Chapter 391

Xiang Ningyan's sudden kneeling was unexpected.

Immortal Zixuan glanced at him indifferently, as if she were accustomed to it.

"The Xuanyou Sect, is it?"

"Ancestor is wise, this disciple is indeed a cultivator of the Xuanyou Sect; when I was in the sect, I admired the ancestor of the main Xuanyou Sect, which governs three thousand seven hundred Xuanyou Sects across the entire Yinghuang Prefecture."

The Captain's expression was strange, and Xu Qing frowned, thinking of the special nature of the Xuanyou Sect.

Due to the Ancient Emperor Xuanyou, the number of Xuanyou Sects was extremely large; any sect, big or small, that had even the slightest connection would call itself the Xuanyou Sect.

Like back then at Taisi Du'e Mountain, Xu Qing and the Captain had once seen a Xuanyou Sect.

And this Xiang Ningyan was clearly the same; after all, whether or not one practiced the Xuanyou Sect's techniques was clear at a glance to Immortal Immortal Zixuan, so thinking of the bond of incense, Immortal Zixuan nodded and allowed him to travel with the ship.

Xiang Ningyan felt a panic in his heart; he didn't want to travel with the ship, but he didn't dare refuse, so he could only bite the bullet and hide in a corner, not daring to look at Xu Qing, his heart anxious, like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow.

Xu Qing glanced at him, preparing to find a time when no one was around to settle accounts with him.

But the Captain's eyes shone with a strange light; he walked over and circled the nervous Xiang Ningyan a few times, looking interested, and asked a question.

"Kid, you're a bit off; you were grabbed by that big bird and played with like that, yet you didn't die, and your injuries aren't very serious."

"Senior Brother Chen, my bloodline underwent an ancestral reversion when I was young, and the bloodline power is for protection," Xiang Ningyan explained hurriedly.

Hearing this, the Captain licked his lips, laughed, went up, and hugged Xiang Ningyan's neck, speaking in a low voice.

"Don't be afraid of Xu Qing; I am his Senior Brother. You must have heard those rumors at the Taichu Liyou Pillar about how Xu Qing respects me immensely, right? Let me tell you, that's true."

"From now on, as long as you listen to me, you are my brother, and that means you are Xu Qing's brother. What is most important between brothers? Friendship! Don't you agree?"

Xiang Ningyan didn't dare say he didn't agree and nodded hurriedly.

Xu Qing glanced at the Captain; he felt this scene was a bit familiar, as if he had seen it happen to someone else, so he glanced at Wu Jianwu on the side.

Wu Jianwu was also stunned there, thinking of his own past encounters, and looked at Xiang Ningyan with sympathy.

The Captain was still swindling him, and the flying boat continued forward; they were not far from the teleportation point Chen Tinghao had mentioned.

That place was actually the final teleportation location on the Eight Sect Alliance's route.

"After this teleportation, we will arrive at the capital. Xu Qing, I just inquired with a good friend in the palace and only then learned that it was actually ten thousand zhang of brilliant light!"

Chen Tinghao looked at Xu Qing in shock; he had been out on a mission previously and hadn't returned for a long time until he transmitted his voice within the capital's territory.

"There is still much I don't understand; if I do anything inappropriate in the future, I hope Brother Chen will remind me." Xu Qing's expression was sincere as he cupped his fists.

"That is certain. Xu Qing, you have ten thousand zhang of brilliant light; this is something Fenghai Prefecture has never had before. Do you know what this represents?" Although there was envy in Chen Tinghao's eyes, there was no jealousy at all.

Xu Qing shook his head.

"It represents that you are the most trustworthy, that your heart is very upright, and it will also be of huge help to your appointment," Chen Tinghao sighed with emotion.

"Appointment?" Xu Qing knew that arriving this time meant being arranged for an appointment, but he didn't understand the specifics, so he asked about it.

"According to the rules, newly promoted Sword Holders must serve in the capital for three full years before they can be sent out. When you arrive this time, after the oath, you will be arranged for an appointment."

"Different positions yield different military merits, so this position is very important."

