Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 406: Chapter 403: Small Knife

Chu Zhiyuan seemed pensive.

He didn’t fully trust Meng Canglan’s words; the truth of the matter needs to be seen with one’s own eyes.

Moreover, sometimes there’s no absolute right or wrong in world affairs; perspectives differ based on one’s standpoint.

Meng Canglan asked, ”Is the Princely Heir prepared to take over this matter?”

Chu Zhiyuan slowly replied, ”I am ordered by the Imperial Decree to resolve this matter.”

”This is quite a mess. The Princely Heir should be prepared.”

”What do you mean by that?” Chu Zhiyuan lifted a teacup, indicating for her to have some tea.

Meng Canglan picked up the teacup, took a light sip, her actions graceful and serene.

She set down the teacup and continued, ”Starting with the Daliu Camp, it’s plagued by every vice and is the worst camp in the whole Jihai Town.”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

Meng Canglan said, ”The soldiers in Daliu Camp indulge in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, rife with all sorts of vices, even harming the local populace, notorious beyond measure... Otherwise, Ding Shaoqiang wouldn’t push them so hard, simply because he couldn’t stand them, wanting to remedy them severely.”

Chu Zhiyuan frowned, ”Does that mean Ding Shaoqiang is innocent?”

Meng Canglan said, ”Innocent or not, I can’t say, but Daliu Camp’s infamy is indeed factual.”

Chu Zhiyuan asked, ”What about Daliu Camp’s combat power?”

”That, I do not know,” Meng Canglan said, ”They never had the chance to show it, having never been in battle.”

”And what about bandit suppression?”

”Suppressing bandits wasn’t in their role.”

”So it seems, their combat power is mediocre, yet the entire Jihai Town couldn’t do anything about them.”

”Once they hide deep in the mountains and forests, it’s too hard to find them.”

”Aren’t there tracking experts in the army?”

”Real experts wouldn’t be in the Eastern Territory; if there were any exceptional tracking techniques, they would have been transferred to the Western or Northern Territory.”

”So Daliu Camp is bad, and Jihai Town is a mess as well, comparing who’s worse.”

”... That is indeed the case.”

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, ”The Eastern Territory truly is a peculiar place.”

”The troops from the Eastern Territory indeed...” Meng Canglan lightly shook her head.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”If I go there, can Wuyou Sect provide timely information?”

”Yes,” Meng Canglan nodded gently, ”As long as the Princely Heir needs it, Wuyou Sect will certainly assist.”

Chu Zhiyuan looked at her.

Meng Canglan immediately understood his meaning, smiled, ”If the Princely Heir can lend a hand to help our Sect’s Innate Perfection disciples, our whole Sect would be immensely grateful.”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled, ”How many?”

”How about twenty?”

”... Alright.” Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

Meng Canglan smiled sweetly, ”Once the Princely Heir has accomplished great feats, they will await at Yao Yue Palace.”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

Meng Canglan took out a small box from her sleeve, it turned out to be a Sealing Spirit Box.

She handed it to Chu Zhiyuan, ”This is a peculiar stone obtained by our Sect’s disciple, and it seems to hold a flying knife within.”

Chu Zhiyuan curiously took it, focused his senses for a moment, and felt no danger, then opened it.

A piece of amber lay quietly inside, containing a small knife.

The miniature knife, only the size of a small fingernail, was willow leaf-shaped.

Focusing on it, it seemed to be moving.

Chu Zhiyuan looked up at Meng Canglan.

Meng Canglan said, ”This peculiar stone is at least ten thousand years old. Although the flying knife within is small, it has a peculiar charm, and the Princely Heir can enjoy playing with it.”

”Yes, indeed interesting.” Chu Zhiyuan put it away, smiled, ”Thank you.”

Meng Canglan smiled and took her leave.

——

Chu Zhiyuan arrived at the Inspection Department.

This time, he looked not only at the information about Jihai Town but also at the last eight incidents of rebellion.

Indeed, the Inspection Department had records.

This indicated that the Emperor was aware but chose not to publicize or react.

After the fact, he would find excuses to transfer or depose these Generals or Deputy Generals.

No good outcomes for any of them.

