Chapter 250: Golden Crow

A voice came softly from behind the screen.

"Pack up, we're getting ready to leave!"

Upon hearing this, the maid was somewhat surprised.

"Your Majesty?"

The figure behind the screen shook her head.

"Whether we succeed or fail, our exposure has greatly increased; I don't want to face a siege by several National Guardian True Ones!"

She stepped slowly from behind the screen; her face was beautiful, her skin fair and white, her whole being like a jade beauty.

The maid's expression instantly turned to regret upon hearing this.

"It's just a pity that all our years of painstaking concealment have come to this."

The jade beauty smiled: "Not a pity; my purpose in entering the palace has already been achieved—I obtained the treasure and can exchange it for a future human sage, so it's worth it!"

At this moment she gazed at the ancient zither on the rack, her eyes faintly gleaming with a hint of affection; she plucked it lightly, and the zither seemed to emit a strong radiance.

Within it lay an astonishing divine power.

……

In the Zhuangyuan Manor, Zhang Jian glanced at the《Sun True Classic》on the table at this moment.

This《Sun True Classic》seemed to have its true appearance concealed by some marvelous method.

Zhang Jian's mouth corner twitched slightly upward.

From beneath this prohibition, he felt a domineering will of evil intent, a will that seemed able to distort spacetime and corrupt the human heart.

This was clearly not picking up a leak, but rather stumbling into a trap.

He enjoyed reading ancient texts, and this was no secret inside or outside the palace.

Yet his expression remained calm.

Instead, a hint of interest appeared in his eyes.

His yin spirit had become substantial; Zhang Jian currently had not yet encountered anything that could threaten his yin spirit.

At this moment Zhang Jian extended his hand, his palm covering the depths of the《Sun True Classic》, infusing it with mana to activate it.

In an instant, its true form appeared under Zhang Jian's mana—a classic woven from countless golden feathers.

The crimson-gold classic resembled glazed flame.

Transparent and lustrous, yet possessing a mighty power capable of burning heaven and earth.

"Sun True Fire!"

Zhang Jian's pupils flickered, his eyes slightly changing.

The Sun True Fire is a renowned powerful divine fire between heaven and earth.

It burns everything.

For many cultivators, this is a deadly forbidden object.

But for Zhang Jian, it's nothing much.

He already possesses two terrifying fire-attributed divine objects within his body.

The Haoran Fire and the Heavenly Pure Fire are both extremely powerful fire-attributed divine objects.

After the Sun True Fire manifested, the temperature in the Zhuangyuan Manor suddenly rose, as if a blazing sun were about to appear; a nine-colored divine light emerged at the center of his brow, and the Map of Mountains, Rivers, and the State enveloped the entire Zhuangyuan Manor.

The radiant sun appeared, yet like the shifting of stars and constellations, it was transferred to another special void legal realm.

Here, starlight shone brilliantly, yet Zhang Jian felt that in an instant, a fierce, domineering, evil-intent terror power surged toward his yin spirit's consciousness to erode it, but was bounced away by the substantial yin spirit light radiating from his body.

Zhang Jian lifted his gaze, his expression solemn; he immediately realized that within this cluster of Sun True Fire, some evil demon will might still be hidden.

To hide one's will within the Sun True Fire—its origin is likely not ordinary.

Yet a hint of strangeness appeared in his eyes.

Zhang Jian did not know at this moment that this book had once been a famed holy object of the demon tribe in the extramundane void.

The《Golden Crow True Classic》.

After this classic entered this realm, countless demon tribe powerhouses, and even human cultivators who had bled in the wilderness, had once fallen into the hands of several renowned demon sovereigns of heaven and earth; but after one of those demon sovereigns underwent nirvana, this classic reappeared and became imbued with evil intent.

Those who come into contact with it will inexplicably lose their minds and go mad—even demon gods avoid it at all costs; it is truly forbidden.

After thousands of years, this thing not only lost its former fame, but became a forbidden object in the eyes of many demons, becoming a 'magic artifact' used to harm others.

……

At this moment, within the Sun True Fire, that layer of terrifying will that drives people mad, after being resisted by Zhang Jian, suddenly surged; the core's《Sun True Classic》suddenly expanded, black-red light flowing and turning, sealing the void, with threads of red light seeming to pass through Zhang Jian's eyes, contaminating his yin spirit's consciousness, desperately trying to merge into it.

Countless demons whispered magic simultaneously!

Moreover, a layer of utterly filthy and impure power emerged, as if seeking to contaminate his yin spirit's consciousness.

Zhang Jian's eyes flickered slightly; this layer of filthy flame seemed like a raging torrent, surpassing the yin spirit realm and reaching the primordial spirit realm, and even a primordial spirit true person might not be able to resist this contamination.

Yet the clear radiance surrounding his yin spirit's consciousness was like diamond, and his whole body suffused with a layer of white flame, easily isolating it.

This thing encountering him is truly meeting its nemesis.

The two fires within his body—the Haoran Fire and the Heavenly Pure Fire—are both nemeses of demons; one causes all evils to retreat, the other can refine all kinds of demons in heaven and earth.

"Just wait to see your true form!"

As Zhang Jian focused, the Haoran Fire within his body erupted like a volcano, spreading through every inch of void in the Map of Mountains, Rivers, and the State; countless terrifying black-red lights vanished instantly in the vast light, as if each wisp of black air screamed in the light.

……

Black Guard Office

Zhao Hu, during this time standing in for Chao Mu to hold the fort at the Black Guard Office, now had threads of starlight appearing on his body, and behind him faintly flowed threads of domineering, scorching qi and blood, which seemed to condense into form above his head, merging with starlight to faintly reveal a terrifying, solemn divine power.

His expression at this moment appeared somewhat gloomy.

That stellar martial way is indeed marvelous, but for land-bound immortals and demons without stellar affinity, the difficulty of cultivation rises geometrically.

The first stage of sensing the stars is too difficult.

Not to mention integrating celestial phenomena, letting starlight enter the body, and cultivating into a celestial phenomena source body.

Although it is difficult, Zhao Hu's heart is filled with hope, for they have now encountered the best of times.

At least the land immortals and demons now have a path to hope for longevity, unlike in past ages when martial generals who stepped onto the path of land immortals and demons could only watch helplessly as their lifespan neared its end, or attempt other paths and suffer unexplained losses.

In quiet cultivation, Zhao Hu suddenly felt the ward at the door triggered, and immediately walked out from the secret chamber of the Black-Clothed Guard Office.

But outside, a deputy commander appeared with an anxious expression, and upon seeing Zhao Hu, brought him bad news.

"Consort Yu has vanished! And she took the Hundred Flowers Princess with her!"

Zhao Hu's heart leapt, and his expression immediately turned grim.

The disappearance of a consort in the palace is a major matter, let alone the loss of a princess.

Fragments of information about Consort Yu flashed through Zhao Hu's mind.

That Consort Yu came from the common folk, her status not high, but the Hundred Flowers Princess is of noble standing, being the eldest daughter of Consort Xian, one of the four consorts.

Zhao Hu's face froze, and he shouted sternly.

"Investigate again—see if anyone else or anything else has gone missing!"

His face darkened with gloom and anger, yet he forced himself to proceed to the palace to report, while simultaneously ordering the sealing of the gates of Haojing City and the Imperial Palace.