Chapter 273

274. Chapter 274: Reactions from All Sides, News of Meng Hongchen

Following the deaths of Xu Tianran and the Third Prince, the entire imperial family was thrown into massive turmoil. The chaos quickly spread throughout Mingdu, and there was even a faint trend of it spreading to the outskirts.

Especially those factions that had supported the Third Prince and the Crown Prince; they were all completely dumbfounded.

Overnight, the countless investments they had made in the Third Prince and the Crown Prince over the years had all gone down the drain...

Some factions had previously relied on the reputations of the Third Prince or Xu Tianran to bully others, but now they were being sought out by their enemies and wiped out on the spot.

Not only that.

The sudden deaths of the two princes with the most hope of inheriting the throne caused the majesty of the imperial family to suffer an extremely serious blow.

Outside of Mingdu, many factions dissatisfied with the imperial family received this news, and some had even begun to unite, showing signs of wanting to rebel...

It likely wouldn't take long before the entire Sun Moon Empire underwent a massive transformation.

Deep within the Evil Spirit Forest.

In a hidden valley, countless black vines, like ghosts in the night, spread and coiled, intertwining into layers of eerie webs.

Amidst these vines, there was an extremely modern metal cube that looked like the entrance to an underground air-raid shelter.

And there were fully ten such entrances within a radius of several kilometers.

If one were to look through it, they would discover that deep underground, there was an incomparably vast complex of palaces, the footprint of which even exceeded that of the Sun Moon Imperial Palace! This was precisely the location of the Holy Spirit Sect's headquarters! Underground.

In a massive palace, a woman with a graceful figure, dressed in a black gauze dress, reclined on a throne. She was the Supreme Sect Master of the Holy Spirit Sect, Ye Xishui.

Beside Ye Xishui stood a tall, elderly man.

The old man's silver hair was combed meticulously, his face was as ruddy as an infant's, and his long eyebrows hung down on both sides of his face. His hands were clasped behind his back, but his gaze remained fixed on the stunning woman on the seat, his eyes filled with tenderness.

"I didn't expect that the Sun Moon Empire still had a hidden force, one that even we had never heard of. It's getting more and more interesting..."

Ye Xishui reclined on the throne, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly, revealing an intrigued expression.

The Third Prince and Xu Tianran had both died inexplicably, and even the people of their Holy Spirit Sect hadn't detected a single anomaly. Clearly, the individual strength of the opposing party was very powerful.

It was just that the scale might not be very large; otherwise, they wouldn't have hidden for so long before making a move.

She had thought that there was no one left in this world that her Holy Spirit Sect needed to take seriously, yet now, a strange force had suddenly emerged.

This immediately piqued her interest.

"Xishui, why don't I go take a look? Since those people were able to kill Xu Tianran and the Third Prince without a sound, they must have some ability," Long Xiaoyao said slowly.

He wasn't afraid of that strange force; he simply felt a sense of indebtedness toward Ye Xishui, so he wanted to do more for her, to make up for the mistakes he had made in the past. It could also be called a form of atonement...

"Hmm, that works too."

Ye Xishui nodded gently and said, "If there is an opportunity, it would be best to reach a cooperation with them. Their goal should be to control the imperial family and change the world, just like what the old emperor did back then..."

"And our goal is to become the state religion of the Sun Moon Empire and increase our believers. We don't care about other power struggles. There is no conflict between the two sides, so we should be able to engage in a pleasant cooperation."

Ye Xishui's eyes flickered; she seemed completely unbothered that this mysterious force had interrupted her plans.

After all, in her eyes, Xu Tianran was merely a tool for her to develop the Holy Spirit Sect.

If one tool broke, she would just replace it with another.

Of course, if that force couldn't see the situation clearly, she wouldn't mind taking action to wipe them out and supporting another puppet herself.

"Good."

Long Xiaoyao nodded slightly, then turned and left.

Of course, besides helping Ye Xishui, he was actually very curious about the origins of that force, to be able to assassinate the Third Prince and make Xu Tianran vanish into thin air.

One had to know, that was inside the imperial palace.

Both the Third Prince and Xu Tianran were Titled Douluo in strength, and they had a large number of soul tools for protection. Both of them were guarded by Titled Douluo, and there were also powerful imperial guards. Yet, under such circumstances, the other party was still able to kill both the Third Prince and Xu Tianran simultaneously.

This said a lot; the other party's strength might not be high, but their methods for striking from the shadows were extremely advanced...

Even for the Holy Spirit Sect, doing this would be very difficult.

At the same time.

Bai Zhou and Orange hid in their dormitory for several days, and only after finding that no one had come looking for them did they feel at ease enough to go to class.

After all, although there were undercurrents surging outside, it certainly couldn't reach the academy.

Currently, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy could be said to be the safest place in Mingdu.

Of course, the most important thing was that Bai Zhou had handled Xu Tianran's aftermath very cleanly, wiping out everyone who knew the truth, which was the only reason he could have such a stable environment.

Inside the laboratory, there were only three people left now.

They were Xuan Ziwen, Bai Zhou, and Orange.

Xuan Ziwen didn't concern himself with affairs outside his window, focusing only on researching his soul tools. He didn't even know about the sudden deaths of the Third Prince and Xu Tianran...

Ke Ke and the other two had all been recalled by their families due to the turmoil in the imperial family.

After all, this could be said to be the most critical moment. For those families and factions, every choice concerned the rise or fall of the family, so naturally, they had to unite as one and weather the storm together.

Choose correctly, and they would soar to the sky; choose incorrectly, and a century of foundation would be destroyed in an instant.

Therefore, direct descendants of families like Ke Ke, Wang Shaojie, and Zi Mu naturally had to go back to participate in the decisions regarding major family affairs.

Inside their private laboratory.

Bai Zhou was holding Orange...

Well, he was earnestly guiding her in engraving a core formation.

When he first arrived, Bai Zhou had still been holding back a bit, keeping a trick up his sleeve.

But now that Orange was his, Bai Zhou naturally taught her everything he knew.

As long as it was something Orange wanted to learn, he would teach it to her with all his heart.

Not long after, Orange completed the engraving of a Level 5 core formation, and the quality was nearly perfect.

"Hmph hmph~ You're quite well-behaved today~"

Orange stretched gently and looked at Bai Zhou with a smile; clearly, she was in a very good mood.

"Then do you want me to be more well-behaved or a bit naughtier?" Bai Zhou leaned into Orange's ear and asked with a smile.

"Of course, be more well-behaved~"

Orange answered without hesitation.

However, as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt it wasn't quite right. Stealing a secret glance at Bai Zhou, Orange blushed and whispered, "Hmm... actually, being a little bit naughty is acceptable too... as long as you don't go too far..."

"Hmm, then I won't be polite~"

Bai Zhou chuckled, and just as he was about to enjoy the cute Orange, he suddenly noticed his micro-card vibrating.

Bai Zhou took out the micro-card and took a secret look, discovering it was a message from Meng Hongchen...

(End of chapter)