Chapter 261: Sweeping Fox!

The figure walking out of the Treasury swayed from side to side, looking as if they were about to collapse at any moment.

"Could that be... Prime Minister Wang?"

"Uh, it seems so."

Ignoring the puzzled gazes of the crowd before him, Wang Xuesong squinted at the bright sunlight outside and took a shaky, deep breath.

Is this the fresh air of the outside world?

How long has it been since I felt it?

Such warm sunlight; I think I see my mother, whom I haven't seen in many years, waving at me...

Sleep now...

Right before the eyes of the crowd, Wang Xuesong closed his eyes with a look of relief, and then his body fell straight backward.

!!?

"Prime Minister Wang!"

"Someone! Quickly, call the Imperial Physician!"

Fortunately, Li Lingling, who was closest, was quick-witted and caught Wang Xuesong's arm, sparing the back of his head from an intimate encounter with the ground.

"Lord Wang! What has happened to you?"

The sudden sensation of weightlessness brought Wang Xuesong back to his senses; he shook his head and looked around.

Finally realizing where he was, Wang Xuesong stood straight and signaled for Li Lingling, who was supporting him, to let go of his arm.

He forced himself to stay alert, stood upright on his own strength, and cupped his hands.

"Your Highnesses, there is no need to fetch the Imperial Physician; this old man is fine."

This old man, who still looked incredibly weak, nodded at the people surrounding him and gave a bitter smile:

"One truly has to bow to old age; it was only one night without sleep, yet I was so exhausted I nearly fainted."

"Back in the day, I was capable of going three days and three nights without sleep or rest for the sake of court affairs."

Most elderly people are like this, occasionally falling into solitary contemplation, reminiscing about the heroic bearing of their youth.

However, Wang Xuesong was not so senile as to forget the business at hand; after sighing, he nodded to the royal descendants:

"Setting aside my own affairs, Your Highnesses have come to collect the Emperor's rewards, have you not?"

"That's right! We wanted to enter just now, but were blocked by the guards."

Li Lang had lost face earlier in front of Li Qiushui and now desperately wanted to regain it.

But he understood that he was no match for Li Qiushui in any aspect, so he turned his target toward Wang Xuesong, who seemed to be on Ren Yidao's side.

So what if he is the Prime Minister?

As a Son of a Feudatory Prince whose fief was far from Wentian, he did not fear him at all.

"They said it was you who ordered them to block outsiders, so I want to ask: are we, the descendants of the Li Family, not qualified to enter? Yet an outsider like him is? What kind of logic is this!?"

Li Lang felt that what he said was flawless and could stir up the emotions of others to stand on his side.

Good news: the emotions were indeed successfully stirred just as he had hoped.

Bad news: the result was very different from what he had imagined.

"Li Lang, what do you mean by that?"

Before others could share his indignation, Shi Xue, an innocent bystander watching the drama, frowned and was immediately displeased.

Originally, Shi Xue was quite happy to see someone targeting Ren Yidao, thinking there would be a show to watch.

As it turned out, she didn't expect to be caught in the crossfire without having said a word.

If you don't like him, go challenge him to a duel!

You have to run your mouth like that just to show how capable you are!

What do you mean, kid?

Are you targeting me on purpose?

She looked coldly at this clansman with whom she shared a distant blood relation and asked first:

"Who are you trying to target? According to what you said, does that mean if I don't have the surname Li, I'm not worthy of standing with you all?"

"I..."

Li Lang had wanted to rebuke this person who interrupted him and lacked respect for status, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized the problem.

Wait a minute!

It's her!

And in Wentian City, among this group of Li Family descendants, there was an open secret.

Better to provoke Li Qiushui than to provoke Shi Xue.

If you offend Li Qiushui, she might just find you troublesome and ignore you.

But if you offend Shi Xue...

Congratulations!

Shi Xue won't do anything to you, but Li Qiushui certainly won't let you off easily.

Clang...

Li Qiushui kept her hand on the sword hilt, squinting at Li Lang, waiting for his answer.

!!!

Feeling an invisible sword edge pressed against his spine, Li Lang's expression changed slightly, and he swallowed his previous words.

But fortunately, he still had some backbone and dignity as a Son of a Feudatory Prince; although his momentum weakened, he did not open his mouth to yield or beg for mercy.

He still cared about his face.

If he really did that, once word got out, where would he put his face?

Not to mention failing to survive in Wentian, in the worst-case scenario, he likely won't even be able to keep his position as Heir.

They once had some ulterior interest in returning to the center of power, but now, after being hit by a few consecutive combos, the Feudatory Kings have pretty much recognized reality.

