Chapter 302: A New Storm Brews Anew in the Eastern Domain

Having been Emperor for two years, her cunning and methods were a world apart from before. With just a few short sentences, Long Yintian naturally understood what Leng Yingxue—or rather, Chu Fan—meant.

Chu Fan’s faked death back then had also been a matter of necessity.

Otherwise, when he and Long Yinwen left the Secret Realm, they would have either died or been forced to live a pitiful life following the path Long Jingyao had arranged for them.

Chu Fan had his pride; he would never be controlled by anyone. That’s why he chose to fake his death to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.

But Long Yintian truly couldn’t figure out how Chu Fan had managed to control the Space-Time Shuttle and make it fly away.

‘Was his luck just that good? Or was he just that capable?’

Regardless, the news that Chu Fan was still alive was the best she had heard in years.

The fact that Chu Fan could give the Emperor’s Jade Pendant to Long Ao proved that he cared for her and their son.

The Emperor’s Jade Pendant was indeed important to their Long Family, but wasn’t it just as important to Chu Fan?

It was, after all, a relic left to him by his master.

And then there were all the priceless Heavenly and Earthly Treasures he had given to Long Ao.

“If I’m not mistaken, Sister Leng, there’s another reason for your visit. I imagine it has something to do with Wen Chan of Chaoyin Pavilion, right?”

“How did you know?”

“It seems my guess was correct. A year ago, the God Slaughter Hall caused trouble in several southern provinces. It was only later that I recalled Chu Fan mentioning the God Slaughter Hall to me once. He met Wen Chan from Chaoyin Pavilion back when I was young and, getting carried away, insisted on visiting a brothel. Chu Fan took Wen Chan away and didn’t return for the entire night. When he came back, he explained that Wen Chan was from Chaoyin Pavilion. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but the memory returned when the God Slaughter Hall started their rampage.”

“Is Wen Chan still at that inn?” Leng Yingxue asked.

Long Yintian nodded. “But you can’t go looking for her. My father has her pinned down there; she can’t go anywhere. Her presence has allowed us to capture quite a few people from Chaoyin Pavilion over the past two years. For the last year, my father’s attention has been fixed on the God Slaughter Hall as a faction. If you go looking for Wen Chan, given my father’s suspicious nature, it will definitely put him on alert. He might not conclude that Chu Fan is alive, but once he’s alerted, he will investigate the matter to the very end.”

As Long Yintian gradually took control of the Court, she was gaining access to more and more secrets.

“The God Slaughter Hall and my Piaoxue Palace share a deep-seated hatred. They even stole our palace’s greatest treasure, the Profound Ice Bed.”

“The God Slaughter Hall has been developing in secret for many years. According to my intelligence, they are very strong. Their entire faction has no fewer than ten Saints. Right now, the most my father can do is ensure the God Slaughter Hall doesn’t dare to harm the people of the Central Domain for the time being.”

Upon hearing this, Leng Yingxue fell silent.

‘The God Slaughter Hall has at least ten Saints. How can Piaoxue Palace possibly fight them? Does this mean we can’t get revenge?’

Sensing Leng Yingxue’s thoughts, Long Yintian said, “Don’t be too anxious. With me in control of Hua Xu, my father can focus all his energy on dealing with the God Slaughter Hall. Once he has a complete grasp of their strength and has located their lair, he will surely move to annihilate them. I will be sure to inform you when that time comes. For the sake of the billions of people in Hua Xu, we cannot allow a faction like this to continue growing.”

…

Chu Fan and Bai Yun left Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the Space-Time Shuttle, setting their destination directly for Shuoyue City.

Shuoyue City was, after all, the capital they had established for the Great Xia Kingdom.

No matter the current situation in the Eastern Domain, it was right to go there first.

The people of the Central Domain might think him dead, but the people of the Eastern Domain certainly wouldn’t. Jing’an and the others were bound to Chu Fan by fate; if Chu Fan were to die, they would not live.

Therefore, as long as they were still alive, it was impossible for Chu Fan to be dead.

The Space-Time Shuttle landed in a cave on a mountain a hundred li outside Shuoyue City. After exiting, Chu Fan disguised the cave’s entrance.

