Sima Zhao trembled violently from head to toe, and hastily said: "Sect Master, please don't be angry, listen to me. You have seen the Image-Recording Stone yourself, and the footage inside cannot be faked. I believe our investigation must have been looking in the wrong direction. While these demons certainly did not transmit any cultivation to him, they must have given him other benefits instead!"
Su Yanran ignored him. She turned her gaze to the Divine Son and said coldly, "Is this how your subordinates do their jobs?"
Cold sweat poured down the Divine Son's face, and his heart felt as though it was about to leap out of his chest. He was already anxious enough as it was, and now, under the Sect Master's fierce reprimand, his very soul felt ready to leave his body. If their investigation had indeed been mistaken, the price he would pay would be disastrous!
With trembling lips, he hurriedly said: "Sect Master, please don't be angry, calm your temper. I think what Sima Zhao said makes a lot of sense. Just because Ye Qingtao did not accept any cultivation transfer does not mean he didn't collude with the Demonic Path. Those demons hold countless treasures, and they must have given Ye Qingtao plenty. Just think about it—wouldn't Ye Qingtao himself realize how easily a transferred cultivation technique would be discovered? But accepting treasures is different; treasures can easily be hidden away."
Hearing this, the other elders who had sided with the Divine Son breathed a collective sigh of relief. If the Divine Son fell from grace, the Sect Master would inevitably look at them through colored glasses, and their days ahead would certainly become miserable.
They hastened to chime in: "Sect Master, the Divine Son speaks with good reason. We cannot wrong Sima Zhao..."
"Indeed, indeed! What the Divine Son says makes complete sense!"
...
Su Yanran calmed down as well. Upon second thought, it did indeed make sense. Just as some people engaged in illicit activities would naturally want to keep them under wraps—wouldn't a cultivation transfer be exposed on the spot?
Despite this reasoning, Su Yanran was still furious. She raged, "Can't you all thoroughly investigate matters before speaking?!"
With that, she flicked her sleeve and stormed off!
She was already busy day in and day out with a myriad of responsibilities; where would she find the time to deal with such baseless, headless matters? Having her time wasted for so long today without a single result turned up made her incandescent with rage!
Seeing the Sect Master depart in anger, everyone else hurried away as well. Whatever the matter was today, none of them wanted to get entangled in it.
Before leaving, quite a few elders who had previously wanted to get on Sima Zhao's good side turned back to shoot him meaningful glances. Those looks seemed to say: "Don't you fucking dare drag me into your mess!"
Jin Dajian walked over and said, "Divine Son, a bet is a bet. Hand over the items!"
Consumed by a nameless fire of fury, the Divine Son had no choice but to obediently hand the items over.
Damn it all—he had lost his army and suffered a defeat!
Jin Dajian laughed heartily and strode away.
In the blink of an eye, only the Divine Son, Jiang Zhenhe, and Sima Zhao remained at the scene.
Glaring furiously at Sima Zhao, the Divine Son said coldly, "What the hell do you even do for a living? You dared to act rashly without a thorough investigation—are you trying to ruin me?!"
He was furious. Fortunately, Sima Zhao's wit had quickened just in time today, coming up with a plausible explanation so that the Sect Master hadn't lost her temper entirely. Otherwise, he was certain his own end would have been far from pretty—losing his position would be the best-case scenario; if she had crushed him into a mist of blood with a single palm strike, it would have been a tragedy!
He was truly playing with fire, goddamn it!
With legs shaking so violently he almost wet himself, Sima Zhao said with trembling fear: "I... Your Highness the Divine Son, but I really saw demonic flames wreathing his entire body! Wispy strand after wispy strand, incomparably dense! Didn't you also see what was in the Image-Recording Stone? What on earth is going on here?!"
Lost in thought, the Divine Son had no answer, yet the footage inside had indeed been real!
Suddenly, realization struck the Divine Son!
With a sharp *crack*, he delivered a vicious slap across Sima Zhao's face and cursed furiously, "Are you fucking brainless? Huh? Throughout the generations, Demon Suppressors have spent their days immersed in demonic energy, leaving residual demonic flames on their bodies that make it look like they cultivate demonic arts. But none of them served as long as Ye Qingtao, so their flames appear relatively faint. Ye Qingtao has suppressed them for a full hundred years, so the demonic flames on him have long since reached absolute intensity! If you've got no brains, I'll just twist your head right off!"
