Chapter 26: Self-Severing His Cultivation?

Pei Su's expression remained unchanged as he gestured for Banxia to continue.

"So the heretic cult's infiltration of the capital was never about launching a night raid on the Hall of Heavenly Worship — their actual target was Xiao Lin, who was guarding the Hall of Heavenly Worship that day?!"

Banxia continued following Pei Su's line of reasoning, but a moment later her face filled with confusion.

"Young Lord, how would Xiao Lin have come to possess an Infant Poison Bead?"

If Xiao Lin truly carried an Infant Poison Bead on his person, then indeed, no poison in the world could harm him in the slightest — whether it was the Soul-Devouring Powder from twenty years ago or the Nether Poison currently afflicting Elder Wu, all of it could be absorbed and purified by the Infant Poison Bead...

And yet...

Pei Su smiled faintly.

"That Infant Poison Bead is the thread connecting the night raid on the Hall of Heavenly Worship with the theft of the divine blade — it is the very thing that strings together every suspicious point surrounding Xiao Lin."

Pei Su licked the corner of his mouth, like a hunter who had been pursuing prey and suddenly caught the scent of something far more appetizing.

"Even Grandfather would never have imagined that the Deputy Commander Xiao — who served in the imperial palace for decades before inadvertently becoming entangled in the Pei Clan's schemes — was in fact... a spy planted in the imperial palace of the capital by another power entirely."

Banxia held her breath and listened as Pei Su continued.

"Whether Qingxuzi truly possesses the Tortoise Breath technique, I cannot say — but I do know that three hundred years ago, the heretic cult's dreaded Skeleton Goat possessed a technique called [Congealed Blood Viscera], which is precisely a form of the Tortoise Breath art...

"And that Infant Poison Bead — it had been in the hands of jianghu heretic cults for hundreds of years. When Zhuge Qing first extracted the name 'Infant Poison Bead' through interrogation, the entire court was baffled: how could such a vile and sinister object exist within the upright and dignified imperial palace?

"Even our Pei Clan harbored private doubts — the Infant Poison Bead was a heretic cult artifact to begin with, so why were they crying thief? At the time, our clan did not investigate further, and like most court officials, we dismissed Zhuge Qing as incompetent, assuming he had tortured out a false confession...

"Looking back now, the Infant Poison Bead was on Xiao Lin all along, not in the Hall of Heavenly Worship. And Xiao Lin carried both the Infant Poison Bead and the Congealed Blood Viscera technique — gifts from the heretic cult — yet was later targeted for assassination by that very same cult. The most likely explanation is simply this...

"He was originally a spy for the heretic cult, who entered the imperial palace carrying the poison bead — but then he defected from the cult and threw himself wholeheartedly into his role as Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard!"

At this point, Pei Su could not help but let out a low laugh.

"After the night raid on the Hall of Heavenly Worship failed, Xiao Lin became even more cautious, remaining in the capital year-round. The heretic cult naturally had no opportunity to act, but they were certainly biding their time — they never exposed Xiao Lin either, unwilling to let the court get its hands on the Infant Poison Bead...

"Until twenty years ago, the reformed Deputy Commander Xiao inadvertently became entangled in our clan's scheme of 'Dragon-Sparrow Heading North,' and was drawn into a power struggle a hundred times darker than any jianghu vendetta...

"After that, he first used the Tortoise Breath to feign death, then used the poison bead to purge the toxin from his body, and finally drew his blade and walked away.

"He was a heretic cult spy — he received the Tortoise Breath technique from the cult, and he possessed the Infant Poison demonic artifact. This explains why he survived the poisoning all those years ago, why he held no genuine reverence for the Son of Heaven, why his methods were ruthless and unlike those of ordinary court officials, and why — fearing capture by the heretic cult — he dared not flee into the jianghu."

By the time Pei Su finished, Banxia stood dumbstruck, her expression shifting slightly.

"How could this be..."

She had assumed he was merely a minor imperial guard officer — yet it turned out he was also entangled with another colossus: the Skeleton Goat heretic cult, whose name sent shockwaves through the entire world.

Pei Su smiled lightly:

"And if we follow this line of reasoning all the way to its conclusion — what do we find?

"You'll discover that Xiao Lin set a perfect trap for us. He has a method to purge poison; he has the Tortoise Breath technique. These two extraordinary arts alone are enough to turn what seemed like a dead end into a path of survival.

"Come to think of it, it bears a certain resemblance to the little trick he pulled the first time — he abducted Zhao Lan, left behind a final testament in front of him, and made a point of emphasizing that he had preserved only a single drop of imperial blood. Then he feigned death with the Tortoise Breath, slipped away after Zhao Lan left the room, purged the poison from his body, and vanished completely under a new identity. From that day on, there would be no Xiao Zhongyong left in this world!"

Pei Su chuckled.

