Chương 370: Head warden's hesitation

"This…" Long Feng's blood went cold as he realized whose corpse it was. He didn't realize that one could bring a corpse out of the mystic realm! Qiu Yushi… he probably realized back in the mystic realm that they would find it hard to convince everyone purely based on Long Feng's cultivation. In truth, not even he fully believed Zhou Zheng and Fang Feichen's words. It was simply impossible and broke every natural limitations regarding power. And exactly because of that, be brought the corpse along.

The reason was simple. The corpse was filled with a huge amount of flame intent as well as extremely powerful sword and demon intent. He didn't recognize the sword intent, but he knew it couldn't belong to Yang Qian. Yang Qian wasn't a demon Dao cultivator. In fact, throughout the entire outer peak, only one person had ever used demon energy. And that person was Long Feng, when he used his demon energy against Bai Lixi, in public.

Even some wardens had been present, and they all would clearly remember the aura of both his sword and demon intent. In other words, arguing was pointless at this point. Long Feng's mind rapidly thought of a way out.

'the punishment for killing a fellow sect disciple outside the battle stages in the sect is death, but in a mystic realm, the death can be disregarded entirely, after all, danger and opportunity coexist together in a mystic realm.' he rapidly thought. In fact, many of the peak Imperials who died in the realm didn't die in the hands of the beasts and dangers within the realm. Instead, they died in the hands of other disciples! Zhou Zheng himself killed a few. The other deities weren't innocent as well.

But no one would purse it, because it was a mystic realm, not a comfort realm. Death was normal. Even the head warden himself said it. Unfortunately, the same logic wouldn't apply to Long Feng. The person he killed was Bai Zijun, the literal son of the head warden.

'the punishment wouldn't be severe. The actual danger is the head warden… he has completely lost his mind. He will definitely kill me before anyone can talk about punishment!' Long Feng realized. The head warden approached the corpse and went on his knees beside it, staring at the pale corpse with empty eyes.

"Zijun…" he muttered, caressing the corpse's face with his arm. A single tear drop fell from his eyes as he lowered his head.

"Brother… I have failed you… I let both of your kids die…" Silence filled the hall as everyone watched the head warden's reaction. Many of them couldn't help but feel sorry for the old man. He didn't have children of his own, and he focused everything on raising his nephews to pay off his debt of gratitude to their father. Amongst the two, he cared for Bai Lixi, but he loved Bai Zijun so much more that he treated him as his real son. And he was exceedingly proud of him as well. Now, all of that was gone.

Both of them… dead. Murdered. And shockingly… it appeared that they both died in the hands of the same person! The head warden abruptly raised his head and placed a palm on Bai Zijun's chest, drawing out three different balls of energy. One of them contained blazing flames, and everyone instantly recognized it as Bai Zijun's signature Dao… the flame Dao. The other one was a ball of sword intent, emitting a piercing energy. Judging from the intensity of the intent, it could only belong to a deity.

As such, many people first thought of Yang Qian. But the head warden stared at the sword intent silently, clearly knowing that it couldn't belong to Yang Qian. This… This was the exact same sword intent he found on Bai Lixi's corpse when they buried him. There was no difference to speak of at all. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. The moment he saw this sword energy, he already knew that the deities were all saying the truth.

No matter what really happened, it was undeniable that Bai Zijun had died to Long Feng's sword! If that wasn't enough, the demon energy was an undeniable proof. When he fought against Bai Lixi, Long Feng revealed himself as the only person cultivating the demon Dao in the entire outer peak. These two energies were irrefutable proof that Long Feng had killed Bai Zijun! Logic no longer mattered. Regardless of how it happened, the head warden no longer cared. From the very first day…

The very moment the talent testing stone shattered to pieces… he should have seen this coming. And perhaps he did. The unease in his heart since then, the doubt, he refused to believe the truth even though he knew it deep down. How could someone possibly break a talent testing stone? Not even the legendary emperor grade talents could do that. And so, he buried the fact in his heart and disregarded what happened as a mistake. Now he knew, that was the real mistake, not following his instincts.

Logic already left since the day the stone broke. He was only just realizing it. A rank five Imperial realm master had killed an early stage deity? It sounded ridiculous. Until it didn't. No one said anything as they all waited for the head warden to move. The deities, the four wardens, even Long Feng himself, they all waited in silence. All of a sudden, the head warden raised his head to the sky and roared, unleashing a wave of destructive energy that shook the entire Dao Heaven Hall.

The hall itself was a powerful earth grade treasure, yet it violently shook under the unbearable aura of a mid stage deity. It was too sudden, and before the four wardens could react and protect the disciples, everyone had already been planted into the walls. Pools of blood formed as even the deities smashed into the walls and coughed up blood several times. Long Feng's mind went blank for several seconds before be regained his consciousness.

His chest had practically caved in and many of his rib bones had broken to fragments, sending an acute tearing pain throughout his body. Breathing became more torturous than dying. Each inhalation sent shivers throughout his body and each time he exhaled, it felt like a bone fragment in his chest was racing through his windpipe. While none of the peak Imperials died, many of them were barely hanging on to their lives.