Not only is there no hope of seizing the throne, but they should also stop thinking about installing a Prime Minister or anything of the sort as soon as possible.

The current Emperor is no longer the same as when he acted as a hands-off manager; it is simply impossible for them to reach their hands into Wentian City.

Whoever dares to reach out, he will chop off their hand.

Since real power is out of the question, all that remains for them to pursue is a hollow reputation.

Or rather, the only fig leaf they have left on them now is their dignity as Feudatory Kings...

And in this silence, the seemingly senile Wang Xuesong secretly observed the subtle expressions on everyone's faces.

Especially when he saw the lingering fear and defiance in Li Lang's eyes, he seemed to have realized something.

These little thoughts of his cannot be hidden at all in the eyes of an old fox who stirs up trouble in the imperial court.

Wang Xuesong stood to one side, watching with a wry smile and shaking his head, sighing to himself in his heart:

"Like father, like son; he is exactly the same as his father was back then—only capable of barking, but not daring to bite."

Young people these days, hehe.

Still too naive.

Wang Xuesong really wanted to stroke his beard and sigh like this, but then he thought of the anomaly in the Treasury behind him and could only cough awkwardly twice.

"Your Highnesses, please listen to me for a moment."

He seemed to have completely forgotten Li Lang's aggressive questioning, pointed to the open door behind him, and said with a chuckle:

"Please rest assured, Your Highnesses, you will not wait long; the old man came out precisely for this reason."

"His Highness Ren Yidao is still inside making his selection; although His Majesty told him to finish selecting before it is your turn, he is worried that you have been waiting outside for too long, so he invites you all to select together."

Wang Xuesong stepped aside to clear the path and gestured with his hand:

"Everyone, please."

Click.

Li Qiushui sheathed her sword and walked toward the Treasury first, but she almost collided with a figure darting out at the entrance.

"You!"

Li Fengyao looked at Li Qiushui's furrowed brows and did not dodge; instead, he asked with a refined smile:

"Shall we go together?"

"Hmph!"

Without much verbal sparring, the two walked side by side into the Treasury.

Shi Xue followed closely behind, muttering speechlessly in a low voice:

"Sigh, they are competing again."

Others also revealed smiles, chatting and laughing as they followed behind her, and someone even teased:

"Xue Jie, don't be biased! Hahaha."

"That's right, that's right!"

"Go away, go away, don't bother me; whoever wins has nothing to do with me!"

"Is that so? Hahaha."

No one took the rivalry between Li Fengyao and Li Qiushui as a big deal; this could be considered a daily sight in Wentian.

As always, everyone knew that the two of them were about to start competing again.

Previously, during the Two Domains Conflict, Li Fengyao was the first to break free from the illusion, which counted as a small victory.

Everyone knew that Li Qiushui had to get back at him this time, striving to select a treasure of a higher grade than the other.

They walked into the Treasury one after another like this, and not a single person spoke to Li Lang, who was left in place, treating him completely as a transparent person.

Creak.

Li Lang gritted his teeth, clenched his fists tightly, and finally released them powerlessly, letting out a long breath.

As he walked inside, he squeezed out a sentence as if to comfort himself:

"Hmph, at least he knows to take the initiative to back down; that's about right... I'll count him as sensible!"

It is just unclear whether he was talking about Ren Yidao, who invited everyone in, or himself, who was so flushed with anger that he didn't dare to flip out.

Passing through the barrier, Li Lang felt that awkward sensation of losing his power again.

However, this trace of discomfort was quickly suppressed by excitement.

Treasure!

Right, the previous conflict was no big deal; what is truly important today is that one can claim a treasure from here!

Although he had only taken a Mysterious Grade Sword from here back then, that sword was already unimaginably excellent, allowing him to defeat many opponents of the same level.

And this time, he, Li Lang, must take away an Earth Grade treasure!

But what puzzled him slightly was that Li Qiushui and the other, who had entered earlier, were not sitting in meditation at the center of the Array, but were both looking in one direction.

Hmm?

Following their line of sight, Li Lang's brows twitched, and he blinked his eyes.

"Uh, what is he doing?"

Doing what?

At this moment, the prodigy of the Divine Path Sect, who had been touted to the extreme by Wentian City, was currently sweeping the floor with a bamboo broom while keeping his eyes closed.

Swish... swish...

He seemed not to have noticed the sounds from the outside world, his movements meticulous, letting the broom sweep across the ground to brush away dust that did not exist.

Sweeping, sweeping the floor?

