Immortal Fairies Always Have Designs on Me-Chapter 851 - 364: Lord Qin and Dongfang Xinglan (Part 2)

"Looks rather imposing."

"Even Immortals wouldn't directly see through your true appearance. Of course, your aura can't be hidden, but it's not really relevant in those places within the Three Great Dynasties."

"Mm." Lu Jin'an placed Zhiyu on the horse, bowed to Xiao Yinruo: "Then, I shall take my leave, Senior."

"Safe travels."

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In the northwest deserts of the Eastern Realm, black clouds pressed down on the city.

Like a spider web, lightning tore through the dark sky; the long-awaited heavy rain engulfed the entire desert, with a cold wind cutting like a knife.

The sound of hooves was like thunder, a white horse burst through the veil of rain, coming from afar, traversing the whole desert, heading south until it reached the endless winding pass. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Eastern Dynasty, Yanbei Pass, specifically guarding against the 'barbarians' outside the border mentioned by the Royal Family.

"Whoa—"

Lu Jin'an pulled the reins, gazing at the distant pass.

Before entering the Eastern Realm, naturally, he traveled by Sword Control; after all, no matter how fast the horse runs, it cannot match the Sword Control speed of his Tribulation Crossing Realm cultivation.

But after entering the Eastern Realm, he switched to Iron Hoof Cloud, as the distance to the pass wasn't too far.

With a day's hurried travel, he arrived at Yanbei Pass.

If it were before, one might believe the Eastern Dynasty was defending against the barbarians outside the border, but now he understood that this pass was built by powers like the Lin Yuan Sword Sect and the East Slope Confucian Academy to prevent outsiders from entering.

As for whether people within the dynasty believed it or not... it's not difficult for cultivators outside to capture some people and pretend they're barbarians.

"Zhiyu, put on your mask."

"Oh~" Zhiyu obediently put it on and looked up, saying crisply: "All done!"

"Good girl." Lu Jin'an patted Zhiyu's little head, resumed riding while taking a bamboo hat and a raincoat from his storage space to drape over himself and Zhiyu.

Hooves sounded again, splashing mud, gradually approaching Yanbei Pass.

And as the distance closed, Lu Jin'an clearly felt the spiritual power within his Spirit Sea settling into silence, becoming increasingly difficult to mobilize.

The white horse stopped in front of the city gate; Lu Jin'an glanced at the queue ahead, then raised his head to look at the two figures appearing on the city wall, whose attire was identical to the Eastern Dynasty's Heavenly Observation Bureau Inspectors he had seen before in the Radiant Domain.

No wonder the Observatory mastered the secret of controlling the Eastern Royal Family's bloodline; it's likely that the so-called Director of the Heavenly Observation Bureau, Eastern National Master Li Xuanzhen, was sent by the Upper Realm to control the Eastern Dynasty.

When it was Lu Jin'an's turn, he raised his hand and threw up the passport; this time, his identity for entering the pass was naturally concealed. For this, Qi Huizu prepared the identity of a Sword Cultivator for him to use.

This identity was much more convenient than a recreational one because going for leisure would inevitably lead to surveillance, and resolving the surveillance would invite pursuit, which, although not feared, would undermine the purpose of entering the pass.

Upon the pass, several Heavenly Observation Bureau Inspectors took turns reviewing, one of them whispered: "This is Ji Jianxian's sword mark."

Another looked at Lu Jin'an and said: "Remove your mask!"

Lu Jin'an complied and removed his mask.

"Let him pass!"

Lu Jin'an urged his horse into the pass, while putting the mask back on, his appearance returned to normal.

The matter of Ji Jianxian's betrayal had not yet been exposed.

As Lu Jin'an silently thought about it, he passed through that invisible barrier.

In the instant of entering the interior, Lu Jin'an clearly felt the suppression of his inner spiritual power, though... it was not completely suppressed.

This discovery mildly surprised him, but upon introspection, he quickly understood the reason.

It was related to the 'seed' from the Southern Great Realm on the Spirit Sea Divine Platform, and also to the rules held by the 'Self' on the Divine Platform.

'This is quite a pleasant surprise.'

Lu Jin'an chuckled softly but certainly did not plan to activate this spiritual power now; first, it's currently unnecessary, and secondly, saving it for an unexpected trump card isn't a bad idea.

As his thoughts gathered, Lu Jin'an turned to look at the soldiers within the pass's camp; with a glance, he realized these soldiers... were all recruits.

There is some discrepancy with the intelligence.

Whether it's cultivators who have visited the Dynasty before, or intelligence obtained from Qi Huizu, all recorded that the soldiers in the inner camp are battle-hardened troops.

