203: Catching Immortals

Chapter 201: Catching an Immortal

"Boom!"

"Grandfather..."

Su Xi suddenly grabbed Tian Xingzi and asked in surprise, "That sounded like an explosion just now. Was it Sister Xuanjizi?"

"Should we go help Sister Xuanjizi?"

Tian Xingzi shook his head and said, "No need. Xuanjizi possesses the physiognomy of immense wealth and nobility. Although there will be twists and turns halfway through, it is also a sign of breaking and then establishing."

"What this old man needs to do right now is carefully examine the feng shui and the direction of the dragon veins in the capital region."

"The grand trend of the world is naturally determined by the heavens."

"Beneath the Spiritual Qi tide, wherever there is an ebb, there must be a flow."

"But the timing of this Spiritual Qi recovery... is simply much too early!"

"There are still at least more than seven thousand years left until the time of the Spiritual Qi recovery predicted by our ancestors!"

As Tian Xingzi spoke, his face was filled with bitterness.

Dragging his stooped body, he walked away into the distance.

"Grandfather, Grandfather, wait for me~"

The figures of the old man and the youth gradually walked farther and farther away, slowly illuminated by the newly risen sun in the east, casting very long shadows.

The sky was gradually brightening.

A carriage dashed rapidly toward the imperial city, moving at an extremely fast speed along the way, knocking over commoners who had gotten up early and wanted to go to the capital for the morning court assembly.

They wanted to curse out loud, but upon seeing the emblem engraved on the carriage, they were instantly too scared to say anything, and could only mutter a few words softly.

"What are you showing off for?! Do you know you almost hit me?"

"So what if they are Jinyi Guards? The schoolmate next door to the younger sister of the cousin of my eldest aunt's maternal uncle entered the palace to become a eunuch!"

"The Jinyi Guard is in such a hurry; has something big happened again?"

Many commoners speculated. After this Jinyi Guard carriage rushed to the imperial city, it merely flashed the token in its hand, and the Imperial Guard immediately let it pass.

The carriage galloped all the way, disregarding the eunuchs and palace maids by the roadside, until it had to stop past Taihe Gate.

Any further ahead would be the core of the imperial palace. Aside from Your Majesty, the Empress, the Empress Dowager, and the Crown Prince, no one was allowed to drive a carriage.

Helpless, several people got off the carriage and continued forward under the leadership of Chen Li, who was at the front.

At this moment, Chen Li's condition was not very good. His exposed skin was covered in scars, looking as if it had been burned by fire.

Most of his hair and eyebrows had been burned away, making him look quite terrifying.

The wounds on his skin had already scabbed over, and as he walked, he was also gritting his teeth against the intense pain in his body.

All of his True Qi was set in motion, trying his best to suppress the Yin-evil Qi within his body that was continuously destroying his Meridians and flesh.

Soon, he led the people to a row of side rooms beside Taihe Hall.

This place was the office of the Directorate of Ceremonial and also the office of the Cabinet.

After stating their identity and showing their token, the guard eunuch did not dare to delay and hurriedly jogged inside to report.

Soon, Liu Chengen walked out in quick strides, his expression changing drastically upon seeing Chen Li.

As colleagues, he knew Chen Li's identity well.

Even he had to be remiss.

"Father-in-law Chen Li, what happened to you..."

"Greetings, Liu Chengen. this servant has an urgent matter to convey to Your Majesty. The Old Clan Chief is in seclusion once again, and had said that if any of us had urgent matters to seek an audience with Your Majesty, you should be the one to go and report it."

Liu Chengen was immediately in a difficult spot and hesitated, saying, "Before going into seclusion, Your Majesty did indeed say that if there were urgent matters, I could report them to him. But I wonder what urgent matter you, Father-in-law Chen, actually have?"

"If it's ordinary military affairs or trivial matters, this servant wouldn't dare to disturb Your Majesty."

Chen Li used his powerful perception to scan the surroundings, confirming that no one was eavesdropping, then stepped forward and whispered, "We... have captured a Cultivator."

"What?!"

Liu Chengen's expression turned pale with shock, and he hurriedly said, "Quick, you—all of you follow this servant. this servant will go and report to Your Majesty right now!"

The group left in quick strides, and several figures inside the side room also noticed the movements of Liu Chengen and the others.

"Where is Liu Chengen going?"

"We still have important matters to discuss. Why did he just leave his seat directly?"

"Forget it! Let us discuss it first, and exercise the authority of awarding red ribbons after he returns."

"Regarding the matter of transporting provisions to General Xu... the capital doesn't have many provisions left."

"The six northern prefectures have just undergone war and are currently in a period of recuperation. It is simply impossible for us to gather one million Dan of provisions in a short period!"

"Lord Wang, I wonder if you have any brilliant insights?"

"This subordinate thinks that grain can be mobilized from Shu Province and Jing Province, and transported via waterway relying on General Meng Guang's Northern Ocean Navy."

"Waterway transportation? Good idea!"

White Jade Capital, subterranean palace quiet room.

Zheng Yi formed hand seals with both hands, and the bloody mist throughout the entire quiet room slowly seeped toward the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit with extreme difficulty.

Although the speed was slow, there was no doubt that this essence blood mist was still absorbed by the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit, which finally did not fail Zheng Yi's efforts.

Over the past half month, he had utilized his essence blood almost every day to blood-sacrifice the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit.

It could absorb about one drop every day.

The remaining time was spent continuing his cultivation.

But until now, this Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit still showed not a shred of change.

Two hours later, the bloody mist filling the quiet room finally dissipated completely, fully merging into the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit.

After a careful inspection, an extremely faint blood-colored thread seemed to have appeared inside the entire Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit.

