Devouring Soul Emperor

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: The Great Xia Dragon Guards’ Action

The arrival of six or seven hundred Great Xia Dragon Guards in Flame City naturally caused a huge uproar.

Anyone who was even slightly well-informed or sharp-witted understood that they were surely here about the incident during the previous assessment.

The various powers in the city, both large and small, could more or less guess how serious the incident had been.

For a time, a sense of panic spread through all of Flame City.

The Great Xia Dragon Guard had a fearsome reputation in the Great Xia nation; no one dared to provoke them.

Everyone was terrified of being implicated. Even the arrogant young masters who typically ran rampant, bullying and harassing others, all vanished, obediently hiding away at home.

No one dared to make a scene at a time like this. If they happened to run afoul of the Great Xia Dragon Guard, it would be no laughing matter.

And, as expected, the Great Xia Dragon Guard made their move.

Beginning the afternoon they arrived, the six or seven hundred Great Xia Dragon Guards dispersed throughout Flame City, frantically searching for any trace of the Martial Soul Hall and investigating the assessment incident.

Traces of the Great Xia Dragon Guard could even be seen outside the city and in the Mist Forest.

Furthermore, the three Guard Generals brought by Grand Commander Chu Yu took their Personal Guards and split up to visit the major powers of Flame City, doing everything they could to uncover any clues about the Martial Soul Hall.

As Flame City’s foremost power, the Zhao Family was naturally the first to be visited.

The one sent to the Zhao Family was a Guard General named Ji Xuan.

With the Great Xia Dragon Guard at their door, Zhao Family Patriarch Zhao Yongzhi dared not show any neglect. He personally led several high-ranking family members to the main gate to respectfully welcome their guest.

"You’re the Zhao Family Patriarch? I hear your family has a Martial Spirit Level Ancestor. Where is he?"

Ji Xuan was not as foolish or easily dismissed as Liu Canghai. The first thing he did was demand to see the Zhao Family’s Martial Spirit Level Ancestor.

When Zhao Yongzhi heard this, his heart sank.

’It seems this visitor has ill intentions.’

He quickly forced a smile and said with a slight bow, "Our Ancestor has been in Death Sealing for over twenty years and hasn’t been receiving any visitors."

"Hasn’t shown his face for over twenty years? He’s not dead, is he?" Ji Xuan sneered.

Zhao Yongzhi maintained his smile and laughed awkwardly. "You jest, my lord, you jest..."

Although he was the esteemed Patriarch of the Zhao Family, in the presence of a Lord Guardian from the Great Xia Dragon Guard, he could only bow and act subservient, just as the Cao Family Patriarch had before Chu Qingyun and Sun Daxiong.

"Who’s jesting with you! He’s only at the Martial Spirit Level! Does he really need to be in Death Sealing for over twenty years? Is your Zhao Family looking down on the Great Xia Dragon Guard!?" Ji Xuan roared.

He was a Martial Spirit Level expert himself. For him to come in person while the other side’s Martial Spirit expert refused to appear was a clear sign of disrespect.

Zhao Yongzhi’s breath caught, and he felt utterly helpless.

’The Ancestor gave the order. He refuses to meet with the Great Xia Dragon Guard, no matter what, and has sent me to deal with them instead.’

After a stream of earnest apologies and placating words from Zhao Yongzhi, Ji Xuan’s expression finally softened a little.

However, what Zhao Yongzhi didn’t know was that this was all part of a preconceived plan. freewebnσvel.cѳm

Following Grand Commander Chu Yu’s orders, Ji Xuan and the others were to adopt a hardline stance with every family they visited, but they were not to conduct actual searches or truly escalate the situation.

Otherwise, if they found nothing and failed to draw out anyone from the Martial Soul Hall, but instead threw Flame City into utter chaos, the outcome would be poor.

"Zhao Yongzhi, let me ask you," Ji Xuan began, his face cold, "why did the Military Merits of those three boys from your family increase so rapidly during the third stage of the assessment?"

"My lord, I... I don’t know either..." Zhao Yongzhi said with an aggrieved look. "The Zhao Family feels helpless. Our clan finally produced three young geniuses, and we hoped to send them to serve the nation in the Great Xia Dragon Guard. We never imagined they would all perish in the assessment..."

His aggrieved expression wasn’t entirely an act.

The Zhao Family Ancestor had kept his true plan a secret even from him, lying that the goal was merely to make Zhao’s Three Heroes captains in the Great Xia Dragon Guard.

Ji Xuan asked a few more questions, but he couldn’t get any useful information.

Zhao Yongzhi played dumb, feigning complete ignorance and pushing all responsibility onto Zhao’s Three Heroes.

After all, the young men were dead—their funeral preparations were already underway. The dead tell no tales.

After some further questioning yielded no results, Ji Xuan left the Zhao residence with a cold expression and headed to the next family on his list.

After watching Ji Xuan depart, Zhao Yongzhi let out a long sigh of relief, feeling completely drained.

Dealing with a Martial Spirit Level expert was no easy task. The immense pressure had consumed a great deal of his energy.

But he had no time to relax. He immediately hurried to the Zhao Family’s secret chamber to report to the Ancestor.

"Reporting to the Ancestor, the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s Guard General has left," Zhao Yongzhi said, standing respectfully outside the secret chamber.

A moment later, a voice came from within. "Repeat your conversation, word for word."

"Yes..."

Zhao Yongzhi repeated the entire conversation, not omitting a single detail.

"Very good, Yongzhi. You’ve done well. For the next few days, keep a close watch on the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s movements. However, you must not give them any leverage against us. Remember that! You may go."

After Zhao Yongzhi’s footsteps faded, a series of low chuckles echoed from within the secret chamber.

"Hehehe, it seems the Great Xia Dragon Guard are nothing special after all. They couldn’t find a thing."

"Still, we can’t be careless. In addition to guarding against the Great Xia Dragon Guard, we also need to keep a close eye on that boy, Chu Qingyun."

"I just don’t know if he’ll go with Chu Yu’s group to Lianshan County City. If he sticks with Chu Yu, that will be a problem. An Earth Spirit Realm Grand Commander..."

"We’ll see. Even if he goes to Lianshan County City, we’ll have to sneak in. It’s worth the risk to find the whereabouts of the Vermilion Bird."

"Chu Qingyun... That damned little bastard ruined my entire plan! When the time comes, I will personally grind his bones to dust and scatter his ashes to vent this hatred in my heart!"

...

The commotion stirred up by the Great Xia Dragon Guards didn’t begin to die down until nightfall.

Although they appeared menacing and searched all over, they took no substantial actions like raiding homes, so no real chaos was caused.

The next day, the situation was unchanged. The three Lord Guardians visited nearly every major power in Flame City, giving all of them quite a scare.

On the afternoon of the third day, all the Great Xia Dragon Guards suddenly gathered at the West Gate and charged out of the city.

After the Great Xia Dragon Guard left, a man sprinted from the city gate to the Zhao Estate and found Patriarch Zhao Yongzhi.

"Patriarch, the Great Xia Dragon Guards all left through the West Gate! It’s said they discovered something outside the city and have gone to hunt it down!"

The moment he saw Zhao Yongzhi, the man blurted out the news, not even stopping to catch his breath.