Chapter 40: The Second Imperial Prince

Next, Cang Yin Yue returned to the courtyard room to interrogate the soldier.

But before leaving, she strongly urged Li Muxian to discard the Hidden Assassination Order as far away as possible.

Li Muxian remained unmoved.

He leapt back onto the rooftop, gazed up at the moonlit sky, and shook his head.

Is there truly someone in this world who can kill him?

“Three assassination attempts—Hidden Assassination Guild, I hope you at least keep your word and prove somewhat useful to me.”

…

After a quarter-hour, Cang Yin Yue stepped out of the room, looking slightly weary.

“I’ve questioned him thoroughly—he doesn’t have the key to the Tianqi Secret Treasury.”

Cang Yin Yue looked at Li Muxian as he descended from the rooftop and said:

“But he did reveal some clues regarding the keys.”

“What clues?”

Li Muxian was not surprised by this result; he never expected his luck to be so good as to stumble upon a Daqi remnant and immediately gain useful information.

“These Daqi remnant factions publicly belong to an organization called ‘Qingshan Tower.’ Over the years, they’ve never abandoned their search for the Tianqi Secret Treasury.”

Cang Yin Yue spoke slowly, then shook her head again and said:

“Though this man holds some position within Qingshan Tower, details about the Tianqi Secret Treasury are top-secret knowledge—he knows little. He only knows that Shangyang City likely holds one or two keys, and one of them seems tied to the Second Imperial Prince.”

“The Second Imperial Prince?” Li Muxian raised an eyebrow.

Cang Yin Yue nodded lightly, then narrowed her eyes slightly and said:

“You should remember the two men we encountered on the road—they were under Wu’an General’s command, and Wu’an General is the Second Imperial Prince’s man.”

“Among all the imperial princes, aside from the legitimate eldest son, the First Imperial Prince, the Second Imperial Prince and the Fake Seventh Prince are the most likely contenders for the throne.”

Speaking, Cang Yin Yue explained to Li Muxian:

“The Second Imperial Prince’s martial talent is not inferior to the Fake Seventh Prince’s, but he is obsessed with political scheming, ambitious, and devotes most of his energy to building his own power base. Even so, he is a true Grand Completion martial master.”

Fearing Li Muxian might become fixated on seeking the Tianqi Secret Treasury’s keys and act recklessly, Cang Yin Yue paused, then added seriously:

“According to what I know, the Second Imperial Prince’s mansion employs a group of martial experts as advisors, many of them formidable martial masters—it’s no less dangerous than a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair.”

“More importantly, every imperial prince in Da Li has elite palace guards secretly protecting him. I urge you not to act rashly.”

Hearing this, Li Muxian stroked his chin thoughtfully and nodded slowly.

Seeing this, Cang Yin Yue felt a slight relief, assuming he had taken her words to heart.

Yet the next moment, she heard Li Muxian ask:

“Where is the Second Imperial Prince’s mansion?”

Cang Yin Yue: “???”

…

Li Muxian noticed the strange look in her eyes and waved his hand:

“Relax—the Daqi remnant’s information was vague. I won’t act rashly or alert them. I was just asking out of curiosity.”

Cang Yin Yue frowned, clearly skeptical of his words.

Li Muxian, however, fell into thought for a moment, then said:

“My advice is still to start with Qingshan Tower. Wait until we capture a key Daqi remnant figure and obtain confirmed information before acting.”

“Besides, didn’t you just say Shangyang City might have more than one key? Perhaps they know where the other one is?”

Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue stared at Li Muxian for a moment, then sighed softly.

Though Li Muxian spoke this way, his tone clearly showed he had not abandoned his intention to visit the Second Imperial Prince’s mansion.

Yet she had no way to stop him—he was stronger than her, and his true identity was that of a prince.

So she could only say:

“I’ll inform the Six Gate Bureau tomorrow about Qingshan Tower. They’ll investigate, and I’ll notify you immediately if there’s progress.”

“But I have one condition: before your identity as the Seventh Prince is confirmed, do not act rashly. The Second Imperial Prince’s mansion is no place for fools—if anything happens, I won’t be able to save you.”

Li Muxian shrugged, but his gaze shifted to the room in the courtyard and asked:

“Besides this, did he reveal anything else?”

Hearing this, Cang Yin Yue nodded lightly and said:

“This is what I was about to tell you: his infiltration of Jiguang Pavilion was indeed meant to kill the real Seventh Prince and avenge the Da Li imperial family—but that wasn’t their main goal.”

“Their true plan was to create chaos in Jiguang Pavilion to draw the attention of all factions in the capital, while secretly infiltrating ‘Longyuan Lake’ to steal the ‘Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.’”

“Imperial Dragon Divine Sword? What’s that?” Li Muxian looked puzzled.

Cang Yin Yue’s eyes flickered as she explained solemnly:

“The Daqi dynasty once gathered the empire’s finest weapon-smiths and spent countless resources to forge five divine artifacts that stabilized the imperial fate.”

“When Daqi fell, these five artifacts were divided among the five nations. The Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, acquired by Da Li, was one of them.”

Upon hearing this, Li Muxian felt a spark of curiosity and asked:

“What makes the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword so special? Why would these Daqi remnant go to such lengths to obtain it?”

Cang Yin Yue blinked her lashes, glanced at him, and said:

“As a divine artifact, it naturally possesses extraordinary power. Besides legends claiming it gathers the empire’s destiny, and that possessing all five would grant dominion over the world—”

“Each divine artifact is a weapon coveted by every martial cultivator, wielding power beyond comprehension.”

As she spoke, a gleam of intensity appeared in Cang Yin Yue’s eyes:

“There was once a ranking of the world’s top weapons, listing twenty-three blades. All five of Daqi’s divine artifacts were on that list.”

“And I’ve also heard a rumor…”

Here, Cang Yin Yue paused. Li Muxian immediately asked:

“What rumor?”

“It’s said that if any cultivator who has reached the Primordial Realm gains the recognition of even one of these five divine artifacts, they can leap three realms overnight and directly enter the Heavenly Person Realm.”

Cang Yin Yue’s gaze burned with longing.

Hearing this, Li Muxian frowned:

“I thought it was something else.”

But then he reconsidered and nodded slightly:

“It sounds fantastical, but for those who haven’t reached the Heavenly Person Realm, it’s certainly compelling.”

He then looked at Cang Yin Yue and asked:

“Is this true?”

Cang Yin Yue shook her head:

“Just a rumor. Only members of the imperial family might know the truth.”

(End of Chapter)