Keyboard Immortal

Chapter 2489: Clear My Mind

Upon hearing the Saintess’ words, the quiet conference hall suddenly buzzed into life. Sorrow vanished from their faces, replaced with excitement.

“That’s true. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“As expected of the Saintess. You are able to see through everything!”

“Under the Saintess’ leadership, it is only a matter of time before we chase the monsters out of our world!”

...

No one thought that the Saintess was under Zu An’s control anymore. She was still as wise and astute as ever, seeing things that others overlooked.

The Third Prince was taken aback too, but he pressed on. “Still, there is a possibility that the Monster Lord might first target us to further build his reputation among the monsters. That would give him more leverage against the Lord of Slaughter.”

The crowd frowned. It was evident that the Third Prince was trying to undermine the Saintess, but they couldn’t deny the possibility of what he had just mentioned.

Zu An finally spoke up. He couldn’t let Xie Daoyun shoulder the pressure alone. “There is such a possibility, so I’ll convince the Monster Lord to go for the other option.”

The Third Prince harrumphed. “The Monster Lord is formidable and skilled at psychological warfare. He wouldn’t change his mind over you.”

“It’s impossible for you, but it’s not too hard for me,” Zu An calmly said.

“You!!!” The Third Prince was infuriated. “Do you dare to issue a military ultimatum?”

You have trolled the Third Prince for +444... +444... +444...

The Saintess frowned. “He’s a guest who came to help us. Third Prince, aren’t you going too far by demanding a military ultimatum from him?”

The Third Prince snorted, “Since he said that it’s not difficult for him, why don’t we strike a deal? If he pulls it off, we’ll let him marry our Saintess. Otherwise, our Fiend races would probably find it hard to accept this marriage.”

The Golden Peng Crown Prince quickly voiced his agreement. “The Third Prince is right.”

Anger flared in the Saintess’ eyes. Zu An also spoke up, saying, “Third Prince, you've gotten something wrong. The Saintess and I are mutually in love, and our relationship doesn’t need anyone’s recognition. Your agreement means nothing to me, not to mention you aren’t qualified to accept my betrothal gifts either.”

The Third Prince sneered, “I must question how much you love the Saintess if you can’t even do this much for her.”

“Indeed!” Almost half of the people in the conference hall voiced their support for the Third Prince.

The Saintess’ face darkened. “Third Prince, you have no business in my private life, much less the right to order my man around.”

The Third Prince sighed. “Saintess, don’t let your emotions get the better of you. You are our Fiend races’ Saintess. Your business is our business.”

“Looks like I haven’t made myself clear.” The Saintess stood up. “If that’s the case, you can be the Saintess instead.”

Those words alarmed the other race leaders. They quickly stood up to placate the Saintess. Some said that the Third Prince had gone too far, whereas others said that the Third Prince was speaking from a good place and it wasn’t a bad thing to have Zu An prove himself.

That further frustrated the Saintess. She was about to speak when Zu An said, “Sure, I can go to the Monster Lord and convince him to go against the Lord of Slaughter.”

The Third Prince and the Golden Peng Crown Prince exchanged looks and saw the smirks on each other’s faces.

The Golden Peng Crown Prince was impressed by the Third Prince’s methods.

The Third Prince played him like a fiddle. The Monster Lord is not to be trifled with. No matter how strong that fellow is, it’s unlikely that he’ll survive the journey.

And if he succeeds, it will benefit the Fiend races. Either way, there's nothing to lose.

I am enlightened. No matter how strong a person is, if he doesn’t have a good head, he is nothing more than a tool. I mustn’t be that reckless in the future. I should learn more from the Third Prince.

While the two of them were feeling gleeful, Zu An continued, “But I’m feeling very irked right now. I need to clear my head first before doing this.”

Someone instinctively asked, “How do you intend to clear your head...”

There was a sudden blur before that sentence could be finished. Zu An seemed to have moved, yet he was where he was when everyone turned to look at him.

Zu An wiped off the blood on his fingers as he replied, “My mind is clear now.”

