Qingling Prefecture!
At this moment, just outside the city gates of Qingling Prefecture, in a spot no one could see.
Suddenly!
After a flash of purple light, a man dressed in a dark black brocade robe appeared there out of nowhere.
“Hmph, in this world, there’s no one who can owe me, Lu Xuan, a debt and not pay it back.”
“You can run, but you can’t hide your home. I, this Division Master, don’t believe that you, Prince An, can just move your entire mansion to the Celestial Capital.”
After leaving Qingyun County, Lu Xuan didn’t leave Anzhou immediately. Instead, he planned to collect a debt first.
Then, he would see if any of these Anwang Mansion people posed a threat to his family.
If they did, Lu Xuan would ruthlessly and conveniently eliminate those problems.
Anwang Mansion!
Ever since Prince An had been summoned back to the Celestial Capital by the imperial decree, the mansion had closed its doors to visitors, no longer acting as ostentatiously and brazenly as before.
Deep within the Anwang Mansion, in a hidden and heavily guarded complex of buildings, this was a place only the core, high-ranking members of the Anwang Mansion could enter.
In the entire Anwang Mansion, only five people were qualified to go in there.
Those five were: Chen Luomeng, the leader of the Qingyi Guards; Yue Ze, the chief steward of the Anwang Mansion; Cheng Yingliang, the deputy chief steward; Huang Yong, the commander of Prince An’s personal guard.
And the fifth person was Lin Yu, the deputy leader of the Qingyi Guards, who had already been killed by Lu Xuan.
Inside the meeting hall of this courtyard, several figures were already seated.
An elderly man in a black satin robe sat in the first seat on the left.
Across from the old man, on the right side, sat two other people — a man and a woman.
These three were, respectively: Chen Luomeng, the leader of the Qingyi Guards; Yue Ze, the chief steward; and Cheng Yingliang, the deputy chief steward.
In other words, except for Huang Yong, the commander of Prince An’s personal guard, all the other core members were surprisingly gathered here.
“Chen Luomeng, have your Qingyi Guards found out the background of that Lu Xuan yet? Don’t tell me, old man, that your Qingyi Guards have been investigating for over a month and found out nothing.”
The chief steward, Yue Ze, sitting in the left chair, narrowed his eyes to mere slits, giving a half-seeing, half-not-looking expression. His aged hands pressed down on the chair’s armrests.
Once Yue Ze, the Anwang Mansion’s steward, spoke, Chen Luomeng didn’t dare delay. She parted her crimson lips slightly, her voice soft but firm.
“To answer you, Steward Yue, that Lu Xuan’s background is too mysterious.”
“Even his appointment as the Mysterious Envoy of Baidao Prefecture happened very suddenly.”
“Even the people within the Xuan Niao Wei don’t know anything about Lu Xuan’s background.”
“We’ve bribed several Xuan Niao Wei members in Baidao Prefecture, but we still couldn’t find out where Lu Xuan comes from.”
“Perhaps…”
Just as Chen Luomeng was about to continue speaking, Yue Ze opened his eyes wide, his face filled with deep dissatisfaction.
“Useless!”
“Why would His Highness Prince An appoint a useless person like you to lead the Qingyi Guards?”
“If you can’t even find out Lu Xuan’s background, then what is the point of the Qingyi Guards?”
After being humiliated by Yue Ze, Chen Luomeng’s expression turned extremely ugly. Her fair hands clenched tightly, as if she was suppressing her anger.
She was, after all, His Highness Prince An’s personal attendant and the leader of the Qingyi Guards. This damned old man wouldn’t even show her the slightest bit of face.
But thinking of the old man’s status in the mansion, Chen Luomeng ultimately chose not to lash out.
This old bastard Yue Ze was actually His Highness Prince An’s true martial arts teacher, personally appointed to the Prince by the late Emperor.
That old bastard Luo Jin was just a fame-seeker. Compared to Yue Ze, he was a joke.
Yue Ze’s strength was the highest in the entire Anwang Mansion, second only to Prince An himself.
A minor mastery level Grandmaster of External Gang. You could also say he was one foot into the major mastery level.
In short, if anyone in the Anwang Mansion was most qualified to break through to major mastery of External Gang, it was this Yue Ze right here.
This old bastard Yue Ze was not like Lin Yu, who had just barely stepped into minor mastery of External Gang.
Ignoring Chen Luomeng’s embarrassment, Yue Ze fixed his gaze on the older man sitting next to her and spoke sternly.
“Hmph, fine. If I rely on your Qingyi Guards, I’ll never find out Lu Xuan’s background.”
