Chapter 2581 - 2573: The Death of Xiong Nanti

Chapter 2581: Chapter 2573: The Death of Xiong Nanti

As soon as Yi Jue heard this, she knew it was a lie, because she was well aware that Xiong Nanti didn’t care that much about the boundary between Clan Practitioners and Sect Practitioners.

Since the other side refused to tell the truth, she asked another question, "The Ancient Space Annihilation Technique... is it possible that Xiong Nanti has mastered it?"

"It’s inconvenient to answer that for the time being," the people of the Xuanyuan Family said. "As long as Mountain Master Feng is willing to withdraw the bounty, all of this can be discussed."

Yi Jue snorted coldly at that. "Then can we also discuss the details of Xiong Nanti’s collusion with the Lingmu Sect?"

"That we’re not very clear on," the Xuanyuan Family had come to put in a good word, not to negotiate. As for the Xiong Family’s collusion with the Lingmu Sect, they themselves didn’t really understand it. "We’re only responsible for mediation... but as long as the bounty is withdrawn, everything can be negotiated."

"Then forget it," seeing that she couldn’t pry out any more information, Yi Jue refused very straightforwardly—Feng Jun might not have been so direct, but her temper was exactly that bold and forthright. "The bounty will not be withdrawn. Do you have any idea how many people that bastard almost got killed?"

The expression on the Xuanyuan envoy’s face turned rather ugly, but he still said, "The Xiong Family will deal with Xiong Nanti internally; they simply don’t want a public bounty issued, which would damage the Xiong Family’s reputation... on this point, our Xuanyuan Family can vouch for them."

Yi Jue responded crisply, "No need for the Xiong Family to handle it internally. If he has the ability, he can just keep hiding."

"Fairy Yi Jue, can your words represent Feng Jun?" The Xuanyuan envoy was a bit displeased too; he’d never seen anyone so unwilling to give face. "You must understand, Clans act according to clan rules."

This last sentence was actually not nonsense. Clans indeed had rules. For example, the Pine Cypress Peak Yan Family of the Kunhao Realm imposed extremely strict demands on their descendants. If they made mistakes outside, the punishment they received upon returning to the Clan would far exceed any punishment from the outside world.

But the Yan Family also had its flaws—the Yan Family Descendants could only be handled by members of the Yan Family. If outsiders were wronged, they could come to file a complaint, and the Yan Family would naturally give you justice. However, if anyone dared to lay hands on a Yan Family Descendant, then they shouldn’t blame the Yan Family for being discourteous.

Everyone in the Kunhao Realm believed this meant the Yan Family’s discipline was strict, but in fact, this was the universally recognized rule of Tianqin’s Clans—whatever mistakes the descendants of the clan make, you’re free to report them, but they must be dealt with by our own people.

Anyone who dares to take action without permission is offending our Clan.

Of course, the enforcement of this rule certainly had some elasticity. Complaints from low-level Cultivators and complaints from high-level Cultivators would definitely not have the same effect—if someone was already a high-level Cultivator and was still willing to respect your Clan by coming to complain, then you had to give them a satisfactory explanation.

As for low-level Cultivators filing complaints—wouldn’t overly punishing your own descendants over a few small-fry be a bit excessive?

But Yi Jue simply refused to buy into the Xuanyuan Family’s line. "I don’t care what Mountain Master Feng thinks. Anyway, as far as my Lingmu Sect is concerned, if the Xiong Family wants to screw over our Lingmu Sect disciples, then this matter cannot be handled by the Xiong Family... Han Hai Great Sage of the Xuanshui Sect is definitely of the same opinion."

The Xuanyuan Family’s mediators consisted in fact of only one Nascent Soul High Stage and one early-stage Nascent Soul, accompanied by four Golden Core cultivators. The Golden Cores were all very young, clearly only here to broaden their horizons and without the qualifications to speak—judging from this, the Xuanyuan Family’s family discipline was quite strict.

Since Yi Jue had already brought up a True Sage, these people naturally didn’t dare keep nitpicking. They only said they wished to see Feng Jun once.

