Chapter 298: Wanshou City

"Does she mistake me for someone else?"

Ren Yidao was somewhat curious about the answer to this question.

"In your eyes, who am I?"

The two of them probed each other like this, not exchanging much conversation along the way.

And as they were nearing Wanshou City, Ren Yidao suddenly remembered a serious matter that had been troubling him for a long time, and he said to Gongsun Changshou with a serious expression:

"Speaking of which, I have a question I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Gongsun."

"..."

Gongsun Changshou slowly opened her eyes, looking as if she had just woken from meditation, and nodded:

"Ask away."

Pretending, still pretending, are we?

Fine.

Ren Yidao said earnestly:

"Since you hail from the Gongsun Clan of the Sword Casting Hut, do you know of the two Spirit Swords, 'Winter Extreme Thunder' and 'Spring Extreme Lightning'?"

"Eh?"

!!?

Gongsun Changshou's expression, which had been quite calm, suddenly changed; her eyes widened slightly, as if she had heard something unbelievable.

But she quickly realized her lack of composure, raised a hand to cover her mouth, and coughed twice forcefully.

She tried her best to regain her previous composure, but her gaze still uncontrollably shifted, and she said unnaturally:

"Uh, cough cough! They... they were cast by my ancestor. Is there some problem?"

What is wrong with her?

Ren Yidao also found her reaction a bit strange and gave her a few suspicious looks:

"Nothing, it's just that I had the fortune of seeing this master's work before, and I am a bit curious about the senior who could cast these two treasures. I wonder if Fellow Daoist Gongsun could tell me the name of the sword caster?"

Gongsun Changshou was silent for a long while, and just when Ren Yidao thought he wouldn't get an answer, she shook her head and said:

"... Sorry, the sect has regulations; I cannot reveal the name of the sword caster."

"However, since they are products of the Gongsun family, the Gongsun family will naturally take responsibility. If there are any problems with the Dharma Aspect treasures, you can go directly to the Gongsun family to resolve them."

"Yes, anything!"

After making this solemn guarantee, Gongsun Changshou asked as if unintentionally:

"Speaking of which, weren't those two swords sent to the royals long ago? Where did you see them?"

Ren Yidao: "Oh, I saw them in the Royal Treasure Vault. After trying them out... I felt they were quite creative."

Being noisy enough to kill someone and shocking enough to kill someone, and cutting down the sword wielder before even killing the enemy—it was truly very creative.

But unexpectedly, this perfunctory, polite remark from Ren Yidao made Gongsun Changshou's eyes light up, and she clapped her hands forcefully.

"Right!"

"I said those two swords were actually fine, it's just that those people had no eye for quality... cough! These were my ancestor's original words; I am just relaying them."

After explaining awkwardly, Gongsun Changshou suddenly realized something.

"Wait, you tried them?"

Gongsun Changshou:?

Ren Yidao:?

Well, obviously!

"Yeah, they were actually quite welcoming to me, but they differed too much from my cultivation technique, so I had to painfully give them up in the end."

The truth was he gave them up decisively, but since they were her grandfather's work, he might as well put it nicely.

"No, I mean, both of those swords acknowledged you?"

Feeling a chill from Gongsun Changshou's stare, Ren Yidao shrank back unnaturally.

"Hm? Yeah, is there a problem?"

Could it be that this is actually very difficult?

"No, it's nothing."

Gongsun Changshou shook her head, gave Ren Yidao a deep look, then sat back and closed her eyes, saying no more.

Strange person.

Ren Yidao's brows twitched, and in his heart, he labeled Gongsun Changshou a weirdo.

"If there is a chance..."

"Hm?"

"If you have another chance to enter the Royal Treasure Vault, try taking both swords together."

Ren Yidao:?

"What do you mean?"

"..."

This time, Gongsun Changshou was truly in meditation, cutting off her perception of external noise.

"What is that supposed to mean? Want me to take both swords at once and experience double the joy?"

Ren Yidao felt it was a bit odd, but those two swords were still lying in the Li Family's Treasury, so he couldn't try it on the spot.

"Oh, wait, actually that's not entirely impossible."

Ren Yidao also closed his eyes, focusing his spirit on the other side.

Beiming, Wentian City, the residence of Ran Guifei in the west of the city.

Yang Wusheng, an inner palace expert who had long since lost his wisdom, sat in a corner of the courtyard, frowning as he pondered an unfinished chess game.

There was a time when Yang Wusheng thought his life was coming to an end.

As a guard, his reaction when facing the sneak attack by the Wanhua Valley disciples was clearly a dereliction of duty.

Even though it was a sneak attack and he had already tried his best, it was useless; these reasons could not serve as excuses to cover up his negligence.

