Chapter 397: Analysis: Ye Nichang Discovers the Truth

"To be able to spread colorless and odorless deadly poison throughout the Heaven Dou Royal Academy without a sound, and completely avoid detection by the Three Education Committee Members, the soul power required must be at least that of a Spirit Douluo on par with the three committee members, or perhaps even a Title Douluo." Walking inside the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Ye Nichang analyzed to herself.

Her Nine Heart Begonia, while capable of suppressing the deadly poison in those students, could not cure it at the root.

Some important figures, such as Prince Xue Beng, were currently suffering from the torture of the deadly poison.

His soul power and constitution were not very strong; if not for her Nine Heart Begonia, coupled with the powerful soul power suppression of the Three Education Committee Members, he would likely have been among the first to die.

This was also the reason Ye Nichang suspected a Title Douluo had made a move; the poison of a Spirit Douluo would not be completely impossible for her Nine Heart Begonia to remove; only a Title-level expert could make that possible.

Now she had to find the source of the deadly poison to find a way to heal it.

Ye Nichang's first suspect was the strongest known Poison Spirit Master currently on the surface, Dugu Bo.

But the problem was that Dugu Bo had been missing for a long time; after the Soul Hunting Operation, Dugu Bo had disappeared without a trace along with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family.

Moreover, the day the deadly poison began to appear was exactly the day of the Soul Hunting Operation; everyone knew that Dugu Bo was at the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family that day, helping Yu Yuanzhen resist the attack of a "mysterious force."

He had a perfect alibi.

"Could it be that there exists a Poison Spirit Master in this world who can rival the Poison Douluo?" Ye Nichang speculated.

In fact, let alone rivaling, it was not as if there were no Poison Spirit Masters who surpassed Dugu Bo; for example, Bibi Dong, whose Spider Poison was even more formidable than Dugu Bo's.

Other figures like the Spirit Hall's Citun Douluo and the Sea God Island's Gui Douluo were also not inferior to Dugu Bo in their mastery of poison.

"Has Lady Ye ever considered that the day the deadly poison began to spread and the day the Seven Treasure and Blue Lightning suffered disaster being the same day might not be a coincidence?" Just then, a voice rang out behind Ye Nichang.

Ye Nichang turned her head to look, "Mr. Zhuge!"

The person who arrived was Zhuge Liang; before Xue Qinghe went on an "incognito visit," he had entrusted government affairs to several people to handle together, and he was one of them. With such a major incident occurring at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they naturally had to pay attention.

The others did not want to come to this place filled with poisonous gas, so Zhuge Liang volunteered.

"Is Mr. Zhuge suspecting that the party attacking the two great sects and the one spreading poison at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy are the same force?" Ye Nichang asked.

"I have never believed in things like coincidences. Although Lady Ye's analysis is good in many respects, it overlooks many suspicious points. After I integrated them, I discovered a major problem," Zhuge Liang said.

"Please enlighten me, Mr. Zhuge." Ye Nichang cupped her hands. Although this Zhuge Liang's strength was not high, ever since he entered the Heaven Dou Imperial Court, the superior administrative ability he displayed, as well as his rapid promotion, meant no one would look down on him anymore.

This was natural; after all, this Zhuge Liang was equivalent to a clone of Xun Yu. Even if his internal affairs ability could not compare to the original Xun Yu, it was still far stronger than these natives.

"First, I wonder if Lady Ye has noticed that within the imperial palace, there is another person whose condition is very similar to these poisoned students?" Zhuge Liang gave her a hint.

"The imperial palace? Could it be... the Emperor!" Ye Nichang blurted out.

She was very smart and immediately thought of Great Emperor Xue Ye. That was right, he also inexplicably and gradually became physically weak, and the final conclusion reached was that he was old, so his body was aging. Ye Nichang had never believed this explanation. Great Emperor Xue Ye was indeed not young, at least fifty or sixty years old now; for ordinary people, it was indeed an age of senescence.

But Great Emperor Xue Ye was a Spirit Master; even if his level was not high, he was still much stronger than ordinary people. Coupled with daily health maintenance, how could he age so quickly?

