Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
"Tang Jie!" Liu Qianyi cried out in disbelief.
The gushing fountain of blood turned her vision red.
In the blood, she saw Zuo Quanming grabbing the Mountain River State Diagram with a fierce smile and then punching out, the blast of energy turning Tang Jie's corpse and head into countless little bits of flesh and blood.
Zuo Quanming retreated backward and then began to fly toward the stone gate.
"Don't even try to escape!"
"Leave the diagram behind!"
Cries rang out, and Na Shan, Young Master Hua, and the others began to lash out at Zuo Quanming in anger. Only Liu Qianyi remained frozen in place, staring dumbly at the bits of flesh raining down around her.
Tang Jie was dead?
This man who had created countless miracles and even killed the Blood River Lord was dead?
He hadn't even put up a fight before death, dying most unjustly.
She didn't dare to believe her eyes.
Meanwhile, spell arts howled at Zuo Quanming, who was flying as fast as he could while dodging left and right. With his strength, he could last for quite a while without a problem, and if he could get through the stone gate in this time, he would be free.
As he drew closer and closer to the gate, Young Master Hua suddenly called out, "Trying to run?" His face turned ruthless as he grabbed at the air, and that black hole that had once stopped the Blood River Lord reappeared. Under the effect of its powerful suction, Zuo Quanming found it hard to advance.
The attacks from the others began to come in.
Zuo Quanming once more used his spatial spell art, disappearing and then emerging in the distance, thus avoiding Young Master Hua's black hole, after which he immediately continued his flight toward the gate.
Just when he was about to reach the gate, Na Shan roared and swung his axe.
This axe blow flew toward the stone gate. If Zuo Quanming tried to push through, he would have to take this attack, and even Tang Jie wouldn't have dared to take Na Shan's full strength.
At that moment, Zuo Quanming seemed to grow eyes on his back and actually stopped. The axe blast flew over his head and slammed into the stone gate in a brilliant explosion.
Zuo Quanming charged forward again, and just when he was about to go through the gate, Young Master Hua waved a hand, upon which Zuo Quanming froze in the air. Two streaks of light converged on him, one a beam of sword energy and the other a lightning spell art, after which a black dragon of flame rushed up and threatened to slam into Zuo Quanming—none other than Hei Yan's black dragon flame.
Zuo Quanming couldn't dodge this time, so he finally clenched his teeth and did something shocking: he raised up the Mountain River State Diagram, using it as a shield!
Everyone paled and shouted, "Don't!"
But it was too late.
The sword light struck the Mountain River State Diagram first, and while this diagram had the ability to hold mountains and rivers, it was no defensive tool. The sword energy immediately cut it in half, and the following lightning blasted it apart. Finally, Hei Yan's flames burned the fragments to ash.
As embers danced in the air, one could hear the wailing of countless creatures, and just like that, innumerable precious resources went up in smoke.
A rare diagram that could hold a world, a supreme divine treasure, had been destroyed, leaving everyone grief-stricken.
Zuo Quanming was clearly a ruthless sort. Rather than running, he snarled, "The diagram is gone. Are you all happy now?"
"It's all because of you!" one representative shouted.
Zuo Quanming sneered, "Don't even think about pushing the blame onto me. The Four Heavenly Kings are right outside, so once I tell them about how you chased me down to try and get the diagram, let's see who will be worse off!"
Everyone froze.
If the Four Heavenly Kings learned about this matter, the consequences would be very serious. In their rage, they might even kill the representatives.
The thought made everyone pale, and they hesitated over what they should do.
Young Master Hua sinisterly said, "Even if we suffer, you won't be much better off."
Surprisingly, Zuo Quanming nodded. "Yes, if the Four Heavenly Kings learn that the conflict between us led the diagram to be destroyed, thus making the Treasure Paradise unsalvageable, they won't spare me either. So the only solution is for us to get our stories straight and work together."
"Oh? Brother Zuo has a plan?" a representative asked.
