Chapter 649: The Most Poisonous Thing in the World
Liang Wangsun, inside the Lingyan Pavilion, sensed Xiao Zhang's arrival.
As top experts on the same Xiaoyao List, they knew each other far too well.
He knew how mad and terrifying Xiao Zhang could be, and could even feel that the iron spear Xiao Zhang wielded tonight was even stronger than the one he had thrust at Su Li in Xunyang City back then.
But he did not look up, partly because he was weary, and partly because he knew Xiao Zhang could not possibly land inside the Lingyan Pavilion.
The night before the Lingyan Pavilion suddenly burst into flames, turning in an extremely short time into a blazing sea of fiery clouds.
With a tearing sound, a crack appeared in the midst of the deep red fiery clouds.
An iron spear emerged from that crack.
This iron spear looked very ordinary on the surface—pitch black, without any patterns—yet it gave off an extremely terrifying sensation.
It was like a demon's hand reaching out from the depths of an abyss.
As Xiao Zhang descended toward the Lingyan Pavilion, the white paper on his face was suddenly coated with a layer of dark, iron-like luster. The eyes peering through the two holes became extremely scorching, even somewhat frenzied.
The burning night was torn into shreds; the blazing red clouds were twisted into countless fragments. His iron spear struck fiercely against that other iron spear.
With a thunderous roar,
A cry of agony burst from Xiao Zhang's lips, shattering the white paper on his face into countless cracks. His body, like a stone struck by a massive force, shot backward from the night sky before the Lingyan Pavilion at high speed, turning into a streak of light, and slammed heavily into the wall of the Imperial City.
Countless cracks appeared on the thick wall of the Imperial City, just like the white paper on his face, with countless fragments falling rustlingly from those gaps.
The burning night gradually calmed, with no more flames, only a patch of firelight—that was the Fire Cloud Qilin.
Xue Xingchuan sat atop the Fire Cloud Qilin, watching Xiao Zhang slide from the Imperial City wall to the ground, his expression indifferent.
The debris falling from the cracks in the wall landed on Xiao Zhang's body.
He used his iron spear to prop himself up, the brick dust on his shoulders falling again, like the blood he spat out.
Wiping the blood from his face with a trembling left arm, he looked at the Lingyan Pavilion hundreds of zhang away, his gaze extremely complex—tinged with awe, some fear, and great excitement.
No wonder he was the second-ranked divine general of the continent; Xue Xingchuan's strength was truly immense, so immense that even he could barely withstand it.
But the emotions in his eyes were not entirely due to Xue Xingchuan; they were more because of the seemingly ordinary iron spear in Xue Xingchuan's hand.
"Frost Remnant Divine Spear!"
Xiao Zhang stared at the iron spear in Xue Xingchuan's hand and shouted sharply.
His gaze was scorching hot, his voice trembling like boiling tea.
The Frost Remnant Divine Spear!
The personal divine weapon of His Majesty Emperor Taizong back in the day!
Number one on the Hundred Weapons List!
Xue Xingchuan's strength was truly too great, even greater than the rumors suggested—unreasonably strong.
The formation core of the Imperial Chariot Diagram was within the Imperial Palace. Her Holiness the Saint Empress had Xue Xingchuan guard the palace because she had absolute confidence in him.
All the Sacred Domain experts who came to the capital tonight were drawn by Her Holiness the Saint Empress to the vicinity of the Heavenly Book Mound.
Even if a Sacred Domain expert managed to sneak in under cover of night, they could not evade the Heavenly Dao Killing Formation within the palace.
As for those below the Sacred Domain, no one was a match for Xue Xingchuan.
Xiao Zhang's crushing defeat was clear proof.
Not to mention that now the Frost Remnant Divine Spear was also in his hands—he could even fight against Sacred Domain experts!
Unless Wang Po also came, and brought Zhou Dufu's Two Severance Blades, there might be a slim chance.
But everyone knew Wang Po could not appear tonight, because while he disliked Her Holiness the Saint Empress's tyranny, he also had an irresolvable thousand-year feud with the Chen royal family.
No one could defeat Xue Xingchuan wielding the Frost Remnant Divine Spear; no one could break the Imperial Chariot Diagram. The situation in the capital would remain firmly in Her Holiness the Saint Empress's grasp.
No matter how you looked at it, this was an unsolvable situation.
Xue Xingchuan dismounted from the Fire Cloud Qilin, patted its back, and signaled it to leave.
A line of fire lit up the night as the Fire Cloud Qilin left the battlefield, heading to some place in the Night Palace to await summons.
Xue Xingchuan stood at the foot of the long steps of the Lingyan Pavilion, his expression calm as he looked at Xiao Zhang and Xiao De, two experts on the Xiaoyao List, and slowly raised the Frost Remnant Divine Spear in his hand.
The thousands of soldiers on the Imperial City wall raised their divine crossbows, ready to unleash a violent rain of bolts.
Suddenly, Xue Xingchuan's brow furrowed, and his expression shifted slightly.
"Sorry," Xiao Zhang's voice pierced through the blood-spattered white paper, sounding exceptionally cold and terrifying. "I am not your match, but tonight is not about a contest..."
Hearing this, Xue Xingchuan's expression changed again, his eyes turning extremely cold, like a glacier.
Xiao De, kneeling on one knee on the ground, suddenly slammed his palm into the earth. The bluestones beneath shattered and sprayed into the air.
At the same time, he unleashed his final magical artifact. A violent aura, along with the shattered stones, surged in all directions, kicking up countless clouds of dust, instantly obscuring the scene.
An extremely fierce roar erupted within the dust.
It was Xiao Zhang's voice.
