Chapter 3051

The scheming behind the scenes, the calculations of human hearts, the clash of kings—these are the undercurrents beneath the abyss, ultimately determining the height of the tsunami.

This move by the Lingxu Holy Sovereign is aimed directly at the Nine Abysses Great Emperor himself.

More than twenty years ago, He Lingchuan caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace, stole the supreme treasure, and left the Lingxu gods humiliated; more than twenty years later, the tides have turned—he has conquered a Jiangshan as solid as an iron barrel, but now stands exposed, becoming the strongest yet most vulnerable target. How could the Lingxu Holy Sovereign pass up such a good opportunity for revenge?

A gentleman's revenge—twenty years is not too late.

Moreover, the act of sabotaging the central hub of the Chixiao Golden Hall is, compared to a large-scale frontal assault on Cangyan, lower in cost, quicker in effect, and higher in success rate. Of course, saying a thousand things and ten thousand things, the most important thing is being able to pull it off.

Back then, He Lingchuan could achieve fame in a single battle precisely because, after causing chaos in the Heavenly Palace, he could still retreat unscathed, dust off his clothes and leave, leaving no trace for a thousand miles. Now, Duanmu Heng and others lurk in the shadows, and Cangyan does not know their intentions or movements—can they replicate He Lingchuan's past success? The Lingxu Holy Sovereign places great hope in this operation.

The pool is certainly not blindly confident.

The Nine Abysses, the Red General, the Earth Mother, and the many powerful beings of Cangyan and Panlong City are all fighting on the front lines of the Bajia battlefield; at this moment, it is absolutely impossible to cross thousands of mountains and rivers to rush back and defend Ju City.

Meanwhile, Cangyan's main force of war commanders, immortals, and troops have all been dispatched to suppress the "Heavenly Demon Descent" outposts surrounding Cangyan. This is the poisonous grass beside their old nest—even if Du Shan knows there must be deception and trickery within, it cannot be left untouched.

At this juncture, the top strength of Ju City is instead empty. Moreover, everyone assumes the Heavenly Demons will only act after their descent into the world, so Duanmu Heng and the infiltrating Heavenly Demons can proceed with caution—their chances of success are actually not small.

Duanmu Heng's thorough preparations have already convinced several Heavenly Demons. Pan Xincheng then said:

"Let's go, we're heading to Mei Lake."

The group left the outer palace kitchen and headed northeast.

Along the way, they encountered no fewer than ten patrols, but Pan Xincheng's token allowed passage through most areas of the Chixiao Golden Hall, so they proceeded without obstruction.

At that moment, Duanmu Heng suddenly shivered, as if something had swept over his entire body, wanting to see through him from inside to out in meticulous detail. But the sensation lasted only a fleeting instant before vanishing.

The God of Coming and Going also halted, then looked toward midair.

"Something is watching us."

Have we been exposed?

"Don't stare at it!" Pan Xincheng hurriedly said, "That's the Haoyuan Golden Mirror! It periodically scans every position in the Chixiao Golden Hall, and upon detecting an anomaly, it triggers an alarm."

The Wu Yuan Golden Mirror is deeply bound to the Chixiao Golden Hall and can randomly scan every corner here.

If there were two illegal intruders, they would already have been locked onto by now, followed by the activation of the barrier formation and the arrival of guards at the scene.

However, the Wu Yuan Golden Mirror clearly recognizes Pan Xincheng—just one sweep, and it did not raise the alarm.

Following Pan Xincheng's seven turns and eight bends, the three arrived at Chaoyang Gate.

This is the boundary between the outer palace and the inner residence, a high wall separating inside from outside. Simply put, outside is the office of the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, inside is his private residence. Though the Great Emperor lives simply, the inner residence has few buildings and a simple layout, unlike the complex outer palace.

But the inner residence covers a larger area because it connects to the mountains behind it.

Chaoyang Gate lacks the grandeur people imagine—it is just over one zhang high, and when fully opened, it can allow two large carriages to pass side by side.

There are of course guards here, but Pan Xincheng did not wait for them to speak; he produced the warrant of the Chongshu Order, pointed to the God of Coming and Going and the other two, and said: "The garden of the Great Immortal Huang has a broken afternoon formation, the temperature is high and won't drop— the Bureau of Works has commissioned me to bring three formation symbol masters along the way to repair it."

After speaking, he also produced a temporary passage token from the Inner Residence Bureau of Works.

The Bureau of Works specifically handles the maintenance of gardens, buildings, and formations in the inner residence. This was not something Pan Xincheng arranged himself, but rather something Duanmu Heng managed to obtain. The spies and internal agents planted by the Heavenly Palace in Ju City are, of course, not limited to Pan Xincheng alone.

The warrant plus the token, along with Pan Xincheng being a genuine and trustworthy imperial guard leading the way, made the procedure correct—so the guards let them pass.

As they passed through Chaoyang Gate, Duanmu Heng glanced upward and again saw several dozen small holes above the gate arch.

He happened to see two sparrows dart out of the holes, chirping and chattering as they scolded each other, then flutter their wings and fly away.

Pan Xincheng was right—these small holes are indeed bird nests.

After passing Chaoyang Gate, the inner residence has even fewer palace staff; walking over a hundred zhang, one encounters hardly one or two people.

The four then hurried forward toward the northeast.

Weijia Shen noticed Duanmu Heng's furrowed brow and asked him: "What's wrong? Is something off?"

"Too smooth." Duanmu Heng replied, "It shouldn't be."

Weijia Shen rolled his eyes: "Is smoothness bad? We've followed the rules, haven't made a single mistake!"

"This is the old nest of the Nine Abysses." Just those few words are enough to make Duanmu Heng's back break out in gooseflesh.

Could they really just waltz in without a ripple, smoothly and steadily seize the treasure?

Back then, his plan for the Trapped Dragon Moat Grand Battle also began with everything going smoothly—then……

Sigh, anyway, that failure left a deep shadow in his heart.

"Do you have any oversight in your planning?" Lai Laishe asked him, "Speak up quickly—there's still time."

"No." Duanmu Heng said firmly.

This palace is vast in area and numerous in personnel—vast land and many people inevitably lead to management oversights and omissions. Duanmu Heng had pondered this repeatedly for a long time before finally settling on this infiltration plan, feeling he had shown sufficient respect for the rules of the Chixiao Golden Hall.

Showing sufficient respect for the rules here makes it less likely to disturb or provoke it.

But why does he still feel a hidden unease in his heart?

He inexplicably recalled the small holes on the inner and outer palace walls—had he heard of such holes somewhere before?

But for now, he couldn't recall.

However, many palace buildings indeed have bird nests, which are considered auspicious.

At that moment, Weijia Shen suddenly said: "Someone is coming from behind."

Sure enough, after a few breaths, someone behind them shouted Pan Xincheng's name.

Weijia Shen glared at Duanmu Heng angrily—this crow's mouth, saying whatever comes true, how annoying!

Pan Xincheng stopped, turned his head, and saw the two guards from Chaoyang Gate chasing after them.

"You weren't going to the garden of the Great Immortal Huang, were you?" the guard asked, "And this isn't the right direction either."

The garden of the Great Immortal Huang is to the west, but these four are clearly heading northeast.

Pan Xincheng immediately said: "Without materials, we can't repair it—the warehouse storing formation symbol supplies is just ahead."

The guard waved his hand: "Then hurry and fetch it—we'll wait for you to go together to the Great Immortal Huang's garden."

Go together? The four's hearts skipped a beat, and Pan Xincheng's face showed surprise: "You two also want to go—what's going on?"