"Yes," Zuo Quanming replied. "My plan is simple. We shouldn't even mention the diagram, instead blaming the Blood River Lord for all the damage to the Treasure Paradise. It had nothing to do with Tang Jie or us."
The Four Heavenly Kings had been the ones to let the Blood River Lord in.
All the damage done by the Blood River Lord in the Treasure Paradise rightly belonged to the Four Heavenly Kings. Of course, the representatives didn't think that the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn't still try to settle accounts with them, but at least they had no reason to vent their anger on the representatives.
But if the Four Heavenly Kings found that the damage to the Treasure Paradise had primarily been done by Tang Jie, with all the treasure ending up in the diagram that had been destroyed in an internal conflict among the representatives, it would be very strange for them to show the representatives mercy.
Thus, Zuo Quanming's suggestion to not talk about the diagram immediately received everyone's approval.
So long as they pushed all the blame onto the Blood River Lord, the Four Heavenly Kings would have nothing to say, no means of expressing their frustration.
"But the Blood River Lord's original body is still around," a representative hesitantly said. "If he tells the truth…"
Zuo Quanming laughed. "It's the truth that he wanted to take the Treasure Paradise. Whether he succeeded or not, he was bound to become a mortal foe of the Celestial Flame Pagoda, so what do his words matter? And what right does he have to argue his side? And even if he does, that's a matter for the future. Let's get through the trial in front of us first. As for later… we should also get away from here as fast as we can."
Everyone nodded in unison.
Shui Yao walked over and asked, "Big Brother, what do you think?"
Na Shan sighed. "At this point, it's the only option."
"We're just letting this guy kill Tang Jie and get away with it?" Hei Yan was still reluctant to drop the matter.
Na Shan gave Zuo Quanming a look and then said, "No rush. There will be another opportunity to settle this grudge. Right, did any of you see Yiyi?"
Realizing that Yiyi was gone, Na Shan looked around, but there was no sign of the little girl and the rabbit. Even the Blood River General was gone.
The battle earlier had been so fierce that nobody had noticed when they disappeared.
"I think I saw Tang Jie putting them into the diagram," Hei Yan replied.
'Put them into the diagram'?
Doesn't that mean that Yiyi already died together with the diagram world?
The thought of that cute and innocent little girl dying such a violent death filled Na Shan with sorrow, but there was nothing he could do except sigh. In the end, he lightly said, "I guess this is fate."
Meanwhile, everyone had reached an agreement to say that the Blood River Lord had sought to take the Treasure Paradise, and his battle with the sword spirit had devastated the Treasure Paradise world and left numerous representatives dead. As for Tang Jie, he had just been one of these ordinary representatives, not possessing any earthshaking powers. The sword spirit had not been taken away, and there was naturally no incredible diagram that could suck up a world.
In this way, the Four Heavenly Kings would only know that a battle had left the Treasure Paradise in tatters. But so long as all the physical matter remained within the Treasure Paradise, the Four Heavenly Kings wouldn't be too worried and would think that everything would have recovered after twenty years.
Zuo Quanming then took out a formation diagram and painted a few strokes on it. With a laugh, he said, "This is the Mountain River State Diagram. Anyone who wants it can have it."
Everyone laughed.
Suddenly, someone said, "Wait. Don't forget that there's a disciple of a Heavenly King among us. We can't guarantee that she'll keep the secret."
Everyone turned to Liu Qianyi.
Liu Qianyi's face darkened. Just when she was about to say something, Zuo Quanming smiled and said, "So long as Miss Liu is willing to make a Heart Demon Oath, we can just trust her."
A representative shouted, "How could that do? What if she tells the truth…"
Zuo Quanming scowled. "You really want to face a Southern Heavenly King who has lost her beloved disciple?"
The representative froze. After some thought, he realized that Zuo Quanming had a point, so he ultimately agreed.
On the other hand, Liu Qianyi looked questioningly at Zuo Quanming. For some reason, Zuo Quanming wasn't speaking like a conman anymore, instead giving off a mature and confident feeling.
