The revelation from the Emperor changed a lot.
It was one thing, with the rumor being confirmed through the Imperial Court and a wholly different thing the Emperor witnessing it.
"How's that possible?" Daoist Chu asked.
"He was there when Ancestor Teo was killed?" Lin Mu questioned finding something to be wrong.
"Yes…" Even the Crown Prince was surprised. "He has said that he has witnessed it along with Emperor Huiqing and the Holy Topaz Emperor." He added.
Lin Mu recalled that all three Emperors had appeared together on the day of the finals when Feng Baxing had been defeated. 'Is that why they were there?' Lin Mu wondered.
"This…" Qiao De hadn't expected not just one but all three emperors to be involved. "Does this mean… they had a hand in it?" he questioned.
It was a reasonable thing considering the fact that all three Emperors were Transcendent Immortals and would have no problem killing Ancestor Teo. They were the strongest experts in the Rust Sky world after all. But their actions would also mean that they might have been behind the start of the war.
"No." The Crown Prince denied. "It wasn't any of the Emperors. The one who killed Ancestor Teo was another expert." He explained.
"Another expert?" Crown Princess Shang furrowed her brows. "Who?"
"I don't know… Father said that it is not up to us to know. But he can assure us that the expert has nothing to do with any of the Three Empires." Crown Prince Feng Shun explained, feeling a bit relieved internally.
If it really was Emperor Feng being involved, things would take a drastic turn. Conflict between the Kingdoms of the Eight Alliance was different from another Empire killing their experts. The first was just their own matter but the latter would invite scrutiny from the Temple of the Four Guardian beasts. 'After the fiasco at the tournament, it's best we avoid anything more.' Crown Prince Feng Shun thought to himself.
"What about the other two experts?" Monk Hushu asked next.
"Ah yeah, we only know about the first one." Daoist Chu spoke.
"We do not have information about the other two experts." Crown Prince Feng Shun shook his head. "We only have the confirmation for the first one." "Hmm… This complicates things." Qiao De muttered, rubbing his beard.
Lady Kang also thought about it and found things to be a bit strange.
'Who could have killed them… and who killed Ancestor Teo? Was it the same expert behind the death of Ancestor Teo?' Lin Mu wondered to himself, before a voice was heard in his head.
"That… Was me." Xukong suddenly spoke.
"HUH?" Lin Mu's eyes went wide, but thankfully others were not looking. "What do you mean senior?" he thought he had heard wrong.
"The one who killed Ancestor Teo… That was me." Xukong replied. He had been listening to all that had been happening, and once he saw the picture of Ancestor Teo on the formation screen, he reorganized the man.
"I might have killed him to set an example." Xukong stated.
"What… W-When?" Lin Mu questioned it before thinking about it. "Wait… When you intervened in the Tournament!" he soon realized.
"Yes. When the Saintess intervened, her power as a celestial attracted all the experts of the Rust Sky world, including the three Emperors. I stopped them from interfering and delaying her." Xukong explained. "I… Might have used a little too much force and erased that man." He confessed.
Even Xukong had not thought that his little action back then would reflect this far down.
"What about the other two experts that died?" Lin Mu asked just in case.
"Well, I didn't kill them for sure." Xukong said with confidence. "I might have injured them… well I injured most of the experts that gathered back then, but definitely did not kill them." He added.
"Hmmm… So there is someone else." Lin Mu didn't question the fact that Xukong was involved in this, as it was something for his own sake. "Though I think you injuring them might have still contributed to it." He added.
"How so?" Xukong asked.
"Well, since you managed to injure them, I reckon they would be weakened right?" Lin Mu replied. "That means if anyone else also knows that fact, they have the perfect chance to target them." He explained.
Xukong thought over it and realized that Lin Mu was right.
"Yes… There were other experts present there who saw it all and got injured. Thus they know who's fine and who's not. The three emperors were the strongest and as such had almost no injuries. Only the weaker ones did." Xukong stated. "Exactly! Which means the culprit behind the deaths of the other two experts might be from the group too." Lin Mu inferred.
Even if these experts were injured, that didn't mean just anyone could kill them. It would have to be someone that was around their level, or at most a level below them. The more Lin Mu thought about it, the more he found that this seemed to be the case.
'Did the other experts decide to take advantage when they were weakened?' Lin Mu wondered. 'No wait… if it was also someone from the same ground, they would have been injured too. The fight would still be on an equal level somewhat.' He realized.
Understanding that there were more factors to this, Lin Mu knew he shouldn't come to conclusions so fast. "Crown Prince, do you have any information on the Rock Drop Kingdom's powerhouse?" Lin Mu suddenly asked. "And the other kingdoms?" "I do on the Rock Drop Kingdom." Crown prince Feng shun replied. "And also the Great Wave Kingdom." ~shua~
He tapped on the jade slip again, causing some information to be displayed on it. The pictures of the two powerhouses also appeared on it.
Lin Mu looked at them, while talking to Xukong.
"Senior, were these two there too?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes." Xukong confirmed it. "Both of them were present, and both were injured too."
