Chapter 1271: Fallen
Chapter 1271: Fallen
Mount Dragon Head was actually a piece of an invincible god item from ancient times, similar to the Cruiser of Civilization. By imbuing it with immense godpower, Dragon Floret had made it an animadestiny item of his own, allowing it to hang in the air in the god kingdom of the House of God Ordainment.
The mountain had become a part of him, an aspect of his soul that flourished as he flourished, and declined if he declined.
The fact that Mount Dragon Head had fallen out of the sky was incontrovertible evidence that Dragon Floret had been destroyed in body and soul. In other words, he couldn’t be resurrected. It was an extremely dramatic and tragic thing for a child of primeval chaos to have been truly killed.
It wasn’t just the lower-level disciples in the sect who were shocked by this development. The nine Perfect Gods who had been discussing matters with Jadefall and her Master were stunned. After a long moment passed, Heroism let loose a groan as wretched as if he were mourning his own father and mother. “Dear lord... Dragon Floret, you’re dead? Who killed you? How could you have died?”
“Dragon Floret is dead?” The other experts present exchanged awkward, disbelieving glances.
However, there was no doubt that Mount Dragon Head had fallen, providing concrete evidence of his death.
A very long moment passed, and then the entire god kingdom devolved into chaos, with experts from all the factions bursting into activity. The nine Perfect Gods knew that something huge had happened. Even the most vicious expert would never dare to kill a child of primeval chaos, lest they provoke the wrath of the entire sect and cause war to break out.
Eyes bloodshot, Heroism pointed a shaky finger at Jadefall and said, “It was you, wasn’t it!? You killed Dragon Floret! You just leveled a bunch of accusations at him, and then he died! You killed him! How dare you so brazenly defy the rules of our sect!”
“Please don’t make such irresponsible remarks, oh exalted Heroism,” Jadefall replied. Inwardly, she was delighted at the fact that Yang Qi had obviously succeeded in his mission. But she didn’t let that show. “As you well know, I’ve been here with you this entire time, along with the purrling. How could I possibly have killed Dragon Floret? Didn’t he go to meet Patriarch Deva? He must have run into some trouble along the way. Besides, if I could actually kill him, why would I have come here and asked for you to punish him?”
“If Dragon Floret is dead, the most important thing is to stabilize the situation in the sect,” Arbiter Law said. He and the other two from the Law-Enforcement God-Palace were visibly taken aback. Although they suspected that Jadefall might have had something to do with Dragon Floret’s death, it was true that she had been in their presence. Furthermore, killing Dragon Floret wouldn’t have been an easy task, and without the purrling to help her, Jadefall would never have been able to pull it off.
If Jadefall were strong enough to kill Dragon Floret without the purrling, she would have long since risen to a much higher position, a position that would have ensured that Dragon Floret never caused problems for her.
“Maybe it wasn’t you, but it was definitely some of your friends,” Heroism hissed. “Lock her up immediately! And her Master too. And the purrling! Lock them all up! We need to get to the bottom of this.”
“My friends? What friends? Which of them could have killed Dragon Floret? If any of them tried to fight him, they would be the ones to die.”
“It must have been some people from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty. Aren’t you the adopted daughter of a concubine from there? You could’ve found some expert from there to help you. Admit the truth, you bitch!”
“Yes, I’m the adopted daughter of an imperial concubine from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty. But how does that make it possible for me to get experts from there to perform an assassination? Everyone knows that the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty is just using me to try to get to my purrling. Furthermore, I have almost no dealings with them. Why exactly are you trying to pin Dragon Floret's death on me? Could it be that you’re hoping to sow tension between the House of God Ordainment and the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty, ultimately starting a war?”
It was a grave accusation, but it hit home. The other Perfect Gods were already starting to wonder if what Jadefall had suggested was true, and were considering the grave consequences if it was.
If the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty really was responsible for Dragon Floret’s death, then it was highly likely that they would soon make a move on the House of God Ordainment in general. That would eventually lead to full-scale war, and possibly the extermination of the sect. If the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty really was responsible, and they wanted war, then they would take responsibility for the killing. Either way, the House of God Ordainment absolutely needed to investigate the matter to find out the truth.
That said, everyone present knew that, although the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty was domineering and tyrannical, they actually had a good relationship with the House of God Ordainment. It didn't make sense for them to do something like this. They generally did things aboveboard, crushing their opposition and using their overwhelming power to do as they wished.
Besides, if it really was an expert from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty who had killed Dragon Floret, it would have been an elite among elites. And how could Jadefall possibly order someone like that around?
“Cut the crap,” Heroism shouted. Addressing the other eight Perfect Gods, he said, “Let’s use a tracking magic to get to the bottom of this. Bring out the Archaean Mirror. Hold nothing back. We have to identify Dragon Floret’s killer. We're talking about the death of a child of primeval chaos! We can’t just let this matter slide!”
