Breaking the Deadlock

At the Imperial Medical Institute, Ling Xiao rummaged through mountains of medicinal stones while complaining, "Ning Chen, can you really pull this off?"

"Of course I can. Why else would I have come to you?"

From another pile of medicinal stones, Ning Chen poked out half his head and answered.

"Cough, cough, this is choking me to death."

Ling Xiao coughed violently several times, tormented half to death by the choking stench.

"Don't ask me to do this again next time. It's pure suffering. I'd rather go fight someone—it'd be much more satisfying."

"Crude."

Without even raising his head, Ning Chen stuck up a finger from behind a small mound and sneered.

"General Ling, when will you step into the innate realm?"

"Cough, cough."

Ling Xiao coughed again. This time, it was not the medicinal stones choking him, but Ning Chen's words frightening him.

"Innate my ass. Do you think the innate realm is a cabbage patch, something you can enter whenever you say so? As far as I know, in all of Great Xia, only the Headmaster of Tiancang Academy has entered the innate realm."

"What realm are you in?" Ning Chen casually asked as he dug out a chunk of saltpeter.

"Postnatal Eighth-Rank," Ling Xiao replied proudly.

"I despise you."

Ning Chen raised another finger. Only Eighth-Rank—Qing Ling could beat him with one hand.

"What the hell do you know?"

Ling Xiao could not be bothered to argue with him. In Great Xia, an Eighth-Rank expert could already serve as the commander of an army. He was merely in the imperial palace, where powerful people gathered like clouds, so he did not stand out.

"I'm already First Rank. I just cultivated it a couple of days ago."

"..."

Ling Xiao was speechless. He truly had no way to refute that. Heaven bore witness—back then, he had suffered untold hardship to enter Martial Arts First Rank. Who would have thought this fellow, who understood nothing, would muddle his way into that rank?

"You were just lucky," Ling Xiao retorted unwillingly.

"Luck is a kind of skill too. Look, isn't this round with the Pancake Kingdom's envoy a contest of luck?"

Ning Chen straightened up and rubbed his aching waist.

"That's true. Why do you call it the Pancake Kingdom?" Ling Xiao asked curiously.

"You can't even see that? Haven't you noticed that all their people have pancake faces?"

Ning Chen answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Brother, you really are a talent."

Ling Xiao gave him a thumbs-up in praise.

"Empty fame."

Ning Chen replied modestly.

"By the way, I still haven't asked you—what are we looking for all this stuff for?" Ling Xiao asked, covering his nose.

"You'll know soon enough. General Ling, I need to ask you for a favor."

"Speak."

"Do not let anyone know what we found today. Even if Changsun... no, even if the Empress Dowager asks, say you know nothing. Just put the blame on me."

Ning Chen raised his head, his expression turning serious.

"Why?" Ling Xiao asked in surprise.

"You know about plagues, right?"

"Of course."

"The consequences if this thing spreads will be far more terrifying than a plague. Human hearts are greedy. To achieve their ends, some people will stop at nothing."

Ning Chen sighed.

Ling Xiao was shaken. After struggling for a while, he finally nodded. He roughly understood the meaning Ning Chen had concealed in his words. If that was truly the case, then this thing absolutely could not be allowed to spread.

"Thank you," Ning Chen said. He trusted Ling Xiao's character. But even taking ten thousand steps back, even if Changsun and the Xia Emperor learned what they had found today, discovering the correct formula would not be so simple.

For that reason, he had deliberately taken many additional things. Even several of the medicinal stones he had asked Ling Xiao to find were mostly useless. The purpose was to confuse the palace's spies and throw dust in their eyes.

Nothing in this world was certain. To guard against every eventuality, he had no choice but to judge a gentleman's heart with a petty man's measure.

Of course, the only and most important reason was that he did not want to die. This formula was his life-preserving talisman. As long as it did not leak, his head would remain on his shoulders.

The two of them spent most of the day tossing the Imperial Medical Institute into such disorder that they nearly turned the whole place upside down. But with Changsun's verbal decree and token, the imperial physicians did not dare step forward to question them and could only let the pair wreak havoc.

Changsun showed no intention of taking back the jade pendant, so Ning Chen kept it for himself. This thing was incredibly useful—whoever saw it got crushed. It was probably about as effective as a Death-Exemption Medallion.

