Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 252: Chapter 249: Revealing Oneself

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At this thought, his handsome face grew even more somber.

Thankfully, with his current identity as the Twelfth Prince of Da Lie, Xu Jingren, the Da Jing Dynasty wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.

If anything were to happen to the Twelfth Prince of Da Lie, no matter how respectful Da Lie is towards Da Jing, it wouldn’t let it slide.

Even if the Da Lie Imperial Family were to let it go, the people and citizens of Da Lie would never sit idly by, allowing someone to harm a prince of Da Lie.

Since they do not dare to kill him, Da Jing would not detain him either.

That would cause discontent and affect the relationship between Da Lie and Da Jing.

A cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: the current Da Jing absolutely wouldn’t dare to make reckless moves.

Suddenly, a report came from outside, saying that the Fourth Prince of Da Jing, Chu Zhiyuan, had come to pay a visit.

He frowned.

Da Meng had already begun to value this Fourth Prince and was considering ways to eliminate him.

The Wuxiang Sect was also gathering information on the Fourth Prince’s weaknesses, looking for any flaws.

The Wuxiang Sect would not personally take action to kill the Fourth Prince but would think of ways to leak his weaknesses.

Some Evil Sects were eyeing the princes and princely heirs of Da Jing covetously, and once they heard of such weaknesses, they would act without hesitation.

This move of using a borrowed knife to kill someone was bound to be flawless.

He pondered while walking forward, arriving at the front courtyard, where he saw Chu Zhiyuan and Li Hongzhao standing side by side.

One was strikingly handsome, the other astonishingly beautiful. Together, they truly looked like a perfect couple.

He hurriedly dismissed this absurd thought, stepped up with a smile, and cupped his fists, saying, ”Fourth Prince, Ninth Prince, pardon my failure to meet you far from here.”

Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fists and looked him over, smiling, ”I heard the Prince was injured. Is it serious?”

Xu Jingren laughed and said, ”Just a minor injury. It’s just the Military Suppression Department hasn’t arrested anyone yet. Perhaps they think our dynasty is too weak, and I am insignificant, so they don’t bother to spend the effort?”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”The Military Suppression Department has indeed done its best, but those experts are somewhat peculiar.”

”What’s peculiar about them?”

”It seems like they are specifically targeting the Prince,” Chu Zhiyuan frowned and said, ”The Military Suppression Department suspects it is Da Lie’s experts.”

”Impossible!” Xu Jingren blurted out.

Chu Zhiyuan chuckled, ”The Prince must have enemies in Da Lie too? Perhaps competition for the imperial throne?”

Xu Jingren slowly shook his head, ”I am merely the twelfth in line, and my cultivation is weak. It’s impossible for me to be a threat to the throne.”

”Then perhaps the Prince has allied with a certain faction, and the opponent wants to weaken your side.”

”... Also impossible.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”If it were truly experts from our Da Jing Martial Arts, the Military Suppression Department wouldn’t be unable to track them. Once the Prince was injured, they fled quickly, leaving the Military Suppression Department with no chance to pursue... this situation, unless they fled from Da Jing, otherwise, it’s impossible to escape so cleanly and efficiently.”

”...” Xu Jingren frowned in deep thought.

Li Hongzhao snorted and said, ”There’s another possibility in this situation.”

Xu Jingren hurriedly looked at her.

Li Hongzhao glanced sidelong at Chu Zhiyuan, ”These people were silenced, so naturally, there would be no trace to find.”

Chu Zhiyuan laughed, ”Your Highness is indeed thorough in your thinking. Perhaps you often do such things? ... What Your Highness said isn’t wrong, it’s highly possible they were silenced. Unfortunately, the Military Suppression Department isn’t omnipotent. Once dead, it’s hard to find them. It’s truly beyond our capabilities, we ask for the Prince’s understanding.”

Xu Jingren’s face grew unpleasant.

Li Hongzhao glanced sidelong at Chu Zhiyuan, ”Could it be that your Military Suppression Department is acting as the thief from within?”

She strongly suspected it was the Military Suppression Department’s doing.

The purpose was to test whether Xu Jingren was truly who he claimed to be, or if he was an expert from the Wuxiang Sect.

Chu Zhiyuan was taken aback, ”What do you mean by that?”

”...Forget it,” Li Hongzhao abruptly stopped her words, not wanting to lead in that direction.

She feared she might be falling into Chu Zhiyuan’s trap.

Chu Zhiyuan’s face darkened, and he slowly said, ”Your Highness, the reputation of the Military Suppression Department cannot be sullied!”

”How did I sully it?” Li Hongzhao looked sideways at him.

Chu Zhiyuan’s expression grew more solemn, ”As the Left Vice Minister, upon hearing Your Highness insult the Military Suppression Department, I cannot sit idly by!”

”Pfft!” Li Hongzhao was amused by his earnest demeanor and chuckled, so much so that she snickered, ”What will you do after hearing and knowing?”

