166: Xia Mingqing's resentment! The ancestral artifact Xuanniao Ding!

Qingling Prefecture!

The central hub of An Prefecture, where all major officials of An Prefecture gathered.

Not only that, but the most esteemed person in Qingling Prefecture was not the An Prefecture State Duke.

It was the son of the late emperor, An Prince Xia Mingqing!

As dawn broke, a rising sun hung high in the sky, and specks of morning light pierced through the clouds, showering down on Fu City of Qingling Prefecture.

A grand and imposing mansion was located in the center of Qingling Prefecture's East City, covering an area of nearly several thousand acres.

At the main entrance of the mansion, there was a prominent vermillion gate.

The courtyard walls surrounding the mansion were all constructed from white jade bricks, rising high, preventing anyone from seeing the interior of the mansion.

Of course, these things alone were far from enough to showcase the mansion's nobility.

The plaque hanging high above the main gate was what truly inspired awe.

The edges of the plaque were inlaid with a large amount of exquisite gold thread, glittering under the sunlight.

At the very center of the plaque, several black Xuan Birds were even carved.

The black Xuan Birds were lifelike, as if they could fly out from the plaque at any moment.

At the center where the black Xuan Birds encircled, there were three large characters.

An Princes Mansion!

Within a heavily guarded courtyard in An Princes Mansion, that was An Prince Xia Mingqing's Cultivation place.

Inside the main house of the courtyard, a man dressed in a black brocade robe sat cross-legged on a futon on the ground, his eyes tightly shut.

The man appeared to be around thirty-five years old, and he was none other than An Prince Xia Mingqing.

At this moment, streaks of dark black Gale Force swirled around Xia Mingqing, and as the Gale Force churned, mysterious black birds occasionally appeared.

When the black Gale Force suddenly erupted with a terrifying aura, eight illusory and blurry black Xuan Birds actually appeared, circling around Xia Mingqing's body.

“The Nine Heavens Xuan Bird Art, the eighth layer has been stabilized.”

The man sitting cross-legged on the futon suddenly opened his eyes at this moment, and the black Gale Force swirling around him instantly vanished.

The eight black Xuan Birds floating around Xia Mingqing also disappeared into the Void Realm.

“Divine Palace Realm, soon, this Lord An is about to Breakthrough to that Realm.”

“Xia Mingyue, you only fortunately received the favor of the Mysterious Bird Cauldron back then.”

“It was by relying on the power of the Mysterious Bird Cauldron that you, that cheap woman, managed to Breakthrough to the Divine Palace Realm.”

“Otherwise, how could the Imperial Dynasty of Great Xia Dynasty's throne possibly fall to you to inherit.”

“This time, this Prince will absolutely not lose again. Once this Prince Breakthroughs to the Divine Palace Realm, hmph…”

The woman's face appeared in Xia Mingqing's mind; she was the person he hated most in his life.

That was his good younger sister, Xia Mingyue, his sister who was five years younger than him, a woman who was only thirty years old even now.

Xia Mingyue, the eleventh Royal Daughter of the Great Xia Dynasty, a Royal Daughter ranked after ten Imperial Princes!

However, what shocked countless people was that Xia Mingyue, despite being a woman,

Ten years ago, obtained the throne of this Great Xia Dynasty, becoming the Dominator of the Great Xia Dynasty!

Why!

It was all because that damned Xia Mingyue obtained the favor of the Great Xia Dynasty's first ancestral artifact, which was the Great Xia Mysterious Bird Cauldron sacrificial artifact.

Moreover, that Mysterious Bird Cauldron actually recognized Xia Mingyue as its master, and this result directly shook the Royal Ancestors who had been living in seclusion.

One must know that the Sun-grade sacrificial artifact, Mysterious Bird Cauldron, was hailed as the treasure of the Great Xia Dynasty, the number one sacrificial artifact.

Since the Great Xia Dynasty's founding ancestor established the dynasty, among all those who inherited the throne, not a single emperor was able to gain the Mysterious Bird Cauldron's recognition.

It was precisely because the Mysterious Bird Cauldron recognized Xia Mingyue as its master.

Therefore, Xia Mingyue's Martial Dao Realm, under the endless nourishment of the Mysterious Bird Cauldron's Heaven and Earth Origin, directly advanced by leaps and bounds, making rapid progress.

Finally, as the eleventh Royal Daughter, she completely suppressed these ten Imperial Brothers, leaving them unable to raise their heads.

Even the Great Xia Dynasty Royal Ancestors had no objections under the sudden change of the Mysterious Bird Cauldron recognizing its master.

Xia Mingyue even broke through to that legendary Realm, the Divine Palace Realm, before ascending to the throne!

Originally, with the strength of the Divine Palace Realm, Xia Mingyue could have firmly held the Great Xia Dynasty's throne.

And these Imperial Brothers, no matter how unwilling they were, had no way to deal with their Imperial Sister.

However, Heaven had eyes, and it actually gave Xia Mingqing a glimmer of hope.

The incident five years ago caused Xia Mingyue to suffer a backlash from the Fell Spirit Ruin.

“Xia Mingyue, my good sister!”

“How dare you disregard everyone's feelings and try to refine the Fell Spirit Ruin all by yourself? How dare you!”

“Now, you probably can't extricate yourself, can you?”

“The Eight Great Families, and those other few forces, are all already harboring ulterior motives.”

“Hehehe!”

“One day, that position will be mine. You are not worthy of possessing the Mysterious Bird Cauldron; it can only belong to me.”

“It's not just me who has this idea; my nine Imperial Brothers are probably also unwilling to remain idle now, aren't they?”

Black mystic light continuously flickered in Xia Mingqing's eyes, and an astonishing aura overflowed from his entire body.

If an outsider were here, they would surely be surprised to discover that

An Prince Xia Mingqing was actually a formidable Outer Strength Grandmaster at Perfection!

Xia Mingqing seemed to sense the movement outside the door, and all the Gale Force in his body retracted, returning him to his normal appearance.

“Hmm?”

“Come in!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the tightly shut door was slowly pushed open, and a woman dressed in a goose-yellow dress walked lightly to Xia Mingqing's front.

The woman had a beautiful face, and her dark hair was coiled into a married woman's bun, making her appear to be about twenty-seven years old.

A thin ribbon was tied around her slender waist, as if it could fall off at any moment.

And this woman, who appeared somewhat charming and alluring, full of mature charm, was this Lord An's personal maid.

“Luoxuan greets Your Highness!”

Upon seeing the person who arrived, Xia Mingqing nodded faintly, then spoke calmly.

“What is it!”

“Reporting to Your Highness, it's the Green Cloak Guard stationed near the city gate; they discovered some unusual circumstances.”

Xia Mingqing heard this, became slightly interested, stood up from the futon, and looked directly at the woman in front of him.

“Speak!”

“Early this morning, a very strange young man arrived both inside and outside Qingling Prefecture City.”

“The horse he was riding was a Shenfeng Steed of the Blackbird Guard!”

“And this young man was someone they had never seen before.”

“Therefore, after receiving this news, Luoxuan felt something was amiss, so she rushed to report to Your Highness!”

In Qingling Prefecture, only a handful of people possessed Shenfeng Steeds.

Those were the Xuan Niao Guard Mystic Envoy in Qingling Prefecture, and two deputy envoys.

Coincidentally, the mysterious young man who entered the city today was not a member of the Qingling Prefecture Blackbird Guard at all.