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Leaving the White Cloud Forest and Plains, the group returned to the outskirts of the White Cloud Plains, where Norax and the local Hall Master of the Soul Hall came forward to greet them.
"Here, this is the head of Blood Sword Norman," Qin Ming handed over the shrouded cloth containing Norman's head. Norax opened it and indeed found it to be Blood Sword Norman.
"He truly is formidable, as expected of the leader of our Tiandou Royal Academy!" Norax re-covered Norman's head and handed it to the local Hall Master of the Soul Hall, complimenting Qin Ming.
"No, this is the merit of my students," Qin Ming shook his head, turning to Tang San and the others, "These children are the ones who truly participated in the battle. I was just guarding them from the shadows."
"You are all the pride of the Tian Dou!" Norax bowed respectfully to Tang San and the others, inviting everyone into the tent to rest.
Half a day later, members of the Star Luo Royal Team, the Soul Hall Team, and the Tiandou Royal Second Team all rushed back.
The Star Luo Royal Team and the Soul Hall Team each brought one or two heads. According to Norax and the local Hall Master's judgment, one of them belonged to a fallen, and the other two were criminals wanted by the White Cloud City.
Apparently, the bodies from Yushu's location weren't all fallen. Norman's act of killing his companion had undoubtedly caused some of the fallens to leave the group.
On the other hand, the Tian Dou Royal Second Team returned empty-handed and covered in injuries. Even Xue Beng had lost two fingers on his left hand: the pinky and the ring finger.
"What happened?" Qin Ming frowned at Xue Beng's injuries, glaring at Wang Chen, "Did you encounter other fallens?"
"Team Leader Qin Ming, I want to file a complaint. Wang Chen didn't follow your orders and acted on his own, causing my two fingers to break!" Xue Beng glared fiercely at Wang Chen, his eyes bloodshot, as if he wanted to devour him alive.
This guy didn't protect them properly but instead left on his own to find some fallens, and ended up provoking three fallens, all of them Soul Ancestor level.
Not only did he provoke them, but he also brought those three fallens back.
He practically wanted him dead!
This must be Xue Qinghe's conspiracy!
Actually, Wang Chen did have that intention. After all, Xue Beng was a potential competitor for Xue Qinghe.
But the main reason was that the strength of the fallens was extremely strong, and he wasn't their match. Unable to take on three of them alone, he could only hope that the members of the Tian Dou Royal Second Team could buy him some time.
Although he was a drag, at least with more people, he could confuse the three fallens and create opportunities to kill them.
However, what Wang Chen didn't expect was that, in the face of life and death, Xue Beng actually used his hidden strength and, with his own power alone, held off a fallen at the Soul Ancestor level.
This guy not only disguises his external personality but also hides his strength.
Perhaps not as outstanding as those top geniuses, but his strength places him in the second or third tier among his peers...
In the end, Wang Chen emerged victorious and even luckily obtained a thousand-year-grade right arm bone.
"Wang Chen, why didn't you follow my orders and acted on your own?" Qin Ming questioned Wang Chen with an unfriendly tone.
If Xue Beng had died, he wouldn't have to stay at the Tiandou Royal Academy anymore, after all, this mission was led by him, and he couldn't escape blame.
Even if Xue Beng hadn't died and only lost two fingers, he would still be punished.
"I sensed the presence of the fallens..."
"Nonsense!"
Before he could finish his explanation, Wang Chen was interrupted by Xue Beng, who was like a mad windhound, cursing, "There's no one within a radius of a thousand meters from where we were staying. It was you who led those three fallens here!"
"Yes, it was Wang Chen who led them here!"
"It's all his fault!"
"He must be punished!"
The other members of the Tiandou Royal Second Team pointed at Wang Chen one after another.
They were all proud nobles and shared Xue Beng's arrogance. They had always looked down on Wang Chen, Xue Qinghe's lackey... This time, they were just here to add political credentials for the future, to observe the surroundings of the White Cloud Plains. But Wang Chen, this bastard, directly attracted the fallens, causing them all to be injured. How could they not hate him?