“Your Qingyi Guards don’t need to handle this matter anymore. Old Cheng, you will take care of it.”
“If necessary, secretly infiltrate the Xuan Niao Wei in Baidao Prefecture.”
“Capture a few Xuan Niao Wei members, torture them harshly, and find out which Xuan Niao Wei member is closest to Lu Xuan. Then, work your way through them.”
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yingliang, the deputy chief steward of the Anwang Mansion, furrowed his brow slightly, as if considering something.
“Old Yue, would rashly making a move against the Xuan Niao Wei people be a bit too reckless?”
“Hmph, what’s the big deal if a few prefectural Xuan Niao Wei members die?”
“Besides, with your minor mastery External Gang strength, as long as you’re careful, there’s absolutely no way that Lu Xuan will find out.”
Yue Ze didn’t take Cheng Yingliang’s concerns to heart at all.
That damned Lu Xuan actually dared to humiliate His Highness Prince An.
That ignorant, reckless fool. Just because he has major mastery External Gang strength, he thinks he can do whatever he wants in Anzhou?
His Highness Prince An isn’t limited to just us. Before he left, he sent a message to that certain family in the Celestial Capital.
The Wu Family!
A letter arrived a few days ago. That important person from the Wu Family will be arriving in Anzhou soon to deal with this Lu Xuan on the Prince’s behalf.
The Wu Family is the maternal family of Prince An’s birth mother. Although the Prince’s birth mother died young, the Wu Family has always been very supportive of him.
The Great Xia Celestial Capital has eight great families: Wu, Li, Mo, Shangguan, Luo, Tang, Jiang, Guyue.
The Wu Family is one of these eight.
From what Yue Ze knew, these eight families were actually divided into the upper three families and the lower five families.
The upper three families are the Tang Family, the Jiang Family, and the Guyue Clan.
It’s just a bit strange. Since the founding Emperor established the dynasty, those three families have devoted themselves to secluded cultivation and never concerned themselves with worldly affairs.
The other five families have always been active in the secular world, and some even hold important positions within the Great Xia court.
“Old Cheng, that person from the Wu Family will arrive soon. You must find out Lu Xuan’s background as quickly as possible.”
When Cheng Yingliang heard that the person from the Wu Family was almost here, the concerns he had earlier gradually faded away.
It made sense. That person has major mastery External Gang strength.
When the time comes, with a few of us assisting, even if that Lu Xuan had three heads and six arms, he’d be a bird with nowhere to fly.
We also need to seize back that Chen-level, two-insignia ritual weapon, the Wind-Fire Saber, from Lu Xuan.
In the entire mansion, there’s only one Xing-level ritual weapon and two Chen-level ritual weapons.
The Xing-level, six-insignia ritual weapon was naturally taken along by His Highness Prince An to the Celestial Capital.
The remaining two Chen-level, two-insignia ritual weapons are the Wind-Fire Saber and the Earth Dawn Staff.
The Chen-level, two-insignia ritual weapon, Earth Dawn Staff, is naturally in the hands of the Anwang Mansion’s chief steward, Yue Ze.
“Alright then, old man, I’ll go to Baidao Prefecture myself and see if this Lu Xuan has three heads and six arms.”
“I refuse to believe I can’t find out his background. What, did Lu Xuan just pop out of a rock?”
Seeing that the two of them had completely ignored her, Chen Luomeng’s face darkened. She flicked her sleeve, stood up, and headed for the door.
Hmph, these two old, undying bastards, relying on their Grandmaster realm, have always looked down on her.
But just as Chen Luomeng stepped out the door, she saw a sight that shocked her.
The guards who had just been standing watch outside were now lying motionless on the ground like dead bodies, unconscious.
Who did this?
A martial arts expert had infiltrated the mansion?
When did this happen?
Just as Chen Luomeng was about to shout to warn the two old men inside, she realized with horror that she couldn’t open her mouth at all.
Moreover, with her strength at the initial Internal Energy stage, she felt a terrifying illusion.
Standing there, she could feel a pressure that seemed to come from the vastness of heaven and earth.
It was a feeling of being as small and helpless as a mayfly seeing the blue sky!
The next second, Chen Luomeng’s vision went black, she lost consciousness, and her body fell heavily to the ground.
“Who goes there!”
Although the muffled thud of her falling was very faint, it was still heard by Yue Ze and Cheng Yingliang inside.
Yue Ze, sitting in the hall, suddenly stood up from his chair. His Gang Yuan began to circulate as he tried to sense what was happening outside.
Not sensing was fine, but once he did, Yue Ze’s expression changed dramatically, becoming extremely cautious.
Because the auras of the guards outside had all disappeared.
