Chapter 112 The Sneak Peek: Immortal Lord Zhu Jing Must Still Be Alive

Shen Qiongzhi was only unconscious for a little over an hour before she woke up.

Yun Tianjiao kept her hand by her side. As soon as Shen Qiongzhi saw her, she grabbed her collar and questioned, "Sister Tianjiao, where are my father and brothers? You left me in the Tower of Sorrow and told me to rest assured, but why can't I find my father and brothers now that I'm out?"

"Qiongzhi, calm down." Yun Tianjiao gently held Shen Qiongzhi's hand.

Shen Qiongzhi was taken aback, only then noticing the abnormality, "Sister Tianjiao...you are...a ghost spirit now?"

Yun Tianjiao smiled bitterly, “Qiongzhi, during the time you were in Tongbei Tower, a lot happened outside. Yunchi Kingdom was destroyed, your brother became the new emperor, and Prime Minister Shen… also died in prison during the turmoil in the court.”

Shen Qiongzhi suddenly felt a glimmer of hope again, "Then...then they are in the ghost realm?"

"When Prime Minister Shen left, Zhiwei and I went into seclusion. However, I later asked the judge, who said that Prime Minister Shen's merits outweighed his sins in his life, so he did not need to be punished in hell and could choose where to go. Prime Minister Shen said that as a pillar of the Yunchi Kingdom for three dynasties, he had indirectly facilitated the Shen family's rebellion and had no face to see the Yun royal family living in the ghost realm. So he chose to cross the Naihe Bridge, drink the Meng Po soup, and be reborn."

"He...he doesn't even want to see me anymore? He just abandoned me like that?" Shen Qiongzhi stared blankly at Yun Tianjiao, feeling more and more heartbroken as she thought about it. Tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls. "Then, what about my brother? I could never sense my father, but after I entered the Tower of Sorrow, I could always sense my brother's presence. He seemed to have a certain aura about him, but why did that feeling suddenly disappear today?"

"You probably don't know this yet, but your elder brother is actually the reincarnation of the God of Ke Nian. I suppose you can sense him because he possesses powerful divine energy. After he overthrew the Yun Chi Kingdom, he became the new emperor, but because he launched a movement to destroy gods, he was assassinated by the people and suffered a backlash. After his death, he directly returned to his divine position."

"When did he return to Heaven?" Shen Qiongzhi's heart was filled with hope again. "Perhaps the reason I can't sense him is because he has returned to his divine position and entered Heaven."

Yun Tianjiao said, "Yesterday, Zhiwei and I hosted a farewell banquet for him, which was more than a day ago."

“But I only sensed his absence a few hours ago.” The light in Shen Qiongzhi’s eyes dimmed, and she suddenly grabbed Yun Tianjiao’s hand. “Sister Tianjiao, something must have happened to my brother in the Heavenly Realm. Didn’t you say that his God-Slaying Movement offended many gods? Could it be that he was retaliated against?”

Yun Tianjiao said, "Zhiwei and I originally wanted to go to the Heavenly Court to find your brother."

“Okay, take me with you!” Shen Qiongzhi said immediately.

"I'm afraid that won't work." Zhiwei walked in at that moment.

Shen Qiongzhi's face immediately darkened. "Why not?"

“Miss Shen’s resentment is now so great that she probably can’t even enter the Heavenly Realm’s barrier. If she wants to go there, she must at least cultivate to the point of suppressing her resentment.”

Shen Qiongzhi understood that Zhiwei was telling the truth, and no matter how willful she was, she had no choice but to compromise this time.

"By the way, how is Immortal Lord Zhu Jing? Have you helped him clear his name?"

Yun Tianjiao felt increasingly ashamed. It seemed that she had not been able to give Shen Qiongzhi a satisfactory answer regarding the matter she had entrusted to her.

"Zhu Jing... has been publicly executed by the Heavenly Venerable. After investigation, the Heavenly Court has confirmed that he plotted to kill you. The evidence is conclusive, and he is not to be tolerated by Heaven."

To Yun Tianjiao's surprise, Shen Qiongzhi did not seem to show sadness or anger this time; instead, her expression was strange.

“Execute him? That’s impossible. Immortal Lord Zhujing must still be alive.” Shen Qiongzhi said, taking out something from her bosom. It was a handwritten blessing given by the gods to the worshippers.

The blessing slip in Shen Qiongzhi's hand had her name written on it, and a protective talisman was written in red cinnabar on the back, along with her divine seal.

“Sister Tianjiao, look, these red runes weren’t drawn with cinnabar, but with Immortal Lord Zhujing’s own blood.” Shen Qiongzhi showed the blessing paper to Yun Tianjiao. “I’ve heard that if a god falls, everything he left in this world, including his body and blood, will vanish. But look, the runes on this blessing paper are still very clear, and the bloodstains are still there, so I think he must still be alive!”

Yun Tianjiao went to see Zhiwei, but she didn't know as much about these things as Zhiwei did.

Zhiwei's gaze lingered on the rune for a moment, then she nodded. "Miss Shen is right. Judging from the bloodstains on this blessing, Immortal Lord Zhujing should still be alive."

Yun Tianjiao frowned slightly.

This is very strange. Since Zhu Jing is still alive, was Lin Shen deliberately letting him go to cover up his crime when he executed him in public? Or did Zhu Jing have some other clever method to escape from under Lin Shen's nose?

In either case, something seems amiss.