Only then did he take Bai Yun and fly toward Shuoyue City.

This time, however, Chu Fan used the Illusory Body Technique to change his appearance.

Shuoyue City was bigger, nearly ten times larger than when he had left. The Palace City, however, remained unchanged, and there were many more pedestrians on the streets.

Clearly, in the four years he had been gone, Great Xia had developed quite well.

Shuoyue City was the new political, economic, and cultural center of the Eastern Domain. The city’s streets had been widened, and the shops and buildings lining them were much more magnificent.

Although it still couldn’t compare to Jianye City, the development was obvious.

However, since entering the city, he noticed that while the common folk seemed fine, the patrolling soldiers and hurried officials all wore looks of deep worry and exhaustion.

Seeing this, Chu Fan couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

Chu Fan didn’t bother wasting Spiritual Power to search for answers. He simply led Bai Yun straight to Mr. Hong’s Auction House.

“Welcome to Mr. Hong’s, sir.” ℴ

“What might you be looking to purchase? Would you like me to call an attendant to assist you?”

Chu Fan directly took out the Mo Jade token and said, “Take me to a quiet courtyard in the back and have your Shopkeeper come see me. I have questions.”

When the female greeter saw the Mo Jade, her outstretched hand retracted as if shocked by electricity.

“Honored guest, please follow me!”

The greeter led them directly to the A Courtyard in the back.

Chu Fan and Bai Yun didn’t have to wait long in the A Courtyard before someone arrived. It wasn’t Liu Yicai, but Jing’an, the Sect Leader of Celestial Heart Hall.

An unconcealable exhaustion was also visible on Jing’an’s face.

“This subordinate greets Your Excellency.”

Jing’an exclaimed as he was about to kneel, but an unseen force from Chu Fan held him up.

“Enough. Let’s dispense with the unnecessary formalities. I was delayed in the Central Domain by some matters. What has happened in the Eastern Domain? And why isn’t Liu Yicai the one to greet me?”

“Reporting to Your Excellency, two and a half years ago, a group of people forcibly occupied the Three Mountains Archipelago in Celestial Wave Lake. The Court sent personnel from the Martial Arts Discipline Bureau to question them, but they directly killed the officials and provocatively displayed their severed heads on bamboo poles at the ferry dock on the north shore of Celestial Wave Lake.”

Hearing this, Chu Fan’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t interrupt, waiting for Jing’an to continue.

“Afterward, Qi Biao led over four hundred core members of the Yellow Storm Mercenary Corps at the Soul Emergence Realm or higher, along with dozens of Cultivators at the Soul Emergence Realm or higher sent by various Sects, to Celestial Wave Lake to suppress them. In total, there were over five hundred Soul Emergence Realm experts, more than seventy Divine Separation Realm experts, and Qi Biao himself is at the Void Realm. Who would have thought they would fall into an ambush? Qi Biao was grievously injured, and less than twenty percent of the people who went returned.”

By now, Chu Fan’s fists were clenched so tightly they were cracking.

Since then, the Court proposed to exterminate these brutal bandits, but most Sects only paid lip service to the order. They had been thoroughly frightened by that one battle.

The general consensus among those Sects was that since the group had only occupied the Three Mountains Archipelago and hadn’t harmed the Eastern Domain, they should be recruited rather than annihilated.

But while they were busy squabbling, that group took the initiative. They wiped out seven Third-class Sects in a single night, and destroyed two Second-class Sects the following day.

But at that time, the Eastern Domain had only just stabilized. The only ones who truly upheld Chu Fan’s original beliefs were the factions established by his eight subordinates and a very small number of the original Six Sects and Eight Gates.

As a result, they simply couldn’t spare too many people.

The enemy on Three Mountains Island held a strategic, easily defensible position. With no other options, they could only dispatch a portion of their high-end Combat Power to lie in wait on the shores of Celestial Wave Lake.

Things were peaceful for over a year.

Then, one night a little over two months ago, thirteen more Sects were annihilated. This time, even the Cyan Cloud Sect was involved. Aside from Sect Leader Wang Zhiheng, who escaped with injuries, even their Supreme Elder and old ancestor were killed.

According to Wang Zhiheng, that group had dispatched eight Void Realm experts in their attack.