In truth, Changsun had gone to great lengths. It was not that she had forgotten it; she knew Ning Chen was a born troublemaker. If one day she was too late to save him, this jade pendant could still temporarily preserve his life.

"Cough, cough. That should be enough. Let's go."

After finding the last item, Ning Chen casually rummaged through another pile a few times before rising to his feet.

"Fine."

Ling Xiao had long since reached his limit. The moment he heard Ning Chen, he grabbed the things and left without another word.

"Where are you going?"

After taking two steps, Ling Xiao suddenly stopped. Seeing Ning Chen's deeply contemptuous gaze, he scratched his head.

"The Ministry of Works Workshop," Ning Chen said disdainfully.

"That far?" Ling Xiao asked reluctantly.

"You don't have to come. I'm not forcing you."

Ning Chen sounded completely unconcerned. If you have the guts, then don't come.

"Heh, I was just saying."

Ling Xiao laughed awkwardly. How could he dare not go? Ning Chen himself was easy enough to deal with, but the key was that this fellow had powerful backing.

Time was pressing, so the two did not dare delay and hurried toward the Ministry of Works Workshop.

Inside Heavenly Edict Hall, when a palace maid came forward to pour wine, Changsun "accidentally" knocked over her cup. After reprimanding the maid a few times, she dipped her finger in the spilled wine and secretly wrote the word "delay" behind the wine pot.

Because of the angle, the people of Zhenji Kingdom could not see anything. Yet the Xia Emperor, seated high upon the dragon throne, saw it all clearly.

"Envoy, how about increasing the stakes of our wager by another fifty percent? I can wager Great Xia's four and a half years of usage rights to Bairuo Plains against Zhenji Kingdom's thirty thousand warhorses."

The Xia Emperor spoke calmly, instantly stunning all the ministers present. At that moment, even the Three Grand Ministers showed surprise in their eyes. Under such unfavorable conditions, he still wished to raise the stakes—was he not deliberately handing an advantage to Zhenji Kingdom?

Upon hearing the Xia Emperor's words, the Zhenji Kingdom envoy frowned slightly and pondered, yet could not figure out what the Xia Emperor intended.

Logically speaking, if the Xia Emperor raised the stakes at this moment, then either he was putting up a false front to force the envoy to retreat, or he truly possessed absolute confidence in victory.

Zhenji Kingdom had fewer than forty thousand warhorses in total. That was the accumulation of many years, bought through various channels from different places. Sending out twenty thousand as stakes was already their limit. They could not possibly offer more.

Although he had absolute confidence in the five people behind him, he could not recklessly increase the stakes.

"Xia Emperor, please allow me a moment to consider," the Zhenji Kingdom envoy said gravely, unable to determine where the problem lay.

"You may," the Xia Emperor said with a nod.

Below, Changsun gave a cold smile. One's position determined one's horizons. Zhenji Kingdom was a tiny patch of land; no matter how shrewd its envoy was, he was destined to remain trapped by such limitations.

Great Xia's territory stretched vast and boundless for countless miles. It could afford to gamble, and it could afford to lose.

While the Zhenji Kingdom envoy deliberated, Great Xia's ministers were also trying to fathom the Xia Emperor's intentions. For the first time, they discovered that they truly did not understand their emperor.

Time passed little by little. The Xia Emperor on the dragon throne did not urge him. Below, the Zhenji Kingdom envoy's expression kept changing. The Xia Emperor's proposal was indeed highly tempting; nearly five years of usage rights to Bairuo Plains were difficult to refuse. Yet when he thought of the price to be paid, it was equally difficult to bear.

Warhorses were different from ordinary horses. Like Great Xia, Zhenji Kingdom did not have the Northern Mongol Royal Court's Akhal-Teke Horses, capable of producing great numbers of warhorses. To cultivate and select ten thousand warhorses required far more than one hundred thousand horses.

The production rate of warhorses had always been less than one in ten. Otherwise, Great Xia would never have wagered a place as important as Bairuo Plains.

After pondering for a long time, the Zhenji Kingdom envoy finally sighed. He admitted that he still could not convince himself to gamble without restraint. Zhenji Kingdom was ultimately no match for Great Xia. They could not bear such a huge price.

"Empress Dowager, it's ready."

Just then, Ning Chen quietly returned and gave her a signal.

