Blood-colored Immortal Grass

No one knew what Chen Li, Jing Hongchen, and the Emperor had discussed. After picking up Chen Ming and the other two, the group hurried back to Jing Hongchen's residence.

However, as they drew closer to the residence, Qian Hongchen's expression worsened.

Finally, just as they were about to step through the gates, Qian Hongchen could no longer hold it together and prepared to kneel before the entrance to confess his sins. But the moment his knees buckled, Chen Li's large hand amicably seized him by the neck and lifted him back up.

Under the curious gazes of the many servants and attendants of Hongchen Mansion, Qian Hongchen—who usually acted as though he were the true master of the mansion whenever Jing Hongchen was absent—was dragged into a secret chamber like a dead dog.

Seeing the torture instruments around him, the very ones normally used on spies and traitors, Qian Hongchen's face turned deathly pale.

As someone who had once used these tools himself, merely seeing the dried bloodstains on them was enough to remind him of the miserable screams of the spies and traitors he had tortured.

He looked pleadingly at the still-bewildered Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, trying to use their family ties to get the two, who did not yet understand what had happened, to plead for him.

But Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen merely shook their heads and edged closer to their grandfather, Jing Hongchen.

They were young, yes, but they were not fools.

They were well aware of how Qian Hongchen usually behaved among the servants, acting as though he were the master of the mansion, and they knew he was far less kind than he appeared before them.

It was only because Qian Hongchen was their elder, and nothing too serious had happened, that the two had never said anything.

Moreover, Jing Hongchen was their biological grandfather, while Qian Hongchen was merely their granduncle. Though they saw him often enough, it was nowhere near enough for the siblings to feel closer to him than to their own grandfather, Jing Hongchen.

Jing Hongchen patted his granddaughter and grandson on the heads. The smile that usually seemed frozen on his face finally faded away. He slowly walked over to Qian Hongchen, whose Soul Power had been sealed, and sighed as he looked at this clansman who had followed him for over thirty years.

"I knew that you had a habit of using your position to obtain benefits from those who came to ask me for favors. But I never cared, because for a steward, this sort of gray income was only natural."

"Did you really think I couldn't tell that the rate at which your cultivation was advancing was abnormal? Or did you think I hadn't heard from others that you accepted bribes?"

"Only because you had kept the mansion in good order, and for the sake of our kinship, I had always turned a blind eye as long as you did not go too far."

"But I never expected your nerve to grow greater and greater. Now you even dared to sell out your own people for profit."

"I could tolerate many things from you, but of all things, you should never have betrayed those who fed you."

"Qian Hongchen, I will ask you one last time. How many benefits have you accepted over the years? What exactly have you done? How much information have you sold?"

"Cousin, I..." Qian Hongchen opened his mouth, still wanting to bargain.

"Call me Patriarch." Jing Hongchen's Titled Douluo aura instantly descended upon Qian Hongchen. The nearly tangible pressure made Qian Hongchen, whose Soul Power had been sealed, feel his bones groaning as though they would shatter the next moment.

A high-ranking official's gatekeeper held the rank of a seventh-grade official—this had been an unwritten rule since ancient times. For someone like a steward to rely on his master's influence to obtain treasures that seemed insignificant to the master was also a kind of gray income accepted by everyone.

But because Jing Hongchen had long been immersed in researching Soul Tools at Mingde Hall and often returned to the mansion only a few times each month to visit his grandson and granddaughter—

Qian Hongchen, who managed the mansion in his stead, had gradually begun to see himself as its true master without even realizing it.

In their minds, he had gradually ceased to be merely the seventh-grade official at the chancellor's gate and had become the true chancellor.

At this moment, with his body crushed beneath Jing Hongchen's pressure, Qian Hongchen, who had grown complacent for decades, finally remembered who everything he possessed had come from. He remembered where the true truth of this world came from.

Facing Chen Li, who said nothing but had taken out a long whip crackling with lightning and was swinging it through the air, then glancing at the bloodstained torture instruments on the walls, the already fragile defenses in Qian Hongchen's heart finally collapsed.

"Patriarch, Patriarch, spare my life! I'll confess! I'll confess everything!"

"It was the Fourth Prince! The family behind the Fourth Prince gave me things, saying they wanted the Hongchen Family to join the faction supporting the Fourth Prince. They asked me to try and act as an intermediary!"

"Ten days ago, a Black Man came to find me. He brought a token from the family behind the Fourth Prince and negotiated with me, asking me to smooth things over. He gave me a Soul Card containing ten million Gold Soul Coins and a top-grade Treasure Herb."

"I really didn't betray the family for money, not for a mere amount of Gold Soul Coins. It was because of that Treasure Herb. That Treasure Herb was just too tempting."

"'A mere ten million Gold Soul Coins'... It seems you've been quite greedy over the years." Even Jing Hongchen was startled by Qian Hongchen's tone. Then he looked coldly at the cousin he had once trusted.

"Now I truly want to know what kind of treasure this herb is, that it could be more valuable than a mere ten million Gold Soul Coins."

Upon hearing Jing Hongchen's words, Qian Hongchen was like a drowning man clutching at a lifeline. He immediately removed the Storage Soul Tool from his waist and fearfully offered the belt up with both hands.

"Patriarch, Patriarch, the Treasure Herb is in the hidden compartment of my belt. Look, please look! This Treasure Herb is definitely more precious than my life! I had originally planned to offer it to you, Patriarch. Perhaps you could use it to make another breakthrough."

"The purple-red jade box in the hidden compartment—the immortal grass is inside."

"Immortal grass?" X2

Hearing Qian Hongchen's words, both Jing Hongchen and Chen Li cried out in shock. Clearly, they had been stunned by what Qian Hongchen had said.

At that moment, Jing Hongchen had no time to think about anything else. He quickly broke open the hidden compartment within Qian Hongchen's Storage Soul Tool and poured out everything inside.

Gold Soul Coins, Soul Cards, medicinal ingredients, rare metals, and strange treasures formed a small mountain. Resting atop that pile was a purple-red jade box.

Seeing the jade box, Chen Li took two steps back, making it clear that he had no intention of competing for it.

Jing Hongchen took a deep breath. Only after placing defensive measures on everyone present did he slowly open the jade box.

Inside the jade box lay a ginseng plant that resembled a dark crimson crystal.