Chapter 143: Mastermind

"W-Wait, only the duke and Zhu Mei Lan are alive? Then his wife and the rest of their children..." Ma Xiaotao muttered in a horrified whisper.

Elder Xuan slowly shook his head, taking a glance at their surroundings, he lightly waved his hand and created a translucent barrier around their whole group. He let out a deep sigh and said, "That's what the soldiers are saying, but.... I can sense the life force of the Duchess and Dai Yueheng; they're in a similar situation as the Duke and the little lass--in critical condition. However, I do not sense Dai Huabin's aura, which means..."

Unnoticed by everyone, something flickered within Huo Yuhao's eyes but it soon faded as Elder Xuan continued, "This is a very unfortunate event, and I hope everyone is to be mindful and respectful for the next few days. I know our mission is important and the upcoming Continental Advanced Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, but we must prioritize the well-being of our allies and ourselves during this turbulent time."

"Even if the sons were douchebags?" Wu Feng commented, getting a harsh elbowing by both Ning Tian and Wang Dong'er.

"Dude!" Wang Dong'er whispered urgently, glaring at Wu Feng.

"What? They were pieces of shit! As far as I'm concerned, only the Duke, his wife, and Zhu Mei Lan are worth worrying about," Wu Feng retorted, though he kept his voice low. "Those two got what was coming to them."

Elder Xuan sighed heavily, giving Wu Feng a stern look. "Regardless of personal feelings, we must show respect and compassion. This tragedy affects everyone, and we must stand united. Especially since...some of the soldiers are starting to suspect foul play, and that one of us might have some hand on this tragedy."

Everyone froze at Elder Xuan's words, a chill running down their spines. The implications were serious and alarming. Huo Yuhao frowned but didn't react much to the news.

"What? How can they think that?" Ning Tian exclaimed, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Actually, it's reasonable for them to think that way." Wang Yan interjected with a pondering expression. "Consider the timing and the fact that Dai Huabin, the main "perpetrator" of this whole incident, wouldn't have any logical reason to want his whole family dead--especially not at this moment and doing it at the cost of his life. It wouldn't make any sense, in any sort of direction that someone wants to spin this."

Elder Xuan nodded. "Exactly. In situations like this, people look for logical explanations. When they can't find any, they create their own, often based on fear and suspicion. We need to be aware of this and act accordingly."

Ma Xiaotao took a deep breath. "So, what do we do? How can we prove our innocence?"

Elder Xuan looked at each of them, his expression serious. "Absolutely, nothing. Listen to me carefully, regardless of your background, we are currently affiliated with Shrek Academy as the Shrek Guardians. We are a neutral party and we mostly deal with extremely troublesome Evil Soul Masters, we get, and I mean you all, get involved in this investigation, then we're all going to deal with a shitstorm of political backlash. Our best course of action is to stay out of the internal politics and focus on our mission."

"We need to do nothing and let them investigate this situation as this would give us more credence that we had nothing to do with this, and avoid any accusations of us tempering with the evidence."

"Won't we also be accused of not assisting in the investigation?" Bei Bei asked, frowning.

Elder Xuan snorted. "That's much easier to counter by saying that this event was Star Luo Empire's matter or the Dai Family's private matter, as a neutral party, why would we have any reason to assist them? It might sound cold, but this way makes the Academy and me shoulder any blame while you kids will be safe from any prosecution."

"Elder Xuan..." Huo Yuhao and the rest of the Shrek students all wore complicated expressions, feeling extremely moved by how far Elder Xuan was willing to go to protect them. Huo Yuhao especially, felt a glimmer of guilt in his heart before freezing it with ice and breaking it apart.

He made his decision long ago, and honestly, he didn't regret it in the damn slightest. Even if he were to go back in time, he would actually make sure that the explosion would get the entire Dai Family!

Just after he departed to the Ming Dou Forest alongside Ma Xiaotao and Xiao Xiao, he went on ahead of them for a few moments and although he shared his Spiritual Detection with them, he made sure to create an illusion in his vision that was making a clone of himself that he gave a certain item and went back to the camp.

Huo Yuhao's clone then transformed itself into a tiny white kitten that just suddenly wandered near Dai Huabin when he was on his lonesome, which was in the middle of a training area with a specialized dummy soul tool.

