Chapter 221: Return to the Imperial Capital

"Go!" Le Bei Great Master rode his horse.

"Go!" Shang Rong Nun rode her horse.

"Go!" Hong Liang rode his horse.

Three people, three horses, riding side by side, together they charged into the unguarded Imperial Capital.

The mighty Imperial Capital, when has it ever been so desolate? Tracing back to the previous occurrence, it was probably when the Great Zhou Dynasty seized the Imperial Capital. History is always strikingly similar, and the coincidence is astonishingly high.

No need to send word ahead; just sense the true qi within the Imperial Capital with your divine awareness, and you'll know where Chen Yi He is.

Not long after, the three of them arrived at

"Whoa." Le Bei Great Master reined in his horse.

Shang Rong Nun and Hong Liang didn't stop their horses, instead leaping directly onto the top floor of the Sutra Pavilion.

Chen Yi He and the Royal Ancestor had already been seated on the futon, awaiting the arrival of the three.

"We came empty-handed and leave empty-handed. Amitabha, good, good, Yi He—after three days apart, one should look at you with new eyes! Your cultivation has surpassed ours!" Le Bei Great Master said, pressing his palms together and bowing to Chen Yi He and the Royal Ancestor.

"Hahaha! Great Master, don't say that—this junior is still far from the Dao!" Chen Yi He laughed while returning the salute, but his words were not lacking in humility: "Still, the Ancestor has a trick up his sleeve!"

"Hehe, Yi He, don't be modest—if it weren't for your extraordinary talent, I couldn't have helped you at all!" the Royal Ancestor said to Chen Yi He, quickly steering the conversation to the crucial point: "This path has been perilous, but glad you returned safely. I heard that Zhang Huayu actually deployed Lei Bai?"

"Hmm, 'Snow Drifts Across the World' Lei Bai—a frost blade of limitless power!" Hong Liang replied to the Royal Ancestor.

Shang Rong Nun said, "Fortunately, Xi Bei Great Master intervened, repelling him with the One Yang Finger; otherwise we might not have made it back to the Imperial Capital alive!"

"The One Yang Finger—Xi Bei Great Master's cultivation has advanced again, immeasurably! I never expected Zhang Huayu to bring a master like Lei Bai under his command, together with the Ten Deputy Generals and the West Factory Eighteen Cavalry—such swollen forces, who could resist them? He indeed still has the capital!" the Royal Ancestor lamented. Grandfather Zhang, whom I have always kept an eye on, could have changed everything, nipping his conspiracy in the bud, rather than letting him develop unchecked as now, leading to an irretrievable situation.

"Hehe, that old schemer Grandfather Zhang actually anticipated our move and took the initiative; it seems his intention is clear—to fight us to the bitter end." Chen Yi He said.

"That's right; he simply won't give us a chance." Hong Liang said in a low voice.

"No matter what, you three have worked hard." Chen Yi He thought of Le Bei Great Master and the others returning empty-handed, knowing they hadn't found Grandfather Zhang, and could only offer comforting words.

"We who oppose the Daoist persons are divided into three rings, interlocking and connected; if Zhang Huayu insists on avoiding us, preventing us from finding him or striking him down, we will struggle to oppose the Dao." The Royal Ancestor turned to Chen Yi He and said.

"That's the reasoning." Chen Yi He also nodded.

"That's right; my monastic elder brother is skilled at calculating celestial omens, divination, and he has determined that Zhang Huayu's thoughts certainly differ from those of ordinary people."

Chen Yi He almost blurted out, "Isn't that nonsense? If his thoughts were like ordinary people's, how could he stand atop the Sevenfold Heaven and look down on common folk?" But he held back, asking, "Then what exactly is he trying to convey?"

"We three have been guessing along the way that the most dangerous place is the safest place!" Hong Liang explained on behalf of Le Bei Great Master.

"The most dangerous place is the safest place?" Chen Yi He glanced at the Royal Ancestor, noticing that the Royal Ancestor was also looking at him.

"Mm-hmm, that's right."

"So you think he's hiding in the Imperial Capital and hasn't left?" Chen Yi He asked Hong Liang.

"Yes, we even have a bold hypothesis."

"What is it?"

"He might be right here in the palace, spying on our every word and deed." Hong Liang spoke without ceasing to astonish.

"How could that be?" Chen Yi He was so startled he sprang up from the futon, looking around—there was no sign of Grandfather Zhang. The Sutra Pavilion is tall; even standing high up, there was no trace of him.

Chen Yi He then carefully extended his divine sense, detecting not only Grandfather Zhang's true qi but not even a trace of anyone else's breath.

"How could this be?" Chen Yi He asked, bewildered.

The Royal Ancestor replied, "There are only two possibilities: either he is not in the Imperial Capital, or his strength far surpasses everyone present. I also probed with my divine sense and found nothing."

"Ah!" Chen Yi He shouted in anger; compared to the first possibility, he would rather believe the second.

"Could he really be unfathomably deep?" Chen Yi He muttered to himself.

"After all, he's the one who can make even someone like Lei Bai bow in submission—we can't underestimate him." Hong Liang reminded Chen Yi He.

"It seems finding Zhang Huayu will be difficult; if he insists on fleeing, we can't catch him." The Royal Ancestor told everyone, "I never expected Zhang Huayu's strength to already surpass mine; with his help, our chances of defeating the Dao would increase manifold!"

Chen Yi He felt the hairs on his arms stand on end, "Could it be that everything I've done is being watched by him? How terrifying that would be!"

"Of course, this is merely our speculation; it's quite possible he really fled elsewhere and is not in the Imperial Capital." Hong Liang added.

"It seems after we finish looking for the Dragon King ahead, we'll have to seek Zhang Huayu next—this just greatly raises the difficulty!" The Royal Ancestor said.

Chen Yi He sat back on the futon, took a sip of tea, then said to Le Bei Great Master, "Great Master, can you convert Zhang Huayu? Make him turn from evil to righteousness?"

Le Bei Great Master thought Chen Yi He was joking, so he merely smiled back without further comment.

"It looks like we'll have to keep the prince's mansion busy—tearing up and turning over every plot of land in the Imperial Capital, and we must find Zhang Huayu!" Chen Yi He clenched his fists, declaring resolutely.

"Hahaha! Little brother, what you say is truly interesting!" Shang Rong Nun praised Chen Yi He.

"That's all we can do; I also don't know how Yan Shan Hai and his group are faring—I sent out dozens of letters, yet not a single reply came back." The Royal Ancestor said.

"Perhaps they've been on the road all along and simply missed your letters." Chen Yi He said.

"Let's hope so!" The Royal Ancestor pulled Chen Yi He to sit down, and they were about to begin their brutal, agonizing training.

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