Chapter 597: Storm In Great Xia (1)
30th of December.
The year 350 of the Anping Calendar was coming to an end. News about the Starfall Mountain incident had spread everywhere.
In front of the House of Hundred.
Wu Jia was furious and disappointed. She was on the verge of emotional collapse. Again and again, she replayed the video showing what had happened on Starfall Mountain.
She roared furiously, her voice hoarse.
"Is Great Xia not answering for this? Is the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy not answering for this? All of you have forced him to leave his home! Because of you guys, he no longer has a home! Sunmoons and Mountainseas had personally attacked him. Just what wrong has my junior brother done?
"He's only at the Mental Tempering Stage. After coming out with the Acupoint Fusion Art, he hid nothing and handed it over to the Xia Family. Is this how the Xia Family is treating him after that?
"He had given the Soul Devouring Art to the Xia Family. Even his cultural art had been handed over. Is this how the Xia Family is repaying him? So many traitors had appeared on the Starfall Mountain to kill him. Was nobody in Great Xia aware of that?"
She roared with desperation and fury. Her junior brother was gone. All by himself, he went down south, leaving the place he grew up in, leaving behind his loved ones, his friends, and his teachers.
Great Ming was an entirely different prefecture. A different prefecture might as well be a different country or even a different world. The people in Great Xia wouldn’t even think about Great Ming normally.And now, her junior brother had left alone. She saw how her junior brother had killed Zhou Pingsheng. She saw how her junior brother coughed blood from his injuries. She saw how her junior brother was attacked using a Mountainsea talisman. Naturally, the part where Li Minyu was turned into a shield had been edited out of the video.
Wu Jia was furious. She howled, "Is nobody in Great Xia willing to uphold justice for us? My junior brother's father is still in the Devil Subduing Army! He is still protecting humanity on the front lines! Is this how you repay him? Has Great Xia really decayed this much? Should we still have faith in Great Xia? Is our faith a joke all along?"
Her furious voice reverberated in the area. Countless teachers and teachers gathered nearby, but nobody said anything. They all lowered their heads in shame. The struggle between the single and multiple character factions had actually reached such a level.
Several elders and even a Sunmoon principal had personally tried to kill Su Yu. They had even colluded with the myriad race dao protectors to accomplish that goal. If it wasn't for the chance encounter with Great Ming's prefect, Su Yu wouldn't have been able to survive. It would be a disgrace. Su Yu, a rising human genius, would have been killed by his fellow humans.
"Are you not ashamed when you cultivate the Acupoint Fusion Art?" Wu Jia continued howling, "Why are all of you silent about how only those from the same cultivation level should face each other? People like Zhou Pingsheng and Yu Hong had personally attacked a student. They had betrayed humanity and worked with the cult. Why is nobody talking about that?
"An entire day has passed. Why is Great Xia still not doing anything about that? Zhou Mingren is a pseudo Sunmoon. The single character faction is important. Thus, the multiple character faction should be destroyed. Is that it?"
Wu Jia's tears dripped down as she asked, "Why is nobody doing anything? Why isn't anyone saying that this is against the rules? Is it fine to even collude with the cult nowadays? In that case, I might as well join the cult. One day...one day, I'll take my revenge on all of you...I will..."
She wept. Was nobody standing up for them? Was nobody standing up for her junior brother? Just because her junior brother was a member of the multiple character faction? Just because of that, they could ignore all his contributions?
Someone warned her, "Junior Sister Wu, be careful with your words. You don't want to give some people an excuse to do something against you. Great Xia will definitely give us an explanation for this. We all need an answer."
A Cloudbreach coldly said, "That is only natural. The struggle between the single and multiple character factions is supposed to be an internal competition. It's not a situation where people should be crossing all sorts of lines to kill a young genius. If even a Sunmoon couldn't understand something like that, it's time for a cleansing."
"Who among us doesn't have a family? If the Sunmoons can ignore rules to kill a Mental Tempering Stage student today, then they can probably do the same to my family tomorrow."
"Since they have colluded with the Myriad Race Cult, they all deserve death."
"..."
Due to Great Xia's militaristic nature, its populace had always been rather fierce in nature. They had stayed silent before this as the struggle between the two factions did not concern them. But it was now different. The single character faction had crossed the line.
The masses were furious. If even the single character faction dared to do something like that, was there still light in Great Xia?
Outside the academy, a large crowd had gathered as well. Furious roars resounded throughout the academy.
"Hand over the ringleader!"
"Punish the single character faction!"
"Kill the traitors and protect Great Xia's prestige!"
"Shut down the cultural research academies and send all cultural researchers to the front lines!"
"..."
The entire capital was filled with furious roars. All three cultural research academies in the capital were surrounded by furious crowds.
