58: Chapter 58 The Ji family's empire will not tolerate those with dissenting intentions.

【Early the next morning, Sun Xing came again.】

【He pushed the door open and entered directly, his expression even more complex than yesterday.】

【Chu Sheng was meditating. What is this old man doing here?】

【He hurriedly stood up and bowed: "Elder Sun."】

【"Are you getting used to living here?"】

【"It's fine, it's fine..."】

【Sun Xing waved his hand, remained silent for a long while, and then spoke.】

【"Kid, I have a question for you."】

【He stared at Chu Sheng, "How much do you know about the current situation in the imperial court?"】

【Chu Sheng's heart skipped a beat: "This junior truly lacks understanding of the imperial court. I've only heard that the Four Great Families are powerful, and the royal family... seems somewhat overwhelmed."】

【"Overwhelmed?"】

【Sun Xing sneered, "It's more than just overwhelmed. The Crown Prince, Ji Yuanzhao, should logically be sitting firmly in the Eastern Palace. But look at it now, how gleefully are those princes acting?"】

【"The Zhao family supports the Third Prince, the Qian Family supports the Fifth Prince, the Sun Family supports the Seventh Prince, and the Li family is neutral on the surface, while secretly flirting with the Sixth Prince."】

【He paused and sighed.】

【"And what about the Crown Prince? Besides a few old officials, who takes him seriously? No one listens to him in the imperial court, and no one in the military buys his act."】

【Chu Sheng listened silently.】

This old man, running over early in the morning to complain to me about the Crown Prince, what is the meaning of this?

Chu Sheng also narrowed his eyes.

"Something's not right. If this Sun Xing really looks down on the Crown Prince, why tell me all this? Testing me?"

【"Kid."】

【Sun Xing suddenly changed the subject, "I see that you are a talent worth molding. Are you interested in throwing your lot in with a faction?"】

【Chu Sheng was stunned: "Elder Sun, you mean..."】

【"Choose any one of the Four Great Families."】

【Sun Xing looked at him, "With your talent, plus the status of being Li Chunfeng's disciple, you could easily become a guest elder at any of them. By then, resources, cultivation techniques, Dao companions—you'll have whatever you want."】

【Chu Sheng was silent.】

【He stared into Sun Xing's eyes, wanting to see something in them.】

【But the old man's gaze was calm, revealing no emotions.】

【"Elder Sun."】

【He spoke slowly, "You are from the Beast Sect, why are you recruiting me for the Four Great Families?"】

【Sun Xing smiled: "The Beast Sect does not participate in factional struggles, but I personally must have some inclination. To tell you the truth, I have some friendship with the Li family. If you are willing, I can write a letter of recommendation."】

【Chu Sheng did not speak.】

【He lowered his head, seemingly in thought.】

In reality, Chu Sheng was switching his traits.

Strong Luck, switched from the backup slot to the main slot.

【"Alright."】

【He raised his head and looked at Sun Xing.】

【Then, he reached into his robe, took out the jade pendant, and placed it on the table.】

【The jade was warm and moist, the carving exquisite. On the front was the character "Yan", and on the back was "Zhao".】

【Sun Xing was stunned.】

【He stared at the jade pendant, his pupils slightly constricted.】

【"This is..." His voice trembled slightly.】

【"Li Chunfeng entrusted it to me."】

【Chu Sheng said calmly, "Before he died, he told me to bring this to the Yan Kingdom."】

【Sun Xing stared at the jade pendant, motionless.】

【Chu Sheng stared at Sun Xing, also motionless.】

【After a long while, Sun Xing suddenly laughed.】

【"Hahahaha, good kid."】

【He raised his head, his gaze completely changed, "Actually, the first moment I saw you, I sensed the aura of this jade pendant."】

【Chu Sheng's pupils constricted.】

【"Sword techniques can be hidden, but this jade pendant..."】

【Sun Xing shook his head, "It is a royal secret creation, with a special fluctuation. I spent a few years in the palace back then, and I am all too familiar with this."】

【He stood up and walked to the window.】

【"I have been betting," he said slowly, "betting on whether you would take it out voluntarily."】

Watching this scene, Chu Sheng was silent.

