Desolate Era (Book 11 - Book 15)

The crown prince, the second princess, and the servants aboard the shuttle all had ashen looks on their faces. They could all tell that this time, Darknorth was truly enraged!

They were all Immortal cultivators; naturally, they were no fools. They knew that the little princess had plotted against this senior Darknorth just now. Senior Darknorth had clearly gone to help them fight against the Flamewing Guard, but the little princess had stabbed him in the back…an action like this would be viewed with contempt by mortals and cultivators alike!

“Senior Darknorth…”

“Darknor…”

The crown princess and the second princess hurriedly spoke out, utterly terrified. This was completely not their fault. The little princess had acted completely of her own accord; they didn’t instruct her to carry out those actions at all! As for her death, the crown prince and the second princess felt a hint of regret but not too much pain. This was because far too many of their siblings had died on this journey, and all of their elders had perished as well. They were used to this sort of loss…and on an emotional level, the crown prince and the second princess were much closer.

Whoosh. Ning willed it, and a white-robed maiden appeared next to him. It was Qi Xiaoyu.

“Master,” Qi Xiaoyu said hurriedly, “I saw the little princess…” Halfway through her words, she realized that she was within the flying shuttle. Seeing the situation, she couldn’t help but grow confused.

“Disciple, watch carefully,” Ning said coldly.

“Yes,” Qi Xiaoyu said.

“Senior Darknorth, what happened just now was completely the actions of Ruhui; she wanted to use you to delay the Flamewing Guard,” Qi Rufeng said hurriedly.

“It was our little sister who carried out that action. Her alone,” the black-robed princess said hurriedly as well.

Qi Xiaoyu just watched silently. When the Flamewing Guard had arrived, her master had gone to fight them while the imperial Qi clan had fled…and while fleeing, the little princess had thrown out a formation to trap them. Qi Xiaoyu had seen all of these things with perfect clarity. In addition, after having accompanied the imperial Qi clan for so long, Qi Xiaoyu knew very well how vicious and cruel the little princess was. Thus, by now she more or less knew what had happened!

Ning looked at the crown prince and the second princess. He said coldly, “I heard it all. There was talk of having the Celestial Immortal Patriarch behind me go take revenge upon the Flamewing King on my behalf and kill him? Hmph…I don’t like to kill, but some people deserve killing!”

The crown prince and the second princess trembled.

“If the two of you were behind her actions, then you two shall both die as well. If you did not…I won’t go so far as to implicate the two of you.” Ning’s gaze turned to the black-robed princess. He immediately used the [Soulcharmer Art] divine ability. Although this Black-White College art wasn’t that strong, Ning’s soul was far too powerful! The black-robed princess’s gaze instantly turned dull.

“Speak. Did you have anything to do with the little princess’ plot against me?” Ning asked calmly.

The black-robed princess spoke in a dull voice without any inflection at all. “It had nothing to do with me. Ruhui acted of her own volition. Although her action may have caused senior Darknorth to fight for a bit longer, it also created yet another powerful foe for our imperial Qi clan. If the school behind senior Darknorth came for vengeance, our imperial Qi clan would most likely be in even more dire straits. Ruhui was far too shortsighted…”

“…what just happened?” The black-robed princess regained her clarity of mind. She stared around in astonishment…and slowly, the memories of what had happened just now when she had been hypnotized came rushing back to her. She couldn’t help but look towards Ning in terror.

The crown prince’s face instantly turned even more ashen.

“You.” Ning looked towards the crown prince.

The crown prince gritted his teeth. “I definitely didn’t have the intention to harm you, senior.” Just as these words came out, Qi Rufeng’s gaze also turned dull.

He, too, dully spoke out the truth. This truly did not have nothing to do with him.

The nearby Qi Xiaoyu let out a sigh of relief. She actually felt good-will towards the crown princess and the second princess.

“I ask you,” Ning suddenly said, “Did your imperial Qi clan arrange for the destruction of Qi Xiaoyu’s tribe?”

The black-robed princess’s face instantly changed. Qi Xiaoyu’s body trembled as well, and a look of terror and unease appeared in her eyes.

The crown prince responded in a wooden, robotic manner, “For the sake of ensuring Qi Xiaoyu’s total devotion to our imperial clan, we had to make it so that she had no one else to rely on. Otherwise, in her heart, her tribe would still be occupy the most important position. Thus, the elders of the clan forced three Xiantian Diremonsters to attack the tribe. As for the two Xiantian experts of that tribe, our clan elders plotted against them and ensured that they naturally wouldn’t be able to fight back, causing the entire tribe to be broken apart.”

“Qi Xiaoyu’s family members all died, giving her no one else to rely on. At that moment, our elder stepped in to protect her; naturally, she felt gratitude and affection for the elder’s actions. Everything happened as we planned, and Qi Xiaoyu became incomparably devoted and loyal to our imperial Qi clan. In addition, after Qi Xiaoyu became a member of our imperial Qi clan, our luck took a noticeable turn for the better. The number of times we were attacked dropped, and the number of elders who died in each attack also lessened…”

“No…no…” Qi Xiaoyu’s face was covered with tears. She repeatedly shook her head.

Ning sighed mentally to himself. In truth, the main reason he had used the [Soulcharmer Art] was to ask about this matter. Given Ning’s keen senses, he naturally noticed quite a few oddities regarding the destruction of Xiaoyu’s tribe. It was extremely rare for this sort of large-scale tribe to suffer an attack from Diremonsters.

“As I thought.” Ning nodded to himself. Qi Xiaoyu felt extremely deep gratitude towards the imperial Qi clan. Ning was afraid that this might cause problems in the future, and so he wanted to clarify this matter right away.

“You were plotting against me all along. All along…” Qi Xiaoyu looked at the crown prince, her face completely pale. “My master? Was she plotting against me as well?”

“Aunt-master Everlotus was opposed to our scheme. She wanted to go to your tribe and take you on as her disciple in a voluntary manner. However, our imperial Qi clan was in a state of flight; all of our actions had to be for the sake of the imperial Qi clan’s best interests.” The crown prince, Qi Rufeng, continued to speak in a monotone voice. “She felt sorry for you, and so when she took you on as disciple, taught you, and doted on you, it was out of love. In fact, some of the other princes and princesses felt jealousy for this.”