Chapter 210: Chapter 68 Royal Palace
“Who are you?”
His current appearance and identity were that of Ling Buyang, yet the other party was able to call out his real identity, making it pointless to continue hiding.
“I am Sun Lianxiang, I have had the honor of meeting my benefactor…”
Seeing his expression was off, Sun Lianxiang hurriedly removed the scarf from her face, revealing a beautiful visage—it was none other than the queen of King Ping Yuan Han Qianye, who had once saved her father Sun Chengyou in Baiyan City.
“It’s you?”
Zhang Xuan realized, and shook his head, “Saving your father, I received a reward. It hardly counts as a favor!”
“Without your treatment, my father would undoubtedly be buried, yet he did not truly die. If that were the case, it would be as if we, his children, had killed him with our own hands. Master, it was you who prevented this from happening. I have always been grateful…”
Sun Lianxiang quickly bowed deeply.
“Miss Sun, you needn’t be so courteous!”
Zhang Xuan nodded, not wishing to dwell on this issue, and said, “So, did you come today just to express your gratitude?”
“Of course not…”
Sun Lianxiang shook her head, looked around warily, and lowered her voice, “His Majesty Han Qianchou summoned City Lord Yu Longqing and Dean Lu Mingrong to the royal palace yesterday and almost confirmed your true identity. I feared it would put you at risk. Coming here behind their backs was to warn you in advance. You should escape as soon as possible. Otherwise, once they mobilize their forces, even if your strength is unmatched, escaping would be difficult!”
“City Lord Yu and School Head Lu were captured?”
Zhang Xuan looked troubled.
“Yes…”
Sun Lianxiang nodded, “I left secretly and cannot stay out long, so I won’t linger. Farewell!”
“Thank you for the early warning, Your Highness. I’m eternally grateful!” Zhang Xuan clutched his fists in thanks.
Sun Lianxiang put the veil back on and turned to leave.
Watching her walk away, Zhang Xuan did not return to the council hall but instead pondered the current situation.
Though his strength was not weak, capable of battling even the strongest beneath the Galaxy Realm and even those at the pinnacle of the Galaxy Realm, facing an entire dynasty would still be impossible.
Most crucially, if a battle ensued, it would certainly cause a huge commotion and his identity as the “Mandate Chaos Master” would definitely no longer be concealable. In that case, he would be at odds with the entire Source World.
Empyrean Kong shi had not yet been rescued, and he himself would fall into endless pursuits.
And if he escaped as Sun Lianxiang suggested, it would avoid much danger. But City Lord Yu and School Head Lu, knowing his situation, still helped conceal it… This kindness had not yet been repaid, and involving them now felt incredibly unfair!
What should he do?
“Just a dynasty, if they truly seek death, I wouldn’t mind annihilating them!”
Zhang Xuan’s eyes flashed.
Now that he was forewarned, he naturally had to prepare in advance.
Since Mo Qing was around, Yue Longxiao wouldn’t dare act rashly. He wouldn’t be in the courtyard for a short while, and no one would notice. This was an opportunity to rescue them first.
“Right, no one would believe Han Xiao killed Mo Qing alone, but what if… Mo Qing died in the royal palace of Han Yuan City?”
Just as he thought of storming the palace, an idea suddenly occurred to him.
The strength of Han Xiao was well-known throughout Han Yuan City. Nobody doubted he could defeat elders like Chai Yunsheng and Liu Bingshan, but to claim he could beat Mo Qing of the Galaxy Realm and silently cut him down was absolutely unbelievable.
If he were executed by the royalty… that certainly had a high chance of being plausible.
If he could successfully shift the blame, Han Qianchou and others would inevitably face the Mo Blade Sect, and framing him further would likely be believed by no one.
“Let’s do that!”
Having decided, Zhang Xuan did not hesitate and had Sun Qiang call Zhao Ya and the others over, while he walked into the council hall.
“Vice Hall Master Ling…” Seeing him return, Yue Longxiao greeted with a fist salute.
Zhang Xuan nodded, his expression slightly anxious as he approached Mo Qing, using his body to block Yue Longxiao’s view.
“Senior Brother, there is something I need to discuss with you…”
Zhang Xuan spoke, lowering his voice.
Afterward, Yue Longxiao vaguely saw Mo Qing’s head nodding continuously as if he didn’t stop.
Seeing this, he was once again startled.
For the body to remain still yet the head to sway like that, the flexibility it required was tremendous!
Impressive!
This continued for a moment, and then Zhang Xuan turned around, his face revealing some embarrassment, “Master Yue, I’m really sorry, but there’s a small matter that requires me and my Senior Brother to attend to. If you’d be willing to wait, it’ll just be a short while before we return…”
“May I know what it is? If you need help, just ask!” Yue Longxiao stood up quickly.
He was worried they might actually sneak someone away under the guise of being busy with something.
“It’s a private meeting summoned by the Emperor for me and my brother… it’s not something for Master Yue to intervene in!”
Zhang Xuan waved his hand, “Of course, to avoid any misunderstanding, I will have those three young talents come over. If Master Yue has the time, perhaps you could give them some pointers on their practice…”
With that, Zhao Ya and others walked in under Sun Qiang’s guidance, bowing their fists in greeting upon seeing everyone in the room.
“Since you have private matters to attend to, I shouldn’t get involved…” Master Yue relieved to see that the others were left behind, said no more.
