442: Imperial City

The Third Elder, Xu Guanghu, widened his eyes in astonishment. "He was only at the Martial General Realm two months ago, and now he has reached the Martial King Realm? Even if he is a Genius, it's impossible to have a Breakthrough so quickly, right?"

The other two clan Elders, Martial Kings Xu Chuanzhong and Xu Chuanxin, also looked at Xu Chuanwei suspiciously, wondering what evidence he had to judge Long Yuan's current Realm.

"Ahem..."

Xu Chuanwei coughed lightly and stroked his beard, saying, "Our Family's secret agent in Dingyuan City has already uncovered information. Vance, the Snow Eagle Country man who traded with Prince Ding, was one of the bandits involved in looting the Dingyuan City treasury. That group of theirs was hiding in a mountain cave in the outskirts. That night, Vance took his men to trade with Prince Ding's son, Zhu Deqin, while the other experts remained in the cave, either relaxing or Cultivating. However, when Vance returned, he discovered that they had all disappeared, and there were no signs of a fierce battle at the scene. Initially, Vance thought they had probably just run off somewhere on their own. But after waiting for only two days, he received information from Shuntian Prefecture that those people had all been captured by Long Yuan. Terrified, he quickly fled without a trace!"

"Could it really be so?!" Everyone was shocked beyond measure, because they knew that those people were all above the Martial General level, and among them were two Martial Commanders. Yet, a force capable of destroying a country had been wiped out by Long Yuan alone, without anyone noticing. What a magnificent feat!

"Could it be that Long Yuan used some unconventional tactics? For example, using poison?" Xu Guanghu pondered.

Xu Chuanwei shook his head and said, "The cave is not a sealed space; how could it be easy to poison dozens of experts who are in different states simultaneously? As for other unconventional tactics, I have thought it over and cannot come up with any explanation. Perhaps only Long Yuan knows the truth. Additionally, the reason I made this judgment is also due to Long Yuan's speed!"

"Speed?!" Everyone was stunned.

Xu Chuanwei nodded and said, "He brought over forty people without using any means of transportation, traveling alone from Dingyuan City to Shuntian Prefecture in just two days. Such speed is something no Martial Commander could achieve. Only by reaching our Realm, that of a Martial King, would it be possible to achieve this by relying on immense blood-Qi power!"

Beside him, Xu Chuanzhong and Xu Chuanxin looked at each other and nodded slowly. They were also Martial Kings, so they naturally understood the difference. Xu Chuanzhong even added, "With over forty captives, the difficulty of getting from Dingyuan City to Shuntian Prefecture is immense. Even I would find it very difficult, let alone doing it in just two days!"

"But how could he carry over forty people by himself?! Could it be that he tied them all together and then flew through the air?" Xu Chuanxin interjected.

"That is likely the case!" Xu Chuanwei sighed. He couldn't imagine what the situation was like, but if one disregards the process and looks only at the result, Long Yuan's feat was shocking enough to stun the world!

He solved such a shocking case single-handedly and brought over forty criminal experts to justice. This is definitely a morale-boosting event for the entire Great Ming, and it can be considered an explanation to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians who died in Dingyuan City.

After the Xu Family members regained their composure, everyone was energized, their eyes shining. The surprise Long Yuan brought them was simply too great. Moreover, the Emperor Ming summoned him alone tonight, which shows that the Emperor Ming is already aware of his existence. Judging from various recent signs, the Emperor Ming seems to have the intention to regain power, and the chaotic situation caused by the previous succession struggle has changed. Therefore, if Long Yuan can gain the appreciation of the Emperor Ming, it is not impossible that the Emperor Ming might bypass the many princes and choose Long Yuan to inherit the imperial throne!

After all, Long Yuan has already stood out among the many princes and grandsons, becoming incredibly dazzling, significantly increasing the possibility of being chosen by the Emperor Ming!

Those present were all thousand-year-old foxes, and they had almost all thought of this possibility. Xu Chuanwei snorted, "Have the secret agents in the palace closely track the specific situation of Long Yuan entering the palace tonight. If possible, our Xu Family can secretly push for a layout where Long Yuan inherits the Great Ming imperial throne!"

"Yes! Clan Chief!!!" everyone responded in unison.

For the Xu Family, they hold almost half of the Great Ming imperial enterprise, so Xu Chuanwei has the confidence to say such things. Of course, they have done such things many times in history and are extremely experienced.

Xu Chuanwei pondered again and said, "Tell Ruo Ying to perform well; she must firmly capture Long Yuan's heart! Also..."

"Also what?" Xu Guanghu asked hurriedly.

After a moment's thought, Xu Chuanwei said to Xu Chuanzhong, "Second brother, take a trip to the Nanyue Royal Residence and help them guard the Nanyue Base. This Sea Clan rebellion is very likely to spread to the southeast. With you there, you should be able to suppress the experts among the Sea Clan. If you are outmatched, seek reinforcements early; do not engage in a prolonged battle!"

"You want me to go?" Xu Chuanzhong was stunned.

"Correct! Since we are going to help, we must help to the end! Rest assured, Yingtian Prefecture is near the Nanyue Base, and Prince An is currently guarding there. You don't need to appear unless it is an absolute last resort!" Xu Chuanwei said.

"Alright! However, shouldn't we wait until the secret agents in the palace send back information?" Xu Chuanzhong said.

"You, you still won't cast the eagle until you see the rabbit. Let's decide tomorrow then!" Xu Chuanwei teased.

The Xu Family meeting continued, while Long Yuan had already met the old Eunuch Wu Zhen, Eunuch Wu, who had come to welcome him.

"This old servant greets Young Master Yuan!" As soon as Wu Zhen saw Long Yuan appear, he recognized him and immediately bowed respectfully.

"Eunuch, please rise!" Long Yuan said hurriedly.

"Please mount your horse, Young Master Yuan, and follow this old servant inside!" Wu Zhen said.

"Alright!"

The two mounted their horses and headed deep into the Imperial City...

Although it was night, Long Yuan spread out his Divine Sense, and the entire Imperial City was within his mind. He observed while marveling, truly worthy of being the Great Ming Imperial Palace; this grandeur is simply top-notch!

This place forms a world of its own, divided into an outer city and an inner city. The outer city has extremely high walls, reaching several tens of zhang in height. Such a height is difficult even for a Martial Commander to cross. If there were guards stationed day and night, I'm afraid not even a bird could fly over it!

After entering the outer city, one must ride for a long distance to reach the inner city. Although the inner city is much smaller, the height of its walls exceeds that of the outer city, and the walls are extremely solid. Through his Divine Sense, Long Yuan tested that the solidity of these walls is enough to resist dozens of full-power attacks from a Martial Commander. Under such circumstances, it is very difficult to break through, as with guards present, it is impossible to let a Martial Commander bombard it dozens of times.

Additionally, along the way in, the surroundings seemed devoid of people, but Long Yuan's Divine Sense had long ago discovered many people lurking in the shadows. These people were all vigorous in blood-Qi, their breathing extremely slow, and they were in a state of alert; any slight abnormality could trigger their defensive duties!

Among these people, Martial Grandmaster is standard equipment, and each team is led by an expert at the Martial General level. If a Martial Commander wanted to come and assassinate the Emperor Ming, they would encounter the siege of over a dozen Martial Generals, and I fear it would be very difficult to escape unscathed!

"Martial Commander? There are actually hidden Martial Commanders?!" Long Yuan exclaimed inwardly.