365: The weird old emperor! Breakthrough to the great master level!

Outside the main hall of the East Palace, the vermilion gates had been tightly shut for three full days.

At the first glimmer of dawn, the white marble square in front of the hall was already packed with kneeling people.

Standing at the head, the East Palace Grand Eunuch Feng wore a bright red robe, his horsetail whisk resting on his arm, his wrinkled face betraying no joy or anger.

Beside him, the newly appointed Guard Commander Peng Tiansheng stood with his hand on his sword, his black iron armor glinting coldly in the morning light.

This Martial Dao Grandmaster, born from a branch of the Peng Family, was filled with worry.

"Grand Eunuch Feng..." Peng Tiansheng lowered his voice, the sword at his waist clinking with his restless steps.

"His Highness the Crown Prince hasn't eaten in three days, this..."

Grand Eunuch Feng raised his eyelids slightly, his withered fingers stroking the whisk inside his sleeve: "Commander Peng, mind your words."

His voice was as thin as a thread, yet it made Peng Tiansheng shiver. "Just now, this old servant has already sent someone to report to His Majesty..."

These words were spoken very softly, but they were like a basin of ice water poured over Peng Tiansheng's head.

The hand he had on the sword hilt immediately relaxed; the thought he had just been calculating—to send someone to the Peng Family residence to send a message—vanished instantly.

Grand Eunuch Feng's meaning was clear: His Majesty was already on his way to the East Palace.

If he were to send someone to notify the Grand Elder, who was his great-uncle Peng Lie, and they happened to run into His Majesty, wouldn't that be incredibly awkward?

After all, the last time his great-uncle Peng Lie had single-handedly stormed the Imperial Palace in full view of everyone.

He had even killed the East Palace Guard Commander personally bestowed by His Majesty!

If His Majesty didn't trouble his great-uncle, he should already be burning incense and praying.

A water clock chimed in the distance!

A strange glint flashed in Grand Eunuch Feng's murky eyes, his gaze drifting involuntarily toward the golden chi-dragon roof ornaments on the hall.

The bronze bells on the eaves chimed without wind, emitting a faint "ding-dong" sound.

A young palace maid kneeling in the back row suddenly shuddered, for she had clearly seen it.

Inside the tightly closed carved window, a golden light seemed to flash by...

Host: Red Dust Immortal Lu Xuan (Third Life)

Realm: Great Grandmaster (Major Achievement)

Cultivation Technique: Nine Dragons Body Protection 8/9

Points: 800

When deducing the eighth level of the Nine Dragons Body Protection, it had cost Lu Xuan exactly over seventy thousand System points.

Over 100,000 System points had been squandered by Lu Xuan in one go.

"His Majesty has arrived—!"

The old eunuch's shrill announcement suddenly sounded outside the hall.

This voice penetrated the vermilion hall doors and reached Lu Xuan's ears.

Lu Xuan's eyes narrowed, the golden light circulating within them quickly receding.

However, what Lu Xuan did not know was!

Ever since he had deduced the Nine Dragons Body Protection to the eighth level, an invisible pressure had been lingering around his body.

That was not an intentionally released Aura, but an innate Dragon might!

The moment the vermilion hall doors opened, everyone kneeling on the ground held their breath in unison.

His Highness the Crown Prince had come out!

In everyone's eyes, His Highness the Crown Prince seemed like a different person.

Clearly, His Highness the Crown Prince was just standing there normally, yet it inexplicably made people think of a true Dragon coiled on a mountain peak.

Peng Tiansheng lowered his head involuntarily, fine sweat seeping from his forehead.

This Great Grandmaster (Major Achievement) figure suddenly recalled the warning from his great-uncle Peng Lie.

True majesty does not lie in grand displays, but in the fact that even when one restrains all sharpness, people still dare not look directly at one.

At this moment, His Highness the Crown Prince clearly had a calm expression, yet it made his heart tremble uncontrollably.

The bronze bells on the eaves suddenly rang in unison, and Lu Xuan raised his eyes to look in the direction from which the imperial carriage was coming.

With just this simple action, Grand Eunuch Feng, who was kneeling on the ground, was shaken to his core.

He had clearly seen that in the depths of His Highness the Crown Prince's pupils, countless golden Dragon shadows flashed and vanished.

The Emperor of the Wenjing Imperial Dynasty, the father of the original body?

The supreme ruler of the Wenjing Dynasty was currently stepping down from the gilded imperial carriage.

Sixteen eunuchs in red robes knelt on both sides of the gold-woven carpet, and the bright yellow curtains hanging around the imperial carriage were embroidered with nine five-clawed golden Dragons in gold thread.

