Summon Liu Xuande to the Palace Hall [Please Subscribe, Please Vote for a Monthly Ticket!]

Cloud Dragon Inn.

Top-floor guest room.

Yun Lanzi carefully examined the visitor. He matched the imperial physician described by the princess almost exactly.

He had Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivation, yet possessed such an aura. He truly was a rare talent.

He rose to pour Jiang Chen some tea, then suddenly broke into a smile.

"May I ask which sect Fellow Daoist Liu studied under?"

Jiang Chen suddenly felt that this beast tamer was far more calculating than he had imagined.

Asking which sect he had studied under clearly meant Yun Lanzi had noticed the bearing Jiang Chen could not conceal, no matter how he suppressed his presence.

"Liu came from the Azure Mist Sect and studied under Deacon Chen Gongxing of Tranquil Heart Peak."

At that, Yun Lanzi suddenly grew interested.

"Oh? Then you experienced the Heavenly Demon Sect's attack on the Azure Mist Sect over a month ago?

Did you witness the battle between that demoness and Chen Gongxing firsthand?

I heard that Deacon Chen is Liyue's emissary, having lived in seclusion at the Azure Mist Sect for over a century. He practices the Wheat-Cutting Sword Art. I wonder how skilled he is?"

A swordsman's gaze could not be hidden.

Yet it was not the gaze of someone looking to kill. It was the gleaming-eyed look of someone who lit up upon hearing of a master of the sword.

Jiang Chen glanced at the greatsword on the small man's back and said calmly,

"I was in Xiyang City at the time and did not experience it firsthand. Precisely because I studied under Chen Gongxing, I still dare not return to the sect. I became a wandering cultivator and, by chance, sought refuge with Prison Suppression Envoy Li."

The logic was fairly coherent.

Only then did Yun Lanzi recall the real matter at hand. He turned to look at the water tank Jiang Chen had brought.

Inside the tank were indeed the two Twin Mermaids secretly raised by the Beast Taming Sect.

However, the merfolk women no longer wore chains around their necks, and the tear-inducing restrictions within their bodies were gone as well.

"Why did Prison Suppression Envoy Li send a Qi Refining cultivator like you to complete such an important task?"

Jiang Chen smiled faintly.

"They're only two merfolk women. If I hadn't seen the notice in the city, I nearly sold them off cheaply."

Yun Lanzi nodded slightly, then asked,

"How will you prove that you are connected to Prison Suppression Envoy Li?"

Jiang Chen had thought Yun Lanzi would be easier to fool alone at the inn, without Elder Guo present. It seemed he had been wrong.

Jiang Chen swung his sword.

An invisible strand of Pure Yang Sword Aura shot out through the window with a whoosh.

The drifting mist split apart, actually forming a wall of negative-pressure vacuum that would not close from either side.

Yun Lanzi had only heard that Li Lingzhou excelled in sword aura and had never seen it for himself. Now that he witnessed Jiang Chen's sword aura, his eyes, which had only just regained their muddled gloom, shone once more.

Even though this strike did not contain Li Lingzhou's sword aura, it was enough to catch his eye.

Such extreme control over sword aura far surpassed what a Qi Refining cultivator should possess.

How could this kid possibly be a physician? He was clearly a sword cultivator!

Only then did he bow to Jiang Chen.

"Yun was discourteous."

Jiang Chen shrugged.

"Liu does not care much for etiquette. Just pay me."

"Ten thousand spirit stones... Yun has been short on funds lately. Once Elder Guo returns, how about I borrow some spirit stones and give them to Fellow Daoist Liu?"

Knowing that he still had to undergo a second inspection, Jiang Chen nodded and sat down at the table.

"No matter. Liu will stand guard here."

In fact, Jiang Chen had also discovered that Elder Guo had returned long ago and was hiding next door, observing him in secret.

Jiang Chen cracked sunflower seeds and drank spirit tea, looking utterly fearless, carrying something of Li Lingzhou's air.

Before long, Elder Guo appeared.

Without much small talk, he directly asked Jiang Chen,

"I am Guo Yanzai, an external affairs elder of the Beast Taming Sect. May I ask, young friend Liu, how did you come to know Prison Suppression Envoy Li?"