“This is a huge matter that absolutely must be investigated,” said Arbiter Punishment. “We need to find the culprit, whoever it was. If we don’t, the House of God Ordainment will have a hard time maintaining order, and will end up a laughingstock among the other sects. It will even cause a big problem for our destiny.”
“Fine, we all agree. Let’s use the Archaean Mirror.”
Heroism flashed a cruel grin in Jadefall’s direction. “If we find out you were involved... hmph!”
“Investigate all you want,” Jadefall said coolly. “If you’re upright, you don’t need to fear slanderous accusations.”
The nine Perfect Gods exhaled streams of godpower mixed with fresh blood, and as a result, the entire hall trembled. A moment later, an enormous mirror appeared, crafted from stone that was the color of primal-chaos.
However, even after the Perfect Gods powered the mirror with their vital energy, nothing appeared on its surface.
“What's going on?” one of the Perfect Gods said. “Why aren’t there any traces of the killer’s fate visible?”
They tried numerous methods, but nothing worked. Not a single image appeared of Dragon Floret or his killer.
It was as if no traces of his fate were even present.
Angry and frustrated, another of the Perfect Gods said, “This doesn’t make any sense! Even if a Paramount God manipulated the workings of heaven to do the deed, there would still be evidence left behind. Don’t tell me Patriarch Deva is the killer! Only someone like him could possibly manipulate the workings of heaven in a way we couldn’t detect.”
“It must have been Patriarch Deva,” said Arbiter Torment. “No one else could possibly have succeeded. And that means there’s no way Jadefall had anything to do with it. Even the emperor of the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty would be incapable of evading our Archaean Mirror. Only Patriarch Deva could do it.”
“Patriarch Deva.”
Even Heroism had given up suspecting Jadefall at this point. After all, if she were strong enough to evade the Archaean Mirror, she could take on the entire House of God Ordainment single-handedly.
But why would someone as powerful as Patriarch Deva want to kill Dragon Floret? It was a real mystery.
“If Patriarch Deva did kill Dragon Floret, how should we respond?” asked Arbiter Torment. “Should we try to get revenge? Perhaps... because Dragon Floret didn’t live up to his end of the bargain he made with Patriarch Deva, that’s why he was killed. Someone as invincible as Patriarch Deva could’ve killed him with the snap of a finger, and probably isn't even worried about reprisals from us.”
Meanwhile, Jadefall was laughing up her sleeve. However, she also realized she needed to get in touch with Yang Qi and make sure he knew that Patriarch Deva was going to be taking the blame for the killing. After all, if word reached Patriarch Deva, and he came to take matters into his own hands, it could lead to trouble.
“In the end, this was all caused because of Jadefall!” Heroism suddenly said. “We can’t just let her off the hook. If it weren’t for that purrling of hers, Dragon Floret would never have made a deal with Patriarch Deva, nor fallen victim to him.”
Jadefall laughed. “You sound like a criminal. Your friend tries to steal something and gets killed in the process, then you blame the victim?”
“Enough, Heroism,” said Arbiter Law. “This matter is over. For the time being, we can’t do anything about Patriarch Deva. That said, we can’t just let him off the hook, so we need to think long and hard about what to do next. Furthermore, we need to keep the truth from spreading. For now, we’ll report the matter to the houselord and start considering our next move. For all we know, Patriarch Deva might come here, in which case we’ll need the purrling to deal with him.”
Heroism let loose a cold harrumph. Flicking his sleeve, he said, “Remember, Jadefall: I'm not going to let this go. Dragon Floret’s death won't go unavenged.”
She just smiled. Later, she would tell Yang Qi all about this.
If Yang Qi could kill Dragon Floret, then he would eventually kill Heroism as well. He would definitely root out all opposition to him.
The matter having been concluded, Jadefall left. She kept to herself in her mansion grotto for a few days until Yang Qi returned.
**
Meanwhile, a secret meeting was going on.
Dragon Floret’s death had thrown the sect into complete chaos, and the faction leaders were all going crazy.
“What? Dead? Dragon Floret is dead?!”
The leaders of the Brilliant Radiance Society, Honorable Glory Society, and Preheaven Society were all discussing the latest developments.
“People are saying that Patriarch Deva did it. But I thought Patriarch Deva liked Dragon Floret. I bet Jadefall is actually behind it.”
“No. There’s no way it was Jadefall. Jadefall was in the Primeval Chaos Palace when it happened. Besides, she’s not strong enough to kill Dragon Floret.”
“There’s a lot more to this story than meets the eye,” said the leader of the Brilliant Radiance Society, “and Jadefall is a lot more mysterious than anyone realizes. Think about it. She and Dragon Floret just had an altercation, and then this happens? If I were you, Wang Xiantian, I’d start watching my back.”
Wang Xiantian’s face drained of blood. However, he still managed to talk big. “Hmph. She wouldn’t dare do a thing to me. If she killed Dragon Floret, then killed me, everyone would know she was responsible. And do you really think the sect would let the matter slide then?”