Chapter 726: The True Reason
Black Moon Merchant Guild, Seventh Floor.
"Master, the Phoenix God Ship that flew away from Phoenix City a moment ago has indeed been confirmed to be carrying only three people after multiple investigations... Yun Che, Feng Hengkong, and Princess Feng Xue'er. They are heading in the direction of the Cang Feng Kingdom. If they are indeed going to Cang Feng, they should reach the Cangfeng Imperial City by dusk tomorrow."
"...Have you determined what exactly happened?" Zi Ji asked with a furrowed brow.
"Feng Tianwei was by his side, so we dared not approach too closely. But we should know by tomorrow at the latest."
Zi Ji pondered for a long time, then slowly said, "Truly a series of twists and turns."
The development of this matter had deviated from his expectations at every step. For someone who always had a complete grasp of the overall situation, this was undoubtedly a rather heavy blow.
"Master, there is another matter to report. Those eleven people we infiltrated into the Illusion Demon Realm a hundred years ago—following the previous eight, the soul imprints of the last three have also completely disappeared... just a quarter of an hour ago. It is highly likely that their identities were exposed, they were subjected to soul searching, and ultimately rooted out entirely."
"..." Zi Ji remained silent.
"Master, this matter actually does not require too much concern. A hundred years ago, the people we infiltrated into the Demon Emperor Realm only brought seven sound transmission stones. The message sent a year ago happened to be the seventh, meaning all seven sound transmission stones have been used up. Even if they were all still alive, they would no longer be able to transmit messages. Though dead, they have fully completed their mission."
The "sound transmission stones" he spoke of were naturally nothing ordinary; they were special sound transmission stones capable of crossing millions of miles, transmitting sound from the Illusion Demon Realm back to the Tian Xuan Continent. Throughout the entire Tian Xuan Continent, only the Four Sacred Grounds, with their profound foundations, possessed such stones, and their numbers were extremely scarce.
"...They were safe and sound before, yet have been rooted out one after another recently. It seems that something major has happened over in the Illusion Demon Realm." Zi Ji said slowly. "But what concerns me more is not their exposure or life and death, but the last message they sent back a year ago."
"A year ago?"
"That message briefly described the current state of the Twelve Guardian Clans of the Demon Emperor City. When mentioning the Yun Clan, it mentioned that the crippled Yun Qinghong had adopted a son named 'Yun Che'..."
Zi Ji paused here. The blue-clad man beside him frowned and asked in confusion, "Could it be that you think there is a connection with Yun Che? This should just be a coincidence of the same name, after all..."
"At the time, I didn't take this matter to heart at all, but..."
Zi Ji did not continue. In his mind, he recalled the image from the mysterious shadow stone—the wings spread open beneath the dim dawn light... and the green whirlwind rolling beneath those wings.
And also... Yun Che, who had returned alive.
"Master, could it be that..."
Zi Ji shook his head slightly, neither confirming nor denying. Instead, his tone changed, becoming deep and meaningful. "A hundred years ago, when we attacked the Demon Emperor City, we were not the only ones who took the chaos to infiltrate people inside... Tian Wei Sword Domain did as well. I wonder if they have also used up their sound transmission stones..."
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Phoenix God Ship, the highest-grade mysterious ark of the Fenghuang God Sect, and a landmark existence of the entire Shenhuang Kingdom. Wherever it flew, it meant the emperor himself had arrived.
As night fell, the Phoenix God Ship was nearing the border of Shenhuang. Everywhere it passed, the people of Shenhuang bowed from afar.
The massive Phoenix God Ship carried only three people: Yun Che, Feng Xue'er, and Feng Hengkong, whose expression was shifting through various changes.
"Father says that at the speed of the Wind God Ship, we should be able to reach the Cangfeng Imperial City by this time tomorrow." Feng Xue'er sat close to Yun Che, leaning into him. Her cheeks were flushed as she spoke, clearly excited. After all, this was the first time since her birth that she had left the Shenhuang Kingdom. She had been looking forward to this day since she was very young.
Seeing Feng Xue'er unabashedly, almost naturally, pressing her body against Yun Che, with eyes full of affection, Feng Hengkong's face twitched, but he could only silently let out a sigh of frustration... In the few hours aboard the Phoenix God Ship, he had already sighed countless times in silence.
He prided himself on having protected Feng Xue'er to the utmost, keeping even her biological brothers from approaching within three steps. Let alone outsiders—it was a huge stroke of luck for sect disciples to even catch a glimpse of Feng Xue'er occasionally.
How did it come to this...
Feng Hengkong reached up and grabbed his head.
Ha, ha. Old man, you want to tell me that the reason you attacked Cang Feng for three full years, massacring cities, was just... to seize a crystal mine?" Yun Che gave a few cold laughs.
