Chapter 116: Ke Xinwen’s Attempt to Kill with a Borrowed Knife

Translator: Minotauruz

The Inferno Kingdom’s Grand Vizier, Situ Cang, is a widely known character in the cultivation world. He had spent almost two thousand years in order to finally raise his cultivation level to the Immortal Ascension stage. In and of itself, this was hardly considered an achievement to be beheld. But more importantly, he also possessed a distinguished status as an array master and a talisman master. These abilities of his more than made up for the lack of talent in his cultivation level.

There were numerous cultivators in the world at the Immortal Ascension stage of cultivation or higher. However, the number of array masters and talisman masters with this level of cultivation were few and far between. This was what earned Situ Cang his place on the pedestal in Inferno Kingdom. Otherwise, he would not necessarily have been able to maintain his position as the Grand Vizier for such a long time.

Present, Situ Cang had received news of his precious disciple’s injury in the moment when he first stepped out of his closed-door cultivation. His emotions immediately raged furiously, and he nearly destroyed half of his residence in his ire.

Apart from Situ Cang and the second prince’s mother, Concubine Ming, not a single third person knew the true identity of this second prince – Rong Yebin was not only the Grand Vizier’s disciple, he was in fact the Grand Vizier’s first and only son after almost a thousand within the Inferno Kingdom.

Concubine Ming was an extremely ambitious woman. She could tell that even though the present king had ordered the Jiang clan to be wiped out, he still deeply loved Jiang Yutong within his heart. So long as Jiang Yutong’s shadow remained in the king’s heart, she knew that she could never become the queen of the kingdom.

Therefore, after much deliberation, she secretly seduced the Grand Vizier, Situ Cang.

It must be said that the women who managed to earn a place by the king’s side were all extremely outstanding and charming. Furthermore, Situ Cang found it incredibly exciting and fresh that he could toe the line of forbidden relations and sleep with the king’s woman. Under the confluence of these two factors, the two found themselves deeply entangled in a taboo relationship with each other.

One year later, Concubine Ming gave birth to a child. After Situ Cang secretly checked out that child’s bloodline and ascertained that the child was indeed his own, he was incredibly overjoyed. It was then that Situ Cang resolved in his heart that he would help his child ascend the throne and become the next king of the Inferno Kingdom.

On the other hand, the king of the Inferno Kingdom was completely oblivious to the fact that he had been made a cuckold. Under the recommendations and advice of the Grand Vizier, he acknowledged the Grand Vizier’s son as the crown prince of Inferno Kingdom and began to teach him about ruling a country.

He had no other choice. The Grand Vizier’s stature within the Inferno Kingdom was too high and mighty. Furthermore, he had fallen prey to the schemes of others and unwittingly disposed of his only backing that could potentially oppose the Grand Vizier – the Jiang clan. It was only at this moment that the king of the Inferno Kingdom realized what a serious mistake he had made.

However, it was too late for regrets now. He could only swallow that bitter pill and attempt to move on with life the best he could.

This was one of the main reasons why he had agreed to cede control of his army to the first prince to begin with. He wanted to use his son, the first prince, to balance out the Grand Vizier’s power within the kingdom. However, the king was paranoid as well. When the first prince defeated the kingdom’s enemies and returned victorious from a longstanding war as an exalted hero, he feared that the first prince’s ambitions would bloat out of proportions and eventually usurp the throne. Therefore, under the encouragement of the Grand Vizier’s faction, the king once again revoked the first prince’s right to commandeer an army.

In the end, after all was said and done, the present king’s greatest love wasn’t Ming Concubine or Jiang Yutong – it was himself.

The first prince Rong Ruihan was thoroughly aware of this. Therefore, he did not harbour much expectations from his father, and he resolved to discreetly develop his own abilities in preparation for the future.

Right now, Rong Ruihan had lost all rationality and severely wounded the second prince Rong Yebin as a result. As Rong Yebin’s biological parent, how could the Grand Vizier not be thoroughly anguished?

At this moment, an immense pressure that carried clear traces of fury suddenly engulfed the second prince’s residence within Xingping County. The heart of the formation array dazzled brightly as a beam of light shot into the air, bursting through the darkness of the night.

Thud. The guard commander standing nearby immediately knelt down as he shivered uncontrollably. The other Dawn Sect disciples fought to resist the immense pressure, but one by one, they gave in. Within mere moments, every single one of the disciples had been forced to kneel down as well.

Was this the power associated with a secondary-tier Immortal Ascension stage of cultivation? This is incredible! I wish I could have such power... Qin Lingyu lowered his head as a manic excitement surfaced in his eyes.

That said, Situ Cang had spent almost two thousand years before attaining the secondary-tier Immortal Ascension stage of cultivation. With Qin Lingyu’s present abilities and talent, perhaps he might only need a few hundred years to achieve the same.

