45: The Emperor of Yanshan's Temptation

From Ding Jiu's body being destroyed to his soul being annihilated, it only took a few breaths of time.

Lin Mu glanced at the Ninth Prince, who was still frozen in place, and said, "Continue to lead the way, Third Prince."

The Third Prince's face was ashen at this moment. He looked up at Lin Mu and forced a smile.

"We're almost at the imperial palace. Carriages can't enter, so we'll have to walk."

Lin Mu looked at the magnificent palace complex not far away.

He said indifferently, "No need for such trouble, we can just fly over."

After speaking, he didn't wait for the Third Prince to respond.

Grabbing the Third Prince with one hand, he pushed off the ground slightly and shot into the air, flying towards the imperial city.

The Imperial City Guards saw someone daring to fly in the imperial city and shouted at Lin Mu:

"Who dares to be so bold as to fly in the imperial city? Retreat quickly, or you will be killed without mercy."

At this loud shout, everyone entering and exiting the palace gates looked up at the sky.

At this moment, a white figure in the sky, holding a person in his hand, was about to fly over the city wall.

A sharp-eyed person couldn't help but exclaim, "The person being held, why does he look like the Third Prince?"

"The Third Prince? It really is the Third Prince."

Lin Mu ignored the shouts of the Imperial Guards, transforming into a streak of light and shooting towards the depths of the imperial palace.

The Imperial Guards wanted to stop him, but Lin Mu's speed was too fast. They had no time to stop him and could only send someone to report to their superiors.

Under the Third Prince's guidance, Lin Mu stopped in front of a remote pavilion in the imperial palace.

All the buildings in the imperial palace were single-story, making this two-story pavilion seem so out of place.

"Is Princess Tianning really here?" Lin Mu looked at the pavilion; it didn't look like a place where someone would live.

"She is indeed here. This is a secluded cultivation place that Father Emperor specially built for Tianning," the Third Prince said sincerely.

"Whether it is or not, one test will tell."

After Lin Mu finished speaking, he struck the pavilion with a palm from a distance.

The fierce energy, before it even approached the pavilion, was blocked by a formation fluctuation.

Although it was just a casual strike from Lin Mu, it would have been easy to destroy a pavilion.

However, that pavilion was still intact.

Clearly, this formation was not simple.

Princess Tianning only had the strength of Flying Heaven Realm First Layer at that time. It was impossible for her to reach the conditions to break through to Venerable Realm in just a few months.

Was such a powerful defensive formation needed for an ordinary Flying Heaven Realm secluded cultivation, and that too deep within the palace?

The Third Prince looked at Lin Mu's questioning gaze directed at him, and for a moment, he didn't know how to explain.

He was also a bit puzzled!

The formation that just blocked Lin Mu was the Heavenly Gang Dragon Protection Formation, which would only be activated when a strong enemy attacked the imperial city.

Each activation not only consumed a large amount of Heavenly Dao Dragon Qi, but the spirit stones consumed to maintain the formation's operation were an astronomical figure.

He also realized that perhaps Princess Tianning was not here, but why would Father Emperor lie to him?

Thinking of this, the Third Prince looked at Lin Mu and said directly:

"Believe it or not, I truly don't know why this is happening. Before, someone always told me that Tianning was cultivating in seclusion here."

Lin Mu smiled faintly: "The internal strife of the imperial family is the same melodramatic mess everywhere."

"Step aside. It seems the main character has arrived."

Lin Mu's cryptic words left the Third Prince a bit confused.

Just as he was about to ask.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before them.

Seeing the person, the Third Prince quickly bowed and saluted: "Your son, respectfully greets Father Emperor."

"En, rise. Third Son, you did well. There's nothing more for you here, you may withdraw."

The person who arrived was none other than the Emperor of Yanshan Kingdom, Li Daoran.

"Father Emperor, Tianning, where is she now?"

The Third Prince did not obey the command to withdraw, but instead anxiously asked the doubt in his heart.

