EFB Chapter 171: The Sword Hangs High
Chapter 171: The Sword Hangs High
A stone stirs up a thousand waves.
Whether it is those who can't stand her or those who are on good terms with her, Xiao Chongzhen, as a peak Spiritual Ascension cultivator, her death is enough to cause earthquake-like tremors.
In this tremor, the Xiao family is the most affected. As the only Spiritual Ascension cultivator in the family, and still only at the half-step Unity stage, the sudden fall of such a powerful cultivator has resulted in a drastic decrease in strength.
Although there are still many Nascent Soul cultivators in the family, including several peak Nascent Soul experts who can hold their own, their combined strength is still not as formidable as what Xiao Chongzhen brought.
This is also the biggest problem for the Xiao family. After Xiao Chongzhen, there is no one who can truly take on the leadership role in the family. If there was someone who could break through to the peak of Nascent Soul and reach the Spiritual Ascension stage, the Xiao family would spare no effort in finding various resources and opportunities to extend their lives, and they would not have provoked Chu Shen, leading to Xiao "323" Chongzhen being cursed to death.
It can be said that it is all due to the law of cause and effect.
The impact on the aristocratic factions is secondary.
Although Xiao Chongzhen's fall has caused the Xiao family's strength to decline, and they will definitely not be able to hold onto many benefits and will have to make concessions to other aristocratic families, it can be considered a feast for others.
But as a whole, the aristocratic factions are at a loss.
The powerful beings in the Empty Void and Mahayana realms rarely come out of seclusion, and the default ceiling for combat power in the cultivation world is the Unity stage cultivators.
Unity stage cultivators are rare in the entire cultivation world. Even in holy places like Langhuan Heavenly Palace, there are only three to five peaks with Unity stage cultivators, and some peaks don't even have Unity stage cultivators, such as the relatively weaker Lingyan Peak and Lingji Peak.
The Lingqi Peak, dominated by aristocratic factions, is relatively powerful. There are only two combined-stage cultivators who can bear the Ding. This is also the main reason why they are suppressed by orthodox factions - strength speaks for itself.
- Ying, although she is highly skilled in refining tools, without high-level cultivators, her words lack assertiveness.
Therefore, the various aristocratic factions are contradictory. They hope that the known peak cultivators of Spiritual Ascension can successfully advance to the combined stage, increasing the influence of the aristocratic factions. However, they do not want the peak cultivators from other factions to succeed in their advancement.
Now, with Xiao Chongzhen's sudden death, the Xiao family's strength has greatly declined. Although other factions have gained some benefits, the overall strength of the aristocratic factions has decreased. The conditions for launching a challenge to the authority of the orthodox factions have once again been weakened.
The impact on other factions in the Langhuan Heavenly Palace is no less than that on the aristocratic factions - Xiao Chongzhen's death is too suspicious.
A peak cultivator in the Spiritual Ascension stage, dying like this?
Who wouldn't be afraid of becoming the next one!
Under the fear of everyone, finding out the cause of Xiao Chongzhen's death has become a common desire of various factions.
However, it cannot be found!
This has become a sword of Damocles that could fall on anyone's head at any time.
Since the perpetrator cannot be found, then let's find the reasons why Xiao Chongzhen might have become a target. Perhaps the mistakes she made can serve as a lesson for others to avoid trouble.
Slowly, all the bitter tea of Xiao Chongzhen is being drained by various factions: arrogance, extravagance and debauchery, recruiting disciples widely, killing for treasures, oppressing disciples of different lineages...
Stripping away the halo of a peak Spiritual Ascension cultivator, this is a typical villain. Some suppressed opinions have also emerged: Isn't his death well-deserved?
Especially for the disciples under the Xiaojia's Lingqi Peak, they are pretending to be restrained on the surface, but secretly they are almost celebrating with firecrackers. They have been oppressed by the Xiaojia's people too much in their daily lives. Why are those people so arrogant? Isn't it because Xiaochongzhen is backing them up, making it difficult to hold them accountable no matter how much mischief they cause?
Now, with Xiaochongzhen's death, the Xiaojia's influence is declining, and other forces are dividing its interests. Many of these disciples, who were originally regarded as private property by the Xiaojia, finally have other choices and are being appeased and comforted.
There is a sense of déjà vu that says, "It's not because they have become good people, but because we have been here."
The reactions of the lower-level disciples are seen by those high and mighty cultivators from the past. Their moods vary, but it is definitely not a pleasant feeling.
These disturbances have nothing to do with Chu Shen.
After completing the twenty-one-day practice, knowing that the curse was successful, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head to relax and enjoy himself: What does the downfall of a peak Spiritual Ascension cultivator have to do with me, a Foundation Building cultivator? I will be ashamed and brave, and practice cultivation with my concubines!
The matter of killing Xiaochongzhen with the "Seven Arrows of Nailing" curse is too big. He didn't even tell his concubines. When he started the ritual, he lied and said it was to mourn the victims of the Chu family.
Even if someone suspected him, like Yan Shu, his senior sister, seeing his confused appearance, she would dismiss her doubts and not think that he had the possibility of killing Xiaochongzhen.
But for him, the matter is not over yet.
The death of the Xiaojia's ancestral elder only allowed him to vent his anger and intimidate. Attacking the Chu family's estate, causing casualties, and almost kidnapping his wife and children. How could he consider it finished without killing those responsible for it?
When Yan Shu came to visit him and informed him of the news of Xiao Chongzhen's death, he turned around and asked her: now that the biggest protective umbrella of the suspect's family has fallen, can they investigate their family? Can they take the opportunity to thoroughly investigate the attack on the Chu family?
Yan Shu was somewhat embarrassed by his questioning, but Chu Shen's words made sense.
In the past, they couldn't thoroughly investigate the Xiao family because they were concerned about Xiao Chongzhen. Now that Xiao Chongzhen is gone and the Xiao family's biggest card is gone, they dare not take action against the Xiao family. Then they really have no use, and they still want to compete for the position of the Holy Lord? Or they should pray that the current Holy Lord doesn't retire!
Under Chu Shen's instigation, the orthodox faction finally made progress in the investigation of the attack on the Chu family estate.
However, so much time has passed, how much evidence can they still obtain, and how far can they trace the investigation? Only heaven knows.
Chu Shen also wouldn't completely rely on the orthodox faction, but instead asked about the progress after Yang Tai Chu's arrival.
Yes, he had long felt that Yan Shu and the other senior brothers and sisters were too concerned and wouldn't pay too much attention to the case of his 0.5 being attacked. From the beginning, he sought out Yang Tai Chu and Li Jinrong to gather information through their channels.
As for Yang Tai Chu, there's no need to mention her. In a sense, she is also a daughter of a prestigious family and has her own channels to obtain valuable information.
Although Li Jinrong is an unfavored princess, she is still a princess and can mobilize some forces from the Great Tang Immortal Dynasty to assist.
Even though the channels of the two are limited, with their wholehearted efforts in the investigation, they may not find less than those orthodox faction members who don't put in much work.
Moreover, Chu and Fuyuan Pavilion also have a marriage connection. A letter from Dantai Liyue is enough to get the assistance of Fuyuan Pavilion's intelligence system.
As a result, Yang Tai Chu really brought him more detailed information...