Nine Astra Skies

The Zephyr White Ape continued charging ahead until it reached the city gate and then swung its arms at the thick and sturdy gate.

The city gate made out of Xuan-iron fell apart in a loud crash. Behind the city gate, hundreds of guards had been using a huge wooden plank to stop the gate from opening, so as the gate fell apart, the guards were sent flying away along with the wooden plank.

The Zephyr White Ape entered through the city gate without any hindrance. As it ran wildly along the spacious streets, the crowds on the streets dispersed and retreated.

A young girl stood at the center of a street looking pale and terrified. She was about to get run over by the Zephyr White Ape when the beast suddenly leapt off the ground and moved over tens of meters through the air in a flash so those people on the street were left staring after its white retreating figure.

The Zephyr White Ape’s appearance had frightened everyone in Donglin City out of their wits. To their surprise, the beast seemed to possess some human qualities since it did not go berserk and cause destruction in the city. Aside from the Second-Prince’s Palace army that came to seek their deaths by attacking it, the Zephyr White Ape did not harm any civilians. Instead, it simply ran ahead, heading for the Second-Prince’s Palace.

At the Second-Prince’s Palace.

The palace was filled with songs and dances as usual. In the main hall, Liu Zhen was resting his head on the lap of a beautiful woman while sipping good wine. He would occasionally run his hand up and down the woman’s thigh and make her giggle bashfully. There were more than twenty other scantily dressed female entertainers with alluring bodies in the main hall. As they danced gracefully and swayed the curves of their well-endowed bodies, the main hall became pervaded with an air of hedonism and sensuality.

‘I wonder what my father has done to those people at the Ye Castle,’ Liu Zhen thought. How he wished Liu Xun would keep staying at the Ye Castle and never come back. That way, Liu Zhen could continue being the one calling the shots at the palace. When he recalled the things he had done with his father’s few concubines, he felt his heart beating with excitement. This was not the first time he had committed a taboo act like that anyway. ‘The House of Ye has brought about their destruction. I heard that Ye Chen guy has died in the Sunken Jade Tower. He got off way too easily! I wonder what has happened to those two pretty ladies from the House of Ye? Tsk, tsk. What a pity.’

Liu Zhen raised his head and downed a cup of wine. While he was reveling in the women’s beauty, a silhouette dashed over at lightning speed and lifted him by the neck before slamming him against the wall behind him in a loud bang.

As Liu Zhen’s body collided into the wall, he felt as though all of his bones were about to shatter into pieces. An excruciating pain pierced through him and instantly made him recover from his drunken state.

The women screamed in panic and escaped in a flurry.

“Guards, we’ve been attacked by an assassin!”

Liu Xun soon sobered up and opened his hazy, tipsy eyes while experiencing a sharp pain all over his body. When he saw Ye Chen’s face, his heart skipped a beat and he yelled in shock, “It’s you!” Liu Xun tried to gather his Celestial Chi and attack Ye Chen but the Celestial Chi in his body was being suppressed by a mighty force, so it became extremely hard to even channel his chi. This was a Tenth Level powerhouse! Liu Zhen felt his hands and feet turning cold at once as he finally realized how powerful a Tenth Level combatant truly was.

The sounds of weapons clashing could be heard outside. The guards of the Second-Prince’s Palace were trying to enter the main hall but were blocked by the Raven Hawk and the Vermillion Spirit Condor. One could easily guess the outcome of a battle between a group of Seventh to Eighth Level guards and two Tenth Level mystical beasts.

“Let go of me right away. If not, when my father and grandfather return, I’ll make sure you get what you deserve!” Liu Zhen shouted and tried to appear strong but was feeling uncertain in his heart. After all, Liu Xun and Liu Kan were merely Tenth Level combatants too!

Ye Chen scoffed coldly. “Do you think Liu Xun and Liu Kan are capable of coming back alive?”

Ye Chen’s words struck Liu Zhen’s heart like a heavy blow from a hammer. Liu Zhen glared at Ye Chen and looked rather frightened. “What are you trying to say?”

“Liu Xun and Liu Kan have already been killed at the Ye Castle.”

“No, that’s impossible!”

“It’s up to you whether or not you choose to believe this. I’ve come to your palace to look for something. Hurry up and tell me where you guys have kept all your medicinal pills!” Ye Chen demanded while picking Liu Zhen up and slamming him against the wall once more. Liu Zhen nearly spat out blood.