”Then seek some pointers from Your Highness!” Chu Zhiyuan placed his hand on the hilt of the Qingying Sword and slowly drew it from the scabbard.

The bright blade trembled slightly, like a pool of autumn water under the sunlight, exuding a faint, crisp aura.

Li Hongzhao protested, ”Chu Zhiyuan, you’re intentionally picking a fight, aren’t you?”

”Your Highness, please—!” Chu Zhiyuan said with a stern face, ”Could it be you’re afraid?”

Li Hongzhao was indeed a bit afraid.

She knew Chu Zhiyuan would definitely strike hard. While he wouldn’t kill her, he wouldn’t let her off easily either.

He would definitely take the opportunity to give her a severe blow, causing her pain for a while.

However, seeing the corner of Chu Zhiyuan’s mouth curling up, she couldn’t help but feel her anger rise.

In her sudden outburst of anger, regardless of the consequences, she drew her sword from the scabbard and snorted, ”Then let me teach you a lesson!”

Her sword quickly turned red, finally transforming into a crimson longsword, with the Sword Gang seemingly as vibrant as dancing flames, a sense of heat assailing her face.

Chu Zhiyuan’s Qingying Sword quivered with a ”buzz” sound, a beam of clear light shimmering.

The crisp aura spread, driving away the heat.

”Watch the sword!” Chu Zhiyuan thrust his sword forward, a flash of cold light instantly reaching Li Hongzhao.

Xu Jingren was somewhat stunned.

He hadn’t expected Chu Zhiyuan to turn hostile just like that, starting a fight with no hesitation or buffer.

Chu Zhiyuan and Li Hongzhao were both influential figures. Could they truly engage in a duel so casually?

Your Highness wouldn’t suffer a loss, would she?

He was nervous yet vaguely excited.

Your Highness had just advanced another layer in her cultivation, a different person from before, with a chance of defeating Chu Zhiyuan!

”Swoosh swoosh swoosh...”

The clear whistle and red light spread, enveloping Chu Zhiyuan within.

Chu Zhiyuan transformed into a wisp of clear light, shuttling through the red light, on the verge of being swallowed by the red light, but tenuous and unbroken.

Li Hongzhao’s sword light flickered like flames.

Her eyes gradually brightened, her aura becoming increasingly smooth, as her swordsmanship reached the pinnacle once again, constantly advancing.

She felt her swordsmanship was particularly smooth today, becoming more fluid as the fight continued, each move executed to perfection.

In the end, she found her swordsmanship reaching the pinnacle, several points stronger than her usual cultivation.

Unable to hold back, she let out a light whistle, and within the sword light, a vague image of a phoenix emerged, dancing.

This was the image of the Phoenix Sword Technique reaching its zenith.

”Slash!” Chu Zhiyuan floated backwards, re-sheathing his sword.

Li Hongzhao lowered her head to inspect her chest area.

A faint white dot lay on the high point of her chest, with the outermost layer of her peach blossom gown unscathed, leaving only a shallow sword mark.

Yet a wisp of formless Sword Qi had already penetrated her chest, lingering and unfading, causing her heart to ache faintly.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, ”Good swordsmanship.”

”Hmph!” Li Hongzhao bit her teeth, sneering, ”You’re just flaunting your sword skills.”

She felt a heavy weight in her heart.

In these days, under Chu Zhiyuan’s pressure, her swordsmanship had improved immensely, akin to a rebirth.

But Chu Zhiyuan’s sword skills had also improved, still suppressing her, even more so than before.

This guy was truly infuriating.

”Ugh...”

A groan sounded.

Li Hongzhao turned her head, finding Xu Jingren clutching his abdomen, his expression drastically changed.

Chu Zhiyuan asked, puzzled, ”Prince, what’s the matter?”

Xu Jingren stared wide-eyed at Chu Zhiyuan.

Li Hongzhao also glared at Chu Zhiyuan, ”What have you done now?”

Chu Zhiyuan, looking completely bewildered, said, ”Has the Prince been injured? ... But at such a distance, it seems unlikely to be affected, right?”

The Sword Nourishing Technique and Sword Control Technique, in combination, were truly mysterious, outshining the Heart Inquiry Saber Skill in their subtlety and mystery.

Xu Jingren staggered towards the house.

Chu Zhiyuan blocked his path, ”Prince, what on earth is going on?”

”Move aside!” Xu Jingren shouted in a low voice.

Chu Zhiyuan looked at Li Hongzhao, ”Your Highness, you should ask him and see what’s going on.”

Xu Jingren changed direction to bypass Chu Zhiyuan.

Li Hongzhao hesitated.

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly exclaimed in surprise, ”Huh? Prince, wait!”

”Move! Aside!” Xu Jingren shouted in a hoarse voice.

Chu Zhiyuan said curiously, ”Prince, what’s happening to you... who exactly are you?!”

But in this moment, Xu Jingren’s appearance had already changed.

The originally handsome face gradually transformed into a different visage, his figure slowly stretching upwards, growing taller.

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