"What did you say!?" Feng Hengkong suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp. "How could you know about the crystal mine?"
"I know far more than you think." Yun Che said indifferently. "When I went to the Cangfeng Mystic Palace before, I happened to hear that a senior sister from the Bing Yun Fairy Palace was there to buy 'Purple Vein Divine Crystals.' A senior sister from the Bing Yun Fairy Palace personally buying things—there's only one place in the Cang Feng Kingdom that could produce Purple Vein Divine Crystals. And there's only one thing that would make even her go there in person."
"Also, Blue Wind Nation has already fallen, and Cang Feng is on the verge of destruction. Yet that senior sister from the Bing Yun Fairy Palace is still at the Cangfeng Mystic Palace, waiting to buy the crystals. The seller must be very important, or the crystals are extremely abundant. For you to go to such lengths, it must be the latter."
"You..." A flicker of shock passed through Feng Hengkong's eyes. The young man before him was both terrifyingly strong in strength and terrifyingly perceptive in mind. He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "That's right, the reason I launched the war against Cang Feng was indeed to seize a huge, ten-mile-long crystal vein hidden in a mountain range east of the Cang Feng Kingdom! That crystal vein could yield at least a hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals!"
"Crystal vein... ten miles..." Feng Xue'er's eyes widened in shock.
"A hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals..." Yun Che lowered his head, his gaze flickering. A hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals—if refined into a large number of Purple Vein Heavenly Crystals, under sufficient conditions and a certain amount of time, it would indeed be enough for a top-tier force to produce several peerless experts in the Divine Tribulation Realm.
"Heh..." Feng Hengkong let out a bitter laugh. "You think we're gluttons insatiable for territory? That we covet the incense and faith of Cang Feng? That we seek the ancient inheritance of Cang Feng? Ha... let me tell you, the land of Cang Feng is barren, with sparse profound energy and scarce resources. We couldn't care less about such a wasteland! To go to war and annex the entire Cang Feng Kingdom would instead be sharing our national resources with a bunch of trash—how could we be so foolish!"
"Then what about the massacring of cities! The slaughter of countless civilians!" Yun Che's voice suddenly turned cold. "Even if you need that crystal vein, there are plenty of ways to get it! But you chose the bloodiest, cruelest one!"
"You know nothing!" Feng Hengkong roared back. "The war waged by the Phoenix Sect is under constant surveillance by the Four Sacred Grounds! If we had used any other method to obtain the crystals, it would have been easily detected!"
Yun Che narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "The reason you massacred cities was to make people think that the Phoenix Sect's attack on Cang Feng was prompted by the 'Eight Nations Ranking Battle' a year earlier, where the Phoenix Sect's princes were defeated one after another, humiliating the sect. To vent your fury, you were determined to take Cang Feng in the shortest time possible, even slaughtering the innocent to show your might. And the real reason... was hidden behind the smoke of war!"
Feng Hengkong's eyes flickered, and after a long silence, he said, "You're right. The Phoenix Sect has continued to be watched by the Four Sacred Grounds. If we had sent out large numbers of people to secretly transport and mine the crystal, it would have been impossible to avoid detection. Moreover, that crystal vein was quite deep, extending at least a thousand feet underground. Mining it would have been extremely difficult and would inevitably cause huge commotions, which would have drawn the attention of the Four Sacred Grounds."
"Therefore, a direct invasion of Cang Feng was the best way to divert attention! The Four Sacred Grounds would only see the Phoenix Sect's 'retaliation war' and would never suspect that our true goal was a crystal vein located in a remote, barren area of Cang Feng."
"Hmph, to conceal a tree, hide it in a forest—the Four Sacred Grounds' spies would never pay attention to such a place. Even if they knew about the war, they wouldn't think much of it. Once war broke out, no matter what happened in the desolate mountains east of the Cang Feng Kingdom, it would be easily covered up. Over these three years, more than half of the mining had been completed. Originally, we planned to finish it within another year at most."
"But now, none of this matters anymore. With Xue'er's direct bloodline and complete awakening of the Phoenix Soul, even if the Four Sacred Grounds know that the Phoenix God is dead, they won't dare to make a rash move against the Phoenix Sect." As Feng Hengkong said this, his eyes unconsciously drifted to Feng Xue'er, his gaze filled with deep relief and comfort.
"..." Feng Xue'er's expression grew increasingly bewildered. She stared at her father in a daze. This truth was something she had never even dreamed of. After a long time, she softly said, "Then, Father, at the beginning... why did you want to seize the Purple Vein Divine Crystals? Was it just to strengthen our clan?"