The defense is against internal martial artists fleeing.

But now, Lu Jin'an can't see a hint of the battle-hardened atmosphere from the soldiers in the camp.

And the reason for such a situation is none other than one: a problem has arisen within the Eastern Dynasty, so the border army was recalled.

Uprising?

This possibility can be ruled out, because even though the soldiers here are new recruits, their number is in the hundreds of thousands. If the border army had really rebelled, how could it possibly send over so many soldiers again?

So is it loyalty to the king, or suppressing the rebellion?

Lu Jin'an decided not to linger any longer, mounted his horse, and headed toward the nearest city.

After nearly half a day's rush, the Iron Hoof Cloud didn't even pant. Lu Jin'an held the reins in one hand and led Zhiyu into the city, glancing in the direction of the City Lord Mansion.

According to the intelligence provided by Sect Master Qi, the City Lord of Haoyan City is a martial artist comparable to a Unity Realm Stage cultivator, ranking among the top hundred Great Grandmasters in the entire Eastern Dynasty.

'Old Sect Remnant…'

Lu Jin'an silently pondered this, leading Zhiyu to sit at a shop.

"What would you like, esteemed guests?"

Lu Jin'an casually placed a piece of broken silver down and said, "I've been cultivating on the mountain with my Master, and have been away from worldly affairs. Just descended from the mountain now, why does it seem that the border army is so inadequate? Could something have happened in the Imperial City?"

The shop assistant, with a smile, took the broken silver: "Esteemed guest, you may not know, but reportedly, over a month ago during the preparation of the Divine Ceremony, an accident occurred, and the Emperor fell gravely ill. After the Crown Prince took over governing, for unknown reasons, rebel armies appeared all over, so the border army was called back to suppress the rebellion."

"Oh?" Lu Jin'an asked curiously, "Our Dynasty owns 172 States; what kind of army couldn't be mobilized? Why was it only the border army called back? Is the rebel army very strong?"

"Very strong indeed." The shop assistant lowered his voice, "Even our Haoyan City's City Lord was summoned to the Capital, and not only rebel armies, but there's also a Prince who raised troops for clearing the King's side!"

"For the Imperial Throne?"

"Shh—" The shop assistant hurriedly made a hush gesture: "Esteemed guest, such words are not suitable to be said recklessly, it could cost one's head!"

Lu Jin'an once again placed a piece of broken silver on the table.

The shop assistant subtly and swiftly pocketed it, and said softly: "The current Crown Prince is not born of the Empress, so after the Emperor fell ill, many Princes were quite dissatisfied with his governance. Adding the errors in preparing the Divine Ceremony, many Princes couldn't sit still anymore.

Moreover, our Crown Prince is rather ruthless, having not only killed a dozen uncles but also quite a few ministers on the court."

"In times like this, why would he dare to do such things? Isn't he further provoking the royal family to rise up in rebellion?"

Lu Jin'an nodded lightly, thinking the Crown Prince dared to act this way probably because he sought backing from the Director of the Observatory and State Preceptor Li Xuanzhen, after all, the Observatory's status is higher than the Eastern Royal Family.

But in doing so, why would Li Xuanzhen allow the Princes to cause chaos everywhere?

Reflecting on this, Lu Jin'an pondered, while the shop assistant continued talking incessantly.

"Therefore, many Princes from various States have successively raised troops, among them, King Qin being the most powerful. Speaking of Lord Qin, she truly is a model of loving the people like children; if she were the Crown Prince, we would not be caught in such strife..."

"It is said the Capital called back the border army to encircle and kill Lord Qin at once. Once Lord Qin is killed, other Princes and rebel armies pose no threat, alas, although Lord Qin is strong, she definitely can't escape this time, what a pity...

But the ones who suffer are us. When they start fighting, who knows how many people will die, alas."

"King Qin?" Lu Jin'an thought for a moment and asked, "I've heard the Jinyiwei Commander Princess Changping is strong, how come..."

"Esteemed guest, you truly must have just come down from the mountain, knowing nothing at all." The shop assistant interrupted Lu Jin'an thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Lu Jin'an looked at the shop assistant, hoping Dongfang Xinglan is not in trouble.

If something happens to her, it will be a bit troublesome to handle.

"Princess Changping is now known as Lord Qin!" The shop assistant replied: "The last imperial decree when the Emperor was still in good health was to make the princess Lord Qin, overseeing the Southwest Nineteen States!"

"Thank you!"

Lu Jin'an quickly hopped on his horse with Zhiyu, left the city and headed southwest.

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