Chapter 75: Farewell

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Farewell

Li Xingchao pondered for a moment and nodded.

The Tilan Mountain ruins were left behind by a powerhouse from Ancient Times, holding immense attraction for all Martial Artists. It was impossible for the royal family to forcefully monopolize it and prevent other factions from intervening. Rather than facing conflicts later, it was better to open it up to the public now.

"I’ll write to my brother to discuss this immediately," he said. The supreme power of the Yu Kingdom was under the joint command of him and the Eldest Prince. Naturally, the matter of opening up the ruins needed to be discussed with the Eldest Prince.

"Did anything else happen while I was away?" Li Xingchao asked, looking at Li Xun.

Li Xun’s expression turned somewhat ugly. He hemmed and hawed for a long time before finally speaking, "Yes..."

"Speak," Li Xingchao said coldly. Yun Wan had already run off to the ruins, her fate unknown; he didn’t believe there could be a bigger mess than that.

"While investigating the Sorcerers, I accidentally fell into a trap and lost forty-eight Golden Scale Guards." As he spoke, he carefully glanced at his father. Seeing his father’s ashen face, Li Xun hastily shot Xu Liang a meaningful look.

Xu Liang cupped his hands slightly and said, "Your Highness, this matter is also a dereliction of my duty. I was supposed to use the Tracking Art to find the whereabouts of those Sorcerers, but I never expected it to be a trap set by them."

Hearing this, Li Xingchao frowned slightly. "Not even the Taibu saw through this trap?"

Xu Liang just cupped his hands and remained silent.

"Is there anything else?" Li Xingchao asked again. Since even Xu Liang hadn’t seen through the trap, he didn’t want to blame Li Xun for falling into it. After all, he was still young and needed more experience.

"Also... Yun Qing killed a disciple of Steward Xu from the Ascension Association," Li Xun spoke up once more.

"What?!" Just as his words fell, Yun Jin abruptly stood up. She looked at Yun Qing with a face full of shock and demanded, "Did you really kill Steward Xu’s disciple?"

Yun Qing curled his lip, cupped his hands, and said, "I did.

"Before my sister left for the ruins, she gave her personal Jade Pendant to a kid named Fang Xu, telling him he could seek help from the Yun family if he encountered any difficulties.

"That Registered Disciple of Steward Xu wanted to kill Fang Xu, so they brought the Jade Pendant to Huangzhou. I told my father I would come to Fenglin to see if I could find out why my sister was so impulsive, and help Fang Xu solve his troubles while I was at it."

"You!" Yun Jin was trembling all over with anger, pointing at Yun Qing, utterly speechless.

"Ah, Yun Qing, there are many ways to solve a problem. You can’t just kill people at the drop of a hat..." Li Xingchao also felt a massive headache coming on, complaining quite a bit.

He had originally thought Yun Wan secretly running off to the ruins was headache-inducing enough. He never expected there to be an even bigger headache waiting for him. The Ascension Association!

As a Prince of the Yu Kingdom and its current de facto ruler, Li Xingchao knew exactly how terrifying the strength of the Ascension Association was. Without exaggeration, if the Ascension Association had even the slightest ambition to dominate, the Yu Kingdom and several neighboring countries combined wouldn’t be their match!

He knew Steward Xu Changqing of the Ascension Association. The man was based in the Central State, and although he only held the position of a Steward, his prestige within the association was even higher than some of the elders! All because he was a Pill Master! By killing his disciple, once the Ascension Association assigned blame, even his imperial father probably wouldn’t be able to protect Yun Qing!

The current Yun family Patriarch, Yun Tianming, only had one son and one daughter. Now, his daughter was trapped deep within the ruins with her fate unknown, and his son had caused such a massive disaster...

"Qing’Er, how could you be so impulsive!" Yun Jin looked at her nephew in despair. Xu Changqing was famously protective of his own. Yun Jin could easily imagine how furious he would be once he learned his disciple had been killed. When that time came, the only thing the Yun family could probably do was tie up their sole heir to the Patriarch’s seat and deliver him over, leaving him at their mercy to beat or kill!

"Aunt, he was just a Registered Disciple with declining vitality! I refuse to believe Steward Xu would personally show up to demand accountability for such a piece of trash!" Yun Qing argued.

A Registered Disciple with declining vitality? Hearing this, Li Xingchao looked at Li Xun and said, "What exactly happened? Tell me."