Jiang Chen gave Elder Guo a slight cupped-fist salute and answered truthfully,

"I touched her woman... Prison Suppression Envoy Li saw that I was rather popular with women, so perhaps she merely wanted to make use of me."

Elder Guo stroked his beard and nodded.

He could not detect any attempt at concealment in those words.

Besides, if Jiang Chen truly intended to lie, who would dare give such an outlandish answer?

Yet those words fit Li Lingzhou's temperament perfectly.

With that thought, he took out an embroidered storage pouch.

"There are ten thousand spirit stones here. But a common man is innocent, and possessing a treasure invites trouble. Young friend, take good care of them."

"They're only low-grade spirit stones. It's not a big problem."

Jiang Chen was not easily intimidated. He took the storage pouch and roughly counted its contents, confirming that it contained exactly ten thousand spirit stones.

Only then did he turn and leave, heading straight for the Gray Castle teleportation array. After paying one hundred spirit stones for the teleportation fee, he went to Xihe City.

Just as expected!

Elder Guo followed closely behind, tailing him in secret all the way to Xihe City.

It was Jiang Chen's first time using a teleportation array. He had wanted to enjoy the experience, but with a pursuer behind him, he had no mood for it at all.

That old dog was despicable!

After leaving the teleportation array, the magnificent Xihe City came into view.

Xihe City was a hundred times larger than Xiyang City.

At its center stood a massive mountain with a gentle slope, layered terrace upon terrace. Stairs rose upward like a hanging garden in the sky.

After asking around, Jiang Chen quickly found the Xihe Prefecture Prison Suppression Bureau headquarters, located along the rear ridge of the central sacred mountain.

It was a gigantic nine-story tower.

The entire headquarters was black and over a hundred zhang tall. There were only nine floors above ground, so every floor was exceptionally high and spacious.

Eighteen enormous blue talisman swords had been driven into the ground at slanting angles outside the tower. Rather than majestic and spectacular, they seemed somewhat sinister.

Legend had it that beneath the Prison Suppression Bureau lay eighteen levels of prison cells, suppressing every kind of evil and strange demon, monster, and ghost...

Jiang Chen vaguely sensed an eerie aura.

He strode into the headquarters and reached the first-floor inspection desk, where he needed to state his identity and purpose for coming.

"My name is Jiang Chen. I'm here to see Prison Suppression Envoy Li Lingzhou."

Upon hearing Li Lingzhou's name, the young deacon in charge of inspection could not help but smile.

"We also want to find Prison Suppression Envoy Li. Unfortunately, she usually only appears at headquarters when she is short on money.

Wait, Prison Suppression Envoy Li unexpectedly recommended a candidate for prison suppression envoy last time...

What was your name again?"

That woman had actually submitted an application for him on her own!

Jiang Chen thought that even within the Xihe Prefecture Prison Suppression Bureau, where experts gathered like clouds, Li Lingzhou was apparently a character as lively as a treasure.

"Jiang Chen."

The young disciple's attitude immediately became respectful.

"Please proceed to the first-floor inner office for a detailed discussion, Fellow Daoist Jiang."

Guided by another female deacon, Jiang Chen passed through the bustling administrative area and quickly arrived at the first-floor inner office.

This place was essentially the office of the lobby manager for the entire headquarters.

The person stationed in the inner office was a kind-looking old man with Nascent Soul cultivation, dressed in an extremely oversized black Prison Suppression robe.

The old man examined Jiang Chen for quite some time before stroking his beard and smiling.

"Though you only have Qi Refining cultivation at present, you should be a more suitable candidate than Prison Suppression Envoy Li."

Then the old man looked over Jiang Chen's letter of recommendation.

"The stated reasons for recommendation are perfect body cultivation and spirit control.

Your constitution naturally counters demons, monsters, and ghosts. You possess the handsome looks and bearing favored by demonesses and devil women alike.

You can even implant Prison Suppression Envoy Li's sword aura to kill demons in return.

You can be used as bait. If properly nurtured, you will become a useful weapon for eliminating demons and defending the Dao."

Wasn't that just treating me like expendable material? Jiang Chen's scalp went numb as he listened.

"May this junior withdraw the application?"

The old man shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. Your application was reported to the Chief Administrator long ago and has already been approved. It was only delayed because we have not been able to find Prison Suppression Envoy Li."

