Who was interrogating whom?! Elder Cheng: Get out!

"Faster! Go faster!"

Elder Cheng and Jing Hongchen rose like meteors, Class 9 flying soul tools strapped to their backs, and hurried toward the Imperial Family Inspection Team's headquarters.

Cheng Baiqing, in particular, went full throttle. His soul tool ran under such a heavy load that its exhaust nozzles were almost smoking.

Almost at the same instant.

A thunderous roar rang out across all of Mingdu.

"Mommy, shooting stars!"

A child innocently pointed overhead at the two streaks of light that flashed past.

The child's mother hurriedly knocked the little hand down. "Those are esteemed Soul Engineers..."

Inside a prince's estate.

In a resplendent hall, a man dressed in pristine white paced back and forth, his expression tense.

"What's taking so long?!"

"A bunch of useless bastards! Cheng Baiqing will probably hear about this soon, and then I'll get dragged into it too!" Xu Jiran said through gritted teeth.

Yet he still had not severed all contact, because a sliver of hope remained in his heart that these useless bastards might uncover something, or make his dear younger brother "confess" to colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult.

With one of his brother's two pillars of support removed, Cheng Baiqing alone would pose a much smaller threat to him.

At present, although the Holy Spirit Cult was not as notorious in the Sun Moon Empire as it was in the other three empires, its reputation was hardly much better. He only needed to bring this into the open, and the number of people opposing Xu Cheng would rise exponentially. Then he could sit back like the fisherman who profited while the snipe and clam fought...

"Hurry up! Xu Cheng's people will be there soon!"

Unable to hold back, Xu Jiran lowered his voice and snapped into the Soul Guidance Transmitter again.

Xu Mochen was the son of Xu Wannian, one of his trusted right-hand men who held great power within the Imperial Clan. He also happened to control the Imperial Family Inspection Team, whose six members were fairly strong and tightly united. Otherwise, why would Xu Jiran have entrusted such an important task to him?

But only silence answered him...

"Xu Mochen, what the fuck are you doing? You're not even answering me now!"

Xu Jiran flew into a rage, his voice rising despite himself.

But the next instant.

A clear voice came through the communicator. "Hello, hello. Can you hear me?"

Xu Jiran swallowed and froze where he stood, the Communication Soul Tool in his hand.

"Fourth Brother, why aren't you talking? Go on. I'm listening..."

"Xu Cheng..."

Xu Jiran's face stiffened as he forced the name out through his teeth.

"I'm here, Fourth Brother. Need something?"

"Good. Very good..."

Xu Jiran clenched his teeth, his body trembling uncontrollably. He knew this probably meant that Xu Cheng had taken control of the Imperial Family Inspection Team. No matter how he had done it, it could only mean one thing... those useless bastards!!!

And now that Xu Cheng had something to hold over him, he would be the one at a disadvantage!

The voice on the other end carried a leisurely hint of laughter.

"Fourth Brother, I never knew you cared so much about me. You personally sent people to drag me to the Imperial Family Inspection Team and even ordered them to beat a confession out of me. Tsk, tsk, tsk. But what was the charge again... colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult? You call that a crime?"

"Don't worry. I'll come visit you myself and let you explain what the fuck you mean by a crime..."

"Beep, beep, beep..."

As the communicator began beeping.

The rage filling Xu Jiran's chest erupted.

He smashed the Communication Soul Tool against the floor, then began violently smashing things around the hall. "A bunch of useless bastards! They're not even worth keeping as fucking dogs! And that Xu Cheng, a motherless little shit who thinks he can threaten me just because he has a pack of sewer rats behind him! Fucking hell..."

Bang!

The resplendent gates of the Imperial Family Inspection Team's headquarters burst apart with a crash.

Metal fragments scattered in every direction.

Several figures charged inside.

"In there! In that interrogation room!"

Jing Hongchen's eyes lit up as he instantly sensed people inside.

"Aaaah!"

But a wretched scream soon rang out from within.

It sounded like someone was undergoing horrific torture. The scream was so agonizing that anyone who heard it felt as though they were suffering alongside the victim.

Elder Cheng's expression instantly darkened. A Titled Douluo's aura erupted from his body and spread throughout the Imperial Family Inspection Team's headquarters. Through gritted teeth, he snarled, "What an Imperial Family Inspection Team! Today, I'll rid the people of this scourge and wipe out these bastards!"

Jing Hongchen's face was equally grave. In a flash, the two reached the interrogation room.

The door of the single-story building shattered with a crash.

The two burst inside.

But once they saw the scene within, their eyes slowly widened.

Xu Cheng was reclining leisurely in a chair, casually directing An Ying to torture the members of the Imperial Family Inspection Team in front of him.

Meanwhile, the members of the Imperial Family Inspection Team, who should have been swaggering around with their noses in the air, were strapped to instruments of torture one by one, crying for their mothers and fathers. The second-in-command tied to the Dragon-Peeling Pillar was in especially bad shape. He was already drenched in blood, barely clinging to life, just one breath away from death...

Jing Hongchen: "..."

Cheng Qingbai: "..."

Lin Jiayi, who had just arrived, also rushed inside, panting. "Why are you two standing there? Hurry and..." As he spoke, his mouth slowly fell open, and he stared at the scene, dumbfounded.

"Teacher, you're finally here! You have to stand up for me!"

Xu Cheng slipped smoothly off the grand armchair, slid straight onto his knees in front of Cheng Baiqing, and clung tightly to his leg.

"Carry on." He turned and gestured to An Yin, who had also stopped, then seamlessly went back to hugging Cheng Baiqing's leg and sobbing his heart out.

"Teacher, you have no idea how badly I was injured here, or how brutally they treated me..."

Cheng Baiqing frowned and hurriedly examined Xu Cheng's entire body with his spiritual power. But he found no injuries at all. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Where are your injuries?"

"Um..."

Xu Cheng looked himself over.

But all he found was a cut on his finger, which he had accidentally nicked while engraving a core array earlier. It had practically healed, leaving only a faint white mark...

Looking at the speechless Xu Cheng.

Both men covered their faces.

"But don't worry, little Cheng. Daring to openly arrest someone at the Sun Moon Imperial Academy means they have no regard for me, the master of Mingde Hall and the academy's headmaster! I'll definitely get you justice!"

Jing Hongchen secretly sighed in relief, though his face remained full of anger.

"As long as you're all right! I may be old, but I'm not so old I can no longer lift a blade. Anyone who dares lay a hand on my disciple will have to show me just how much they're worth!" Elder Cheng stroked Xu Cheng's head, lingering fear filling his heart. Fortunately, his disciple had a trump card. Otherwise, the one being tortured now would probably have been...

"Ah, how is my eleventh brother?! Surely I haven't come too late! Those damned bastards..."

Just as everyone was about to leave.

An ill-timed voice rang out, then abruptly stopped.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

Jing Hongchen greeted him politely, then said nothing more.

Xu Cheng stepped out and gave the stunned Xu Tianran a surprised glance. "What perfect timing, Your Highness. They're all inside. Pretty much all of them have confessed..."

Already seething with anger, Elder Cheng shot Xu Tianran a cold glance. "Get out!"