Of course, if he chose to partake in Yu Wanrou’s dual cultivation technique, this duration could be reduced substantially. This was precisely why Qin Lingyu was willing to share Yu Wanrou with several other men while faithfully committing himself to her in Jun Xiaomo’s previous life. It was all for his own personal benefits.

Regardless, all of these were matters for the future. Right now, Qin Lingyu was still completely unaware of Yu Wanrou’s secrets. This was one of the reasons why his affection for Yu Wanrou was for now only cursory at best.

A figure slowly appeared within the heart of the formation array. This middle-aged looking man possessed average looks, and his features could be said to be “aligned” at best. Despite that, his face was plastered with an expression of fury.

Once a cultivator reached the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation, he would no longer experience changes to his appearances, unless extraordinary circumstances caused his cultivation to fall such that he would have to go through the entire process of Qi Mastery again.

Situ Cang’s cultivation talent wasn’t high to begin with. He had only managed to attain the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation at around one hundred years-old. If not for the fact that he had used a cosmetic pill to change his appearances, he would have presented himself as a shriveled old man with a full head of white hair.

“Where is this Sovereign’s disciple?!” Situ Cang bellowed as he swept his gaze around at the people who were either half-kneeling or fully kneeling right now.

“Re-...responding to the preeminent Grand Vizier, the second prince, he...he’s there...” The guard commander stammered as he fearfully pointed his finger towards the second prince lying motionless on the floor with a gaping hole in his chest.

The other guards dreaded the prospects of accounting to the Grand Vizier and facing the music. Therefore, they had turned tail and run for the hills after sending the message to the Grand Vizier. Right now, there was only the guard commander and the Dawn Sect disciples remained at the courtyard.

The guard commander had initially planned to lay a tiger skin mat below the second prince. Unexpectedly, the Grand Vizier had arrived so quickly that the guard commander had no time to make these preparations and the Grand Vizier witnessed the second prince lying on the cold, bare floor within his own pool of blood.

The guard commander noticed the Grand Vizier’s reaction, and a single thought crossed his mind – This is the end.

And it was as he expected. The Grand Vizier’s rage soared to the next level when he saw the horrific wounds on the second prince’s body. Before the guard commander could even react, his head burst open with a “bang”, and the shattered bones and brains scattered about the floor around the Dawn Sect disciples.

The Dawn Sect disciples legs and minds grew numb. Ever since they had embarked on this cultivation journey of theirs, they had never encountered anyone remotely as scary as the Grand Vizier. He had killed someone with merely his own aura – and it was even a cultivator at that. Could they possibly escape the Grand Vizier’s wrath with their lives intact?

“Tch. Servants who can’t protect their own masters don’t deserve to live. Death is but a mercy to you!” The Grand Vizier bellowed in rage as his eyes continued to burn with a towering inferno within.

The Grand Vizier made his way over to the second prince’s body with one quick step. Then, he rapidly tapped on the second prince’s acupoints all over his body before forcing the second prince to swallow a medicinal pill.

The bleeding in the second prince’s chest had already stopped. Furthermore, the Grand Vizier had already placed several protective talismans on the second prince’s body to begin with. Therefore, even if the second prince sustained serious injuries, these talismans would nevertheless preserve his life until the Grand Vizier arrived.

Earlier, the guard commander had been so fraught with fear that he had failed to notice the fact that the second prince was in fact still alive, albeit barely breathing.

“Who are you?” The Grand Vizier turned his head around and looked at the disciples kneeling on the ground right now. They evidently did not wear the uniform of the second prince’s guards. Rather, they seemed to be dressed like disciples from a sect.

“Response to the Grand Vizier. We are disciples from Dawn Sect. We are travelling outside our Sect on a mission when we had the fortune of encountering the second prince. Earlier, the second prince had kindly hosted us with a banquet to host us with. As the banquet ended late, the second prince invited us to rest here for the night.” Qin Lingyu respectfully gave Situ Cang a fist and palm salute as he reported.

In fact, there was no need for them to continue kneeling in front of Situ Cang. After all, they did not possess any master-disciple relationship with him. Despite that, they knew that Situ Cang was absolutely enraged right now, and they would do well not to do anything that might unnecessarily agitate him or aggravate him even more. Therefore, the continued to kneel on the floor.

“Ah? Dawn Sect? So, it’s just a measly mid-tier Sect, huh.” Situ Cang absolutely did not set Dawn Sect in his sights at all.

Several disciples grew indignant and displeased when they heard how Situ Cang had shrugged off their Sect’s reputable name, and their expressions said it all.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Situ Cang saw this. His expression turned grave as he waved his arms, causing the few disciples who had revealed their indignation to spurt out a mouthful of blood as they collapsed limply on the floor.