"After all, for us Sword Holders, everything is inseparable from military merits!"

"And among the many positions in the Sword Holding Palace, departments like inspection and auditing are the easiest to gain military merits from; intelligence and law enforcement are also passable, but for the various positions in internal affairs, the opportunities to gain military merits are fewer."

"In addition, there is a special position where one gains more military merits, but they never recruit newly promoted Sword Holders there, and veterans cannot apply either. All Sword Holders in this position are specially recruited by the Palace Master's decree."

Chen Tinghao's eyes revealed longing.

"It requires someone with an extremely clean background and a pure heart to be qualified."

Xu Qing was a bit curious and looked at Chen Tinghao.

"That is the Pawn!"

"Pawn?" Xu Qing was startled.

"Yes, Pawn, a Pawn of the Criminal Prison Division. You will know when you arrive at the capital in a moment; one of the capital's greatest features is the Ten Thousand Races Prison!"

Chen Tinghao smiled, and there was a touch of pride on his face.

"What the Criminal Prison Division imprisons are all the fierce evils of the ten thousand races throughout history, as well as eerie things. It is the largest prison in the entire Fenghai Prefecture; the prisoners inside are mostly people of monstrous slaughter, extremely cruel, but in the end, they all turn pale at the mention of a Pawn."

"Because everyone in the Criminal Prison Division calls themselves just a Pawn."

"Thus, the term 'Pawn' came to be; they deter all fierce evils."

When Chen Tinghao said this, the longing in his eyes grew stronger, turning into desire.

"My sect had an ancestor who was specially recruited by the Palace Master to become a Pawn back then. Unfortunately, he passed away in the line of duty many years ago."

Speaking of this, Chen Tinghao shook his head.

"However, it is impossible for you, Xu Qing, to go to the Criminal Prison Division. Although the Pawn is special, you are even more special. A Sword Holder with ten thousand zhang of brilliant light will definitely be given high expectations. Perhaps the next time I see you, I will have to salute you with a Sword Holding salute."

Xu Qing gazed at the distant heaven and earth; he wasn't particularly concerned about the appointment. After arriving in the capital's territory, he looked at everything here, and the complexity in his heart grew thicker, so he spoke softly.

"Brother Chen, is Zhaoxia Mountain here?"

"Zhaoxia Mountain?" Chen Tinghao glanced at Xu Qing.

"Zhaoxia Mountain is in Zhaolu Prefecture, one of the three prefectures closest to the capital. It became a trial ground for our Sword Holding Palace a long time ago and is not allowed to be stepped into by outsiders. If a Sword Holder wants to go, they need to consume a certain amount of military merits."

"The military merits are not cheap, because that place is the sleeping palace of an ancient sun, and also the place where that sun fell. Occasionally, there will be flowing light from before the sun fell, overflowing from the river of time and shining there."

"Every stream of light from before it fell contains Dao rhyme and is itself a top-tier material for refining weapons and elixirs. The quantity is very small, and every time one appears, it is recorded in the files."

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed; he looked calm, but there were violent waves surging in his heart. This was the first time he had known such detailed information about Zhaoxia Mountain.

Chen Tinghao did not ask why Xu Qing was interested in Zhaoxia Mountain but reminded him.

"If you want to go to Zhaoxia Mountain, you must accumulate military merits well."

Xu Qing nodded.

Not long after, during their conversation, the flying boat arrived at the location of the teleportation array. As Immortal Zixuan walked out and the flying boat was put away, these hundred-plus cultivators descended to the earth one after another.

On the ground, there was an ancient teleportation array, shaped like an altar, with a large range and a grayish-black body; one could see long marks crisscrossing, flashing with light.

There were Sword Holders guarding the surroundings; they clearly knew Chen Tinghao, and after seeing him, they greeted him happily, and a few even hugged Chen Tinghao.

That kind of emotion between them gave Xu Qing more understanding of Sword Holders.

Soon, under the arrangement of these Sword Holders, the Eight Sect Alliance group walked into the teleportation array. Amidst the astonishing flashing of light,

they completed the final teleportation of this journey.

