Chapter 895 - Jia Ya Goes to Battle
Translated by: Berrrybunz
Edited by: TN and DeAndreR
Temple.
The organized army formation was solemn and silent, Jia Ya had a gloomy expression, and under the falling radiant energy that resembled snow, it made the scene look extremely divine. The clan elders stood on a ring shaped stage, and observed the army that was ready to move out.
Jia Ya was well known for his defensive prowess, and had the trust of the Great Clan Elder, allowing him to spend most of his time to defend the core region. His life was extremely dull as he stood aloof from worldly affairs, although everyone respected him, but most of the time, this Great General did not seem to even exist, and was always forgotten by the majority.
Jia Ya's army was in the same position, inside the Saint Continent, the most striking unit was the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights, all of them held extremely high positions and were all powerful individuals, and were considered invincible. The Honorable Martial Banner of Knights that was unfathomable, was the aspiration for many youths.
But at that moment, witnessing Jia Ya's army that was armed and ready, the clan elders realized that unexpectedly, there was actually unease in their hearts. Previously when the situation was dire, along with the pressure of the Savage Continent army, they were not worried about their own safety. There was no army unit stationed in the Saint Continent, instead, the Holy Bell was used, causing all the armies under the skies to converge in the Saint Continent, causing all sorts of Armies to gather, still, it did not lessen the unease in their hearts.
The Clan Elders then realized, this army that rarely had a sense of existence was the true reason why they felt at ease.
Jia Ya Army's campaign was not for the Southern Alliance, but the Wei Ye Guan Continent. Mu Zhi Xia had gone silent and his whereabouts were unknown, the Wei Ye Guan Continent was in imminent danger, and they required a powerful military general to be stationed there. In Temple, the only one capable of holding the responsibility was Master Jia Ya. The clan elders knew of the importance of the Wei Ye Guan Continent, although it would decrease the level of defense of the Saint Continent, and threaten their safety, but they knew that if the Great Army of the Savage Continent were to enter the Honorable Martial Continent, it would be the most terrifying problem.
Regardless if it was the rumored path to Heaven's Road in the Southern Alliance, the revival of the Sin Domain, or the rampaging Gold Continent Bandits, none of them were as important as the Wei Ye Guan Continent. The movement of the Savage Continent caused anyone who merely had the thought about it to tremble, it was the true root that would cause Temple to sway.
When the ceremony ended, many of the clan elders that were familiar with Jia Ya went forward to send Jia Ya off. Jia Ya maintained a faint smile the entire time, his confidence and steadiness gave everyone a huge boost in confidence.
The Great Clan Elder had spent the entire past night talking to Jia Ya, but did not appear at the ceremony, leaving Sacred Son Charles to conduct the ceremony, in which he was the last man to walk forward.
Jia Ya patted Sacred Son Charles on the shoulders: "I will have to leave the Saint Continent in Your Highness' hands."
After he left the Saint Continent, the Saint Continent's defense would be held responsible by Charles. Although he was worried about the Saint Continent's safety, but thinking about the number of armies present along with Sacred Son Charles' personal strength, he became more at ease.
Charles bowed slightly, and spoke with respect: "Please be assured, the light is eternal!"
Jia Ya nodded his head, he bowed towards Charles, then turned and gave the order: "Move out!"
The army started moving.
The Great Clan Elder watched the large army from a distance, and was unwilling to leave for a long time. For some reason, everyone's mind had a strange emotion, ~Even Master Jia Ya is being sent out….~
A campaign involving all five Great Generals had never occurred in history before, Temple had become so empty, causing everyone to feel unsafe.
When the Jia Ya Army's warships faded into the distance, the clan elders turned to leave, all of their faces were filled with an indescribable worry and loneliness.
Charles noticed everybody's worried faces, and quietly left.
Charles sat down on the chair inside his study, his expression rather pessimistic.
Sophie entered, and upon seeing his look, said: "Ignore them."
"Ignore them? How do you want me to ignore them?" Charles suddenly erupted in anger, his handsome face turned sinister: "How can I, be unable to put them at ease? There's the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights here, and with so many prestigious families, how can all those old men be worried with me here? Am I so useless in their hearts?"
At that moment, Charles was like a beast trapped in a cage, roaring in rage, but remained helpless despite his struggles.
Sophie kept quiet, ever since the Great Clan Elder had punished Charles, Charles had become more sensitive and weak. His self confidence had disappeared over the night, he had become a man filled with suspicions, and Sophie did not know how to dispel the thoughts he had. Sophie knew the reason, but was helpless.
The Great Clan Elder held irrefutable power in Temple, and even Charles' position as the Sacred Son could be removed by the Great Clan Elder if he wanted to.
Ever since Charles received the punishment, the Great Clan Elder's display of dissatisfaction towards Charles caused rumors to spread inside Temple.
The rumors were not the scary part, what truly made Charles fear was that the clan elders were affected, and their attitude towards him started to have small changes. He had even heard the clan elders discussing in private once, thinking that he did not have the ability to take over after the Great Clan Elder.
Charles started to fear.
