Cheng Yifeng's eyes, already large, widened even further upon hearing the news.
Cheng Miaozhen lightly furrowed her brow.
This Evil Emperor's cave dwelling appeared too conveniently.
No sooner had the rumor of an Evil Emperor's cave dwelling spread, than the cave dwelling itself appeared.
She suspected that this was another of Chu Zhiyuan's schemes.
One trick after another, he was truly ruthless, making those of the Evil Sect unable to resist.
The legend of the Evil Emperor might be ignored by many of the more rational members of the Evil Sect, who could resist the temptation, but the appearance of the Evil Emperor's cave dwelling would undoubtedly draw even those with a shred of reason left to come and see for themselves.
Whether it was real or fake, they would only know after seeing it.
Even if they judged it to be fake, they would still want to come and take a look.
Was Chu Zhiyuan truly planning to wipe out the Evil Sect in one fell swoop?
But wasn't he afraid that the Grandmasters of the Evil Sect would act together?
It was said that the Great Jing Dynasty had nineteen Grandmasters, and now with him, there were twenty.
Many of these Grandmasters were in hidden blessed lands.
And the Grandmasters of the Evil Sect, combined, should exceed that number.
Even if they didn't exceed it, they wouldn't be far off.
"It seems he intends to use the power of the Son of Heaven Sword to deal with these Evil Sect Grandmasters."
Little did she know that she was wrong.
Chu Zhiyuan didn't plan to rely on the Son of Heaven Sword, but wanted to kill these Grandmasters himself.
The rewards from killing a Grandmaster far outweighed those from killing a Grandmaster, and the rewards from killing a Grandmaster far outweighed those from killing a Xiantian realm expert.
These past few days of killing had made the Knife Soul grow stronger, and the Transformation God Realm was nearing completion.
But the closer he got to the completion of the Transformation God Realm, the slower the progress became; he was just a little bit short, yet he couldn't quite reach it.
Killing several Grandmasters in one breath still didn't close the distance.
Relying solely on accumulating the number of Grandmasters would be very, very difficult; Grandmasters were the key.
Killing Evil Sect experts was like fishing; the Evil Emperor rumors were the bait, and the cave dwelling rumors were the real lure.
Bait could attract schools of small fish, but with the lure out, there was no worry about not catching big fish.
He strolled around Jade Capital City, constantly circulating the Dragon Transformation Art and the Yin-Yang Reversal Art.
Under the Yin-Yang Reversal Art, the Dragon Transformation Art's aura fluctuations were concealed.
As a Grandmaster, now standing before a Grandmaster, or even before a Xiantian expert, he wouldn't cause any aura pressure.
The Dragon Transformation Art made his body strong, yet it showed no outward signs, instead making him appear weak.
The Yin-Yang Reversal Art's concealment of aura was different from the Strange Pearl's concealment; it was a true change in temperament.
This made him even more inconspicuous, completely like someone who didn't know martial arts.
Walking among the crowd, it was difficult for people to recognize him as a martial arts expert, let alone a Grandmaster.
After wandering around for a while, he returned to the villa and saw that Weng Qifeng was already on the verge of breaking through.
The Golden Pavilion had already revealed half of itself, only lacking the final push. This progress was already extremely fast.
Seeing Weng Qifeng focused on cultivation, he didn't disturb him and left the villa directly.
Bright sunlight shone on the remaining snow.
The woods outside the South City Gate still retained some white snow.
In a small pavilion beside the woods, four handsome young men were standing, constantly looking towards the end of the official road.
It was Chu Zhiyuan and Chu Zhichuan, Chu Zhitong, and Chu Mingxuan, preparing to welcome Chu Mingrui.
This time, Chu Mingrui's return was not ostentatious; instead, he traveled light and quietly returned to the capital.
"Not here yet?" Chu Mingxuan stomped his foot: "Why is it delayed again?"
Chu Zhitong said: "He should have arrived."
Half an hour ago, a scout came to report that he would arrive in half an hour; now it was a quarter of an hour past.
Chu Zhiyuan said: "Maybe he ran into an acquaintance and was delayed by talking."
"Run into an acquaintance here?"
Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "It's not surprising that Tenth Uncle ran into an acquaintance, is it?"
"Here he comes, here he comes!" Chu Mingxuan called out.
At the end of the official road, a dozen steeds surrounded a handsome middle-aged man, precisely Prince Ying, Chu Mingrui.