“You...” The Third Prince pointed at him in horror. Blood seeped from his mouth, preventing him from speaking more. Just like that, he collapsed to the ground.

Someone nearby quickly checked on him, only to see that he had fainted. His body was limp, and there wasn't the slightest trace of ki to be felt from him. All his meridians had been severed.

An uproar broke out in the conference hall. This fellow crippled the Third Prince just like that?

The Saintess was taken aback too, but she quickly pulled herself together and calmly declared, “The Third Prince has been attempting to drive a wedge here, weakening the forces we have against the monsters. We need to have a stable foundation before we can fight the monsters. This is also my will.”

Seeing her take responsibility for this matter evoked a laugh from Zu An. Xie Daoyun had clearly warned him earlier, but he'd still gone ahead to eliminate the Third Prince. He knew that this could result in dire consequences, but the Third Prince had been looking at him with resentful eyes, and it looked as if he'd harbored thoughts about the Saintess too. Rather than leaving a ticking time bomb, Zu An preferred to make a decisive move and contain the threat.

“What do you mean by this, Saintess?” Horrified, those who were close with the Third Prince shot to their feet and surrounded her.

The Saintess calmly explained, “At this juncture, infighting mustn’t break out in the Fiend races. I’d rather deal with him on the spot than to let him fracture us.”

“You crippled the Third Prince just because he questioned you? Are you trying to become a dictator?” The Golden Peng Crown Prince was infuriated too. The person he was just admiring a second ago had fallen just like that.

The Saintess had a headache too, but she didn’t blame Zu An for it. The Third Prince had indeed been a threat. Eliminating him was a solution too, not to mention the two of them didn’t have too much time to squander here.

Zu An stepped forward and said, “Crown Prince, since you're on such close terms with the Third Prince, would you like to follow in his footsteps?”

The Golden Peng Crown Prince hurriedly retreated in fear while waving his hands. “No no no, it’s a misunderstanding...”

Upon seeing the Golden Peng Crown Prince’s behavior, the agitated crowd slowly calmed down.

The Third Prince was an expert too, yet he had been crippled before anyone could register what was going on. This showed just how powerful Zu An was. Only a fool would criticize Zu An now.

After a long silence, an older person stood up and said, “The Third Prince indeed erred, but the punishment seems overboard...”

The crowd exchanged looks. They noticed his words were now much more subdued.

Zu An calmly replied, “He offended me time and time again. It’s only on the Saintess and the Peacock Princess’ account that I spared his life.”

The crowd belatedly remembered that this was a world where the strong got their way. It was only normal for an expert who could destroy the Incestuous King and his monster army to be offended when challenged by the likes of the Third Prince. If he had been this arrogant in front of the Incestuous King, the Third Prince would have died a worse death, let alone someone who defeated the Incestuous King. He only had himself to blame for foolishly denying the rumors and underestimating the man he was dealing with.

It was a pragmatic world. No one would oppose a powerful expert for a crippled prince, especially not when the prince had it coming. On top of that, the Third Prince’s enemies and the Saintess’ supporters stepped forward to criticize the Third Prince and affirm the Saintess’ decision. With that, the remaining people didn’t dare to say anything.

Zu An had gone through enough to know how the crowd would react. “Don’t worry. Now that I've cleared my mind, I'll help you deal with the Monster Lord on the Saintess’ account.”

The crowd was delighted to hear that. “We’ll be counting on you. Thank you, Saintess.”

Sacrificing a Third Prince to resolve an imminent threat sounded like an excellent deal.

The Saintess began to deal with the aftermath. The Third Prince had been crippled, but his supporters remained. These supporters needed to be controlled right away, lest they rally together to cause trouble.

Zu An nodded in approval. Xie Daoyun was previously a sheltered young miss, but her methods were now on par with the Empress and Bi Linglong. We might have only parted for a short time, but it looks like you've spent a long time here and grown a lot.

He was waiting for the Saintess to be done so that he could ask her about the Fiend races’ power insignia, when the Peacock Princess went up to him and asked with reddened eyes, “Big brother, were you lying to me?”