Chapter 1494: Blame Your Crown Prince

Overlooking the heavens and earth, under the cover of night, black-clad figures appeared in many ancient cities; these were the assassins from Tian Mie.

The assassination list given by Ye Chen included numerous targets, and Tian Mie had dispatched a substantial number of killers in response. Their movements were extremely secretive as they headed in all directions, each with their own assigned mark.

Soon, a bloodbath erupted. The first assassins to arrive had already completed their initial kills.

The victim was a young disciple of the Jinwu Zu, at the Zhun Sheng level. He was still flaunting himself in a tavern when a Tian Mie assassin struck, and with one sword slash, his head rolled off.

Even in death, he never saw who killed him, nor did he know whom he had offended.

The scene was gruesome, throwing the tavern into chaos. No one had anticipated such an event, and no one saw who made the move—just a flash of dark sword light, and the Jinwu Zu prince collapsed.

"A Jinwu Zu prince... just got killed like that?" Many people crowded forward, swallowing hard. "He's a Zhun Sheng, after all! And he was taken out with a single sword."

"Was it a Sheng who did this? It must have been a Sheng. But who could it be?"

"Whoever dared to kill a Jinwu Zu prince must have a significant background and a grudge against the Jinwu Zu."

Amid the discussions, a strip of white cloth drifted in from the window, landing precisely on the Jinwu Zu prince's body. The assassin had left in a hurry and forgotten about the cloth, but now it had been delivered.

This strip of white cloth terrified the onlookers, who feared they might lose their heads too.

It wasn't until seven or eight breaths later that people in the tavern dared to approach again. They immediately spotted the white cloth on the Jinwu Zu prince's body, and on it were seven clear characters: Blame It on Your Taizi.

"Taizi? The Jinwu Zu's Taizi?" Everyone who saw it scratched their heads in confusion.

"Or does the Jinwu Zu have a second Taizi? Clearly, it's the Jinwu Taizi who made enemies, and now those enemies are seeking revenge. Since they couldn't find the Jinwu Taizi, they're targeting other Jinwu Zu members instead."

"Let's go, let's go. With a Jinwu Zu prince killed, the Jinwu Zu will be furious. We don't want to get caught in the fallout."

The onlookers scattered quickly, afraid of being implicated by the Jinwu Zu if they lingered.

However, news of this tavern bloodshed spread rapidly throughout the ancient city and, from there, radiated outward to all directions. It was like giving wings to the story, as one city passed it to another.

Yet, as the news went out, reports of more Jinwu Zu members being killed came back from other ancient cities. These were also Jinwu Zu illegitimate princes, slain outright.

Before the realms could fully react, more reports of Jinwu Zu killings arrived one after another, from various ancient cities. The victims included elders and disciples alike.

What they all had in common was that they were Jinwu Zu members, each killed with a single sword strike. On each corpse lay a strip of white cloth, and on every cloth were the same seven prominent characters: Blame It on Your Taizi.

"This is madness! Has some major clan launched an attack on the Jinwu Zu?" Across the lands, wherever cultivators gathered, discussions buzzed. Many pulled out memory crystals that had been transmitted from other ancient cities, showing extremely bloody scenes where the slain Jinwu Zu members met horrific ends.

"This is clearly planned. Roughly counting, at least nearly a thousand have been killed, from imperial realm to Sheng Wang levels, including disciples and princes. What a massive operation!"

"I told you so! That Jinwu Taizi scum, with his rampant killings, was bound to bring heavenly retribution."

"Heavenly retribution has arrived, and damn, it feels satisfying to watch." Many cheered. "After the Huanggu Shengti, someone has finally stepped up to settle scores with the Jinwu Zu. Keep killing, wipe them out completely."

"As expected of Tian Mie's style—swift and thunderous." At a tea stall, Ye Chen couldn't help but smile. He heard all the discussions from around, not missing a single one.

"So, it's our turn next." Ye Chen chuckled leisurely, finished his last cup of ancient tea, left a piece of Yuan Shi, and stood up, heading straight for the Jinwu Zu branch hall in the city.

His killing intent and murderous aura surged together, amplified by the pressure of a Da Sheng and the fierce edge of the Fen Ji Jian, causing everyone on the street to change color and turn toward him.

What kind of person is this? A Da Sheng level? And the killing sword in his hand—is that at the Zhun Di level?

Everyone was astonished and instinctively cleared a path for him, watching as he made his way toward the Jinwu Zu branch hall. Heavens! Is he going to attack the Jinwu Zu's branch hall?

At the same time, in the Jinwu Zu's immortal mountain, the Jinwu Zu Shengzhu, Jinwu Huang, was still meditating on the mountaintop when a transmission startled him awake. "My emperor, come quickly to the ancestral hall. Our clan faces a major crisis."

Jinwu Huang suddenly opened his eyes and stepped down from the mountaintop in one stride, flying like a divine light into the ancestral hall.

The Jinwu Zu ancestral hall formed its own realm, with a starry sky above and countless stars, each one a Yuan Shen jade tablet glowing in various colors, their numbers beyond count.

