5: Chapter 5: Divine Sense Detection Reveals a Stronghold of Remnants of the Demonic Cult!

Emperor Xia Yu's eyes lit up.

"That is wonderful! With my elder brother stepping in to set things right, I couldn't ask for more! It is just as well to trouble you, brother!"

He immediately turned to Commander Qin Hu and urged, "Commander Qin Hu, what are you still standing there for? Go quickly and fetch an Imperial Guard token!"

"Yes! Yes! Your servant obeys!" Commander Qin Hu fumbled around his waist in a flurry, then pulled out a token engraved with the words "Commander."

"Your Highness, how about… how about you use my token for now?"

Xia Jin glanced at the token, which represented the highest authority of the Imperial Guard, and shot the other man an annoyed look. "What would I want your token for? Just find a Deputy Commander token and give it to me."

"Yes, yes, yes! Your servant will go fetch it right away!"

Commander Qin Hu quickly took back his token, turned, and practically jogged out of the main hall.

In just a moment, he returned with a bronze token of similar design, but marked "Deputy Commander," and respectfully presented it with both hands.

Just as Xia Jin reached out to take it, the moment his fingers touched the token—

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing the System mission: Successfully joined the Imperial Guard. Mission reward received: Spiritual Perception (Entry-Level, 500-meter range), 20 years of cultivation!]

[Would the Host like to claim it immediately?]

Upon hearing the System's notification, Xia Jin felt a surge of joy. "I didn't expect this mission to be completed so easily."

"I will take the token. Commander Qin Hu, organize all the information you have gathered regarding those Demonic Cult remnants into a volume. Starting tomorrow, I will review them one by one."

Commander Qin Hu trembled, immediately cupped his hands, bowed, and replied in a loud, clear voice, "Your subordinate obeys!"

"Alright, you may all leave. I still have matters to discuss with His Majesty later!"

"Yes!"

After Eunuch Wei and Commander Qin Hu had left, Xia Jin and Emperor Xia Yu discussed matters regarding the court, the border, and how to handle the Qingyun Sect, who were coming for a 'visit' in three months.

Emperor Xia Yu trusted his elder brother completely and followed his advice almost blindly. Within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he had entrusted many discretionary powers to Xia Jin.

"With my elder brother stepping in this time, I can finally rest easy for a while!" Emperor Xia Yu watched Xia Jin's back as he walked out of the hall, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

During this period, the pressure on him had been too great.

After leaving the main hall, Xia Jin did not leave the palace but headed straight back to his "Jin Wang Palace" in the northeast corner of the Imperial Palace.

A prince having a completely independent palace within the Imperial Palace was absolutely unprecedented in the hundreds of years of history since the founding of the Great Xia.

Unexpectedly, not a single person in the imperial court had vehemently opposed it.

Xia Jin sat cross-legged on the cold jade bed. "System," he murmured in his heart, "claim the reward."

[Claiming reward...]

In an instant, a profound and mysterious sensation surged from the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, as if a third, invisible eye had suddenly opened.

Xia Jin closed his eyes, yet he could "see" every inch of the quiet room, even the guards in the corridor outside. This perception quickly expanded outward, passing through walls and barriers, covering a radius of five hundred meters.

"Not bad. Although the range of this 'Spiritual Perception' is not large, it is significantly stronger than the perception I had when I was in the Great Grandmaster Realm."

"System, use ten years of cultivation to deduce 'Spiritual Perception'."

[Command confirmed. Consuming ten years of cultivation to deduce 'Spiritual Perception'... Deducing...]

[Deduction complete! 'Spiritual Perception' has been upgraded from 'Entry-Level (500 meters)' to 'Intermediate (3,000 meters)'!]

"Very good." Xia Jin nodded with satisfaction, then gave another order: "Use the remaining ten years of cultivation to deduce the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'."

[Command confirmed. Consuming ten years of cultivation to deduce the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'...]

