The atmosphere immediately grew tense.
“Stand down,” Chu Zhongtian commanded quietly.
Chu Heng glared at Yue Zhuoran before retreating back to his seat. Yue Zhuoran’s face darkened with anger. He cupped his fists and said, “Old Master Chu, that Li Xiaofei carried a tremendous secret and is suspected of being a spy from Eden. That’s why I persuaded the Alliance Leader to dispatch the Revered Protectors Corps to capture him. Now that he’s dead... it’s essentially helping Eden.”
Chu Zhongtian responded, “Regardless, the Chu Family has already provided the business alliance with an explanation. If any of you remain unconvinced, you are free to conduct your own search in outer space.”
His tone gradually hardened. Blazing Flame Grand Venerable’s eyes gleamed with flickering light, as if weighing and considering something. He had a poor relationship with the Chu Family.
Over one hundred and fifty years ago, he had been expelled from the military by none other than Chu Zhongtian, who had been his superior officer at the time, due to a mistake. He had harbored a grudge ever since.
This time, he had intended to deal the Chu Family a harsh blow. But unexpectedly, matters had developed in a different way. Blazing Flame Grand Venerable found it hard to believe the video evidence provided by the Chu Family.
He knew exactly what kind of man Chu Zhongtian was. He was unyielding in his principles, someone who would never abandon righteousness for the sake of profit, nor bow to power.
Would he really murder Li Xiaofei for the benefit of the Chu Family? Blazing Flame Grand Venerable did not believe it. As for the so-called evidence presented by the Chu Family... He simply smiled.
“In truth, verifying whether Li Xiaofei really died from the Starshatter Oblivion Bomb is quite simple. We only need to summon the Chu Family’s Fourth Elder, Chu Yanmo,” Blazing Flame Grand Venerable spoke slowly and deliberately.
The moment these words left his mouth, everyone was slightly taken aback.
Chu Heng, too, was completely confused.
Why should Fourth Uncle be involved?
Instinctively, Chu Heng glanced at several of the elders nearby. When he noticed the confusion on their faces as well, a sense of unease suddenly welled up in his heart for reasons he could not explain.
Fourth Uncle Chu Yanmo had once been one of the Chu Family’s most outstanding geniuses, and had been nurtured by Grandfather as a key successor within the clan. Later on, due to his temperament, he frequently clashed with peers within the clan and offended many of the clan elders. Eventually, he was gradually cast aside by Grandfather and removed from the Chu Family’s core decision-making circle.
Chu Heng knew all this. His Fourth Uncle had always harbored resentment toward Grandfather.
Could it be that he might actually...
At that thought, Chu Heng’s sense of unease deepened further. After all, Fourth Uncle had personally participated in last night’s events. If he started spouting nonsense, things could become very troublesome.
“Old Fourth is not on Chu Planet,” Chu Zhongtian said calmly.
He was, after all, a seasoned figure in the martial world. With just one sentence, he effectively blocked any further attempts to pursue that line of questioning.
But Blazing Flame Grand Venerable chuckled and said, “Old Master Chu, surely you jest. To my knowledge, Chu Yanmo is very much on Chu Planet. In fact, he contacted me not long ago. He can appear at any time.” Read full story at 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍
As he spoke, he waved a hand and commanded, “Someone, summon Elder Chu Yanmo.”
Before his voice had even faded, two figures suddenly rushed in from outside in a hurry. They quickly approached Chu Zhongtian and Blazing Flame Grand Venerable and whispered something in their ears.
“What?” Both the Chu Patriarch and Blazing Flame Grand Venerable exclaimed in unison, though their expressions were markedly different.
“Leave us,” Chu Zhongtian said with a wave of his hand, dismissing the clan members who had brought the report.
Blazing Flame Grand Venerable, however, looked especially grim. He stood in silence for a moment, then shot a hard glare at Chu Zhongtian before reluctantly waving his hand.
The inner circle of the Revered Protectors Corps also withdrew. The rest of the guests looked on with puzzled expressions.
“Grandfather, what happened?” Chu Heng couldn’t help but ask.
