391: Tian Shu Iron Plaque

In the bronze cauldron of the Hanyue Valley Underground Palace, the last piece of netherworld cold iron was refined by Ouyezi into a silver-bright iron blank.

He swung his hammer, forging the iron blank into the shape of a dagger, while the Kunwu Divine Fire danced across the blade, leaving behind intricate cloud patterns—this was the one-hundredth Soul-Settling Dagger, and also the sharpest one.

"Young Lord," Ouyezi placed the dagger on a velvet tray and bowed as he presented it, "This dagger has been infused with the powder of the soul settling pearl. It specializes in breaking through Protective Aura; anything below the Land Immortal Realm will shatter upon contact."

Jun Xiaoyao traced his fingertip over the blade's surface, feeling the icy cold sensation as the blade reflected his indifferent gaze.

In the water mirror, the leader of The Net's "Heaven" rank group had already departed with the other ninety-nine Soul-Settling Daggers, heading straight for the Third Prince's secret stronghold, "Tianshu Pavilion."

"Zhao Gao," Jun Xiaoyao withdrew his gaze, "Is there any movement from the Third Prince?"

Zhao Gao unfurled a secret report: "Reporting to the Young Lord, the Third Prince entered the palace last night to see the Emperor, tearfully accusing Beyond Heaven of wantonly killing imperial officials and requesting that His Majesty issue a decree to encircle and suppress Hanyue Valley. Although the Emperor did not agree, he tacitly allowed him to mobilize five thousand troops from the Capital Guard."

In the water mirror, the Capital Guard was assembling on the drill ground, their armor gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

The Third Prince stood on a high platform, shouting to the soldiers, "Beyond Heaven ignores the laws of the kingdom and has intercepted and killed imperial secret envoys. Such rebels deserve to be executed by everyone!"

A cold sneer curled the corner of Jun Xiaoyao's mouth: "Mobilizing the Capital Guard? He is quite willing to pay the price."

He looked toward the summoning array; due to the refining of the netherworld cold iron, the spiritual energy in the array had risen to 94%. As the runes flowed, a figure holding a bronze mace appeared.

Summoning initiated, Guardian Deity descends.

[System Notification: Military threat detected, triggering "Army Suppression" type summoning.]

[Summonable Character: General Qin Qiong]

[From: "Sui and Tang Romance" world]

[Realm: Early Earthly Immortal Realm]

[Martial Skill: Qin Family Mace Technique (Transcendent), Throwing Mace (Unexpected, can break military formations)]

[Specialty: Army Suppression (When soldiers see his token, morale drops by 30%), Camp Protection (Can set up an impenetrable formation to withstand an assault of ten thousand men)]

[Summoning Cost: 92% Spiritual Energy]

The summoning array erupted with golden-bronze light, and as the ground trembled, General Qin Qiong, dressed in bright armor and holding twin maces, stepped out from the light.

He clasped his hands toward Jun Xiaoyao, his voice like a booming bell: "Subordinate General Qin Qiong greets the Young Lord. Having heard that some petty scoundrels dare to threaten the Young Lord's Foundation, I am willing to lead troops to crush the enemy!"

Jun Xiaoyao looked at General Qin Qiong's panel and nodded slightly: "You are responsible for the Capital Guard. There is no need for a hard fight; just hold them back for three days."

He pointed at the Capital Guard's drill ground in the water mirror, "The Third Prince wants to use the imperial court's blade to kill, so we shall make his blade dull first."

General Qin Qiong accepted the order and turned to step into the teleportation array.

Half an hour later, when the Capital Guard marched to Ten Mile Slope outside the city, they suddenly encountered an interception by a troop of black-clad cavalry—General Qin Qiong stood on the slope holding his twin maces, with five hundred Luowang Assassins behind him forming an "Iron Barrel Formation," their mace shadows like a wall blocking the army's path.

"Who goes there? How dare you block the imperial army!" The commander of the Capital Guard roared as he charged forward with his spear.

General Qin Qiong did not dodge or evade; his left mace parried the spear tip, and his right mace smashed down in one fluid motion. With a loud "clang," the commander's spear shaft was actually smashed in two.

"I am General Qin Qiong of Beyond Heaven," he pointed his mace toward the direction of the Third Prince, "The Third Prince has privately mobilized the Capital Guard with the intent to rebel. Do you also wish to aid the tyrant in his evildoing?"

The soldiers began to stir upon hearing this. The Capital Guard was under the direct jurisdiction of the Emperor, and upon hearing that the Third Prince had intentions to rebel, they hesitated.

General Qin Qiong seized the opportunity to swing his twin maces and charge into the formation. Amidst the flying mace shadows, he injured but did not kill, throwing the army's formation into chaos.

Marshal of the Unruly's investigation, Holy Land disturbance.

