“His majesty this is just completely ridiculous!!!”
“The second prince blatantly attacked us, look at what he caused!! Our disciples' souls have been severely damaged?!!”
“His Majesty please give us an explanation, these injuries caused to these disciples will severely hamper their future cultivations!!”
“Yes that’s right, compensation should be given to us, how else can we make up for the cost of healing these disciples' souls?!!”
“His Majesty all we weren’t is an explanation we need not any compensation. It is unbecoming of a prince to act this way, some form of punishment should be dealt out.”
As the crowd of people in the hall bellowed out their demands at an expressionless Li Shu, his ears picked up on that last sentence.
His gaze moved to that Elder from one of the Noble Families under his command.
The Elder went rigid when he saw the cold look in Li Shu’s eyes.
“Are you suggesting that my Shen’er should be punished? Who are you to suggest that?”
Li Shu’s words were calm but that Elder broke out in cold sweat and a chill went down his spine.
He had said those words only because everyone was screaming their demands, he never thought the Emperor would single him out specifically.
“H-His Majesty, I-I…”
*Bang*
Under Li Shu’s penetrating gaze, that Elder was pressured.
He got on his knees and bowed his head, slamming it onto the marble-tiled floor.
“I apologize to his Majesty for being so presumptuous!”
That Elder was trembling.
The power Li Shu held over the Noble families was not some meager amount.
If he caused him to become angry and he took it out on his family, then he would be immediately killed for his actions by his own family.
All the Noble families were on edge, afraid of offending Li Shu since Ghuanyu’s actions some months ago had incited some of them to show signs of rebellion.
Li Shu looked away ignoring the Elder's presence.
“Let this be known, any compensation you want will be dealt out as it is my son’s fault for this incident, and that extends to me his father as well. But if any of lot you think that my son is going to suffer some form of punishment for his actions then you can go ahead and try. Just know I'll kill anyone who lays a hand on him.”
The furious crowd heard Li Shu’s words and they all became extremely silent.
Such doting completely stunned them.
They weren’t aware that the Emperor was this protective of his useless second son.
If anything it should have been the opposite, not him being so unreasonable. If it was someone else they would have done something to quell this many power’s ire. But Li Shu bluntly told them to basically fuck off and not expect his son to get punished.
Only someone of his power could ignore the pressure of so many top powers and say this so straightforwardly. And worst there was nothing they could do about it.
The ones who had initially wanted to have Xi Shen punished had that thought wiped away from their minds.
“His Majesty, our visitors from the Star Bound Continent was affected as well. Surely this doesn’t reflect well the Royal Family if the second prince goes unpunished.”
The silence became more pronounced in the hall when this voice echoed out.
Literally every pair of eyes in the hall turned to look at the person who said that.
It was a middle-aged man, he had the Ming character printed in bold strokes on the back of his robes.
Shiming, Tengfei, and a few youths from the Ming clan were standing just behind him.
Li Shu’s eyes narrowed in response to this man’s words.
The news of the alliance between the Li Clan of the Maple Continent and the Lu Clan of the Star Bound Continent was likely well known among the top powers, even with the short time it had been announced.
And the Ming Clan wasted no time trying and sow discord between them.
Xi Shen’s actions were just way too convenient and came at the right time.
‘This can not continue. The Li Clan having relations with the Lu Clan is the worst possible outcome for our Ming Clan. How did this even happen? Just what would cause this absurd situation after all the tension in the past between them. I sent a message to the Clan Patriarch but I don’t know when he’ll exit seclusion.’
“You-”
Li Shu began to say but his stoic expression suddenly fell to be replaced with shock.
A burst of aura erupted from his body and the entire hall immediately took a step back in shock and aura.
“WHO?!!”
Li Shu’s grim voice barked out into everyone's ears that caused a cold chill to go down their spine and their scalps to go numb.
The sudden pressure of a Soul Transformation Realm cultivator on their shoulders had a few people falling to their knees.
The only people unaffected were the ones at the table.
“Brother, what is it?”
Li Xue was surprised at his elder brother’s outburst, he had never seen him lose his cool like this before, even when they were growing up.
Everyone looked at Li Shu who was seething with anger.
He didn’t respond to Li Xue’s question and only teleported away, leaving everyone baffled at his actions.