Chu Zhongtian didn’t keep them in suspense. He said bluntly, “Your Fourth Uncle has been killed.”
“What?” Chu Heng cried out in shock.
Chu Zhongtian said solemnly, “Our Chu Family has provoked a terrifying monster. That Starshatter Oblivion Bomb did not kill Li Xiaofei... and now his revenge has begun.”
The banquet hall erupted in gasps and cries of astonishment.
Li Xiaofei isn’t dead?
What on earth is going on?
Moments later, footage of Chu Yanmo’s death arrived. The Fourth Elder of the Chu Family had been killed in his own home, nailed to a snow-white wall with a sword.
Beside the corpse, a line of words had been scrawled in blood—The killer is Li Xiaofei.
The five bright red words were seared into the eyes of everyone in the banquet hall, even though they were only seeing them through transmitted footage.
According to eyewitness accounts, after Li Xiaofei appeared at the Fourth Elder’s residence, he had killed Chu Yanmo with a single strike, left the blood-written message behind, and declared that he would take revenge on Chu Planet. This killing, he said, was only the beginning.
Once the guests in the banquet hall understood the full sequence of events, they were instantly provoked by Li Xiaofei’s arrogance.
“This man deserves to die!”
“Brazen fool, daring to cause trouble on Chu Planet.”
“He’s clearly a demon from Eden. How dare he create such chaos on Chu Planet... He must be captured and executed at once!”
“Patriarch, please give the order. Launch a full-scale manhunt for that monster Li Xiaofei!”
The hall erupted in a cacophony of voices. Many senior members of the Chu Family were utterly enraged, shouting vehemently for Li Xiaofei to be torn to pieces and executed without mercy.
Chu Zhongtian slowly rose to his feet and said, “Send the order. Lock down Chu Planet. Spare no effort in capturing the murderer. Not a single soul leaves or enters until Li Xiaofei is caught.”
The old patriarch’s voice was cold and ruthless, like glacial iron crashing down. The might of the entire Chu Family was mobilized like a precise and powerful machine. Within moments, the vast planet was placed under total lockdown. No one could enter or leave. Even information could no longer be transmitted.
“Old Master Chu, what is the meaning of this?” asked the Blazing Flame Grand Venerable, frowning slightly.
The complete lockdown of Chu Planet meant that even members of the delegation were now trapped on the planet, with no access in or out. Their freedom had been effectively revoked.
Chu Zhongtian replied flatly, “All of you came here for the sole purpose of capturing Li Xiaofei. Now that he’s on Chu Planet, sealing it off should work in your favor, no?”
Blazing Flame Grand Venerable let out a cold snort. Something about this entire situation struck him as odd. He could feel strange undercurrents, and things didn’t seem as simple as it appeared on the surface. A faint sense of unease began to gnaw at him.
But Chu Zhongtian wasn’t wrong. Locking down the planet would help in capturing Li Xiaofei. The reasoning held.
“In that case, I ask that the Chu Family cooperate fully,” said Blazing Flame Grand Venerable. “If there’s any news of Li Xiaofei, we must be notified immediately.”
“We’ll certainly cooperate,” Chu Zhongtian responded. “We’re counting on the elites from your Revered Protectors Corps to capture this criminal.”
After some negotiation, both sides agreed to cooperate. The Chu Family and the Revered Protectors Corps began working separately, keeping each other informed. If either party received confirmed news of Li Xiaofei, they were to notify the other immediately.
With the agreement settled, the Revered Protectors Corps left the banquet hall.
On the way back, Yue Zhuoran approached and whispered, “Grand Venerable, something about this is fishy. I fear it’s a trap laid by the Chu Family.”
Blazing Flame Grand Venerable sneered and said, “That old dog Chu Zhongtian is hiding something, no doubt. But let him be for now. We need to focus on what matters most.”
“Are we really going after Li Xiaofei?” Yue Zhuoran asked. “We’re short on manpower. The Chu Family will always be more efficient than us...”
“Who said anything about chasing Li Xiaofei?” Blazing Flame Grand Venerable laughed coldly. “That’s their responsibility. All our energy should be directed toward another person. As long as we capture her, we can still achieve our goal.”