荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

The First Prince had been more patient than expected, not making any major moves ever since Wang Chong’s return, but in the end, he had failed to restrain himself. All of this had been predicted by Wang Chong, and the moment that force took action, he had ensured that they would be completely wiped out.

The First Prince had a special status, and there were far too many chattering mouths in the palace for him to raise this kind of force there. Thus, this force had to gather outside the palace, and none of them could be members of the palace.

Wang Chong couldn’t do anything to the First Prince, but exterminating that group of mysterious assassins was as easy as lifting a finger.

“I can finally rest easy.”

With a light flick of his finger, Wang Chong obliterated the letter, and then he closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

Rumble! The Stellar Energy within his body began to surge, and a few moments later, the Trayastrimsa Heaven manifested behind him.

But now, the Trayastrimsa Heaven had gone from six floors to eight floors, and Wang Chong was still trying for higher and higher levels.

Boom!

After some time, space trembled and golden light surged. That grandiose pavilion which was seemingly infused with boundless spacetime energy grew to nine floors, the ninth heaven.

Time flew past. After this string of incidents, both the Confucian Sect and the Imperial Court became much calmer.

The Confucian Sect ceased to act against the militarists.

As expected, a capital that was presided over by Wang Chong was entirely different.

In this period of rare calm, Wang Chong continued to make his plans and build up strength, sending even more people to the Promised Land.

Meanwhile, he continued to expand his military power and sent even more forces to the Eastern Islands. He also increased the training of the soldiers at the triangular gap and recruited more men, including Khorasani and Hu from the surrounding area.

But he made sure all the important commanders were Han.

In the past, the Hu, Western Regioners, and Khorasani would have all been dissatisfied by this arrangement, but almost all the soldiers at the triangular pass were Wang Chong’s men, and whenever Wang Chong was involved, no one dared to question him.

All the Hu, Western Regioners, and Khorasani followed him with sincere loyalty.

Everything was going smoothly, so Wang Chong used this time to focus on cultivation. He began to study and review all the arts he knew, including the Origin Immortal Art and Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art.

On the martial path, he continued to pursue higher realms.

Even though the weather was gradually chilling, Wang Chong’s room was warm, and a vast energy was surging within his body.

Around him, countless Origin Immortal symbols were slowly spinning as they became more and more solid.

With his renewed focus, Wang Chong was reaching higher and higher levels of cultivation, and he could finally sense that he was reaching a bottleneck.

At the eleventh layer, the Origin Immortal Art underwent a quintessential transformation. Wang Chong was currently trying to break his way into the eleventh heaven.

Rumble!

More and more white fog circled around Wang Chong, and the golden particles within the fog grew more and more numerous. Within, Wang Chong was entirely drenched in sweat.

After some time, boom! The torrent of Stellar Energy seemed to collide with an invisible barrier and collapsed.

The fog dispersed and Wang Chong exhaled, his entire person seeming tired and exhausted.

“It’s still no good!”

Wang Chong disappointedly shook his head.

The Origin Immortal Art got harder to cultivate the further he got, and the bottleneck was even more difficult to break through.

“As expected of the world’s supreme art! I’ll probably have to try many more times before I can finally succeed,” Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

Although the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art and Origin Immortal Art were both part of the ten great arts of the Central Plains, the mantra of the Origin Immortal Art was many times more difficult. But Wang Chong was not dejected. The more difficult it was, the more he looked forward to the results.

Exhaling again, Wang Chong stood up and took a towel from a nearby water basin, preparing to wipe himself down. Suddenly—

“Reporting!”

An anxious voice came from outside, and then someone ran up to his door.

A few moments later, a Golden Guard of the King of Foreign Lands Residence rushed into the hall and got down on both knees.

“Your Highness, there is a eunuch outside seeking an audience. He says that he serves the Fifth Prince and that he has an extremely important matter to report to Your Highness.”

“Oh?”

Wang Chong raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Have him come in!”

A thin, silk-robed eunuch soon came in, in so much haste that he was practically tripping over himself.

“Yo-your Highness, it’s terrible! The Fifth... Fifth Prince is in trouble! The Fifth Prince has been imprisoned!” the thin eunuch said in panic, his face pale.

“What!!!?”

Wang Chong’s entire body trembled in shock.

Before Wang Chong could further react, he heard a familiar voice in his mind.

“Warning! The True Dragon mission has experienced a major development: The True Dragon’s Prison. As user was unable to resolve this danger, 300,000 points of Destiny Energy have been deducted!”

