"So, what do you say we do here?" the Crown Prince asked the rest.
The dozen or so people looked at each other, waiting for someone to start speaking. Finally, one of the old white-haired men who was made to stay there started.
"Something is odd here," the man said. "How could someone in the Saint Soul realm possibly defeat someone in the Saint Transformation realm? Is anyone aware if he uses special artifacts or some such?"
"I don't think he uses any such artifact," the Emerald King said. "He fought someone stronger than him about a decade ago and he defeated that person quite easily too despite having a lower cultivation base. I believe he can overcome multiple realms to fight someone."
Another old man audibly harrumphed.
"I know of some players that can overcome a realm or two, but this is more than that. How can someone in Saint Soul 4th realm overcome someone in Saint Transformation 5th realm? That is some bloody nonsense if I've ever heard one."
"That does sound quite impossible," another person added.
"No, that is true," the Azure King answered. "One of my older cousins already told me what happened inside. They told me he beat them, but he used a puppet to do so. But he had defeated another girl before that, who had defeated the deceased leader. It is clear King Alex is capable of standing up to someone way stronger than him."
"I have already heard multiple accounts of how strong he is, "the Crown Prince spoke. "There is no doubt he did what he did. Let's move on to whether what he did can be punished or not."
The Ivory Queen spoke this time. "Have you confirmed whether the words he said are true, Your Highness? About it being a retaliation more than anything," she said.
"I am not aware," the Crown Prince said. "Whatever happened between them happened inside a barrier that stopped sound and light, so nobody saw or heard anything. They did mention a golden dragon appeared from the side that terrified so many of them. It was an Immortal attack, that much is confirmed."
"I can confirm at the very least that it was the deceased leader who attacked first once their battle ended," the Silver Queen spoke. She brought out a talisman and handed it over to the Crown prince to look at.
The Crown Prince looked through the talisman and frowned a bit. "They lose 50 points when they attack someone they weren't in a duel with?" he asked.
The Silver Queen nodded. "The deceased leader lost his points first, which meant he attacked King Alex, and then King Alex attacked him, which is why he lost points afterward."
"Can you figure out why he died through this?" the Crown Prince asked. "Wasn't the talisman supposed to protect everyone."
"It was, but it didn't this time around. I'm not sure why," the Silver Queen said.
"Any chances of them receiving an altered talisman?" one of the white-haired men asked. "Someone might have conspired to kill the man. Maybe the girl who was his subordinate. I hear people say that those two fought as long as all of the two years they were inside."
"Not possible," the Silver Queen said. "I handed the talisman to the ones in the Saint Transformation realm myself. If you say someone conspired to kill him, then that implies that I had a hand in this."
The room seemed to grow silent all of a sudden as people very obviously looked at the Silver Queen with such thoughts.
"No one thinks you're conspiring here, Queen Mao," the Crown Prince said. "I've talked to the others, and I hear that the talisman had worked as well as it could multiple times even against Immortal attacks. So unless King Alex used something better than that, there is no conspiracy here."
"Do you trust the others' words, Your Majesty?" another older man asked.
"As much as I can. They all say the same thing, some even swore an oath that they weren't lying. So I have no choice but to trust them," the Crown Prince said.
"Then… I guess it is obvious what should happen now," the man said. "The death happened in self-defense, so we cannot give much punishment except maybe a bit of fine."
"Do you all agree that it was in self-defense and thus wasn't truly murder?" the Crown Prince asked the rest as well. One by one, everyone nodded.
"It is settled then," the Crown Prince said and closed the formation. The barrier around them came down, and Alex was finally visible again.
Alex watched them curiously, and the Crown Prince gave the verdict.
"It has been deemed that whatever happened inside the secret realm, happened in self-defense. Therefore, there is no reason for King Alex of the Southern Continent to be punished," the Crown Prince said. "You are free to leave, Your Majesty."
Alex stood up from his seat. "Thank you for your time," he said and left the room, with a few following behind him.
The door opened and he met with Yao Ning's fervent pacing, which immediately stopped. "Your Majesty! Are you alright? Did they harm you?" she quickly asked.
Liang Shufen was no less slow in standing up from where she sat, quickly arriving in front of Alex.
Alex gave a small smile. "I'm alright, Elder Yao, Elder Liang. There is no reason to worry," he said.
"Did they punish you?" Yao Ning asked.
"What will they do to you?" Liang Shufen asked with a worried look.
"Nothing," Alex said. "They realized that it was in self-defense, so I was free to leave."
The two elders released long sighs in relief and quickly took Alex away from the place to their room to rest.
The Crown Prince walked out sometime later with a sigh. "I'll have to go figure out who to make the next leader here," he said. "You guys probably have your hands full with the upcoming tournament too, don't you?"
The Silver Queen sighed more than anyone else. "I've had my hands full even before this. I should be getting used to this after preparing these dozens of times, but I still feel so stressed each time."
"I'm thankful for what you're doing, Queen Mao," the Crown Prince said. "Anyway, I will be leaving now. I have work to and need to let Father know what happened here. He definitely won't be pleased that this happened while I was ruling in his absence."
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown, Your Highness," the Azure King said.
The Crown Prince chuckled. "You would know, cousin. Anyway, I'll see you all during the tournament."
And he walked away.
* * * * *
In the Martial Ground, within a half-destroyed forest lay a corpse of a man cut in half. There was no doubt that the man was dead, but even so, there was movement there.
A small, blue light drifted from within the body, taking the form of a man identical to Zhao Boqin. The Nascent Soul that left the body moved away from the corpse, unsure who it was, or what it was doing here.
With barely any conscious thoughts, the soul followed the wind, drifting through the secret realm with only a single objective in mind.
However he could, he had to find the Dragon Emperor.
