640: I went there in person; someone was pulling the strings behind my back!

You Mingcheng took out the token, and after activating it, he passed through the pillar of light without any hindrance and took the beast bone compass into his hand.

You Mingcheng walked out of the Core Treasury and looked around; seeing no one, he cautiously returned to his residence.

Inside his residence, You Mingcheng paced back and forth in the room, a look of hesitation on his face.

Now that the Magic Treasure had been taken out, it still needed to be delivered to Ninth Brother's hands.

Who should he send to deliver the Magic Treasure to Chaotic Soul Mountain?

The Nine Great Commanders? No, one can never know what another is thinking; how could such a Magic Treasure be handed over to outsiders?

His own confidants? That wouldn't work either; although they were deathly loyal to him, their cultivation was insufficient. The strongest among them had only just achieved Immortal Ascension. If something went wrong on the way, it would be too late for regrets.

After thinking it over, he realized that for this major matter concerning the future of Cang Kong City, he couldn't find a suitable candidate. No one was worthy of his trust!

In that case, there was no other way; he had to go himself!

The next day, a piece of news once again shook the entire Cang Kong City.

Following City Lord Netherworld Heaven's announcement of entering death seclusion, the First Highness You Mingcheng, who had just taken the reins of power, also claimed that his cultivation would soon have a major Breakthrough. He would be in seclusion starting today, and no one was to disturb him!

For a time, people throughout Cang Kong City began to feel a sense of unease.

The City Lord is in seclusion, and the Acting City Lord is also in seclusion?

What kind of game is this?

Fortunately, the First Highness's cultivation isn't particularly high, so he should probably emerge from seclusion after a short period, right?

...However, just as the news of You Mingcheng's seclusion was spreading everywhere, You Mingcheng had already secretly left the city that very night.

Under the cover of night, You Mingcheng silently slipped out of Cang Kong City and arrived at a deserted, rocky valley outside the city.

This path out of the city was one he had specifically opened up; for now, only he knew about it, making it extremely secret.

In the deepest part of the valley, there didn't seem to be anything special. You Mingcheng looked around and, seeing no one, immediately performed hand seals. A golden incantation lit up in his hand, triggering a vast surge of heaven and earth energy that caused a rustling sound throughout the valley.

In an instant, the incantation flashed and vanished.

In the center of the valley, an ancient teleportation Formation revealed its original form, emitting a clear aura as it slowly operated.

It bore the marks of time, clearly having been set up many years ago and not used for a long while.

Looking at the teleportation Formation below, a smile appeared at the corner of You Mingcheng's mouth:

"Very good. After so many years, no problems have arisen..."

As he spoke, You Mingcheng shifted and was already standing in the center of the Formation. Immortal Essence Power from his entire body flooded frantically into the teleportation Formation.

The teleportation Formation began to emit a brilliant white light. After reaching an extreme brightness, it flashed and vanished; You Mingcheng's figure had completely disappeared.

The teleportation Formation, along with You Mingcheng's disappearance, once again faded into the valley.

The night mist filled the valley, and a quiet atmosphere reigned everywhere. Occasionally, the sounds of Yao Beasts echoed, looking no different than before You Mingcheng arrived.

But at the moment You Mingcheng left, on an inconspicuous pebble outside the valley, an imperceptible rune quietly lit up and then instantly dimmed... Inside the Second Highness's residence, the Fifth Highness and the Eighth Highness were both present. Their expressions were filled with confusion, and they hadn't even fully sat down, having clearly just rushed over.

The Fifth Highness looked at the Second Highness with some confusion and asked:

"Second Brother, why have you called us here in the middle of the night?"

The Second Highness You Mingxin glanced at the two of them and said coldly:

"I have received word that Eldest Brother secretly slipped out of Cang Kong City last night, and I don't know which direction he went."

"Big Brother left Cang Kong City?"

The Eighth Highness murmured:

"Father has just entered seclusion and given Big Brother the authority of the City Lord. Shouldn't Big Brother be vigorously recruiting his own forces and seizing Cultivation resources for himself right now? Why has he gone out of the city?"

"Moreover, he claimed to the public that he's in seclusion. I'm afraid Eldest Brother is planning something big lately..."

The Second Highness's gaze was somewhat gloomy:

"Not only that, before the First Highness left Cang Kong City, he even paid a visit to the Core Treasury!"

"The Core Treasury?!"

The Fifth Highness said in surprise:

"Why was Big Brother able to enter the Core Treasury? Isn't that a place one can only enter with Father's permission or the simultaneous consent of the three Vice City Lords?!"

The Eighth Highness snorted coldly:

"That's a naive thing to say. Obviously, Father trusts Big Brother very much and has given him the authority to enter and exit the Core Treasury as well!"

Hearing this, the Fifth Highness felt embarrassed and muttered a few words to himself, though not loudly.

The Second Highness said in a heavy voice:

"Fifth Brother, Eighth Brother, looking at the current situation, I'm afraid Cang Kong City will eventually be handed over to Big Brother. At that time, our Cultivation resources will surely be greatly reduced. Perhaps we won't even be able to Breakthrough to the Heavenly Immortal Realm in this lifetime... we still need to find a way..."

"Find a way? What can we do? Father has already made his intentions so obvious. As his sons, what can we do?"

You Mingxin looked around, stared at the two for a moment, and suddenly said out of the blue:

"If Big Brother were to meet with some accident while outside... according to the line of succession, wouldn't it be my turn..."

"Ah?!"

The Fifth Highness's pupils shrank, and he immediately said:

"How could that be allowed! Cang Kong City has ancestral teachings!"

"Besides, even if Big Brother isn't there... there's still Ninth Brother. Ninth Brother is a natural talent in Cultivation; at such a young age, he is already at the Peak Earth Immortal stage..."

The Eighth Highness's expression didn't change; he just said calmly:

"Ninth Brother is obsessed with Cultivation and has never cared about these matters. Moreover, he has no grudge against us. If he were to take charge of Cang Kong City, we would still have some good days ahead. As long as it's not Big Brother—you know Big Brother holds a deep grudge against us."

"Fifth Brother, stop pretending. You must have thought about this. I just don't know if Second Brother has any good ideas. But since Second Brother has spoken so plainly this time, I'm afraid he already has a plan in mind. Why not tell us brothers about it?"

The Second Highness slowly stood up, walked to the center of the room, and said:

"This time, Big Brother took the most mysterious Beast God Compass from the Core Treasury and then immediately left Cang Kong City. We only need to do this and that..."

After hearing the plan, the Fifth Highness and the Eighth Highness were immediately overjoyed and said one after another:

"A good strategy, a good strategy! This way, we can also perform a service for Father!"

...