Even the four wardens themselves were forced several steps backwards by the aura before they steadied themselves. When they looked up again, Bai Zijun's corpse was gone, and the head warden was standing before Long Feng, lifting him up by the neck as though he was holding up a dead chicken. His scarlet eyes were completely devoid of ration. The only thing they contained was vast killing intent, rage, pain and hatred towards Long Feng.

He stared at Long Feng with ferocious eyes as he slowly tightened his grip, choking the life out of him. None of the four wardens could approach him as a surging energy barrier surrounded him, isolating him from the entire hall. Even if they could approach, there was nothing they could do. Within the outer peak, the head warden was unrivaled! He watched as Long Feng's face turned more pale. He could clench his fist and twist this weak neck in his grasp, end his life.

He had a hundred way he could drain the very life out of him while making him beg for death. But… He found himself unable to do it. Not because he didn't want to. He thirsted to do it. But he didn't dare to. If it was anyone else, even Qiu Yushi, he would have killed them already. He didn't care about Long Feng himself, but about the person behind him. Lord Ao Zhentian. Only those who were in the sect a decade ago would understand just what this name signified.

He single-handedly shook the sect and the entire region ten years ago. The head warden was willing to offend anyone else. They could understand his struggles, the pain of losing both his sons. He would at most face some punishment for killing Long Feng, and perhaps he would lose his position. But Lord Ao was different. It would be fine if he didn't care about Long Feng, but if he did, then he would absolutely turn the sect upside down.

Not to mention that Lord Ao had specially told the head warden to look after Long Feng. That made things much more complicated. Lord Ao wouldn't do that unless he truly cared about someone, and what would happen if the head warden killed that very person he was asked to protect in person? He wasn't willing to die just to find out. Even in his unstable minded state, his fist still didn't dare to clench. Extreme frustration overwhelmed him as he roared at the sky once more while tears gathered in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, brother… I'm just a useless coward… I can't even avenge your boys…" His voice was still flooded with emotions like helplessness, pain and hatred. He hated. Not just Long Feng but himself as well. He hated his weakness, his helplessness. He hated his cowardice. He hated that he couldn't avenge his brother's sons… he didn't dare to even when the culprit was right before him. He kept tightening his fist slowly till he was a breath away from crushing the bones in the neck…

But all of a sudden, he flicked his arm and flung Long Feng away, sending him crashing into another wall. Then he stood there, breathing heavily while struggling to withdraw his killing intent. As he closed his eyes, the entire hall became calm once again, with the only sound echoing being his heavy breathing. His appearance and overwhelming pressure left a shadow in the hearts of all the disciples present, such that none of them dared to even breath loudly.

Without another word, he suddenly vanished, leaving everyone in the hall shocked yet relieved at the same time. Even still, no one dared to move until several minutes later when it was confirmed that he had really left. The four wardens exchanged heavy glances and nodded, the two of them moved, utilizing their energies to gather the severely injured peak Imperials and lead them out to tend to their injuries before they died. The deities also exchanged glances, unable to easily digest everything that just occured.

Most importantly, they couldn't believe that the head warden didn't kill Long Feng. His killing intent was so overwhelming that they all felt like he would kill them all as well. To think he actually left Long Feng alive! Well, alive was relatively speaking. Long Feng was alive, but he was barely hanging on to his last breath. Or at least, that was what it looked like to them. But even now, it was shocking that he still hadn't lost consciousness. How could he?

He was in a dangerous situation where his life could have ended in the blink of an eye. Even though it looked like the danger was gone, how could he dare to let himself fall unconscious here? His mind was already fatigued, but he was keeping himself awake through his sheer willpower. With his caution, it was clear that he would rather die than to make himself more vulnerable than he already was. He struggled to his feet while the deities and the two wardens watched in shock.

Every step was as hard as ascending the heavens… each breath could make a weaker willed person wish for death. If one could peer into his body, one would be shocked to find that the pieces of his broken ribs were being transported by his blood and piercing into every part of his body. Some of them were following his breathing and piercing his throat and windpipe. The pain was inexplicably brutal. But he still didn't collapse. Not untill he was absolutely sure he was safe. And so, he walked.

One step at a time, he left a trail of blood behind him as he walked towards the exit with a blank expression. Just before he walked out, a figure appeared before him, blocking his path. Qiu Yushi stared straight into Long Feng's empty eyes and narrowed his own eyes. He was inwardly shocked.

'this kid… a normal person would have died to these injuries in this situation, yet he's not just still alive, he's still standing!' Most shocking was that Long Feng's consciousness itself was no longer awake. He didn't even recognize who was standing before him. He was technically unconscious, yet he was still holding on tightly to his consciousness. This was a feat that not even Qiu Yushi was sure he could achieve. The willpower needed to endure such pain while keeping himself awake…

"You killed Zijun. That is a personal matter between you and I." He ignored everything and said what was on his mind. Everyone knew that he and Bai Zijun used to be close. Even though they argued always, it was irrefutable that they were real friends.

"But I respect you for your strength and tenaciousness. I will find you when I become an inner peak disciple in one month, and challenge you to a blood fight, where I will avenge Bai Zijun." He added calmly. Long Feng barely reacted to his words, if he even heard him at all. Instead, his lips parted slowly.

"Get…out…of…my…way."