Back then, Lucia Lu was wearing my Heartscale at her chest—I could sense her heartbeat at any moment. Medical texts say that anyone who swallows a Divine Crimson Pill will have their heart rate drop to half the normal speed. But Lucia's heartbeat stayed perfectly steady—never slowed at all. That's how I knew something fishy was going on.
He looked at Brandon Xiao. "Big Brother, Liam Leshan's confession made it clear—she was forced by the Beyond-Shore Sigil and sacrificed herself. What she didn't know was that her sacrifice was just to dig my grave!"
The moment I showed up on the Execution Platform, all teleportation back to Drake Abyss was locked down tight. I could only grab Lucia and run for the Primeval Sanctuary. The second we entered, the ancient breach in the platform’s barrier—which had been there for hundreds of thousands of years—was instantly sealed! Step by step, they drove me into the Primeval Sanctuary, using the Lightning-Attracting Talisman in Lucia’s body to turn me into a lightning rod. There was no way back.
Sean Shaw’s eyes reddened. He let out a cold laugh. "After I escaped the Primeval Sanctuary with the artifact my mother left me, everything finally made sense. The Celestial Empress tormented the woman I loved and was hell-bent on killing me—so much that for a moment, I wanted to die with her! But then..."
He glanced at Baxa. "I never expected Baxa and Azure Flame to come and rescue me. For their sake, I escaped Drake Abyss and took them to the Primeval Demon Wilds. But even then, the Celestial Empress wouldn’t let me go—she cooked up city massacre charges, rallied the Three Realms and Ten Wilds to hunt me down, and made sure I had nowhere left to hide."
Now, she's trying to use the Thunder-Heaven Void-Breaking Chain incident, and everyone’s fear of Senior Bianca, to stir up resentment against me in the Three Divine Realms. Big Brother, Dragon Lords, gods of Drake Abyss—if you’re going to judge, shouldn’t you judge based on these facts?
Brandon Xiao’s face grew solemn.
Henry Xiao glanced between his mother and Sean Shaw, disbelief written all over his face.
"Sean!" The Celestial Empress stayed perfectly calm. "You’ve spun quite the logical tale! You’ve got everyone feeling sorry for you. I’m suddenly the evil stepmother who abused her poor illegitimate child! But all this is just your imagination. Do you have any proof that any of it is actually connected to me?"
"Celestial Empress, everyone knows Leo Li is your right-hand man. The Beyond-Shore Sigil, the massacres—every atrocity was Leo’s work, but all under your orders, wasn’t it?" Baxa said.
"It's true that Leo Li always acted for me as his aunt, but as for the grudge between him and Lucia Lu, I really have no idea." The Celestial Empress shoved all the blame onto Leo Li without hesitation.
"Celestial Empress." At this, Liam Leshan stepped forward. "I happen to have a Divine Crimson Pill right here. If your conscience is truly clear, why not swallow it now?"
"How dare you!" the Celestial Empress exploded. "Have you lost your mind? You actually want me to take a Divine Crimson Pill!"
"Celestial Empress, the Divine Crimson Pill is completely harmless to the Divine Race. When I refined this one, I even added beauty-enhancing herbs so it would keep longer. If you take it, you’ll not only clear up any misunderstandings between you and your son, you’ll also get a beauty boost. Win-win, right?"
Adrian Drake grinned at First Prince Brandon Xiao. "First Prince, what do you think?"
Brandon Xiao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and finally said, "I believe Little Five."
After returning to Drake Abyss, he secretly did some more investigating, and everything matched Sean Shaw’s account.
The Celestial Empress’s face changed. "You—"
This whole mess... Whether my mother was directly involved or not, that's not the point. The real issue is, all of this happened because I, as the eldest son, as the big brother, didn't do my job!