When they appeared, they were already outside the capital!

An earth-shattering statue greeted everyone's eyes the moment they appeared.

That was the statue of the Ancient Emperor Xuanyou, vast and astonishing, as if it could support heaven and earth.

It was too large; compared to it, everyone was like dust, and even if they were ordinary mortals, they couldn't see the whole statue even if they looked up.

It stood on the earth, its head touching the firmament, and the clouds only circled thinly around its waist; cultivators needed to strain their eyes to barely gaze at it from afar.

The statue's posture was with both hands raised, as if embracing heaven and earth, and between the statue's hands, a majestic floating city was actually drifting.

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This was the capital.

The size of this city was several times that of the Eight Sect Alliance's city group; inside, there was endless brilliant light, the flashing light turned into a sea of light around it, and there were also three smaller palaces floating.

Although not as good as the capital, any one of these palaces, if placed on the ground, would be a behemoth.

Three palaces and one city fell clearly into Xu Qing's eyes, making his mind shake.

But what caused even greater waves in his heart was the earth.

Directly below the floating capital, where the Ancient Emperor's statue stepped, the earth was smooth as a mirror, and on that mirror was a super prison built underground.

The earth above this prison, like a mirror, was in a semi-transparent state; if one stood high in the sky and looked down, one could see that there were many layers underground, like an abyss.

That was the Criminal Prison Division Chen Tinghao had mentioned earlier, the number one prison of Fenghai Prefecture!

And in the mid-air between the prison and the floating city, a huge bronze ancient sword was floating.

This sword was vast and majestic, earth-shattering, its sword light brilliant and visible from all eight directions.

The character 'Yuan' was carved on the sword body; this was clearly a Sword Holder's sword.

It floated in the void, with the city above and the prison below; the sword body rotated slowly, emitting an indescribable, terrifying pressure.

Guarding the capital above, suppressing the prison below!

This was not all; there were also some building complexes on the earth that also attracted the attention of the Eight Sect Alliance group.

Those were the pentagonal Sword Pavilions built around the prison!

These Sword Pavilions circled in rings, arranged very neatly, but they were of different heights; the tall ones were close to the height of the capital city, while the short ones were only a few zhang tall, uneven.

The quantity was so large that there were probably over a hundred thousand of them, each separated by a thousand zhang, forming rings, nearly dozens of circles.

"Those are Sword Pavilions. All Sword Holders of Fenghai Prefecture, when they are promoted and come to the capital to report, will leave their spirit swords here, causing them to form a Sword Pavilion; they are also where Sword Holders live on a daily basis!"

"As long as the Sword Holder does not die, the Sword Pavilion does not dissipate; if they die in battle, it will be read out by the deacon during a specific ceremony before it dissipates."

"Welcome to the Fenghai Prefecture Sword Holder Headquarters, welcome to the capital!"

Chen Tinghao laughed, bowed to Xu Qing and the others, and intended to leave, but he discovered that the Eight Sect Alliance seemed to be waiting for someone, so he didn't leave but accompanied them to wait.

The Eight Sect Alliance was indeed waiting.

Waiting for the people from the branch sect to come out; on one hand, Immortal Immortal Zixuan had come in person, and on the other hand, the capital could not be entered at will; one needed someone to receive them.

Originally, according to the agreement, the people from the branch sect should have arrived long ago, but now they had waited for a while, and the branch sect disciples still hadn't appeared.

A gloomy light appeared in Immortal Immortal Zixuan's eyes; she had already transmitted her voice via jade slip, but she hadn't received the slightest response.

"Something must have gone wrong," the Five Peaks old woman standing beside Immortal Zixuan said in a low voice.

The guards of the branch sect were not cultivators at the ancestor level, so it was impossible for them to slight Immortal Immortal Zixuan, and they didn't have the guts to do so.

Yet they hadn't appeared.

There was only one explanation for this.

The branch sect was in trouble.

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed; such a thing happening just after arriving clearly could not be explained by coincidence.

"Targeting us?" Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, and the Captain also revealed a cold light; the two looked at each other.