The King Zhenbei Army Enters the Imperial Capital

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

At this moment, Chen Lin was lounging leisurely in the Scripture Repository, holding a novel titled Exotic Customs: I Have Countless... and reading it with great relish.

Quite a few of the descriptions in the book were rather splendid, its lines seeming to sketch countless wondrous scenes—such as "fair, tender, juicy..."

Just then, Ximen Qing and Cao An appeared before him.

He had already secretly brought the two under his control. As for methods, he had never lacked them.

Ximen Qing hurriedly reported, "Master, Ling Cangqiong intends to send the Imperial Bodyguard Eunuch to the front lines."

Over the past half month, most of the rebellions across the various provinces had been properly dealt with. Only the provinces occupied by the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group and the Yantian Sect remained unsettled.

After this upheaval, the Great Yan Imperial Dynasty had suffered grievous losses.

Fortunately, King Zhenyao had ultimately managed to severely wound the Peerless Demon King. He was now conserving his strength and recuperating; before long, the King Zhenyao Army would be able to march against the rebellion.

Yet when it rained, it poured. King Zhenbei's daughter had inexplicably gone missing.

King Zhenbei was frantic with worry, nearly going mad as he searched everywhere for her.

Since his daughter had previously remained within Tianyan City, King Zhenbei had even sent word to Ling Cangqiong to ask about her.

After learning of it, Ling Cangqiong immediately dispatched people to assist in the search. Yet after an extensive hunt, they ultimately found nothing.

When King Zhenbei learned this, he flew into a towering rage.

In the end, several thousand King Zhenbei Army soldiers rushed to Tianyan City, searching with all their might for his daughter's whereabouts.

At the same time, he also transferred ten thousand King Zhenbei Army soldiers to the front lines to deal with the complex situation there.

Ling Cangqiong did not stop the King Zhenbei Army from entering the Imperial Capital.

King Zhenbei's actions were only to be expected.

And they would stir up certain thoughts among some people at court as well...

Hearing this, Chen Lin's lips curled slightly as he said with a smile, "Since they want to send him, let them. Either way, they'll all be lost there."

During this period, the imperial family had dispatched quite a few people to various places.

He could often sense Dharma Aspect Realm experts emerging from either the Imperial Palace or the Imperial Mausoleum before leaving Tianyan City.

Several princes had also displayed their skills on the battlefield, each earning illustrious military merits.

Still, for them to send that eunuch out so quickly—could they be planning something?

With that thought, Chen Lin turned his gaze inward and felt the power flowing through his body.

Over the past half month, he had only just managed to raise his cultivation to the fifth level of the Dharma Aspect Realm, yet the cultivation resources in his possession had already been completely depleted.

It seemed it was time to acquire some resources.

The Four Directions Merchant Association might be a good choice. He could exchange Great Perfection paths of earth-tier and Heaven-tier cultivation techniques for resources.

In any case, those techniques were not his to begin with. They belonged to the imperial family.

Using free techniques to trade for free resources—nothing wrong with that.

Having thought this through, Chen Lin remained calm as he casually instructed Ximen Qing and Cao An, "You two, secretly deal with all of Ninth Highness's people."

Cao An's heart jolted upon hearing this. He realized that his master was finally about to make a move.

Neither dared delay. They immediately accepted the order and withdrew.

Chen Lin, meanwhile, cast a spell and left a clone behind. In the next instant, I, the Venerable, vanished from the spot.

Before long, Chen Lin arrived once more before the Four Directions Merchant Association.

He was still dressed in a black robe, his face concealed completely beneath a shroud of darkness that made his features impossible to see.

Chen Lin slowly raised his eyes to look ahead. His gaze instantly froze, and he could not help but pause in surprise.

It was an acquaintance!

It was precisely the maidservant who had led him into the merchant association before. At this moment, she was suffering unprovoked abuse.