“Let me tell you this. Even if this Sovereign kills each and every single one of you, those fellas at Dawn Sect wouldn’t even be able to do a single thing against me in retaliation. Do you believe me?” Situ Cang laughed sardonically as he added, “If you came from an upper-tier sect, then perhaps I might be a little bit more apprehensive. But what do mid-tier sects even count for? Even your strongest Sect Elders are probably only at the Immortal Ascension stage of cultivation. Pfft. Not worth mentioning at all!”

Qin Lingyu lowered his head, suppressing the reticence and displeasure in his eyes.

He had always known that upper-tier sects had better access to cultivation resources including rare cultivation techniques. They also possessed a greater overall strength than mid-tier sects. However, it was only at this moment that he finally understood the extent of the vast disparity between an upper-tier sect and a mid-tier sect. After all, when they encountered a truly strong cultivator, the reputation and backing of a mid-tier sect could hardly serve as any form of deterrence and protect them against these strong cultivators.

It was imperative to breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation as soon as possible. It was only then that he would officially become a disciple of the Limitless Sect.

Therefore, Qin Lingyu resolved in his heart that once the matter with the Inferno Kingdom had been resolved, he would make haste towards the Mystic Woods to carry out their Sect’s mission.

“Grand--...Preeminent Grand Vizier, sir, our martial brother Qin here is also a Chosen Disciple of the Limitless Sect...” One of the other disciples interjected with a slight tremor in his voice.

They were truly afraid of the Inferno Kingdom’s Grand Vizier. They dreaded the possibility that the Grand Vizier would take his anger and frustrations about the second prince’s injuries out on them. Therefore, this disciple thought to bring up Qin Lingyu’s other identity in a bid that Limitless Sect’s reputation would serve as a form of deterrence against this Grand Vizier.

“Limitless Sect, hmm?” The Grand Vizier squinted his eyes as he somewhat restrained his aura.

He could disregard Dawn Sect entirely, but he knew that he had to respect the backing of the Limitless Sect. After all, if all of Limitless Sect’s sect elders joined hands, their combined forces were not something that a secondary-tier Immortal Ascension array master would be able to deal with.

This was a world ruled by the strong and the strong only. And this was the sole, immutable principle that undergirded the entire cultivation world since time immemorial.

Even though it was not obvious, Qin Lingyu’s back was completely drenched in sweat by now. He took some measure of comfort in the knowledge that his other identity was still sufficient to deter the Grand Vizier.

“It cannot be! Why is my disciple’s life force still weakening?!” The Grand Vizier suddenly barked as he swiftly formed several hand seals and cast a spell on the second prince’s body. After a few flashes of light, the spell seemed to vanish.

This spell was something used to determine the strength of a person’s life force. The longer it flickered for, the stronger that person’s life force. Right now, the spell faded away after only a few flickers – it was testament to the weakening life force of the second prince.

The veins on the Grand Vizier’s head bulged out. Then, in the next moment, the Grand Vizier’s energy surged so violently that it seemed to contain the power to level mountains and dry up oceans. The Grand Vizier bellowed, “Who hurt my disciple?!!!”

“Pfft--!” Several disciples had initially thought that they were well on the path to averting certain doom. Unexpectedly, the Grand Vizier threw all caution to the wind as his energy erupted. The few disciples who had been earlier injured immediately fainted, while the other disciples where thrown back so hard by the Grand Vizier’s burst of energy that they slammed into the surrounding walls a distant away. Crimson-red blood sprayed out of their mouths.

The place that Ke Xinwen landed at was coincidentally where Ye Xiuwen had entered the second prince’s residence from earlier. He had slammed into the wall so violently that he almost fainted as well. However, he managed to cling onto his consciousness as he clutched at his chest and gasped for breath.

Just at this moment, he discovered a bright, gleaming object on the ground –

“This is...” Ke Xinwen picked it up. After examining it for some moments, he determined that this accessory was something that Yao Mo had earlier given to Ye Xiuwen. Back then, they passed by a stall on the streets and this very accessory caught Yao Mo’s eye. Therefore, he bought it and gave it as a gift to Ye Xiuwen.

This accessory was completely worthless apart from its decorative purposes. Despite that, Ye Xiuwen kept it on him at all times. Evidently, he had dropped it carelessly in his duel with the second prince earlier.

So, Ye Xiuwen had been here earlier tonight as well? Ke Xinwen’s eyes flickered with vicious intent.

He was unsure whether the second prince’s injuries were related to Ye Xiuwen, but this did not stop him from hatching an evil ploy against Ye Xiuwen.

Within moments, Ke Xinwen had already set his mind on carrying out his next strategy – to kill Ye Xiuwen with a borrowed knife. If all went according to plan, even Jun Linxuan might not be able to save Ye Xiuwen’s life!