#425 - Chapter 424: In-depth and Strategies
Xiang Prince's fiefdom was once a territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty, bordering the Near Sea.
As one of the few remaining non-hereditary princes with a different surname, his strength was exceptionally formidable. He himself possessed the strength of the Great Emperor Dao Realm, and the cultivators under his command were those who had followed him in his early struggles and later obtained resources for cultivation. After the era of spiritual energy surge arrived, his strength soared wildly, making him terrifying.
He was one of the strongest vassal kings among the princes with the title of 'One Character'.
At this moment, inside the room, his strategist was discussing the affairs of the three Celestial Phenomenon Realm cultivators.
"One of them is skilled in Buddhism. As for what Buddhism is, we are not clear, but his methods are evident."
"The other two are at the peak of the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, with remarkable killing power and exceptional youth. However, they should be cultivators who emerged after the decline of the Emperor Lord's cultivation. The oldest is only fifteen, almost sixteen, yet they are already Celestial Phenomenon Realm cultivators."
"The three of them have admired Prince Xiang for a long time, so they have come to pledge allegiance, wanting to join him."
Prince Xiang, Li Yi, nodded slightly.
"Is there any news about the Crown Prince's matter?"
"Since the last time he was besieged and killed by the imperial city's cultivators, this person has killed several experts at the Dao Realm level, and even escaped from the hands of a Great Emperor Dao Realm expert. His strength is formidable and exceptionally extraordinary. It is said that he is also at the peak of the Celestial Phenomenon Realm. After all, he is the descendant of the Emperor Lord, so it is not difficult to understand his methods and strength."
"You said that one of the young men is twelve years old..."
A smile appeared on the handsome man's face.
"Could it be that this person has some connection with the Crown Prince?"
"We have investigated. This person comes from Jiang Prefecture. The Jiang Prefecture County Office once registered him. What Prince Xiang said is indeed reasonable. After all, the Jiang Prefecture County Office has a copy of the dragon's inscription, but I think that if this person is really the Crown Prince, knowing that we are loyal to the imperial family, why would he choose to pledge allegiance instead of directly demanding control of Prince Xiang's fiefdom?"
"Just follow up with the investigation. If he is not, then the three young Celestial Phenomenon Realm cultivators will be of great use to this prince in the future."
"If he is..."
The strategist smiled slightly, naturally knowing what to do.
The Crown Prince? Without His Majesty and the Emperor Lord, can he still be called the Crown Prince?
Chen Xuantian of the Supreme Void Holy Land, the most pinnacle holy land in the Heavenly Profound Continent, was once at the Pseudo-Emperor Realm!
Who dares to touch the imperial family? Not to mention Chu Ning's methods of suppressing the Dark Turmoil with one hand, just the cultivators of the Supreme Void Holy Land are not something anyone can interfere with!
But the Supreme Void Holy Land has already ascended.
The Emperor Lord's strength is insufficient.
He was actually suppressed by a Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet to the point where his memorial tablet was moved out of the imperial palace's ancestral temple. The Ye family's holy land also has no one to hold the fort. All members of the Ye family have been imprisoned, and the holy land cannot leave even half a step.
"The world is in chaos. If this prince wants to revitalize the dynasty, I must wait until the strength of the treacherous ministers and rebels is weakened before I can enter the imperial palace and welcome the Crown Prince into the court!"
The man looked worried.
"If we can find the Crown Prince, that would be best."
"By the way."
Li Yi changed the topic and suddenly looked at the strategist, Jia Ming.
"Is there any news about the Ascension Passage?"
"Yes."
"Decades ago, the Ascension Gate was opened once every ten thousand years. Only cultivators who broke through the peak of the Celestial Phenomenon Realm had the opportunity to break through the Ascension Gate. Of course, they could also be brought down by powerful cultivators."
"However, after the Emperor Lord, the Ascension Passage was directly opened, no longer having any restrictions. Anyone could enter and exit. But after that year, the Emperor Lord's cultivation declined, and fearing retaliation from other beings, he sealed the Ascension Passage."
"If that's the case, wouldn't that mean that no one can come in, but also that no one can understand? Can Chu Ning really endure cutting off the path for his son?"
"Within the imperial palace, there is a backup plan. It is said that only those who inherit the orthodox dragon energy can open the Ascension Passage."
Prince Xiang nodded slightly, indicating that he understood this matter.
In that case, isn't there nothing to say?
"That Crown Prince is still of great use and must not be killed."
"I understand."
"Go to the next room and try to probe whether those three have any connection with the Crown Prince."
Inside the room, the three were playing around.
"Hehe, Jiu Bao, why doesn't your forehead have hair? Let me touch it..."