"This..." Feng Hengkong's face trembled slightly. He slowly closed his eyes and began to speak directly: "Back then, after our ancestor the Phoenix God passed away, those of us who knew of this matter developed a strong sense of crisis. Because once this news got out, the Fenghuang God Sect would surely be suppressed by the Four Sacred Grounds... and it might even face annihilation. Therefore, while we guarded the secret of the Phoenix God's death with our lives, we desperately sought a method that could protect the entire sect—or at least protect Xue'er—in case the secret was ever leaked."
"And the discovery of this huge purple crystal vein made me and my father ecstatic. If we could truly obtain a hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals, we would definitely be able to rapidly produce a large number of top-tier powerhouses in a short time, thereby adding an extra layer of solid protection."
"It's... just this reason? Just to obtain the purple crystal vein of the Cang Feng Kingdom?" Feng Xue'er shook her head in confusion and disbelief. "But what does that have to do with Father ordering the invasion of the Cang Feng Kingdom... and in such a cruel manner!?"
"Of course, it was to use a feint to divert attention and avoid detection by the Four Sacred Grounds." Yun Che spoke up, a faint mockery deep in his eyes. "The Four Sacred Grounds have people monitoring the Fenghuang God Sect's movements at all times. The existence of this purple crystal vein could only be known to a few core members of the sect. And these core members are naturally the focus of the Four Sacred Grounds' surveillance. No matter how secretly they acted, there was a huge risk of discovery. Once discovered, the purple crystal vein would no longer belong to the Fenghuang God Sect."
"So, your purpose in ordering the war against Cang Feng was to cover up and divert others' attention! And to maximize the effect of this cover-up, you didn't hesitate to slaughter cities and burn towns, putting on an act of wanting to take Cang Feng in the shortest time possible, as if venting your anger over the humiliation I caused your sect in the Seven Nations Ranking Battle!"
"Yes." Feng Hengkong nodded expressionlessly.
"Just for a hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals? Hah..." Looking at Feng Hengkong's expression, Yun Che sneered. "From the look on your face, you've never thought there was anything wrong with what you've done, have you?"
"To the Cang Feng Kingdom, I indeed deserve divine punishment. But I am the Emperor of Shenhuang, the Sect Master of the Phoenix Sect!" Feng Hengkong raised his head to meet Yun Che's gaze. "These hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals are merely an enormous resource to others, but to us, who have lost our ancestor the Phoenix God, they are a lifeline! The outcome today has indeed made me regret... but my decision was not wrong!"
"Naive! Do you really think a hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals could save your Fenghuang God Sect once the news of the Phoenix God's death leaks out?" Yun Che said coldly.
"...At least, it would give us a little more power to protect Xue'er! As long as we can protect Xue'er for a hundred years, even if our entire sect withers away completely, there is boundless hope!" Feng Hengkong growled.
"Father, stop saying that!" Seeing Yun Che and Feng Hengkong at odds again, Feng Xue'er hastily stepped between them. "Father, no matter the reason, causing so many innocent people to lose their lives and throwing so many innocent people into misery and suffering is a grave mistake. Xue'er's Phoenix Soul has awakened with the help of Brother Yun, and can now protect our Fenghuang God Sect. Father no longer needs to toil and worry for Xue'er. All Xue'er asks now is to atone for the sins we have committed alongside Father, to gain forgiveness from Cang Feng and from the spirit of Lord Phoenix God in heaven."
"Xue'er..." Feng Hengkong looked at his daughter, his vision gradually blurring.
"Speaking of which, back then, you had Feng Ximing personally go to the Cangfeng Imperial City. Sending the invitation for the Seven Nations Ranking Battle was just a cover. The real purpose was to use the identity of the Phoenix Sect's prince to stir up conflict over my bloodline, thus creating an excuse to start the war, right?" Yun Che said with a sidelong glance.
"Yes." Feng Hengkong did not deny it.
Yun Che continued, "After the war dragged on for over two years and the Four Sacred Grounds' attention waned, you began preparing to extract the purple crystal mine. But during the extraction, even deep underground, it would inevitably create loud noises. Therefore, the 200,000 troops dispatched to Flowing Cloud City bombarded the ground daily, putting on the appearance of using it as a training ground—that was the cover for all of this."
"...You are correct." Feng Hengkong gave him a deep look. He had only mentioned the existence of the purple crystal mine, and Yun Che had already seen through all the reasons, processes, and methods so thoroughly... What a terrifying mind.
"Then, how much of your objective have you achieved so far?" Yun Che asked coldly. He had never imagined that the Flowing Cloud City area, where he had lived for over a decade, actually concealed a crystal mine that the Fenghuang God Sect would spare no great cost and risk to obtain.
The area around Flowing Cloud City was barren and desolate, inhabited only by the lowest-level profound beasts. Before this, even if someone had told him there was a massive mine there capable of yielding a hundred catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals, he wouldn't have believed it.
"One hundred percent."
"One hundred percent!?" Yun Che's brows furrowed sharply at Feng Hengkong's words.