Spirit Realm

“Is this Xiang Xi telling the truth?”

From their wooden building in the crook of one of the Flowing Gold Fire Phoenix’s wings, Du Xiangyang wore a surprised expression as he rubbed his chin and watched Xiang Xi off in the distance.

He realized that he needed to take another look at the person called Xiang Xi.

Du Xiangyang wasn’t the only one thinking this. Even Qin Lie wore a look of astonishment as his brow slowly furrowed.

Qin Lie thought of Xiang Xi as stubborn, opinionated, arrogant, conceited, and recklessly ambitious. In his opinion, Xiang Xi had no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Yet, after hearing Xiang Xi’s side of things, the image of the man that Qin Lie had in his head underwent a drastic change.

If Xiang Xi really was telling the truth about Xing Yumiao using Gold Sun Island’s resources just to plot against the three great families… if Xing Yumiao was sending men to the Heavenly Calamity Continent to assassinate members of the three great families, and even personally carrying out assassinations himself… then yes, Xing Yumiao actually had been quite reckless.

Gold Sun Island was just a Copper rank force. If the Xiahou, Su, or Lin families ever decided that Gold Sun Island needed to be regarded as a target to exterminate with extreme prejudice, then Gold Sun Island would quickly meet its end.

Xing Yumiao was the one who constantly provoked them. Even Illusory Demon Sect might not necessarily be able to defend Gold Sun Island.

If this were the case, Xing Yumiao’s actions were definitely problematic and extremely detrimental to Gold Sun Island.

If Xiang Xi wanted to protect Gold Sun Island, making sure it continued to exist by opposing Xing Yumiao’s madness, then he really couldn’t be blamed for rebelling.

Qin Lie thought to himself for a moment, then smiled. “This is getting more and more interesting…”

“It certainly is more interesting than I thought it’d be,” Luo Chen chimed in, his interest piqued.

“Why are you wasting so much of your breath on the Xing brothers, Chief Enforcer?” Bo Boze asked grimly, the first among the rebels to grow impatient. “The Xing Family needs to be eliminated or they’ll kill all of us once this is over! It isn’t like you don’t understand how ruthless they are. Do you really think they’ll turn over a new leaf? That they’ll surrender just like that?”

Bo Boze paused to glance at the water below, then added, “Besides… it’s too late to turn back now.”

He was well aware of the fact that experts of Heavenly Sea Pavilion and Black Cloud Palace were hiding under the sea. The second Xiang Xi gave the order, they’d immediately charge out and slaughter the Xing Family.

Aside from them, experts of the three great families were probably nearby as well, observing in secret.

Xiang Xi needed to prove himself and eliminate all of the Xing Family clansmen here.

“I’m curious, Bo Boze. Just where are you from?” Xing Yumiao asked, a grave expression on his face. “You aren’t an elder of Gold Sun Island. After obtaining Big Brother Xiang’s trust fifteen years ago, you joined Gold Sun Island. Your son attempted to… humiliate and rape Yao’er, and I believe that crushing his family jewels was already an act of mercy! Furthermore, I imprisoned Yao’er for a long time even after that matter concluded. How are you still not satisfied with that outcome?”

“How could I possibly have been satisfied with just that?” Bo Boze hissed like a venomous snake whose tail had just been stomped on. He glared at Xing Yumiao, hate gushing from his eyes as he yelled, “Your daughter is a whore! She’s the one who purposely seduced my son and made him lose control of himself just so she would have an excuse to ruin his life! How could such an outcome possibly satisfy me? Unless I kill all of the Xing Family and have that whore Xing Yao kneel before my son and beg for his forgiveness, I’ll never be satisfied!”

“You’re the whore! Your entire family is full of whores!” Xing Yao screamed at the top of her lungs.

The Xing brothers could no longer tolerate Bo Boze’s vicious words.

“I’ll kill you first!” Xing Yumiao shouted.

