Chapter 18 — The Abyssal King Returns

At noon on the third day, the square in front of Huyền Khương Hall was filled with people, from civil and military mandarins standing solemnly on both sides, to thousands of ordinary people who were allowed to stand in the distance and observe, all holding their breath waiting for the historic moment that was about to happen. Cố Thanh Vũ sat on a high pedestal next to the vacant throne, his eyes sparkling with satisfaction when he saw Bách Uyên's solitary figure walking from the end of the square, just as he requested.

"Impostor, you dare to come." Cố Thanh Vũ raised his voice throughout the square, full of mock contempt performed in front of the crowd. "Today, in front of all the courtiers and common people, you will have to pay the price for the crime of neglecting social rules and tampering with the destiny of heaven for the past seven years."

Bách Uyên walked to the middle of the square, stopping a few feet away from the high pedestal. His eyes scanned the surrounding crowd, trying to find signs of his daughter. "Where is my daughter? You promised to bring her out if I arrived on time."

Cố Thanh Vũ waved his hand, Hắc Diệu and a subordinate escorted Tiểu Yên from behind the high platform to the front of the square. Her hands and feet were still tied, her face was pale with fear, but when she saw her father, her eyes immediately lit up with hope.

"Father!" Tiểu Yên screamed and tried to struggle but was held tightly.

"Tiểu Yên!" Bách Uyên quickly stepped forward, but was immediately stopped by dozens of soldiers, spears pointed straight at him.

"Hold still there." Cố Thanh Vũ smiled coldly. "You promised to kneel and surrender, now keep your promise, if you don't want to see your daughter die right before your eyes." Bách Uyên gritted his teeth and knelt down in the middle of the square, before the stunned eyes of thousands of witnesses. But as soon as his knees touched the ground, he raised his head high, his voice resounding with majesty undiminished even in a kneeling position.

"I kneel here, not because I submit to you, but because of my love for my daughter. But before you execute that innocent child, I have the right to tell the truth that you have hidden for the past seven years, before all the courtiers and people present here."

Cố Thanh Vũ frowned slightly, but remained calm, believing that no evidence could overturn the situation that had been carefully arranged by him. "You keep talking, no matter what you say, it won't change today's outcome."

"Seven years ago, the night my daughter was born was also the night Princess Điền Nguyệt Hinh passed away." Bách Uyên raised his voice, echoing throughout the square. "But she didn't die from difficult childbirth like what was rumored. She was poisoned, by the person sitting on that high pedestal, so that he could secretly place a dark contract on my daughter without anyone knowing."

Murmurs arose throughout the square, many ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. Diệp Uyên Thanh, standing among the crowd in disguise, stepped out, her voice rang out clearly even though she was shaking with tension.

"I am Diệp Uyên Thanh, once in charge of the royal archives. I witnessed with my own eyes Cố Thanh Vũ secretly leaving the royal princess's delivery room on that fateful night. This is the royal princess's diary, along with my notes, please present it to the royal court for consideration."

She held up the diary and notepad. A neutral minister standing nearby, who had received a copy of the evidence in advance, stepped forward to take it, and loudly read the most important passages for the entire square to hear. As each word was read, the crowd became more and more excited. The eyes that were originally curious now gradually turned into anger, directed towards Cố Thanh Vũ.

"Slander! This is all fake evidence staged by the rebel gang!" Cố Thanh Vũ shouted, stood up from the high pedestal, feeling that the situation was gradually slipping out of his control. "At this point, I don't need to be discreet anymore. Kill the child first, deal with the remaining rebels later!"

He pulled out from his chest the black stone token engraved with strange runes that he had kept for the past seven years like the last card he had never had to use, raised it high, a dark aura immediately burst out from the token, rushing straight towards Tiểu Yên who was tied up in the middle of the square. Familiar black lines immediately flared up violently on her skin, making her scream in pain.

"No!" Bách Uyên shouted and rushed towards her child but was stopped by soldiers.

Right at that critical moment, Thục Di, who had hidden in the crowd as planned, immediately tore off her disguise, flew over the heads of the soldiers with the most skillful movements she had ever practiced, and landed right next to Tiểu Yên. She did not hesitate to cut a line on her palm, letting fresh blood drip straight down to the chest area where black lines were raging on the child's body.

A magical silver-white light burst out from where Thục Di's blood touched Tiểu Yên's skin, directly conflicting with the black aura from Cố Thanh Vũ's command token. The two energy sources violently opposed each other, creating invisible shock waves that caused the entire square to step back, terrified by the unprecedented scene. The bricks and stones under Tiểu Yên's feet cracked into spider web-shaped cracks, stone dust rose up in the twilight, the deafening hiss of two streams of fighting energy echoed throughout the square like the sound of steel grinding against stone, causing many people standing nearby to cover their ears and kneel down due to invisible pressure choking their chests.

"No way! Pure Spirit Clan bloodline, how can it still exist?!" Cố Thanh Vũ screamed, his face changed in horror when he realized what was hindering his plan.

At the moment the chaos broke out, Chu Bách Thành shouted the predetermined signal, hundreds of former gods and disguised soldiers in the crowd simultaneously tore off their disguises, pulled out hidden weapons, and rushed straight to suppress the soldiers loyal to Cố Thanh Vũ who were guarding the square. A large-scale battle broke out right in front of Huyền Khương Hall, the sound of clashing weapons and screams echoed throughout the solemn space.