While he started pounding his fists and kicks against the dummy that was strangely sculptured to be like Huo Yuhao's handsome image, the clone went up to him close and started meowing to get his attention. Dai Huabin quickly notices the white kitten and curiously crouches down to pet it, only, a pair of Sharingan eyes stared up straight at his eyes.

The clone quickly got Dai Huabin under its control, sure it only had around 15% of the original's Spiritual Power, but it was still at the level that most Soul Elders couldn't compare, and added that he was completely unguarded against a seemingly harmless 'kitten'. The clone then gave him an experimental Class 6 Soul Tool that the original Huo Yuhao personally crafted using the Hidden Weapon ranked 3rd in the Tang Sect Hidden Weapons List, Peacock Plume, as a basis for its creation.

The Peacock Plume is an extremely powerful mechanical hidden weapon that was created in the founding of the Tang Sect ten thousand years ago and is extremely hard to make, not only because of its high requirements to build it but also the necessary materials. From the ancient records of its rare usage on the battlefield, its battle prowess is to not be underestimated--numerous Soul Masters with soul ring cultivation above five were instantly killed by this!

Huo Yuhao was initially doubtful of its claims, as well as the rest of the top ten Hidden Weapons, but that thought changed when he managed to find a damaged version of it in one of the old caches left behind by Tang Sect.

After an extensive deep analysis of the ancient weapon, Huo Yuhao was shocked to find that the ancient weapon could still deal formidable damage even against an unguarded Soul Ancestor, and this was after being damaged and slowly withered away by time! He couldn't help but feel admiration and respect for Ancestor Tang San for coming up with such ingenious mechanisms.

It was such a shame that only ancient records and incomplete methods to create such mechanisms remained, but he guessed it was better. Or else the downfall of the Tang Sect would've come sooner and Tang Ya might not exist.

The clone he left in the main HQ of the Akatsuki was the one to build this soul tool and send it to the original via a controlled 10 year old Vermillion Hawk. It was only a prototype that its research value used up and is now only useful during an emergency for Huo Yuhao.

He named it the Plume Phoenix, in honor of its predecessor, and it was devastatingly effective. The Plume Phoenix was like a Phoenix that once burnt to death, it would arise gloriously with a fiery blaze, as the opponents are stunned by its initial release; 365 Class 4 and below explosive-type soul tools will be fired out and cover an area of several dozen square meters, covering everything in a blazing inferno.

After Huo Yuhao's clone gave the Plume Phoenix in the entranced Dai Huabin, the clone gave him a single order--activate the soul tool immediately when under the presence of the Duchess. This command ensured that Dai Huabin, under the influence of the Sharingan, would unwittingly carry out Huo Yuhao's plan. By then, the clone poofed into white smoke.

And just as planned, when he was called into the tent by his father to discuss his recent behavior in the academy, he immediately activated the Plume Phoenix.

The ensuing explosion was catastrophic. The Plume Phoenix lived up to its name, engulfing the entire area in a blazing inferno. The powerful Class 4 explosive-type soul tools spread devastation over a dozen square meters, consuming everything and everyone in its path. Even an unprepared Soul Sage couldn't handle such devastation.

But somehow, by some divine intervention or something, the explosion didn't kill the rest of the Dai Family. Dai Hao, Huo Yuhao could understand. He was a peak Soul Douluo by his estimation, he was someone close to reaching the fabled Titled Douluo realm, he could survive the explosion and save someone--either Zhu Mei Lan or Dai Yueheng, likely the former since Dai Hao seems to have a soft spot for his daughter according to the White Tiger Bodyguards.

So it shocked Huo Yuhao when he learned that only Dai Huabin had died! He inwardly stewed and started coming up with all sorts of theories on how they survived, defensive soul tools perhaps? Or a hidden Titled Douluo?

He shook his head. It was unfortunate but then, it would've been...disappointing if everything he had worked for.... ended just like that.

'Well, at least one's down.' Huo Yuhao's eyes momentarily shimmered with a goldish-red light, the three golden magatamas in his eyes started spinning. 'Another one to go.'

His vengeance was not over, not by a long shot.

"Hey, what's with this Monkey doing here?"

"Holy crap! That's a Diamond Baboon!"

.....

AN: Extra chapter!

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