Chapter 385: The Empress Dowager Appears

More and more cultivators were pouring into Nanxiang County.

However, as the Zhu Que soldiers patrolling Nanxiang County successively wore the Zhu Que Tokens, some forces that wanted to impersonate the Zhu Que Army to take advantage of the chaos lost the possibility of finding loopholes.

Also, because the Zhu Que Token contained three Zhu Que spiritual shadows, and the attack power erupted by the Zhu Que spiritual shadows was positively correlated with Hua Changxi, who imprinted the Zhu Que pattern, each Zhu Que Token could withstand three full-force attacks from a Spirit Platform realm cultivator.

After hearing that a Spirit Platform realm tiger demon died under the attack of a Zhu Que Token, those forces hostile to the Zhu Que Army did not dare to easily act against the Zhu Que Army.

Large forces restrained themselves, and ordinary cultivators dared not confront the Zhu Que Army head-on even more.

Therefore, under the patrol of the Zhu Que Army, Nanxiang County was actually more stable than before.

Of course, this was only calm on the surface. In the dark, various forces had long since formed alliances, and even ordinary cultivators had formed some small leagues.

In the mountains and rivers, there were still many demons lurking.

Whether it was cultivators or demons, their goals were very clear—to seize the Nanxiang City Lord Token and occupy the blessed lands.

Every time Hua Changxi patrolled Nanxiang County, her mood would become a bit heavier. She could only urge the manager of the Martial Arts Hall to step up the training of the Zhu Que Army and urge the artifact refiners at Li Huo Cliff to quickly refine the Zhu Que Tokens. Once the Zhu Que Tokens were refined, they would have to continue refining armor and weapons.

Thinking that the overall strength of the Zhu Que Army was not yet strong enough to suppress all unrest, the anxious Hua Changxi could only force herself to improve her strength quickly.

Since learning from the boy with the ghost eyes, Jing Sheng, that Zhurong Stone could widen meridians, she had set her sights on the Zhurong Tomb, one of the twelve blessed lands.

However, she had set her sights on it, and others had done the same, and they had even sent people to occupy the area outside the blessed land.

Twenty Infant Transformation cultivators were entrenched on the ground, and five Spirit Platform cultivators were hiding in the spiritual clouds high in the sky. Such a large-scale layout made Hua Changxi's mood heavy.

It was obvious that the person who laid out the plan was determined to win the Zhurong Tomb.

Hua Changxi had been secretly observing this group of people for several days and discovered a peculiarity: all these cultivators had ignited black and white flames.

This was the second time she had seen so many cultivators ignite black and white flames at the same time.

The first time was on the group of cultivators who triggered the explosion of the Artifact Saint Palace's mountain-protecting array.

The mastermind behind the explosion of the Artifact Saint Palace's mountain-protecting array was the Imperial House.

So, were the people who intended to seize the Zhurong Tomb this time also the Imperial House?

Just as Hua Changxi was guessing to herself, three more cultivators came outside the Zhurong Tomb, one of whom was the Duke of Grace, Zhu Mufan, whom she had met once before.

The appearance of the Duke of Grace confirmed that this group of cultivators was related to the Imperial House.

Hua Changxi thought to herself that the foundation of the Imperial House was indeed profound. With so many forces pouring into Nanxiang County, only the Imperial House had investigated the specific location of the blessed land.

Before she could think too much, the next moment, Hua Changxi widened her eyes sharply.

Spirit Platform realm cultivators flew down from the high sky, and the Infant Transformation cultivators scattered in various places gathered together, kneeling and saluting the purple-clad woman beside the Duke of Grace in unison: "May the Empress Dowager be safe."

The purple-clad woman just raised her hand slightly: "Rise. You must guard this area well. If anyone dares to approach, drive them away immediately. If they cannot be driven away... execute them on the spot!"

The cultivators: "We will strictly follow the Empress Dowager's decree."

After the cultivators dispersed, the Empress Dowager looked at the young man behind the Duke of Grace: "Yan'er, are you ready?"

Zhu Yan's expression was solemn: "Aunt, don't worry. I have practiced the 'Body into Fire' divine ability to the point of perfection, and I will definitely not disappoint you and Father."

The Empress Dowager nodded with satisfaction: "This blessed land is related to the Ancestral Witch Zhurong, and our Zhu clan all possess the Zhurong bloodline. Although the bloodline is already very thin, combined with the Fire Transformation divine ability, we should still be able to obtain permission to enter."

"After entering, you must act according to the deeds of the Ancestral Witch Zhurong that I told you, and you will definitely be able to obtain this blessed land."

