"What do you think?" The three of them made their way toward Dingguo's imperial palace. Zuo Yanfei boldly led the two others to the palace gates, then stated her request to the guards standing outside.
"Exactly, Senior Sister. Sister Zuo Yanfei is talking to you."
Zuo Yanfei considered her words for a moment, then said, "Should we work together this time?"
Zuo Yanfei nodded without changing her expression.
Tang Ruowei asked, puzzled.
It was true that Zuo Yanfei came from a distinguished sect. A third-grade immortal herb was nothing special to sects like the Azure Nether Sword Sect or the Divine Martial Heavenly Army. In fact, Tang Ruowei had seen Bai Qiuran use several first-grade immortal herbs when he tinkered with alchemy in his spare time.
"Their sect calls its Sect Master the Grand Marshal. The rest of us usually call him the Army Commander. But that guy, heh-heh... I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."
Emperor Qu Peng pondered for a moment, then suddenly lunged at them.
"You'd better not know the details. It's for your own good."
Damn, what a commanding presence.
"Work together?"
After they finished laughing, Zuo Yanfei asked, "Will the Dingguo royal family let us examine it?"
As a member of the royal family herself, Tang Ruowei knew all too well how infuriating royal rules could be.
Tang Ruowei broke out in a cold sweat.
"I am Emperor Qu Peng of Dingguo."
Zuo Yanfei praised him. "To think you could meet a palm strike from someone like us with nothing but mortal martial arts."
The eunuch led the three of them this way and that through the vast palace. After a long while, he finally brought them to the entrance of a particularly secluded courtyard.
As she spoke, Zuo Yanfei strode toward Dingguo's imperial palace, every bit the imposing figure. Though she claimed to be only a first-class soldier in the Divine Martial Heavenly Army, she already carried herself like a battle-hardened female general.
"I was just lucky enough to join a good sect." Tang Ruowei caught up with Zuo Yanfei and asked, "What about you, Your Majesty? May we examine the Crown Prince's body?"
"Haha, you're the one who's truly remarkable—a woman who's every bit as capable as a man."
Tang Ruowei said, "But it's the Crown Prince's body."
And to Zuo Yanfei, Tang Ruowei was surely the same. The two of them were the most likely to build trust with each other.
"Shouldn't we find two more teammates?"
Besides, they were both pillars of the Righteous Path Alliance and thus allies. Even if Zuo Yanfei had ulterior motives, she couldn't openly harm Tang Ruowei. And as a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator from the Divine Martial Heavenly Army, Zuo Yanfei was undoubtedly strong. Among everyone present, she was indeed the best choice for a teammate.
After thinking it over, Zuo Yanfei asked Tang Ruowei, "Ruowei, what do you think?"
"Yes." Bai Qiuran's face seemed to flicker with a deeply unpleasant memory.
Zuo Yanfei said modestly, "Your Majesty is remarkably strong."
"Mm. At the very least, you're stronger than me."
"Surely they're not all jokers like Sect Master Jueyunzi?"
"I mean..."
Zuo Yanfei replied boldly, "If they let us see it, we'll look. If they don't, then forget it. We won't involve ourselves in this matter."
"More or less. Of the five sects, their people are the most like soldiers, and the most disciplined."
Bai Qiuran smiled.
The two of them walked out, and Bai Qiuran appeared silently behind them like a ghost. Once they were outside, Zuo Yanfei found a quiet spot and got straight to the point, discussing the case with Tang Ruowei.
Zuo Yanfei was surprised.
After the Minister of Justice finished his announcement and withdrew, the courtyard immediately filled with the crowd's hushed whispers.
Zuo Yanfei nodded. "I don't like beating around the bush, so I'll be direct. Ruowei, we're both disciples of the five sects of the Righteous Path Alliance, and our sects are among the foremost in the Ten Lands of Jiuzhou. A mere third-grade immortal herb is nothing—we could earn enough merit at our sects to claim one from the treasury. I'm not particularly interested in the emperor's reward. We've both come down the mountain to gain experience, and I'm more interested in the person who killed the Crown Prince. What do you say? Shall we investigate together?"
The brawny man casually tossed his towel to a young eunuch beside him and said in a deep voice, "I heard you asked to see my son's body?"
"Good suggestion."
"Just call me Yanfei."
Hearing Tang Ruowei's answer, Zuo Yanfei smiled, looking pleased. Then she said, "Let's head out first."
"Sister Yanfei's bearing is truly impressive. Are all disciples of the Divine Martial Heavenly Army like that?"
"I'm curious what kind of person the Sect Master of the Divine Martial Heavenly Army is."
The courtyard was filled with all sorts of training equipment and dummies. In the middle stood a colossal man, about two and a half meters tall, his upper body bare. His muscles looked as if they'd been cast from iron. He held a massive stone weight in each hand, and visible steam rose from his head.
The two exchanged glances, then burst into hearty laughter together, as if they'd forged a subtle bond through their muscles.
"Yes."
Zuo Yanfei and Emperor Qu Peng each took several steps back. Her expression remained unchanged, while his face flushed slightly before he forced the color down.
"Fine... I suppose." Bai Qiuran finally returned to normal and nodded. "But Zuo Yanfei is no ordinary disciple either. Her talent is about on par with yours, and the fact that she made first-class soldier at the Foundation Establishment Stage means she's certainly capable in every respect. She must be one of the Divine Martial Heavenly Army's key candidates for cultivation in this generation."
Zuo Yanfei nodded in admiration.
"Take my palm!"
Tang Ruowei thought admiringly.
"Mm..." Zuo Yanfei paused, sweeping her gaze across the people in the courtyard. "I don't trust anyone here except you."
"On the way here, I asked around among the common folk. The person who killed Dingguo's Crown Prince was undoubtedly a supernatural being."
Emperor Qu Peng thought it over, then waved his hand. "Granted!"
Emperor Qu Peng laughed heartily. "Several groups came before you and made the same request, but they were all show-offs. They claimed to be Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators, above mortal martial artists and incredibly powerful, but when I tested them like this, not one could take my palm head-on. You're the first, young lady."
"Why do you keep looking at Junior Brother Bai, Ruowei?"
"No. The Army Commander of the Divine Martial Heavenly Army looks like a battle-hardened soldier on the surface, but in truth he's a training maniac—so fanatical he's got a touch of masochism."
Bai Qiuran said shamelessly, "Why are you looking at me? Keep that up and you'll get cervical spondylosis."
When the eunuch brought the three of them in, the colossal man set down the two stone weights, took a towel from a tray held by a young eunuch, and wiped the sweat from his body.
Tang Ruowei turned her head almost unconsciously and glanced at Bai Qiuran behind her.
Tang Ruowei furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before tentatively suggesting, "I think we need to examine the body of Dingguo's Crown Prince."
Golden True Qi surged around him, and the muscles all over his body bulged like enraged dragons. Then the emperor of Dingguo raised a hand and struck at the three of them.
The two wildly mismatched palms collided with a bang, unleashing an explosive burst of air. Golden currents were enveloped by an icy True Essence and spread in every direction, shattering the ground around them and freezing the fragments into ice.
Bai Qiuran stood unmoved, even picking his nose. Tang Ruowei's eye twitched; she raised her hand slightly, then lowered it again. Zuo Yanfei, however, stepped forward and, with a sharp shout, fearlessly raised her palm to meet the blow.
"I'll go talk to the people of Dingguo directly."
Tang Ruowei lagged a little behind and began whispering to her master, who was currently pretending to be young.
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