411: clue

"Hahaha, well said, excellent!" Prince Gong laughed heartily. He was full of confidence regarding the path of the Cultivator. With his superior Cultivator Aptitude, his future was bound to be smooth sailing, and the strong would always remain strong.

"Congratulations, Your Highness!"

"Your Highness is the true Dragon of this dynasty!"

"What Prince An, what Long Yuan, what Zhu Dequan or Zhu Dexi—none of them can compare to Your Highness at all!"

"Indeed, the Great Ming has now entered the era of the Cultivator. Whoever possesses the Aptitude and secures the resources in this new era will be able to seize the initiative rapidly. We must not miss this opportunity!"

"Sensible, very sensible..."

These people grew more and more excited as they spoke, filled with longing and confidence for the future. Only Fang Qihe, sitting among them, appeared slightly more composed, because it suddenly occurred to him: could Long Yuan also be a Cultivator?

Otherwise, there was simply no way to explain his performance as a Genius. Furthermore, speaking of Long Yuan, he had actually received information in secret that the Emperor had already taken notice of him and had specifically sent men from the Divine Machine Camp to protect him. Judging from how the Emperor had doted on Prince Fu in the past, could it be that the Emperor now intended to transfer this affection to Long Yuan?

If that were truly the case, he feared that new political winds would blow in the future. Thinking of this, a trace of regret could not help but well up in Fang Qihe's heart.

At this moment, Chu Changfeng spoke again: "Your Highness, this humble subject has also received news that the Prince Fus Mansion recently tested eight immortal seedlings. Among them is the Fifteenth Young Master, Zhu Deping, who is said to have excellent Cultivator Aptitude and has already been taken in by Xuanji Tower. Prince Fu intends to hold a celebratory banquet in three days. In this humble subject's view, if we truly wish to form an alliance with the Prince Fus Mansion, this is an opportunity!"

Prince Gong nodded and said: "Indeed! It is not suitable for me to show my face in this matter for the time being. You shall represent me and attend. While you are at it, sound out my Ninth Imperial Brother. If he is truly interested, you have full authority to handle the alliance matters on my behalf!"

"Yes! This humble subject accepts the order!" Chu Changfeng replied quickly.

"Very well, let us stop here for today. I ask that everyone please be diligent; I thank you all in advance!"

"Everything for Your Highness!" the group replied in unison.

Over these past few days, the news of the attack on Dingyuan City was like a stone causing a thousand ripples. Various external factions reacted with extreme intensity. It felt like a signal—a signal that great chaos was imminent. This signal had already transformed into a small butterfly, flapping its wings and stirring up a breeze. With the boost from various surrounding forces, this breeze rapidly strengthened until it created a massive storm, quickly sweeping across the entire Great Ming!

At the center of this whirlwind, Dingyuan City was undoubtedly enduring immense pressure. Countless government troops stood guard on the defensive lines day and night, while numerous people in the city were rapidly cleaning up the aftermath, erasing various traces of the disaster, and rebuilding upon the ruins, attempting to erase people's memories of the event as quickly as possible.

Inside the City Lord's Mansion, Prince Ding sat high above, looking down at a group of generals with a cold expression. He snorted: "Where are the clues?! Do not tell me that you have absolutely none!!!"

The generals looked at each other in dismay. Finally, a general in white armor, Ge Ming, stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, the enemy came too suddenly that night. Because they arrived in the second half of the night, the surveillance in the city could not see clearly, and most of it was destroyed by their attacks. Their targets were, first, the soldiers resting in the barracks, and second, the locations of the treasuries. They struck with ruthless decisiveness and fled immediately after succeeding. This style is extremely similar to the work of an evil cult!"

"Extremely similar to an evil cult?" Prince Ding furrowed his brows, lost in thought.

"Your Highness, although evil cults strike without bottom lines, it seems unlikely that they could mobilize so many experts to attack a major border city like ours in such a short time!" Another general in black armor, Li Chang, stepped out and said.

"Don't talk to me about 'seems like' or 'appears to be'. I want definitive information! Who do you think actually carried out the attack?" Prince Ding said with a gloomy face.

"Ah, this... this humble general believes it must be those bastards from the War Bear Country. Their target was our treasury; it must be to make up for the losses from their recent crushing defeat at Zhenyuan City!" Li Chang said loudly.

At this moment, another red-faced general, Dongfang Lie, stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, even if the War Bear Country had so many experts, it would be very difficult for them to easily break through our forward defensive lines. This humble general believes it should be certain factions within the country, taking advantage of your absence from the city to launch a surprise attack. Therefore, it would be best to investigate who leaked your whereabouts, and who wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to strike at you!"

Prince Ding's expression changed upon hearing this. He gripped the armrest of his chair so hard that he crushed it to pieces, the debris falling continuously to the ground. It was evident that the anger in his heart had reached its peak...

"Father, Uncle Dongfang is right. This son believes it must be certain factions within the country! We must not only investigate whether there are insiders from those factions in the army, but also thoroughly investigate the experts who fled from among the onlookers at Southern Yue City that night. Any factions related to them should be among those under suspicion!" the First Young Master, Zhu Deqin, spoke up.

Prince Ding closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them again. He took a deep breath and said: "Have there been any unusual movements from the War Bear Country in the north over the past few days?"

Zhu Deqin said: "Reporting to Father, according to reports from scouts in the army, the War Bear Country has been contracting its defensive lines as usual over the past few days, and there are even signs that they might abandon this area. According to intelligence from within their country, the Sea Race is putting immense pressure on them, and they are mobilizing troops from various regions to the front lines to resist the Sea Race... Under such circumstances, it is unlikely they could spare so many experts to come to our Dingyuan City for a surprise attack!"

"Then, have there been any signs of activity from evil cult members recently?" Prince Ding asked again.

"Reporting to Father, evil cult members have always existed in small numbers in this city. After the incident, we sealed the city for the past two days and sent people to conduct investigations. We have captured some of them and are currently interrogating them!"

"How many people? Which evil cults?" Prince Ding pressed.

"Currently, we have captured thirteen people: eight from Ba Jue Hall, two from Blood Wolf Hall, and three from Shadow Moon Hall. However, their status within their cults is extremely low, so we cannot extract much valuable information..." Zhu Deqin replied.

"Continue the investigation, especially regarding Shadow Moon Hall!" Prince Ding said, his eyes flashing with a fierce light as he gritted his teeth.

"Yes! Does Father mean... that Shadow Moon Hall has a high probability of being involved?!" Zhu Deqin was slightly stunned.

Prince Ding sneered: "Among the figures of the attackers, there were several who were clearly women. How many factions can boast of having so many female experts?!"

Hearing this, the generals' spirits were lifted. Listening to Prince Ding say this, they all remembered that the dark shadows attacking that night were indeed all covered with black scarves, making it difficult to distinguish their faces. However, while faces can be hidden, one's physique cannot be changed much. Given the discernment of the generals, they could indeed see that several of the figures were suspected to be women!