439: Court Order

Qian Kang dared not underestimate Xiao Zhuo in the slightest. He had been hidden in the study, guarding Prime Minister Zhou Tianxiang, and naturally witnessed all of Xiao Zhuo's actions after he entered.

Even before Xiao Zhuo had stepped through the door, Qian Kang had a vague feeling of being discovered.

Now, he was even more certain that the one who had found him was definitely Xiao Zhuo.

Hearing Prime Minister Zhou Tianxiang's command, Qian Kang did not hesitate. He instantly appeared beside Xiao Zhuo, flipped his large hand, and struck directly at the opponent's glabella.

But just as he made his move midway, electric arcs suddenly flickered in the air. Qian Kang felt a jolt of numbness throughout his body, and he instantly froze in place.

He was horrified in his Heart-Nature—in that instant, if Xiao Zhuo had intended to, he could have killed him ten times over.

But Xiao Zhuo did nothing, not even shifting his gaze from Prime Minister Zhou Tianxiang by an inch.

Qian Kang's figure stiffened, and he retreated rapidly as if electrocuted, knocking over the study's screen and staggering several steps before he managed to stand firm.

When he looked at Xiao Zhuo again, his eyes had become incredibly solemn.

Before he could make another move, Xiao Zhuo spoke indifferently, "Father. If I were truly undergoing Possession, he would have lost his life long ago."

Although Prime Minister Zhou Tianxiang's Cultivation was not high, he also sensed the anomaly in the scene.

He naturally saw Qian Kang's swift attack and retreat clearly.

Hearing this, his face showed shock and bewilderment: "You..."

He wanted to say something but was speechless for a moment.

"Never mind, I only came to bid farewell today." Xiao Zhuo's tone remained calm, then he turned around and finally said, "However, before I leave, I'll offer Father a piece of advice: nurturing Zhou Linghao by giving him whatever he wants is not necessarily a good thing. Your indulgence will only turn him into a good-for-nothing."

Before his words finished, Xiao Zhuo's figure dissipated like the wind.

In the study, only two astonished middle-aged men remained.

"Qian Kang... it seems I truly made a mistake." After a long while, Prime Minister Zhou Tianxiang said with a bitter smile.

A moment later, he called out to the servants waiting outside the door, "Go and invite the Second Madam over!"

On that day, news spread from the Prime Minister's Residence: the Second Madam, Jiang Yuzhen, had her financial authority revoked, and all of Zhou Linghao's luxurious equipment was confiscated and put into storage. All of the Family's offspring who were still in the residence had their monthly allowance restored to the usual amount and directly doubled.

The next day, Prime Minister Zhou Tianxiang used his connections to send Zhou Linghao into the Xu State's top Sect—the Tianyue Sect.

However, he was not given any special treatment; he didn't even secure the Inner Sect Disciple status he could have received, and was directly made to start as a Utility Disciple.

The official reason was: to temper his Heart-Nature.

In the Sect's Utility Disciple court, there were many children who had grown up in the Sect since childhood, working for the Sect since they could remember.

The Zhou Family completely cut off all financial support for Zhou Linghao, and Prime Minister Zhou Tianxiang strictly ordered Jiang Yuzhen not to arrange any connections for him.

One can imagine what kind of life a child who had been spoiled since childhood would face when suddenly thrown among the Utility Disciple?

Whether he could make a name for himself in the Tianyue Sect depended entirely on whether he was ambitious enough.

Of all this, Xiao Zhuo naturally had no knowledge.

He had already left Xudu and embarked on the journey to the Changfeng Imperial Dynasty.

Before leaving, he had also specially written a Cultivation Technique and sent it to the Grand General's Residence.

He did not meet Li Jin, leaving the Cultivation Technique and departing gracefully.

The Karma from before his memory Awakening was hereby resolved.

On his way to the Changfeng Imperial Dynasty, he encountered several ambushes.

Of course, it wasn't due to anyone deliberately setting a trap; it was purely because the roads between the two states were inherently infested with bandits.

Xiao Zhuo was traveling on foot, not flying, observing the myriad forms of life in this world along the way.

Those bandits and rogue Cultivators who dared to block his path, as long as they possessed a Spiritual Root, had their Spiritual Root extracted by him for research.

By then, the Spiritual Root Runes he had comprehended numbered two hundred.

However, most of the rogue Cultivators he encountered on this journey only had inferior Spiritual Roots of the Four Elements or Five Elements; their Spiritual Root fragments were Messy, and their research value was limited.

Xiao Zhuo traveled slowly, collecting a large number of Spiritual Plants at the same time.

It must be said that the Nirvana Realm's resource abundance far surpassed that of the Immortal-Demon Realm.

Cultivation in this realm relied on Spiritual Roots.

Although the Spiritual Root Cultivation method progressed faster, it also set a rigid threshold for Cultivation.

While limiting the number of Cultivators, it also significantly reduced the consumption of natural resources.

Therefore, even in the wilderness, some rare Spiritual Plants could often be seen.

If it were in the Immortal-Demon Realm, where Cultivators were everywhere, even ordinary Spiritual Plants that had not yet matured would have long been casually picked by low-level Cultivators.

Normally, Xiao Zhuo would naturally not care for these Spiritual Plants.

But now his panel had activated the resource conversion function, allowing any object containing spiritual essence to be exchanged for Attribute Points.