Cố Thanh Vũ, realizing that the situation was completely out of control, roared in anger, personally using the profound magic power accumulated during his seven years in power, rushed down from the high pedestal, aiming straight at Bách Uyên with the intention of personally finishing off the biggest enemy in his life before it was too late.

"You don't have a single trace of magic power left, I will show you the difference between a truly strong person and someone who has lost everything!" He roared, a powerful palm aimed straight at Bách Uyên who had not an inch of iron in his hand.

"Are you still talking about strength, Cố Thanh Vũ?" Bách Uyên shouted back, dodging to the side just as the powerful palm blast tore through the space where he had just stood, shattering a yard-thick slab of stone that was an inch thick. "Forty years ago, you knelt before the dragon pedestal because of a sentence from the emperor. I know that story, because my father himself told it, and saw it as a lesson on how to use people. You hate because of your bloodline, but you forget, the person with the noblest bloodline in this square today is a seven-year-old child that you are trying to kill with a token, not with the true bravery in your hands."

"Shut up!" Cố Thanh Vũ roared, his anger causing the next palm force he unleashed to become more and more out of control, no longer able to maintain the cold calculation that he had for forty years of hiding. He is a schemer, a man who uses words and tricks to climb to the pinnacle of power, and has never actually led an army into battle like Bách Uyên. The magic power in his body, although profound, is still just something borrowed from his position as Regent, and has never been tempered through real life and death combat.

Bách Uyên realized that right from the first move. He did not dodge just to preserve his life, but deliberately enticed him, so that every time Cố Thanh Vũ swung his palm, he had to expend a little more strength because of his escalating anger, like an angered animal losing more and more of its wisdom, losing more and more of its ability to keep its reserves for itself.

Right at that moment, a figure rushed from the side, using his body to absorb part of the force of the palm of his hand, pushing Bách Uyên to the side to avoid the fatal blow. That was Chu Bách Thành, despite his old age, he still retained some of his old strength, growling through broken breaths due to pain.

"Your Majesty, quickly retreat, this is not a battlefield for someone who no longer has magic power!"

"No, I won't hide anymore!" Bách Uyên stood up, his eyes quickly scanned around the chaotic square, realizing that right next to there was a rack of ceremonial weapons used for decoration, he quickly grabbed a bronze long spear, although not a sharp weapon, it was heavy and long enough to create distance from the opponent.

"You think a decoration can stop me?" Cố Thanh Vũ smirked, waved his hand and prepared to unleash his second palm.

But Bách Uyên has no intention of direct confrontation. He used all of his hundreds of years of combat experience, flexibly dodging amid the chaotic crowd, using the bodies of the fighting soldiers as obstacles, forcing Cố Thanh Vũ to be cautious and not dare to arbitrarily release his palms indiscriminately for fear of causing casualties to his own soldiers in the crowded crowd.

At the same time, the silvery white light from Thục Di's bloodline was still struggling fiercely with the black aura of the contract, both sources of energy twisted together like an invisible tornado that enveloped Tiểu Yên. The girl gritted her teeth to endure the searing pain, but her eyes still tried to stay open to look at her father struggling in the distance, not wanting to give up.

"Come on, Tiểu Yên, don't give up!" Thục Di shouted loudly, pouring all her will into the blood flowing from her palm, feeling a strange heat rising from deep within her veins, as if a power that had been dormant for generations was now awakening.

In the midst of the fiercest battle, a roar rang out from the dungeon gate leading into Huyền Khương Hall. Just as the plan Chu Bách Thành had secretly arranged for many months, the prison warden, who secretly sympathized with Nhiếp Bách Khương, took advantage of the chaos in the palace and no one was paying attention to the dungeon area. He put the key in the lock, opened the musty cell door, and only had time to whisper a word before hastily running away: "Sir, it's time." A group of released political prisoners rushed up the stone stairs at the same time, led by a thin man with steadfast fiery eyes - Nhiếp Bách Khương, after seven years of imprisonment, was finally free at the most important moment.

"Cố Thanh Vũ! You've been acting around enough for the past seven years!" Nhiếp Bách Khương shouted loudly. Although his body was weak, his voice was still strong. He held a knife in his hand that he had stolen from the prison guard. He rushed straight in to help fight, standing side by side with Bách Uyên to deal with the traitor.

The situation has now completely reversed. Cố Thanh Vũ, even though he still had magic power in his hand, had to simultaneously deal with Bách Uyên's flexible dodging, Nhiếp Bách Khương's fierce attack, and the pressure from the crowd of common people and ministers who had now completely turned their backs on him after witnessing firsthand the evil black aura emanating from his own hands.

In the midst of that chaos, Hắc Diệu stood still for a moment, looking at the silvery white light that was gradually overwhelming the dark aura he had been ordered to protect, then looked at the crowd of civil servants and martial arts officials who were simultaneously turning their backs on Cố Thanh Vũ. As someone who only worked for the highest power, and was never absolutely loyal to anyone, he understood better than anyone when a game of chess had come to an end. He dropped the short sword on the stone floor and quietly retreated from the battle circle, no longer intending to risk his life for a master who was about to lose everything.