Everyone agreed to the plan, and after Liu Qianyi swore the oath, they all left the Treasure Paradise.
Once they passed through the stone gate, they returned to the cavern, where the Four Heavenly Kings were waiting.
As agreed, Zuo Quanming told the story, his clever tongue and sharp wit enabling him to tell a convincing story and respond to any questions. Besides, he was the one to suggest this solution, so he was the best candidate for dealing with the situation.
Sure enough, Zuo Quanming put on a great performance for the Four Heavenly Kings as he recounted their experiences in the Treasure Paradise. When he spoke of the Blood River Lord, he was filled with rage and sorrow, saying that the Blood River Lord started killing the moment he appeared while constantly talking about how he was going to take the Treasure Paradise, and how he even used the Immeasurable Sword to create a spatial fissure to deal with the sword spirit. If they hadn't desperately fought alongside the sword spirit to finally thwart the Blood River Lord's plan, the Treasure Paradise would have been the Blood River Lord's by now. Of course, they had suffered tragic losses, with even Reverend Xuan Gui dying.
The Four Heavenly Kings were utterly stunned by these words.
They truly had noticed some strange activity going on in the Treasure Paradise, but in the end, it was a different world, and even Violet Palace cultivators couldn't easily find out what was going on inside. They simply had no means of confirming the details of Zuo Quanming's story for themselves.
But based on the looks of grief and anger on the faces of the others, it was probably true.
At the end, Zuo Quanming even added, "We went hunting for treasure for the sake of the Four Heavenly Kings, but the Four Heavenly Kings broke the rules and let the Blood River Ancestor into the Treasure Paradise! Such conduct truly chills the heart!"
There was an accusatory tone to these words.
While the Four Heavenly Kings were taken aback by his words, they could understand his anger, so rather than resenting him, they felt even more convinced that his story was true.
The Southern Heavenly King saw that her beloved disciple was fine, so she sighed in relief and then angrily said, "I really didn't think that old scoundrel Blood River would be harboring such intentions, pretending to have some grudge against Tang Jie while actually aiming to steal the Treasure Paradise! Master failed to notice it and ultimately fell for his trap."
"This old bastard, treating our Celestial Flame Pagoda as if we don't exist!" the Eastern Heavenly King grunted.
The Western Heavenly King coldly said, "Things can't be settled with just this, or else wouldn't my Celestial Flame Pagoda lose all face in the Blood River Domain?"
The most temperamental Northern Heavenly King shouted, "I'm going to find Blood River and settle things with him right now! Even if I can't beat him, I need to fight it out first."
He charged out of the cavern, leaving the Celestial Flame Pagoda and heading straight for the Blood River.
The other three Heavenly Kings didn't stop him, instead hardening their resolves and joining him.
Before they left, Zuo Quanming shouted, "Heavenly King, please inspect the items we obtained."
He took out a pile of art relics.
The Southern Heavenly King was surprised to see that there was so little. Zuo Quanming explained, "The battle against Blood River was very costly, so this is all that's left."
She looked at the others, who were basically in the same situation.
This was the truth. In that battle, everyone had used all the strength they could, including basically all the treasures they had, so they really didn't have many left.
The Southern Heavenly King sighed. "Ah, forget it. It was our mistake this time, so you can take the treasures you obtained. Consider it as a little compensation for your loss."
She turned and left.
Four Violet Palace cultivators couldn't beat an Immortal Platform cultivator like the Blood River Lord, but the Blood River Lord had just lost a Violet Palace avatar and was at a low in strength. Besides that, they were backed by the Flame Celestial Sovereign, so they weren't afraid.
The representatives watched the Four Heavenly Kings leave and then shared a look, all of them hinting to each other that they should leave as quickly as possible.
If the Four Heavenly Kings learned the truth, they would definitely come back to make trouble for them.
The representatives had to be ready to live the life of wanderers from now on.
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