He was the only Sacred Son in Temple, but he knew that as long as Temple was willing, no, as long as the Great Clan Elder was willing, Temple could produce many Sacred Sons overnight. He knew that there were many other potential candidates behind him, all of these carefully chosen potential candidates had talent not inferior to his, it was just that all the resources were taken up by him alone. But once the Great Clan Elder lost faith in him, all of the precious resources would be taken away from him and and given to them.
Once they have the resources, all of these potential candidates would grow at an astonishing rate, and could easily replace him.
Charles position had always been stable, but this stability was completely given because of the support of the Great Clan Elder. From young, the Great Clan Elder had his eyes set on Charles, giving him a smooth journey, he had never suffered any setbacks, allowing the faith of the Clan Elders to grow. He had never thought that with one failure, with one whip punishment, everything would change.
He started to feel pressure, and his temper became worse.
He finally understood that in Temple, only the Great Clan Elder was irreplaceable, anyone else could be replaced and taken over.
After hosting the ceremony, all the Clan Elders completely forgot about his existence, they revealed the worries and unease in their hearts. To Charles, this unease showed their distrust in him, because he was in charge of Saint Continent's defense.
Charles who had an ashen expression finally calmed down, his expression returned to normal, in which he apologized to Sophie: "I am very sorry Sophie, I shouldn't had vent my anger on you."
"It's fine." Sophie shook her head, she then changed the topic: "Your Highness, we need to control the families. Recently, there were already a few conflicts amongst them in the Saint Continent, like the Qiu Family, they had a conflict with Mace Field Tradings. Although their conflict was controlled, and they did not go against any of the bans, but if we do not maintain the situation, the conflict might become worse."
Charles frowned: "Qiu Family? Why did they have a conflict with a small family like the Mace Field Tradings?"
Compared to Qiu Family, Mace Field Tradings was truly a small family. In the Honorable Martial Continent, the ranks amongst the prestigious families were extremely strict, for a top notch family like the Qiu Family, there would be no benefits to get into conflict with a small family like Mace Field Tradings.
Sophie replied: "It has to do with the Elizabeth Family. The Elizabeth Family suffered from a setback under the Mace Field Family, and since Qiu Yun Qi has some interest in Claudia, he decided to help her, but who knew that the Mace Field Family would not accept the threat of the Qiu Family."
"Why can't they be peaceful." Charles tone was filled with unhappiness, for them to actually have troubles at such a time.
Temple did not have a good relationship with the prestigious families, especially with the first rate families. They were different from the ordinary families, they no longer needed the recognition from Temple, and instead had many contradictions with Temple, and started to have conflicts in many places of interests. The emergence of the first rate families came with the emergence of the Honorable Martial Continent, they had established many heroic contributions, and thus did not revere Temple.
Adding that their roots were extremely deep, Temple was not as strict to them as they were to the other families, and both parties maintained a tacit understanding.
As for the internal department of Temple, the desire to suppress the first rate families had never stopped.
But at that moment, no one said anything. Temple had to rely on these prestigious families, their strength had already proved that it was insufficient to win the war. Temple needed to pull more people up the war wagon, although the spoils of war had to be split and shared, but the priority was still to win.
If they lost, they would lose everything.
Charles had to admit that he respected the Great Clan Elder's efficient and shrewd decision, before the situation had plunged to a pessimistic outlook, he already chose to use the Holy Bell.
But this did not allow Charles to relax, the gratitude and resentment with the prestigious families was extremely complicated, which traced back for centuries. All of these families had unhappiness amongst one another, and sparks could easily be ignited with the friction, and the conflict between Qiu Family and Mace Field Family was but just one of the minor ones.
Charles knew that they could not allow such actions to continue, if the friction between the families were to intensify, if something were to truly happen, they would not be able to stop the fights. At that time, Temple would completely be swayed into the current, and punishing these families would only cause them to harbor anger in their hearts.
"Send the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights." Charles said: "Tell them, I do not care about their resentments in the past, at such a crucial time, whoever dares to try and cause trouble, Temple will not be tolerating it. The Banner of Knights are ready, but be advised, whoever doesn't listen to Temple, will be killed without warning!"
Sophie's eyes lit up, the decisiveness to kill and the Sacred Son that was filled with confidence was the Sacred Son that she knew.
She replied with compliance: "Yes!"
The Honorable Martial Banner of Knights formed an enforcement team and started to patrol the Saint Continent, in the short span of a day, they secured peace, over 40 people who did not comply were instantly beheaded, while two prestigious families were stripped off their qualifications.
In time, the armies gathered above the Saint Continent became more compliant.
Tang Tian did not care about all of the matters, he did not even care about the conflict with the Qiu Family, and handed it over to Ji Ze.
All of his focus was on one thing.
Qian Hui had arrived at the Saint Continent!
In his heart, there was nothing as important as this.
Persevering for so long, through the long distance, the intense thoughts, the anxious waits, the treks through days and nights, the unending battles, all of them were for this reunion.
Chapter 896 - Reunion
Translated by: Berrrybunz
Edited by: TN and DeAndreR
Under the sun, the familiar and beautiful figure appeared. With one glance, Tang Tian recognized her.