Li Daoran saw that the Third Prince did not listen to him and instead asked about Tianning.

His expression was somewhat displeased as he said, "Withdraw first, we'll discuss other matters later."

The Third Prince continued to bow and said:

"Father Emperor, even if Tianning is usually arrogant and willful, she is still my biological sister from the same mother."

"After not seeing her for many days, please Father Emperor, tell me Tianning's true whereabouts."

Li Daoran had not expected that this third son, who usually appeared respectful, would dare to defy him today.

Lin Mu stood by, watching this melodramatic scene, and suddenly spoke:

"Instead of asking him here, it would be better to just split open this pavilion and see for ourselves."

As Lin Mu spoke, he took out his heavenly dao sword and waved it casually.

A golden yellow sword qi slashed towards the pavilion.

This time, the sword qi did not encounter any obstruction. The Heavenly Gang Dragon Protection Formation seemed like it was made of paper, breaking at a touch.

The sword qi passed through the formation without stopping.

With a single strike, it split the pavilion into two halves.

The Third Prince was not surprised by how Lin Mu could split open the Heavenly Gang Dragon Protection Formation; he only anxiously looked at the split pavilion.

The split pavilion fell to both sides.

In the middle, there was indeed another formation.

In the center of the formation was a blood-red jade coffin, and Princess Tianning lay within it, her eyes tightly closed.

Seeing this scene, the Third Prince's face suddenly darkened.

He said, word by word: "Father Emperor. Your son requires an explanation."

Seeing that matters had come to this, Li Daoran no longer concealed anything. He let out a laugh and said:

"I act as I please, and I do not need to explain myself to anyone. As a member of the imperial family, Tianning naturally must be prepared to make sacrifices for the prosperity of the imperial family."

The Third Prince looked at Li Daoran in disbelief.

They say even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs, but in the imperial family, must it truly be so heartless?

For the first time, his desire to ascend the throne wavered.

After Li Daoran finished speaking, he no longer paid attention to the Third Prince. He turned to look at Lin Mu, who was standing by, and said:

"You must be Lin Mu, right? Although I haven't met you, I know a little about your affairs."

He deliberately paused, seeing that Lin Mu showed no surprise, then smiled mysteriously and said:

"From you saving the Tao Family's people to everything at Heavenly Dao Academy, I have heard it all."

"Including you ringing the heavenly dao bell and obtaining the heavenly dao stone, I also know."

Lin Mu was slightly surprised to hear that Li Daoran actually recognized the heavenly dao stone.

"I didn't expect you to recognize the heavenly dao stone. It seems Wang Changhe was also acting under your instruction, then?"

Li Daoran laughed loudly again upon hearing Lin Mu's words:

"Not only do I know about the heavenly dao stone, but I also know its purpose is very important to me. Speaking of which, Tianning is in this state because of you."

"Because of me?"

"Precisely. Because of you! Strictly speaking, it's because of your appearance that she became like this earlier than planned."

Lin Mu frowned and said, "Is it because she revealed the news that I have the heavenly dao stone, which caused your certain plan to be implemented ahead of schedule?"

"It's refreshing to talk to intelligent people. If it weren't for the appearance of the heavenly dao stone, my plan would have to wait several hundred more years. In fact, I should thank you."

"If I'm not mistaken, you should have at least two heavenly dao stones on you."

Lin Mu neither confirmed nor denied: "You're not wrong, I do have more than one heavenly dao stone on me."

Li Daoran's eyes flashed with a sharp glint, and his breathing became somewhat hurried as he said:

"I am not an unreasonable person. If you hand over one heavenly dao stone, I will not only spare your life,"

"but I will also appoint you as the National Protector, a position second only to me."

"Not only that, I know Heavenly Dao Sect wants to unify all sects in the entire country, and I can fully assist you."

Li Daoran's speaking speed became faster and faster.

Until the very last sentence, he suddenly slowed his pace.

"My words are finished. What do you think?"