Free Web NovelChapter 391: Chapter 226: The World is Shaken
’The second stage of the King’s Body, and he died just like that?’
Gu Zheng knew how powerful his three Domains were when unleashed together.
But he didn’t believe Xie Hongye would be killed so easily, reduced to just a few pieces of bone.
He activated his Five Orifice Divine Techniques and scanned his surroundings.
’...Nothing!’
There was no sign of Xie Hongye near the entrance to the Spirit Realm Space, not even a trace of his aura, for several kilometers around.
’Did he really die just like that?’
Gu Zheng activated his Eyes of Golden Flame, scanning the bones and skull at the bottom of the crater.
The bone fragments were real, and the aura of a King’s Body lingered on them.
These were King’s Bones.
If it had been someone at the Super Body Realm or Heroic Body Realm, not even their bones would have remained after being ravaged by the power of his three Domains: Silent Thunderbolt, Burning Fire Blade, and Tornado Blade.
It was entirely logical that Xie Hongye was dead.
However, Gu Zheng just had a gut feeling.
A profound, instinctual sense told him that Xie Hongye was not dead!
’If he isn’t dead, where did he go?’
Gu Zheng pondered this. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and with a flick of his hand, a pot appeared.
The Demon-Seeking Pot!
The Xie Family’s bodies contained the Demon Power of the Flaming Python.
As long as someone was a Demon Fiend and possessed Demon Power, the Demon-Seeking Pot could sniff them out.
Gu Zheng had discovered this back in Fengzhou while holding the Demon-Seeking Pot and searching for Demon Fiends everywhere.
Disciples of Half-demon Families would show up as long as they were within range.
He could find out if Xie Hongye was truly dead with a single test.
Immediately, Gu Zheng activated the Demon-Seeking Pot, scanning all areas within a ten-thousand-meter radius.
He found nothing to the north, south, east, or west, nor in the sky above.
It wasn’t that he found no one; quite a few other members of the Xie family were in hiding.
But he couldn’t find any trace of Xie Hongye’s whereabouts.
He then scanned underground.
One hundred meters, two hundred, three hundred...
Nearly one thousand meters deep, he finally found something.
A half-dead member of the Xie family, lying perfectly still!
’Xie Hongye?’
A glint flashed in Gu Zheng’s eyes. Holding the Demon-Seeking Pot, his entire body glowed as he tunneled into the earth.
SWOOSH!
In an instant, he plummeted one thousand meters underground.
He arrived next to the member of the Xie family the Demon-Seeking Pot had located, enveloped them with his Divine Wondrous power, and brought them back to the surface.
WHOOSH~
Returning to the surface, he placed the person he carried on the ground.
"I knew something was off."
The person he had brought up from a thousand meters underground was none other than Xie Hongye!
However, this version of Xie Hongye had no breath or aura, making him indistinguishable from a corpse.
’Gu Zheng could achieve this state too.’
By consuming a Fake Death Source Fruit!
When faced with the combined eruption of Gu Zheng’s three Domains, Xie Hongye had first thrown out a fake body. Or was it not a fake body?
’Was it a second King’s Body, produced by some kind of Source Fruit?’
Then, he had consumed a Fake Death Source Fruit and used Instant Teleportation to hide deep underground.
To someone unfamiliar with it, the Fake Death state was indistinguishable from true death.
Anyone else would most likely have believed Xie Hongye was really dead.
Even if they were suspicious, they would have been helpless if they couldn’t find him.
Without the Demon-Seeking Pot, Gu Zheng wouldn’t have been able to find Xie Hongye either.
Unfortunately for Xie Hongye, there were no ’what-ifs’ in this world.
SHIING!
A flash of radiant light.
Xie Hongye’s head and neck parted ways while he was in his Fake Death state.
Spirit Capturing!
[Demon Points +69]
Heh~
Now *this* was a true second-stage King’s Body.
The corpse of Xie Hongye!
He wrapped the severed head and body with his Divine Wondrous power and kept them with him.
Holding the Demon-Seeking Pot, Gu Zheng flew back into the interior.
Inside the Spirit Realm Space, Xiao Dongxuan was on a killing spree, wiping out the remaining members of the Xie family.
These members of the Xie family were hiding all over the place.
With the Demon-Seeking Pot in hand, Gu Zheng didn’t need to search inch by inch; he could go straight to them.
Find one, kill one, then harvest the Demon Points.
「Fifteen minutes later.」
Not a single living member of the Xie family remained in the entire Spirit Realm Space.
They found over a thousand men and women who had been captured by the Xie Family.
Gu Zheng directly mobilized the Power of Heaven and Earth to envelop these people and transport them to the outside world.
He then returned to the Spirit Realm Space to take inventory of the treasures the Xie Family had accumulated over the years.
Gold, silver, jewels, precious medicinal herbs, Spiritual Soldiers, Treasure Pills, Source Fruits, Magic Gold, Marvels...
The quantity wasn’t huge, but the variety was rich.
Gu Zheng took most of it, using two large-capacity Storage Pouches he found among the spoils to carry it all away in one go. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Among all these things, what interested Gu Zheng the most was a plum blossom plant.
It was displayed in Xie Hongye’s room.
At first, Gu Zheng thought Xie Hongye simply had a special love for plum blossoms and had used some method to make the plant grow out of season and remain in bloom.
But upon closer inspection, he realized this plum blossom plant was a Marvel. It contained the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth and the rules of nature, a treasure Gu Zheng could use for enlightenment to probe the third stage of the King’s Body.
In other words, this plum blossom plant was the very treasure Xie Hongye had sought out and kept by his side, studying it day and night in hopes of breaking through to the third stage of the King’s Body.
Its petals, branches, and roots all contained the Power of Rules.
Chain-like strands of the Power of Rules intertwined with each other, forming a wondrous and profound structure.
Gu Zheng delved slightly into comprehending it and was immediately captivated.
He immediately stored this plum blossom plant separately.
...
The Xie family was dealt with.
Now he had to intimidate the others who coveted the Xiao Family’s assets.
The corpses of Xie Tianyin and Xie Hongye were the best tools for intimidation.
The two bodies, each cut in half, were left floating—one at the summit of the mountain at the entrance to the Xiao Family’s Ancestral Land, and the other by the pond at the entrance to the Xie Family’s Ancestral Land.
Each corpse was guarded by members of the Xiao family.
While plundering the Xie Family’s Ancestral Land, they had found the key to the Spirit Realm Space. This key was temporarily entrusted to Xiao Dongxuan for safekeeping, and the Xiao family was put in charge of maintaining the Spirit Realm Space’s operation.
Gu Zheng took the Enlightenment Plum Blossoms and returned to Jing Country. He found a mountain in the northern region along the border between Jing Country and Yue Country, sat down, and began to study the plum blossoms.
He chose this location so he could both watch over the Xiao Family and receive information from Fengzhou and Luozhou.