If the Twelfth Princess had truly suffered any accident, he would be unable to shirk the blame, and dying ten thousand times would not be enough.

After waking up, Yang Wusheng did not choose to flee; he honestly tended to his injuries, waiting for judgment.

Not everyone has the courage to flee to the ends of the earth.

Especially since Yang Wusheng was a royal guard, he knew very well just how powerful the royal family was in Beigan.

With his meager strength, he was simply insignificant in the face of the imperial dynasty.

Unless he could run out of the Beiming Divine Continent to other Divine Continents, he would have nowhere to hide under the vast net of Heaven.

Rather than hiding like a stray dog, it was better to stay put honestly; he could at least enjoy the treatment of his stipend for a little while longer.

Take a gamble!

If the Emperor showed mercy, he might luckily save his life; at the very least, he wouldn't have to spend the rest of his life living in fear.

In the end, Yang Wusheng won the gamble.

It was just that the person who showed mercy was not the Emperor, but Ran Guifei.

"Just keep him; it wasn't a major mistake anyway, and Ling'er didn't suffer any injuries."

"Besides, without him, the Ran Family would just take the opportunity to stuff someone else in, which is annoying."

It turned out that the Imperial Concubine had actually known all along about the little schemes he was playing on both sides in secret.

Ran Yeting knew that Yang Wusheng was secretly working for the Ran Family, but she never pointed it out, instead letting him pass some insignificant information to the Ran Family.

Looking back, the truth or falsehood of that information was truly worth pondering.

Yang Wusheng still passed information to the Ran Family just as he had in the past, but the difference was that he was now completely loyal to Ran Guifei, not the Ran Family.

A scholar dies for one who understands him.

After this, Yang Wusheng, who had luckily survived because of Ran Guifei's mercy, was completely won over and willing to die to repay the Imperial Concubine's great kindness.

Thus, Yang Wusheng was restored to his original post and once again became the guard for the little masters.

The Thirteenth Prince was currently at the Divine Path Sect and had not yet returned, and he was also recovering from his injuries, so he remained in Wentian City to continue guarding the Twelfth Princess.

Moreover, to avoid the previous situation from happening again, he had a stroke of good fortune and was bestowed several powerful magic treasures for self-protection.

Ran Guifei's method of winning people's hearts was indeed excellent; Yang Wusheng no longer had any divided loyalties.

"When someone tries to ambush me again, I will have time to react and will definitely be able to buy enough time for the little masters."

The reinforced Yang Wusheng was full of ambition, longing for a battle to prove himself!

Then...

【Sleep.】

?

Yang Wusheng seemed to hear some sound, but before he could react, his eyelids immediately dropped, and he slumped over.

Huhu...

Thud.

"Hmm?"

A white fox with a fluffy tail leaped over the high wall, stepped lightly onto the top of Yang Wusheng's head, then landed silently on the ground, turning its head to look suspiciously at Yang Wusheng, who had fallen backward in a faint.

"This guy's speed of falling asleep is still enviable."

Taking another look at the unfinished game on the table, it shook its fox head and disdainfully used its tail to scoop up a few chess pieces and throw them onto the board.

"Hmm, the chess is still this bad."

After finishing, the white fox swayed as it walked into the courtyard.

This was not the first time it had snuck in like this; its technique for climbing over the door was becoming increasingly proficient.

"Hmm? Is it my imagination?"

After the white fox skillfully used its tail to open the study window and crawl inside, a thought suddenly occurred to it:

"Why do I have the feeling that I'm a flower-plucking thief stealing fragrance and jade?"

If its current image wasn't a white fox, that would be a huge problem!

"But it doesn't matter!"

"I'm just a little fox who doesn't know anything!"

Ren Yidao's Fox Tail Clone shook its head, straightened the Fox Chain on its neck, and touched the Jade Pendant with its tail.

Accompanied by a white light, it took out the letter written beforehand from the storage space hidden inside the Jade Pendant and placed it on the table.

Ren Yidao was an accomplice with Ran Guifei for the reconciliation of the two brothers Li Long and Jian Xinxin, and afterwards, he had also been in constant contact, continuing to push the progress of these two brothers.

It was already almost at the stage where Jian Xinxin was "invited" to the capital and Li Long agreed to Jian Xinxin's "request" to enter the capital.

"We have worried ourselves to death for you two! If you continue your cold war after this, I absolutely won't care anymore."

Leaving behind the letter that added the rumor that "Winter Extreme Thunder" and "Spring Extreme Lightning" could perhaps be dual-wielded, the white fox didn't linger and slipped out from the window, even remembering to use its tail to close the window as it left.

Before leaving, Ren Yidao looked at the two young girls who were working hard at their cultivation in the room and nodded.