However, Yi Jue’s attitude was also very clear—Mountain Master Feng had said that these matters were to be handled entirely by her.

The Xuanyuan Family pleaded a couple more times, and Yi Jue got annoyed. "I’m already giving you face. Do you really think I don’t dare seize you and perform a Soul Search about the Xiong Family?"

Seizing Junior Members of the Xuanyuan Family for a Soul Search would in fact be the best shortcut to dig out the Xiong Family’s secrets. But Tianqin’s Cultivators had their own boundaries in how they acted, just like how, in the Earth Realm, two nations at war do not execute envoys. As mediators, the Xuanyuan Family should not be subjected to such threats.

Even if the Xuanyuan Family, as mediators, would surely know some information about the Xiong Family, Yi Jue still could not do anything to them—they were, after all, a proper, reputable Clan and should be treated accordingly.

Of course, by stepping forward like this, the Xuanyuan Family also had to consider the future risk that one day their low-level descendants might be abducted by some unknown Cultivator.

Being a mediator was not an easy role. Aside from needing sufficient status and qualifications, one also had to be able to bear unexpected consequences.

But conversely, high risk came with high reward. If the mediation succeeded, the Xuanyuan Family’s reputation would take another step up.

Anyway, whatever the case, since Yi Jue had already made her stance clear, the Xuanyuan Family could only turn around and leave.

Three days later, a floating corpse appeared in the space near the Kunshui Garden plate, and because this was Yi Jue’s private plate, although she didn’t have many subordinates, they still discovered the anomaly quite quickly.

After discovering the floating corpse, they identified it and did not retrieve it into Kunshui Garden, but instead sealed off the surrounding space and hurriedly contacted Yi Jue—the corpse of Xiong Nanti had appeared near Kunshui Garden!

Upon receiving the news, Yi Jue went straight to find Feng Jun, saying they had to make a trip to Kunshui Garden: Xiong Nanti was dead!

Feng Jun blinked. "A Nascent Soul High Stage... the Xiong Family actually did something like this?"

"It’s perfectly normal," Qian Zhong said, looking utterly unsurprised. "Don’t mention Nascent Soul True Immortals—even out-of-body True Sages being executed by their own Clans isn’t one or two cases... In the end, it’s just that you people have seen too little."

Hearing this, Feng Jun and Yi Jue couldn’t help exchanging a glance. "We can understand, but... yes, we really haven’t seen much."

On this point, one had to concede—when Clans enforced their clan rules, the severity was truly terrifying. Without rules, nothing holds its shape.

But a True Sage at the Out-of-Body stage being subjected to clan punishment—on paper you can make sense of it, but in reality I’ve never seen it!

However, that wasn’t what Qian Zhong cared about. "How did your Kunshui Garden people block off the space? That won’t affect our deduction, will it?"

Yi Jue pondered for a moment before replying, "It shouldn’t. Let’s go take a look first."

Feng Jun led everyone to Kunshui Garden, and the first thing they discovered was the corpse trapped inside the Space Prohibition Formation.

After the formation was opened, Han Hai True Sage and Wei Sancai went in first. After sensing for a moment, they both let out a cold snort.

Only then did Qian Zhong fly in. She casually grabbed a handful of aura, then shook her head indifferently. "The aura matches, but there are no signs of a destroyed Nascent Soul."

"So this is what you call ’rules’?" Feng Jun let out a contemptuous laugh. "These clans... truly ridiculous."

"A Nascent Soul at the Eighth Layer at twelve hundred years old can indeed gamble on making an Out-of-Body breakthrough," Yi Jue spoke expressionlessly. "But after swapping bodies and seizing another’s shell, how much potential is left to dig out? The Ancient Xiong Family really has... fallen."

Qian Zhong went on, "And they even used Carefree Escape to send the corpse here... is this supposed to be a warning?"

"A warning to Lingmu Sect?" Yi Jue let out a scornful laugh. "They don’t even have the ability to plant it inside Kunshui Garden. Tossing trash outside—am I supposed to be scared?"

