Chapter 38
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“I have nothing to do with this matter. Friends and immortals, please understand!”
“… “
Ying Kai’s hand, which had been propping up his brow, fell down, his expression seeming even more weary. “Chengfeng, you know that the Iron Sect of the Changsun family relies mainly on the unparalleled mechanized soldiers, right?”
Changsun Chengfeng sincerely replied, “I know.”
“And you also know that in this world, only you can control the mechanized soldiers, because only the legitimate sons of the Changsun family possess the dual-element spirit necessary for refining the soldier thread, right?”
Changsun Chengfeng opened up his heart, “I know clearly.”
Ying Kai pointed to the side, where there was a huge millennium-old mysterious ice brick on the coffee table next to him and Xu Shuangce. Wisps of cold air lifted the steel tray holding the ice brick. The tray was covered in frost, solidly freezing a strand of bloodline finer than silk, emitting a faint dark red glow.
That was the soldier thread extracted from the bones of Law Flower Immortal.
Ying Kai asked, “Do you have anything else to say to me?”
Mechanized soldiers were impervious to water and fire, immune to all poisons, ordinary immortal swords and knives could not pierce them, and they could be as tall as several meters or as agile as monkeys. Whether in formation battles or one-on-one combat, they were extremely brave, causing the practitioners of various sects to change their expressions. The materials and diagrams for making mechanized soldiers had always been a secret of the Changsun family, and there was only one well-known essential item—soldier thread.
Ordinary puppet thread was already rare and poisonous, but when compared to soldier thread, it was like comparing an ordinary Golden Core cultivator to Ying Kai and Xu Shuangce, not in the same league at all.
Countless alchemists dreamed of refining a strand of soldier thread, but it was ultimately futile, because the refinement of soldier thread required one condition: the dual-element spirit of Yin and Yang.
Just like a person couldn’t grow two heads, even Grandmasters like Ying Kai and Xu Shuangce couldn’t produce two spirits out of thin air, but the legitimate sons of the Changsun family were born with this talent. During the refining process, the Iron Sect retained the Yang spirit while infusing the Yin spirit into every inch of the soldier thread. Therefore, each mechanized soldier was connected to the Iron Sect’s spirit and could protect the master spontaneously without needing to be manipulated. As long as the Iron Sect existed, the mechanized soldiers would exist; if the Iron Sect died, the mechanized soldiers would die. The Iron Sect could control puppets through soldier thread without expending too much spiritual power, simply by moving their minds.
The soldier thread extracted from “Xiang Xiaoyuan”‘s spiritual vein by Xu Shuangce undoubtedly belonged to Changsun Chengfeng. Besides Changsun Chengfeng, who else could control this extremely deadly and powerful weapon?
The grandmasters looked at the Iron Sect Master from different directions, and even Yuchi Rui, who was eating peanuts, raised his eyelids and stared at him coldly.
“… “
Changsun Chengfeng sat stiffly for a long time, finally sighed, and said, “I have no grievances with Law Flower Immortal in the past, and no recent enmity. We rarely interact. There’s really no reason for me to go to such lengths to insult his immortal body.”
He paused for a moment, then said with difficulty, “But… if I had to find a suspect, I wouldn’t have no suspicions.”
Yuchi Rui immediately asked, “Who?”
Changsun Chengfeng didn’t immediately respond; instead, he stood up and bowed deeply to Ying Kai.
“Alliance Leader Ying, it’s true that the soldier thread belongs exclusively to our Changsun family of the Iron Sect, and I can’t deny that. But this matter is of great importance. Please give me seven days to capture the real culprit. After seven days, I will personally go to Mount Dai to Chengshu Gong for his wrongdoing, and I will not escape. Can it be done?”
The determination in his words already indicated a certain resolution to burn bridges. Ying Kai frowned and asked, “Whom do you suspect?”
Maintaining the posture of the deep bow, Changsun Chengfeng’s attitude remained unwavering. “The truth will be revealed in seven days.”
“… “
One men, two zun, three zong, aside from the deceased Law Flower Immortal, there were only three individuals in the Immortalization realm: Xu Shuangce, Ying Kai, and Yuchi Rui. Mu Duozhu had extensive experience and great prestige, making him slightly more influential than Changsun Chengfeng.
Changsun Chengfeng had a gentle temperament and was easygoing. He often joked and got along well with the younger generation, so he always gave people the impression of being relatively weak and talkative. However, this weakness was only in comparison to others in the hall. After all, he was one of the three zongs, and the Changsun family was one of the six great families. No matter which identity it was, it was top-notch, and offending him was not easy.
The several sect masters glanced at each other, and Ying Kai frowned for a moment, knowing that there was no possibility of him fearing guilt and escaping, so his attitude softened slightly. “Since that’s the case…”
But at this moment, Xu Shuangce’s voice rang out from his side:
“You once had a younger brother.”
The Iron Sect Master had a younger brother?
Before everyone could react, Mu Duozhu blurted out, “Is it the one from the folk story?”
“… “
“… “
“I went to the banquet at Yanchuntai last time and heard a folk opera troupe performing a play about fratricide and forcibly taking a sister-in-law,” Mu Duozhu quickly picked up the teacup to cover half of his face, and his voice grew smaller under Changsun Chengfeng’s astonished gaze, “The plot was intricate, the emotions were sincere, quite… moving.”
There was dead silence in the hall, and Yuchi Rui forgot to eat his peanuts, looking at Changsun Chengfeng with a completely different perspective.
