Chapter 883

After the ministers rose, Hearing Ying Zheng came down from the dais in his boundless joy and went to the side of Prince Zichu and Hearing Fusu.

He bowed to Prince Zichu with excitement and said,

"Father, you've finally returned. Zheng'er has missed you to death."

Back then, when the Grand Dragon Head had scattered Prince Zichu's physical body, Hearing Ying Zheng had been grief-stricken for quite a while.

He had thought that after all the trials he had endured to bring Prince Zichu back, it had all been for nothing.

Afterwards, Zhao Gao spoke of the Lishan plan, which could bring Prince Zichu back once more.

Hearing Ying Zheng spared no effort, keeping Zhao Gao stationed at Lishan to ensure Prince Zichu's early return.

He never expected that today Prince Zichu would finally return, which naturally filled Hearing Ying Zheng with joy beyond expectation.

"All right, all right, foolish child!"

Prince Zichu wore a smile on his face; he was extremely satisfied with Hearing Ying Zheng's reaction.

"You are now the honored Qin Huang, and this is the Orchid Pool Hall — you must not behave like a child before your parents."

"Yes!"

Hearing Ying Zheng came to his senses at those words and restrained his excited expression.

Only then did he notice, near the entrance of the hall, Zhao Gao's hunched figure.

He gave a slight nod at once, indicating that a reward would be granted afterwards.

Zhao Gao had endured at Lishan for who knows how long.

Returning to the palace at this moment, he was already trembling with inexplicable excitement.

Seeing Ying Zheng's approval now, he grew even more excited, his whole body trembling; he could not help but prostrate himself on the ground again, kowtowing over and over.

"All right, I think what my good grandson has said makes a great deal of sense."

Seeing that Hearing Ying Zheng had calmed down, Prince Zichu began to speak of serious matters.

"A single divine-grade treasure — be it a cultivation art, a pill, or a divine weapon — is enough to become a nation-guarding divine artifact!

Let alone in the Qinglong Society, where there are things above divine grade.

Moreover…"

At this point, Prince Zichu's expression suddenly turned somewhat strange, and he paused.

"Moreover what?"

Hearing Ying Zheng could not help being curious — stammering in speech was not his imperial father's usual style.

684 Could it be that the Qinglong Society itself is Heaven?

"Moreover, cooperating with the Qinglong Society is truly acting in accordance with Heaven."

Prince Zichu's words carried a somewhat mystical air.

What did he mean by cooperating with the Qinglong Society being in accordance with Heaven?

Could it be that the Qinglong Society itself is Heaven?

Hearing Ying Zheng found it even stranger and wanted to ask again.

Prince Zichu, however, changed the subject and instructed Zhao Gao, who was not far behind him,

"For such a great matter, we should summon the Nation-Protecting Worshippers within the realm to come and deliberate together.

Zhao Gao, go at once and invite Grand Master Yin Zhong, Lord Shang, Lord Wu'an, and the others to come."

"As you command!"

Although the present Emperor was Hearing Ying Zheng, Zhao Gao knew Prince Zichu's place in Hearing Ying Zheng's heart.

Still, he waited until he saw Hearing Ying Zheng give a slight nod before responding and withdrawing.

"Your Majesty! I know you have many questions you wish to ask."

Prince Zichu said to Hearing Ying Zheng with a smile,

"However, some matters are better not spoken of now."

"Very well!"

Hearing Ying Zheng trusted his father greatly; seeing him speak thus, he did not think further about it.

Before long, Yin Zhong, Shang Yang, Bai Qi, and the other Great Qin Nation-Protecting Worshippers ascended the Orchid Pool Hall together.

First they paid their respects to the two Qin Huangs, Hearing Ying Zheng and Prince Zichu, and then bowed to Hearing Fusu.

Only then did Yin Zhong speak up to ask,

"May I ask what matter Your Majesty has summoned us for?"

These past days, Yin Zhong had been in the Great Qin secret realm, day and night nourishing his true essence with Great Qin's dragon qi, and his strength could be said to have advanced by leaps and bounds.