However, when that pale hand lifted the curtain, what was revealed was a face as withered as dead wood.

The Wenjing Emperor wore a dragon robe with the twelve imperial symbols, but the jade belt at his waist hung loosely.

It was as if this weak body could no longer support the attire that symbolized supreme imperial power.

Lu Xuan watched the figure staggering closer, his eyes narrowed slightly.

The incomparably majestic Father Emperor in the original body's memory had now decayed to this extent.

At fifty years old, he was like a candle in the wind, crumbling.

Those dragon eyes that once made the entire court of civil and military officials dare not look directly were now as murky as if covered by a layer of haze.

Only the occasional flash of brilliance reminded people that this was a true Dragon that had once dominated the world—even though it had reached its twilight years.

"Your son greets Father Emperor."

When Lu Xuan bowed, he noticed that the fingers of the Wenjing Emperor, which were resting on the eunuch's arm, were trembling slightly.

Those hands could once split mountains and crack stones, but now even the cuffs of his dragon robe were swaying in the wind.

The Wenjing Emperor stopped three steps away, and a trace of a smile appeared on his withered face.

This smile deepened the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, like an old Dragon displaying its broken scales.

However, at this very moment, Lu Xuan's five senses, which had just broken through to the Great Grandmaster Realm, suddenly tightened.

The hair on his body stood on end, and a layer of fine cold sweat broke out on his back.

The intuition of a Great Grandmaster was screaming a warning!

It was a nearly instinctive sense of crisis, as if countless steel needles were pressing against his throat.

Clearly, there was only an old man on the verge of death in front of him, yet Lu Xuan's body was sending out the most primitive survival signal.

"Something is wrong..."

Lu Xuan did not show any trace on his face, but his heart was already in turmoil.

He maintained his bowing posture, while the Gale Force of the Nine Dragons Body Protection within his body had already quietly circulated to the extreme.

Countless golden Dragon shadows swam through his Meridians, amplifying his perception to the limit.

And the more Lu Xuan investigated, the more shocked he became.

This seemingly exhausted Old Emperor before him was actually surrounded by a faint, elusive pressure.

That Qi was obscure and difficult to understand; at times it was as weak as a candle in the wind, and at other times it was like a hidden Dragon in the abyss, making one shiver.

What a master of concealment...

A golden glint flashed in Lu Xuan's lowered eyes.

He adjusted his breathing calmly, raising his guard to the limit.

In every experience in this Mortal World, he would not trust anyone.

Even if this Old Emperor before him was the father connected by the Bloodline of the original body.

Under his wide dark purple sleeves, the tips of Lu Xuan's fingers had quietly condensed a wisp of golden Dragon shadow Gale Force; he was ready to burst into defense at any moment.

"My good royal son..."

The Old Emperor's voice was very hoarse. He slowly raised his hand, and his withered fingertips trembled slightly as they were about to touch Lu Xuan's shoulder.

"I heard you haven't left your room for three days, and I was very worried and concerned."

Lu Xuan maintained his respectful posture, the hair hanging in front of his forehead perfectly concealing the strange look in his eyes.

"Replying to Father Emperor, your son has recently gained some insights into the Martial Dao, so I went into seclusion to contemplate."

"It was my fault for disturbing your imperial carriage."

Just as Lu Xuan raised his eyes to plead guilty, his pupils suddenly contracted!

The Old Emperor's eyes, which should have been murky, were now pitch black as ink, with no white visible at all.

Even more terrifying was that the emotions churning at the bottom of those eyes were not at all like a father looking at his son.

It was more like a starving wolf eyeing a succulent lamb.

Greed, jealousy, desire... all kinds of emotions twisted and entangled within them.

Finally, they condensed into a bone-chilling appetite.

Lu Xuan's spine straightened instantly, and countless golden Dragon shadows within his body issued warning hisses simultaneously.

He clearly saw that the Old Emperor's Adam's apple was rolling abnormally, just like... just like he was desperately suppressing the urge to pounce and bite.

That was definitely not an expression a human should have, but the gaze of some more ancient, more ferocious predator.

Like those evil things in the Eerie!

"Good... very good..."

The Old Emperor's eyes instantly returned to normal, and he suddenly grinned, revealing overly neat teeth.

The palm he patted on Lu Xuan's shoulder was cold, not like a living person's, and his fingernails had become sharp and greenish at some point.

"As expected of my Crown Prince, the heir to the Wenjing Dynasty... truly... gifted with extraordinary talent..."