“I get it now. Your Ye Clan members have taken my father’s poison. I’ll never tell you where the antidote is unless you let go of me first. Otherwise, all those people at the Ye Castle are going to die!” Liu Zhen yelled harshly while grabbing onto his last means of survival.

“Do you think that just because you refuse to tell me, I’d have no other way of finding the antidote?” Ye Chen glanced at Little Tanuki, which had been resting on his shoulder. “Little Tanuki, it’s time for you to work your magic!”

“Squeak, squeak!” Little Tanuki responded and leaped off his shoulder before turning into a white streak as it whizzed away.

When Liu Zhen saw this strange tanuki, which seemed to possess human-like qualities, his heart began to waver. Could this tanuki be capable of locating the antidote?

“Let go of me and I’ll tell you where the antidote is!” Liu Zhen kept struggling to break free.

“With both Liu Xun and Liu Kan dead now, do you think I’ll let you live?” Ye Chen stared at Liu Zhen coldly. He would never set a tiger free and breed calamity for the future. If Liu Zhen received some fortuitous encounter later on because Ye Chen had allowed him to escape, the guy would certainly become a threat to the House of Ye someday!

Upon hearing Ye Chen’s reply, Liu Zhen felt as though his strength had been sucked out of him all at once. He still had a great future ahead of him and was looking forward to enjoying a life of riches and luxury, so he was not ready to die just yet! “What do you want?”

“Help me find the antidote and I’ll give you a quick and painless death,” Ye Chen replied decisively and bluntly.

“You monster!” Liu Zhen screamed with rage and continued struggling. “You might as well kill me already!” Liu Zhen tried to commit suicide but then came to realize that when one was in the powerful presence of a Tenth Level combatant, even committing suicide was a luxury!

Ye Chen laughed humorlessly. If the Second-Prince’s Palace had not bullied the House of Ye, he would not have stood up and struck back like this. People reaped what they sowed, no one should blame others for their fate!

As time slowly passed by, every second felt like torture to Liu Zhen.

After a while, Little Tanuki reappeared holding seven Heaven-Earth Pouches in its mouth. These Heaven-Earth Pouches had been embroidered with the words “Second-Prince’s Palace in Donglin” using silk thread.

Upon seeing these seven Heaven-Earth Pouches, Liu Zhen’s eyes widened in terror and recognition. Out of these seven pouches, one was his, two belonged to Liu Xun, and two belonged to Liu Kan. As for the remaining two, those pouches held no importance whatsoever. All of these Heaven-Earth Pouches had been kept in the most secret places. How on earth did this tanuki manage to locate them?

Ye Chen opened the first Heaven-Earth Pouch and found that most of its contents were items like Chi-amassing Pills and Chi Deposition Pills. He moved on to another Heaven-Earth Pouch and found many porcelain bottles in it. These porcelain bottles contained countless green and black medicinal pills.

“Among these two types of pills, the black ones should be poisonous. Are the green ones the antidote then?” Ye Chen stared intently at Liu Zhen.

“I don’t know!” Liu Zhen shouted in fear.

“Seems like I guessed correctly.” Ye Chen had been using his Astral Body to constantly observe Liu Zhen’s emotional fluctuations, so based on the changes in the guy’s emotions, he was able to verify his guesses.

“How am I supposed to use these pills?” Ye Chen studied him with a cold gaze that seemed to pierce directly into Liu Zhen’s heart.

Liu Zhen was nearly driven mad by fear under Ye Chen’s scrutiny and cried out involuntarily, “This isn’t the antidote. There isn’t any antidote for this poison. Even the Master Apothecary might not necessarily be capable of creating an antidote for it. These green-colored pills can only help alleviate the effects of the poison. Take one pill every month. If you stopped taking it for even a month, then you could only wait for death to come!”

When he heard Liu Zhen’s words, Ye Chen felt his heart clench with worry as his intuition told him that Liu Zhen was most likely not lying. In that case, could no one cure Ye Meng and Second Uncle of the poison? No, there had to be some other way to solve this issue. Since he had found so many green pills here, they should be able to survive for a few more years. Perhaps he would be able to find a way to cure them of the poison within those few years.