Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 370: Chapter 367: Delivering the Message

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, ”Indeed, since all the Great Grandmasters have abandoned their weapons... so to speak, the Sky Blade is not on your peak?”

”This is the Heavenly Blade Peak,” Lu Donghu smiled and said, ”The Sky Blade is within this peak.”

”Is that so?” Chu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow and smiled, ”My intuition has always been sharp. If the Sky Blade were nearby, I should sense something unusual.”

Super Sensing illuminated the entire mountain peak.

If from the foot of the mountain, it couldn’t illuminate the top; this peak was too high.

But at this moment, midway up the mountain, he illuminated the entire mountain peak from top to bottom, finding nothing extraordinary.

There were two locations guarded by Great Grandmasters: one where a Great Grandmaster was stationed in a towering hall at the summit, with three large characters inscribed above: ”Heavenly Blade Pavilion.”

On the northern wall of the Heavenly Blade Pavilion, there was a painting, in which a long blade floated in the void, with purple lightning like whips lashing the blade, making the blade emit purple flames.

On the table in front of the painting lay two long blades.

One sheath was azure blue, the other emerald green, both exuding an astonishing aura.

The other was a Great Grandmaster sitting cross-legged at the mouth of a cliff cave.

Inside the cave was a spirit light, within which vague silhouettes of mountains and rivers flickered.

Chu Zhiyuan shuddered inwardly.

He instantly knew what was inside this cave.

Never would he have thought that the Flying Sky Sect possessed a secret place!

Only the Four Great Demon Sects had secret places; the Four Great Sects didn’t. Could this be untrue?

But the White Cloud Sword Palace didn’t have a secret place.

Among the Four Great Sects, the White Cloud Sword Palace lacked a secret place, while the Flying Sky Sect had one—what about the Great Spirit Rock Peak and Qinglu Cliff? Do they have secret places too?

When did this secret place appear?

Did it appear along with Da Zhen’s secret place, or was it an earlier emergence?

With this secret place, does Da Zhen’s secret place become less important?

Does the Eighteenth Princess no longer need to be married compulsorily?

Does the Emperor know about this secret place?

The visualization in front of the cave was a sword, clearly belonging to the Flying Sky Sect.

If not a Great Grandmaster of the Flying Sky Sect, then it could be concluded the Emperor knew about this secret place.

Lu Donghu had never wanted more disciples to enter the Military Suppression Department. Was it because there was a secret place, providing ample resources, thus making it unnecessary to serve the Court anymore?

So, when Lu Donghu changed his mind, it was after discovering the secret place?

From this, one could estimate approximately when the secret place was discovered.

He kept his face unreadable and smiled, ”So the Sky Blade isn’t within this peak?”

”The Princely Heir is indeed formidable,” Lu Donghu smiled and said, ”The Sky Blade is both within and not within this peak.”

”What do you mean by that?”

”The Sky Blade is hidden in the void; it requires my personal guidance to summon it before us.”

”... So mystical?” Chu Zhiyuan sighed, ”Pity I am not fated to see it.”

Lu Donghu also showed a look of helplessness, ”Bear with me, Princely Heir. Should anything happen to you at our sect, it would be our crime.”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, ”I understand, no need to trouble Sect Master Lu... then we’ll take our leave.”

Lu Donghu said, ”Why doesn’t the Princely Heir stay a couple more days and spar in swordsmanship and sword techniques?”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, ”Next time I come, let’s spar then.”

”Very well, until next time,” Lu Donghu laughed heartily.

...

Chu Zhiyuan and Huang Cheng descended from the Sky Blade Peak of the Flying Sky Sect, mounted their horses, and slowly made their way back.

Chu Zhiyuan appeared thoughtful.

Huang Cheng did not ask much and quietly pressed on.

Chu Zhiyuan glanced at Huang Cheng, ”Huang Imperial Envoy, was Sect Master Lu’s words true or false?”

”This... servant does not know,” Huang Cheng hesitated, shaking his head, ”It sounds quite true, but you can’t know a person’s heart just by their face, so servant dares not assert.”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, ”Indeed worthy of Huang Imperial Envoy.”

”Does the Princely Heir think Sect Master Lu was lying?”

”Mostly lying, partially true.”

”Which part is true, and which is the lie?” Huang Cheng asked.

He didn’t fully trust because it was a habit to doubt everyone’s words.

Not because he could truly see any flaws.

Could the Fourth Prince really see through it?

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”The Sky Blade being in the void, that should be true, but the claim that it would injure and attack any non-Flying Sky Sect disciple is not true, actually it’s to keep others from seeing the Sky Blade.”

If not for seeing the situation inside the Heavenly Blade Pavilion, and seeing the secret place, it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to uncover Lu Donghu’s lie.

With the Heavenly Blade Pavilion, and comparing with his subtle actions while speaking, one could discern which were true and which were lies.

Truly, appearances can be deceiving; Lu Donghu can lie without batting an eye, as naturally as drinking water, easily deceiving others.

Huang Cheng slowly nodded, ”Sect Master Lu must not wish to offend the Princely Heir; otherwise, there’s no need to tell such a lie.”

”I suppose the founder of the Flying Sky Sect spun this lie long ago to avoid trouble.”

He shook his head immediately, ”It’s said the White Cloud Sword Palace disciples are clever, but now it seems they didn’t use their cleverness rightly, not crafting such a lie to deny others from seeing the White Cloud Sword Stele.”

”Haha... indeed not clever enough,” Huang Cheng laughed, ”Outsiders cannot see the White Cloud Sword Stele; the White Cloud Sword Palace only made an exception once for the Princely Heir, thanks to the Great Grandmaster’s favor.”

...

Chu Zhiyuan, riding horseback, pondered over the secret place.

This matter was enormously significant, and he considered whether to reveal it and how.

The more significant the matter, the more cautious one must be, not to act recklessly.

If the Emperor wasn’t aware, it indeed should be revealed to him.

If the Emperor knew, and it led to a leak because it was revealed, that would be a crime.

The wisest course was to feign ignorance, pretending not to have noticed.

But as the Princely Heir, how could he stand by idly without speaking up?

Therefore, first consider the Emperor was aware and had hidden this matter purposefully.

He mustn’t casually spread matters meant to be kept confidential, or it would ruin the Emperor’s grand work.

How could one inform the Emperor while not letting others know?

On reflection, the safest way was to meet the Emperor face-to-face and speak with him.

But since birth, he had only seen the Emperor at Imperial Palace banquets, never having met him privately.

This was extremely unusual.

It was likely the Emperor had some taboo, making it difficult to meet him alone.

Thus, he needed to think about secretly relaying the message.

Chu Qingfeng or Chu Qingyan could meet the Emperor privately; both were absolutely trustworthy.

Another was his mother, Bai Ningshuang, to pass the message to Lady Roufei.

All along, the Emperor has sent messages to him through Lady Roufei.

After considering, he decided to use both routes, combining them.

To divide a letter into two parts.

This way, the message wouldn’t leak, nor would it implicate others.

Sometimes secrets are dangerous.

Knowing a secret invites disaster.

Returning to Yujing by dusk, after reaching the Prince Mansion, he randomly pulled a travelogue from the shelf, read it through, then began writing strings of numbers on paper slips.

This letter slip, the next day, was sent by Chu Qingfeng to present to the Emperor.

And that travelogue was entrusted to Bai Ningshuang to be given to Lady Roufei.

...

Come noon, he received an invitation from Li Hongzhao, then broke into a smile.

As the lights of the city rose, he appeared at the Bright Moon Tower.