“… ” Changsun Chengfeng opened his mouth several times before firmly saying, “I did have a younger brother, but the folk story is pure nonsense!”
Ying Kai: “Ahem!”
Ying Kai cleared his throat heavily, took a sip of tea from the teacup, and then said, “Brother Mu is not aware. The second young master of the Changsun family was not killed by the Iron Sect. He was exiled to the extreme cold of the northern frontier ice field nearly seventeen years ago due to committing a serious crime, and there has been no news of him since.”
The extreme cold, a forbidden area for life, has never had any records of cultivators living to tell the tale. Therefore, being exiled to the ice field was equivalent to disappearing forever, only slightly better than being executed.
Mu Duozhu asked in surprise, “What did he do?”
Changsun Chengfeng had actually almost turned the situation around just now, but who would have thought that with just one sentence from Xu Shuangce, the situation would be turned around again. Now, revealing family secrets was truly difficult to talk about. He remained silent for a long time under everyone’s gaze before he sighed, “This child was named Du Kaixun, taking his mother’s surname.”
“Du Kaixun was much younger than me. Because his mother passed away early, and our father didn’t discipline him strictly, he became extremely cold-blooded and twisted from a young age. At one point, he abused… he abused a disciple in our family, using extremely cruel methods. When he was sent to the punishment hall, he even, in front of everyone, used spellbinding techniques to force the disciple to disembowel himself, almost succeeding. Later, he was sent to the punishment hall. Originally, we hoped he would repent and change his ways, but who knew that his true nature would be revealed in just two months. He secretly read the forbidden ‘Secret Communication of Yin and Yang Chaos Great Mantra’ and learned a kind of deadly poison. He put it in Law Flower Immortal’s tea, intending to… intending to gouge out Law Flower Immortal’s right eye.”
Since this incident occurred nearly seventeen years ago, it should have been shortly before Gong Wei ascended to the Immortal Ascension Platform. Yuchi Rui immediately asked, “How come I didn’t know?”
Changsun Chengfeng said, “I’m ashamed to say that this matter was kept extremely secret at the time. Because it involved the noble families, and Law Flower Immortal was magnanimous and did not publicize it, reporting it to only Alliance Leader Ying.”
He paused, and when he spoke again, there was a hint of coldness in his tone. “Actually, according to my opinion, this scum would have been better off dead. Alliance Leader Ying also agreed to hand him over to me for disposal at will. But the Immortal was still too merciful. Seeing that this scum hadn’t come of age yet, he spared him, and only sentenced him to exile in the ice fields of the northern frontier, never to set foot in Shenzhou again in his lifetime.”
“Where is he now?” Yuchi Rui asked further.
Changsun Chengfeng replied, “I don’t know. The extreme cold of the northern frontier is a forbidden place, and even someone like you and me might not dare to step into it easily. There has never been any record of anyone coming out alive since ancient times. Therefore, I have always assumed that he is dead. I have never attempted to find him in seventeen years.”
Ying Kai pondered for a moment and asked, “If that’s the case, how can you be sure that the current situation is related to Du Kaixun?”
Changsun Chengfeng’s expression seemed difficult to articulate. After a long silence lasting nearly half a cup of tea, he gritted his teeth and said, “Du Kaixun… has an extremely rare talent.”
“My father learned to refine soldier thread using dual elemental spirits when he was almost ten years old, and I inherited my family’s teachings when I was twenty-six.”
“But when Du Kaixun was eighteen, he refined his first strand of soldier thread and used it to create a powerful and perfect mechanical soldier. He trampled on the lifelong learning of the first two Iron Sect masters and handed it over with a mere torch. For this, several old seniors in the family were almost driven to madness.”
Family secrets are often covered with a quilt, the tighter the better. Therefore, everyone heard it for the first time today, and the hall was eerily quiet.
“After this incident, I had to order a strict ban on Du Kaixun from making any more mechanical soldiers, and at the same time, I personally sealed off his ability to condense soldier thread using his Yin spirit. I intended to consider lifting the ban after he grew up and turned over a new leaf. But who knew that the next year, he committed a series of heinous crimes such as abusing disciples in the family and poisoning Law Flower Immortal. This person is beyond redemption, yet the Immortal spared his life, which is overly compassionate.”
Changsun Chengfeng bowed deeply again. He had a very gentle and handsome face, which usually wore a smile. But now, it was terrifyingly serious:
“The matter of the soldier thread in the Ding Xian Ling must be related to Du Kaixun. No matter how he managed to escape from the extreme cold and come to the Central Plains, I will definitely capture him myself this time, deliver him to Mount Dai, and hand this extremely guilty man over to Alliance Leader Ying for judgment!”
The room fell silent for a while.
Ying Kai stared at Changsun Chengfeng intently, seeming to ponder for a while before finally saying slowly, “Chengfeng, now that one men, two zun, and three zongs of the world are all here in this hall. If you are willing to swear in front of all of us that you will capture Du Kaixun within seven days and deliver him to us personally…”
At this moment, there was a soft clang, and Xu Shuangce, who was seated at the head, put down his teacup. This was the second sentence he had uttered since entering this hall:
“No need to bother, he’s already dead.”
“… “
Even Ying Kai was stunned, and Changsun Chengfeng subconsciously asked, “What?”
Xu Shuangce’s dark eyes showed no emotion, and his tone was calm and composed, as if stating an insignificant fact: “Seventeen years ago, when I heard about the poisoning and eye-gouging incident, I chased him to the extreme cold region thousands of miles away and personally ended him on a glacier.”
“The body was separated, pierced through the heart. Dead to the core.”
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