Li Xun immediately cupped his hands and gave a brief account of Wuhuan’s situation.

"So you’re saying that the Wu family Patriarch and Steward Xu only shared a fleeting connection from the past... and that the Wu family Patriarch even colluded with the Sorcerers to murder you?"

Li Xun cupped his hands. "Exactly."

Receiving a positive answer, Li Xingchao pondered for a moment before looking at Yun Jin. "This matter is actually not as serious as we imagined.

"According to what Xun’Er said, this person merely saved Steward Xu in the past. By acting on his behalf now, Steward Xu has already settled that old debt of gratitude. Furthermore, the Ascension Association does not interfere in secular affairs. By blatantly colluding with the remnants of the Dusk Cloud Kingdom in an attempt to murder the Crown Prince of my Yu Kingdom, this person surely violated the Ascension Association’s rules.

"Here is what we will do. When we return to the Central State, I will personally take Qing’Er to visit Steward Xu. We should be able to beg for his forgiveness."

The plan to win over the Yun family through a marriage between Yun Wan and Li Xun was basically ruined. If he could protect Yun Qing from the Ascension Association at this juncture, Li Xingchao felt this move wouldn’t be much less effective than a marriage alliance between the two families.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Yun Jin bowed slightly in gratitude, then glared at Yun Qing. "Aren’t you going to thank His Highness?"

Yun Qing somewhat reluctantly cupped his hands. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Li Xingchao waved his hand dismissively. "Once the ruins are opened, the situation in Fenglin Town will become even more complicated. The two of you should return to Huangzhou and the Central State as soon as possible."

He had only been away for a little over ten days, and Li Xun and Yun Qing had already stirred up so much trouble. He didn’t dare let the two of them stay here any longer.

"Your Highness, I—"

"If you are told to go back, then go back. Stop with your nonsense!" Yun Qing wanted to say something more, but Yun Jin shut him down. "You’ve really grown some nerve! With you being so reckless, the Yun family will inevitably be destroyed in your hands one day!"

"Aunt..." Scolded so harshly, Yun Qing didn’t dare to talk back.

p.m.

The front door of Zhiyuan Hall was knocked open. Yun Qing walked in looking rather angry and turned to Fang Xu. "Where is Miss Chu?"

Fang Xu was slightly stunned. "She’s asleep. Why is Young Master Yun looking for her?"

"I want to say goodbye to her," Yun Qing said helplessly.

Say goodbye? "Young Master Yun is leaving?"

Yun Qing sighed and nodded. Suddenly, he spoke up, "Fang Xu, Fenglin Town is going to descend into chaos very soon. If you don’t mind, you and Miss Chu should come with me to Huangzhou!"

Fang Xu was confused. "Why would Fenglin Town descend into chaos?"

He definitely wouldn’t go to Huangzhou. He possessed the "Divination God Treasure" and the "Flame Spirit True Understanding", and had significant ties with the Sorcerers. Going to Huangzhou now would be no different from throwing himself into danger.

"The Tilan Mountain ruins are about to be made public. By then, factions of all sizes from across the entire Yu Kingdom will definitely enter the mountain through Fenglin Town," Yun Qing explained. "When that time comes, Fenglin Town will literally have Martial Masters walking everywhere and Martial Venerables as common as dogs!"

With the Tilan Mountain ruins opening, the situation Yun Qing described might indeed occur. However, Fang Xu anticipated that the royal family wouldn’t just ignore it. They would inevitably send people to oversee Fenglin Town and intimidate the various factions. Therefore, on the surface, Fenglin Town wouldn’t truly descend into chaos.

"I appreciate Young Master Yun’s kind intentions, but I’ve lived here since I was a child. I don’t want to leave just yet," Fang Xu refused.

"Stubborn!" Yun Qing cursed angrily, then walked straight to Chu Muyun’s door.

"Chu—"

"Young Master Yun, you don’t need to say anything else. Mu Yun heard everything. If my brother doesn’t leave, Mu Yun will absolutely not leave," Chu Muyun’s voice rang out from inside the room.

Yun Qing froze, then sighed helplessly. He turned back to Fang Xu and said, "By then, my Yun family should also be sending people over. I’ll have them look out for you two.

"Protect Miss Chu well. If anything happens to her, I will never let you off the hook!"

After saying this, Yun Qing left in a huff.

Watching his retreating back, a thoughtful look appeared on Fang Xu’s face. After a moment, he headed straight back to his room to cultivate.