445: Underground Palace

Emperor Ming nodded with deep emotion and replied, "That is indeed the case! I shall treat her with generous gifts!"

"But..." Long Yuan's tone shifted.

"But what?!" Emperor Ming was taken aback.

"Experts of this level are mostly eccentric and temperamental. A slight carelessness could offend her. If she feels displeased, she might kill someone on a whim. Moreover, she wouldn't care much about the identity of her target; after all, in her eyes, everyone on Blue Star is likely nothing more than an ant!" Long Yuan said slowly.

"You mean... is it possible that she might even attack me?!" Emperor Ming trembled all over and asked in astonishment.

Long Yuan nodded and said, "Correct, she might attack anyone! On the contrary, the immortal seedlings we discovered might be of greater value to her, because I estimate that one of the important missions of her trip is to transport our Blue Star's high-quality immortal seedlings to Tianji Pavilion to Cultivate..."

Emperor Ming fell silent. He had never imagined that he, a dignified Emperor, would be considered inferior to a mere child in the eyes of a Golden Core Expert, someone who could be ordered around or even slaughtered at will. This shift in status was hard for him to accept at first, but he knew in his heart that what Long Yuan said was likely not an exaggeration, but the truth. He could only blame Blue Star for being too backward; even the Lingqi Era had just begun. People wanted to Cultivate, yet they didn't even have a single Cultivation Technique!

Long Yuan continued, "Blue Star is now under the control of Tianji Pavilion, but Blue Star is too backward and holds little value for them. The only valuable things are the immortal seedlings appearing on Blue Star, as well as some Heaven And Earth Treasure rich in Spiritual Qi that might appear in various places. However, these are extremely scarce, so Tianji Pavilion will not make major moves against Blue Star for the time being. This is actually a good development opportunity for Blue Star, as we can utilize the support of Tianji Pavilion to develop our cultivation cause. However, Tianji Pavilion will definitely limit the cultivation level of high-end Cultivators on Blue Star. Because according to the established rules of this Star Domain, once a Mahayana level Cultivator or corresponding level of technological combat power appears on Blue Star, Blue Star will be able to gain autonomous control. For Tianji Pavilion, they likely will not allow such combat power to appear on Blue Star, because once it appears, it means they might lose a life-bearing planet!"

"So that's how it is! Then we cannot let them take our high-quality immortal seedlings for nothing!" Emperor Ming realized and said hurriedly.

"There is nothing to be done about this batch! In the future, we can secretly hide some, but they must absolutely not be discovered by Xuanji Tower, otherwise the consequences will be severe!" Long Yuan shook his head and said.

"But several of them are descendants of our royal family..." Emperor Ming said somewhat unwillingly.

"It doesn't matter. With Blue Star's current resources, even if we keep them here, it would be difficult to provide enough resources for them to Cultivate. And by the time the Lingqi Era fully arrives on Blue Star, they will have missed the best age for cultivation. Therefore, letting them go to Tianji Pavilion to Cultivate might be the best choice!" Long Yuan said.

"I see... And what about you? You should also be a high-quality immortal seedling, right? If you stay on Blue Star to Cultivate, will you be delayed?" Emperor Ming asked, coming back to his senses.

"Imperial Grandfather, rest assured! I have my own methods! By the way, our conversation tonight must absolutely not be known by Xuanji Tower and that Ji Feier, otherwise they will definitely take measures against our Ming Dynasty. Just in case, I have already used a Formation to soundproof this place. Additionally, I have used Soul Power to Seal this memory in your mind to avoid it being detected by Ji Feier using some kind of soul-searching technique!" Long Yuan said.

"What? Soul-searching?!" Emperor Ming was shocked!

"Yes! Some high-level Cultivators practice soul-searching techniques. Although a Golden Core Expert might not necessarily have this ability regarding Soul Power, I am doing this just to be safe. In case she truly has practiced a Cultivation Technique related to Soul Power at Tianji Pavilion, it is possible for me to be exposed. When that time comes, she will definitely try every means to abduct me!" Long Yuan explained.

Emperor Ming listened with trepidation and couldn't help but feel a sense of awe toward Cultivators!

It was no wonder they said the era of cultivation was a crushing victory over the Xuanwu Era; their methods were endless, and Mortals and Xuan Practitioners probably wouldn't even have a chance to attack them...

"Imperial Grandfather, that consciousness uploading machine is actually my contingency plan. In case that Ji Feier acts recklessly, you cannot be wiped out by her for nothing. Therefore, the main reason I came here this time is to set up that machine for you. During this period, follow its operational prompts to upload your consciousness. Persist daily, and this way, I will be able to resurrect you at any time! But this matter absolutely must not be known by Ji Feier and the others, so we must find a secret place, and the fewer people who know about this, the better. It is best if only you know about it!" Long Yuan said.

Emperor Ming's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he nodded quickly, saying, "Good! Come with me quickly!"

He now trusted Long Yuan absolutely, and since this was something he had long hoped for, he was naturally impatient.

He was about to take Long Yuan into a secret passage entrance behind the Yangsheng Hall when he suddenly remembered something. He seemed to casually raise his right hand to make a gesture, then pressed a spot in an inconspicuous place on a pillar. An entrance slowly opened, and the two walked in one after another, the entrance closing quietly behind them...

At this moment, in a dark corner of the hall, the hidden Martial Commander had a strange look on his face. He hadn't heard what Emperor Ming and Long Yuan had said earlier and had been very anxious, not knowing what method Long Yuan had used to block his hearing. Now, seeing Emperor Ming taking Long Yuan into the secret passage and even giving him a gesture indicating not to worry, his heart finally settled. But he was very curious now: how exactly did Long Yuan make Emperor Ming so trusting?

It should be known that this Emperor Ming was extremely suspicious. Apart from him and Prince An, Emperor Ming had almost never trusted anyone else, not even the old eunuch Wu Zhen. But looking at things tonight, Long Yuan had become the third person whom Emperor Ming absolutely trusted. How on earth did he achieve this?

Long Yuan followed Emperor Ming along the way. He spread out his Divine Sense and discovered that the secret passage was very extensive, connecting many secret locations. Some were palaces, some were landmarks like rockeries, ponds, forests, and even roads outside the palace. And these were merely the first level of the secret passage System. Below this first level, there were a second, third, fourth... all the way down to the deepest tenth level!!!

He clicked his tongue in secret. This was a massive project. If it weren't for the power of the royal family, it would have been impossible to build such a magnificent underground space. Additionally, he discovered that every level of this underground space had its special layout and function. The biggest function was storing Xuan weapons, food, property, and so on. There was also an underground river flowing through. This underground space alone was enough to support many people for some time, clearly a good place for emergency refuge...