A golden spear suddenly shot from within his sleeves, its tip burning with bright golden flames as it stabbed toward Bo Boze like a ferocious dragon that had just left its lair.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh...!”

Clusters of golden sparks flew from the body of the spear, making it look like a magnificent golden dragon swimming in a sea of shimmering flames.

This sudden attack caused shock to leap to Bo Boze’s face. He rushed toward Xiang Xi, seeking his protection.

He and Xiang Xi were both in the early stage of the Fragmentation Realm. Xing Yumiao’s attack, which contained his late stage Fragmentation Realm strength, wouldn’t pose a problem if they worked together to block it.

If they could buy even a moment of time and allow Xiang Xi to summon their reinforcements hiding in the surroundings, the Xing brothers would definitely meet an unfortunate end.

“Come to me!” Xiang Xi yelled.

A five meter tall bronze cauldron with three feet appeared before Xiang Xi. Giant threatening pythons were engraved into its metal, and five colors of smoke that seemed extremely toxic surrounded its mouth.

“Zzzt zzzt zzzt!”

Giant dark blue pythons writhed across the surface of the cauldron like sparks of electricity. All of them unleashed a strange collective cry as if they all came alive at the same time.

In that same instant, a violent, fearsome energy exploded from within the giant cauldron, and it rammed toward Xing Yumiao’s golden spear.

This sight made Bo Boze secretly sigh in relief.

However, as he stopped in midair and moved to brandish his own spirit artifact, intent on working with this giant cauldron to oppose Xing Yumiao’s attack—

—a surprising turn of events occurred!

The giant bronze cauldron with three feet, which was supposed to fly past Bo Boze and ram Xing Yumiao, changed directions in midair. Its strange movements brought it toward Bo Boze and slammed into him instead!

Catching him completely off guard, the force of the cauldron cracked Bo Boze’s bones and covered his entire face with his own blood.

Then the golden spear flew over.

“Pwack!”

The spear pierced straight through Bo Boze, leaving a gaping hole in his stomach.

“Xiang Xiiiii!” Bo Boze howled, locking onto the chief enforcer with an intense glare. Never had he dreamed that his life would end in such a way.

“Heavens!” Du Xiangyang cried. “What in Spirit Realm is going on!?”

Qin Lie shuddered suddenly, also stunned by this strange twist.

The rest of the group that had escaped from the Graveyard of Gods with him was also utterly confused by this surprising turn of events. Their eyes seemed as if they could form question marks.

“Could the Xing brothers have teamed up with Xiang Xi to kill Bo Boze?” Xue Moyan asked, her eyes alight. “Maybe they did this so they could deal with the people hiding under the sea?”

“That seems very likely!” Song Tingyu grew excited as well. “Who would have thought that the situation would change yet again? Today’s spectacle continues to grow more interesting!”

Enforcers Guo Yanzheng and Qi Jing, as well as the Xing Family clansmen and other martial practitioners loyal to the Xing Family, also stared at the sky blankly.

Xing Shengnan suspected the same thing that Xue Moyan did. “Could big brother and Xiang Xi have…”

She thought that Xiang Xi and Xing Yumiao had come to a secret understanding a short while ago.

However, when everyone looked at Xing Yumiao, they immediately realized that probably wasn’t the case.

—That probably wasn’t the case because shock also covered Xing Yumiao’s face.

“Big Brother Xiang,” he said. “You…?”

Xing Yumiao turned and looked to Xing Yuyuan. After a moment of hesitation, he tentatively asked, “Did you come to an understanding with Big Brother Xiang?”

Xing Yuyuan shook his head, a bitter smile on his face. “If I really had come to an understanding with him, would I hide it from you? I don’t know what’s going on either.”

Xiang Xi snorted.

