257: What, twenty-six?

Jiang Chen's arrival was quite a surprise to Xue Lianxing and the others.

Especially just now, when Jiang Chen directly controlled the flying boat to shatter those extremely troublesome Formations.

That was what truly shocked and delighted everyone.

They knew all too well how difficult this Formation was; even if thousands of troops came, they would only be suppressed here.

If they were suppressed, then something terrifying would surely happen at the Heaven-Grade Demon Cave.

At that time, a massive number of Heaven-Grade demons would rush out from it.

Everything would be too late.

The arrival of Jiang Chen and his companions, combined with the breaking of the Formation, gave everyone hope.

"Jiang Chen?"

Li Xiaoqing looked at Jiang Chen.

There was a hint of surprise in her eyes.

She had seen Jiang Chen's portrait in intelligence reports before, but this was her first time meeting him in person.

She hadn't expected Jiang Chen to be even younger and more high-spirited than he looked.

He even possessed an aura of containing the universe within himself.

No wonder, with such a Heart-Nature, he was able to live in seclusion in Da Huai Village at the beginning.

It was likely that Jiang Chen's seclusion in Da Huai Village was precisely for a Breakthrough in his Heart-Nature.

"Milady, this is Jiang Chen!"

"Jiang Chen... this is the Commander of our Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard, Li Xiaoqing."

"This is my sister, Xue Lianyue."

Xue Lianxing introduced them to Jiang Chen.

She wasn't just introducing them to Jiang Chen, but also to Lu Qian.

As for Zhang Xian, they had already met earlier.

After all, one was an Imperial Envoy, while the others were Your Majesty's personal guards.

"Those two kids are trying to run!"

Zhang Xian suddenly saw the two Heavenly Martial Realm experts from the Innocent Sect fleeing into the distance after regaining their senses.

Seeing this, the members of the Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard were all filled with Killing Intent, determined to kill them.

However, Jiang Chen flipped his wrist.

He took out the heaven-shocking dragon emperor bow.

He raised his hand and fired an arrow.

Swish!

A terrifying, space-tearing force rapidly swept forward at this moment.

Those present were, after all, the top combat forces of the Great Lan Dynasty, and the moment Jiang Chen acted, they felt his terrifying power.

The skill of this shot was exceptionally high.

No one could even block it.

Everyone present marveled at the terror of Jiang Chen's arrow.

As expected.

Jiang Chen's arrow directly transformed into a rolling, roaring Dragon.

In the blink of an eye, it swallowed the two Heavenly Martial Realm experts.

Boom!

The two Heavenly Martial Realm experts didn't even have time to dodge before they were shot dead by Jiang Chen's arrow.

Li Xiaoqing's beautiful eyes flashed with shock as she looked at the heaven-shocking dragon emperor bow in Jiang Chen's hand.

When she looked at Jiang Chen again, he was calmly putting away his longbow, as if killing two Heavenly Martial Realm experts was just a very ordinary and common occurrence.

"Ding... enemy killing value +1"

"Ding... cultivation points +100,000"

"Ding... enemy killing value +1"

"Ding... cultivation points +100,000"

The System's notification sound made Jiang Chen feel a slight surge of joy.

He didn't expect to get extra rewards.

These two Grand Elders of the Innocent Sect must have cultivated demon techniques.

Although demon techniques could make one's cultivation powerful.

But some top-tier demon techniques, with relatively reduced side effects, would also be taught to loyal subordinates, as increasing their strength was equivalent to increasing the power of their own organization.

Of course, the danger of demon techniques was imaginable.

It was very easy to fall into an uncontrollable state.

Therefore, one must be cautious in everything.

Even within the Zhao family, they were very careful in selecting who should master these demon techniques.

Clearly, the two people before him had learned demon techniques.

They contributed two hundred thousand cultivation points to Jiang Chen.

Seeing Jiang Chen easily kill two Heavenly Martial Realm experts with one arrow.

Li Xiaoqing and the rest of the Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard all gasped slightly.

Lu Qian and Zhang Xian both smiled inwardly.

After all, when they had previously seen Jiang Chen display such strength...

...they had the same expressions as Li Xiaoqing and the others, or even worse.

Seeing this, Lu Qian took the initiative to step forward and report the situation.

The others were the Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard, Your Majesty the Empress's personal guards, so they naturally held higher official positions.

As the Commander of the Demon Slayer Guard, it was natural for Lu Qian to report; could she really expect Jiang Chen to report to them?

"Commander Li, Commander Xue..."

When Li Xiaoqing, Xue Lianyue, and the others heard that Jiang Chen had already destroyed another Heaven-Grade Demon Cave, they were naturally even more shocked.

One must know that the Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard could be said to be the last force of the imperial court.

If even the Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard couldn't handle a situation, then it was basically unmanageable.

After all, most of the Imperial Envoys were also seriously injured.

They no longer had sufficient combat power.

That was why the Empress had decided to let the Vermilion Bird Imperial Guard concentrate their forces to attack the demon cave here with all their might, while the other demon cave was even prepared to be left to grow.

Unexpectedly, they received news from Lu Qian that Jiang Chen had already taken care of it.

And as expected, the Innocent Sect was behind this.

There was even the involvement of the Zhao family.

"It really is the Zhao family!"

Li Xiaoqing exclaimed inwardly.

Clearly, she wasn't completely ignorant of the Zhao family.

There were also some secrets within the imperial family that were not known to outsiders.

"This Zhao family has already sent people several times to propose a political marriage."

"And the object of the marriage is Your Majesty!"

Li Xiaoqing said.

The three people before her, including Jiang Chen, were now on their side.

So there was no need to hide such things from them.

"Political marriage!?"

Lu Qian's eyes widened immediately.

She hadn't expected the Zhao family to have such a large appetite; on the surface, they wanted a political marriage with the Great Lan Dynasty, but secretly they were arranging such foul matters. They were truly two-faced. However, these people were also quite arrogant to want a marriage with Your Majesty the Empress; wouldn't that mean getting the Great Lan Dynasty for free?

Obviously, Your Majesty the Empress had never considered this option and had flatly refused.

Combined with Jiang Chen destroying the first Heaven-Grade Demon Cave, it made them realize the risks, so they simply moved the plan forward.

"I will report this news to the Empress first."

After Li Xiaoqing finished speaking, she took out a talisman slip.

Most talisman slips had a limited transmission distance due to Formation craftsmanship constraints; the Great Lan Dynasty's technology had not yet reached that level, and only a few talisman slips could transmit messages over extremely long distances.

"The Empress is so old, it wouldn't be bad if she could get married off."

Jiang Chen whispered to Lu Qian.

Lu Qian immediately pinched Jiang Chen secretly.

Her phoenix eyes widened; this guy actually dared to gossip about the Empress.

"Your Majesty is only twenty-six this year. Do you think being over twenty-six is old?"

Lu Qian said with a coquettish glare.

There seemed to be a hint of aggrieved jealousy.

"Huh? Only twenty-six?"

Jiang Chen was stunned.

He had always thought the Empress would be in her forties or fifties.

"What twenty-six?"

Li Xiaoqing glanced at Jiang Chen curiously.

"Nothing, nothing..."