"It's always been hairless. It's different from you guys. I don't know why I was born without hair. It's so strange..."
Chu Tianran laughed heartily: "Isn't that great? Bald egg, hahahaha!"
"What's a bald egg?"
"It's a braised egg, bald, hahahaha!"
Jia Ming, who was outside the door, pondered slightly upon hearing these words.
The Crown Prince was personally taught by the Emperor Lord back then.
At the age of five, he seemed to have already understood the principles of the world. Half of the calligraphy and paintings in front of the gates of the great nobles in the capital were written by that Crown Prince himself. His literary talent and personality were extremely high.
Moreover, it was heard that within the capital, the Crown Prince had always been quite deep and could see through people's hearts at a young age. He wouldn't be so frivolous, would he?
He pushed the door open, and the three immediately sat up straight.
"Strategist!"
Jia Ming smiled slightly and nodded.
"Just now, I have already spoken with Prince Xiang. Now, Prince Xiang is busy and cannot meet you in person, but he has promised you the status of first-class honorary officials. Come, these are the nameplates for the three of you."
"Engrave your names on them and inject your aura. Then the nameplates will be yours."
The three nodded repeatedly.
Jiu Bao, Zhao Ling'er.
Ye Tianran.
Ye Tianran?
"So your name is Tianran. Who gave you that name?"
Chu Tianran said with a smile: "My master, Zheng Hong, gave me the name. He is also the master of the three of us."
"Oh? What about your parents?"
"We lost our parents when we were young. Master Zheng raised us and taught us cultivation."
Jia Ming hesitated slightly.
"Zheng Hong? I haven't heard of him. What is his cultivation?"
"We don't know either, but when he taught us his methods, he said that we could live well in this world in the future. We only left the mountain village after we broke through to the Celestial Phenomenon Realm. It seems to be exactly as Master Zheng said!"
Chu Tianran smiled: "See, I said Master Zheng wouldn't lie to us. Although we are all in the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, we are still very popular outside..."
Jia Ming hesitated for a moment upon hearing this.
"All in the Celestial Phenomenon Realm?"
"There are four or five Celestial Phenomenon Realm cultivators in our mountain village, besides us."
"Zheng Hong, mountain village... I'm curious, what kind of mountain village is that?"
"Questioning Heart Mountain Village. Haven't you heard of it?"
Jia Ming's expression changed instantly!
"The Questioning Heart Mountain Village in Jiang Prefecture..."
The village master, Village Master Zheng, is said to guarantee their lives even if the Heavenly King Lao Tzu comes, as long as he is given enough money!
He had heard of that person long ago. He didn't expect that mountain village to really exist...
Chu Tianran looked at Jiu Bao and Zhao Ling'er with a smile.
"Ling'er, Jiu Bao, he doesn't seem to believe us. Why don't we show off our methods? Master Zheng taught us a technique called the Dragon Elephant Art!"
After saying that, three true dragons condensed from dragon energy appeared. Three of them!
Jia Ming was so scared that he almost knelt down!
Damn it, dragon energy!
But that's not right!
Dragon energy is only possessed by the Emperor Lord, His Majesty, and even the Crown Prince and princesses. How can these people have it?
Could it be that these are all illegitimate children of the Emperor Lord?
"Strategist!"
"The resources we get as first-class honorary officials are not bad, right? Let me tell you, we can easily defeat Dao Realm cultivators even if we encounter them!"
Jia Ming smiled slightly.
"If you can make contributions, not to mention the resources for first-class honorary officials, even the resources to nurture you into the Great Emperor Dao Realm in the future will be available."
"Come, I will take you to stay at the inn first. You can cultivate in peace. If you need anything, contact me."
Ye Tianran, His Majesty's surname is Ye. Perhaps Chu Tianran changed his surname?
But dragon energy, damn it, why do these three use dragon energy?
Moreover, he is a disciple of that Village Master Zheng. In addition, this Ye Tianran seems a little stupid and speaks the truth. No flaws can be seen.
Dragon energy, twelve years old, Tianran, it feels like the Crown Prince.
But it doesn't feel very similar, and even actively excludes this option.
Then let's just wait and see. First, move into a mansion that can be controlled.
After entering the mansion, the three smiled and bid farewell to Jia Ming.
Then, they isolated all divine sense detection.
Zhao Ling'er looked at Chu Tianran with worry.
"Why did Sister Xiaobing and that Old Fang say that we can't stay here at Prince Xiang's place, and we still don't leave..."
"Moreover, why didn't you fabricate some lies just now? You told him everything except your identity..."