Sima Zhao let out a miserable shriek of "Ah!" and was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing hard against the wall with blood streaming down his head.
Terrified out of his wits, he hurriedly dropped to his knees with a loud thud and pleaded, "Your Highness, I know my mistake. This incident happened because I failed to investigate thoroughly and was too eager for quick success. Please give me a chance to redeem myself through meritorious service—this time, I will surely make amends!"
Filled with boiling rage that swelled his cheeks, the Divine Son fought down his anger and demanded, "And what if you fail to redeem yourself?"
"Then I shall submit entirely to Your Highness's disposal! But Your Highness, I will definitely succeed! Ye Qingtao has suppressed this place for so many years; I refuse to believe he hasn't accepted gifts from these fiends. No one can resist gifts obtained for free!" Sima Zhao blurted out frantically.
His anger still unassuaged, the Divine Son waved a hand and said coldly, "Get me results as soon as possible. I don't want to look at you right now—get lost!"
Sima Zhao scampered away in panicked haste.
Next, the Divine Son turned his bloodshot eyes toward Jiang Zhenhe.
Jiang Zhenhe shuddered instantly, his legs going as limp as if they were paralyzed, and collapsed straight to the ground.
He had never possessed a strong backbone anyway; he was a spineless creature who only knew how to bully those without backing. Now, pinned by the Divine Son's gaze, he was frightened out of his wits.
"Y-Your... Your Highness, I, I, I..."
"Shut your mouth! How on earth did you train a disciple like this? You handle things with zero competence! Today, thank goodness the Sect Master didn't lose her temper—if she had, this Divine Son would have been finished on the spot!" the Divine Son roared loudly!
Too terrified to speak, Jiang Zhenhe froze.
If the Sect Master could crush the Divine Son to death with a single palm, the Divine Son could certainly do the same to him, turning him directly into a bloody mist without even his soul remaining!
Seeing Jiang Zhenhe remain silent only fueled the Divine Son's fury further. He lashed out with a vicious kick straight to Jiang Zhenhe's face.
With a thunderous crash, Jiang Zhenhe shot backward like a cannonball, slamming violently into the wall.
The wall instantly caved in with a massive, human-shaped crack—a shocking sight.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Coughing up mouthfuls of blood with his head battered and bleeding, Jiang Zhenhe tumbled wretchedly to the floor and pleaded, "Your Highness, I know I was wrong. I, too, will redeem myself through meritorious service; I only pray Your Highness will grant me this chance!"
Suddenly realizing something, the Divine Son sobered up a fraction and said, "Get outside with me!"
Jiang Zhenhe realized it as well, and the two of them vanished with a whoosh.
They were inside the pagoda; any conversation here would be overheard by these demons!
…………
A moment later, inside the Divine Son's residence, the Divine Son waved his hand to set up a soundproofing barrier and roared in anger: "Damn it, we almost got ruined by you lot! Fortunately, those demons didn't riot; if they had, we'd all be done for!"
Jiang Zhenhe hurried to soothe him: "It's fine, Divine Son. There must be some other reason. Think about it—even if they aren't sleeping, they still need to recuperate and gather strength. For countless years prior, they struggled desperately to break out of the pagoda, and by now they ought to be exhausted. So for the past century, they should have been in a state of recuperation, waiting for their next breakout attempt. It's just a matter of when that next time will be!"
The Divine Son nodded coldly: "I hope so. Let's just pray the next time doesn't come too soon!"
…………
What the Divine Son and Jiang Zhenhe did not know—and what absolutely no one else knew—was that the moment they left, the countless fiends within the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda had gathered together.
Using divine sense, they communicated to one another: "Did you all notice? Ye Qingtao seems to have had a falling out with the Qingyun Sect."
"That's right. Ye Qingtao appears to have been mistaken by his sect for colluding with us, and right now he's under investigation!"
"If he falls from power, won't we be able to... Heh heh heh, a hundred years! We've finally waited for this day!"
"Haha, a full century! Our good days at last seem to have arrived. Breaking out of the pagoda is right before our eyes!"