Zhu Yan: "Aunt, don't worry, I will definitely do my best."

The Duke of Grace patted Zhu Yan on the shoulder: "Go, be careful."

Zhu Yan looked at the Duke of Grace, then at the Empress Dowager, and finally walked forward resolutely.

As he walked, flames ignited on Zhu Yan's body. Soon, the flames engulfed him, and then, only flames remained, and the existence of Zhu Yan as a person could no longer be sensed.

Hua Changxi watched this scene in surprise, and then, an even more surprising scene appeared.

In the place where she sensed spatial fluctuations, as the flames transformed by Zhu Yan approached, ripples began to stir in the air.

At first, the ripples seemed to want to block the flames transformed by Zhu Yan, but as the flames burned more and more vigorously, the ripples opened a crack, allowing the flames to successfully penetrate and enter.

"He succeeded!"

The Duke of Grace showed joy.

A look of joy also appeared on the Empress Dowager's face, but she quickly calmed down: "Don't be happy too soon. Entering the blessed land is just the first step."

The Duke of Grace nodded continuously, his expression somewhat hesitant: "Can Yan'er successfully obtain this blessed land?"

Although the Empress Dowager had no bottom in her heart, she still nodded affirmatively: "He definitely can. With the help of the Divine Lamp fragments, Yan'er will definitely be able to pass the test."

The Duke of Grace seemed to be convinced and nodded, then added worriedly: "The Retired Emperor seems to have arranged for people to enter as well, and they are probably about to be sent over."

The Empress Dowager's expression was indifferent: "Ignore them. If we can't succeed, others have even less possibility."

The Duke of Grace hesitated: "The Chu Imperial House has had its mandate for nearly a thousand years and has accumulated quite a bit of luck."

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager was silent.

If it weren't for valuing the luck of the Chu Imperial House, she wouldn't have married the Retired Emperor and become the successor Empress.

Although the luck of the Chu Imperial House had been getting weaker over the years, it was still much stronger than many forces.

Especially within the territory of the Great Jin, the Chu Imperial House, which had ruled for nearly a thousand years, could always "coincidentally" find various ruins and secret realms one step ahead of others.

The Empress Dowager knew that this was the national destiny gathered by the hearts of the people helping the Chu Imperial House in the dark.

In the distance, Hua Changxi did not dare to release her divine sense rashly and had no way of knowing the specific conversation between the two, but the Empress Dowager's personal appearance let her know the importance the Imperial House attached to the blessed land.

Thinking of the male cultivator who entered the Zhurong Tomb, she felt somewhat anxious.

The Imperial House had a profound foundation; perhaps they really had the means to seize the Zhurong Tomb one step ahead.

She had to find an opportunity to enter the Zhurong Tomb quickly!

Originally, Hua Changxi planned to send the Zhu Que Army to lure away the Infant Transformation cultivators and Spirit Platform realm cultivators hiding outside the Zhurong Tomb. Who would have thought that someone would follow the Empress Dowager and the Duke of Grace here.

Dozens of black-robed people ran out from all directions.

"May the Empress Dowager be safe."

"It's really not easy to see you!"

Most of the face of the leading black-robed person was covered by a cloak, but the exposed mouth revealed an undisguised look of mockery.

As soon as the black-robed people appeared, the cultivators sent by the Imperial House also gathered around, protecting the Empress Dowager and the Duke of Grace in the middle.

Hua Changxi watched from afar, seeing the Empress Dowager and the black-robed leader talking excitedly. Before long, the two sides started fighting.

Watching this scene, Hua Changxi quickly took out the One-Thought Connection and sent a message to the manager of the Lingguang Hall Mission Hall, telling him about the battle that had broken out here and asking him to stop the patrolling Zhu Que Army from coming here.

Those black-robed people didn't look like good people, so let them and the Imperial House fight like dogs.

After the message was sent, Hua Changxi took advantage of the fact that the two sides were too busy to pay attention to the surrounding situation, applied an invisibility talisman, and ran quickly towards the place where the spatial fluctuations were the most intense.

Approaching the spatial crack, she summoned the seven-colored strange fire like lightning and fused it into the Great Sun Divine Flame.

Finally, using the "Split" law of the Great Sun Divine Flame, she broke open the spatial crack and plunged into a blood-red world.

Just as she dived into the spatial crack, the One-Thought Connection vibrated.

"Hall Master, the patrolling Zhu Que Army discovered that cultivators are gathering in the southeast direction of Lingguang Hall, and at the same time, they also discovered the figure of a Fire Phoenix."

Unfortunately, Hua Changxi didn't see this message at all. ===== CHAPTER 386 =====