Chapter 527: The Truth Revealed

Xu Qing fell silent.

After a long time, he raised his head. The turmoil in his heart had transformed into a stormy sea in his mind, surging ceaselessly, wave after wave.

"Prefecture Steward..." Xu Qing murmured.

He hadn't had much contact with the Prefecture Steward, but deep down, Xu Qing held him in high regard. This respect stemmed from the Steward's alchemy skills and his scholarly aura, reminiscent of Master Bai and the Grand Elder of the Sword-Holding Court. Xu Qing still clearly remembered the Steward's gentle demeanor in the Sword-Holding Palace when he first arrived in the prefecture capital, as well as Deacon Sun's mention of the great merit of the Plain Pill. After the war began, Xu Qing had also frequently seen the Steward's weary expression. He also recalled the scene where the Steward rushed over to help him dig a pit in tacit cooperation when he faced the Near-Immortals.

Although the Prefecture Steward seamlessly integrated himself after the Seventh Prince's arrival, this didn't necessarily mean anything. Many subsequent initiatives beneficial to Fenghai County were proposed by the Prefecture Steward, who repeatedly petitioned the Seventh Prince along with the Vice Palace Masters of the three great palaces, thereby securing those benefits. The front lines wouldn't have held out for so long; the Prefecture Steward had contributed significantly.

"And the method of poisoning..." Xu Qing murmured, organizing all the clues he had gathered into coherent thoughts, one by one. But he still didn't know whom he should report this matter to. And perhaps the previous investigator had also been investigating this matter after perfecting the Fourteenth Scroll of Secrets. But alas, he wasn't omniscient or omnipotent, and time had run out. The Governor had died, and war had begun.

Xu Qing silently raised his head, looking out at the prefecture capital in the dark night.

"The Prefecture Steward, it could be the Palace Master, or it could be Night Dove." Yet... no one could discern the truth from it. Xu Qing murmured, but his words trailed off mid-sentence.

"Using the harmless and inexpensive Plain Pill as a medium, infusing it with the power of the Down-Light Fate Calamity, and then having billions of humans continuously consume it, thereby altering our collective fortune and changing the Governor's 'nourishment'."

"Why would the Prefecture Steward do this? I, along with Zhuzhao..."

Especially during the war, the Prefecture Steward showed no hesitation, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to the front lines, earning the trust of countless commoners and becoming their backbone. The Prefecture Steward had always been mocking everyone in the Chu Tianqun!

Xu Qing sighed softly, pushed open the door of the Sword Pavilion, and stood at the entrance, gazing into the dark world.

"Actually, if you replace the seven words about herbs that the Prefecture Steward said during his lecture with 'Governor,' everything... falls into place naturally."

"But to use the Up-Light Fate Calamity Pill, one first needs a ray of morning glow. That's also why I was asked to investigate. Secondly, it's not a direct poisoning method." This matter was too significant for him to make a hasty judgment. Instead, he treated it as a clue and incorporated it into his analysis.

"The reason the white jade hand appeared in the Forbidden Immortal Zone was because it was originally a transaction..." The original mission was for a Sancan spy to discover a huge secret and then escape back. And the method of refinement was very peculiar; even with Xu Qing's understanding of alchemy, he couldn't analyze it.

Next, Xu Qing thought of the little girl, Ding 187. She was a wisp of Chu Tianqun's fortune, and she had become withered after the wish box was retrieved.

"Therefore, all signs point to the Down-Light Fate Calamity Pill."

For instance, when Xu Qing had just returned, the Prefecture Steward single-handedly suppressed the joint punitive expeditions by the clans Xu Qing had previously ordered.

The truth dawned on Xu Qing. At that moment, it was as if a large hand appeared in his mind, swiftly parting all the mists, making the contents of the lecture the Prefecture Steward gave to them, a group of newly-appointed Sword Holders, on their first meeting years ago, vividly reappear from within the fog.

Xu Qing spoke in a low, heavy voice. Such a person of great merit. Considering the actions before the First Prince's arrival, it was clear that the seven of them were collaborating. Xu Qing's body trembled slightly, and the waves in his mind grew increasingly turbulent.

For ease of understanding, there are two methods: "It was I who poisoned the Governor."

The matter was so immense that, before Xu Qing fully grasped it, at the moment the truth became clear, what arose within him was not just clarity, but also a profound dread. Ultimately, one could only trust everyone.

"The color of the sea, according to the Prefecture Steward's method, is very easy to change. One simply needs to change the color of the millions of rivers flowing into it, and soon, the sea will be unknowingly altered."

"Actually, Fenghai County's demise already told you the answer."

"It wasn't the Prefecture Steward who changed the Governor's state, but rather the Governor's own power that altered his state. All the Prefecture Steward did was create an environment and nourishment that guided him in a certain direction." It was flourishing.

Xu Qing lowered his head, looking at the Plain Pill powder scattered on the ground. He took out the last Plain Pill from the bottle and examined it carefully in his hand. Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. He had thought of the crucial point.

"To change the state of an herb, one doesn't need drastic measures, nor does it require harvesting it and subjecting it to yin-yang harmonization for transformation. In this old man's view, what's needed is a subtle, permeating influence." Many of the herbs within it didn't seem to match, but rather formed as their medicinal properties were altered. Xu Qing's scalp tingled.

"That is the answer."

Xu Qing's breathing quickened. That line of thought was logical; everything became completely clear at that moment. Such a person who, even after the war concluded and the First Prince took charge, repeatedly fought for advantages for Chu Tianqun.

