Chapter 0663: Pei Hao's True Death

Bang!

The black dragon wrapped by the black sea violently collided with the golden bell before Pei Hao's startled and furious eyes.

Dong!

The bell rang out, and its golden light began to dissipate with increasing speed.

Pei Hao was angry, and he screamed in indignation. No longer holding anything back, he channeled all of the resonant power within him outwards in an attempt to stabilize the golden bell. He knew that this was their final struggle, and if he could hold on long enough, the two would be at his mercy!

Unfortunately, this was easier said than done as the two Duke Arts could not be dealt with so easily.

Additionally, Pei Hao wasn't really a Duke. He had merely borrowed external aid to enter the quasi-Duke Stage.

Thus, no matter how hard he strove to resist, the golden bell still continued to dissipate briskly. Suddenly, a light ka-cha was heard. A single crack had appeared on the golden bell.

Pei Hao's pupils shrank and his heart sank.

With the first thin crack appearing, more and more began to form, and the integrity of the golden bell weakened. In the short span of a few breaths, the golden bell was lined with all sorts of fractures and chinks.

Bang!

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

It eventually reached its breaking point, and a massive explosion rang out. Everyone within House Luolan's headquarters looked on with surprise as the golden bell's destruction filled the sky with golden, scintillating motes of light.

At this point, the almost sentient divine phoenix and black dragon locked onto Pei Hao's body automatically, rushing right at him with one in front and the other behind, cutting off his route of retreat before hammering him head-on.

The scene was akin to fireworks blooming in mid air.

Pei Hao was ravaged by two terrifying sources of energy, causing him to swiftly disintegrate into ashes. However, his expression was not full of despair, but rather one that was frosty as he glared at the two.

"I never would’ve guessed that you two would be so strong," he coldly stated.

Li Luo was covered with fresh blood as he beamed radiantly whilst waving goodbye to Pei Hao. "Goodbye, fellow brother. You can rest assured that we will revitalize House Luolan and bring it to greater heights. When the day comes, I'll burn some incense for you too."

"Li Luo... don't be cocky. Don't think that this is over just yet," Pei Hao warned ominously as the brightness within his eyes dissipated, replaced with a lightless gray.

His gray eyes struggled to examine the seemingly foreign body they were in before shifting their focus onto Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e. A complicated gaze arose within them, but in the end, he did not speak. Instead, he sighed faintly and resigned himself to his fate, letting the two turbulent sources of energy within him decompose him into nothingness.

The two stared at the scene before them calmly. They couldn't be bothered with figuring out what his last actions seemed to imply. Perhaps he was filled with utter regret, but that was meaningless. The situation within the house had devolved into utter pandemonium, so nothing could be resolved at this moment. That fellow was the main culprit behind the disaster that was today, so there would be no pity for someone like him.

Perhaps a clean death was the biggest mercy for him.

“Eurrgh!”

Li Luo retched out a mouth of blood. He suddenly became dispirited and lethargic and his complexion turned frighteningly pale.

A whiff of a familiar fragrance wafted over, and Jiang Qing'e was instantly by his side. She hurriedly supported him and channeled light resonant energy into his body. At the same time, her expression fluctuated as she could feel that his internal injuries were significant.

He had paid a tremendous price for that final attack.

"You've tried a little too hard to show off, huh?" Jiang Qing'e grumbled reproachfully.

"Well, the reason I’ve been working so hard for the past year was for the sake of lightening your burden..." Li Luo grinned before asking proudly, "So, what do you think, Sister Qing'e? Not bad, right?" Jiang Qing'e stretched out her slender palm and helped Li Luo clean the blood off his face. A hint of a smile could be seen within her golden eyes. She nodded lightly and her voice became exceptionally gentle. "Your performance today was even more perfect than I could ever imagine. I am very proud of you, Li Luo."

Li Luo smirked victoriously, but this immediately tore open an existing wound, causing him to grimace in pain and take a few cool breaths to recompose himself.

Jiang Qing'e continued to pour light resonant energy into him to aid his recovery. She could feel that Li Luo was currently like an exhausted lamp. If he were to try to summon any more resonant power, he might very well leave behind long term sequelae.

"Well, I think Pei Hao is truly dead now," Li Luo said.

"Pei Hao himself doesn't mean much. Whether it was you or me, either of us could have ended him without much trouble." Jiang Qing'e's gaze flickered. "However, the Pei Hao we just fought with may not necessarily be the Pei Hao we knew."

Li Luo agreed readily. "When it was Pei Hao himself, no matter what secret art he may have used, it would have been impossible for him to reach the quasi-Duke Stage. Thus, it's likely that a Duke expert personally possessed his body."

"Who do you think it could be?" Jiang Qing'e asked.

Li Luo frowned as he pondered. "The Xia Kingdom is full of Dukes that covet House Luolan. It's hard to determine who is responsible, but based on my intuition... there is one person that stands out in particular."

The two glanced at each other simultaneously and spoke in tandem.

"Shen Jinxiao."

Li Luo smiled. "It looks like you and I do have some chemistry after all. Although my suspicions are placed on Shen Jinxiao, how could he possibly have been the one backing Pei Hao? It all seems a little odd as the two have no reason to work together."

Jiang Qing'e shook her head. "That does seem to be true. Comparatively, the Regent, Duze Yan, Zhu Qinghuo, and the rest are much more likely suspects. Perhaps our guesses were mistaken?"

Li Luo rotated his shoulder in an attempt to loosen up his joints. "Whether or not it's true, once the Housemeet ends, we will report him to the college and get them to conduct an investigation."

Jiang Qing'e agreed with this plan. They disliked him to begin with, so shoving more trouble down his throat would be a wonderful thing after all.

"We've basically completely exhausted ourselves. The rest will be up to Uncle Biao."

Li Luo sighed deeply. He and Jiang Qing'e had managed to stabilize the situation within the house, but things were not over. There were still external forces that had to be dealt with.

……

In a dark, secret room.

“Pffffft!”

Shen Jinxiao spat out a mouth of fresh blood, and he looked frighteningly forlorn. Before him, the quarter of the heart that remained began to wither, quickly decaying and turning into nothingness atop the altar.

Pei Hao had completely died and he no longer had a medium to work with.

"Did I actually lose?!" Shen Jinxiao clenched his fists in frustration, his gaze turning sinister. This result was an affront to him. As a true Duke expert, he had made years of preparations, and all of it had been foiled by Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e.

Thinking of the years that had gone down the drain just like that incited fury within him.

Still, he was a far-sighted individual and was unfathomable in thought. Thus, he took two deep breaths before calming himself down and suppressing any wayward emotions.

"I seem to have underestimated those two brats." Shen Jinxiao's gaze turned abstruse as he spoke to himself coldly. "However, I won't give up so easily."

As soon as he finished his monologue, his expression suddenly changed. With a swish of his robes, the altar before him vanished and his body reappeared by the front door of his lodging. Someone was knocking on it.

Shen Jinxiao expressionlessly opened the door and saw two Violet Vibrance mentors standing outside.

"Yes? How can I help you?" Shen Jinxiao asked indifferently.

The two mentors observed him closely for a moment before smiling. "Mentor Shen Jinxiao, have you truly been here the whole time and not left your lodgings?"

"What do you mean? Wouldn't you have known if I left?" Shen Jinxiao retorted with a frown.

The two mentors smiled and nodded. "Nothing much to it. We just had to ask, as per the Vice Principal's instructions. If you don't have anything else to do right now, could you come over for a cup of tea?"

Shen Jinxiao leisurely nodded. "Sure."

His blunt reply caused the two mentors to feel more at ease, and they nodded with smiles of their own.