Just as the Faceless Man was imprisoned, the place quivered once more.
Soon, a pressure from outside shattered the array that enveloped the place.
A majestic middle-aged man in a purple-gold python robe revealed his form.
"Greetings, Duke Zhen!" Li Jizhou gave a slight nod to the newcomer.
In the moment when communication with the Dharma Realm was severed, he immediately sent a message to Duke Zhen.
Since the destruction of the Red Flame Demon Race in Yong'an City, Duke Zhen had been operating within the swamp, and Li Jizhou believed it was likely to protect him.
Along with Duke Zhen in the swamp, even without using the golden talisman bestowed by Li Yuan, traversing the void through the Space Domain Gate of the Void Refining Realm should be safe.
However, using up this golden talisman was something Li Jizhou had planned all along.
Once this talisman was used, Li Yuan would instantly sense it.
Upon leaving Qingzhou, he had sent a message to Li Yuan about entering the swamp to thoroughly resolve all hidden matters following the extermination of the Red Flame Demon Race.
This was extremely important and necessary for Li Yuan, as well as extremely dangerous.
Li Jizhou's aim in doing this was to fake his death and escape, inciting a conflict between Consort Rong and Dragon Aspect in Jiuli Imperial City, hoping to force Dragon Aspect into premature action.
"Xiaoqi, what happened here?" Duke Zhen glanced at the dying Faceless Man with a slight frown.
Li Jizhou shook his head, uncertain: "A few days ago, someone placed a bounty on my assassination through Celestial Punishment. I don't know if this person took the bounty."
Duke Zhen's expression grew severe, his sharp gaze falling upon the Faceless Man. The looming pressure of his Void Refining power caused a disturbance in the surrounding Spiritual Qi.
"Daring to strike at Xiaoqi, you should be prepared to live a life worse than death!"
With a cold shout, Duke Zhen cast a Divine Soul Mark that clung to the Faceless Man's Primordial Spirit like flesh-eating larvae, further weakening it and easing Hong Luan's control.
In Duke Zhen's eyes, the Seventh Prince surely had the qualities of a Saint Emperor, and crucially, compared to the current Saint Emperor, Li Yuan, the Seventh Prince possessed greater magnanimity and strategy.
In his interactions with Gongsun Dang, he had long considered the Seventh Prince as the next Saint Emperor.
It would also be another opportunity for Duke Zhen's lineage to re-enter the court.
"Thank you, Duke Zhen." Li Jizhou could sense Duke Zhen's emotional shift and expressed his gratitude earnestly.
"Haha, why be so formal with me? I did arrive rather late this time." Duke Zhen waved it off.
He then sighed, "Celestial Punishment dared to make a move against you. Logically, I should root them out entirely. However, Celestial Punishment is too clandestine. Over the years, even the Great Xia Dynasty sought to eradicate them but never found their foundation. The elite killers of Celestial Punishment excel at concealment, and without identifying their true forms, it is difficult to eliminate them."
Li Jizhou smiled subtly: "Duke Zhen, don't worry. This time, I have already uncovered details about Celestial Punishment, and I would appreciate it if you could accompany me on this journey."
"Oh? You've uncovered details about Celestial Punishment?" Duke Zhen was astonished.
If anyone harbored the greatest hatred for Celestial Punishment, it would undoubtedly be the Great Xia Dynasty, which once paid a hefty price to set a reverse bounty on the Master of Celestial Punishment.
Only after the first-generation Master of Celestial Punishment vanished did they ease their relentless pursuit.
Yet, despite numerous attempts, they never succeeded once.
This wasn't because the subsequent Masters of Celestial Punishment were exceptionally mighty, but rather due to their mastery of a secret skill—being the legacy of the Yellow Springs Blood Slaughter Celestial Venerable—that even a Refining Void Divine Monarch couldn't force them out of hiding.
Li Jizhou nodded: "Please wait, Duke Zhen. I will interrogate this thug and then we shall set out to find Celestial Punishment."
Duke Zhen nodded, standing to the side, saying nothing further.
Subsequently, Li Jizhou tested the Blood Evil Realm, finding it normalized, and his thoughts could communicate freely, while the women inside were without any anomalies.
"Begin." Li Jizhou nodded towards Hong Luan.
Golden light emanated from Hong Luan's brow, detaching the Faceless Man's Primordial Spirit from its body.
Amidst the agonized screams, the Primordial Spirit of the Faceless Man was exposed to Li Jizhou, tormented incessantly by Duke Zhen's mark like a searing branding iron.