Xu Qing had researched the Plain Pill once before. At that time, his conclusion was that this pill indeed surpassed the White Pill in its effect of dispelling foreign substances. The person who asked him to investigate all this had already fallen. Its appearance made the dawn of that day arrive much faster than usual.

"Such methods..."

After a long time, a vast, incredibly dim light appeared on the distant horizon, illuminating the sky. This empty wish box once contained a Down-Light Fate Calamity Pill. Because it had been stored in the box for so long, even years after the pill was removed, an osmanthus-like scent still lingered, not having completely dissipated. In the past, no matter how Xu Qing heard that statement, his heart was filled with admiration and deep respect for the Prefecture Steward, who could conceive of such a method.

Millions of thunderbolts seemed to explode in Xu Qing's mind. He recalled the Prefecture Steward's gaze at the crowd during his lecture. "You told them the answer, you told everyone the answer, but they... how haven't they found out yet?"

"To have the Governor unknowingly absorb it quickly, influencing him from within."

"Unbeknownst to it, he changed its environment, changed the nourishment it required, making it unknowingly absorb it quickly, influencing it from within." At this moment, to think of him as the ultimate culprit felt somewhat unreal to Xu Qing.

"To poison the Governor, one doesn't need drastic measures; what's needed is a subtle, permeating influence." The scent was present outside the Plain Pill. After that, he saw no signs of any issues with the Prefecture Steward, nor did he obtain any evidence.

"Without the Governor's awareness, to change the nourishment he required... Nourishment, combined with the principle of Up-Light Fate Calamity, isn't that fortune?"

"Therefore, the Prefecture Steward didn't directly poison the Governor. He treated the Governor as an herb. The target of his poisoning... was all the human inhabitants within the prefecture capital's territory, and also the environment where the 'herb' resided!" What seemed like impatience at the time, now in retrospect, contained hidden mockery and manipulation, as if for him, it was merely a guessing game.

"When he knows how to change the color of the sea, he will understand everything." Afterwards, the Governor fell, the Judicial Office collapsed, and the little girl disappeared. "He also couldn't do anything..."

At this moment, the Prefecture Steward was Xu Qing's only backbone. All the old members of Chu Tianqun looked to him as their leader. Combined with the great merit of his Plain Pill, it could be said that he earned the Prince's trust and the common people's hearts. But looking at those words now, a shocking thunderbolt rumbled through Xu Qing's mind.

For example, the rules and protections for Sword Holders after the war in the Sword-Holding Palace were also repeatedly negotiated by the Prefecture Steward with the Seventh Prince.

"The mysterious man in white who appeared on the battlefield that day, he wasn't Marquis Yao. He was the Prefecture Steward." Xu Qing had discussed that point with Kong Xianglong before. He truly couldn't imagine any method that could poison the Governor, who was at the Half-Step Soul Manifestation realm with fortune augmentation, without him noticing. Especially as he thought of countless humans believing the Plain Pill was the Prefecture Steward's great merit, while the Steward had brazenly and openly revealed all the answers to the world long ago.

It made sense, everything made sense.

"That was about utilizing the fortune of the human race within the prefecture capital's territory to alter and influence the Governor, thereby achieving the goal of poisoning. In a broader sense, it wasn't you who changed its state, but its own power that altered its own state. All you did was create an environment and nourishment that guided its direction."

Thus, the Fourteenth Scroll of Secrets came into being, providing the basis for Xu Qing to later determine the Governor's cause of death. As the sky brightened, ripples of warmth spread across the land. This was because he had indeed successfully improved the White Pill, creating the Plain Pill through that method, benefiting the human inhabitants of the prefecture capital. At that time, Xu Qing sensed that there was something wrong with the other party, as if he harbored something impure within him.

"Unbeknownst to the Governor, he changed his environment... The environment, primarily, being the people of the prefecture capital. The Plain Pill, it's a colossal lie!"

He then recalled the contents of Xu Qing's jade slip and his own investigation results from Morning Glow Mountain.

"Because there are too many ways for a powerful Governor to die silently, unless it's an action from the Soul Manifestation level, but if that were truly the case, there would have been no need for this war." That was the Prefecture Steward's original statement at the time. Xu Qing always remembered a sentence the Fenghai Governor told him when he inquired about the whereabouts of the Palace Master and Night Dove during his final moments. In many matters, the Prefecture Steward's presence was evident. "Morning glow, you found a clue, proving that there was indeed an unrecorded ray, and that corroboration made the use of the Up-Light Fate Calamity Pill possible." "Emperor Xuanzhan raised your human race's domain treasure in the territory of the White Day tribe, ten hours later!"

Xu Qing had thought this was due to the collapse of the Judicial Office, causing an effect that led to its dissipation, but looking at it now, that wasn't the case! Looking at it now, the true spy must have fallen. Only Xu Qing and others managed to obtain that wish box from the spy's descendants years later.

At the same time, all cultivators, including Xu Qing, received a notice from the Prefecture Steward at that very moment. That he was trusted by the Palace Master to remain in the prefecture capital showed that while the Palace Master might have harbored some doubts, his instinct was predominantly one of trust. Xu Qing fell silent, suppressing the multitude of turbulent emotions within him.

That was the Prefecture Steward's unique alchemical method: by subtly altering the internal environment of an herb, it would unknowingly be changed and influenced, transforming into the desired effect. However, the little girl quickly recovered, so Xu Qing didn't dwell on it much. With the information he possessed at the time, it was difficult to deduce much more.

"According to the Fourteenth Scroll of Secrets, this empty wish box once contained an Up-Light Fate Calamity Pill. Xu Qing knew this, which is why, after the Governor's demise, I concluded that this pill was the cause." Such a person who protected the rear during wartime.