An intense joy flooded every cell in his body, he stared at her blankly as the sunlight reflected off her black and bright long hair. The beautiful features of yesterday remained the same, the young lady that he used to know seemed to have walked out of his dreams and appeared right in front of him.
He forgot to speak, and looked at her blankly, greedily.
It was like a dream, a dream that he wished never stopped. All of the distant memories, Star Wind City, Andrew Academy, the frail young girl that had mucus at her nose, the young genius that rebuked the entire city, the young lady that stood by him on the mountain quietly, the young lady that risked herself for him…..
The figure of the young lady embedded in the light and shadows, had embedded into his heart.
Unknowing of when it started, she was there.
Unknowingly, she was right there.
"Qian Hui." He spoke as though he was talking in his sleep, there were no tyranny of the lord of a Constellation, no killing intent of the Undefeated God of War, the current Tang Tian, was just an ordinary young adult.
He spoke extremely gently, as though he was afraid of scaring her.
Right from the moment when she saw Tang Tian, it felt as if a lightning bolt had struck Qian Hui, causing her to freeze in place. For some reason, her lips had tightened up, like a little girl that had suffered, tears started to appear in her eyes. All of the difficulties she had gone through, all of the longings, all of the suffering, all of the loneliness, they finally surfaced.
Tears had unknowingly blurred her eyes, the blurred figure in front of her, and the weak figure that protected her by standing in front of her, and the figure that always received ridicule, yet never admitted defeat, the figure that laid in the grass with her and watched the sky, and the figure that sat by the table side and wrote letters to her, all superimposed into one.
The last gentle cry of her name "Qian Hui", was the trigger that removed the last restraint on her body.
"Big Brother Tian!"
All the countless emotions, the joy, all came out through the form of tears, as she rushed into Tang Tian's embrace.
Her hair that fluttered behind here were the bowstrings to her longings, resonating with tones under the sunlight.
It was not every place that was enjoying the same joy like Mace Field Tradings, in the other corner of Snow City, the atmosphere of the courtyard was extremely solemn and anxious.
"Could it be that we must let it go?" Qiu Yun Qi stood up, there were no remnants of his usual self, he currently had a sinister look, with the veins on his forehead popping out: "Those ants, they dared to crawl up on us and show off, is our Qiu Family's face not worth it? In front of so many people, Our Qiu Family became a joke, our Qiu Family can't even handle Mace Field Tradings, those ants? Temple is deliberately siding with them, they are going against us, so what if it is the Banner of Knights? If they dare to take action…."
Pa!
A loud slap sound came out, distorting Qiu Yun Qi's face, the force was so strong that Qiu Yun Qi was directly flung out, and smashed onto a bookshelf. Whoosh, all of the books fell off and dropped onto Qiu Yun Qi.
"Trash." An emotionless man retracted his right hand, he looked extremely similar to Qiu Yun Qi, but compared to Qiu Yun Qi, he was even more indifferent and cool, killing intent lingered all around his body. He was Qiu Yun Qi's elder brother, Qiu Bei Feng.
His slap contained so much force that Qiu Yun Qi could not even crawl up for half a day.
"If you weren't my younger brother, you would have already been dead." Qiu Beu Feng's gaze did not contain a trace of warmth, it was as if he was talking about an ordinary matter: "Stop calling other people ants, you can't even defeat an ant, if you're not trash, then what are you? This will be the first and your last time. I don't care what woman you like, I don't care that you like to show off, but there is one thing I need to make it clear to you, don't become trash. I hate trash, this is your last chance, if you continue to act like trash, I will personally kill you."
With that, he left, without even looking at Qiu Yun Qi.
Qiu Bei Feng returned to the barracks, ever since he took control of the army, he had insisted to eating and staying with his soldiers.
"Are we really going to let Mace Field Tradings go?" A swift and fierce looking strong man welcomed him. He was called Qiu Li, and was also a descendant of the Qiu Family, but he was from a side branch of the Qiu Family, and had followed Qiu Bei Feng for many years, becoming an abled and strong general under Qiu Bei Feng.
"Leave it to Yun Qi. If he can't even handle them, there's no meaning for him to live." Qiu Bei Feng snorted.
Qiu Li nodded his head, he was familiar with Qiu Bei Feng's temper, he knew that if Qiu Yun Qi truly could not handle the Mace Field Tradings Family, Qiu Bei Feng would definitely kill him.
Qiu Li had followed Qiu Bei Feng for so many years, and had also gained the arrogance of Qiu Bei Feng. He was not interested in Mace Field Tradings as well.
"The reason why we are here this time, is to obtain the opportunity to go the Shang Continent." QIu Bei Feng said indifferently.
The Honorable Martial Continent had numerous prestigious families gathered in the Saint Continent, but with so many families, some were bound to have to stay in the Honorable Martial Continent while the others could go to the Shang Continent. Since the Honorable Martial Continent was not stabilized internally, regardless of whether it was the Gold Continent Bandits or the Sin Domain, they were existences that were troublesome, and required men to capture them.