As the icy voice spoke, three hundred thousand points of Destiny Energy were rapidly drained from Wang Chong’s mind. Unlike before, this deduction was accompanied by an intense pain all over his body like he was being stabbed by tens of thousands of needles.

As this eunuch was entering Wang Chong’s residence, a piece of news was shaking the Imperial Palace. Fifth Prince Li Heng had been imprisoned in the Imperial Clan Court, on the charge of causing chaos in the harem and having an affair with a consort.

Although the matter was being suppressed right now, it could erupt at any time and set off a political storm in society.

Rumble!

Some time later, Wang Chong’s carriage left his residence. Within the opulent confines were the eunuch who had delivered the news and an extremely grave Wang Chong.

Even now, he couldn’t believe this news.

It was a completely unexpected incident. It hadn’t been long since the Fifth Prince had last sought his aid, and with those assassins all dead, Wang Chong had thought that this chapter was closed.

He had never expected this kind of development. The Fifth Prince had been taken by the Imperial Clan Court for meddling with the harem!

“Warning! The True Dragon is a vital individual for this world, and his fate will influence the history of the world and the Dragon Qi of the Central Plains. If user cannot save the True Dragon, 1,000,000 points of Destiny Energy will be deducted!

“Notice: User has only five days to think of a countermeasure. User faces a heavy penalty that may even result in death! User is encouraged to take action as quickly as possible!!”

Not long ago, the Stone of Destiny had spoken once more in his mind.

Wang Chong had rarely seen the Stone of Destiny so harsh, and it had rarely given such urgent messages like ‘User is encouraged to take action as quickly as possible’. It was clear that the Fifth Prince was not involved in something as simple as a palace dispute.

If something happened to Li Heng, the destiny of the Central Plains would change. And Wang Chong did not dare to imagine what this future would look like.

Coming back to his senses, Wang Chong took in a deep breath and focused on the eunuch.

“What did Li Jingzhong say? Why didn’t you tell me immediately?”

No matter what sort of incident happened with the Fifth Prince, Li Jingzhong handled everything, and he was also the one who had sent this eunuch. But something as major as an incident involving the Fifth Prince and the harem must have had an investigation, so there should have been some time between the incident and the arrest. But Wang Chong had only learned about the entire thing after Li Heng had been imprisoned in the Imperial Clan Court.

This was a grave error, and if he had been informed from the very beginning, there would have never been such panic.

“When we first learned of the incident, everyone thought that it was a mistake, and even the Fifth Prince didn’t treat it seriously. He even told us to cooperate with the investigation as much as possible. But no one expected that when the Imperial Clan Court appeared again, they would arrest the Fifth Prince and the Lord Eunuch for causing chaos in the harem. Lord Eunuch only had time to order this lowly one to seek Your Highness’s aid before he was taken away.”

The thought of what had happened to the Fifth Prince not too long ago had the eunuch’s face stricken with panic and unease. The Fifth Prince was ascendant amongst the other Princes, particularly after his infirmities had been cured and he became the victor in the dispute with Third Prince Li Ju, with Li Ju being imprisoned. Li Heng’s prestige had swelled, and he was now a competitor for the throne.

But then an unforeseen disaster struck, and the Fifth Prince was now imprisoned in the Imperial Clan Court.

The sight of the savage men from the Imperial Clan Court charging in had been an unprecedented shock to the lower eunuchs and maids.

Wang Chong said nothing, only deeply creased his brow in thought.

“Do you know which consort it was?” Wang Chong asked.

“I don’t know. This matter was too sudden. And as it involves a Prince... and a consort... much of the information has been sealed. This lowly slave knows nothing.”

The eunuch’s face turned red from shame, and he suddenly kneeled down on the floor of the carriage.

“Your Highness, the Fifth Prince is not this sort of person. Please, no matter what, you must save him!”

He was on the verge of tears and was about to strike his head against the floor. But before he could do so, a stream of Stellar Energy held him up. At the same time, Wang Chong spoke.

“Relax! I will save the Fifth Prince!”

The carriage fell into silence. Wang Chong leaned against the wall, his brow creasing deeper and deeper. The information he could obtain from the eunuch was very limited, and he only knew that the Fifth Prince had been imprisoned in the Imperial Clan Court for having an affair with a consort. He was being reckless in rushing toward the palace in this situation.

Without any more details, Wang Chong would find it very difficult to think of a plan.