Changsun nodded, then gave the Xia Emperor a nod to indicate that everything was prepared.

"Envoy, have you reached a decision?" the Xia Emperor asked.

The Zhenji Kingdom envoy stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "The Xia Emperor's proposal is very tempting, but I came under orders and cannot alter my ruler's intentions. I ask for Your Majesty's understanding."

"Then I shall not force the matter. The stakes remain as before. Attend us to Zhengqi Palace."

"By Your Majesty's decree."

The ministers knelt in salute, then withdrew from Heavenly Edict Hall and proceeded in a grand procession toward Zhengqi Palace.

Zhengqi Palace was a peculiar palace built by craftsmen of the previous dynasty. It had four palace gates facing east, south, west, and north. They appeared ordinary, yet only those who had entered knew that unless one marked the path and returned the way one came, getting out was nearly impossible.

The wager was simple. Each side would choose one palace gate to enter, and whoever emerged from another gate would win.

The Zhenji Kingdom envoy selected one man from among the five white-robed scholars to enter the palace. On Great Xia's side, unsurprisingly, Ning Chen once again stepped forth to take the thunderbolt.

Ning Chen carried a large pack on his back, filled with rations, water, dried meat, and everything else one could need. He had borrowed it from the imperial kitchens.

The Zhenji Kingdom envoy sneered but did not care. So what if Ning Chen prepared ten days' worth of food? The five Tian Xin practitioners had already calculated that, if all went smoothly, half an hour would be enough.

"If you lose, you needn't come back out."

Seeing the enormous pack on Ning Chen's back, Changsun frowned and said angrily.

"If I win, will you let me leave the palace?"

Ning Chen smiled sheepishly and tested the waters.

"We'll discuss it then."

Changsun neither agreed nor refused, answering indifferently.

Ning Chen was not disappointed. He snorted inwardly in dissatisfaction. I knew this would be the result. In any case, he had already found another way out. When the time came, even if Changsun wanted to stop him, it would be too late.

The two entered the palace at the same time. Behind the Zhenji Kingdom envoy, the four Tian Xin practitioners each stood before one palace gate, pressing their palms together as spiritual light flickered around them. The four symbols linked their spirits, echoing with the white-robed scholar inside Zhengqi Palace. Through the changes in distance among the five, they rapidly guided him toward the most correct path.

"The Five-Body Shared Mind Technique!"

Among Great Xia's people, a military officer finally recognized it and shouted in shock. Ahead, the Xia Emperor and Changsun both felt their hearts tighten. It seemed they had still underestimated the Zhenji Kingdom envoy. With five such people, Great Xia's chances of victory were extremely slim.

"Empress, are you confident?"

The Xia Emperor asked with a grave expression.

Changsun narrowed her eyes. Just as her heart wavered with uncertainty, Qing Ling beside her nodded earnestly. In the end, Changsun sighed and said, "This consort believes in him."

Hearing that, the Xia Emperor nodded slightly and said nothing more.

At that very moment, a heaven-shaking explosion suddenly thundered from Zhengqi Palace ahead. As heaven and earth trembled, another explosion immediately followed.

BOOM

BOOM

BOOM

In less than a quarter of an hour, explosion after explosion rang endlessly through Zhengqi Palace. Before anyone could react, a dusty and bedraggled figure ran out from the western palace gate.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Having finally escaped through the palace gate, Ning Chen had no time to concern himself with anything else. He coughed while patting the dust from his body. Why was the power of this black gunpowder so terrifying? Good thing he had run fast.

Outside the palace, everyone stood dumbfounded. Not only Great Xia's ministers—even the Zhenji Kingdom envoy had yet to recover from the earth-shaking upheaval.

"Your Majesty, we won."

At that moment, a smile finally curved Changsun's lips as she spoke softly.

"Good!"

The Xia Emperor suppressed the shock in his heart and said in a deep voice. With warhorses, what did Great Xia's sons have to fear from anyone?

At the side, the Zhenji Kingdom envoy's face turned deathly pale. His entire body trembled as he could not believe this reality.

Why had a certain victory turned out like this?

What had those earlier explosions been? Such heaven-shaking commotion was something no one but an innate expert could possibly create!

Yet that little eunuch was absolutely not an innate expert, and he had not sensed within Zhengqi Palace any of the terrifying pressure unique to innate experts.

"Why?!"