The benefits in the Honorable Martial Continent had already been divided till there was nothing left, and various families had long taken up a space as their own territory, and what was left in the Honorable Martial Continent was earning through hard work.
Being able to head to the Southern Alliance to replenish the numbers to protect the supply route was considered a better choice, as the Southern Alliance was considered a land for expansion.
But the best choice for the biggest benefits would be going to the Shang Continent to search for the path to Heaven's Road. It was a new world, which meant endless opportunities and wealth. If they could enter Heaven's Road earlier, the Qiu Family's foundation could last for a thousand years with assurance of not falling.
The Qiu Family and other families understood that point. That was the reason for the competition and friction between the families.
Suddenly, Qiu Bei Feng spoke out: "Go, send some people to follow Yun Qi."
Ever since Qiu Bei Feng led his personal guards to enter Snow City, the Snow City's atmosphere instantly tensed up. Qiu Bei Feng's strength and fame was many times larger and stronger than Qiu Yun Qi's. But he was the most famous for being an ice cold murderer, he was called Cold Blooded Slaughterer, and no one knew how many had died in his eyes.
Everyone knew that the Qiu Family would definitely not let it go, Qiu Yun Qi would never let it go, Qiu Bei Feng would never let it go. They would definitely retaliate.
Even the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights patrol unit garrisoned in Snow City was worried that Qiu Bei Feng would go crazy. This was Sophie's personal team, that showed how much Temple viewed the situation.
But Qiu Bei Feng did not make any movements, as though he had forgotten about the matter. But Sophie stayed calm, she knew that Qiu Bei Feng was crafty, and would usually make a move when the other party was unaware. Sophie knew that her deterrence was mainly aimed at the Qiu Family, and if the Qiu Family truly made a move to trample on Mace Field Tradings, Temple would be helpless as they could not afford to punish the Qiu Family.
If they were to punish the Qiu Family, one could only think about the consequences. Temple would be unable to withstand the counterattacks that the Qiu Family would initiate.
What Temple could do was to stop the slaughter before it began.
"What's the situation?" Sophie asked.
"Qiu Bei Feng hasn't made a move" One of the Knights reported: "Qiu Yun Qi is establishing contact everywhere, it seems as though he had thought through his plan. It is said that he was punished by Qiu Bei Feng, Qiu Bei Feng said that if Qiu Yun Qi is unable to exact revenge, Qiu Bei Feng would personally kill him. But we found that he actually dispatched some people to protect Qiu Yun Qi."
Sophie frowned, Qiu Bei Feng basically did not place Sacred Son Charles' orders in his eyes.
He was a ferocious man that would kill without a thought, and could even kill his blood brother without blinking. Truly apt for the name of Cold Blooded Slaughterer.
"Qiu Bei Feng got Qiu Yun Qi to deal with his own revenge, which means he will not mobilize his personal guards." Sophie's eyes flashed: "Qiu Yun Qi will find other people. Fix your attention to the families close to Qiu Yun Qi, especially the Elizabeth Family. Warn them, whoever dares to go against His Highness' orders will be destroyed. We might not be able to handle the Qiu Family, but the Elizabeth Family can't escape. Watch those guards covertly, Qiu Bei Feng is a cunning man."
"Yes!" The Knight complied and left.
~Seems like it was right for me to come~, Sophiew knew that Qiu Bei Feng still had some fear towards the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights, otherwise, he would had taken action a long time ago.
The situation was getting more and more complicated, and Sophie did not like complications at all, she preferred enjoying a good fight.
~Luckily, I don't have to think too much, I just have to ensure the Qiu Family doesn't make a move, and my task is complete. For the remaining things, I will leave it to Great Clan Elder and His highness.~
*********
Mace Field Tradings Family Branch.
"Are they coming or not?" Ji Ze's face had a look of impatient: "You say, this Qiu Family is after all a first grade prestigious family, why are they so terrified? Until now, they haven't come to retrieve their men, what are they doing!"
He was about to cry, ~Is it so difficult just to ask for a good fight?~
~You guys said you were a first grade prestigious family, where is the arrogance and face that reach the sky, where is it? Where is it!~
~Sob sob, in the end, you were just lying!~
Melissa looked at Ji Ze quietly, she had never seen someone that would want to find faults with others that badly, ~Can't you be more normal~.
"That's right, that's right." By the side, Ah Xin was equally bored, he used his hand as a pillow as he laid on the ground, and said weakly: "Why can't there be more meaning in life? Tang Tian and young miss are enjoying themselves, can't they consider our emotions? Xiao Man, we can't just watch blankly as our ego degenerates, come and save me, even a kiss is enough….."
Bang!
The zanpato that was the size of a wood frame smacked Ah Xin into the air.
Fu Zheng Zhi's eyes twitched, ~Seems like even lady boss' subordinates are not anywhere better.~
As for Ji Ze, his eyes gleamed with light as he looked at Xiao Man, ~That blade, that energy, that temper, she's truly…...perfect to fight!~
"Come, let us wager on our boss and lady boss honor, and have an enjoyable fight!"
All around them, everybody's faces suddenly turned strange.
Bang!
