Su Zimo did not leave immediately. He planned to stay in the palace for a few days and accompany his brother.
After all, he did not know when he would be back next time.
Demoness Ji did not leave either and stayed in the palace alongside Su Zimo. She merely took occasional walks outside and came over to tease Su Zimo when she had nothing to do.
As the King of Yan, Su Hong would naturally not reside in the back palace all the time.
Everyday, he would take time to evaluate the memorials in the imperial court.
In that period of time, Su Zimo would sit in his house quietly, raising his cultivation and starting on the Organs Refinement section while studying the various bloodline spirit arts he obtained in the stone coffin as well as the Buddha Bead.
Before leaving Ethereal Peak, Su Zimo’s cultivation was already at the peak of early-stage Foundation Establishment.
After the fight at the inheritance ground and obtaining a huge chunk of bloodline essence from that mysterious skeleton, Su Zimo broke through to mid-stage Foundation Establishment within a couple of days naturally.
His bloodline was extraordinary to begin with and he had already reached the legendary tsunami blood realm.
As such, it was comparatively easier for him to cultivate the bloodline spirit arts.
However, he had no clue how to go about the Organs Refinement section.
He would think about it occasionally but put it aside when he could not find anything.
During that period of time, Su Zimo’s greatest focus was still on that mysterious Buddha Bead.
It was clear that there was a powerful secret skill hidden within the Buddha Bead – Fiend Suppression Seal!
Each time Su Zimo looked at the Buddha Bead, he would fall into the illusion and experience the power of that golden palm descending from the skies to crush the demon and mountain of corpses with the hand seal.
He constantly pondered and tried to figure out every single detail.
…
This day, a group of Foundation Establishment Cultivators arrived at the capital of Yan Country, led by a man and woman – Xu You and Shen Mengqi.
“Junior Sister, if you want me to say it, let’s openly barge into the palace and bring the King of Yan out. After asking about news of Junior Brother Zhou, we can seek revenge. How about that?” Xu You asked for Shen Mengqi’s opinion with a smile.
Shen Mengqi frowned and shook her head. “I don’t wish to see those old friends so I won’t be going with you guys.”
Xu You rolled his eyes and nodded. “That’s true. Given our status, we’ll be elevating the King of Yan’s status if we go and look for him at his place.”
“Junior Brothers Liang Hao and Liu Hongyi, please bring our fellow sect mates to the palace and ‘invite’ that King of Yan over!”
Xu You placed emphasis on the word ‘invite’. His intentions were clear – he wanted Su Hong to suffer.
Two Iridescent Clouds Palace cultivators stood up and cupped their fists. “Don’t worry, Senior Brother Xu. Leave it to us.”
Xu You nodded.
Liang Hao and Liu Hongyi were both late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators. In the capital of Yan Country, they were absolutely domineering existences.
Furthermore, they carried the badge of Iridescent Clouds Palace on their waist – which idiot would dare provoke them?
Xu You, Shen Mengqi and Shen Nan looked for a random inn and moved in, waiting for Liang Hao and Liu Hongyi to bring the King of Yan over.
Shen Nan was the most excited among them.
In the two years since Su Hong was conferred king, he had been on tenterhooks, afraid that the Su family would seek revenge on him one day.
Now, he no longer had to be afraid!
…
After Su Hong’s court session of the day, he headed for the back palace.
When he reached Su Zimo’s door, he realized that it was tightly shut. Pausing for a slight moment, he did not knock and instead turned to leave.
He gathered that Su Zimo was probably in seclusion and did not disturb the latter.
Upon returning to his chamber, Su Hong continued to read the account memorials. Not long after, there was a sudden commotion outside the door.
“Who’s there?!”
“Ah!”
Sounds of fighting and screaming could be heard vaguely – it was as if someone had barged into the palace and headed straight for the chamber.
“Oh?”
Su Hong frowned, his expression calm and composed.
Liu Yu and Yuchi Huo exchanged glances and quickly stood in front of Su Hong, whispering, “Young Master, leave from the back.”
Song Qi stood up and retrieved a flying sword from his storage bag. He shook his head with a solemn expression. “It’s most likely too late to leave.”
Snap!
Just as he said that, the door to the chamber was smashed apart by a tremendous force.
More than ten cultivators barged in with large strides, their heads reared with an imposing aura.
Song Qi looked at them and could not help but feel shocked, his breathing stagnated.
Foundation Establishment Cultivators!
There were more than ten cultivators, all of them Foundation Establishment Cultivators!
The two people leading them were even at late-stage Foundation Establishment!
The power they possessed was almost enough to destroy a vassal state.
“When did Yan Country offend such a faction?”
Song Qi’s thoughts raced and he pondered, “It makes no sense. We rarely have any interaction with cultivators so we couldn’t have offended these people.”
His gaze landed on the badge on the waist of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
Iridescent Clouds Palace!
One of the five major sects – Iridescent Clouds Palace!
This was big!
Song Qi forced himself to remain calm as he revealed a smile and said in a deep voice, “Fellow seniors of Iridescent Clouds Palace who have come to visit the capital, please forgive us for being impolite and failing to welcome all of you.”
Liang Hao did not even bother to look at Song Qi. His head was raised, his nostrils facing the skies as he looked around. Finally, his gaze landed on Su Hong in the middle as he asked with raised brows, “You’re the King of Yan, Su Hong?”
“I am.”
Su Hong stood up slowly with a calm expression. He pushed Liu Yu and Yuchi Huo aside, facing Liang Hao and the rest directly.
“Fu…”
Liu Hongyi’s lips curled into a cynical smile. He laughed lightly. “The ignorant are truly fearless. You can stay calm now, but I wonder if you’ll roll in your pee out of fear later on!”
“May I know why you guys have barged into the palace of Yan Country?”
Su Hong’s tone was calm and composed, neither overbearing nor servile.
“Why?”
Liang Hao’s expression darkened and he suddenly shouted, “Su Hong, how bold of you! Kneel down when you see immortals of the Iridescent Clouds Palace!”
His voice was deafening, reverberating in the chamber strongly.
It was as if there was really an immortal looking down on all life and questioning loudly.
Mortals aside, even Song Qi’s expression was slightly pale. His chest felt stuffy and his heart raced.
Su Hong raised his head and suddenly smiled. “Why should I kneel?”
“You’re indeed ignorant. It seems like you’re someone who won’t cry until you see the coffin. I’ve got to let you suffer for a bit!”
Liu Hongyi declared sinisterly with a malicious expression. Right as he was about to step forth, a voice came from outside.
“The people from Iridescent Clouds Palace are truly promising. They’re always forcing people to kneel, fufu.”
Those words were clearly filled with disdain and mockery. Immediately, the group from Iridescent Clouds Palace were enraged as they turned back.
A green robed man strode over. Refined and delicate, he was elegant like a scholar. However, his eyes were narrowed like a sharp blade, carrying an intensely cold glint.
Behind the green robed man was a girl in a pink dress. She was breathtakingly beautiful and her eyes seemed to be able to speak. Every glance of hers caused waves of light to swirl around her, fluttering the hearts of the many cultivators present as well.