He sensed that he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

Therefore, paying no heed to the task assigned by that mysterious existence, he had devoted himself single-mindedly to secluded cultivation within the Great Qin secret realm.

Being summoned out by Hearing Ying Zheng at this moment truly made him somewhat displeased.

However, after tasting the sweetness of the dragon qi, he no longer dared to be as presumptuous toward Hearing Ying Zheng as before.

"Looking at Grand Master Yin's inner radiance contained and his spirit full and vigorous, could it be that he is on the verge of a breakthrough?"

Although Hearing Ying Zheng was not adept at cultivation, he was after all the sovereign of Great Qin and possessed a discerning eye.

He noticed that Yin Zhong's bearing had undergone a tremendous change compared to when he had first arrived, and could not help asking.

"Thanks to Your Majesty's great fortune, these past days I have partaken of Great Qin's dragon qi and happened to gain some insight."

Yin Zhong could not help showing joy on his face either, but he did not say that he was about to break through.

"Excellent, excellent!"

Hearing Ying Zheng was also quite pleased. Although the reasons behind Yin Zhong's coming to serve Great Qin were not simple,

as long as he remained a Great Qin Nation-Protecting Worshipper for one day, he would be subject to his control for that day.

Have you not seen how Sun En, wielding the boundless might of the Huang Tian divine weapon, fought Wan Wan?

Yet because Wan Wan used the great Tang national treasure, the gold-inlaid beast-head agate cup, she summoned the great Tang dragon qi.

The strike not only failed to succeed, but instead he was wounded by the great Tang dragon qi, his strength nearly cut by more than half.

Truly, it could be said that dragon qi made him, and dragon qi ruined him.

After the pleasantries, Ying Zheng also got straight to the point, bringing up the matter of the Qinglong Society mission.

Yin Zhong, hearing it had to do with the Qinglong Society, was at first quite impatient.

After all, his near-death experience before was precisely because the Third Dragon Head Senior Dugu Qiubai had deployed the Great Dragon Head's sword jade.

That terrifying pressure had nearly left Yin Zhong with nowhere to hide.

Had it not been for the mysterious person behind him who guided him away, Yin Zhong would long since have died with regrets in the Water Moon Cave Heaven.

But he was, after all, the Great Qin's Chief Protector of the Realm, and had already enjoyed the benefits of the Great Qin dragon qi.

Now, having tasted the sweetness, though somewhat annoyed, he still listened patiently.

When he heard that completing the Qinglong Society mission might offer a chance to obtain a treasure of divine grade or above,

even though Yin Zhong's cultivation was heaven-reaching and his experience extraordinary, his eyes still lit up, and he asked in disbelief,

"Your Majesty, are these words true?"

Well then!

It seems it's not just me being a country bumpkin — look, even the Chief Protector of the Realm, the transcendent Yin Zhong, Master Yin, values divine-grade treasures so highly!

Seeing Yin Zhong's reaction, the civil and military officials in the Lanchi Hall, and the hundred schools of thought, all had the exact same reaction, and he felt even more at ease in his heart.

Ying Zheng also found it somewhat amusing — how could he not see Yin Zhong's dislike of the Qinglong Society?

Yet he hadn't expected that a figure of such heaven-reaching cultivation as Yin Zhong seemed not even to know about the grade above divine?

So he briefly recounted once more what Fusu had said.

Hearing that the grade above divine was relayed by Di Shitian,

Yin Zhong could not help but nod and say,

"Though I have never met Di Shitian, I have dealt with Senior Dugu Jian and Senior Dugu Qiubai.

These two, though their strength is not equal to mine, are nonetheless geniuses of the Sword Dao.

Judging from these two's realm of the Sword Dao, they are not men of empty boasting.

Since Di Shitian is comparable to these two in the Qinglong Society, he too should not be a man of glib and empty talk.

Moreover…"

Moreover, back then I was nearly reduced to utter annihilation of body and soul by a single sword jade from Ximen Wudi.

You say that on the peak of the Divine Weapon Hall, there is a restriction laid down by Ximen Wudi.