Infiltrating the Imperial Palace

"Wow, she doesn't even give face to Hu Luo of the Pingyang Marquis's family. Who is this girl? She's so arrogant. Could she be the daughter of a duke?"

"Haha, you guessed wrong. She's not the duke's daughter, nor is she a noblewoman. In fact, she's not France at all; she's a student from Su State. Nobles and commoners are all the same to Su State. Young Master Hu used to rely on his looks and status to pick up girls, and he was always successful, known as a heartthrob. Now he's met his match."

"This girl is probably in for a rough time. I know the nature of aristocratic playboys all too well; the more unattainable something is, the more they want it. Young Master Hu is likely to pester her relentlessly and use his shamelessness to his advantage."

"It's no use pestering her. Didn't you see what she did just now? This girl subdued Hu Luo with just one move... no, only half a move. Even if Hu Luo was careless, it's enough to prove the difference in their strength. As long as this girl doesn't back down from Hu Luo's status and attacks him with Sword Qi every time they meet, Young Master Hu won't even have a chance to speak. What's the use of being thick-skinned?"

"So cool! Who is this girl? How can she be so handsome? I declare that from today onwards, she is my idol!"

"If only I could be her boyfriend, I'd definitely make her step on my face with her sock-clad feet, and give me a look of utter disdain!"

"That's not your boyfriend, that's a perverted stalker! I've heard of this girl before; apparently she already has a boyfriend..."

"No way! I'm already heartbroken before I've even been in a relationship! What lucky guy managed to snag such a stunning beauty?"

"In my opinion, the one who can subdue such a powerful and extraordinary woman is more likely not some useless piece of trash, but a highly skilled and outstanding man."

"I really want her to step on me—"

"Great Man" Si Ming was currently hiding inside the hollowed-out belly of a pig, swaying in rhythm with the two porters.

He held his breath, channeling his inner energy, and grumbled inwardly, "To sneak into the palace, one must hide inside a pig's belly? What kind of custom is this!"

Chapter 505 Infiltrating the Palace

Most imperial palaces would set up large-scale detection arrays. Once Spirit Transformation cultivator invaded, an alarm would be sounded immediately. Only such simple arrays could be set up so large under the Eternal Barrier. Arrays like Ling Huanxi's Sixfold Flying Snow Formation and Xia Guanxue's Hundred Ghosts Devour Immortals Formation had very limited ranges.

Of course, now that one of the Four Heavenly Divine Pillars has been severed, the restrictions on the formation will be greatly reduced, and the ancient formation that guards the entire mountain gate can be recreated, as long as one is willing to spend the money.

Under normal circumstances, the only people the palace guards need to be wary of are Spirit Transformation stage experts, because only they have the ability to kill their targets under heavy guard. Experts below the Spirit Transformation can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

However, detection arrays are not omnipotent. If this Spirit Transformation expert happens to be good at concealing his aura, or has some secret technique to suppress his cultivation, he can still deceive the array. After all, arrays are inanimate, but people are alive, and living people can always find ways to restrain inanimate objects.

These things were meaningless to Si Ming. Actual combat strength and cultivation level were two different things. He was not Spirit Transformation to begin with, and entering the palace would not trigger any formation reaction. Hidden inside the pig's belly, he only felt his body rising and falling, occasionally bumping into protrusions. Fortunately, he had already cultivated Mercury Alloy Body, and his body's flexibility was no less than that of the octopus monster, so he did not give himself away.

Finally, the large pig trembled, as if it had been placed on the ground. Then, the old eunuch arranged by the Third Prince said, "Everyone has been busy all day, go and rest. Have something to eat to fill your stomachs. Anyway, it's still early before dinner. Just remember to come back on time."

"Thank you, sir!"

"It's still Eunuch Hai who understands our plight."

The group of eunuchs left gratefully, and the room quickly quieted down. Then, Eunuch Hai pressed three times on the pig's belly, a pre-arranged signal.

With a swift slash of his hand, Si Ming burst out of the pig's belly. A burst of energy from his body sent the pig's blood and filth clinging to his protective aura flying away, leaving him completely untouched by the smell of blood—appearance was of utmost importance.

