5: The Ninth Prince has ordered the execution of the rebels!

The moment he spoke, the entire training ground fell silent.

The Qin Family Disciples who were sparring all stopped, looking towards the source of the sound with surprise and uncertainty.

Someone whispered:

"Isn't that Elder Qin Wenhe, who has served Old Ancestor for many years?"

"Now that you mention it, I remember seeing him a few times from afar before."

"What happened? To make such a prominent figure personally come to the training ground to find someone?"

Before the discussions ceased, Qin Wenhe's gaze swept across the entire area like lightning, his robes fluttering without wind. That invisible Divine Might caused the nearest Disciples to unconsciously take half a step back.

"Young Master, this...?" Cao Xiangwen looked at his Young Master hesitantly, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes.

He clearly had a guilty conscience.

Qin Xuan also frowned slightly, but soon relaxed.

A disdainful arc curved at the corner of his mouth: "No matter, perhaps it's about that rumor from before—the Family is going to select ten Dao Children, and maybe he's here to bestow an Opportunity."

It wasn't self-praise; he was confident that among the younger generation of the Family, he ranked high in both strength and Aptitude.

He straightened his robes and strode towards Qin Wenhe.

On the training ground, the Disciples consciously made way for a path.

Qin Xuan walked with a composed gait, his sleeves fluttering with an inherent air of arrogance.

He approached Qin Wenhe, cupped his hands in a salute, and said in a clear voice: "Disciple Qin Xuan greets Elder. May I ask why Elder summoned us, and what instructions you have?"

Cao Xiangwen followed closely, bowing respectfully, but kept his head down, not daring to meet Qin Wenhe's gaze.

Qin Wenhe's gaze was as deep as an abyss, quietly observing the two in front of him.

A moment later, he said faintly: "You are Qin Xuan?"

Qin Xuan lowered his head even further: "Precisely."

His gaze then shifted to the other person, "You are Cao Xiangwen?"

"Disciple Cao Xiangwen... greets Elder."

After confirming their identities, Qin Wenhe's gaze suddenly turned cold, and the Qi around him, like an abyss and a prison, instantly enveloped the entire training ground.

He slowly spoke, his voice calm but imbued with an unquestionable authority:

"The Ninth Young Master has ordered the execution of the Family traitors Qin Xuan and Cao Xiangwen, to uphold the Family's Laws!"

At these words, the entire area was in an uproar!

The Ninth Young Master, wasn't he the Qilin Child with the Eternal Life Immortal Body?

But he was only five years old this year, by all accounts, wasn't he?

Qin Xuan's pupils constricted abruptly, his face changing drastically: "Family traitors?! Elder, why do you say such a thing? This Disciple is loyal to the Qin Family and has no ulterior motives!"

Cao Xiangwen trembled even more, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, and he instinctively took half a step back.

However, Qin Wenhe said no more; he simply moved his mind—

"Pfft!"

Before the two could react, they were instantly beheaded.

Qin Xuan's head flew high, his eyes still frozen in an expression of disbelief.

He was a Prodigy among the younger generation of the Qin Family, almost unmatched by his peers.

However, in front of an ancient monster like Qin Wenhe, he was less than a chick, his head severed without even the right to resist.

Cao Xiangwen didn't even have time to scream; the moment his neck broke, blood gushed out, but it was confined in mid-air by an invisible force, unable to spill.

And strangely—neither of them had died!

Qin Wenhe's gaze was indifferent; he lightly tapped his fingertip, and a wisp of the Law descended upon them, forcibly locking their life force, putting them in a state between life and death.

"Soul Search." He snorted lightly and waved his hand.

The attendant Elder beside him immediately understood, stepped forward, and took out a recording stone from his sleeve, preparing to perform the Soul Search technique.

"There's a Restriction!" The attendant Elder had just prepared to act when he suddenly exclaimed, his gaze becoming serious.

Within Qin Xuan and Cao Xiangwen's bodies, there were Restrictions specifically designed to prevent Soul Search!

—As expected, there was a problem!

In another Family, they might truly be helpless against this Restriction; the moment it was forcibly broken, the person under the Restriction would immediately have their Divine Soul annihilated.

But this was the Qin Family.

The attendant Elder snorted coldly, flipped his palm, and a green tree leaf appeared.

This was no ordinary leaf, but a Divine Leaf from the Qin Family's Undying Divine Tree!

Divine Might surged, instantly crushing the Restriction.

Subsequently, he unhesitatingly performed the Soul Search technique, forcibly extracting the memories of the two.

