Qinglingfu!
The central place of Anzhou, where all the main officials of the province were gathered.
Not only that, but within Qinglingfu, the most prestigious person was not the Prefectural Governor of Anzhou.
It was the son of the late emperor, Xia Mingqing, Prince An!
As the sky grew faintly bright, a rising sun hung high in the heavens. Flecks of morning light pierced the clouds, spilling over the main city of Qinglingfu.
A grand and imposing mansion was located at the center of Qinglingfu’s eastern city, covering nearly several thousand acres of land.
At the main gate of the mansion stood a prominent vermilion door.
The courtyard walls surrounding the mansion were all built from white-jade-colored stone bricks, rising high, preventing anyone from seeing the scenes within.
Of course, these things alone were far from enough to display the mansion’s nobility.
The plaque hung high above the gate was the truly awe-inspiring thing.
The edges of the plaque were inlaid with a large amount of exquisite gold thread, shimmering brilliantly under the sunlight.
Simultaneously, at the very center of the plaque, several black Xuan Niao were actually carved.
The black Xuan Niao were lifelike, as if they could fly out from the plaque at any moment.
In the center, encircled by the several black Xuan Niao, were three large characters:
An Wang Fu (Prince An’s Mansion)!
In a heavily guarded courtyard within the Prince An’s Mansion, that was where Prince An Xia Mingqing cultivated.
In the main room of the courtyard, a man dressed in black brocade robes sat cross-legged on a cushion on the floor, his eyes tightly closed.
The man appeared to be around thirty-five years old, and he was precisely Prince An, Xia Mingqing.
At this moment, streams of pitch-black Gang Yuan swirled around Xia Mingqing’s body. Amidst the rolling Gang Yuan, mysterious black birds flickered in and out from time to time.
When the black Gang Yuan suddenly erupted with a terrifying aura, eight illusory, faint black Xuan Niao actually materialized, circling around Xia Mingqing’s body.
“Nine Heavens Xuan Niao Art, the eighth layer has stabilized.”
The man sitting cross-legged on the cushion suddenly opened his eyes at this moment. The black Gang Yuan swirling around him vanished instantly.
The eight black Xuan Niao floating around Xia Mingqing also disappeared into the void.
“Divine Mansion Realm… soon. This prince is about to break through to that realm.”
“Xia Mingyue, back then, you were merely fortunate enough to gain the favor of the Xuan Niao Cauldron.”
“Relying on the power of the Xuan Niao Cauldron allowed you, this wretch, to break through to the Divine Mansion Realm.”
“Otherwise, how could the imperial throne of the Great Xia Dynasty possibly be passed to you to inherit.”
“This time, this prince will definitely not lose again. Once this prince breaks through to the Divine Mansion Realm, hmph…”
The face of that woman surfaced in Xia Mingqing’s mind—the person he hated most in his life.
That was his dear younger sister, Xia Mingyue, that sister five years his junior, a woman merely thirty years old to this day.
Xia Mingyue, the Eleventh Imperial Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, the imperial princess who came after ten imperial princes!
However, to the shock of countless people, it was Xia Mingyue who, as a woman,
Ten years ago, obtained the imperial throne of the Great Xia Dynasty, becoming the ruler of the Great Xia Dynasty!
Why!
It was all because that damned Xia Mingyue gained the favor of the Great Xia Imperial Clan’s number one ancestral artifact—that is, the Great Xia Xuan Niao Cauldron ritual artifact.
Moreover, the Xuan Niao Cauldron actually acknowledged Xia Mingyue as its master. This result directly shook those reclusive imperial clan ancestors.
You must know, the Sun-grade ritual artifact Xuan Niao Cauldron was hailed as the Great Xia Dynasty’s national treasure, the number one ranked ritual artifact.
Since the Great Xia Sacred Ancestor founded the dynasty, not a single emperor among all those who inherited the throne had been able to gain the Xuan Niao Cauldron’s acknowledgment as master.
Because the Xuan Niao Cauldron acknowledged Xia Mingyue as its master,
Xia Mingyue’s martial arts realm, nourished by the Xuan Niao Cauldron’s inexhaustible heaven-and-earth origin, advanced by leaps and bounds, a thousand li in a single day.
Finally, in her position as the Eleventh Imperial Princess, she suppressed her ten imperial elder brothers so completely they couldn’t lift their heads.
Even the Great Xia Imperial Clan ancestors, faced with this unforeseen event of the Xuan Niao Cauldron’s acknowledgment, had no grounds for opposition.
Xia Mingyue even broke through to that legendary realm, the Divine Mansion Realm, in one fell swoop before ascending the throne!
Originally, with the strength of the Divine Mansion Realm, Xia Mingyue could have sat firmly on the Great Xia imperial throne.
And her imperial elder brothers, no matter how unwilling, could do nothing against their imperial younger sister.
However, Heaven had eyes and actually gave Xia Mingqing a sliver of hope.
That incident five years ago caused Xia Mingyue to suffer backlash from the Lingxu Land.
“Xia Mingyue, my dear younger sister!”
“How dare you ignore everyone’s feelings and try to refine the Lingxu Land all by yourself! How could you dare!”
“Now, you probably can’t extricate yourself anymore.”
“The Eight Great Clans, and those other powers, are all harboring ulterior motives now.”
“Heh heh heh!”
“Sooner or later, that position will be obtained by this prince. You are not worthy of possessing the Xuan Niao Cauldron. That can only belong to this prince.”
“Not only does this prince have this thought, but this prince’s nine imperial elder brothers are probably also unwilling to remain idle now.”
Black Xuan light flickered incessantly in Xia Mingqing’s eyes. An astonishing aura overflowed from his entire body.
If an outsider were here, they would surely be shocked to discover that
Prince An Xia Mingqing was actually a terrifying existence at the Peak of the External-Release Grandmaster Realm!
Xia Mingqing seemed to notice movement outside the door. All the Gang Yuan in his body retracted, and he resumed his normal appearance.
“Hmm?”
“Enter!”
As soon as the words fell, the tightly closed door was slowly pushed open. A woman dressed in a goose-yellow dress walked with light steps to stand before Xia Mingqing.
The woman had a pretty face. Her raven-black hair was coiled into a married woman’s chignon. She looked about twenty-seven years old.
A single thin satin ribbon was tied around her slender waist, as if it might fall off at any moment.
Yet this woman, who appeared somewhat charming, enchanting, and full of grace, was none other than this Prince An’s personal maid.
“Luomeng pays her respects to the Prince!”
Seeing the visitor, Xia Mingqing gave a faint nod, then spoke calmly.
“What is it?”
“Replying to the Prince, it’s the Qingyi Guards stationed near the city gates. They have discovered some unusual circumstances.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Mingqing showed a trace of interest. He stood up from the cushion and looked directly at the woman before him.
“Speak!”
“Early this morning, a very strange young man came to the inside and outside of Qinglingfu city.”
“The horse he rode was a Xuan Niao Guard’s Divine Wind Steed!”
“And this young man was someone they had never seen before.”
“So, after receiving this news, Luomeng felt something was amiss and hurried to report it to you, Prince!”
Within Qinglingfu, only a handful of people possessed Divine Wind Steeds.
Those were the Xuan Niao Guard Xuan Emissary stationed in Qinglingfu, along with the two Deputy Emissaries.
Coincidentally, that mysterious young man who entered the city today was definitely not from the Qinglingfu Xuan Niao Guard.
