Chapter 157: Chapter 155: The Furious Hai Tongtian

When Hai Tongtian and the other Elder arrived in pursuit, the looks on their faces were a sight to behold, as if they had just swallowed flies. Enraged, Hai Tongtian roared at the sky and slammed his palm into the water. With that single strike, the great river—dozens of meters wide and over ten meters deep—was blasted in two!

A curtain of water shot into the sky, instantly drenching them in what felt like a torrential downpour. The river, roiled by Hai Tongtian’s blow, sent monstrous waves crashing wildly against both banks.

Hai Tongtian and the Elder beside him instantly retreated a great distance to escape the storm of their own making, their faces filled with frustration and rage.

The Elder beside Hai Tongtian said hatefully, "The Paradise River is filled with mature Aquatic Spirit Beasts. That brat is courting death by jumping in here! If we follow the river downstream, we might still catch him!"

"Fine," Hai Tongtian snarled, his eyes bloodshot and the faint taste of blood in his mouth, his body seething with rage. "If I cannot kill that whelp with my own hands, I swear I’m no man!"

But it was a pity. Even after chasing downstream for nearly a hundred miles, they saw no sign of Qin Li. Just then, Hai Tongtian suddenly spoke. "That damn animal. Could he have gone upstream?"

The other Elder frowned and shook his head firmly. "Impossible. Others may not know this current, but we do. Even for a Martial Artist at the Celestial Shattering Realm, going upstream is no easy feat. I’m sure that brat went downstream. How about we chase a little further?"

Hai Tongtian shook his head. "We’re done chasing. Let’s go back and retrieve my junior brother’s body first. By the way, where is Elder Wu Jing?"

Only then did the Elder beside him realize that in all this time, their other companion had never caught up. The color drained from his face as he exclaimed in alarm, "You’re right! Why didn’t he follow us?"

They exchanged a look, each seeing the deep-seated fear in the other’s eyes. Without another word, both of them shot back the way they had come.

...

Inside the great hall of the Paradise Celestial Palace, two cold bodies were laid out side by side: Hai Chensha and the other Elder who had died from poison. Outside, there were ten more corpses—four Celestial Level disciples of the Paradise Celestial Palace and the women who had been guarding the "Tripod Furnace" virgins.

Bu Jingfeng knelt on the floor, trembling, his face ashen. He never could have imagined that someone would follow him back to the Paradise Celestial Palace and unleash a massacre.

’I was going to ask the Sect Leader to send some Elders to get revenge for me, but I never expected it to turn out like this. If I’d known, I would have been better off taking my parents and just disappearing. The Celestial Essence Continent is so vast, the Paradise Celestial Palace probably would never have found me in a million years!’

But it was too late for regrets.

Le Wuya, the Sect Leader of the Paradise Celestial Palace, was a picture of serenity. His eyes were as still as an ancient well, and he didn’t appear angry at all. On the contrary, he spoke to Bu Jingfeng in a gentle and pleasant tone. "Bu Jingfeng, you don’t need to be afraid. I’m not going to kill you. At this point, this incident no longer has anything to do with you. I just need you to tell me exactly what happened, in great detail. And remember, don’t even think about lying."

But the gentler Le Wuya’s tone, the more a bone-chilling unease crept over Bu Jingfeng. There was a simple reason for this: the Sect Leader of the Paradise Celestial Palace was notoriously unpredictable. One could never tell from his expression whether he was pleased or furious.

"Yes, Sect Leader! This disciple will hold nothing back!" Bu Jingfeng stammered, trembling as he gave a detailed account of how their conflict with Qin Li had started, including how Qin Li had later killed several of his martial brothers. He recounted the entire story from beginning to end.

After listening, Le Wuya and the Elders beside him exchanged a look and nodded. Le Wuya’s voice grew even gentler. "Bu Jingfeng, you’re actually a very talented child. What you all did in the mortal world is no great matter. We of the Paradise Celestial Palace cultivate the pleasures between men and women. When you discover a Top-Grade Tripod Furnace, it’s only natural not to let it go. The other party was a tough nut to crack, so you suffered a loss—some were even killed. That’s normal. Even if all your martial brothers died and you alone survived, I wouldn’t blame you. Do you understand?"

Bu Jingfeng nodded in a daze, a wave of relief washing over him. ’I’ve made it through,’ he thought. ’Qin Li, just you wait! Once my cultivation is complete, I’ll steal every last one of your women and make you live out the rest of your days in misery and regret!’

Just then, Le Wuya’s impossibly gentle voice spoke again. "But, Bu Jingfeng, there is one thing I don’t quite understand. When exactly did you sustain these severe injuries?"

Bu Jingfeng, who had been lost in his revenge fantasies, trembled violently at the words. He immediately threw himself to the ground, prostrating himself and shaking like a leaf as he wailed, "Sect Leader, this disciple deserves death! I was wrong! I shouldn’t have harmed myself out of fear of severe punishment! I beg the Sect Leader to spare my life! I am willing to cultivate the Brahma Heaven Demon King Combat Skill! I was a fool! I was wrong!"

