The meeting took place in a simple location, inside the main hall of the Nanming Prefecture. Nanming was the capital of Jiangnan, so the prefectural government was naturally not small. However, for a meeting of this level, the location of a small hall seemed a bit cramped.
But no one cared about the pomp and circumstance involved, because the enormous bubble was already quite impressive.
Moreover, the other party was quite generous. All the guards who came with them were allowed to enter the city and were allowed to station themselves freely. They could go to the exclusive post stations arranged by them or spend their own money to enjoy themselves at restaurants.
This surprised all the factions. It seemed that Chen Qing wasn't worried at all about any faction's subordinates doing anything to Nanming Prefecture. You know, that guy from the West Sea had Above First Rank living corpses under his command. If he wanted to, he could even turn all the ordinary people of Nanming Prefecture into living corpses within half a day!
It has to be said, Chen Qing really has a big heart.
However, because of the magnanimity displayed by the other party, the group of people dared not make any rash moves and silently gathered together in the hall to drink tea.
"This is a fine product!" said Shen Laoda from the West Sea, taking the first sip of tea. "The tea soup is clear, the aroma is rich, and the flavor is unique. In terms of taste, no other tea in the world can surpass it, and in terms of efficacy..."
He closed his eyes, savoring the rich spiritual energy that the tea brought as it entered his stomach. He took a deep breath and said, "It's no worse than any secret medicine from aristocratic families, and I don't feel any side effects whatsoever."
The eldest princess glanced at Shen Laowu, Shen Laowu nodded in agreement. These kinds of living corpses were controlled by insects, allowing them to sense every part of their bodies at any time and to be far more sensitive than normal people to what effects medicines had on them.
The princess nodded. She wasn't surprised at all. The grains that Chen Qing sent all had the effect of replenishing vital energy, so it wasn't unreasonable for them to send tea that could nourish spiritual energy as well.
"I apologize for keeping you all waiting." Chen Qing strode into the main hall, waved his hand, and closed the door. A beam of light shone down from the sky, completely illuminating the secondary hall.
Everyone was on guard, but their expressions remained unchanged.
" Lord Chen, this tea is quite good. May I take some with me when I leave?" the princess asked with a smile.
"Since my aunt has said so, how could I disobey? After that, I had my men prepare a boat for His Highness to take away."
One boat.
Everyone looked at the clear tea in their hands. This top-grade tea could even replenish spiritual energy. Anyone would assume that it was like the Da Hong Pao tea from the capital, with only a few kilograms produced each year. But this person just casually mentioned a whole boatload.
Minister Pang of the imperial court was not particularly surprised. Many merchants from Jiangnan had already come to the Jiangnan to make money, and several types of tea had been bought up at high prices by families of sorcerers. The secret of the tea in Chen Qing's possession was also something he had to investigate during his visit.
"Let's get down to business first." Minister Pang put down his teacup. " Lord Chen invited us here to discuss the Ancient Dragon Palace. Let's get straight to the point. After all, everyone here has been patient for this reason, haven't they?"
Everyone put down their teacups and looked at Chen Qing.
Chen Qing was able to invite them all, which not only demonstrated his considerable strength, but more importantly, it was the allure of the Dragon Palace. Otherwise, no matter what, at least the Shen Laoda and the Princess of the West Sea wouldn't have accepted it.
"Let's get down to business," Chen Qing said, setting down his teacup. " The Dragon Palace will open in one month!"
Everyone: "!!"
"Is Lord Chen certain?" Minister Pang frowned. "What information did you obtain?"
"I cannot disclose the source of this information, but you can ask this senior from the West Sea whether it is reliable," Chen Qing said with a smile.
Everyone looked at the scholar, who was sipping his tea, seemingly reluctant to put it down. Seeing everyone looking at him, he frowned slightly before slowly setting down his teacup and saying softly, "Hmm, not bad."
"How was that determined?" Minister Pang asked, looking at the other party.
His somewhat aggressive attitude caused those around him to frown slightly, but the Laoda of the Shen Family seemed unconcerned, continuing in a gentle tone, "The guardians of the Dragon Palace gates are the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley. This magic array was originally used to seal the Dragon Palace. When the Ancient Insect invaded, the guardians used the properties of this sealing Dragon Palace to seal the Ancient Insect in reverse. This action caused the seal to loosen. Now, the structure of the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley has malfunctioned, and it can no longer continuously replenish the array using the Dragon Palace's own energy as before. Therefore, you can see that the mist here is gradually thinning."