A leg stepped onto Ji Ze's back, Ji Ze's eyes opened wide, before he could even react, he was flung out like a ball, rolling over 20m.
Tang Tian calmly retracted his feet, holding onto Qian Hui's hands, he spoke tyrannically.
"Seems like all of you have rested enough, it is time for us to stretch some muscles!"
Chapter 897 - Charles' Death
Translated by: Berrrybunz
Edited by: TN and DeAndreR
Charles felt unsafe, possibly from the fact that Sophie was not by his side. Since young, Sophie had always been his bodyguard, to the point of being inseparable, even the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights were never garrisoned far away from him.
With Sophie not around, it felt as though the familiar Temple had become empty.
Charles had a misconception that there seemed to be eyes quietly observing him in the shadows from behind him.
He laughed at himself, ~This is Temple, where the Radiant Energy is the strongest, how can there be shadows?~ Temple, which symbolized Light, had dense radiant energy all around, they released gentle and warm white light, lighting every corner of Temple.
~The Light is eternal.~
~Maybe I'm just not used to Sophie not being around~ Charles laughed.
Thinking about the situation, Charles frowned. In the past, when he interacted with the Prestigious Families, he always felt that they were docile and obedient towards Temple. But now they completely undermined his notions, that was how he understood why the clan elders wanted to suppress the Families.
The Prestigious Families were like beasts that had their claws and teeth kept, looking somewhat docile. But beasts were still beasts, no matter how much they could disguise themselves, upon reaching a crucial moment, their ferocity would always show.
Inside the Qiu Family, Charles muttered to himself, revealing a look of thought.
To Charles, the conflict between the Qiu Family and Mace Field Tradings was initiated by the Qiu Family, ~What message do they want to bring across to the other families?~
The conflict between Mace Field Tradings and the Elizabeth Family was a conflict between two equal grade families, the Qiu Family had no reason to personally intervene, even if they were Elizabeth Family's backers. Charles knew of how the first rate Prestigious Families acted, if a higher grade Prestigious Family had come to find trouble with Elizabeth Family, the Qiu Family would had definitely taken action. But even if a weaker family had defeated the Elizabeth Family, the Qiu Family would definitely not take action.
~Because they will find it humiliating.~
~If their own subordinate can't even beat an equal grade opponent, what qualifications do they have to be the Qiu Family subordinate?~
Charles snorted at the rumors that spread around, it was said that Mace Field Trading Family started the provocation, which to him, was ridiculous. ~Mace Field Family's strength is only so so, they are incapable of forming any threat to the Qiu Family, why would Qiu Bei Feng send his personal guards to obtain their face back?~
~If the Qiu Family wants to establish power, they shouldn't' go against other families, but towards Temple.~
Charles disliked the Qiu Family's actions, if the Qiu Family was the one to be wronged, and thus they used such methods to display their strength, he would feel much better towards them. Temple was always willing to collaborate with such first grade Prestigious Families. But when the Qiu Family arrived in the Saint Continent, they did not even make a trip to the Honorable Martial Palace to greet the Great Clan Elder, they did not greet him, did not do any form of greeting to the Honorable Martial Palace, but started to punish an individual to serve as a warning to the rest.
Charles was infuriated, the Qiu Family never placed the Temple in their eyes. And as the one responsible for the matter, the Qiu Family still did not reveal any intention to give him face.
He sent Sophie over to watch the Qiu Family. If the Qiu Family dared to go against Temple's order, he would punish them to serve as a warning to the rest.
There were so many prestigious families, if he did not kill one or two, no one would listen to the orders.
Charles knew that it was a test given by the Great Clan Elder. If he could control and manage the situation, his position would be untouchable. If he could not, he would be in danger.
Having sensed the danger, Charles knew that he had to fight or die.
With Sophie leading the Banner of Knights, no families would dare to go against them.
A guard walked up the platform and spoke respectfully: "Your Highness, The Great Clan Elder has requested you to go over."
Charles recognized the guard, and nodded his head: "I will head over there now."
Charles walked towards the Palace, the two Honorable Martial Knights guarding the door followed him. Sophie had brought the Banner of Knights out, but left 10 Knights to ensure Charles' safety. Although Charles did not see a need to, but he was touched by her actions.
The guards took the lead with Charles following behind. Charles asked: "Did something happen?"
"Seems like it's the Qiu Family." One of the guard frowned and spoke up.
Charles thought for a moment, ~Could it be that Great Clan Elder has something for the Qiu Family? With Great Clan Elder's firm personality, he definitely can't tolerate them. If it is the Great Clan Elder, how will he take care of them? Great Clan Elder has great foresight, who knows if there is a deeper play in mind.~
Charles mind flew quickly, anyone would feel the pressure when it came to the Great Clan Elder, he was no exception. The only exception would only be Sophie.
The guards brought Charles to the entrance of a side chamber hall, stopped, and bowed: "Your Highness, please, Great Clan Elder is inside."
Charles collected his thoughts and looked at the simple chamber hall, ~It's quiet here. Great Clan Elder always likes such a place, even with his high position, Great Clan Elder is rather simple, one thing that everyone in Temple respects.~
"You guys can wait for me here." Charles spoke to the two Knights.
