For someone of Lin Mu's cultivation base, a situation like this should have been enough to knock himself out.
Even if it wasn't from fear, just the sheer pressure of Qi and energies here would have resulted in the same.
As such, it didn't make sense why he was still standing. This was also enough for Holy Topaz Emperor to figure out that Lin Mu was the one being targeted by Feng Baxing and had survived all this without a single hair missing.
'For a Celestial to interfere despite the laws of the Immortal Court… just how valuable is he for such a favor?' The Holy Topaz Emperor wondered, having no idea that not only was Lin Mu behind Feng Baxing's current condition, but that he had also killed his eleventh son too!
Of course, even if he found out about it there was no way he would dare to act. Especially not until he figured out more about the situation and learned just what kind of power s were at play.
He had not become an Emperor by being impulsive. He knew when and how to pick his battles as well as when to keep his cool.
Knowing that there was no other way to proceed than to get a sense of all that had happened first.
"High Elder, give me the Recording slip." Emperor Feng ordered.
High Elder Juxue looked at the formation masters and communicated with them with a jade slip.
~shua~
"Here it is, Emperor." One of the formation masters approached with a white jade slip in his hand.
It was carved with fine runes on one side and the motif of the Temple on the other side.
"Let me take a look first." Emperor Feng said before holding the White Jade Slip.
With his proficiency, Emperor Feng merely took five seconds to scan through all that had happened. He now knew everything right from the start of the final battle, all the way to when Feng Baxing had been rendered crippled.
The Emperor Feng uneasy that one of his heirs had been crippled like this. Normally the punishment for something like this would be severe, but it still had to come from him.
'What Feng Baxing did is already enough to warrant great punishment from the Temple of the Four Guardian beasts… but this does not warrant his cultivation being crippled like this.' Emperor Feng thought. 'For a celestial to interfere in an Immortal world, there has to be consequences.'
"Foolish man." As if all thoughts of the Emperor were bare to look at, an authoritative voice was heard.
"Who—?" Emperor Feng couldn't understand who would have the gall to insult him like that.
"The one who crippled your offspring." The voice replied.
"What?" This time it wasn't just Emperor Feng that heard it but other top experts did too.
The voice was too ambiguous and one could not tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman. They couldn't even tell how the unknown celestial was communicating with them either.
"They're talking to Emperor Feng?" High Elder Juxue had heard it too and was astounded.
He couldn't help but look at his nephew who looked to be perplexed.
"I'll say this once, dismiss all that happened here and denounce your son. If you do, your world might have some easier days." The voice said in a clear tone of threat.
"You… even if you are a Celestial you cannot simply interfere in the workings of a lower world than your cultivation. Interfering like this in an Immortal world will bring sanctions from the Immortal court." Emperor Feng knew that he was talking to a Celestial, but still managed to muster some courage.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that he could tell this celestial was not as strong as the one that had restrained them. It wasn't hard to tell, as mastery over space was not easy and was very rare. Especially of that level.
The Celestial that was talking to him was someone that was versed in the Wind Dao, the Cloud Dao as well as the Air Dao.
At least that is what the Emperor was able to figure out. Since he himself was a Wind Dao expert, there was no way he would miss out on that.
"Yeah, what you've done is against the rules of the Immortal Court!" The Holy Topaz Emperor joined in as well. "Crippling a junior like that is cruel."
Only the Huiqing Emperor and the High Elder were silent.
The high elder particularly had different thoughts in his mind, and held his tongue.
"Hah! You think what I did was cruel? Then you all are foolish!" the Voice roared back. "Don't think I don't know how you all got squeezed like pesky bugs earlier." It taunted.
This made the Emperors go silent, unable to muster word in resistance.
"What I did… was mercy." The voice stated much to their surprise.
"Mercy!?" The Three Emperors couldn't understand the thinking of the unknown celestial.
"Yes… mercy. Do you think your offspring would be fine if I did not stop him?" The Voice questioned.
"Stopping him would be fine… erasing the Imperial Might Talisman was fine too. But crippling him is…" Emperor Feng was suddenly interrupted.
"Hah! Do not think I don't know the thinking of cretins like you or your offspring. You are far too young to talk to me about how the Jianghu works!" The voice scolded. "I'll clarify it for you… instead of your son being crippled, would you rather have your dynasties erased? Or rather… this world shattered?"
The words stunned all the experts leaving their minds boggled.
"What you've said is blasphemy against the Temple of the Four Guardians. Even if you are a Celestial, the Temple is above you. The threats of destroying a world with an established temple if not just a simple crime. Not to mention, the 'higher courts' will not take it lightly either." This time the High Elder was forced to speak.
He would have stayed silent if not for the fact that the unknown voice was talking against the tenets of the Temple. If he didn't talk here, he would be considered a traitor to the temple.
"Young child, you are the most rational among them. Perhaps you've seen more of the universe, but don't forget that there are always mountains above mountains, oceans beyond seas." The voice spoke in a mysterious tone, putting the High Elder in deep thought.
"But since you tried to protect 'him' I'll give you some advice." This aroused the High Elder's interest. "Even if the Celestial temple were to be informed, they would hold back once they learned just what kind of sin the offspring of this emperor had done.
If they were to know who he tried to harm… who that person is 'valued' by, they themselves would enact punishment upon you all." It explained.
Hearing that the emperors didn't know whether to believe it or not. They don't know how the temples would go against their own words and rules. They were very strict on that after all.
"You don't have to believe me. The spirits of the Four Guardians are awake. Just have a talk with them and see how it goes." The voice stated before switching its attention to Emperor Feng. "As for you, it is in the best interest of you and your empires to keep silent on this matter. If you disturb the ones above, it won't end well."
The Voice left the Emperors and top experts in silence. They had to process a lot and would have to figure out the next course of action.
"As for how you all will handle this. I believe even with your few millenniums of experience, it should still be easy to handle matters and hide things." The voice said before adding. "As for the winning child. Don't think about him and don't interfere in his matters. Let the juniors interact without the threat of seniors. Otherwise… you all should know better by now, the Golden Eyes do not give second chances." It gave its final words and faded away.
~huu~
All the top experts couldn't help but take deep breaths. The implications of it all were too much for them to understand at once. But they all knew, at the crux of it all was Lin Mu.
The briefly glanced at Lin Mu and felt a prickling feeling on the backs of their necks. This forced them to look away and reminded them of the final words.
"We need to silence this place first." Emperor Feng said before waving his hand.
The winds swirled around the tournament grounds and silenced all things.
"High Elder Juxue… Take the winner for his reward. His work here is done." Emperor Feng stated without looking at Lin Mu.
"Father, Mu Lin—" the Crown Prince tried to say something but was stopped by his father.
"You accompany him too. I believe you two are acquaintances. Don't speak a word about what happened here." The Emperor ordered looking deeply into the prince's eyes.
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