The principal of the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy was involved. Several elders of the Daoseeking Cultural Research Academy and Great Xia Cultural Research Academy were also involved.
These important individuals had colluded with the devils to kill a human genius and snatch the fortuitous encounter of the young genius. They had forced Su Yu to leave his home. This was a disgrace!
Great Xia had fought in numerous wars over hundreds of years and lost countless soldiers to build a reputation fierce enough to deter the cult from operating within its borders. But that fierce reputation had been destroyed. While the common soldiers were busy fighting the cult, the upper echelons were colluding with the cult.
Chaos descended inside the academies.
Outside the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, Chen Hao was shouting among the crowd, "Punish the ringleader! They are killing the descendents of heroes as they wish. The brave soldiers of Great Xia are bravely fighting on the front lines while their children are being bullied back home! Who would still dare to fight for humanity after this?
"Is nobody from the Devil Subduing Army standing up for Su Yu? 100-Man Commander Su Long is still on the front lines right this moment. Does he even know that his son has been forced out of Great Xia by these Sunmoons and Mountainseas?"
"..."
Countless people agreed. Countless people demanded an explanation. Countless people roared. Even Su Yu's father, Su Long, was being mentioned. That was a retired soldier who had returned to the army.
He was nearly fifty, and he was merely a ninth-stage Great Strength cultivator. Yet with a single call from Great Xia, he left his son who had yet to even graduate from his secondary school and rushed to the front lines.
He fought for Great Xia when he was young. When he was an old man, he continued fighting for Great Xia. And now, his son was a victim of assassinations by their own people due to his outstanding talent. Where was the justice in that?
There were countless soldiers on the front lines. But back home, there were also countless retired soldiers. Today, this fate had befallen Su Yu. Who would be the next Su Yu? Who would still dare to fight for Great Xia in the future?
One of the retired soldiers in the crowd ignored the advice of his former comrades and roared, "Where is the Devil Subduing Army? Where is the Martial Dragon Guards? Flatten the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy! Flatten the Nine Heavens Cultural Research Academy!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"If the ringleaders are not punished, the millions upon millions of soldiers won't let this slide!"
A bunch of old men tore open their clothes, revealing the scars they had accumulated during their time in the military, and roared, "We fought for Great Xia. We fought for humanity. Look at our backs. There is not a single scar there. We have never turned from our enemies!"
"Today, our descendants are being subjected to such injustice! Where is the grand commander?"
"Is this the spirit of Great Xia developed over three hundred years?"
"I used to be proud of Great Xia. Today, I am ashamed of Great Xia!"
"..."
One retired soldier after another tore their clothes to reveal their scars.
Anger.
Fury.
They had all willingly fought on the battlefield for a better future. They had fought to provide a better life for their descendants. And yet a child of their comrade had been attacked by numerous experts behind the front lines. Was this still the same Great Xia they once fought for?
"Where is the grand commander?"
The retired soldiers started shouting for Xia Longwu. They demanded an explanation. The soldiers of Great Xia required an explanation.
Someone shouted, "Marquis Xia is coming out to explain..."
"Tell him to piss off!" A retired soldier roared, "We want to hear from Grand Commander Xia Longwu! We want to hear from Great Xia King! In the past, everything was fine in Great Xia. After Xia Xiao'er took control, Great Xia is starting to collapse!"
"Has Xia Xiao'er led an army before? Has he fought in a war before?"
"He's the same type of people as those corrupt cultural researchers!"
"Where is the grand commander?"
"..."
They laid all the blame on Marquis Xia. Things weren't like this when Xia Longwu was in charge. Why did Great Xia change into something like this now? When Xia Longwu was in charge, he fought numerous wars and oppressed the cultists so much that they didn't dare to do anything in Great Xia.
Was Xia Xiao'er even capable of ruling? All of them were furious. Their faith had been crushed.
Prefect's manor.
The furious roars of the masses could be heard inside the manor.
Main hall.
Numerous experts had been gathered there. Seated in front of everyone was Marquis Xia.
Xia Xiao'er...
It wasn't like nobody knew his real name. Everyone had simply been staying silent about it before. With a smile, he leaned against the large throne without saying anything.
More and more experts arrived.
This was a gathering of Mountainseas. The experts of the various academies, departments, and armies were all heading over.
Fifty, sixty, a hundred, two hundred...
There were so many of them it was inconceivable. This was the strength of Great Xia, a top three prefecture in the Human Realm. When the old sky horse and the old mountain antelope arrived, they were trembling with fear. Was this the real strength of Great Xia?
The dao protectors of the myriad races started appearing one after another. All of them were in fear. The powerful auras in the room were suffocating.