Le Wuya sighed softly. He glanced at Hai Tongtian, whose face was iron-dark, and said faintly, "The Brahma Heaven Demon King Combat Skill? Heh, do you think just anyone can cultivate that? As I said, no matter how outrageous the actions of a Paradise Celestial Palace disciple, they can be forgiven. You didn’t harm your fellow disciples, and their deaths had nothing to do with you. But your mistake was trying to be clever. Did you really think a bunch of us old men who’ve lived for over a century would be too senile to tell a new wound from an old one? You’re a ruthless one, to be willing to do that to yourself... I don’t wish to punish you. You are Elder Hai Tongtian’s disciple. Elder Hai Tongtian, you decide what to do."

Le Wuya directed his last words at Hai Tongtian. He then rose, slowly descended from his seat, and squatted beside the body of the poisoned Elder. He carefully picked up the broken half of the dagger lying next to the body, held it gingerly, and brought it to his nose for a sniff. He sighed. "A poison from Ancient Times. Incurable. I wonder where the assassin managed to find something like this."

Suddenly, as if clutching at a final, life-saving straw, Bu Jingfeng remembered something and shouted, "Sect Leader, I know where that dagger comes from!"

And Bu Jingfeng did know. Bu Tong was a favorite of the Crown Prince, so he was naturally aware of the Celestial Level expert named Shadow. When Bu Tong had last returned, he had even remarked to Bu Jingfeng how he never would have thought someone as powerful as Shadow could be wounded, have a hand severed, and lose a poisoned dagger in the process.

"Oh? You know? Do tell." Le Wuya glanced at Bu Jingfeng and said in a measured tone.

"This dagger belongs to one of the Crown Prince’s personal guards from my country! The guard’s name is Shadow, and he’s a Celestial Level Martial Artist! It’s said that some time ago, when he went to assassinate Qin Li, Qin Li cut off his hand and he lost a poisoned dagger. It must be this one!"

Bu Jingfeng’s words constituted a crucial piece of evidence. Until now, everyone had suspected the assassin’s identity but had no way to be certain. His testimony proved beyond a doubt that the killer was none other than the very Qin Li they had provoked.

At that, Le Wuya nodded and stood up. A determined glint shone in his eyes as he said faintly, "Now that we know who our enemy is, things are much simpler. I will not spare a single woman associated with him! And as for the men... I won’t spare them either!"

Le Wuya continued, issuing his commands. "Immediately put the entire Paradise Immortal Mountain on alert and apprehend that Qin Li! Remember, I want him alive! After he is captured, go to the mortal world and seize everyone associated with him! I want him to watch with his own two eyes as every woman connected to him is utterly humiliated before being killed right in front of him. I want him to see every man connected to him die by a thousand cuts, suffering endless torment! Only then will it be his turn! I will make him understand... just how terrifying it is to provoke the Paradise Celestial Palace!"

With that, he strode out of the hall.

Bu Jingfeng finally let out a long sigh of relief. ’My master, Elder Hai Tongtian, has always doted on me. Since the Sect Leader didn’t punish me, Master surely won’t either.’ At that thought, he struggled to get up from the floor. He had been truly ruthless with himself; his injuries were severe.

Just then, a foot came down lightly on the very hand he was using to push himself up. Bu Jingfeng froze. He looked up to see his master’s emotionless face and stammered, "Master, you... you’re on my hand—AH!"

Before he could finish, Bu Jingfeng let out a bloodcurdling scream as Hai Tongtian brutally crushed his hand underfoot!

Outside, Le Wuya paused for a moment, sighed, and then continued toward his personal quarters. He had anticipated this. There was no way Hai Tongtian would spare Bu Jingfeng. If not for the disaster Bu Jingfeng and his group had stirred up, how could his most cherished junior brother, Elder Hai Chensha, possibly have been killed?

Compared to his junior brother, this disciple meant nothing to him. If he wanted to raise new ones, in another twenty years, he could have a dozen more just like him. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"AHH... Master, spare me! Spare my life!" The agony was so intense—the kind of pain that shoots straight to the heart—that Bu Jingfeng nearly fainted. A glance at his hand revealed it had been crushed into a mangled mess of flesh and blood, every bone shattered.

It was completely ruined.

"You animal!" Hai Tongtian roared. "If it weren’t for you, how could the Paradise Celestial Palace have suffered this catastrophe? How could my junior brother have died so horribly? What use are you alive? Just looking at you reminds me of his tragic death!"

Hai Tongtian’s rage was uncontrollable. The more he spoke, the greater his grief, and the more his grief turned to fury. Finally, he lashed out with a vicious kick to Bu Jingfeng’s chest. Already severely wounded, Bu Jingfeng was killed instantly by the hate-fueled blow.

His eyes, however, remained wide open, filled with a look of utter confusion. It was impossible to tell if they held more hatred or more regret.