Zheng Yi said pleasantly, "It seems there is still a change. With slow and steady effort to grind it down, We do not believe We cannot refine you!"

Taking a break and preparing to continue cultivation, Zheng Yi only then discovered that a lamp in the corner of the quiet room had suddenly lit up.

This was a special mechanism connecting his secluded quiet room and the outside of White Jade Capital.

If someone was in a hurry to find him, they could light the lamp inside White Jade Capital, and the connected lamp within the quiet room would also light up automatically.

"Hmm? Strange..."

Zheng Yi murmured, "When I am in seclusion, anyone is strictly forbidden from disturbing me unless there is an important matter to discuss."

"Those who know about this are only Consort Cui, Consort Yu, Consort Chan, Qing Consort, Chen Liancang, and Liu Zhongyi. Could it be..."

He calculated the time and said strangely, "Is Consort Cui going to give birth?"

Calculating the time, it should be within these few days.

Strolling out of the subterranean palace, he quickly discovered Liu Chengen and the others.

"Chengen, is Consort Cui and the others going to give birth?"

Liu Chengen walked over in quick strides and whispered, "Your Majesty, the time for Consort Cui and the others to give birth is indeed within these few days, but this servant has another important matter to report to Your Majesty today."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Father-in-law Chen Li... you come and speak."

Chen Li walked over briskly, knelt on the ground, and said, "this servant Chen Li greets Your Majesty."

"You are... Chen Li!"

Zheng Yi said in surprise, "Why are you injured? Who did this?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, this servant's injuries are of no consequence, but this servant has an urgent matter to report to Your Majesty."

"What matter?"

"While this servant and the others were guarding the ghost spirit grass, we encountered a Cultivator stealing it. After a battle... we captured that Cultivator!"

"What? You captured a Cultivator!"

Zheng Yi simply could not believe his ears. He knew about the matter of guarding the ghost spirit grass.

But... one Innate and three Grandmasters being able to capture a Cultivator was simply too simple.

Or could it be... that Cultivator was merely a green rookie?

Or perhaps at the first or second layer of Qi Condensation?

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Chen Li said, "this servant launched a sneak attack on him using a grenade. This person had never seen a grenade before, and carelessly had their protective magic shield shattered by the grenade, which allowed this servant and the others to succeed in the sneak attack."

"I see..."

"Where is this person now?"

"In the carriage outside White Jade Capital. this servant and the others brought her into the imperial palace."

"Hmm?"

Zheng Yi frowned and said, "Brought into the imperial palace? How can you be certain that this person is not secretly figning capture as an opportunity to approach Us?"

Chen Li hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, this person would definitely not use such a scheme to approach Your Majesty."

"Oh? How do you know?"

"Because she... was frozen into an ice sculpture."

"Hmm? An ice sculpture?"

Soon, the carriage brought by Chen Li drove into White Jade Capital, and Zheng Yi also saw the Cultivator captured by them as mentioned by Chen Li.

A giant ice sculpture standing over a person's height appeared before Zheng Yi's eyes.

The ice sculpture was thick, showing a frost-white color, mixed with a large amount of black threads inside.

Inside the ice sculpture was a female Cultivator wearing dark clothes, in a very disheveled state and with an angry expression.

Fresh blood was seeping from her seven facial orifices, and she also had some obvious injuries on her body.

Most importantly, although this woman was glaring angrily, there was naturally a unique charm between her brows.

Zheng Yi's expression was peculiar: "She is the Cultivator you captured?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Chen Li then ordered someone to take out a wooden box and hand it to Zheng Yi.

"What is contained in this wooden box is the Flying Sword used by this female Cultivator. It was broken of its control method by Zhao Su Ling of the Taiyi Sect using the Seven-Star Sword Technique and dropped to the ground, allowing us to successfully capture her."

Zhao Su Ling was Junior Brother of Zhao Su Ling of the Taiyi Sect, and also one of the Grandmaster Realm Martial Artists of the Taiyi Sect.

As he spoke, he opened the wooden box in his hand, revealing a strange Flying Sword shaped like a willow leaf, overall grayish-white and transparent, looking more like a block of ice.

The moment it was opened, Zheng Yi could feel a chill striking, and the temperature of the entire grand hall dropped by several degrees.

"This Flying Sword... why does it look a bit familiar?"

"Your Majesty."

Chen Li continued, "At that time, as we were about to get close to this woman, who would have thought that a large amount of cold qi would suddenly emanate from her body, directly freezing herself into an ice sculpture."

"We tried many methods but couldn't break it open, so we could only bring her here for Your Majesty to see."

"Also... the ghost spirit grass was taken away by this woman, and should be inside her Storage Pouch."

"I see, a trigger-based self-protection?"

Amidst his peculiar tone, a palace maid outside suddenly ran over quickly.

"Your Majesty~! Your Majesty..."

"Xiaoer?"

Seeing this, Zheng Yi recognized that this woman was Cui Xiabing's personal palace maid, and signaled her to come over.

"What has happened?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, Imperial Consort is going to give birth!"

"Hmm? Bing'er is going to give birth?"

Zheng Yi immediately walked toward the door, stopping after a few steps.

"Imprison this Cultivator in the dungeon and assign heavily armed guards to watch over her."

"In addition... mobilize a batch of bombs. If she makes any unusual movements, blow her straight to death!"

"Understood!"

"Also... Chen Li, you come with Us."

Zheng Yi instructed, "Consort Cui should have healing Medicinal Pills left behind by her Revered Master there. We will ask for a few pills for you."

Chen Li immediately knelt on the ground and said, "this servant thanks Your Majesty for bestowing the medicine!"