Chapter 288: The Spirit Clan Patriarch Has Fallen Too?
Just as Xiao Tianzheng was deep in thought, a figure flew over rapidly. It was an elder of the Xiao Clan—the one in charge of the clan's soul jade tokens for those above the Divine Palace Realm. Such a person would never rush over in this manner unless something extremely serious had happened.
And now, his expression was filled with panic, causing Xiao Tianzheng's sense of foreboding to grow even stronger.
"Patriarch, something terrible has happened!"
The moment he arrived outside the great hall, Xiao Lin spoke in a heavy tone.
"What happened?" Xiao Tianzheng asked in a deep voice.
"Not long ago, the soul jade tokens of one of our clan's Saints… as well as Xiao Cheng and the others… they all shattered!" Xiao Lin said, his face deathly pale.
It had been so many years.
So many that Xiao Lin himself couldn't even recall the last time a Saint of the Xiao Clan fell outside.
Every single Xiao Clan Saint had always passed away peacefully within the clan.
After all, the Xiao Clan's foundation was profound. There was simply no force in the world that dared to attack members of the Xiao Clan, let alone a Saint-level existence.
And now, a Saint, along with several Divine Palace Realm cultivators, had all shattered their soul jade tokens at the exact same time. This was no small matter.
It meant that someone had secretly killed all of them in an instant.
And even someone as strong as a Xiao Clan Saint hadn't been able to send out any message before dying.
"All shattered?"
Xiao Tianzheng froze for a moment, unable to believe it.
"All shattered…" Xiao Lin replied bitterly.
Back then, when the Spirit Clan and the Xiao Clan had joined forces to target Li Xun, he hadn't known any details. And now that he learned a Saint had fallen, he felt only one thing:
—A great, hidden enemy had begun to attack the Xiao Clan.
And that fallen Saint… was just the beginning.
"So it really happened…" Xiao Tianzheng muttered, his expression complicated.
He had already guessed that the Xiao Clan's Saint might encounter a great terror deep within the Abyssal Demons Burial, but he hadn't expected it to actually occur.
A Saint and several Divine Palace Realm cultivators had all perished.
Even with the Xiao Clan's vast heritage, they couldn't help but feel a deep, painful loss.
As for whether the Saint's death had anything to do with Li Xun—Xiao Tianzheng had never even considered the possibility. In his mind, Li Xun should still be on his way to the Abyssal Demons Burial.
Besides, even if Li Xun had arrived, with only his Divine Palace Realm strength, how could he possibly be a match for two Saints?
"What do you mean 'so it really happened'?" Xiao Lin looked up in confusion, giving his Patriarch a strange look.
His intuition told him that the Patriarch… seemed to know something.
"It's nothing."
Xiao Tianzheng waved his hand, unwilling to explain.
After all, two great clans, together with several powerful forces, had planned to deal with Li Xun—yet before they even caught sight of Li Xun, on the contrary, the two Saints—and more than a dozen Divine Palace Realm experts were all buried within the Abyssal Demons Burial.
Such an incident was anything but honorable.
If news of this spread, every faction involved, including the Xiao Clan, would lose all face. Naturally, Xiao Tianzheng was unwilling to reveal the matter, even to a Xiao Clan elder.
"Has the Spirit Clan sent any news?" Xiao Tianzheng asked.
"The Spirit Clan?" Xiao Lin frowned slightly, his expression carrying a hint of puzzlement. He said quietly, "Strangely enough… at the moment our Xiao Clan's Saint fell, it seems a Saint from the Spirit Clan fell as well."
"And…" He hesitated.
"And what?" Xiao Tianzheng urged him, a trace of urgency in his eyes.
"And… the Spirit Clan's patriarch also seems to have met with misfortune." Xiao Lin said in a heavy tone.