Han Hai True Sage gave a cold snort. "Is this sincerity or a show of force? Looks like it’s time to put a bounty on the Ancient Xiong Family."

He truly did not fear them. He stretched out his hand toward Xiong Nanti’s corpse. "How generous of them to even leave behind a lead!"

Yet at the instant he stirred the Spiritual Energy, Xiong Nanti’s corpse snapped at the waist, breaking into two sections that shot off in opposite directions like lightning and vanished in a heartbeat.

"Nice trick!" Han Hai sneered in fury. For a dignified True Sage to fail to detect such a setup was really a bit humiliating. "To even dare tampering with the corpse—clearly they don’t put Xuanshui Sect in their eyes at all. Looks like we really do need to launch a campaign against them."

Wei Sancai’s lips twitched. He glanced at Qian Zhong and saw that she wasn’t speaking either, so he let his eyelids droop.

It was Yi Jue whose brows furrowed. After pondering for a moment, she spoke. "A corpse being severed in two apparently has special meaning among clan practitioners."

"Hm?" Han Hai True Sage had been too angry just now. On hearing that, he reacted; in fact, he did have something similar in his memory. "It’s basically a statement that this body can’t be used for resurrection, right?"

The Nascent Soul Body can take a lot of abuse, but once the shell dies and the Nascent Soul flees, that kind of corpse is truly ruined, impossible to repair.

Yi Jue, though she hated the other side as well, kept to a matter‑of‑fact attitude. "Yes. Clan practitioners are probably also worried that the essence blood might fall into someone else’s hands and trigger curses involving the clan."

"Curses..." Han Hai True Sage let out a disdainful laugh. "Ancient bloodline curses have long been lost. Even if a fragment remains, how many people can it curse? And who could shoulder that kind of karmic burden?"

Yi Jue answered in a low voice, "Karmic repercussion isn’t that important. If someone is resolved to die, what karmic burden would they fear?"

To curse‑kill multiple people not only requires immense power, it also incurs heavy karmic backlash. But if there truly are death‑sworn devotees, the only thing they might lack is the proper Dharma.

"That’s not what this is about," Qian Zhong spoke in a deep voice. She could have explained earlier but hadn’t wanted the others to misinterpret things. After all, she bore the label of clan practitioner on her back; even speaking fairly could easily be over‑thought.

Now that Yi Jue had already stated the plain truth, she voiced her own stance. "The main worry is someone using the bloodline for divination. Fellow Daoist Han Hai said it himself—the Xiong Family left behind a lead."

"I know you’re not wrong, but this matter is not over," Han Hai True Sage said coldly. "They almost trapped dozens of Xuanshui people and killed them. And they think a body without a Nascent Soul is enough to settle it?"

Yi Jue nodded crisply. "Do they think we can’t find them? We’ll see if the Xuanyuan Family can withstand the pressure."

Wei Sancai hadn’t dared speak earlier, but now he had no choice. "Junior Yi Jue, coercive bargaining is against the rules. The Xuanyuan Family is ranked third after all; their foundations are deep."

"And what if their foundations are deep?" Han Hai Great Sage spoke icily. "Those who want to cause trouble for the Xuanyuan Family are not just Lingmu Sect."

"But Lingmu Sect only just clashed with Lingmu," Wei Sancai looked at Yi Jue and spoke earnestly. "The Xuanyuan Family’s own strength may be a bit lacking, but the offshoot clans they’ve spawned are truly too many."

Qian Zhong quickly added, "Once a fight breaks out on that scale, the situation will be hard to control... and five years from now Junior Yi Jue has other major matters. This is no time for chaos."

On hearing that, Yi Jue couldn’t help looking at Feng Jun—the Asura issue really was pressing.

Feng Jun gave a small laugh, then slapped his chest. "All right, don’t I still have the Sun‑Mirroring Glass? We’ll go back and ask it for another strand of aura."

(End of month, there’ll be the usual extra Chapter at midnight. Asking for guaranteed monthly tickets for next month.)