It wasn’t until noon that he left the Inspection Department and returned to the Prince Mansion.

Sitting on the bed in the Tingtao courtyard, he opened the small box and took out the peculiar stone.

Super Sensory Focusing began to Insight.

Suddenly he felt a miasma obscuring his view, unable to clearly see the small flying knife.

Only vaguely, the small flying knife appeared not to be a real knife but a phantom.

Chu Zhiyuan withdrew his Super Sense, his expression solemn.

Is this Sword Intent?

Or is it Sword Soul?

A presence similar to his own small Sword Gang within his Heavenly Pond Acupoint?

Clearly, it’s not a Sword Gang.

His own Sword Gang could condense into a tangible form because it’s inside the body, but once external, it would not take such form.

But this small flying knife was different.

He placed the peculiar stone into the Iron Ring and then took out that pitch-black wooden knife.

In a moment of daze, he once again entered the mountain peak under the oppressive dark clouds, feeling the flashes of purple lightning.

Even though he comprehended the Dao of speed and slowness, he still couldn’t enter the wooden knife.

He felt that his understanding of the Dao of speed and slowness needed further exploration.

Not only in the Sword Technique’s speed and slowness, and Swordsmanship’s speed and slowness but also in the speed and slowness of movements, and even time itself.

This Dao of speed and slowness contains profound truths of heaven and earth, the marvels of time and space, and no depth in understanding could be too deep.

After pondering the wooden knife for a while, he opened the toad statue.

Looking at the toad statue, Chu Zhiyuan reached out slowly.

His instincts issued severe warnings.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head and put it back into the Sealing Spirit Box, then stored it into the Iron Ring.

——

After having lunch, and taking a short rest, Chu Zhiyuan came to the Martial Arts Hall.

After taking a tour around the Martial Arts Hall, he went to the Phoenix Camp to instruct Bai Ningyu on the contents of the Imperial Decree.

Bai Ningyu, after learning about the mission, was extremely disdainful.

He thought deploying the Phoenix Camp to quell this rebellion was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

For the Phoenix Camp, it wasn’t considered training; it was a sheer waste of time.

Yet, the Imperial Decree was hard to defy, so it must be obeyed, and along the way, they should train hard and rigorously.

Moreover, they should seize the opportunity to wipe out a wave of bandits, to drill the soldiers.

Chu Zhiyuan agreed, telling him to quickly replenish the manpower and assign the small teams.

Moreover, this time, he wouldn’t act together with the Phoenix Camp.

He would advance into the Eastern Territory ahead of them, to probe into the details at Jihai Town.

He might not even appear in front of the Phoenix Camp and might command them in secret.

He spent the whole afternoon guiding formations within the Phoenix Camp.

The soldiers of the Phoenix Camp had already mastered the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Formation well, and Chu Zhiyuan’s guidance took them to another level, nearing Perfection.

——

The next day, Chu Zhiyuan was preparing to head to the Eastern Territory, towards Jihai Town.

After having lunch, he was ready to depart.

At that moment, he felt the inconvenience of not having the Heavenly Dragon Divine Horse.

If he had the Heavenly Dragon Divine Horse, it would only take a day to reach the Eastern Territory.

Without the Divine Horse, going to the Eastern Territory would take forcibly two to three days.

As he sat on the couch pondering over this matter, a sudden flash before his eyes, Zhu Caifu appeared.

Chu Zhiyuan was taken aback, clasped his fists and said, ”Mr. Zhu.”

Zhu Caifu’s expression was solemn.

Chu Zhiyuan knew immediately that something was wrong, and softly said, ”Concubine Shu has already...”

”Yes, she’s already passed,” Zhu Caifu said.

Chu Zhiyuan’s demeanor immediately became solemn, clasped his fists, ”Mr. Zhu, my condolences.”

Zhu Caifu shook his head, ”It’s nothing to me, I’ve known this day would come, as for Miaozhen she...”

Chu Zhiyuan sighed, ”Your Highness might be more sorrowful, it certainly is a great blow.”

Zhu Caifu said, ”She plans to use Miracle Technique to save the Second Sister’s life.”

Chu Zhiyuan was taken aback, blinked, somewhat confused.