Chu Tianran smiled slightly, a glint of shrewdness appearing in his eyes. He said with a smile: "We have already come, how can he let us leave easily?"
"That Jia Ming is Prince Xiang's strategist, how can he be an ordinary person?"
"But with Jiu Bao's abilities, it's easy to leave, right?"
"Yes, you also know that it's easy to leave, so why not wait until things are exposed and can no longer be concealed before leaving?"
Chu Tianran took out the resources and checked that there were no problems.
"Three thousand spirit stones worth of resources. Although we don't need them now, this batch of resources is really not small."
"Moreover, there is a technique in the Art of the Mind, which is to treat people with sincerity, because our aura will fluctuate when we lie. His cultivation is higher than ours, so he will definitely be able to detect it. He naturally won't be able to detect my Qi cultivation skills, but you can't. There must be truth in the lies for him not to see any flaws."
"So we came for the resources?"
“It's not just for that.”
Chu Tianran wanted to understand more, to understand Prince Xiang and the deployments here, even if there really was a way out now.
Moreover, it wasn't necessarily that he didn't have the chance to practice some imperial scheming here; there were many people here, and they were very diverse.
“The higher our status, the more people we can come into contact with. If we can meet more people and get to know them, the benefits will be great. Besides, everyone under heaven is bustling for profit. Whether they follow Prince Xiang or my father, it's all about利益. If we can control that, we might be able to manipulate Prince Xiang.”
The three of them fell silent, saying nothing more.
Therefore, Chu Tianran didn't let Fang Houren and Xiao Bing come immediately, because they were already a backup plan, something that could be grasped.
And the existence of Jiu Bao was the strongest life-saving charm. Unless an Immortal Emperor came, you wouldn't even think about killing these three, or being besieged by a group of Great Emperor Dao Realm cultivators, which might lead to their encirclement and death, leaving Jiu Bao helpless.
But such a situation was unlikely.
“Be sincere. Children should be more innocent.”
A smile appeared on Chu Tianran's face.
“This place must be controlled by other cultivators, but generally speaking, they won't set up eavesdropping devices. Being discovered would be offensive. We are, after all, Heaven Manifestation Realm cultivators at most fifteen years old, and we are considered geniuses in the entire Tianxuan Continent.”
“Don't worry about it. Whatever they ask, just answer. If we are honest, they will naturally trust us more.”
“After all, there is still a lot to do. Even if we only learn about the intelligence of this place, it will be a good thing.”
......
A few days later, inside Prince Xiang's mansion, Jia Ming came before Li Yi and bowed.
“Your Highness, during this time, I have been sending people to keep an eye on and investigate the identities of those people. Regarding the identities of those individuals, they seem to be from the Askhaven Manor, but ordinary people can't find this place at all. They have only heard of it, and never thought that the existence of Askhaven Manor was real…”
“Then, are Ye Tianran and Chu Tianran the same person?”
“This subordinate is not sure. In many ways, they seem alike, but after all, I haven't really seen them. Moreover, I feel that they are not very similar.”
“Rather kill by mistake than let go, but these people must not be killed by mistake either, after all, the Gate of Ascension still needs the Crown Prince to open it.”
But a hint of curiosity was clearly revealed on Prince Xiang's face.
“Why do you say they are not very similar?”
“Because of the Dragon Qi. All three of them have it, seemingly because of the Dragon Elephant Art, which is the cultivation method taught by the Manor Lord. Moreover, the Crown Prince has been in the palace for so many years. That cultivation method seems to only be learned in childhood, at least for a few years, which doesn't match up at all.”
“Moreover, apart from the matching name and age, everything else doesn't match the Crown Prince. If it were the Crown Prince, I'm afraid he would have already tried to find some things to do. But these three people, every day, are either playing or wandering around, and then asking different cultivators about Buddhist teachings.”
“Oh? What is that about?”
“It sounds a bit strange. These three always ask people about their feelings of being alive, which seems to help that little bald monk's cultivation.”
“Strange…”
A look of doubt also appeared on Prince Xiang's face.
“Could it be that I am overthinking it? Is there any other progress on the investigation about the Crown Prince?”
“I heard that Fang Houren has already found the Crown Prince and is now protecting him within his fiefdom…”
“Is it possible to see him?”
“I haven't seen him, but if it can be confirmed, then it means the Crown Prince has already been found, and we are one step late. After all, that old thing is the most loyal to the royal family. Even if His Majesty asks this person to die, he wouldn't hesitate. If it's true, I'm afraid we can only really become a King-Protecting Army.”
Prince Xiang pondered slightly.
“After all, this person's cultivation is still low, and there are many ways to solve the problem.”
“Since that's the case, this Prince will go and take a look in person…”