The Spirit Clan and the Xiao Clan were bound by marriage ties. If their patriarch had fallen, then the Xiao Clan naturally had to respond in some way—not to mention, Xiao Tianzheng and the Spirit Clan's patriarch had always shared a close personal relationship.
"The Spirit Clan patriarch has fallen too?" Xiao Tianzheng's body trembled.
He waved his hand weakly and said, "You may leave for now."
"Yes."
Xiao Lin looked at Xiao Tianzheng once more. His throat bobbed as if he wanted to ask something, but in the end, he said nothing.
He could clearly tell that the Patriarch definitely knew more than he was saying. But if the Patriarch refused to speak, he didn't dare to push further.
After watching Xiao Lin leave, Xiao Tianzheng's expression grew extremely cold. Deep within his eyes, a boundless chill surged, as though it could freeze the entire universe.
A shapeless murderous aura surged forth like the raging waves of the Northern Sea, roaring silently as it swept across a radius of a hundred meters. Anyone stepping inside that area would instantly be crushed into powder.
"Abyssal Demons Burial…" Xiao Tianzheng murmured, then called out again: "Ying San!"
"Subordinate present."
A dark silhouette appeared within the great hall. It seemed to lack any physical body, merging completely into the surrounding shadows. Even if one swept spiritual sense over it, one would detect nothing but empty air.
There was no way to sense that a person was standing there.
"Go to the Abyssal Demons Burial and investigate. I want to know exactly what happened there." Xiao Tianzheng ordered solemnly.
The Abyssal Demons Burial was far too unusual. It was a forbidden land, capable of suppressing a cultivator's spiritual sense. Information from within could not be transmitted out at all.
Although he was already certain that the Xiao Clan's Saint, the Spirit Clan's Saint, and that entire group had died…
He still needed to find out exactly how they died.
The Xiao Clan was different from other forces. They were an Imperial Clan. Even if the Abyssal Demons Burial had killed their Saint, they still had to pay a price.
The reason they dared to think this way was because they had absolute confidence.
Because Xiao Chen, the Xiao Clan's future prodigy—and his own son—possessed the potential to become an Immortal. Once Xiao Chen ascended to immortality, the Abyssal Demons Burial would no longer have any reason to exist.
Even an Emperor could flatten one or two forbidden zones.
His son Xiao Chen was an Immortal; destroying a mere Abyssal Demons Burial wouldn't be hard, would it?
"Yes!" Ying San acknowledged and was about to depart.
"Wait." Xiao Tianzheng suddenly remembered something and spoke again: "If you encounter the Profound Sun Holy Son, Li Xun, in the outer region of the Abyssal Demons Burial, capture him on the spot."
"If you cannot capture him… then erase him from this world."
In Xiao Tianzheng's view, the deaths of both the Xiao Clan's and the Spirit Clan's Saints were—at least in large part—because of Li Xun.
If not for Li Xun's existence, why would he and the Spirit Clan have sent two Saints into the Abyssal Demons Burial?
Now, the Saints of both clans had fallen, while Li Xun was still perfectly alive and well. Xiao Tianzheng absolutely could not swallow this humiliation.
"Understood." Ying San bowed respectfully. As soon as his words fell, his figure vanished.
Inside the great hall, only Xiao Tianzheng remained. His expression was icy cold as he stared into the distance, speaking softly to himself:
"Ying San is strong, but ultimately he's only a Half-Saint. He may not be able to suppress Li Xun."
"And the fall of two Saints… that is not something that can be hidden."
If only the Spirit Clan and the Xiao Clan had been involved, Xiao Tianzheng might still have been able to suppress the matter. But with the Golden Crow Clan, Sea God Palace, and other forces also involved…
It was no longer the same.
In no time at all, news of the Saints of the Spirit Clan and Xiao Clan falling would likely spread across the entire Desolate Ancient Continent.
"The prestige of the Xiao Clan… must not be tarnished."
Xiao Tianzheng murmured, "I must find a way to cover up today's events properly."
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