434
Huang Quan said, “During the day, apart from me, there was also Feng Jiuyuan and Jing Chen.”
“It wasn’t me,” Huang Quan said calmly. “It was them.”
The man, hearing this, asked, “Really?”
“Yes.” Huang Quan nodded slightly.
The man, seeing her response, had no further doubts.
He had assumed it was Huang Quan because she arrived the quickest, but thinking it over now, that didn’t add up.
Huang Quan didn’t have spiritual power, and the red glow that shielded him from the lightning attack resembled a barrier, which required spiritual energy. It truly couldn’t have been her.
It had to be either the Young Master Feng or the Young Master Jing.
Huang Quan said, “You focus on healing. I’ll go out and take a look.”
The man nodded. “Alright.”
After exchanging a few words with the man, Huang Quan got up and left the room.
Once outside, Huang Quan saw that many people had gathered in the courtyard, clearly drawn by the loud noise from earlier.
However, the courtyard was surrounded by a barrier, so everyone had to stay outside it and couldn’t enter.
Meanwhile, inside the barrier…
The man looked at Xuan Yong, narrowing his eyes dangerously. “You’re not Xuan Yong!”
“You’re Fo Xin!”
Fo Xin?
Xuan Yong is Fo Xin?
What’s going on?
Feng Jiuyuan turned to Jing Chen and asked, “Fo Xin and Xuan Yong are the same person?”
“Impossible,” Jing Chen replied. “Xuan Yong is the prince of the Xuanling Empire, while Fo Xin is the Buddhist Son of Fo Du. They can’t be the same person. If anything, Fo Xin must have assumed Xuan Yong’s identity.”
Thinking of this, Jing Chen looked toward the teacher from the Xuanling Empire.
The teacher remained calm, clearly already aware of the truth.
“There was talk of someone from Fo Du coming, but after their arrival, we didn’t see anyone from Fo Du. I never expected Fo Xin to have hidden his identity and come in secret,” Feng Jiuyuan said, glancing at the now-revealed Fo Xin in the courtyard. With a cold snort, he added, “No wonder he conceded so easily in the duel against Huang Quan.”
Back at the ruins, Fo Xin had already shown a lot of concern for Huang Quan, so his concession during the competition wasn’t that surprising.
“Fo Xin?”
“The Buddhist Son of Fo Du?”
“Why would the Buddhist Son hide his identity?”
Outside the barrier, the crowd buzzed with discussions.
Inside the barrier, Fo Xin looked at the man before him, a slight smile playing on his lips. “Since this humble monk has revealed my identity, there’s no need for you to continue hiding yours, good sir.”
Hearing this, everyone outside turned their attention to the man standing opposite Fo Xin.
As they all looked at him, one of the onlookers exclaimed, “What the—he disguised himself as me!”
The person next to him patted his shoulder and said, “Don’t be mad. He’s been caught. His true face will soon be revealed.”
“Who even is he?” the man grumbled. “Doesn’t he have his own face?”
“Does he really have to impersonate someone else?”
Fo Xin continued, addressing the man before him, “If you’re unwilling to admit it, are you perhaps under the illusion that you can escape?”
He opened his hand, and a pure, sacred white lotus appeared in his palm.
Seeing the lotus, the man instinctively took a step back, clearly recognizing its power.
“Fo Xin, let me go,” the man said. “I can tell you what you want to know.”
“This humble monk has nothing I wish to know,” Fo Xin said calmly. “I only wish for you to atone for your crimes.”
“Are you really this ruthless?”
Fo Xin smiled, and the lotus in his hand flew toward the man. Its immense spiritual power forced the man to immediately fight back.
In that moment, all disguises fell apart.
The man’s true face was revealed.
Seeing his real appearance, the crowd was struck as if by lightning, frozen in shock.
435
“What the—!”
Huang Quan was right!
Everything she said was true!
The Dean!
The Dean of the Nan Yuan Empire Academy!
The culprit really turned out to be the Dean of the Nan Yuan Empire Academy!
When the Vice Dean, who had rushed over with others upon hearing the commotion, saw this scene, he froze in place. Clearly, he was utterly shocked.
Yesterday, when Huang Quan suspected the Dean to be the culprit, the Vice Dean had refuted her with displeasure. But today, he was proven wrong.
But why would the Dean do this?
“Dean!”
The Vice Dean snapped out of his daze and ran to the barrier, looking at the man inside. “Dean, why would you do this?”
“Why—”
“Silence!”
Before the Vice Dean could finish speaking, the Dean shouted, cutting him off.
Foshen looked at the man before him and spoke calmly,
“Dean Mu, dark-element techniques are not something just anyone can practice.”
“Without a dark-element spiritual root, forcing oneself to cultivate dark-element techniques will lead to qi deviation.”
“Spiritual power and hearts are necessities for those who have succumbed to such deviation.”
Foshen continued in an even tone,
“Since the deviation stems from cultivating these techniques, there is no demonic aura on you, Dean Mu. For this reason, there was no trace of demonic energy on the corpses either.”
“You’re right,” Dean Mu replied, staring at Foshen. “I indeed suffered a deviation from forcibly cultivating a dark-element technique and needed the spiritual power and hearts of individuals at the Holy Spirit Master level to heal.”
“But Holy Spirit Masters are rare, and I couldn’t target the students of my own academy,” Dean Mu said. “If I attacked the academy’s students, there are only so many of them, and if they all met with incidents, where would I find more people?”
“That’s why I used dark-element techniques to lure all of you here,” Dean Mu admitted, looking at Foshen. “Foshen, how did you know the message I sent out was fake?”
“If you hadn’t figured that out, you would still be in the Western Wu Empire instead of here in the Nan Yuan Empire!”
“Dean Mu, you overthink things,” Foshen said calmly. “The reason I came was simply because a friend was coming here, not because I saw through some fake message.”
“Because of a friend?”
Dean Mu sneered. “If it was really just for a friend, why did you disguise yourself as the prince of Xuanlong?”
Foshen replied lightly,
“I simply wanted to give my friend a surprise, not to give you a fright.”
The crowd: “…”
He did it on purpose, right?
If Foshen wasn’t here because of this case, no one would believe it!
“Eating human hearts and draining spiritual power, Dean Mu, you must accompany me to Foshan.”
“Ridiculous!”
Dean Mu let out a cold laugh.
“Foshan governs heaven and earth, but now you want to extend your reach to the Nan Yuan Empire?”
“I am the Dean of the Nan Yuan Academy. If I am to be punished, only His Majesty can sentence me. It is not your place, Foshan, to intervene!”
“Dean Mu, it seems you’ve forgotten,” Elder Xiao interjected coldly, “anything related to demons falls under Foshan’s jurisdiction.”
“Forcibly cultivating dark-element techniques and committing acts like consuming human hearts and draining spiritual power—such matters fall squarely under Foshan’s authority.”
“As for the Nan Yuan Empire’s Emperor,” Elder Xiao said icily,
“If His Majesty insists on interfering with this matter, then from now on, all demonic occurrences across the continent will be managed solely by the Nan Yuan Empire.”
“The responsibility of defending against the demon clans will also fall entirely to the Nan Yuan Empire. Foshan will withdraw from such affairs.”
“Elder Xiao, there’s no need for such heavy words,” the Vice Dean interjected, clearly shocked but also unwilling to see the Dean taken to Foshan.
If the Dean went to Foshan, he would never return.
End of Chapter. Enjoy your reading! ^0^