He wasn't wearing armor, and neither were the dozen or so riders, but the aura of the military was very obvious on them.
Chu Mingrui wore a green robe, but his waist and back were straight as a spear; his handsome face was gentle yet dignified.
This was the aura formed by long-term command of thousands of troops, impossible to conceal.
Chu Zhiyuan and the other three went up to greet him.
"Father!" Chu Zhitong stepped forward and bowed.
Chu Zhiyuan and the other two followed suit.
Chu Mingrui leaped off his horse; his handsome face was full of wind and frost, and his temples were already stained with white frost. He smiled: "Why did you all come?"
Chu Mingxuan smiled: "Tenth Brother, you're back; how could we not welcome you? How was the journey?"
"Quite smooth," Chu Mingrui smiled: "Except for a few more Evil Sect fellows."
"Heh, this was caused by Fourth Brother; he wants to kill all the Evil Sect demons," Chu Mingxuan laughed.
Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Tenth Uncle, let's go into the city first; this isn't the place to talk."
He had many things to talk about with Chu Mingrui, especially his curse.
"Let's go, into the city!" Chu Mingrui laughed.
Chu Mingrui and Chu Zhiyuan were in the front, with Chu Mingxuan, Chu Zhitong, and Chu Zhichuan in the back row.
The guards scattered around.
Chu Zhiyuan glanced at them, nodding in satisfaction: "Tenth Uncle, their formation practice is indeed quite good."
Chu Mingrui smiled: "Now the Lightning Spear Formation has been completely mastered; every team can form the formation, and the effect is excellent.
If it weren't for the Lightning Spear Formation, I really wouldn't have been able to hold the situation."
Chu Zhiyuan said: "Is it really going to be a ceasefire with the Great Meng?"
"It won't be possible to fight for the time being," Chu Mingrui said: "The new emperor has ascended the throne and needs time to sort things out; at least some generals in the army need to be cut back."
"Li Hongzhao really became the emperor?"
"Absolutely true."
"What about the First Prince?"
"The First Prince wasn't recognized by the Son of Heaven Sword, but the Son of Heaven Sword easily recognized Li Hongzhao as its master."
"Why wasn't he recognized? Insufficient merit, or bad character?"
"The official explanation is definitely insufficient merit; after all, he buries himself in practicing his skills in his mansion all day long. In reality, it's a problem with his character; he once plotted against Li Hongzhao."
Chu Zhiyuan frowned: "Is he really that foolish?
Could the Poison Aversion Pearl incident last time have been instigated by the First Prince?
"Not everyone believes the Son of Heaven Sword's explanation," Chu Mingrui smiled: "Moreover, habits die hard and are difficult to control."
Chu Zhiyuan slowly nodded.
Most people know what shouldn't be done, but often their character leads them to do it anyway, knowingly doing what they shouldn't, messing up their lives.
It was estimated that the First Prince couldn't suppress the jealousy and fear in his heart, thinking he was acting secretly, wanting to exploit a loophole.
As a result, he was seen through by the Son of Heaven Sword.
The emperor's secret decree summoned Li Hongzhao back to the capital, which was very likely because he had already let the First Prince try, and the Son of Heaven Sword didn't recognize the First Prince, so he could only let Li Hongzhao come back to take over.
Either the Son of Heaven Sword didn't recognize a master, or it would be passed on to Li Hongzhao.
The emperor really had no choice.
No wonder he let Li Hongzhao succeed to the throne.
Chu Mingrui was relaxed: "The Great Meng will be unable to extricate themselves for a while; a woman as emperor is still a first, and there will be too many people who are not convinced, enough to keep her busy."
Chu Zhiyuan said: "Does Tenth Uncle think she can secure this position?"
Chu Mingrui looked at him: "I don't know much about this Ninth Princess, Fourth Brother, what do you think?"
"... It's hard to say," Chu Zhiyuan slowly said.
Li Hongzhao's most important assets were her firm will and tenacity.
She wouldn't panic when facing difficulties, and with the Son of Heaven Sword, plus the assistance of the Phoenix Sword Sect, she should be fine.
But her fatal flaw of weak foundations couldn't be erased, especially in the military.
Whether she could secure the throne was indeed difficult to predict.
"Do you think that if she secures the throne, will she launch a war?"
Chu Zhiyuan said: "She is extremely pragmatic and won't do things that aren't beneficial."
"Then it can be discussed," Chu Mingrui smiled: "Fourth Brother, why don't you go to Tianjing and meet this new emperor?"
