…

Were they not afraid of affecting their hearts and temperaments, causing their Confucian Dao cultivation to stagnate?

What made her feel even more betrayed was the Zhao Family she had supported for years.

“Idiots! A pack of idiots!”

She slapped the table, her voice so shrill it grated on the ear.

“Has the Zhao Family gone mad? Hm? Blood-Drinking Flowers? Worshiping an evil god? They actually dared hide something like this from me?!”

She truly had wanted to use the Zhao Family to check Xu Tian, and she had spared no cost in supporting them.

But she had never imagined that behind her back, the Zhao Family had done something so monstrous.

Wonderful. Now not only had they failed to harm Xu Tian in the slightest, they had nearly dragged her down with them.

“Fine. Wonderful indeed. He publicly comprehended a Confucian Dao secret art…”

At this point, Chu Lan was so furious she laughed instead.

“And twice, no less?”

“So from now on, does that mean whatever he says becomes the truth? Since Vast Righteous Qi itself is endorsing him, is that it?”

She simply could not understand it. With a temperament like his, how had he won the favor of the Confucian Dao?

Throughout the ages, every Confucian cultivator above the Third Rank had been a man of great virtue and prestige, incomparably cautious in both speech and conduct.

Every time, they had to make absolutely certain the other party was irredeemably wicked before they dared act.

So Xu Tian was nothing but a reckless brute. Why him?

“Men! Inform the Zhao Family that they must resolve this matter themselves.”

Chu Lan steadied her emotions and said through gritted teeth:

“If they dare drag the Chu Family into this, then I will make sure they die without a burial place.”

“Your Majesty, I fear things are already too late… The Embroidered Uniform Guard has already surrounded the Zhao Family. Even six Pacification Commissioners have been dispatched.”

“Pacification Commissioners?”

Chu Lan narrowed her eyes and instead calmed down.

She slowly sat back in her chair.

“So, it was all prepared in advance. Even after being deposed, Xu Tian still handles matters as watertight as ever!”

At that thought, a savage decisiveness flashed through her eyes.

“Immediately cut off every connection with the Zhao Family! Spare no cost. Whoever must die, dies. Whatever must be destroyed, is destroyed. Do not allow this matter to affect my Chu Family.”

She had lost this round again.

And she had lost for no clear reason, lost in a way that was unbearably stifling.

“Xu Tian… Xu Tian!”

Chu Lan murmured the name in a low voice, but her eyes were full of helplessness.

“If I had not forced him to step down back then, perhaps none of this would be so troublesome now.”

“Still, a little more chaos is not a bad thing. At the very least, it has drawn away his attention.”

“Kill, then. Kill…”

She suddenly lifted her head and looked at the enormous Map of Mountains and Rivers and the Realm, her gaze settling on the date of next month.

That would be the day of her birthday banquet.

“That day will be my rebirth!”

“And on that day, Great Xia… will return to the proper track.”