Chapter 298 The Most Perfect EvidenceIn the Sky Academy, the hospital was the closest to the training ground.
That could make sure that in training and actual combats, no matter what kind of accidents happened to the students, the doctors in the hospital could rush to help immediately.
The hospital was very small with no sign board. It looked just like an ordinary white building with five stories. It stood under the night sky, looking exquisite.
There wouldn’t be many patients in the hospital in normal days.
But the ones who needed to go to the hospital were surely those seriously injured.
Some core members of the East Emperor Palace were staying there currently.
Li Tianlan stood in the hall of the hospital with no expression on his face, waiting for the lift that was descending slowly.
Till that moment, his mood was very calm.
He felt so calm that it started to shock him.
In the past three years when he went missing, he never made contact with anybody or thought about the East Emperor Palace.
He didn’t think about anything but Martial Arts.
In a situation like that, Li Tianlan wouldn’t be surprised if the East Emperor Palace had disappeared or was dismissed.
He didn’t expect that the East Emperor Palace was still there and even became one of the four superpowers of the younger generation.
It wasn’t his so-called halo of Zhongzhou State’s Heavenly Son that pushed the East Emperor Palace that far, especially after he went missing.
That was the result of the few core members of the East Emperor Palace working hard together.
The Southeast Special Warfare Headquarters had been established.
The authority above them was pressing them down quietly.
The other three superpowers were eyeing them with hostility.
Days were tough in the East Emperor Palace.
Otherwise those important figures wouldn’t have gotten seriously injured.
It was good to be injured.
As long as they were alive and together, everything was fine.
Like what he said to Zhuang Huayang: I’m back.
He was back, everything would change.
The elevator descended to the first floor.
The elevator door opened.
An extremely beautiful and cold woman in her thirties walked out of the elevator.
The woman was mature, but her skin was still tender and soft. She looked very pretty and had a curvy, lovely body. But the coldness and arrogance in her would make most of the men step back.
Li Tianlan took a look at her. After freezing for a second, he realized that he had forgotten her name. He frowned and said calmly, “Sensei Qin.”
“Tianlan? Ah, no, Young Governor.”
Qin Ke seemed to be surprised. She had prepared herself in advance, but meeting Li Tianlan himself still surprised her a lot. “I heard from Huayu that you are back, welcome.”
“Thank you.”
Li Tianlan nodded. He knew that Qin Ke joined Sigh City because of Tribulation. With Sigh City’s foundation, even though Qin Ke wasn’t at the peak of the Thunder-shocking Realm, she was a very important person in it.
“Baitian was sent inside for examination, I’m afraid you can’t see him. Xu Chu and the rest are in room six on the fifth floor; I just left there. I heard that you hurt Gu Yunxia seriously and was about to go and check, is it settled yet?”
Qin Ke asked softly. It seemed that she wanted to smile, but the uplift angle of her mouth seemed too stiff.
Their first meeting wasn’t a pleasant one. At the moment they were in the same superpower; Qin Ke felt extremely complicated about it, and she was used to deal with everything with her cold att.i.tude. She seemed to have forgotten about smiling.
“It’s settled.”
Li Tianlan nodded.
Right after he finished his sentence, he heard a violent shaking sound from the direction of the training ground.
Li Tianlan remained calm.
But Qin Ke turned around in astonishment.
Through the huge floor window of the hospital, she could see what happened in the training ground clearly.
It was dark in the training ground under the night sky.
But something had lit up in the sky.
The blue thunderbolt was blooming and spreading along with the raging thunder.
The thunderbolt lit up the sky; the whole training ground was shiny and bright.
The stern and heavy giant sword blade was formed in the thunderbolt, then it chopped down hard.
During the loud booming sound, in the distance, there were only explosive lightning and flames in Qin Ke’s sight. She couldn’t see anything else.
“Sword of Emperor Path?! Who’s there?”
Qin Ke screamed subconsciously.
But no one answered her question.
Li Tianlan had walked into the elevator.
The elevator went straight up to the fifth floor.
Li Tianlan walked out of the elevator with empty hands but didn’t feel anything wrong. He found room number six, opened the door and walked in.
Room number six was a suite.
n.o.body was in the exquisite living room.
He heard faint sounds of people talking from deep within the bed-ward.
Li Tianlan’s eyes suddenly softened; he pushed open the door and walked in.
The bed-ward had a very large s.p.a.ce.
It was even bigger than the living room outside. That was supposed to be a separate room, but at the moment there were three beds in it. Xu Chu and Ning Qiancheng were lying separately on their beds with drippings attached to their arms. The innermost bed had just been placed there; it seemed to be for Li Baitian.
