Eternal Heavenly Emperor-Chapter 350 - 340 Public Trial
"Mo Guyun, I’m actually quite reasonable," Chu Hao said leisurely. "If no one provokes me, I won’t provoke anyone else."
"Yes, Brother Chu is the most benevolent and righteous," Mo Guyun replied hastily. He still couldn’t see the scene below, but he could guess what was happening, which made him feel as if he were walking on the edge of a cliff, his little heart in turmoil.
"However," Chu Hao continued, "if someone does provoke me, I won’t show them mercy or restraint."
Mo Guyun was close to tears as he said, "Brother Chu, it was my short-sightedness, please forgive me this once, just once."
"Giving someone like you a chance is just giving you another opportunity to harm others," Chu Hao made his move. His Star Force turned into endless malevolence, sweeping over Mo Guyun’s body. Mo Guyun still maintained his original posture, but his life force had already ceased.
He sprang from his feet and jumped down from the fourth floor, stopping beside Flying Fire, and said, "Little Fire, let him go."
Flying Fire obediently opened its mouth and moved aside, but still bared its teeth in a threatening manner.
"Chu Hao, aren’t you afraid that your actions will enrage the Sect’s warriors and they will come to suppress you?" Li Li took a deep breath, knowing that his only chance of survival was to use the Yunliu Sect to restrain Chu Hao.
"Hahahaha!" Tang Xin walked forward, speaking disdainfully, "Are you still expecting the Yunliu Sect to save you? Let me tell you, all those warriors from the Yunliu Sect have already been slaughtered by Brother Chu. Just wait for their ghosts to come for you."
"No, it’s impossible!" Li Li shook his head insistently. Warriors, what kind of existence was that? In the eyes of a martial master like him, they were no different from Heavenly Gods, how could all of them be killed by a 20-year-old young man.
"What’s impossible? Otherwise, how do you think we got back?" Tang Xin said derisively.
Li Li was suddenly speechless. He had always doubted this point; without a skyship, how could Chu Hao and Tang Xin return to the Lower World? But how could the Yunliu Sect willingly allow people from the Lower World to return? To say it was stolen, the skyship would be stationed within the Yunliu Sect after transport, guarded by powerful beings.
Unless... the Yunliu Sect had been invaded by a formidable enemy, and in the chaos, Chu Hao and Tang Xin took the chance to board the ship and made their escape.
That would align with Li Li’s view of the world. He couldn’t believe that Chu Hao was capable of annihilating so many warriors of the Yunliu Sect; it was utterly preposterous to him.
Chu Hao had no intention of making him believe. With a casual flick, he sealed the Star Force within Li Li’s body and suppressed his strength, rendering Li Li no different from an ordinary person.
He nodded to Tang Xin and said, "Take him away. Begin the public trial tomorrow and let justice be served in the open."
"Okay!" Tang Xin nodded and, holding Li Li as if carrying a dead dog, took him away.
Was this truly the Lord of the City who once stood high above like a Heavenly God?
After being stunned for a good while, the leaders of the Eight Great Nobles surged forward, seeking to ingratiate themselves with Chu Hao. They also harbored many questions about the terms such as Yunliu Sect and warrior that had come up during Chu Hao’s conversation with Li Li.
Without hiding anything, Chu Hao unveiled the true face of the Yunliu Sect over the past thousands of years, igniting righteous indignation among the Family Heads.
In their family histories, although some of their kin had been selected and sent to the Yunliu Sect never to return, because the number was truly too small, with an average that one individual from each noble family might not be chosen in a hundred years, and coupled with the fear of the City Lord’s Mansion’s power, they dared not voice any doubts or complaints.
Little did they expect the Yunliu Sect to have treated the Lower World like livestock corralled for breeding.
In the end, all the leaders of the great noble families cordially invited Chu Hao to their homes, an invitation which he repeatedly declined. He would not stay in Eastern Cloud City for long and would soon return to the greater world.
Fat Cat talked in riddles, mentioning a great calamity that was soon to come. Although this Fat Cat was not always truthful, Chu Hao nevertheless chose to believe it, resolving to enhance his strength as quickly as possible.
"Young Master, you’ve grown up, truly grown up," Uncle Yu observed, his old eyes glistening with tears. The current Chu Hao even had the power to trample the Lord of the City underfoot, a level of power that surpassed his imagination.
After returning to the Chu Family, Chu Hao asked Uncle Yu to find all the items related to his father.
He wanted to delve into Chu Tianyun’s origins.
The items left by Chu Tianyun were quite simple. If there was anything mysterious, it was just a piece of jade, very precious — it was "Phoenix Blood Jade," believed to be stained with the blood of an Immortal Phoenix. It was said to be effective in warding off poisons and subduing evil spirits when worn on the body.
Such an item was extremely rare even on Sky Martial Star.
Chu Tianyun didn’t recognize its value, and that’s why he hadn’t worn this jade on himself. Otherwise, it would have greatly increased his chances of survival while traveling.
Indeed, even if Chu Tianyun was born into a Divine Level Power, he was, after all, only a Third Tier or Fourth Tier Martial Disciple; how could he possibly know the true worth of Phoenix Blood Jade? Even Chu Hao only learned of the origin of this piece of jade through Fat Cat’s guidance.
"Your father’s background is not simple, eh!" Fat Cat said as it caressed the Jade Pendant, surreptitiously trying to hide it behind its butt while speaking, "Even in Lao Tzu’s era, Phoenix Blood Jade was an extraordinary treasure, incredibly scarce."