The two knights complied, and stood guard. With their high positions, they could enter the Palace Hall at ease, and the only reason why they did not move around recklessly was because of the Great Clan Elder.
Sophie was not afraid of the Great Clan Elder, that was because her relationship with the Great Clan Elder was like a father and daughter. But the Great Clan Elder did not give face to the rest of them, and they only ever saw him a few times. Furthermore, the Holy Flame that the Great Clan Elder had around him released a pressure that was too intensifying which caused them to feel fear.
The two guards stood outside sincerely, somewhat anxious if the Highness were to call them to enter.
Suddenly, an almost undetectable yet sharp energy undulation resonated out from within the chamber, both Knights instantly had a change in expression, and rushed in without hesitation.
Just when the two of them entered, they watched as Sacred Son Charles fell down to the ground.
His eyes were wide open, his throat had a fist sized hole that was spewing blood down his neck. In a few seconds, his entire body was dyed red.
The two Knights were struck by lightning, they reacted only after a few seconds, ~Assassination! Sacred Son Charles was assassinated!~
Inside the chamber hall, Sacred Son Charles had fallen to an assassin.
The two Knights had faces as white as paper, such a thing had never occurred in the history of Temple. Temple had extremely strict security, and no outsiders were capable of sneaking in.
~Outsiders, no way, all of this points to an inside person that had planned everything meticulously!~
The two of them immediately thought about the guard that had led the way, one of the Knights immediately blinked and appeared outside of the Chamber hall, and when he saw that the guard's head was already completely mashed.
A mournful alarm resonated through Temple.
Snow City.
Sophie's face suddenly changed, she clutched onto her chest, as though a knife had stabbed into her heart, causing her body to tremble involuntarily.
"His Highness….."
Her body trembled like a sieve, her body was curled up as though she had suffered from an immense pain, her trembling voice came out through her clenched teeth, revealing her intense pain and sadness.
The Banner of Knights all around were shocked, they had never seen their Commander in such pain and helplessness before.
One of the Knight asked: "Commander, what happened to His Highness?"
Sophie struggled to stand straight despite her trembles, but she persevered, her pale face did not have a shred of blood, her eyes were sunken, as her entire body unleashed a terrifying aura.
"Charles is dead!"
Sophie enunciated each word clearly, killing intent soaring all around her. The current her was like a Death God that walked out from Hell.
"His Highness is dead?"
The Banner of Knights were stunned, their expressions turned blank which quickly turned into grief and anger.
~His Highness has been assassinated!~
~Oh my god! How is that possible?~
~Who did it?~
"It was done by those Prestigious Families."
Her voice was ice cold: "The assassin must be familiar with Temple, has the capability and strength, and also wielded precise control over the time, other than the top grade Prestigious Families, no one else could have done it."
"But who?" One of the Knight asked in anger.
"I don't know who." Sophie replied coldly as she drew out the sword on her waist: "But I know that the Qiu Family will not get away with it. Previously I felt that it was weird, why would Qiu Bei Feng come to Snow City? Now I know, their goal was for us to mobilize the guards away from His Highness."
The Knights became infuriated.
"Kill them all!"
"We should kill every single Prestigious Family!"
"We can't let them go!"
Sophie who had her sword drawn looked around, her tone filled with killing intent: "Temple has a traitor who is colluding with a Prestigious Family and moving in and out. With his Highness dead, who will benefit? The various potential candidates! The Clan Elders will definitely request to choose a new Sacred Son, Temple must have a Sacred Son, furthermore, it is an extremely crucial period. It is the perfect opportunity for them to be chosen, where the slightest notion would produce a huge butterfly effect, all of these Prestigious Families can unite and force Temple to Abdicate, and for the entire big picture, even the Great Clan Elder will have to bow his head."
Everyone was dumbstruck as they listened to Sophie's explanation, one of a bad tempered Knight spoke out: "Could it be that they are not afraid of the situation falling apart?"
"They are, but they are even clearer that this is the only opportunity to make Temple bow down." Sophie had already calmed down, and became ice cold: "Because we are even more afraid, the Clan Elders are even more afraid."
Everyone kept quiet, they were shocked by their Commander's conjectures.
Someone broke the silence: "Then what do we do now?"
"We have to take revenge for Charles." Sophie's eyes shone with a gleam of cold light: "Qiu Bei Feng has to die!"
"But we have no proof."
Sophie walked off and spoke out without even turning her head: "We don't need proof."
Chapter 898 - The Dark Hand in the Shadows
Translated by: Berrrybunz
Edited by: TN and DeAndreR
"What did you say?"
Tang Tian was dumbstruck, as though he had heard of an inconceivable matter.
Melissa was extremely excited, her voice still trembling: "It was just reported that the Qiu Family's stronghold was ambushed by the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights, Qiu Yun Qi was killed on the spot, Qiu Bei Feng was severely injured, and his personal guards unit was destroyed."