"My lord, this is a map. The Emperor resides in the Hall of Mental Cultivation." Eunuch Hai handed a map to Si Ming, then asked, "Does my lord intend to wait until nightfall to make our move? I know of a place rarely visited..."

Si Ming arrogantly waved his hand to interrupt, "No need. Only those with mediocre stealth skills would travel at night and hide in the darkness. True masters of stealth walk in openly in broad daylight."

This was the first time Eunuch Hai had heard of such a theory, so he naturally didn't believe it. However, the Third Prince had previously instructed him to obey Si Ming's orders and not to interfere, so he could only suppress his urge to act as a teacher and said, "Then I'll leave the rest to you, sir. I'll take my leave now."

"No, you can't leave. The Third Prince trusts you, but I don't, so you'll have to put up with this for now."

After saying that, before the other party could react, Si Ming snapped his fingers, and the other party's vision went black, as if the power had been cut off to their nervous system, and they collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Having grown accustomed to the tropes of novels, Si Ming was extremely wary of such "guides." These types of people often played the role of betrayers, leading the team into traps set by the enemy, or even stabbing them in the back. There are countless famous examples of this.

Of course, Eunuch Hai might genuinely be loyal to the Third Prince, but Si Ming did was let him sleep; it wasn't a punishment. Once he woke up, all the actions would be over.

After hiding the unconscious Eunuch Hai, Si Ming took out a map he had obtained from the Third Prince beforehand and headed towards the Hall of Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Just as he said before, there was no need to sneak around; he simply walked out openly and honestly, without hiding from anyone. He just avoided the particularly spacious areas according to the map, and tried to pass through corridors and courtyards as much as possible.

"I played cards with those guys from the Directorate of Palace Attendants last night and won a small amount. Today, it's my treat. Let's all go to Heaven on Earth and have some fun."

"Brother Zhang is truly generous!"

"That's loyal!"

Several guards walked through the courtyard, laughing and joking. They were usually more vigilant when on night duty, but during the day they were more carefree and perfunctory. After all, under normal circumstances, even if there were assassins, they would only act at night. Daytime was too bright to be suitable for action. Entering the palace when there was a high chance of being discovered was not an assassination, but an attack.

Their route led them right into Si Ming's direction, but just as the person in front rounded the corner and saw Si Ming, a snap of his fingers suddenly rang out. All the guards were momentarily stunned, their eyes becoming glazed. They snapped back to reality a second later, completely unaware of the change that had occurred, as if time had slipped away unnoticed.

"Someone's here... wait, where is everyone?"

The guard at the front looked around, but unfortunately found nothing.

The guards behind them quickly circled the corner and ran forward, but they also found nothing.

"There's no one here. It's completely empty, and there's nowhere to hide. Are you hallucinating?"

"Exactly! Your yelling and shouting scared us; we thought we'd seen a ghost!"

"In broad daylight, what ghost could there be! It's just that he's so jumpy and paranoid, he scared us all."

"Uh... okay, maybe I just mistook the shadow of that pear tree?"

The guard himself wasn't entirely sure, since Si Ming's figure had only appeared on his retina for a fleeting moment and hadn't left a strong impression. After shaking his head, he put the matter behind him and continued his patrol while talking with his companions.

On the other side, Si Ming kept snapping his fingers as he moved forward. Against a strong opponent, his Sound of Broken Harmony could only interrupt their rhythm, but against a weak opponent, he could forcefully pull them into his own rhythm. While the imperial guards were certainly considered experts compared to ordinary people, they were far too weak against a martial artist of Si Ming's caliber. Although there were experts in the palace, they were generally responsible for close protection, not patrolling around with the soldiers.

Anyone who hears the snap will fall into a brief state of disorientation, as if a blank spot has appeared on the film. Because the time is very short, they will not notice anything unusual about themselves after they regain their senses. Si Ming will take advantage of this opportunity to move through the area at an extremely fast speed—he deliberately avoids those wide areas to prevent the effect of the Sound of Broken Harmony from being weakened.

Thus, an Anomalies scene unfolded in the palace.

A man, carrying a map, walked confidently through the palace like a solo tourist, completely oblivious to his presence, as if he didn't exist or if they were filming a so-called "invisible man" series.