"In the first year, you used the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra' to scour your Meridians again, transforming your Qi and blood circulation routes."

"In the fifth year, you successfully broke through to the fifth level of the first turn of the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra', and your martial arts cultivation advanced from the fifth stage of the Acquired Realm to the seventh stage of the Acquired Realm."

"In the tenth year, you successfully broke through to the seventh level of the first turn of the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra', and your martial arts cultivation advanced from the seventh stage of the Acquired Realm to the first stage of the Innate Realm."

[Deduction complete! The 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra' has been upgraded from the fifth level of the first turn to the seventh level of the first turn! The Host's cultivation Realm has been upgraded simultaneously!]

"Hum—"

Xia Jin's body trembled slightly, and an aura several times stronger than before flashed across his body before being quickly restrained.

"Open System panel." Xia Jin murmured in his heart.

[Host: Xia Jin]

[Realm: First stage of the Innate Realm]

[Mind-Cultivation Technique: Nine Turns Creation Sutra (First turn, seventh level), Wuxiang Cultivation Technique (Original technique, Mastered)]

[Martial Skill: Thirteen Swords of Chasing Wind (Original technique, Mastered), Spiritual Perception (Intermediate, 3,000-meter range)]

[Current rewards: None]

Xia Jin gently struck out with his right palm, leaving a palm print on the wall to his right.

"Although I am at the first stage of the Innate Realm, it is enough to rival the strength of the fifth stage of the Innate Realm." Xia Jin nodded with satisfaction. "Next, I will first set about dealing with those Demonic Cult remnants."

The next morning, Commander Qin Hu's voice rang out in the Jin Wang Palace.

"Your Highness, I have followed your orders and organized all the clues recently collected and screened by the Imperial Guard regarding the suspected movements of the Demonic Cult remnants." Commander Qin Hu carefully placed the pile of volumes on the desk in front of Xia Jin.

Xia Jin glanced over them; there were dozens of volumes.

Commander Qin Hu looked at Xia Jin with a trace of shame on his face. "However… Your Highness, it is shameful to say. Based on these clues, I personally led men to investigate several of the most suspicious locations, such as some abandoned houses in the old alleys of the South City and certain chaotic warehouses in the West Market… But every time we prepared to act, the places were already empty. It is as if… as if they could always know about the wind in advance."

Xia Jin raised his hand, stopping Commander Qin Hu from continuing. "Enough, put the things down. If they are foxes, they will eventually show their tails."

"Your Highness is wise." Commander Qin Hu breathed a sigh of relief, stacked the volumes neatly, and retreated to the side with his hands hanging down.

Xia Jin said nothing more, picked up the top volume, leaned back in his chair, and flipped through it casually.

The records were detailed, with times, locations, characteristics of suspicious persons, informant testimonies… densely packed. He read ten lines at a glance, quickly filtering out useless information.

"Qianjin Workshop… gamblers are mixed, occasionally there are wealthy guests of unknown origin who win or lose huge amounts without changing their expressions…"

"Baihua Pavilion… the new top courtesan's background is a mystery, the possibility of her passing messages in secret exists…"

"Chunxiang Winery… wine is sold to many places, including some remote temples and Daoist monasteries; the transport convoys sometimes have unexplained intervals…"

One volume, two volumes, three volumes…

When Xia Jin picked up the twelfth volume and turned to a certain page in the middle, his eyes fell upon a few lines regarding routine checks of temples in the capital's suburbs.

"Lingyin Temple?" The moment these three words appeared in Xia Jin's mind—

[Ding! Key location information 'Lingyin Temple' detected… Matching information… Match successful!]

[Mission triggered: Assist the Imperial Guard in wiping out one of the Ming Cult strongholds!]

[Mission content: Head to Lingyin Temple in the west of the capital and wipe out the secret Demonic Cult (Ming Cult) stronghold lurking within the temple.]

[Mission reward: Little Lis Flying Dagger (Entry-Level), 40 years of cultivation.]