Chu Hao furrowed his brow; it seemed he had underestimated his father’s lineage. Anything that even Fat Cat wanted to steal was indeed immensely valuable.
Slap, he smacked Fat Cat’s paw, and the Phoenix Blood Jade immediately flew from its grasp. Flying Fire lunged out, snapping up the jade in its mouth, and darted behind Chu Hao, wagging its tail joyously.
"You damn dog, do you believe Lao Tzu will turn you into dog stew?" Fat Cat yelled furiously.
Chu Hao couldn’t help but laugh, saying, "Leopards are felines, so in a way, they are family to you."
"Pah, would I have such stupid kin?" Fat Cat sneered disdainfully.
Chu Hao fiddled with the Phoenix Blood Jade, then wore it close to his body. It had the effect of warding off poison, a treasure hard to come by for a Martial Artist. With it, he could ignore most of the miasma while exploring ruins in the future, and it might even withstand Xiaocao’s poisons.
He became very curious about how Xiaocao would react if she discovered her poisons had no effect on him. Her expression was always calm; would it change? Thinking about it, he couldn’t wait to return to Medicine Valley and try it out.
Buzz, when he put on the jade pendant, it emitted a faint glow, which quickly disappeared.
Chu Hao didn’t notice it, but Fat Cat did. Yet, it didn’t remind Chu Hao, instead showing a playful smile.
The next day, at noon, the public trial of the former City Lord, Li Li, began.
At first, the people of Eastern Cloud City thought it was a joke with no punchline – the Lord of the City undergoing a public trial? That was the city’s deity. But seeing Li Li tied up and seated in the city square made more and more people believe it was true.
Eastern Cloud City had changed regimes overnight.
Initially, only one or two people came forward to expose Li Li’s misdeeds. Gradually, more and more people stood up, accusing Li Li of his corrupt dealings throughout the more than twenty years in power.
Their crimes were too numerous to be recorded!
Latterly, even Steward Wu testified that several of the beast tides were actually instigated by Li Li. This caused an uproar throughout the city – how could there be such a monstrous brute?
Of course, Li Li couldn’t escape the punishment he deserved. He was publicly executed, and the City Lord’s Mansion collapsed like a house of cards. But a nation cannot be without a ruler for a day, and Eastern Cloud City still needed someone to lead.
Chu Hao had no intention of becoming the City Lord. He let the Eight Great Nobles decide for themselves whether to elect one among them or take turns in the office. After all, they were all from the Lower World and unlikely to engage in vile acts like Li Li had.
He stayed at home, cherishing the time, as he would leave in a few days.
Uncle Yu had already stated he wouldn’t accompany Chu Hao to Yunliu Sect or Spirit Spring Sect, as he wanted to stay and look after the old Chu Family home. Shuang Xi and the other seven also chose to stay with Uncle Yu. They hadn’t set foot on the path of martial arts and didn’t plan to. They just wanted to live as ordinary people.
Chu Hao didn’t insist, and once the half-month period was up, he left with Tang Xin.
When the two of them arrived at the Skyship, most people had already returned, and those who hadn’t by that point probably wouldn’t come at all, having chosen to stay in the Lower World. The presence of these people would certainly disrupt the existing order of the Lower World, but after the events at Yunliu Sect, it was believed that no one would dare to start wars again.
Besides, they still had Chu Hao as a deterrent. Who would dare to overstep there?
When the time came, the Skyship took off again, heading towards Yunliu Sect.
Upon returning to Yunliu Sect, everyone unanimously elected Chu Hao as the new Sect Master.
Firstly, he had the power, having proven himself by single-handedly defeating many strong contenders. Secondly, Chu Hao had the backing of an Imperial-level Power, a true behemoth. Before bullying Yunliu Sect, one would have to weigh if they could afford to offend such a power.
Thus, even though Chu Hao would hardly spend a few days in Yunliu Sect later on, everyone still insisted that he should take up the Sect Master position.
Beneath the Sect Master, as there was currently no one who had reached Warrior status, there were no candidates eligible for the position of Elder, so it was left vacant. No matter, Yunliu Sect now had plenty of time to rise again.
Chu Hao took Tang Xin back to Spirit Spring Sect to let her choose a master, and then he went to Medicine Valley to test just how far the Phoenix Blood Jade’s poison-warding capabilities extended.
Xiaocao was definitely a fine touchstone. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
"Why are you here again?" When Xiaocao saw Chu Hao, she looked as if she’d been disturbed.
Chu Hao laughed heartily, saying, "I now possess Poison Avoidance abilities. Let’s see if you can still poison me."
"Hmm?" Xiaocao looked at Chu Hao but didn’t respond.
"Come on, don’t just stand there. Give it a try," Chu Hao urged.
"I’ve used seventeen kinds of poison on you, but none took effect," Xiaocao stated calmly.
Chu Hao was taken aback; he hadn’t even seen her make a move, how had she already used seventeen poisons on him? Were it not for the Phoenix Blood Jade’s protection, he would have been laid out seventeen times by now.
But this also proved that the Phoenix Blood Jade was indeed an extraordinary treasure.
"I have one more method, extremely potent, but it requires the consumption of my life’s Origin, and once poisoned, even I can’t save you. So, there’s no need to test that," Xiaocao said with her usual calm demeanor, leaving Chu Hao’s plan to surprise her completely foiled. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