Although Qin Xuan and Cao Xiangwen were beheaded, their consciousness remained clear; now, being forcibly Soul Searched, they were in agony, almost collapsing. Their Divine Souls were peeled away inch by inch, and their memories since birth unfolded like a scroll, then recorded one by one by the recording stone.

The initial memories seemed normal: Qin Xuan had exceptional Aptitude since childhood, highly valued by the Family, while Cao Xiangwen was a Disciple from a collateral branch of the Cao Family, diligently Cultivating, eager to make a name for himself.

However, the memories advanced to a few years ago—

In the scene, a black-clothed figure quietly appeared in the Cao Family ancestral hall, finding Qin Xuan through the Cao Family's connections.

"With your current Aptitude, you will forever be merely a foil, a green leaf, in the Qin Family, never reaching the highest position." The black-clothed man's sinister voice echoed in the recording stone, "We can help you, but... there's a price."

Qin Xuan initially refused sternly, but soon, under the black-clothed man's persuasion, he agreed to the other party's demands and received many supreme treasures to enhance his Aptitude.

The surrounding Qin Family Disciples were in an uproar!

"Qin Xuan... was actually a traitor?!"

"I knew his Aptitude was strange! He was only above average before, but then in the blink of an eye, he surpassed me. Turns out he was colluding with an outsider!"

Even more shocking were Cao Xiangwen's memories—

It turned out that the Cao Family had been a planted nail by an outsider from the very beginning!

They had been lurking among the Qin Family's affiliated Families, secretly gathering intelligence, waiting for the right moment.

"The Cao Family had only been feigning allegiance for so many years... in reality, it was all arranged by another Family?!"

"They disguised themselves so well, these scumbags!"

After the Soul Search, the attendant Elder's face was grim, his killing intent surging in his eyes.

The Cao Family was considered one of the most loyal and capable among the affiliated Families, yet they turned out to be spies.

After speaking, he immediately looked at the person beside him with admiration.

"Thanks to Your Excellency."

"If it hadn't been exposed today, I dare not imagine what the future would hold."

"It wasn't me." Qin Wenhe also hadn't expected the matter to be so serious; he coldly scanned the entire area, his voice tinged with some confusion and admiration: "Everything today was arranged by the Ninth Young Master."

"He discovered the traitors, and he issued the execution order."

"Now that the evidence is conclusive, Family traitors—no mercy!"

As his voice fell, he flicked his sleeve, and Qin Xuan and Cao Xiangwen's bodies and Divine Souls instantly disintegrated, turning into ashes and dissipating.

The entire area was dead silent!

All the Disciples were as quiet as cicadas in winter, deeply shaken.

Qin Wenhe's gaze was icy as he slowly spoke:

"May all of you take today's events as a warning."

After speaking, he paused, then added: "Your Highness, the Ninth Young Master, is watching you all."

This statement fully amplified the pressure; all who heard it gasped in cold air.

Their hearts held even more reverence and apprehension for this unseen Ninth Young Master.

A five-year-old child, not only possessing an immortal bone, but also having foresight, and his actions were so decisive!

He ordered people to come, and without even a chance for explanation, they were executed.

When Qin Wenhe brought the recording stone to Qin Fuhai, the latter was also filled with shock.

"He truly said he learned it in a dream?"

The teacup in Qin Fuhai's hand cracked with a "ka" sound, a fine line appearing, and the amber tea slowly seeped out along the crack, dripping onto the black jade table.

The voice of this peerless powerhouse, who had governed the Qin Family for tens of thousands of years, trembled rarely, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the edge of the recording stone, "My grandson, a five-year-old child, can know the past and the future, and even found a... Heavenly Emperor?"

"Does the immortal bone have such a miraculous use?"

Qin Wenhe stood with his hands at his sides, "The Young Master indeed said he learned it in a dream, and now the traitors have verified its authenticity. That Ye Jianwei should still be in Qixia Town; according to the Young Master, she is a blind girl, and may truly be the future Heavenly Emperor."

A strange silence suddenly fell within the hall.

Qin Fuhai slowly stood up, his dark imperial robes fluttering without wind, and the Dao rhythm around him fluctuated like a tide, showing that his heart was not calm.

Just as he was about to say something, the entire hall suddenly solidified—

Time seemed to be extracted; even the lingering tea fragrance was frozen in mid-air.

"Let this Old Ancestor see the recording stone." A voice, as if from ancient times, echoed in the hall.