Yu Qingyan was sitting next to Ning Qiancheng. After three years, the young teenage girl still looked young, but there was a bit more matureness in her. Her face looked exhausted, but her smile was bright. She was talking to Ning Qiancheng about something.
The Group Leader of Actual Combat Lesson in the Sky Academy Bai Youming was casually leaning on the wall and peeling a fruit with the fruit knife. She looked relaxed, but the light but sharp killing intent in her was stronger than ever.
Hearing the sound of the door, they turned around at the same time and looked over to the door.
Li Tianlan stood there, looking at everyone in the room with a calm and soft smile on his face.
The room became silent for a second.
Li Tianlan laughed and said, “Long time no see.”
“f.u.c.k!”
Ning Qiancheng, who was originally quiet and calm cursed directly. He laughed and cursed. “Who’s this? Somebody remind me, after all this time, I don’t even recognize him.”
“Big Brother Li!”
Yu Qingyan stood up and said with her joyful voice.
Xu Chu called him Young Master and struggled to sit up. But right after he moved his body, Bai Youming threw the fruit at him.
The apple hit Xu Chu’s head and bounced out far away. Xu Chu lied back down, but he was still looking at Li Tianlan with a goofy smile.
Even if Ye Huayu had prepared them by telling them Li Tianlan had come back just then, they seemed really surprised when seeing him.
“I’m back.”
Li Tianlan said softly. He looked at Ning Qiancheng and Xu Chu and asked them, “How are your injuries?”
“I’m alright, First Senior Brother’s injury is more serious.”
Ning Qiancheng shook his head, a bit of cold light flashed in his eyes.
Compared to Li Baitian who may reach the Invincible Realm, Ning Qiancheng had slightly less potential. At the moment he had just surpa.s.sed the peak of the Fire-flaming Realm and started to enter the Thunder-shocking Realm. But he was always calm and peaceful about everything, and he had deep foundation. He was just in the Half-step Thunder-shocking Realm, but he was no worse than the superiors of the Thunder-shocking Realm.
Li Tianlan walked over and checked Ning Qiancheng’s wound.
Ning Qiancheng wore a loose patient uniform. He pulled his clothes aside and saw a faint sword wound on his chest.
That was a wound that reached from his shoulder to his chest, then to his ribs.
The wound was very deep, but its trail was strange.
People with common sense would know that a wound like that wasn’t caused by a sword blade; it was caused by sword energy.
Li Tianlan’s eyes rolled around.
Looking at that wound, he could even picture how Ning Qiancheng had gotten hurt.
It was a clear and sharp sword light.
The sword light travelled very far, but it appeared in front of Ning Qiancheng at the fastest speed.
Ning Qiancheng didn’t choose to defend himself, but attacked out of instinct.
The sword light chopped on Ning Qiancheng’s body instantly and cut his defense open.
Ning Qiancheng moved his body aside.
So the sword strike hit on his shoulder and chopped him away; the whole sword light was printed on his chest.
Li Tianlan’s eyes were still calm.
But the s.p.a.ce in the room became heavy quietly.
The s.p.a.ce gathered toward Li Tianlan quietly.
Li Tianlan looked at the wound on Ning Qiancheng’s chest softly.
“Is there another one?”
He asked suddenly.
Ning Qiancheng switched a position in an uncomfortable way.
At that moment, he actually felt nervous.
Underneath Li Tianlan’s calm surface, he could feel his extreme killing thirst and cruelty.
That was the coldness and anger that could tear everything down; wild, fierce and cold.
“The real injury is on the back.”
Xu Chu suddenly said with a low voice, “Young Master, Qiancheng took that wound on his back for me. If it weren’t for him, I might not have come back alive.”
Li Tianlan moved his body.
He didn’t look at the wound on Ning Qiancheng’s back; he didn’t need to.
Ning Qiancheng and Xu Chu lying there was more persuasive than any wound.
Yu Qingyan pa.s.sed her chair to Li Tianlan.
Li Tianlan sat down casually and looked at the two people on the beds.
He could tell that whether Xu Chu or Ning Qiancheng, they were both freshly injured, at least it happened not long ago.
“Was it Song Ci?”
Li Tianlan thought about the discussion he just heard and asked with a smile.
Bai Youming suddenly felt cold in the bed-ward.
It was bone-piercing cold.
Ning Qiancheng and Xu Chu changed their faces at the same time.
Ning Qiancheng held his fists tight subconsciously; there was bitterness in his eyes.
“Who’s Song Ci?”
Li Tianlan continued to ask.
Before he left, he had never heard of that person or seen her in the final battle of Heaven Capital.
“The oldest daughter of the Song family in Beihai, twenty-eight years old, superior at the peak of the Thunder-shocking Realm.”
