Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "That's true. All the Grandmasters have abandoned their weapons. Does that mean the Heaven's Blade isn't on your peak?"
"This is Heaven's Blade Peak," Lu Donghu said with a smile. "The Heaven's Blade is within this peak."
"That's not right, is it?" Chu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow and smiled. "My intuition is always sharp. If the Heaven's Blade were nearby, I should be able to sense something unusual."
His extrasensory perception scanned the entire mountain peak.
If he were at the foot of the mountain, he wouldn't be able to scan the summit, as the peak was too high.
But now, halfway up the mountain, scanning the entire peak revealed nothing special.
There were two places guarded by Grandmasters. One was a towering hall at the summit, guarded by a Grandmaster, with the words "Heaven's Blade Pavilion" written on it.
Inside the Heaven's Blade Pavilion, a portrait hung on the north wall. The portrait depicted a long blade floating in the void, with purple lightning whipping across it, causing purple flames to flicker on the blade.
In front of the portrait, on a table, were two long blades.
One blade had a湛blue scabbard, and the other had a碧green scabbard, both radiating an astonishing aura.
The other place was a Grandmaster sitting cross-legged at the entrance of a cave on a cliff.
Inside the cave was a spiritual light, and within the light, faint phantoms of mountains and rivers flickered.
Chu Zhiyuan was secretly awe-struck.
He immediately knew what was inside the cave.
He never expected that the Flying Heaven Sect actually had a secret realm!
Was it real?
Only the Four Demonic Sects had secret realms. The Four Righteous Sects didn't have secret realms. Wasn't this...
But White Cloud Sword Palace didn't have a secret realm.
Among the Four Righteous Sects, White Cloud Sword Palace didn't have a secret realm, but Flying Heaven Sect did. What about Great Spirit Rock Peak and Azure Deer Cliff? Did they have secret realms?
When did this secret realm appear?
Did it appear along with the secret realm of Great Zhen, or did it appear earlier?
With this secret realm, would the secret realm of Great Zhen be less important?
Was there no need to marry the Eighteenth Princess?
Did the Emperor know about this secret realm?
The visualization diagram in front of the cave was a blade, clearly belonging to the Flying Heaven Sect. If it weren't a Grandmaster from the Flying Heaven Sect, then it could be determined that the Emperor knew about this secret realm.
Lu Donghu had always been reluctant to let more disciples enter the Town Guard Division. Was it because they had a secret realm and enough resources, so there was no need to risk their lives for the imperial court?
So, Lu Donghu's change of heart occurred after the discovery of the secret realm? From this, the approximate time of the secret realm's discovery could be deduced.
His expression remained unchanged, and he smiled and said, "So the Heaven's Blade isn't on this peak, right?"
"As expected of the Heir Apparent," Lu Donghu said with a smile. "The Heaven's Blade is both on this peak and not on this peak."
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Heaven's Blade is hidden in the void. I need to personally guide it to summon it before your eyes."
"...So mysterious?" Chu Zhiyuan sighed. "It's a pity I don't have the chance to see it."
Lu Donghu also showed a helpless expression: "Please forgive me, Heir Apparent. If anything were to happen to you in our sect, it would be our fault."
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I understand. I won't make things difficult for Sect Leader Lu. ...Then we'll take our leave."
Lu Donghu said, "Why doesn't the Heir Apparent stay for a couple of days and exchange sword and saber techniques?"
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "We'll exchange techniques next time."
"Alright, then next time," Lu Donghu said with a hearty laugh. ...
Chu Zhiyuan and Huang Cheng descended Heaven's Blade Peak of the Flying Heaven Sect, mounted their horses, and slowly headed back.
Chu Zhiyuan was lost in thought.
"Does the Heir Apparent think Sect Leader Lu was lying?"
"Mostly lying, with a bit of truth."
"Which part was true, and which part was a lie?" Huang Cheng asked.
He hadn't completely believed it because he was used to doubting everyone's words, not because he had truly seen through the flaws.
The Fourth Heir Apparent had actually seen through it?
Chu Zhiyuan said, "The Heaven's Blade being in the void should be true. As for saying the Heaven's Blade would injure people and attack all non-Flying Heaven Sect disciples, that's not true. He actually just doesn't want others to see the Heaven's Blade."
If he hadn't seen the situation in the Heaven's Blade Pavilion and the secret realm, it wouldn't have been so easy to see through Lu Donghu's lies.
Having seen the Heaven's Blade Pavilion and then comparing it to the subtle movements when he spoke, he could distinguish which were true and which were lies.
Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover. Lu Donghu told lies without batting an eye, as naturally as drinking water. It was too easy to deceive others.
Huang Cheng slowly nodded: "Sect Leader Lu probably didn't want to offend the Heir Apparent, right? Otherwise, there would have been no need to tell this lie."
"Presumably, the founder of the Flying Heaven Sect had fabricated this lie long ago to avoid trouble."
He then shook his head: "Everyone says the disciples of the White Cloud Sword Palace are clever. Now it seems they haven't used their cleverness in the right place. They haven't fabricated such a lie to refuse others from seeing the White Cloud Sword Tablet."
"Haha... They're indeed not clever enough," Huang Cheng said with a smile. "Outsiders can't see the White Cloud Sword Tablet. The White Cloud Sword Palace only broke this rule once for the Heir Apparent because of the Grandmaster's favor."
..
Chu Zhiyuan pondered about the secret realm while riding his horse.
This matter was of great importance, and he was wondering whether to reveal it and how to do it.
The greater the importance, the more cautious one must be, and rash actions were not allowed. If the Emperor didn't know, then he should indeed inform the Emperor.
If the Emperor knew, then revealing the news to the Emperor could lead to a leak, and that would be a sin.
The wisest way to protect oneself was to pretend not to know, to pretend not to have seen through it. But as the Heir Apparent, how could he turn a blind eye and remain silent?
So, he must first assume that the Emperor knew, and the reason he didn't mention it was to hide the matter.
He absolutely mustn't speak carelessly and publicize matters that needed to be kept secret, as that would ruin the Emperor's plans.
How could he inform the Emperor without revealing it to others? After thinking about it, the safest way was to have an audience with the Emperor and tell him in person.
But since birth, the number of times he had seen the Emperor had been at imperial palace banquets, and he had never had a private audience.
This was extremely abnormal.
It was likely that the Emperor had some kind of taboo, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to have a solo audience. Then he would have to think about how to transmit the message secretly.
Chu Qingfeng or Chu Qingyan could both have a solo audience with the Emperor, and both of them were absolutely trustworthy. There was also his mother, Bai Ningshuang, who could pass the message to Consort Rou.
All along, the Emperor had been using Consort Rou to send him messages. He thought about it and decided to use both paths together, combining them.
He split a letter into two parts.
This way, he could avoid leaking the message and avoid implicating others. Sometimes, secrets were dangerous.
Knowing a secret could lead to a death sentence.
When he returned to Jade Capital in the evening, he returned to the Prince's Mansion, randomly pulled out a travelogue from the bookshelf, flipped through it from beginning to end, and then began to write a string of numbers on a piece of paper.
He entrusted this note to Chu Qingfeng to present to the Emperor when he went to the Bright Martial Hall the next day.
And he entrusted Bai Ningshuang to send the travelogue to Consort Rou.
At noon, he received an invitation from Li Hongzhao and immediately smiled. As the lanterns began to light up, he appeared at the Bright Moon Pavilion.
