Who are you going to collect the bodies for

Qin Hao squinted at Qin He, his voice low and deep.

"So this adopted son of yours has been deducting the soldiers' pay, colluding with bandits, using our Qin family's name to bully the weak and oppress the innocent."

"Were you aware of these matters?"

Hearing this, Qin He's body stiffened slightly. He paused for two breaths before answering.

Lord Imperial Son, please understand clearly. Ever since I took over the Immortal Court, I have been in seclusion in the secret chamber. I knew nothing of these matters.

"However, I cannot deny my fault in neglecting external matters. Whatever punishment Lord Imperial Son deems fit, I shall accept."

Ah Long finished his investigation and leaned close to Qin Hao. "Lord Imperial Son, I used a secret art to probe him. He is not lying."

Qin Hao nodded lightly.

"Fine. Since you admit your own fault, I won't say more."

"I'll give you one week to thoroughly investigate the Celestial Radiance Immortal Court, drag out all the rot within, and redeem yourself through merit."

"Also, if you're just going to seclude yourself after taking charge and ignore the world outside, what use is there in having you manage the Immortal Court?"

"Once you've cleaned out the corruption, resign from your post and return to the Qin family to seclude yourself."

Qin He bowed deeply to Qin Hao.

"Yes. Thank you, Lord Imperial Son, for sparing my life."

Qin Hao shook his head. "It's too soon to thank me for sparing your life. Only when you've done a proper job of purging the rot will I consider your merits offsetting your faults."

"Yes!!!"

After giving his instructions to Qin He, Qin Hao and Chen Xiaoyun found an inn nearby.

Qin Hao threw himself into healing the injuries in his meridians.

As for Chen Xiaoyun, she spent every day buried in the work of debugging the third-layer core structure of the Dimensional Blade.

Time flew, and a week passed.

Over these seven days, Qin He followed Qin Hao's orders, investigated the entire Immortal Court, and uprooted every corrupt parasite one by one.

After finishing this task, he found Qin Hao to bid farewell, resigned from his post, and returned to the Qin family.

"Qin Hao, I have a feeling I'm almost there. The Dimensional Blade will soon be ready for production!"

Chen Xiaoyun stared at the dagger in her hand, her eyes brimming with excitement.

Qin Hao curled the corner of his mouth.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what this weapon of yours can do. Don't let me down."

With that, a hint of regret flickered across Qin Hao's face.

"What a pity your Chen family was wiped out. Otherwise, I'd really like to exchange notes with your ancestor."

Hearing this, Chen Xiaoyun's face clouded with sorrow.

She lowered her head, saying nothing, her eyes vacant as she fumbled with the dagger in her hands.

Seeing this, Qin Hao realized he had misspoken.

"S-sorry. My mouth got ahead of me. I didn't mean anything by it."

Chen Xiaoyun forced a smile at him.

"I know you meant no harm. And with all those wild ideas in your head, it makes sense you'd want to meet our Chen family ancestor."

She let out a sigh.

"I wonder how your father is doing. I never thought the mastermind behind destroying my Chen family would be so powerful. Looks like we've dragged your Qin family into trouble."

Qin Hao waved a hand dismissively.

"What trouble? These people were a ticking time bomb. Finding them early and eliminating them benefits the whole Three Realms and Nine Heavens."

Under Chen Xiaoyun's gaze, Qin Hao pulled out his jade pendant.

This jade pendant was crafted by Qin Wuya with immense effort. It could be used for anything.

Qin Hao activated the pendant, issuing it a command to observe the battle.

The next moment, a live feed of the Qin family ancestors fighting the Netherworld Hall appeared.

Among them were Liu Ruyan and a creature as radiant as the sun, locked in fierce combat.

The two sides clashed with such power that heaven and earth shattered.

Thankfully, Liu Ruyan had set up a Sky-Sealing Earth-Locking Formation the moment she arrived; otherwise, the aftershocks of this battle alone could have shaken the entire Three Realms and Nine Heavens.

"They're still fighting?"

Chen Xiaoyun's face was filled with awe. More than half a month had passed, and the two sides were still locked in battle.

Qin Hao chuckled. "This is nothing. Think about the battles of the Immortal Ancient Era—they went on for nearly ten million years at a time."

Chen Xiaoyun frowned. "Then why not call for reinforcements? This is our turf in the Three Realms and Nine Heavens. Why not rally other factions to deal with these traitors who sided with the Otherworld?"

Qin Hao shook his head.

"We can call for backup, but so can they. Both sides are still testing the waters."

He patted Chen Xiaoyun on the shoulder.

"This isn't something we need to worry about for now. If you want to help, hurry up and finish that weapon of yours."

Chen Xiaoyun nodded firmly, then turned back to resuming her debugging of the Dimensional Blade.

Seeing this, Qin Hao quietly slipped out of the room so as not to disturb her.

He walked out of the inn with his hands in his pockets, strolling slowly along the street.

He had taken many healing pills, and the medicinal power was gradually taking effect in his body. He figured a walk would help with digestion.

As he turned a corner, Qin Hao saw a crowd gathered ahead.

Driven by curiosity, he squeezed in to take a look—only to freeze on the spot.

In the center of the crowd, an old man was squatting on the ground, a straw mat laid out before him.

Beside the old man stood two young girls, one older and one younger, their shoulders trembling as they sobbed.

The old man wiped his face and let out a long, anguished sigh, his voice hoarse and grief-stricken.

"Young master, we came too late. We couldn't even find your body. We have failed you!"

The younger girl wept so hard she could barely breathe.

"Big brother, big brother, you died so horribly! It's all our fault!"

Qin Hao, standing at the edge of the crowd, watched as his expression shifted from shock to exasperation. He took a deep breath, pushed through the crowd, and knelt down in front of the old fisherman.

"Old man, who are you here to collect?"

"Xiao Xue, Xiao Fang—what are you two crying about?"

Qin Hao stared, black lines forming on his face, at the old fisherman and his two granddaughters. He never expected to walk right into a rumor about his own death.

Upon seeing Qin Hao, the three of them first froze, then burst into overwhelming joy. Xiao Xue threw herself into Qin Hao's arms.

"Big brother, you're not dead!"

Qin Hao pulled Xiao Xue off of him.

"What's going on? Why are you cursing me to die?"

The old fisherman, after confirming that the person before him wasn't a hallucination, began to explain their story.

They had rushed here from Black Cloud Stockade, traveling nonstop for seven days.

They had planned to go near the Immortal Court to collect Qin Hao's body, but the soldiers guarding the court were all at the Tribulation-Transcending stage, with some even at the Immortal level. The old fisherman was afraid of angering them and didn't dare to get close.

Perhaps frustrated by his own cowardice, the old fisherman had simply taken the two children to the city below the Immortal Court and cried right there.