"Junior Sisters, not bad, working hard~"

"Much better than their Senior Sister!"

"Hmm?"

Yu Yu in the room opened her eyes and looked blankly out the window, just in time to see a flash of snow-white disappear over the wall through the gap in the half-open window.

"What is it?"

Her movement also caused Li Lingling to wake from her meditation, and she looked at Senior Sister with curiosity, not knowing why she had suddenly stopped practicing.

The two were currently practicing a special cultivation technique taught to them by Imperial Concubine Ran, named "Colorful Phoenix One Heart," which was limited to women.

According to Ran Yeting, this technique could strengthen the connection between them and also allow their cultivation speeds to stack, making practice twice as effective with half the effort.

However, this technique also had its limitations; it worked best when at the same level, and the effect would be greatly reduced if separated by even a small realm.

Furthermore, practicing this technique would expose one's own secrets to the other, so unless they were sisters with an exceptionally close relationship, few people were willing to practice it.

At the moment the connection was interrupted just now, Li Lingling felt the confusion in Yu Yu's heart; did she seem to have sensed someone familiar?

"Uh, I think I just felt Senior Brother's aura?"

Yu Yu felt strange even saying this herself, and she shook her head with a self-deprecating laugh, "It must be an illusion; I heard Senior Brother is already in the Eastern Wasteland Divine Continent now."

"By the way, Lingling, have you ever been to the Eastern Wasteland? I heard there are many Demon Beasts there? Do you think Senior Brother will bring one back when he returns?"

A young girl's thoughts change rapidly; before she had even said two sentences, in the blink of an eye, she had drifted off to catching demon pets.

"I haven't been there either, but I heard one of my imperial brothers say that the atmosphere there is quite wild. Senior Brother shouldn't run into any trouble, right?"

Li Lingling worried for less than three seconds, then shook her head, feeling that she was probably overthinking it.

"How could Senior Brother be afraid of others? No matter how you look at it, it should be others who are afraid of Senior Brother."

"That's true. Oh my! Hurry, let's guess together what Senior Brother will bring back?"

"Mm-hmm~"

It must be said that a young girl's intuition is still quite accurate.

They guessed correctly.

……

……

"Everyone, we have arrived."

Hu Wanwan was the first to step off the carriage and introduced to the three who followed:

"This is Wanshou City!"

For some unknown reason, Wanshou City, which was closest to Death Valley, had not established a teleportation Array, so the group could only teleport to other nearby cities first and finally switch to a carriage to rush over.

And now, after several hours of trekking, they had finally arrived at their destination—Wanshou City.

Heavy, or rather—massive.

This was Ren Yidao's first impression of this small city, and this quality was reflected everywhere in the city.

The moat was three or four times wider than usual, and the city walls were also three or four times higher than usual; the thick city walls could easily allow ten carriages to pass side by side.

Not only that, but one could also feel faint fluctuations of Dharma Power on the seemingly ordinary city walls, which had been inscribed with more than one Array.

This place did not look like a city, but rather like a war fortress ready to engage in battle at any time.

It was not just the city; after entering Wanshou City, the people the group encountered also gave them a fierce feeling.

They looked at this group of outsiders with vigilance; no one took the initiative to come up and talk, and they all kept their distance from afar.

"So, is this actually a bridgehead for fighting the Demon Race?"

A nation in arms?

One could basically not see the faces of children here, the figures of young people were rare, and everyone's face carried deep exhaustion and despair.

"No, it should actually be a cage."

This was a cage trapping all the remnants of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, waiting for them to exhaust their last drop of blood.

"Winning without a fight... Heh."

Ren Yidao withdrew his gaze and did not attempt to do anything.

He was not a savior.

At least, not the kind of saint who acts based on self-indulgent sentimentality.

Even if he were to do something, he would need an opportunity.

Before the group reached the agreed-upon location, they saw Chu Hairen waiting for a long time on the way, which surprised Hu Wanwan a little.

He did not expect Chu Hairen to be so respectful as to come out and greet them personally.

"Hairen!"

To Hu Wanwan's embarrassment, Chu Hairen ignored his greeting and instead bowed to Ren Yidao first.

"Daoist Ren, I didn't expect to meet you here."

Ren Yidao also smiled and returned the salute, observing Chu Hairen, whose aura was vastly different from before, and remarked with emotion:

"Your Highness Chu, we haven't met for a few days, and your demeanor is even more impressive!"

Chu Hairen laughed heartily, stepped forward, and affectionately grabbed Ren Yidao's arm:

"Haha, Daoist, you flatter me. How could my meager demeanor compare to yours?"

"Hahaha!"

Hu Wanwan:?

Should I... leave?