After notifying Zhao Ya and the others, Zhang Xuan bowed deeply, “Senior Brother, please!”
“Hmm!”
Mo Qing stretched out his hand to grab the Mo Blade on one side, slowly stood up, and strode outside.
Zhang Xuan followed closely behind, leaving the room.
“Vice Hall Master Ling, Elder Mo Qing, wait for me, I still have something to report to you…” Seeing the two leaving, Han Xiao could no longer sit still, hastily got up, and hurriedly ran after them.
Seeing that everyone had left, Yue Longxiao’s eyes revealed a hint of puzzlement, but upon seeing Zhao Ya and the others still there, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, his targets were these three geniuses; as long as they were around, what others did was none of his business!
“Wanxiang Sect received the news that this Mo Qing had already died, so… they needed to resolve this quickly!”
Immediately, with a grab of his hand, the beheaded Mo Qing and already deceased Han Xiao were taken into the New World.
Previously, by using Han Xiao’s hand, he had applied for the reward for Mo Qing’s assassination, which means that, at this moment in Wanxiang Sect’s records, Mo Qing was already dead!
However, in this world, without clocks, as long as the time difference was very slight and with Yue Longxiao as a witness, no one would notice the anomaly; instead, it would be confirmed that the person had died after leaving here.
His body flickered, and by using his Disguise Ability, he transformed into Mo Qing’s appearance, changed into his clothes, took the Mo Blade, and now, even if Han Xiao were to come back to life, he likely couldn’t recognize him, let alone others.
Having done all this, Zhang Xuan then covered his face with a black cloth, looking towards Sun Qiang not far away, “Take good care of Zhao Ya and the others. If Yue Longxiao shows any changes, immediately figure out a way to stop him!”
“Young Master, rest assured. With me and the Black-scaled Phoenix Hawk, even if this Master Yue is powerful, we can hold him off!”
Sun Qiang hurriedly said.
The Black-scaled Phoenix Hawk had been brought to the rented courtyard by Zhang Xuan, and with abundant resources and occasional guidance, its strength had also greatly improved, reaching the Dharma Form Realm, just like Sun Qiang.
Though it was still far from a pinnacle expert like Yue Longxiao, it could still manage to fight in the short term.
Zhang Xuan nodded, no longer spoke, his body leapt up, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from the courtyard.
Although he was only at the second realm of the Ninefold Source Pool, when exerting full strength, he could battle a Galaxy Realm expert; now with his speed fully unleashed, he was like a shooting star. Even if someone noticed, it was just a flash and they might not dare to confirm whether someone had passed by.
In his rapid sprint, after about twenty breaths, he saw a magnificent complex of buildings appearing in his line of sight.
It was indeed the royal palace!
He found an empty alley, released Han Xiao, and waited there while he himself silently approached the city wall, lightly touched it, and leaped into the palace.
The royal palace was vast, not visible to its ends at a glance. It was easy to lose one’s way if it was one’s first visit, and Zhang Xuan was not in a hurry to enter. Instead, he picked up a stone and flicked it with his finger.
Whoo whoo whoo!
The stone landed in a corner of the courtyard, kicked up a few times, and immediately, a white mist surged in the air, and countless origin qi crazily rushed in.
A formation was triggered!
“A flaw!”
He whispered in his heart, and a book appeared in front of him.
The palace was so vast, and he had never been here before. Searching one by one, he did not know which year and month it would take, but as long as he activated the formation and investigated the flaws, he should be able to find the right direction.
The places with many flaws were definitely not important, and those with few flaws were exactly the core that the formation needed to protect.
He quickly chose a direction and moved forward swiftly.
After walking through three courtyards in a row, he reached the edge of the formation, reproduced the earlier method, and activated another formation.
After passing through four formations continuously, he had already reached the depths of the royal palace.
The surroundings were very quiet at this moment, so much so that even birds seemed nonexistent.
“It should be here…”
He looked around, confirming this was the most central location of the entire royal palace. Zhang Xuan then stopped and carefully observed.
It was a very spacious courtyard, with various beautiful buildings, layered over one another.
Soon, Zhang Xuan noticed something was amiss.
There were guards patrolling other places, but here there wasn’t a single person.
After a while, when he had confirmed the room, Zhang Xuan’s body soared, quickly arriving above the great hall.
Just as he was about to push the door and enter, he heard footsteps coming from around the corner.
Zhang Xuan carefully hid himself and immediately saw a guard dressed in golden armor arriving in front of the door, bowing with his fists clasped.
“Your Majesty, as you predicted, the person has been captured…”
“Bring them in!”
An authoritative voice resounded inside the room.
“Yes!” The guard in golden armor turned and left, and moments later, he brought in a woman dressed in green.
Seeing the figure of this person, Zhang Xuan’s expression immediately darkened.
It was no other than Sun Lianxiang, who had just sent him a message earlier.
At this moment, the princess had none of her earlier grace and nobility; her hair was disheveled, her veil torn off, and her eyes looked somewhat panicked.
“Princess, please,”
The golden-armored guard pushed, causing Sun Lianxiang, who was not in control, to stumble, nearly falling over.
“I can walk on my own…”
Sun Lianxiang clenched her teeth, came to the door, and gently pushed it open, immediately revealing the scene inside to Zhang Xuan’s view.