Chapter 657: Critical Juncture

Right when they felt that Madam Zi Yan’s decision was crazy, the Huangfu Ancestor outside of the capital spoke: “Royal Lord Zi Yan, our Huangfu Clan’s descendant suffered a sneak attack and was gravely wounded inside your imperial palace. He was your guest, yet not only did you fail to protect him, you are also shielding his assailant. Does your country wish to oppose my Huangfu Clan? I hope that you will be able to give us an explanation. Otherwise, I will have to personally take a trip to your palace!”

At this time, the huge figure of the Huangfu Ancestor appeared. Although he had yet to step inside the capital, his mountainous shadow — along with the grand, majestic Virtuous Paragon’s aura — was about to suppress the entire capital.

A Virtuous Paragon’s voice was able to reverberate throughout the capital so that every single inhabitant would be able to hear his words.

The presence of a Virtuous Paragon was boundless. The moment his voice hovered around the capital, each of his words were like hammers nailing the hearts of everyone in the city. Countless people felt the pressure and couldn’t help but stagger backward.

“A Huangfu Clan ancestor…” A Heavenly Sovereign from the previous generation exclaimed while aghast after seeing the mighty figure outside of the capital.

After knowing that the Huangfu Ancestor was personally sieging the city, countless cultivators went pale from fear. There were even those who fled the capital overnight. It was understandable that they felt fear. After all, the one who appeared all of a sudden was a Virtuous Paragon. This was too much for weaker cultivators to bear.

The sudden siege by the Huangfu Clan left many citizens thinking that a disaster was approaching.

“What is going on? Don’t we have a good relationship with the Huangfu Clan? Why are they sieging us now?” Many cultivators trembled before the anger of the Huangfu Ancestor.

One cultivator who knew a thing or two said: “I heard that something happened to their First Young Noble, Huangfu Hao, several days ago at the feast in the palace. I don’t know what happened, but he was blown away from the capital. Although he is still alive, he was seriously wounded, so he can only stay in bed. He is currently unable to stand for even half a second.”

“It wasn’t just that Huangfu Hao was seriously wounded, Qing Yu from the Qing Clan was killed inside the Imperial Alchemy Garden without even leaving behind a corpse.” A cultivator who knew even more added.

“What exactly went wrong? The party resulted in one dead and one wounded? Moreover, they are both famous young geniuses.” After hearing this information, many cultivators became aghast and felt that a storm was approaching.

Sure enough, while the Huangfu Ancestor was causing trouble outside of the capital, the Qing Clan also sent their own words of intimidation.

“Your Majesty, my son attended the royal feast and died a terrible death inside the alchemy garden, yet Your Majesty didn’t even send notice. His killer is still free and is still considered a guest by the court! For millions of years, even if my Qing Clan had no notable contributions, the blood-spent effort was still there, but now, my son is dead! Your Majesty, however, continues to harbor the killer — this will sadden everyone’s hearts and deter all the talents in this world. Your Majesty must give our Qing Clan justice!” The Qing Clan revealed its stance.

At this time, not only did they express their attitude to the court, they did so in an open manner as if they were going to inform the entire country. This indeed happened after the Qing Clan’s message came out. The entire country was sent into turmoil with rumors spreading everywhere. A wave was stirred in just a moment.

Many messages were spread across all the counties. Moreover, most of them criticized the current Royal Lord of the country, Madam Zi Yan.

“Her Majesty is famous for her righteousness and love for talents. People praised her as a wise ruler, but now, it turns out that she is harboring a killer? Wouldn’t this negatively affect her reputation?” All of a sudden, in all the streets and corners, all the inns and tea shops, everywhere was full of people discussing this issue.

This news spread way too fast, and all kinds of rumors from all over the place eventually returned to the capital.

“I heard that Her Majesty and the killer has a special relationship. Because of her protection, the killer dared to act so wantonly without a care for laws!”

“Don’t people say that Her Majesty is impartial and wise, a true virtuous ruler? How could Her Majesty protect the killer?”

“Hah, because you don’t know. These praises only act as a pretense for outsiders to see. From this matter, one can immediately conclude that it was all political posturing.”

The rumors became increasingly harsh. There were hidden helpers with unknown agendas pushing for chaos in the nation.

One messenger sneered: “Madam Zi Yan’s love for talents, humility, and impartialness are only an act so that she could climb to the throne. Hah, in my opinion, she has already viewed the country as her own property, so right now, since her rule has been consolidated, she is beginning to reveal her true colors. At this moment, she basically sees human life as trash and will do whatever she wants with no consideration for Giant Bamboo’s prosperity.”