This was the Jinwu Zu's sacred ground, where every clan member had a Yuan Shen jade tablet stored. If anyone died, their tablet would shatter—a setup common among the major clans of the Nan Yu.

"What has everyone so panicked?" Jinwu Huang entered and scanned the hall full of Jinwu Zu elders.

"My emperor, look at the Yuan Shen jade tablets quickly." One elder pointed upward in a panic, his face pale.

Jinwu Huang looked up and saw the jade tablets in the starry sky shattering one after another. In just three to five breaths, over a dozen had broken, and more were still crumbling.

"How could this be? What's happening?" Jinwu Huang erupted in fury. Each shattered tablet meant a Jinwu Zu member had died, and the numbers kept rising.

"We don't know. It started about half a shichen ago." The elder guarding the Yuan Shen jade tablets stammered. "They were all outer clan disciples and elders, including many princes."

"One thing is certain: it's due to the Taizi provoking enemies." Another elder waved his hand, summoning a water screen. "This is footage from outside. Every slain clan member had a white cloth draped over them, and the seven characters on it are clear for you to see, my emperor."

"Damn it." Jinwu Huang exploded in anger again. "Issue orders to all Jinwu Zu branch halls to investigate for me."

He had barely spoken when the Yuan Shen jade tablets above shattered even faster, breaking in batches, which was heart-wrenching to watch.

"Has some major clan attacked our Jinwu Zu? So many died at the same time." The Jinwu Zu Great Elder said coldly, "This is obviously targeted at our Jinwu Zu."

"Report!" As the Great Elder finished, shouts came from outside the ancestral hall, and a black-clad figure flew in, kneeling on the ground. "My emperor, all our Jinwu Zu branch halls have been destroyed within the last quarter of a shichen. Not a single elder or disciple survived."

"All destroyed?" Shocked voices echoed through the hall. "How many experts did the enemy deploy?"

"This is the footage that was sent back." The black-clad figure crushed a jade slip, revealing a bloody scene. The Jinwu Zu branch halls lay in ruins, covered in corpses, each with a white cloth and the same seven characters: Blame It on Your Taizi.

"Summon the Jinwu Wei, summon the Jinwu Wei!" Jinwu Huang roared like a madman. "I demand to know what happened and which force dared to attack our Jinwu Zu."

"The Jinwu Wei has already been sent to investigate."

"Then issue orders to the nine great sub-halls to mobilize the cultivator armies and search inch by inch for me."

"My emperor, the various clans have signed a truce agreement. Mobilizing armies arbitrarily could provoke dissatisfaction from other clans." An elder spoke up immediately. "Besides, the nine great sub-halls have already activated their self-sealing grand formations and are in the process of sealing. Mobilizing now might delay the Jinwu Zu's self-sealing plans."

"In my view, we should investigate first." The Great Elder said calmly. "If other clans are behind this, even if it means forgoing self-sealing, we must wage full war against them."

"Investigate, investigate immediately." Jinwu Huang gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with cold killing intent.

"Father!" A call came from outside the hall, and before the words settled, a figure of golden light flew in. It was the Jinwu Taizi. "Such commotion—what's the crisis?"

"You wretched son." Before the Jinwu Taizi could steady himself, Jinwu Huang slapped him across the face in rage. "If not for you making enemies everywhere, how could our Jinwu Zu suffer such heavy losses tonight?"

"Me? Making enemies?" The Jinwu Taizi was stunned, his words coming out unclear.

"Look! Your enemies have sent you quite the gift." The Great Elder snorted coldly and compiled the various returned footage into a water screen, suspending it before him.

The first thing the Jinwu Taizi saw was the white cloths on the corpses and the seven blood-written characters: Blame It on Your Taizi.

"This..." The Jinwu Taizi was dumbfounded, realizing these killings were aimed at him. His expression turned savage in an instant, and he ground his teeth in fury, seeming even angrier than Jinwu Huang.

"I told you long ago, your reckless killings would bring retribution." The elders all snorted coldly, glaring at the Jinwu Taizi with gritted teeth. Among the dead Jinwu Zu members were their own children and grandchildren. If not for the Jinwu Taizi stirring up enemies, they wouldn't have died. Compared to the killers, they wanted to tear this scum apart even more.

Under such scolding from the crowd, the Jinwu Taizi's face grew even more twisted, feeling as though he had been schemed against. He loathed this sensation, and his terrifying killing intent was hard to contain.

"Enough." Seeing the elders target the Jinwu Taizi, Jinwu Huang immediately shouted. The Jinwu Taizi was his son, after all, and such targeting could lead to trouble.

"You're not blameless as his father." Jinwu Huang's shout drew even more retorts. Your child is alive and well, but what about ours? All wiped out.

"Are you all here to hold me accountable?" Jinwu Huang's face darkened instantly.

"Shouldn't we?" The Jinwu Zu elders' eyes turned red, and the atmosphere in the hall became extremely oppressive, with the air feeling solidified.

"Rebellion, utter rebellion." Jinwu Huang raged, his roar making the Jinwu Zu ancestral hall tremble. As the exalted emperor of the Jinwu Zu, the supreme existence, how could he tolerate such disrespect to his authority?

In response to his roar, the elders merely snorted coldly and stormed out of the hall.