"I see." The Duke of Wei stroked his chin. "So, the Dragon Palace will open when the fog over Jiangnan and the West Sea completely dissipates, right?"
"Perhaps," the scholar looked up at the other person, "After all, the Ancient Insect only reached before the Dragon Palace opened. As for whether it would actually open, it didn't see it back then, so naturally we wouldn't know."
Everyone immediately turned to look at Chen Qing.
Chen Qing smiled and said, "It will open. One month later, the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley will be completely ineffective, and the Dragon Palace that was originally suppressed will be fully opened!"
"So certain, are you perhaps a descendant of those guardians?" the princess asked coldly.
I am their ancestor
Chen Qing rolled his eyes inwardly, but in reality, he maintained a gentle smile and said, "As I just said, I cannot reveal the source of this information. Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you. If you believe it and are willing to cooperate, then stay and we will discuss together how to conquer this Dragon Palace."
Strategy Guide?
That's a new term.
The princess smiled slightly. The other person's words were easy to understand, but they also made her realize that the person in front of her was definitely not the King of Qin!
There was a rumor in the capital that Chen Qing might be the reincarnation of the King of Qin.
But now it seems that's absolutely not the case, because back then, she was by the side of the King of Qin and witnessed firsthand how the King of Qin spared no expense to suppress the ancient forces.
He would show no mercy to any being who sought to inherit from the ancient past, even those loyal to his own people!
The guy in front of me was clearly an ambitious person, just like my younger brother!
"But we know nothing about you. Wouldn't it be a huge loss for us to cooperate with you?" Minister Pang looked at Chen Qing and said, "Your position is the closest to us, beyond the reach of the imperial court. If you don't share some intelligence, how can we believe that you are truly cooperating?"
"That's true," the Duke of Wei said with a smile. "It wasn't easy for me to come all this way. The key point is that I've never heard of the Dragon Palace before, and I don't know what benefits it holds. I've taken this risk to come here, so I should at least know what I'm after, right?"
"What the seniors say is true." Chen Qing nodded, and with a wave of his hand, countless bubbles surged into the mansion hall, forming a huge square bubble on top of it, upon which appeared a vast underwater scene.
"This is?"
" The West Sea Spring," Chen Qing said. "This is the spring in the West Sea of the Dragon Palace. It's one of the only two remaining springs among the four seas. With this spring, the sea will never run dry."
Upon hearing this, everyone stared intently, and indeed there was a transparent spring in the water. Upon closer inspection, they saw a continuous stream of water flowing out from it, and everyone was immediately astonished.
"This spring has been supplying water to the sea all along?" the princess asked, frowning. "But that shouldn't be the case. With such a massive water supply, why hasn't the sea submerged the world over tens of thousands of years?"
"Huh?" Duke of Wei was taken aback. "Is that even a question? It evaporated!"
"Evaporate?" The eldest princess sneered. "Won't evaporation turn into rain? The total amount of water in the world must remain constant for humanity to exist as it is today; otherwise, there would be an imbalance!"
"Auntie is indeed very knowledgeable." Chen Qing admired her from the bottom of her heart. It was truly remarkable that the other party, an ancient person, could deduce such a thing.
"However, it's not what you think." Chen Qing looked at the sky. "Outer heavens, there are terrifying things that absorb the moisture from this world every day. What keeps the moisture level constant is this Dragon Palace Spring. Your Highness is only half right. Water does evaporate and form clouds in the sky before falling back down, but that's only if there are no monsters in the sky."
Princess Eldest: "."
In his memory, the King of Qin once said that there were terrifying things beyond the heavens, even more terrifying than the demons of the world, so the Outer Heaven Demon Statue must never be activated!
"We don't understand this," the Duke of Wei waved his hand dismissively. "I just want to know, what are the benefits inside the Dragon Palace?"
"The benefits are numerous," Chen Qing said with a smile. "Many of the things I have here come from the Dragon Palace, but they are only the tip of the iceberg of the Dragon Palace Inheritance. As for the truly good things, I'll just mention two." Chen Qing held up two fingers. "First, the Dragon Palace has secret medicines that can bring the dead back to life. Second, the Dragon Palace has Dragon Transformation Secret Technique, which can transform all things in the world into dragons, making them immortal!"
Everyone: "!!!"