Bai Youming suddenly said, “She grew up after you left, in the final battle of Heaven Capital; the Sky Academy and the Deep-sea Academy both faced great losses. In the few months since the two academies started their school year, a lot of teenage superiors joined the two academies. Song Ci… probably got into the Deep-sea Academy a month after you left. At that time, she had just entered the Thunder-shocking Realm.”
“Sounds impressive.”
Li Tianlan nodded.
“Tianlan, you need to be careful. Song Ci’s appearance is very strange. The few wealthy families in Beihai Province are like the dependencies of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai. There was never any superior from the Song family in the past few hundred years, since their specialty isn’t Martial Arts. So the appearance of Song Ci is very strange.”
Bai Youming said with serious tone, “She can be considered one of the most powerful superiors in the younger generation. I heard from my father that Song Ci seems to have a connection with Devil Troop.”
Li Tianlan seemed confused. “Devil Troop? What’s that?”
“I don’t know.”
Bai Youming shrugged and said with a bitter smile, “Even in the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, it’s one of the legendary foundation powers. If the Heaven Punishment Troop is currently the most powerful troop in the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, then Devil Troop would be the most mysterious one. It’s so mysterious that n.o.body even knows whether it’s real or not. Song Ci is too mysterious. Even when she was in Beihai Province, n.o.body heard anything about her. If Devil Troop really exists, it’s very likely that Song Ci is an elite from Devil Troop.”
Li Tianlan took a deep breath and said calmly, “Did Song Ci hurt you?”
Xu Chu answered with a yes in his deep voice.
The muscle on Ning Qiancheng’s face twitched hard; he looked awkward and ashamed, but he still told him the truth. “Tianlan, please don’t take revenge now. Song Ci is indeed very powerful. In that battle, First Senior Brother and I didn’t last more than three minutes in front of her…”
“It’s alright.”
Li Tianlan interrupted Ning Qiancheng. “Focus on healing, we can deal with other things when you feel better.”
He stood up and walked around in the bed-ward, then suddenly said, “I heard some discussion outside, the three young superpowers united and fought against East Emperor Palace? Why?”
“Because of school credits.”
Yu Qingyan brought him a gla.s.s of water and said softly, “Our credits are too high. Rumor has it that Three Thousand World and Jilei Mountain seem about to have merged into one. Their credits together are about eighty thousand. After the merger, there will be deduction of credits. But if they could win every battle in the final maneuver, their final credits will be close to the ones of East Emperor Palace. If that’s the case, Three Thousand World and Phantom Palace will merge into one by then. If the three superpowers unite, their credits can surpa.s.s the ones of East Emperor Palace.”
“Isn’t it hard to swallow Phantom Palace?”
Li Tianlan asked blandly.
“It’s all a transaction. Nothing is impossible. And it will be Phantom Palace’s credits being swallowed.”
Ning Qiancheng moved his body and said calmly, “People in Phantom Palace can quit anytime.”
“They don’t trust you entirely.”
Bai Youming said.
Li Tianlan just let out a cold laugh, but didn’t say anything.
Three Thousand World, Jilei Mountain, Phantom Palace, plus the credits of the final maneuver. Once they merged into one, it would be easy for them to surpa.s.s East Emperor Palace. By then, a new power would be established in Huating. Plus, the Southeast Special Warfare Headquarter, there would be a double block to the development of East Emperor Palace.
And beating East Emperor Palace before the final maneuver would bring down the attention drawn to East Emperor Palace, smearing its reputation.
Everything was effective.
But it would work only if he didn’t return.
“I see.”
Li Tianlan stayed silent for a while and said blandly.
“Now you…”
Bai Youming seemed hesitant, but still asked him anyway, “Tianlan, how powerful are you right now?”
Li Tianlan thought about it and said blandly, “I can beat them all.”
Right then he had no realm, so it was hard for him to answer that kind of question.
He just restarted three years ago.
But in those three years, he went on a completely different path.
For others, Martial Arts was a steep mountain to climb on.
But for Li Tianlan right then, it was a smooth road.
He had been in and out of the Invincible Realm, he restarted his practice twice, his foundation was incredibly deep at the moment.
So, even if he restarted everything, he had figured out his future.
He skipped the polishing of the foundation and exploration in Martial Arts.
His path had gotten broad and straight.
Most importantly, he had the dragon vein in him, the indescribable destiny would support him on the path of Martial Arts.
Li Tianlan suddenly thought about that period of most the dangerous time when he was in the polar region.
He touched his arms subconsciously, trying to remember the sharp pain he felt in the polar region; that powerlessness and the indescribable itch.
There was fear and also excitement in his eyes.
Someone opened the door of the bed-ward from outside.
Zhuang Huayang walked in with a serious face along with Cool Breeze.