It wasn't just Li Lang who fell into confusion; the others also didn't understand what he was doing...

Yet, strangely, even though it was such a ridiculous and bizarre thing, when Ren Yidao performed it, there was a peculiar illusion.

It seemed as if he wasn't sweeping the floor, but rather... Enlightenment?

His entire person radiated a rich immortal aura, as if he were contemplating something.

For a moment, no one spoke, as if afraid to break this silence.

Swish...

I don't know when, but when the swishing sound by their ears vanished, the crowd came back to their senses and discovered that the broom had stopped at some point.

They looked left and right, all seeing shock and doubt in each other's eyes.

Was that just now... a Domain?

Caught unprepared, they had fallen directly into his domain and were drawn into a special state.

The curious Li Lingling couldn't hold back and asked the question in everyone's hearts on their behalf:

"Uh, Senior Brother? What are you doing?"

Hearing his Junior Sister's call, Ren Yidao, standing with the broom, moved his eyes slightly and slowly opened them.

The next moment, an illusion arose in everyone's hearts.

The light in the space grew dimmer.

Ren Yidao's deep eyes seemed to have sucked away the light, making the atmosphere in the Treasury become even more profound.

"What am I doing?"

You don't understand?

In the past, there was the Shaolin sweeping monk; today, there is the Beigan sweeping fox!

I am performing performance art!

With his brilliant performance understood by no one, Ren Yidao could only sigh in loneliness within his heart.

He smiled gently at his wide-eyed Junior Sister and raised the seemingly ordinary broom in his hand.

"I am gaining insight into this treasure. Although it is classified as Yellow Grade, it is unexpectedly powerful. The person who classified it did not discover its true function."

"It is not a weapon for slaughter, but an auxiliary treasure that aids in Enlightenment. Not only that, its greatest effect is... *cough*."

As he spoke, he noticed the people behind Li Lingling and gave a light cough as if to deliberately cover it up, smiling at them:

"Please don't mind me, everyone, please feel free to do as you wish."

Having said that, he carried the broom to another treasure, placed his hand on it, and closed his eyes to begin gaining insight.

If he hadn't revealed his peculiarities earlier, these princes and children who were not familiar with him would not have paid him any mind.

But now, after he had left such a shocking scene for everyone, he actually just dusted off his bottom and turned to leave?

He just left!

Huh?

Although they wanted to press for more detailed information, hindered by the profound and mysterious impression he had left, no one stepped forward to disturb him for a while.

Although Shi Xue had also been drawn into that state of mind just now, she was not as shocked as the others.

Perhaps out of experience from being victimized too many times, she instinctively felt that the truth would not be as it appeared on the surface.

There must be something fishy!

She looked at Ren Yidao, who was closing his eyes in contemplation, and asked Wang Xuesong, who had already skillfully found a place to sit:

"Wang, why doesn't Daoist Ren use the Array? Didn't you tell him?"

"No, this old man said so from the beginning, but His Highness Ren wants to gain insight slowly and communicate with every single treasure."

"What, every single one?"

Seeing the shock on everyone's faces, Wang Xuesong recalled what he had seen and heard from yesterday until now, and was also filled with emotion.

"Yes, every single one! At first, this old man didn't believe it either, but I didn't expect him to have truly done it."

"Since yesterday, Daoist Ren has already gained insight into all the Heaven, Earth, and Profound Grade treasures, and now only a small portion of the Yellow Grade remains."

Over ten thousand treasures, and Ren Yidao had already gained insight into ninety-nine percent of them, with fewer than a hundred left!

The crowd instinctively did not want to believe it, but after seeing the admiration on the Prime Minister's face, they were a bit unsure.

Could it be... true?

"... Heh, even if it is true, so what? What is the point? It's just a waste of time."

Li Lang, who had come back to his senses, stared fixedly at the broom in Ren Yidao's hand, suppressed the greed in his heart, and snorted coldly:

"We can only choose one; why not use the Array?"

Although Li Lang's tone was unpleasant, everyone had to admit that what he said had some merit.

Compared to spending a vast amount of time searching for buried Earth Grade treasures like finding a needle in a haystack, it would be better to choose directly from the known Earth Grade and Heaven Grade ones.

Li Qiushui and Li Fengyao frowned and were still pondering, while the others chose to honestly use the Array.

And just as Li Lingling was at the end of the line waiting to use the Array, Ren Yidao, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke:

"Junior Sister, if it were you, I would suggest you choose this one."

As he spoke, he didn't even open his eyes and pointed casually in one direction.

And there...

Was the Heaven Grade area.