All sorts of messages were sent. Another one stated: “Think about it, only the wise and virtuous rule the country — this was the order created by our progenitor and has been upheld for millions of years. Although the Qing Clan is not considered her direct subject, the clan is absolutely loyal to the country and has commendable contributions…

“Every time the country was in danger, the Qing Clan would rush to the front to protect it. Think about it, a family of heroes like this had to suffer the injustice of the death of their descendant. This is blatantly wanting the clan to end, so how could people not cry in pain from this grievance?

“Since our Giant Bamboo Country has a tradition of wise and virtuous rulers, if our Royal Lord is not wise and uses her power for personal gains and also treats lives like trash, then the throne should change hands to a new wise ruler.”

At this time, the rumors were no longer simple, and their intentions were clear.

It could be said that overnight, not only was it just the street of the capital, all the provinces of the country were full of these rumors. It was clear that the storm was quickly approaching and will bring great turbulence in tow.

At this time, the informed cultivators realized that this matter was not so simple. It was the Huangfu Clan who first laid siege, then the Qing Clan cried out for justice. Now, rumors were circulating everywhere, stirring the hearts of people and causing them to become restless and uncertain.

The smart cultivators realized that if this situation was dealt with inadequately, then the entire country would fall into turmoil. Even a long lasting war was not out of the question.

Sure enough, on the second day after the Qing Clan’s cry for justice, the Qing Clan’s leader brought many people to the capital. Before entering, he cried out: “My son had died a terrible death. Your Majesty, please hand over the culprit and punish anyone who was involved in this matter. Give our Qing Clan justice!”

“The Qing Clan does need an answer.” When the Qing Clan’s people made it to the capital, a few lineages in the country also voiced their opinions. Some even sent their disciples to the capital to declare: “The Qing Clan deserves fair treatment.”

“Boom!” The moment the Qing Clan’s people made it to the capital, a cauldron’s flame pierced all the way to the sky, illuminating an entire zone as if a Fire God was emerging.

“What just happened?” Even the distant border regions of the Giant Bamboo Country could sense this huge commotion, especially when this endless flame shot through the sky like a violet aura from the east heading towards the capital. Such momentum caused all the cultivators inside the capital to feel its presence.

“I heard that the Qing Clan’s Pill King is about to come into being. Since the Qing descendant died a horrific death and the Qing Clan suffered unfair treatment, the Pill King was enraged and didn’t mind breaking his Blood Era Stone to come into being.” In a short period of time, this frightening news reached the capital as if this scenario had been prepared beforehand.

“The Pill King is about to appear? Another Virtuous Paragon is about to come to the capital?” After hearing this ancient title, a few cultivators from the previous generations were startled.

In the legends, the Pill King was a Qing Ancestor, a brilliant alchemist. Word of mouth stated that the Pill King’s cultivation stopped at the Heavenly King realm, but he was extremely well-versed at pill refinement, so after gathering countless ingredients, he was able to refine one batch after another. After eating fate pills like meals, he finally broke through the Heavenly King realm and became a Virtuous Paragon.

The arrival of the Huangfu Ancestor and the coming of the Pill King along with some clans showing their support all happened within one short day. This caused many great characters inside the country to shudder.

“Is there going to be a revolt?” One person murmured: “Is the throne of the Giant Bamboo Country about to change owners?!”

Giant Bamboo had been standing strong for millions of years. The royal succession established by the progenitor maintained a firm grasp on the country. No one had ever been able to shake its foundation.

But now, the capital was under siege, causing people to have crazy thoughts. The Qing Clan’s sudden attitude was not simply a demand for justice for the death of their descendant. To bluntly put it, it was a forceful call for abdication.

“I wonder if Madam Zi Yan is going to be able to handle it?” At this time, a lot of gazes fell upon the imperial palace. Although the Qing Clan had an aggressive momentum at this moment, the madam in the country still had a great reputation. Moreover, she was loved and supported by her subjects.

However, it was precisely due to their love for her that many of them were left very worried at this moment: “Even the Pill King is coming out!”

After this news reached the palace, many monarchs were both angry and shocked. In just a few days, too many ups and downs occurred. It was clear that there was an underlying scheme, and it resulted in a lot of stress for the eighteen monarchs.

At this point, they were counting on Li Qiye to take some sort of action because the madam had left everything to him.

However, he did not do a single thing. It was as if he had not heard any news at all. Let it be known that anything that happened in the country had been reported to Li Qiye by the monarchs. Despite all of this, he was still relaxed; it was as if he paid no mind to this whole matter.

Such a situation made the monarchs very nervous. One even hoped for Madam Zi Yan to take over, but the madam only smiled and said: “We need to have confidence in Young Noble Li.”