"Have the Honorable Martial Banner of Knights gone crazy?" Tang Tian felt that the news was too absurd, there was no need to discuss about the strength of the Banner of Knights, he had personally experienced it before. He felt that it was normal that the entire unit was destroyed, but for Qiu Bei Feng to only be injured and escape, it showed that Qiu Bei Feng himself was not weak.
~It doesn't make sense.~
Qian Hui and him had analyzed the situation excessively, aside from the Qiu Family failing to appreciate Temple's kindness, there was no reason for Temple to make a move on them. Temple needed the strength of the Prestigious Families the most, and the Qiu Family was a true first rate Prestigious Family, their strength could influence others greatly, furthermore, Qiu Xu Hua was still at war with the Southern Alliance.
Only if they were at their wits end, Temple would definitely not make a move on the Qiu Family.
Tang Tian's eyes turned to look at Qian Hui.
Qian Hui spoke: "When did this happen?"
Melissa immediately replied: "Last night."
She knew that Qian Hui was the Lady Boss, and was extremely respectful towards her, not daring to be a tad slow. All of them who followed Tang Tian understood the position that the Lady Boss held in Tang Tian's heart, and no one dared to be reckless.
If one were to say that if anyone needed to interact with Tang Tian for a period of time to understand how strong he was, then Qian Hui was one that only required an extremely short interaction time to be able to sense how powerful she was.
Qian Hui's eyes flashed with a gleam of light: "Something must have happened at Temple! Send people to find out, it is extremely important to us, use all the resources we have, get the information!"
"Understood!" Melissa gritted her teeth and complied.
In the Honorable Martial Continent, any powerhouse understood that understanding Temple's thoughts was far more useful than anything else. To Infiltrate Temple was naturally an extremely difficult matter, but as it was related to the survival of the families, they had to do it no matter how difficult it was.
With time and money, the constant perseverance would yield success.
The Mace Field Family might not be strong, but in any case, they had crossed the doors to become a Prestigious Family. It was naturally impossible for them to have powerful influence, but they had a close relations with one or two Clan Elders. All of they had to do for these Clan Elders were provide food and enjoyment, and did not need to do anything else, all for such a moment like this.
Clan Elder Bianchi arrived at Temple as per usual. But he immediately sensed a different atmosphere, the Temple had become extremely strict with security, and there were guards everywhere.
The guards of Temple had a unique name, called the Temple Guardians. In normal times, the Temple Guards could only be seen in a corner, they were like shadows, and even the arrogant words of the Clan Elders never influenced them.
But Bianchi had seen over 200 Temple Guardians while walking through Temple. It was then he realized that there were actually so many Temple Guardians.
~Something must have definitely happened.~
Bianchi felt uneasy, but his eyes suddenly lit up when he saw Clan Elder Seuss. He and Clan Elder Seuss were close friends, furthermore he, a low rank Clan Elder, was different from Seuss. Seuss held a high position and was a Clan Elder with true authority.
Seuss held high powers, and received many invitations from all around, and his information gathering was extremely fluid.
Bianchi walked over and spoke in a soft voice: "What happened? What's going on?"
Seuss face became gloomy, he raised his head and looked around, then spoke equally softly: "Something big has happened! His Highness was assassinated."
Bianchi's eyes became completely dilated, he froze on the spot, and only regained himself after a long time, he stammered: "H-how I-is t-that possible…..how did that….."
"All of the Sacred Son candidates were grabbed." Seuss spoke softly: "Great Clan Elder gave the orders."
Bianchi was terrified, he was naturally not an imbecile to become a Temple Clan Elder. The Highness' death would definitely lead to suspecting the Sacred Son Candidates.
"How would they dare to?" Bianchi still had a look of disbelief.
"If it was only them, they naturally would not dare to." Seuss snorted, his face covered with killing intent, and said spitefully: "With those Prestigious Families helping them, it is a different story. Today, there was words from the smaller families, hoping to select a new Sacred Son soon."
Bianchi's face flashed with a look of hatred: "Assholes!"
"They are just cannon fodder to test the waters." Seuss face darkened: "Those old fogeys behind them are the real Dark Hands in the shadows. They are truly vicious and cunning! To dare plot at such a critical moment!"
Bianchi was overwhelmed with fear, ~That's right, can't they see what kind of predicament we are all in? Don't they know that if we lose this war, our entire Honorable Martial Continent is finished?~
"If our entire body falls, every individual will fall as well!" He blurted out.
"They know it as well." Seuss kept quiet for a moment, before speaking with hesitation: "But they also know, that only in this situation will the Great Clan Elder compromise."
Bianchi also remained quiet, Seuss was right. With the Great Clan Elder's overbearing personality, if not for the critical situation, he would have pulled out every single Prestigious Family up to their roots and left none alive.
Bianchi had a strange sense of sadness, and suddenly had a feeling,that the powerful Temple would no longer be able to appear. Unknowingly, this feeling was extremely strong. His heart that was locked down by the sadness asked with difficulty: "What did the Great Clan Elder say?"
Seuss remained silent for a long while before speaking out indistinctly: "He didn't say anything."
Bianchi did not know how he returned home, and only recalled when he was leaving Temple, he saw a second representative from the Prestigious Families walking into the Honorable Martial Palace.