“I investigated Bo Boze quite a while ago,” he said. “He was a member of the Pan Family. Ever since he joined Gold Sun Island, he sowed discord among our ranks and constantly tried to persuade me to attack the two of you. His hatred for you was as deep as the sea, and he planned to kill every Xing Family clansman. For many years, we lost many men whenever we clashed with the Pan Family because he leaked information to them. I killed him for you because he deserved to die, not because I had a change of heart. I eliminated Bo Boze to take revenge for my dead brothers and keep him from becoming a thorn in my side in the future!”

Xiang Xi looked at Xing Yao who stood on the ship below them. If one were to look closely enough, they’d notice a hint of gentleness in his eyes.

“I stood by Bo Boze back then and forced your father to imprison you for more than half a year… for your own sake.”

Xing Yao couldn’t think of what to say for a very long time.

An eternity later, she eventually spoke in a soft voice and said, “Thank you, Uncle Xiang.”

“You haven’t called me that in many, many years,” Xiang Xi said, letting out a sigh. “I don’t think I’ll ever hear you call me that in the future… since I’m still going to kill your father, your uncle, and your aunt.”

As he watched Xiang Xi, a thought appeared in Qin Lie’s mind.

—Just what kind of person was he?

Qin Lie had already figured out that Xiang Xi’s promise to capture Xing Yao and have her service him had just been a way to pull the wool over Bo Boze’s eyes.

Although it was extremely well hidden, a hint of kinship could be seen in Xiang Xi’s eyes as he looked at Xing Yao. Qin Lie believed that Xiang Xi would never hurt Xing Yao.

He began to realize that Xiang Xi, a person who had built Gold Sun Island from the ground up, accepted the Xing siblings, and surrendered his power at a critical moment for the greater good, possessed a unique charisma.

Qin Lie slowly came to understand why Xu Changsheng, Xu Jiadong, and so many veteran Gold Sun Island martial practitioners trusted Xiang Xi so much. He gradually realized why they were so determined and willing to accompany Xiang Xi on his path of rebellion.

Xiang Xi… was a man that others could trust.

“Big Brother Xiang, I…” Xing Yumiao’s voice trailed off, a complicated look on his face. He clearly still wanted to try and persuade Xiang Xi to give up this rebellion.

However, Xiang Xi had already begun calling for the reinforcements hiding under the sea.

“Come out!” he roared.

Only then did he look at Xing Yumiao. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “I’m different from Bo Boze. I do not act purely out of hatred, selfishness, or the desire to exterminate the Xing Family to the last man. I’ve promised others and convinced myself to take only the lives of three people: you, Xing Yuyuan, and Xing Shengnan. As for the rest of the Xing Family clansmen and… Yaoyao… I will allow them to leave Gold Sun Island once this matter has been resolved.”

All of a sudden, a heavy, droning voice reverberated from under the sea.

“You truly are an inflexible person, Xiang Xi. If you let these Xing Family clansmen go, more of them will pop up a hundred years from now. None of them will feel grateful to you. They will only seek your death.”

Everyone turned to look at the person who had spoken. He had already burst from the surface of the sea and flown into the sky.

This man wore gray robes covered in patterns that resembled dark clouds. His skin was dark, and his eyes were terrifying.

Numerous Xing Family clansmen and Gold Sun Island martial practitioners cried out in shock.

“It’s Black Cloud Palace’s palace master… Zheng Zhihe!”

Multiple willow-leaf-shaped boats gradually appeared on the surface of the sea. Each of them carried martial practitioners dressed like Zheng Zhihe. All of them were Black Cloud Palace martial practitioners.

“If you cut weeds without digging up their roots, they will just grow back when the spring breeze blows. You must understand this saying, don’t you, Old Xiang?”

Another person emerged from the sea.

This person wore clothing with patterns of waves embroidered into them. They were tall, had rough features, and stood atop the waves.

This was none other than Jiang Hao, the pavilion master of Heavenly Sea Pavilion.

After he emerged, several Heavenly Sea Pavilion martial practitioners rose from under the water one after another.