This old man, playing mind games?

You knew already and still pretended to test me for so long, are you fishing for a confession?

【"Old Monster Li..." Sun Xing muttered, "He really completed the mission after all."】

【He turned around and looked at Chu Sheng, his eyes filled with a trace of affection.】

【"Kid, do you know what Li Chunfeng went to the Tianfeng Kingdom to do?"】

【Chu Sheng shook his head.】

【"To create a beast tide," Sun Xing said word by word.】

【"The King of Yan is dying, and the Four Great Families are restless, ready to force the palace at any moment. The royal family needs time, and needs the Tianfeng Kingdom to be unable to interfere in the internal affairs of the Yan Kingdom."】

【"And a beast tide is a good method. The border of the Tianfeng Kingdom is in chaos, they are overwhelmed, so how could they have the energy to care about the affairs of the Yan Kingdom?"】

Chu Sheng was stunned.

So that was it.

Li Chunfeng had been lurking for twenty years, not just as a simple undercover agent, but preparing for this day.

He marked the Crimson Python to trigger the beast tide at a critical moment and hold back the Tianfeng Kingdom.

And he himself... had taken the Crimson Python away.

【"It's just that I don't know why the beast tide came early."】

【Sun Xing frowned, "Logically, it should have been another year or two, but it erupted in these two months. But that's fine, the Tianfeng Kingdom is currently overwhelmed, which just happens to buy us time."】

The corners of Chu Sheng's mouth twitched.

Could he say "I did it"?

He could not.

【"Kid."】

【Sun Xing walked back in front of him and looked at him solemnly, "Since you are Old Monster Li's last disciple and have returned with the crown princes token, I will not hide anything from you."】

【"The Crown Prince has never been what they see."】

【Chu Sheng's heart shook.】

【"Is the half-step Condensing True Essence fake?"】

【"It's real," Sun Xing smiled, "but what he has hidden is not just his cultivation."】

【He paused and said slowly:】

【"The Crown Prince's faction's informants have already spread throughout the Yan Kingdom. Every move of the Four Great Families is under his nose."】

【"Those princes who are jumping around gleefully, those families who think they have succeeded, in his eyes, are nothing more than grasshoppers at the end of autumn."】

【"He is waiting."】

【A sharp light flashed in Sun Xing's eyes, "Waiting for them to jump high enough, waiting for them to reveal all their trump cards, and then... wipe them all out in one fell swoop."】

Chu Sheng gasped.

Concealing his strength.

So the Crown Prince had been concealing his strength all along.

Appearing weak and easy to bully on the surface, while secretly laying down a net of inescapable justice.

The Four Great Families thought they were playing cat and mouse, not knowing that they were the mice.

【"The Ji family's realm," Sun Xing said word by word, "does not tolerate those with treacherous intent."】

Chu Sheng was silent.

He remembered the look in the Old Man of the Pavilion Guard's eyes before he died.

So, they were all a link in this net.

【"Elder Sun..." He started to speak, but didn't know what to say.】

【Sun Xing waved his hand: "Still calling me Elder Sun?"】

【Chu Sheng was stunned.】

【"Li Chunfeng is my junior fellow apprentice."】

【Sun Xing looked at him, his eyes gentle, "You should call me Uncle-Master."】

【"Uncle-Master!"】

【"Good child. Old Monster Li didn't misjudge you."】

【He paused, "From today on, you are a member of the Crown Prince's faction."】

【"Remember, never show this jade pendant in front of others!"】

【Chu Sheng touched the demon refining pot.】

【"Old buddy," he muttered, "it seems we... really have been dragged into this."】

Chu Sheng let out a long sigh.

"Factional struggles, undercover agents, lurking, concealing strength... this is only a third-rate small country, yet they play more complicated games than the Qinglan Sect."

He looked at himself in the simulation screen, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile.

"But it's fine. The Crown Prince concealing his strength means he has trump cards. Following him is better than going to the Four Great Families to be cannon fodder."

It seems this simulation is not as bad as I imagined.

"And the Sun Xing line is stable now, so I have a backer in the Beast Sect in the future."

He stretched and continued reading.