Chapter 266: Yecha

On the stone platform.

The girl sat cross-legged, wearing a deep blue skirt.

She extended her pale wrist, revealing a semi-transparent wristwatch beneath the silk sleeve.

As a hidden special enrollee, her privileges differed from those of other students.

She was permitted by the academy to carry an identity device into the Second Realm.

It could be temporarily requested when needed.

A holographic screen appeared.

Nie Zheng swiped his finger, glancing at the communication list.

At the very top.

The pinned name was “Jiang Jian.”

“Since he failed to break through, he won’t obtain an identity device in the short term.”

As he pondered.

Nie Zheng still moved his hand, opening the inbox below.

A few seconds later.

Her previously calm gaze suddenly sharpened.

“The Zhao family reported to the Jingcheng Patrol Group.”

“They claimed a special aircraft was spotted in Guangling City.”

Nie Zheng frowned slightly.

She took this unremarkable report very seriously.

She had grown up in Guangling City.

She naturally knew its unique location.

It was the ground zero for Earth’s ring reconstruction, the spatial coordinate’s anchor point.

If it were anywhere else, it wouldn’t matter.

But she had lived in Guangling City for over a decade.

Nie Zheng clearly sensed.

This place differed drastically from all other surface cities!

After all,

A great adept had once calculated.

The next Heaven-gifted one would most likely appear in Guangling.

This was also the reason, over a decade ago,

Her father had hidden his identity and chosen to be born here.

“Zhao family’s Zhao Jianxue.”

“Once had a marriage contract with Jiang Jian.”

“Again, it’s someone from the Zhao family.”

The girl shut off her identity device and murmured, “I hope this has nothing to do with him.”

After receiving the report,

The Jingcheng Patrol Group did not ignore it; they dispatched specialists to investigate Guangling City.

They were well aware of Guangling City’s unique position.

Even if the claim of an extraterrestrial aircraft seemed far-fetched, it was not entirely impossible if Guangling City was involved.

As Nie Zheng calmed her mind and resumed cultivation,

The depths of the volcano fell silent once more.

Only the gurgling of molten lava around the platform remained.

Yinshan.

The Tenth Hall.

The great hall was brightly lit, its ceiling reaching a thousand meters high.

Jiang Jian opened his eyes.

Familiar scenes from his memory appeared before him.

He was seated upon a massive throne hundreds of meters high.

Below the throne stood countless yecha demons.

“Manifesting the Wheel-Turning Divine Form here consumes almost nothing.”

His spirit stirred slightly.

His clothing instantly transformed into a deep, luxurious golden-threaded royal robe!

“The Tenth Hall still has only three Divine Palace cultivators.”

Jiang Jian, wearing a beaded crown and a wide black robe, looked down from the Wheel-Turning Throne.

The Horse-Faced Demon, a hundred meters tall, stood in the front row like a towering skyscraper.

As for the other two Divine Palace cultivators—the Hell Judge and the Ox-Head Demon—

They were not present in the hall.

“Your Majesty!”

The Horse-Faced Demon, his body like a mountain, stepped forward heavily and bowed low to Jiang Jian.

“Rise.”

Jiang Jian waved his hand lightly, “Where is the Hell Judge?”

The Horse-Faced Demon looked uneasy and said, “Your Majesty, I do not know his whereabouts.”

Behind it,

The Patrol Yecha stepped forward and announced loudly, “Your Majesty, the royal treasury has been robbed—many spiritual resources are missing!”

Jiang Jian’s expression remained calm; he asked no further questions.

Instead, he flipped his palm and invoked the authority of the Wheel-Turning Hall to summon the Hell Judge!

A few seconds later,

The Hell Judge appeared, transformed his form, shrank rapidly, and knelt below the throne: “Your Majesty!”

His face was pale, lips trembling, as if he had something he could not say.

Clearly, he bore a secret he dared not speak.

After a moment,

He finally made up his mind and gritted his teeth: “This subordinate failed to guard the treasury, resulting in massive losses. I beg Your Majesty’s punishment!”

Having spoken these words,

The Hell Judge’s expression turned ashen.

He had already imagined himself cast into the depths of hell.

Jiang Jian gazed at him, paused briefly, then said, “You are not guilty.”

The Hell Judge froze, instinctively lifting his head to look at Jiang Jian.

As the chief custodian of the Tenth Hall’s treasury,

The Hell Judge had always been diligent, traveling between the Wheel-Turning Hall’s major resource sites to collect renewable materials and replenish the treasury.

But recently,

He had been horrified to discover that many ghostly spiritual resources had vanished without cause!

Although the amount lost was negligible compared to the total treasury,

The fact that these resources had been stolen under his watch was enough to warrant punishment!

At this moment,

He dared not even defend himself—only confessed.

Under the current rules of the Yinshan Realm,

Jiang Jian held the position of Wheel-Turning Sovereign.