“Alright, on this trip to the Heavenly Court, we’ll also take the opportunity to investigate and see if Zhu Jing is still there. If the real culprit who murdered you is someone else, we’ll definitely find some clues,” Yun Tianjiao said to Shen Qiongzhi.

Shen Qiongzhi nodded. She had said so much in one breath, providing all the clues she could. Her spirits slumped down, and she cried in Yun Tianjiao's arms for a long time before finally falling into a deep sleep.

After ten years of seclusion, Yun Tianjiao has now absorbed almost all of Zhiwei's ghostly essence, and his strength is now vastly different from before. In fact, in terms of the depth of his cultivation, he is much stronger than Zhiwei. Therefore, he can not only move freely in the mortal realm, but he could also easily travel to the Heavenly Court.

After leaving the Netherworld, on their way to the Heavenly Court, Zhiwei noticed that Yun Tianjiao seemed preoccupied and asked, "What is Your Highness thinking about?"

"Zhiwei, what do you think of Immortal Lord Zhujing's strength?"

Zhiwei immediately understood what Yun Tianjiao wanted to ask, "Does Your Highness suspect that he is hiding his strength?"

Yun Tianjiao nodded. "That's right. If he's still alive, either Lin Shen didn't kill him, or he deceived everyone and secretly escaped. But I really can't understand why Lin Shen would put on this show if it's the first one. If it's the second one, then his strength must be more than just that of a Celestial Lord."

Zhiwei pondered for a moment but still couldn't be sure. "During the Ascension Ceremony, I didn't notice anything unusual about him. But if he really intended to hide his strength, he must have some ulterior motive. Why would he want to make a big splash at the Ascension Ceremony?"

If Zhiwei had not appeared, Zhu Jing would have been the champion of that year's Ascension Assembly.

Yun Tianjiao said, "In any case, Lin Shen is the strangest among them. If we want to investigate, we should start with him."

Zhiwei had been a god before and had ascended to the heavens, so he was quite familiar with the ways of the heavens. They first went to Kenian's temple and successfully avoided the sentries and patrols without being discovered.

Looking around the empty Temple of Kenian, Yun Tianjiao was filled with mixed emotions.

Although she still cannot truly recall her experiences as Yu Meng, she has seen many familiar scenes in the Mirror of Reincarnation. Among the six deities besides her, Yu Meng and Kenian are the most compatible and often get together for drinks.

Therefore, this place should be a frequent haunt for those with desires.

Compared to its former splendor and magnificence, this place now resembles an abandoned, desolate palace.

“Shen Hengzhen must have come here after returning to the Heavenly Court,” Yun Tianjiao said.

Zhiwei raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh? How do you know? I just checked, and someone has cast a spell to erase all traces here. It's completely clean, without a trace left."

Yun Tianjiao pointed to a table not far away, on which were placed writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone. "The placement and habits of this arrangement are Shen Hengzhen's."

"Hmm, Your Highness really knows Kenian God Venerable very well." Zhiwei sighed, but he also knew that now was not a good time to be jealous, so he did not linger with Yun Tianjiao and went to check elsewhere.

After circling the temple of Kenian three or four times, searching every nook and cranny, the two found no clues and decided to sneak directly into the inner temple.

This is much more difficult than infiltrating the desolate temple of Kenian. The Lin Shen Temple is not only heavily guarded, but if Lin Shen were still in the temple at this time, almost every corner of the temple would be under the surveillance of his divine sense.

To narrow down the target, Yun Tianjiao transformed into a black cat, while Zhiwei transformed herself into a wisp of ghost spirit without a physical form and attached herself to the black cat.

Zhiwei gave his ghost body to Yun Tianjiao. The reason he was still alive was because he had hundreds of years of internal energy supporting him, and most importantly, he had cultivated divine essence.

Therefore, he covered the ghostly aura of the two with the aura of divine essence, making Yun Tianjiao's aura similar to that of an ordinary celestial beast.

Yun Tianjiao was still a little nervous. In her existing memories, she had lived a proud and domineering life for nearly twenty years and had never done anything so sneaky before.

She emerged from the Temple of Kenian on all fours, looking around furtively. As she turned a corner on a celestial street, she bumped into two celestial beings of the highest rank, which frightened her so much that she froze on the spot.

However, the two immortals merely glanced at her casually before walking straight past, still whispering amongst themselves.

Yun Tianjiao's cat ears twitched, and he vaguely heard them mention Ke Nian's name, so he quietly followed them.

"Hey, Lord Kenian just returned, how could he be dead already?"

"Who knows? I guess the worshippers have all left and the incense has completely died out. After all, it's been almost a hundred years since he was banished to the mortal realm. He's probably been reincarnated several times by now. Those worshippers from back then probably don't even remember him anymore."

"Pah! Let him court death. He thinks he's a god, yet he's stirring up this 'destroy the gods' movement. Isn't he just asking for trouble?"

"Exactly! Now look what happened, he's met a gruesome end, and I wonder who will take over his job."

"You didn't know? Your information is so outdated!"

"Huh? Has someone already been chosen?"

"It is said that the appointment of Qingyuan God will be announced at the court meeting tomorrow, and Qingyuan God will be appointed as the next God of Learning."

"Is that Qingyuan... who disappeared after Mugo appeared? When did he come back?"

"Not long, it seems like he only came back for a few days."

"Oh, he's come back at just the right time."