In the Imperial City, shrouded in both night and dust, footsteps like war drums sounded.
Xiao Zhang charged forward, like a galloping steed, smashing through the debris and dust, tearing through the night, and in an instant, arrived before the Lingyan Pavilion.
With a thunderous crash, the tip of his iron spear seemed to bloom like a spring thunderbolt, thrusting toward Xue Xingchuan's face.
Xue Xingchuan grunted, his true essence erupting violently. With a flick of his wrist, the Frost Remnant Divine Spear came down without any flourish, straight and heavy.
A crisp ring echoed, like an ancient bell being struck.
The Frost Remnant Divine Spear brightened amidst the night and dust, like the faint sun in the autumn sky, exuding an utmost bleak and killing intent.
This spear strike contained both an indescribable lofty artistic conception and an unimaginable imperial pressure.
Even Xiao Zhang could not evade this strike; he was directly smashed to the ground!
Several harsh, piercing sounds rang out at the foot of the Lingyan Pavilion's long steps.
Xiao Zhang held the iron spear horizontally above his head with both hands at its ends, but the middle of the spear had bent!
His arms had also bent!
His knees followed suit, bending!
He directly collapsed to the ground.
The bluestones beneath shattered.
His knees shattered.
His wrist bones shattered.
Blood spurted from every part of Xiao Zhang's body, including his lips, forming a blood mist in the night.
But what was terrifying was that, despite suffering such severe injuries and bearing the pressure of the Frost Remnant Divine Spear, Xiao Zhang still did not completely fall.
What was he holding out for? Knowing he was no match for Xue Xingchuan, why had he charged at him again earlier?
Just then, Xue Xingchuan's expression changed again.
This was the third time.
Unlike the previous two times, this time Xue Xingchuan's demeanor shifted more dramatically. His brows shot up, showing extreme anger; his face turned extremely ugly, with a hint of shock and doubt; his eyes showed some bewilderment, as if he could not believe it. Then, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips—
That blood was green.
Just like his pupils at that moment, which were also turning a faint green.
Just like his brows and hair, which were being blown off by the night wind—all green.
Xue Xingchuan had been poisoned, a deadly poison.
He could clearly feel tens of thousands of tiny knives scraping and cutting inside his meridians.
His true essence was draining from his body at an unimaginable speed, dissipating into the world.
What kind of poison was this, that could actually harm him?
In a very short time, he deduced that the poison he had taken must include the legendary Peacock Feather—colorless, odorless, formless, and intangible.
But wasn't that the specialty of the Demon Princess? Could it be that those opposing Her Holiness the Saint Empress tonight had colluded with the demons?
But when had he been poisoned?
Since Dean Shang was the Daoist of Calculations, that master of medicine must also be a great poison user. He had always been very careful about this.
For the past half year, whether eating, drinking, cultivating, or even bathing and changing clothes, he had never let anyone else handle things, being very cautious.
Suddenly, he thought of something and understood the cause of his poisoning. He looked toward a palace in the night, and his expression changed again, becoming pained, sorrowful, and desolate.
So it was that the medicine that heals people is also the poison that kills them.
The most poisonous thing is the human heart.
In that quiet palace, Zhou Tong, who had been severely wounded by Chen Changsheng earlier in the night, lay on the couch like a dead man, his eyes wide open, staring at the palace ceiling.
His eyes were like those of a dead fish, lacking any luster, somewhat nauseating, just like the foul breath in the words he muttered under his breath.
"The most poisonous thing is the human heart. The human heart is human nature. Human nature is to want to live. What's wrong with that?"
Zhou Tong stared at the ceiling, his face ashen, muttering to himself in a voice so weak no one could hear: "None of us are his match, not even Her Holiness. There are only two of us in our family. We can't both die, can we? He promised I would live. So, big brother... I'm sorry, but you have to die."
Blood stained Xue Xingchuan's armor green, giving off a faint, eerie sheen.
The Imperial Palace under the night suddenly became eerily quiet. Countless gazes fell upon the long steps of the Lingyan Pavilion.
Xiao Zhang knew the great deed was done. He could no longer hold on. Painfully retracting his already broken arms, he used his only intact right foot to push off the shattered ground and moved away from Xue Xingchuan.
Xue Xingchuan coughed incessantly. With each cough, a stream of emerald-green blood flowed from his lips.
The night wind gently blew, sweeping away his brows and the hair at his temples.
He no longer had the strength to hold the Frost Remnant Divine Spear and wearily set it down.
With a dull thud, the ground trembled slightly as the Frost Remnant Divine Spear fell heavily to the earth.
Xue Xingchuan did not fall. Holding the iron spear, he slowly lowered his head, then closed his eyes.
Countless cries of alarm rose from the Imperial City wall, filled with grief and shock.
Suddenly, from the southwest corner towers, towering flames erupted. The Eagle Pavilion in the east suddenly collapsed. And for some reason, many treacherous crossbow bolts appeared in the night, shooting into the bodies of comrades. Screams of agony rang out continuously. Chaos erupted everywhere. The Imperial Guards and attendants were in utter disarray, no longer paying any attention to the severely wounded Xiao Zhang and Xiao De.
As the dust gradually settled, Xiao Zhang and Xiao De's figures had already vanished. The chaos was not yet over; shouts and sounds of slaughter filled the night.
A tall, thin figure appeared outside the Chuyin Gate on the western side of the Imperial City.
The firelight from within the city gate illuminated his face—handsome yet indifferent. It was the Second Master of the Tang family.
A deputy general of the Imperial Guard walked out from the city gate, looked at him, and said in a low voice, "Uncle."