Jiang Chen thought, the Prison Suppression Bureau was one of the Daqian Dynasty's state organs of violence. How could it forcibly conscript people?

No matter how sturdy I am, I still have the freedom not to be drafted!

"This application was submitted by Prison Suppression Envoy Li on her own initiative and without consulting this junior. Can this junior resign and refuse the position?"

The old man did not answer. Smiling, he took a sip of tea and asked instead,

"What business do you have with Prison Suppression Envoy Li?"

Jiang Chen answered irritably,

"To withdraw the application."

The old man continued smiling kindly.

"She isn't here. Find her first, then we can discuss it."

Fuming, Jiang Chen turned and left the headquarters. Using the resonance of the Pure Yang Sword Aura within his body, he tried to search for Li Lingzhou.

Unfortunately, Li Lingzhou was not in Xihe City. Otherwise, their sword auras of the same origin would surely have reacted.

Forget it. He would return to Xiyang City first.

Jiang Chen returned to Xiyang City and stayed at the Gray Castle Inn.

Elder Guo did not continue watching him, and he emerged from the teleportation array much later.

Half a day had already passed.

Night fell.

Jiang Chen lay on the one-zhang-wide bed at the Gray Castle Inn, his arm beneath his head.

At present, he was inside a simulated storyline. His vision could not see anywhere else, and he could only wait for the storyline to end.

The storyline truly ended just like that.

It left Jiang Chen somewhat at a loss.

His divine sense returned to the underground cultivation chamber, and Jiang Chen reviewed the recording.

Elder Guo had not immediately followed him back to Xiyang City. Instead, he met an old friend from the Beast Taming Sect at the Prison Suppression Bureau.

He asked about Li Lingzhou and learned that she had been taken away from Xihe City by a mysterious person.

Only then did he return to the Xiyang City inn to discuss matters with Yun Lanzi.

Yun Lanzi and Elder Guo were now convinced that he was connected to Li Lingzhou. Yet they had not come here to handle a case, but to make money.

At most, it had something to do with the Empress Dowager.

And Li Lingzhou was not in Xihe Prefecture at the moment. Otherwise, with her keen nose for spirit stones, she would have found Liu Xuande, the man bringing her money, long ago.

Without Li Lingzhou interfering, the plan would proceed much more smoothly.

Jiang Chen finished watching the recording.

The second ending had allowed the Empress Dowager's baby to form a core and had also earned him ten thousand spirit stones, but it was far from perfect. Many hidden dangers remained.

For instance, would his association with Li Lingzhou frighten the emperor?

For instance, this trip had drawn the attention of the Xihe Prefecture Prison Suppression Bureau.

For instance, the second storyline simulation had not been compact enough, preventing him from seeing the emperor's and princess's reactions and judging where the subsequent plot would lead.

It still required further consideration.

For the third simulation, he needed to compress the timeline. Only by making the storyline erupt within a short period could he see the outcome more clearly.

Before beginning, he first watched the original storyline and pinpointed the moment Yun Lanzi left the imperial palace.

It was roughly five quarter-hours after the storyline began, or a little over an hour and fifteen minutes.

Before Yun Lanzi left the imperial palace, he had to deal with the two merfolk women and then enter the palace to challenge him!

[The third simulated storyline begins. Please choose a location to descend into!]

Jiang Chen descended at his original location without hesitation.

At top speed, he knocked out the two merfolk women and injected Pure Yang Sword Aura wrapped in Five Elements Resonance Spirit Control into their bodies.

He had lacked experience last time, and the process had taken one or two shichen, wasting too much of his stamina.

This time, he finished in less than half a shichen and remained in excellent physical condition.

Jiang Chen locked the unconscious merfolk women in the water tank, then loaded the tank into a carriage.

Driving the carriage away from Peaceful Palace toward the imperial palace, he barely managed to catch up to the storyline.

After hearing Jiang Chen's request to enter the hall, the eunuch in charge of reporting hurried back into the main hall and whispered into the emperor's ear,

"Your Majesty, outside the hall is a Qi Refining wandering cultivator claiming to be Liu Xuande. He has brought two Twin Mermaids and wishes to see the princess."

The emperor was overjoyed upon hearing this.

"Summon Liu Xuande to the hall at once!"

The eunuch immediately announced in a loud voice,

"Summon Liu Xuande to the hall—"