“Didn’t the rumors say the emperor was at the Legendary Heavenly Palace Realm? That aura was terrifying but it was similar to Ghuanyu’s outburst back in the Celestial Academy.”
Everyone ponder on those words, but they were too overwhelmed by everything that transpired so far to pay attention to such discrepancies.
Inside Fu Wei’s chamber, Li Shu’s figure appeared next to a lifeless Xi Shen.
“Shen’er.”
Li Shu’s body shook before he knelt down and placed a hand on Xi Shen’s chest.
He gently sent his Divine Will inside to examine his body.
“This-”
Li Shu’s eyes widen in shock when he went to Xi Shen’s dantian and saw his unfinished Qi Sea.
“Shen’er you can cultivate? But-”
“...What is this dantian? And is this the aura of Time I sensed from this Qi Sea? Just what is going on here?”
“This dantian, why is the structure so similar to the principles of the Divine Star Diagram? Shen’er just how talented are you? You only saw it once but you created something like this. I had my suspicions you were extraordinary when you were born blessed by heaven, but this-”
Li Shu wanted to marvel more at his son's genius, but he wasn’t breathing and his heart had stopped.
However, Li Shu could tell he wasn’t truly dead.
His perception moved to his Sea of Consciousness and his face immediately stiffen.
“What in the mother of fucks is that?”
The image of an almighty Emperor with power and status faded from Li Shu and was replaced with someone who was genuinely stupefied to his core.
“What is this? Has Shen’er already comprehended the six natural elements to this degree so early? This goes against everything known about cultivation. But is this supposed to be a Divine Soul? Divine Souls aren’t this big, this is around a thousand meters.”
Li Shu felt a headache coming on as he can’t handle this many bombshells all at once.
And he hadn’t even mentioned the fact that he open a hundred meridians.
He was extremely glad his son was this much of a monster, but at the same time he can’t believe his son was walking around with this many secrets inside him, and he had let him.
“Stupid Shen’er, if someone had seen even one this you have no idea the consequences that could occur. The Ming Clan isn’t a problem, I can handle them and everyone else on this continent, but those terrifying existence outside is something that even makes me feel dread.”
Li Shu slowly took up Xi Shen as he continue to speak.
“I don’t know what has happened to you, I can’t sense anything off asides from your abnormal soul activity.”
Li Shu had a hunch Xi Shen's soul was somehow disconnected from his body, thus causing his lifeless state, but it was all speculation.
Holding Xi Shen in his arms Li Shu turned to teleport away but his eyes landed on his other son.
Walking over to Fu Wei, the Emperor furrow his brows when he saw the golden plum blossom.
“What happened?”
It was then he realized Xi Shen was actually inside his brother’s chambers. Something had happened between them.
Li Shu place his hand on Fu Wei’s chest to check his condition, and seeing that he was fine, he released a sigh of relief before he teleported away with the both of them.
All while Li Shu was examining Xi Shen, the plum blossom inside his Sea of Consciousness continue to sway like it was blowing in the wind.
It was completely hidden from his senses like its existence could not be sensed by a mere Soul Transformation Realm’s Divine Will.
The indistinguishable face of a woman appeared in the plum blossom.
The characters on the plum blossom glowed and its swaying intensified.
Xi Shen’s soul tremble before a multicolored plum blossom appeared on his soul.
His soul trembled harder.
After a few seconds, the indistinguishable face of the women frowned at the undesirable results she got.
“You have stayed hidden from him until now, but are you too attached to his soul that you refuse to leave when I command you to? Before I came you were waiting for this Qi Sea projection to finish before fusing with it right? Too bad he went ahead and fused with me instead, ruing your plans. Fine, since being forceful heeds no success, then I’ll use another method to root you out.”
A slight smile appeared on the woman’s face, but one could tell it was filled with contempt.
The trembling of Xi Shen’s soul calm down but a multicolored glow suddenly shone from the plum blossom to encapsulate it.
In the outside world, Li Shu was seen with Xi Shen and Fu Wei in an expansive space that was white as far as the eye could see.
On Xi Shen’s mouth, a slight smile appeared on his lips as if he was having a pleasant dream.
Foll𝑜w current novels on fre(e)w𝒆bnovel