Who could possibly, right under the noses of two External Gang Grandmasters like them,
silently take care of the outside guards without being detected?
And now, a sound was deliberately made, clearly meant for them to hear.
Just as Yue Ze and Cheng Yingliang unleashed their External Gang Grandmaster auras, a young man slowly walked in through the hall’s entrance.
The young man had his hands clasped behind his back, his face expressionless as he looked at Yue Ze and the other man.
When Yue Ze and Cheng Yingliang clearly saw who the newcomer was, their faces turned pale, revealing panicked and terrified expressions.
Wasn’t this the very man they had just been plotting against, Lu Xuan?
Why was he here?
How did he dare come?
How dare he trespass into His Highness Prince An’s residence!
“Lu Xuan!”
“How dare you! Do you know what place this is?”
“How dare you trespass into the Prince’s mansion!”
Yue Ze’s face flushed a deep purple, clearly enraged by Lu Xuan’s audacity.
This Lu Xuan had no respect for anyone, no sense of rank. He even dared to barge into the residence granted to Prince An by the late Emperor.
But although Yue Ze acted very angry, the hand hidden in his sleeve was slowly gathering all his Gang Yuan power.
The corner of Yue Ze’s eye also kept glancing at the bronze staff placed on the table, as if he wanted to grab it.
However, it was clear that Yue Ze’s plan was doomed to fail.
Lu Xuan wasn’t going to waste words with them. His eyes glowed with a bright purple light, and the surrounding space instantly rippled with terrifying waves.
Under Yue Ze and Cheng Yingliang’s incredulous gazes, the space around Lu Xuan visibly began to warp.
“Wha… What is this!”
“Heaven and earth are being affected?”
“How is this possible!”
“You are…!”
Yue Ze had once been fortunate enough to serve as a member of the late Emperor’s personal guard, so he was well-traveled and knowledgeable.
In this world, if a mere human martial artist could cause a resonance with heaven and earth, there was only one possibility.
That was the Divine Thought power of a Divine Palace True Person!
Using that terrifying Divine Thought power to control the forces of heaven and earth!
Lu Xuan was a Divine Palace True Person?
This horrifying discovery instantly froze Yue Ze in place. He didn’t even notice the dramatic changes happening in the space around him.
“Old Yue!”
Cheng Yingliang, standing nearby, saw Yue Ze frozen in place and called out urgently.
But by the time Yue Ze snapped out of it, his body had already cracked all over. Blood instantly soaked his entire body, and he silently fell to the ground.
It was as if an invisible giant hand had easily crushed his body.
Seeing Yue Ze, who was several times stronger than him, dead, Cheng Yingliang completely abandoned the dignity of a martial arts Grandmaster at that moment.
Without hesitation, Cheng Yingliang fell to his knees, kowtowed vigorously to Lu Xuan, and begged for mercy with all his might.
“Don’t kill me! Mercy!”
“True Person Lu, spare me! I know where the Prince’s treasure vault is. I’ll take you to it!”
“Please, spare my worthless life…”
But when Cheng Yingliang raised his head again, what greeted his eyes was a brilliant, dazzling purple light that engulfed his entire body.
“Come in. If you don’t want to die, take me to your Prince’s treasure vault.”
As Lu Xuan finished speaking, the next moment, Chen Luomeng stumbled in from outside the door, her eyes complex as she looked at Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan had only knocked Chen Luomeng unconscious at first, choosing not to kill her.
Because he still had important use for her.
No one knew where Prince An’s treasure vault was hidden better than her.
“Also, tell me the location of that man with the surname Wu!”
After hearing Lu Xuan’s words, Chen Luomeng felt incredibly conflicted inside.
This despicable man, seemingly offering her a path to survival, was actually presenting her with another path to death.
If she revealed the Prince’s secrets, could she still live?
What a cruel man!
Chen Luomeng gritted her teeth, truly unable to fathom the intentions of this young man, Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan paid no attention to Chen Luomeng’s inner conflict. He reached out and grabbed the air. The Earth Dawn Staff on the table immediately flew into his hand.
The strangeness of this staff naturally couldn’t escape Lu Xuan. Judging by the old man’s attitude towards it, it was very likely a ritual weapon.
Sure enough, the moment Lu Xuan got the staff, the system interface immediately appeared before his eyes.
Host: Lu Xuan
Realm: Divine Palace True Person
Techniques: Burning Heaven Saber Technique 3/9, Instant Horizon 0/9, Indestructibility 2/9
Points: 200
Detected primordial Heavenly Energy. Extract?
So this bronze staff was indeed a Chen-level, two-insignia ritual weapon, the Earth Dawn Staff?