Li Tianlan raised his eyebrows and nodded at Zhuang Huayang.
“You killed Gu Yunxia after all.”
Zhuang Huayang nodded at the rest of the people causally, then laid his eyes on Li Tianlan; there were complication and fear in them.
“Gu Yunxia is dead.”
Li Tianlan said in a bland tone. It was a statement rather than a question.
“There is no corpse! Do you know what this means?!”
Zhuang Huayang tried to suppress his anger. “Gu Yunxia was a special figure in Kunlun City!”
“Sword of Emperor Path?”
Li Tianlan asked.
“Sword of Emperor Path! Stop pretending!”
Zhuang Huayang was more and more furious.
Li Tianlan was still calm. “Then Princ.i.p.al, you should go to the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, Sword of Emperor Path isn’t a unique technique from the Li family.”
“Ridiculous!”
Zhuang Huayang yelled while staring at Li Tianlan furiously. “This is not something about unique techniques. Sword of Emperor Path indeed belongs to the w.a.n.g family of Beihai, but Great Void Sword Intent also belongs to Mount Shu. Tianlan, you used Great Void Sword Intent to hurt Gu Youlan and Gu Yunxia, what’s your excuse?”
Li Tianlan looked emotionless, and didn’t say a word.
Cool Breeze looked at Li Tianlan quietly.
Right then, Li Tianlan seemed pretty normal.
It seemed there was nothing wrong with him.
Cool Breeze’s eyes were wandering.
Zhuang Huayang took a deep breath and said with a calmer tone, “Tianlan, I didn’t come here to blame you. But Gu Yunxia’s death is a problem. We have to figure something out to solve it.”
“Did anyone see me kill Gu Yunxia?”
Li Tianlan suddenly asked.
“This is not the point!”
Zhuang Huayang said seriously, “Sword of Emperor Path is indeed a unique technique of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai instead of the Li family. But you mastered the Great Void Sword Intent of Mount Shu, so it’s possible that you would master the Sword of Emperor Path of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai. Not only me, everyone else believes this. And among everyone at that place, n.o.body could launch such a scary sword strike but you. If you don’t explain this well, not only Kunlun City, the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and Mount Shu will come after you!”
“That wasn’t Great Void Sword Intent.”
Li Tianlan stayed silent for a while, then said blandly, “Everyone could see that. It was simulated Great Void Sword Intent; it wasn’t the real one. So was it the fake sword intent that killed Gu Yunxia?”
Zhuang Huayang was stunned.
He thought about the terrifying sword light before Gu Yunxia’s death.
Stern, arrogant, heavy, like the irresistible power of a king.
That was the real Sword of Emperor Path.
And the Great Void Sword Intent from Li Tianlan didn’t really seem the way it should be.
Simulated sword intent…
Zhuang Huayang suddenly realized something.
He suddenly thought about a power group, a popular unique technique.
The most popular and famous power group and unique technique in the Dark World from recent years.
That power group was Purgatory of Heaven Capital.
That unique technique that could simulate sword intent came from Purgatory of Heaven Capital. It was called Empty & Infinite!
“How many kinds of sword intent can you simulate?”
Zhuang Huayang asked calmly.
“Countless kinds.”
Li Tianlan said in a bland tone, “But I can only simulate nine kinds at the same time.”
He learned new Martial Arts after completely figuring out the 24 Moves of Sword.
After completely figuring out the 24 Moves of Sword, he naturally learned something about some derived directions from the 24 Moves of Sword.
The Great Void Sword Intent he simulated could absolutely be explained.
But the real Sword of Emperor Path couldn’t be explained.
He indeed had mastered the Sword of Emperor Path and even used it once in Heaven Capital, but the people who saw him doing that wouldn’t expose him.
Apart from that, only w.a.n.g Xiaoyao knew that he had mastered the Sword of Emperor Path.
But w.a.n.g Xiaoyao wouldn’t tell others, either.
Zhuang Huayang narrowed his eyes and said softly, “No matter what, you are the biggest suspect of Gu Yunxia’s death, this…”
“It wasn’t Young Governor.”
A clear voice suddenly rang out from the door of the bed-ward.
Qin Ke appeared in front of everyone.
She looked at her grandpa, shook her head and said softly, “Gu Yunxia’s death has nothing to do with Young Governor. I can vouch for that.”
Zhuang Huayang let out a bitter laugh and said helplessly, “How can you vouch for that?”
Qin Ke thought about it and said slowly, “I saw the Sword of Emperor Path. If Gu Yunxia was killed by that sword strike, then it had nothing to do with Young Governor. Because at that time, he was in the hospital, I was with him.”
Qin Ke said slowly, “The monitor system in the hospital can also prove that.”
The monitor in the hospital.
That was the most perfect evidence.