He sat into the chair dispirited.
"Old master, there is a Mr. Ben that is requesting to meet you." The butler's voice came from outside the study.
Bianchi regained himself, he knew that Mr. Ben came from Mace Field Family. ~Are we unable to control even a small family like Mace Field Family now?~
Sighing in his heart, he replied indifferently: "Let him in."
Melissa quickly received the news, and when she received it, she almost could not believe her own eyes. She ran to Tang Tian and Qian Hui with the report.
When Tang Tian saw the report, he was equally stunned. He had seen Charles before, and right from the start, Charles had always been on his blacklist. Assassinating Charles had been one of the plans that he, Qian Hui, and Bing had discussed before.
Who would had expected for Charles to be assassinated by someone else.
Qian Hui was much calmer, she had never seen Charles before, thus did not react much to the news, and immediately thought about the advantages and disadvantages.
Ah Xin and Sima Xiao were called in for the discussion. Ah Xin was proficient in strategies, while Sima Xiao was proficient in plotting and trickeries.
"We need to spread this news immediately."
Ah Xin and Sima Xiao had the same suggestion as they spouted it out simultaneously.
"We need to take advantage of the crisis for our own gains, the more chaotic the situation, the more advantage we have, and the more space we have to manoeuvre, and more opportunities will open for us." Sima Xiao's eyes gleamed with light, a chaotic situation was his favourite: "We can take advantage of this to get rid of a few important people in those Prestigious Families."
He then continued: "Once we kill them, the Prestigious Families will definitely point their fingers and weapons at Temple, both parties will not have a leeway of understanding, and the resistance will become more intense. The Prestigious Families have no way to retreat, and if they lose, will Temple let them go? So they will walk this path till to the end, and force Temple to retreat and force the Great Clan Elder to hand over his authority!"
"That's a good idea!" Ah Xin voiced out excitedly: "We must help these Prestigious Families out well, but The Five Great Generals are armies under Temple, will they be loyal to Temple, or will they support the Prestigious Families? What about the soldiers under them? As long as the Prestigious Families gain control, the Honorable Martial Continent will start to show signs of split and cracks. As for those loyal armies under Temple, how will they ever obey the orders from the Prestigious Families? And how will the Prestigious Families rest easy knowing that so many armies are not willing to obey them?"
Tang Tian was pleased listening to Ah Xin and Sima Xiao completing each others' sentences. In the past, whenever he encountered a problem, he could only rack his own brain. But now, all of his subordinates were all experts, all valiant generals, with brilliant minds that could plot and plan, Tang Tian thought to himself, ~Since when did I become so competent?~
He and Bing agreed to the spreading of news, and furthermore, it was easily achievable with their unique communication means.
Tang Tian thought about Gou Cheng WenDao, he had not received any news from his rear, but Charles' assassination had already spread through the entire Southern Alliance, ~Gou Cheng WenDao's face must definitely be extremely spectacular.~
~A pity we can't see it.~
As for the plan of going into Temple in disguise and getting rid of a few important figures of the top few Prestigious Families, their first target came into mind without a thought.
~Definitely the Qiu Family!~
Charles' death shocked the entire Sacred Saint Galaxy.
The Sacred Son of the Honorable Martial Continent held an esteemed position, he was viewed as the most important figure that would replace the Great Clan Elder in the future, and his death shook the entire Sacred Saint Galaxy. Furthermore, he was assassinated, and one had to know, there had never been an instance where an important figure in Temple was assassinated. Temple had its defenses against assassins, adding the strict security system in the Palace, there was a huge disparity in level with the outside, preventing outside assassins from sneaking into Honorable Martial Palace.
Thus, the ones to be able to assassinate Charles was someone from the inside, otherwise, had a form of connection with an insider. What shocked everyone as well was that Temple held an extremely strict control over their internal members, therefore for something like that to happen, it was unprecedented.
For one to enter the Honorable Martial Palace, one had to go through many rounds of examinations and screenings, every single round, there would be oaths taking, Holy Flame tests etc. One cannot think that these are just mere tests, in truth, they had an effect, any one who betrayed the oaths would succumb to an extremely harsh punishment, furthermore, this punishment came from the soul, which was inescapable, furthermore, the higher one position had, the more stringent the oath was.
Aside from the benefits, the fact that Temple never had turncoats was one of the reason why many people hated Temple. To many people, Temple's absolute control over a person's body and mind completely went against humanity.
But one had to admit, Temple's methods was effective. While other families were in struggles against one another, Temple was always as one. The higher ups' orders were executed unconditionally, their soldiers were zealots without any fear of self sacrifice.
That was why the outside world was filled with respect and fear towards Temple, to them, such a thing was difficult to fight against.
But Sacred Son Charles had been assassinated, shattering everything.
To everyone, the rate of the news being spread throughout the entire Sacred Saint Galaxy on such an important matter was obviously fuel to the fire done by the perpetrator.
Immediately, the conflict between Temple and the Prestigious Families surfaced, and became the most heated and popular topic of discussion.
This was a wave that had just begun.