The soldier's face suddenly darkened, ferocity spilling across his features. With a crack, the horsewhip in his hand lashed out like a venomous snake, tearing across the maidservant's frail body.

Beneath the soldier sat a majestic Dragon Blood War Horse, making his arrogant bearing all the more overbearing.

Brimming with aggression, he bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Insolence! Call out the person in charge of your Four Directions Merchant Association here! I order your Four Directions Merchant Association to investigate the young lady's whereabouts."

"Don't you Four Directions Merchant Association people always boast that your eyes and hands reach the heavens? How can you fail to handle even such a trivial matter now, claiming you can't find anything at all?"

Chen Lin observed in secret. With his keen senses, he judged from the soldier's aura and distinctive presence that he was likely the Commander of the King Zhenbei Army ordered to come to Tianyan City this time. His cultivation had reached the second level of the Dharma Aspect Realm.

Chen Lin mused inwardly. As expected of one of the greatest kings—King Zhenbei's subordinates truly possessed formidable strength.

After all, King Zhenbei, King Zhenyao, and King Qi were all peerless experts at the Ninth Level Dharma Idol. Naturally, those beneath them were no ordinary people.

Hearing the Commander's clamor, Chen Lin shook his head inwardly.

After all, Qin Tianxian, whom King Zhenbei had been desperately searching for, was currently being secretly confined by him within the Dragon Tiger Heavenly Master's Taoist Temple in Tianyan City.

Moreover, he had previously taken the time to pay her several visits of consolation.

Although Chen Lin believed in avoiding trouble whenever possible, he knew full well that he would eventually clash head-on with King Zhenbei. So he had nothing to fear. He was out here just to have some fun and find a little amusement!

However, he had no intention of revealing himself and attacking directly. After all, he had to guard against that old Imperial Lord noticing him.

As he pondered this, Chen Lin's lips did not move, yet his voice rang out like a ghost from all directions at once, echoing leisurely above the long street. "I have heard that the Iron Cavalry of King Zhenbei Army rode unchecked across the northern borderlands, fending off other Imperial Dynasties, their prestige spreading far and wide. Now that I have seen them with my own eyes—"

His tone abruptly turned cold, filled with contempt. "They are nothing more than a rabble that bullies the weak by relying on strength."

This sudden voice sent the surrounding commoners into an uproar. They looked around in every direction, trying to find its source.

Several Cultivators with some cultivation hurriedly spread out their Spiritual Sense, probing the surroundings like a fine, dense net. Yet the voice vanished like a clay ox into the sea; they could not detect the slightest trace of True Essence fluctuations.

The commander's face instantly darkened like ink. His eyes flew wide with fury as he yanked out his sword and pointed it at the crowd, roaring viciously, "You rat who hides your head and shows your tail! You dare insult King Zhenbei Army, but you don't dare show yourself and die?! Keep making noise here, and I'll slaughter this entire street today!"

Just then, an unexpected change struck without warning!

The Dragon Blood War Horse beneath the commander, originally imposing and majestic, suddenly had its forelegs give way. It crashed to its knees with a miserable neigh.

Only then, amid everyone's astonishment, did they realize that the horse's four hooves had somehow been silently frozen beneath a layer of crystalline frost. The ice was spreading at a visible speed up its legs, rapidly crawling toward the commander's own legs!

The commander's legs were instantly shackled by profound ice, and at last, a trace of unconcealable terror flashed through his eyes.

At the brink of life and death, he gritted his teeth, bit through his tongue, and sprayed a mouthful of scorching blood essence onto the jade pendant hanging at his waist—

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the jade pendant exploded. A blinding blood-red Light Screen burst forth like a blooming blood-colored demon flower, erupting with immense force and violently shattering the ice around his legs.

Borrowing that force, the commander retreated more than a dozen zhang like a startled hare. At some point, a war saber etched with the wolf pattern of the northern border had appeared in his hand, its blade glinting with cold light as though venting its master's fury.