He held absolute power over the life and death of all beings in the Tenth Hall.

He controlled their fates utterly.

The Hell Judge could not even conceive of rebellion.

“Your Majesty!”

The Patrol Yecha’s face changed, and he reported again, “The Hell Judge is greedy and selfish—he has secretly used royal treasury resources, committing a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths! He has no respect for Your Majesty!”

Behind him,

Other yecha stepped forward one after another, filled with righteous fury.

All their accusations targeted the Hell Judge.

“Your Majesty, this traitor stole from his own post—his crime cannot be forgiven!”

“We beg Your Majesty to judge fairly!”

…

Hearing these voices,

The Hell Judge’s face, which had briefly improved, turned even more ghastly.

Jiang Jian stood on the throne, looking down coldly at the yakshas below.

He knew perfectly well why the treasury had been stolen.

It was the Yinshan Guide Messenger, using his personal token, who delivered the items to the Second Realm to fill the Hanlight Storage.

But this Patrol Yaksha stubbornly blamed the Hell Judge, deliberately stoking internal conflict to weaken the Tenth Hall.

His malicious intent was glaringly obvious.

BOOM!

A black-gold column of light crashed down, illuminating the thousand-zhang grand hall!

Led by the Patrol Yaksha, over a hundred yakshas stood behind him.

All were frozen in place beneath the radiance of the milky light!

Without a sound.

The hundred yaksha spirits disintegrated silently, turning to dust.

Seeing this sight,

every living being in the hall—including the Horse-Faced Ghost—trembled, lowering their heads in frozen silence, daring not to make a single sound.

Only the Hell Judge looked up at Jiang Jian, his expression complex.

Jiang Jian ignored it.

Instead, he gazed coldly at the spot where the yaksha had perished.

“The contest for the Earth Storeholder’s seat has not yet officially begun.”

“Yet someone has already resorted to despicable tactics.”

Ashes fell from where the Patrol Yaksha had stood, forming a dark shadow.

It writhed and clawed, grotesque and menacing.

Just now,

seeing the Patrol Yaksha’s strange behavior,

Jiang Jian had instantly concluded—there was definitely foul play!

Each of the Ten Halls of Yinshan held its own opportunity.

According to Jiang Jian’s deduction,

one of the Hall Lords must have obtained a special artifact granting command over the yaksha race.

Though the barriers of the Ten Halls had not yet officially opened,

every one of the Ten Halls of Yinshan harbored yakshas!

These yakshas were low in cultivation, incapable of causing major upheaval.

But they could certainly annoy each of the other Hall Lords one by one.

“My Lord, the yakshas were responsible for patrolling the Tenth Hall. Now that the position is vacant, should we hold a new selection?”

The Hell Judge steadied himself and asked.

Unconsciously,

his gaze toward Jiang Jian had grown more respectful.

As the Lord of the Tenth Hall,

since Jiang Jian had declared “not guilty,”

then he himself must be innocent.

In his view, Jiang Jian had not only refrained from punishing him or holding him accountable,

but had even slain the entire yaksha race to protect him.

This filled the Hell Judge with gratitude.

“Fine.”

Jiang Jian gave a slight nod and turned toward the back hall. “Handle it.”

The Hell Judge rose and shouted, “Your servant obeys!”

In the back hall,

Jiang Jian turned his head to the Guide Messenger beside him and asked, “How far has the Wonder Realm progressed?”

The Guide Messenger calculated briefly and said, “The Yinshan Wonder Realm has just reached the opposite side of Earth.”

If you descend now, you’ll have to cross over a dozen fu realms before reaching Chang’an Fu.

But if you wait for the next cycle, when the Yinshan Wonder Realm returns, I can open a teleport gate directly near Chang’an Fu.

Jiang Jian frowned slightly. “How long is one cycle?”

The Guide Messenger replied, “About ten days.”

Hearing this,

Jiang Jian considered briefly, then abandoned the idea of going to the Surface Realm.

At this moment,

the Surface Realm was on wartime alert.

Heavy troops guarded the borders of every fu realm.

Without a valid reason, no one could cross borders without authorization.

His official position in the Yu Xing Palace—“Observer of the Guanxi Pavilion”—had not yet been activated.

If he left Yinshan now and headed straight for Chang’an Fu,

crossing over a dozen fu realms along the way would take an unknown amount of time.

Compared to that,

it was better to wait ten days in the Tenth Hall.

He could cultivate in peace while waiting for Yinshan’s cycle to return.

When that time came,

With Yinshan’s power, the spatial teleport gate would open directly above Chang’an Fu, saving much effort.

“Centuries of quiet peace have suddenly been shaken.”

“Conditions on the Surface Realm are inevitably chaotic.”

Jiang Jian opened his identity device and read through every unread message from start to finish.

He was no longer blind to the current state of the seventy fu realms on the Surface.

(End of Chapter)