"What a perfect ending he had planned. He knew full well that Zhao Lan would inevitably be captured by us, and the final testament he left was prepared precisely for that moment — our clan would find that the small Heavenly Palace Stone that had witnessed the Emperor's skull had been burned to ash without a trace, and that no imperial blood existed at all. Naturally, we would stop searching for him..."

"And all he had to sacrifice was one divine blade Dragon-Sparrow, and one adopted son — turning a dead game into a living one. What a masterful stroke of resurrection."

Banxia exhaled slowly after a long pause, her eyes trembling.

"How cunning! Both the Infant Poison Bead and the Tortoise Breath technique are things that lie entirely beyond ordinary human comprehension. Without you, Young Lord, Elder Wu alone would almost certainly have fallen completely for Xiao Lin's scheme."

"Indeed. Had he not used the exact same trick twenty years ago, I would never have thought to question it, never have sent people to investigate, and never have uncovered so many more suspicious points and clues."

Pei Su shook his head with a smile.

"Xiao Zhongyong, Xiao Zhongyong — you worked so hard to escape the heretic cult and walk the righteous path of the court, only to witness the darkness lurking beneath the surface of all that splendor... The fault lies with our Pei Clan. The fault lies with our Pei Clan."

Though Pei Su said these words, his eyes continued to gleam with undisguised excitement.

Because that was the Infant Poison Bead!

In Pei Su's eyes, it held even greater appeal than the divine blade Dragon-Sparrow — especially if one could refine from it the legendary "Blood Infant Heart-Corrosion"...

That was a ranked poison in the top four of the Hundred Poisons Rankings. According to legend, the top eleven poisons on the Hundred Poisons Rankings were separated from the remaining eighty-nine by a difference of an entirely different quality.

And among those eleven, the top four transcended the mortal realm entirely — their potency and strangeness so extreme that they were known as "Immortal-Felling Poisons," meaning that even legendary immortals were said to fall before them.

Suddenly, Banxia seemed to think of something, and asked with a trace of unease:

"Young Lord! What about Xiao Lin now...?"

"His current whereabouts are indeed being tracked by Elder Wu — but you'd never guess what has happened these past few days. It has been quite the spectacle!"

Upon hearing that Xiao Lin's whereabouts were under Elder Wu's watch, Banxia let out a small sigh of relief.

A Heavenly Palace Realm powerhouse like that, if he went berserk and launched a desperate surprise attack on the Young Lord, would be terribly troublesome to deal with. At least things were under control now.

Pei Su noticed the faint tension in Banxia's brow and smiled calmly.

"On the day Xiao Lin faked his death, the county in question was Wutian County. I had Elder Wu place four Heavenly Palace Stones at four border passes — though at that point, I was not yet as certain as I am now..."

Banxia's eyes curved into a smile.

"Young Lord truly thinks of everything!"

But Pei Su slowly shook his head, glancing at the information on the bamboo scroll, and said:

"No — he nearly slipped away regardless. Before his escape from Lin'an Commandery, Xiao Lin had already sensed the presence of the Heavenly Palace Stones. Seven days ago, when he was passing through the border pass of Wutian Commandery, perhaps to ensure absolute certainty, he self-severed his cultivation down to the eighth tier of the Heavenly Palace Realm — so in truth, the Heavenly Palace Stones did not detect him."

"He self-severed his Heavenly Palace cultivation!"

Banxia cried out in shock, utterly stunned by Pei Su's words.

One had to understand — the reason Xiao Lin was such a thorny suspect in the first place was precisely because he was a Heavenly Palace Realm powerhouse, and not just any Heavenly Palace cultivator, but one at the exceptionally rare eighth tier of the Heavenly Palace Realm!

Even across the entirety of Great Jin, he ranked among the absolute elite.

Earth Fiend Realm cultivators were formidable in their own right, but Great Jin was not short of them — especially in the capital, where the finest talents of the dynasty gathered. Earth Fiend cultivators, while not common, were hardly remarkable there.

But an Earth Fiend cultivator who could break through to the Heavenly Palace Realm was one in ten thousand. Once that Breakthrough was achieved, one became a first-rate powerhouse who could look down upon all of Great Jin and ascend to the very pinnacle of the clouds.

Even in the capital, where dragon energy coiled and surged, such a person could walk with their head held high — whether noble scions or court officials, all would be willing to befriend them and show them respect.

To say nothing of the eighth tier of the Heavenly Palace Realm — high-tier Heavenly Palace, just two steps from the threshold of Heaven-Man, one step from becoming a true overlord.

Xiao Lin's eighth-tier Heavenly Palace cultivation — though he had appeared somewhat bedraggled before Elder Wu — meant that ninety-nine percent of the military officers in the capital could not even be placed in his eyes.

And yet now, merely to ensure absolute certainty, he had self-severed his eighth-tier Heavenly Palace cultivation...

That was, to say the least, an act of terrifying ruthlessness and decisiveness.