Seeing the members of the Tiandou Royal Second Team arguing with each other, Qin Ming scolded, "Shut up! You're making a fool of yourselves! We'll talk about this when we get back!"
The nearby Star Luo Royal Team and Soul Hall Team had already noticed, and Qin Ming didn't want to continue questioning publicly...
Back in the Tian Dou City...
Qin Ming explained the situation to the three members of the education committee and volunteered for punishment.
The three wise members of the education committee did not blame Qin Ming too much. Instead, they found Wang Chen and asked, "Why did you act so recklessly?"
Wang Chen stood tall and replied, "What's wrong with killing the fallens?"
"Qin Ming's task for you was to protect the members of the Tiandou RoyaSecond Team. Why did you leave the team without authorization?" Seeing Wang Chen being so arrogant, Zhi Lin's impression of him dropped to freezing point, and he questioned, "As the guard of the Crown Prince, don't you know that the most important thing is to obey orders?"
"I do, but I only obey the orders of the Crown Prince," Wang Chen answered.
Hiss—
Zhi Lin, Bai Baoshan, and Meng Shenji exchanged glances, feeling a chill in their hearts.
Could it be that Wang Chen's actions were the orders of the Crown Prince? Is the competition within the royal family this cruel?
For a moment, the three members of the education committee didn't know what to do, but in the end, they made Wang Chen hand over the thousand-year soul bone and gave it to Xue Beng as compensation...
Back at the Tiandou City...
"Why didn't you obey Qin Ming's orders?" Xue Qinghe asked softly.
"I only obey the orders of the Crown Prince." Wang Chen knelt on one knee, his tone steady. "Eliminating Xue Beng is beneficial to the Crown Prince. Besides, I discovered that Avalanche is hiding his strength. He was able to temporarily hold off a level 41 Soul Ancestor with only level 31 strength, instead of being instantly killed... He is hiding himself, not as frivolous as he appears."
"Do you think I don't know Xue Beng is hiding something?" Xue Qinghe's voice was calm, showing no anger. "If I really wanted to kill him, I have ways."
"Dugu Bo is difficult to deal with, but he won't risk his life to protect Xue Beng."
"He's not as good as me in terms of cards. No matter how Xue Beng hides, he's just tucking his tail between his legs in front of me, making me laugh."
"But do you know why I keep him alive?"
Wang Chen opened his mouth but lowered his head in the end. "I don't know, Your Highness."
"All the princes are dead, leaving only me, and everyone knows I have problems." Xue Qinghe looked at Wang Chen as if he were looking at a stupid pig. "Behind Xue Beng is Xue Xing, and Xue Xing is connected to Dugu Bo, who dabbles in poison. Besides accidents, the deceased princes were poisoned. Who do you think Emperor Xue Ye suspected the most?"
Wang Chen's pupils contracted, finding it hard to believe—
Does Qian Renxue have such intelligence?
In the original work, the princes of the Tian Dou either met with accidents or were poisoned, and even the Emperor Xue Ye fell victim to poisoning.
Coincidentally, Xue Beng, Xue Xing, and Poison Douluo are connected.
Although in the original work, Poison Douluo helped the Emperor Xue Ye relieve toxins, the Emperor Xue Ye did not know who administered the poison. Therefore, he would naturally be wary of Poison Douluo and more inclined to suspect the false Xue Qinghe.
Qian Renxue leaving Xue Beng alive may also have been a consideration based on this.
Perhaps the original author did not intend for this connection, and it might just be a coincidence. However, fan fiction authors can extrapolate from these relationships and find that it still makes sense logically and fits within the narrative.
Therefore, in this story, an additional detail is added: Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, still possesses political acumen, albeit with extreme arrogance.
However, these details will not be elaborated on extensively. They mainly serve to provide background to the story.