Although the Attribute Points exchanged for these Spiritual Plants were minuscule, they could accumulate over time.

Walking a thousand miles, taking two months, Xiao Zhuo finally entered the territory of the Changfeng Imperial Dynasty.

At this time, his Cultivation had reached the Late Stage of Spirit Transformation.

The Slaughter all the way of bandits and rogue Cultivators, combined with resource exchange, allowed him to continue practicing the Free and Natural Heavenly Art with the help of the panel.

Following the map obtained from Xu State, Xiao Zhuo quickly found the southern gateway of the Changfeng Imperial Dynasty—Nanfeng City.

Nanfeng City bordered Xu State, Ye State, Jin State, and three other small states, all of which were vassal states of the Changfeng Imperial Dynasty. Therefore, Nanfeng City was extremely stable, with not many troops stationed, making it a prosperous city where merchants gathered.

Along the way, large merchant caravans were often seen heading towards Nanfeng City.

When he was still about ten miles from Nanfeng City, Xiao Zhuo saw two merchant caravans gathered beside a low hill ahead.

Judging by their attire, they seemed to belong to multiple caravans.

Xiao Zhuo felt slightly strange.

These caravans did not seem to have encountered bandits and been blocked, yet they all stopped here.

He unfurled his Divine Sense and quickly understood the reason—

It turned out that two Foundation Establishment Cultivators were fighting at the foot of the low hill.

Neither of them was wealthy; they relied on a single Magical Artifact to maneuver back and forth, and the Spells they used were unremarkable.

Xiao Zhuo swept his Divine Sense from afar and immediately felt bored.

However, none of the Mortal merchant caravans watching stayed. It was unclear whether the people fighting were related to the caravans or if they were simply watching for entertainment.

"Hey! Cultivator Han's small pagoda is quite powerful, bombarding the opponent without any chance of retaliation!"

"Of course! An unusually shaped Magical Artifact is naturally much stronger than ordinary swords!"

"Heh, is an unusually shaped Magical Artifact necessarily stronger? Old Liu, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand! Clearly, that black-clothed Cultivator's strength is insufficient!"

Xiao Zhuo was about to bypass the crowd when he vaguely heard everyone's discussion.

The two people in the arena, one was in green clothes and the other in black clothes.

The green-clothed person wielded a delicate small pagoda, while the black-clothed person controlled a Flying Sword.

Both Magical Artifacts were Medium Grade Yellow-Grade, with limited power.

However, that small pagoda could both release defensive Spells and enlarge to smash down like a small mountain, clearly superior to the Flying Sword which only had a "Breaker Formation" inscribed to enhance attacks.

Xiao Zhuo's Divine Thought swept lightly, and he immediately understood the superiority and inferiority of the two Magical Artifacts.

Although his Artifact Refining and Alchemy attainments only reached the Heaven-Grade, far from those old monsters specializing in these Dao in the Immortal-Demon Realm, judging such entry-level Magical Artifacts was truly effortless.

The Formations carved on these two Magical Artifacts were slightly different from the traditional Formations in the Immortal-Demon Realm, which did broaden his horizons a little.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, the black-clothed Cultivator suddenly exerted force!

The Flying Sword split into two, then two into four, and in an instant, dozens of illusory images identical to the Flying Sword were condensed from true essence, bypassing the small pagoda Magical Artifact and unexpectedly blasting towards the green-clothed Cultivator!

The green-clothed Cultivator, who had been fully activating the small pagoda to attack, was caught off guard. His protective true essence shield instantly Shattered Realm, and he was sent flying.

"Han Zhen! You lost!" The black-clothed Cultivator seized the opportunity to suppress and take away the out-of-control small pagoda, then walked triumphantly to the opponent.

"You can't win in a frontal fight, so you resort to sneak attacks! Ma Tie, you are too despicable!" Han Zhen's mouth was bleeding, and he struggled to support his upper body with his arm, unable to get up for a moment, his face full of anger.

"Less nonsense! Hand over the token!" The black-clothed Cultivator, Ma Tie, spoke with a sneer, dismissing Han Zhen's accusations.

With a flick of his finger, the Flying Sword was already at Han Zhen's neck.

"Dream on! The guanting token is my Han Family's heirloom, it's impossible for me to give it to you!" Han Zhen spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with hatred. "Without my voluntary Disclaimer, even if you kill me, you won't get it!"

"Han Zhen, are you trying to be unreasonable?" Ma Tie's expression darkened, and the hovering Flying Sword immediately cut through the skin on Han Zhen's neck.

Xiao Zhuo, not far away, paused his steps upon hearing this.

The guanting token... he had heard of it. To be precise, he had heard of it before his memory Awakening.

This token was a token of trust bestowed by the Changfeng Royal Family upon meritorious officials.

The holder of the token could enter the Imperial Dynasty's Ten Thousand Scrolls Pavilion to choose and copy any Cultivation Technique, and could also use this token to secure a nominal position below the fifth rank in the court.

More importantly, the Imperial Dynasty strictly forbade anyone from assassinating a token holder; violators would be killed and their souls extinguished without exception.

It could be said that this was a protective talisman granted by the Changfeng Imperial Dynasty to the families of meritorious officials.

Even if a Family fell into decline, as long as the guanting token remained, they could mostly retain a glimmer of hope.