Chapter 153: The Scent of a Conspiracy

Xiao Ye and the others rushed out with boiling rage. Although the Heavenly King Alliance had been at a slight disadvantage in recent battles with the Sacred Land, it had not yet reached the point where they would let the enemy kick down their doors with impunity.

In a pavilion within the courtyard, Xiao Ying, now a graceful young lady, sat unnaturally on a stone chair.

Without a doubt, she held deep affection for Ye Feng in her heart. However, as the conflict intensified between the Ye family and the other two major families of Heaven-Defying City, she had returned to the imperial capital and had since had no further contact with Ye Feng.

Later, hearing repeated accounts of Ye Feng's remarkable deeds filled her heart with boundless joy, making her proud of the person she loved. Naturally, there were also the tender sentiments of a young girl mixed in. All things considered, her judgment had been good; the man she valued possessed extraordinary prospects.

Yet, subsequent events left her deeply unhappy. Of course, it was merely unhappiness, accompanied at most by some grievance, and fell far short of hatred.

The appearance of Huan Qingwu made her feel as though her Elder Brother Feng had been snatched away. In her heart, she blamed Huan Qingwu for everything—for why Ye Feng never came to the Xiao residence to see her, and why, even when he did happen to see her, he merely offered a casual greeting.

Even so, this merely deepened her resentment; it still did not amount to hatred.

However, when her father accidentally spoke of the Huan clan one day, that resentment rapidly mutated into hatred.

Because the Huan clan was a primary target for eradication by the Sacred Land, she assumed Huan Qingwu was approaching Ye Feng with the sole intention of using the Ye family's influence to preserve the Huan clan.

As days passed, this grievance continuously fermented. Yet, having received a proper upbringing since childhood, she did not initially commit any outrageous acts.

Even when she finally did take action, it was done in a state of naive ignorance. For a time, she was terrified afterward, but the thought that she was helping Elder Brother Feng—ensuring that hateful woman could no longer leverage his power—soon brought Xiao Ying a great deal of peace of mind.

Yet the evolution of events far exceeded her expectations. Those individuals who had originally promised her that they would merely kidnap Huan Qingwu ended up brutally slaughtering nearly a hundred members of the Huan clan.

Following that came the full-scale war between the empire and the Sacred Land. It was then that the young girl suddenly realized she had been deceived.

At that time, she wept in terror for several days. But what was done was done; no amount of regret could mend it. As long as no one discovered that she had pointed out the Huan clan's hiding place—and above all, as long as Elder Brother Feng never found out—it would be fine.

Clearly, the mental fortitude of a young girl was worlds apart from that of seasoned veterans.

The very thing she feared most came to pass. Those individuals tracked her down time and again, using that incident as leverage to extort a vast amount of intelligence regarding the Heavenly King Alliance from her.

Just yesterday, those people had even handed her a packet of powder, instructing her to scatter it into the well water in the courtyard.

Although those men claimed it was merely ordinary sleeping powder, Xiao Ying, having been deceived multiple times, no longer trusted them. Instead, she secretly fed the powder to a stray cat beforehand.

Barely an hour later, the lively stray cat dropped dead on the spot, emitting an intensely foul odor from its entire body.

Reaching this point, Xiao Ying felt an even deeper terror gripping her heart. She knew she had committed a grave mistake in the past; if Elder Brother Feng were to discover these deeds, he would despise her for the rest of his life. But she could no longer bring harm to those around her. No matter how harshly Elder Brother Feng might reproach her, she refused to do it again.

She resolved to tell her eldest brother everything. Even if it cost her a heavy slap across the face, she had to speak out.

Xiao Ying tightly clenched her delicate hands against the bluestone bench, a firm resolve taking root in her heart.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Jialuo and the others rushed out swiftly, only to find that the main gate had been shattered into a floor of wooden splinters by the earlier explosion.

Ahead, more than a dozen youths from the Sacred Land roared with arrogant laughter. "What utter nonsense, the Heavenly King Alliance, putting on such a grand facade! Disperse at once. Lest we fail to warn you, the Heavenly King Alliance is the sworn enemy of our Sacred Land. If any of you dare to join, you make yourselves enemies of our Sacred Land. Once our Sacred Land unifies the Martial Soul Continent, we will surely make you regret it!"

Jialuo's expression turned glacial, and she moved to draw her sword, but she was firmly pulled back by Xiao Ye at her side.

"The Sacred Land acts against the natural order and will inevitably perish one day. You lot have today wantonly damaged a branch of our Heavenly King Alliance. If you do not give an explanation—"

"And what if we don't give an explanation?" Before He Tao could finish, a rather arrogant voice interrupted him. Xing Yun, the seventh master of the Star Palace, holding a long sword, sauntered leisurely through the crowd.

At this sight, everyone adopted an expression of facing a formidable enemy, maintaining the utmost vigilance.

"There are a few old monsters lurking in the shadows. It is unwise to engage them in a fight right now; otherwise, if those seniors make a move from the dark, we will suffer greatly!" Xiao Ye whispered into Jialuo's ear.

Seeing that Jialuo and the others remained silent, the figures outside grew even more arrogant. "A bunch of trash! You don't even dare to speak when we kick down your door, yet you still call yourselves the Heavenly King Alliance. I think you'd be better off calling yourselves the Rat Alliance. Isn't your alliance leader that Ye Feng fellow? Didn't the Ye family used to scurry around like rats under our beatings just the same? Hahaha..."

Courting death...

While Jialuo and the others were wary of the senior experts hidden in the shadows, Zhou Yi could no longer hold back. With a furious roar, his spiritual energy surging like roaring billows, he delivered a heavily charged punch.

You are the ones courting death...

On the other side, a Sacred Land expert also let out a cold snort, thrusting forward a sword laden with dense spiritual energy directly toward Zhou Yi.

Boom...

Fist and sword collided, sending ripples of spiritual energy shockwaves spreading outward. Fine sand danced across the ground, stinging the faces of those it struck.

"Insult the boss, and I'll tear you limb from limb!" Zhou Yi's aura surged with formidable might, fully unleashing his mid-tier Spirit Emperor presence without holding anything back.

All-Encompassing Realm...

Giving his opponent virtually no time to catch their breath, Zhou Yi rapidly executed his most powerful divine ability.

In an instant, the surrounding trees began to sway without any wind. Countless leaves, as if guided by some invisible traction, swept in in a torrential surge.

Ultimately, those leaves transformed into razor-sharp blades, converging in the void into a torrent several zhang long that charged toward the Sacred Land forces.

Shattering leaves split the air; even though the leaves had not yet reached them, the leading Sacred Land youth felt as though his body was being subjected to a thousand cuts, nearly drawing blood.

Swish, swish...

The next moment, the hundreds of scattered leaves at the forefront struck him. The spiritual energy barrier the Sacred Land youth had erected around his body was pierced through almost instantly, and tiny lacerations began to appear across his form.

Swish, swish, swish, swish...

In the blink of an eye, the youth's entire body was covered in blood. Scarcely an inch of his flesh remained intact, as his form was densely covered in countless tiny wounds.

Before the divine ability was even fully unleashed, merely the surrounding stray leaves had left this Sacred Land youth battered and utterly defeated.

Strike...

On his part, Zhou Yi showed no mercy whatsoever. A massive sword-shaped vortex of leaves, already condensed in the void, whistled fiercely through the air.