"What kind of rebel are you?" Li Jizhou asked calmly.
"Kill me, quickly, kill me!" The distorted Primordial Spirit pleaded.
"Answer the question, and you'll have a quick death!"
"I am... I am the Master of Celestial Punishment!"
"..." Duke Zhen suddenly looked towards the Primordial Spirit.
What a joke? The Master of Celestial Punishment, whom the Great Xia Dynasty couldn't discover despite exhausting their wits, was right before their eyes? And captured by a mere Seventh Prince in the Foundation Establishment Stage?
Upon hearing this, Li Jizhou was not overly surprised, given that the opponent came with clear intentions of acquiring the Blood Evil Celestial Venerable's Profound Celestial Treasure.
Their objective was explicit, indicating their familiarity with Blood Evil Celestial Venerable.
Moreover, being able to temporarily shield Li Jizhou from sensing the Celestial Venerable Dharma Realm suggested a close relation to the Blood Evil Celestial Venerable, or possibly their descendant.
Such confidential matters wouldn't be entrusted to others by the Master of Celestial Punishment; they would surely come in person.
"How can you prove it?" Although Duke Zhen was shocked, he didn't overshadow the host, and Li Jizhou promptly voiced the question from his heart.
A slight movement in the Primordial Spirit of the Master of Celestial Punishment caused a heap of items to fall from the storage ring on their body.
Duke Zhen extended his hand to collect them from the void.
"Celestial Punishment Order!"
"Celestial Slaughter Division List!"
"Bounty Commission Docket!"
"..."
It truly was the contemporary Master of Celestial Punishment, renowned across the entire Cultivation Continent of the Nine Provinces!
Duke Zhen turned to look at Li Jizhou, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He really couldn't fathom how Li Jizhou managed to capture the Master of Celestial Punishment.
Back then, the Great Xia Dynasty had even offered a Profound Celestial Treasure to draw out the Master of Celestial Punishment's true form.
In the end, their true form never appeared, only a secret technique clone was cut down.
Besides, why would the Seventh Prince of the Jiuli Dynasty, merely in the Foundation Establishment Stage, be worthy of an assassination by the Master of Celestial Punishment?
"Why target me?" Li Jizhou again voiced Duke Zhen's perplexity.
"For... for the Celestial Venerable's relics..." The Primordial Spirit of the Master of Celestial Punishment, suffering untold agony, was trapped under Hong Luan's Divine Soul Secret Skill and tormented by Duke Zhen's Void Refining Realm Divine Soul Erosion, truly living a fate worse than death.
"The Celestial Venerable's relics? The Profound Celestial Treasure should be beneath your notice, and merging with this treasure's realm... with your cultivation, it shouldn't hold much use either, right?" Li Jizhou had long been puzzled by this.
"I only seek the Golden Corpse in the realm!"
"Mm? The Golden Corpse in the realm? What use do you have for that?" Li Jizhou asked, furrowing his brows.
The Tier Five Golden Corpse in the realm had been dealt with three years ago, and no special characteristics were discovered at that time.
To the Master of Celestial Punishment, even endless Golden Corpses shouldn't hold significant value.
"To carry on the Celestial Venerable's will!"
"What will?"
"To overturn this unjust heaven and earth!"
The moment Li Jizhou heard this, his heart skipped a beat.
Overturn heaven and earth?
Could it be that the Yellow Springs Blood Slaughter Celestial Venerable painstakingly constructed the realm solely to nurture that Golden Corpse?
Could their purpose be aligned with the Shangguan family's Spirit Veins in the Eastern Desolation, which nourish corpses?
"With just a Tier Five Golden Corpse, you wish to overturn heaven and earth?" Li Jizhou voiced his inner question.
"No, I don't know. The Celestial Venerable's will only mentioned the Golden Corpse reared in the realm. I know nothing else... please kill me."
Li Jizhou paused silently for a moment, then nodded to Hong Luan.
A beam from Hong Luan's eyebrows immediately pierced the Master of Celestial Punishment's brow, initiating soul searching.
"Boom~"
Yet, just as Hong Luan's Divine Soul penetrated, before retrieving any information, a muffled explosion broke out, and the Master of Celestial Punishment's Primordial Spirit burst immediately.
The reason there wasn't an immediate soul search previously was precisely due to Li Jizhou's concern over the existence of preventive secret skills, leading to a collapse of the sea of consciousness upon encountering soul searching.
As expected.
Watching as the Master of Celestial Punishment's soul was scattered, Li Jizhou remained composed, neither happy nor sad. He then proceeded to examine the items on the ground carefully.