Combining this with the current incident, Ye Nichang suspected that Great Emperor Xue Ye might also have been poisoned—the same colorless, odorless, and hard-to-detect chronic deadly poison.

"That's right, it is indeed the Emperor. Next, the second suspicious point is the disaster of the two great sects. To wipe out these two great sects, one needs to know how strong the mobilized forces must be. I think Lady Ye understands this very well. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family side is easy to explain; Leilong City is located in a remote area, and it is normal that the gathering of troops was not discovered. But what about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? It is right outside our Tiandou City, one could say it is under the Emperor's feet. Nearly ten thousand Spirit Masters appeared without a sound, completely avoiding the Imperial City Forbidden Army patrolling everywhere. Isn't this incident suspicious?"

"Finally, the third point. Just as Lady Ye analyzed earlier, the purpose of the person spreading deadly poison throughout the Heaven Dou Royal Academy should not be indiscriminate slaughter, but to kill a certain person within the academy. It is just that they cannot move against this person for the time being, so they used this extreme method of 'better to kill three thousand by mistake than to let one go.' I checked the arrival and departure records of all students during this period and found that there is only one person who, even for a Title Douluo powerhouse, cannot be easily attacked. That is the Fourth Prince Xue Beng. Ever since the death of the Xue Xing Prince, he has been like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow, changing his past dissolute style, almost never leaving his door, living in the Education Committee, and seeking the protection of the Three Education Committee Members."

"After connecting all three of these suspicious points, what can Lady Ye think of?" Zhuge Liang asked.

At this moment, Ye Nichang was already covered in cold sweat. She was someone who was good at analysis; otherwise, she would not have been able to think to this extent on her own.

It was just that her overall perspective was not as strong as this Zhuge Liang, or Xun Yu, and she could not connect all the recent events together.

At this very moment, under Zhuge Liang's reminder, she discovered a terrifying truth.

Taking the attack on the two great sects as the analytical point, the so-called mysterious force—which was the Spirit Hall that everyone could guess—being able to send such a powerful force in while completely avoiding Ge Long's eyes and ears proved that there must be someone inside the imperial city working with them from the inside.

In other words, the Spirit Hall had already planted a mole in the Heaven Dou Empire, and they were already in a high position.

Only two people could do this: one was Ge Long himself, and the other was Great Emperor Xue Ye.

They each held half of the Military Talisman. Ge Long should not be the one; his loyalty was known to all, and he was hailed as the pillar of the empire. If even he had rebelled, then the Heaven Dou Empire would truly be beyond saving.

Moreover, Ge Long had no time to commit the crime; he had been patrolling military equipment in various places for several months and only rushed back recently after learning the news that the two great sects had been destroyed.

But it could even less be Great Emperor Xue Ye himself; would he revolt against himself? However, combined with Great Emperor Xue Ye being poisoned and power falling into other hands, another suspect appeared: the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. Because since Great Emperor Xue Ye fell into a coma, all of Great Emperor Xue Ye's power, except for the Military Talisman, had already fallen into the hands of Xue Qinghe, including the Jade Seal.

Back then, regarding the deaths of the Second Prince and Third Prince, many people actually suspected that it had something to do with Xue Qinghe. Even things that Dugu Bo could notice, how could they be completely hidden from those ministers who were sensitive to politics?

But everyone chose to remain silent. Firstly, because such things were not uncommon in the imperial struggle for succession; compared to Star Luo, which was out in the open, Heaven Dou was already much more subtle.

Secondly, Xue Qinghe himself was indeed outstanding enough, so everyone just tacitly accepted it.

Ye Nichang herself thought the same. Although she also felt that Xue Qinghe disregarded family affection, she also knew that family affection had never counted for much in the royal family, so she could not be bothered to manage this meddlesome affair.

However, if Xue Qinghe was cooperating with the Spirit Hall to monopolize power, the situation would be different.

First poisoning Great Emperor Xue Ye, then destroying the two great sects, and finally, in order to poison the only remaining Fourth Prince Xue Beng, using all the students of the entire Heaven Dou Royal Academy as collateral—this was too ruthless.

(End of this chapter)