Imperial Palace Treasury! Guardian Deity!...

This was a palace at the very heart of the Royal City's Imperial Palace...

Walking along the passage leading into the palace, Wu Yan surveyed his surroundings. Enormous magic lamps were embedded one after another in the walls, their faint magical glow keeping the passage from being utterly dark. The light was somewhat hazy, however, giving one the feeling of being in a dream...

The atmosphere within the passage was exceedingly silent. Only the soft rustle of footsteps echoed through it. After looking around, Wu Yan turned his gaze to Kate, who was leading the way ahead, then glanced at Hilif, who was quietly walking beside him. A hint of tension rose in his heart.

Kate had said that only members of the Ai Lu Empire's imperial family could enter this place. Any outsider who came here would be regarded as an enemy and killed by the Guardian Deity!

Wu Yan and Hilif's engagement was merely a formality. Surely the Guardian Deity of the Ai Lu Empire knew that. Yet he had not stopped Wu Yan when he entered this place. Furthermore, Kate had once said that, for the sake of the Ring of Authority, the Guardian Deity had agreed to trade Ai Lu's relics to him. Clearly, he knew that Wu Yan was the Ring of Authority's original owner! Yet he had still agreed to proceed with the transaction. Did that mean the Guardian Deity also did not want the Ai Lu Empire's throne to fall into Wu Yan's hands?...

Moreover, Kotori had guessed that, if everything Kate had said before was true, it was highly likely that the Guardian Deity himself had proposed exchanging Ai Lu's relics for the Ring of Authority!

Otherwise, how could Kate, who had no easy way to obtain things from the Imperial Treasury,