In another corner of the water mirror, Marshal of the Unruly had already infiltrated the inner sect of the Xuantian Sect.

He was wearing the clothes of a servant and cleaning in the Scripture Pavilion, but the corner of his eye swept over the hidden door behind the bookshelf—last night he had heard the inner sect Elders' conversation; the soul settling pearl was hidden in the secret room behind that hidden door.

Taking advantage of the night, Marshal of the Unruly pried open the lock of the hidden door and slipped into the secret room.

On a jade platform in the center of the secret room, a pearl the size of a pigeon's egg was emitting a soft white light; it was indeed the soul settling pearl.

Just as he reached out to take it, he saw the pearl suddenly light up with a red glow, and countless crossbow arrows shot out from the stone walls around the secret room!

"As expected, there are traps." Marshal of the Unruly snorted coldly, operating his Tiangang Art to the limit, with a crimson Protective Aura appearing around his body, forcefully blocking the crossbow arrows outside his body.

He whipped out an iron chain, wrapped it around the support of the jade platform, and pulled hard. The jade platform flipped over, revealing a secret passage below.

Footsteps came from deep in the secret passage, so Marshal of the Unruly quickly hid in the shadows. He saw the Xuantian Sect Sect Master walking in with several Elders, the lead Elder holding a brocade box from which black Qi was vaguely leaking.

"The soul settling pearl has already been 'stolen' by the Third Prince's people according to the plan," the Sect Master's voice was sinister, "Next, we just wait for Beyond Heaven and the imperial court to suffer mutual losses, and we will reap the rewards."

Another Elder said: "The Sect Master is wise. As long as we get the summoning array blueprint from Beyond Heaven, our Xuantian Sect can become the number one Holy Land on the continent!"

Marshal of the Unruly, hiding in the shadows, felt a shock in his heart and quietly took out a message talisman, transmitting this conversation word for word back to Hanyue Valley.

Deep in the Underground Palace, Jun Xiaoyao watched the scene of the secret passage in the water mirror and tapped his finger heavily on the ice table: "They want the summoning array blueprint? A fine scheme they have."

He nodded at Zhao Gao, "Let Marshal of the Unruly continue to lurk and see what other trump cards they have."

Just as Zhao Gao was about to withdraw, a disturbance suddenly came from the water mirror—the people the Third Prince sent to steal the soul settling pearl had clashed with the Xuantian Sect Elders. Both sides fought fiercely in the secret passage, and the black Qi in the brocade box took the opportunity to spread. Those who touched the black Qi immediately fell to the ground screaming, their skin rotting away at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"It's Bone-Eroding Poison!" Marshal of the Unruly whispered in the shadows, "The Xuantian Sect has actually colluded with the Ten Thousand Poisons Cult to use living people to test poison!"

A cold glint flashed in Jun Xiaoyao's eyes: "The Ten Thousand Poisons Cult... the remnants of the Pill King Valley have indeed defected to them."

He looked toward the summoning array; due to discovering the secret, the spiritual energy in the array had risen to 96%. As the runes flowed, a figure holding a medicinal hoe appeared.

Poison Doctor descends, fighting poison with poison.

[System Notification: Toxic threat detected, triggering "Detoxification" type summoning.]

[Summonable Character: Cheng Lingsu]

[From: "Other Tales of the Flying Fox" world]

[Realm: Mid-stage Grandmaster]

[Martial Skill: Medicine King Canon (Master of all poisons in the world, can refine antidotes), Flying Needles (Poison-coated, specializes in breaking Protective True Qi)]

[Specialty: Poison Identification (Identify types of poison and their antidotes), Poison Refining (Can refine exotic poisons to restrain the Ten Thousand Poisons Cult)]

[Summoning Cost: 93% Spiritual Energy]

The summoning array erupted with emerald-green light, and Cheng Lingsu, dressed in a green shirt and carrying a medicine basket, stepped out from the light.

She curtsied to Jun Xiaoyao, her voice soft but with strength: "Cheng Lingsu greets the Young Lord. Having heard that some petty scoundrels are using poison to harm people, I am willing to share the burden for the Young Lord."

[Character Panel: Cheng Lingsu]

[Status: Standing by]

[Special Ability: Withering Grass (Can make vegetation within ten zhang wither, restrains poison-type Cultivation Techniques), seven star begonia (An exotic poison refined, no antidote)]

[Loyalty: 88%]

[Current Thought: Bone-Eroding Poison needs to be restrained with the nectar of the "seven star begonia"; the antidote can be refined within three days.]

"The Ten Thousand Poisons Cult has colluded with the Xuantian Sect to use Bone-Eroding Poison to harm living beings," Jun Xiaoyao pointed to the rotting corpses in the water mirror, "Go to the lair of the Ten Thousand Poisons Cult and leave them a 'gift'."

Cheng Lingsu nodded and took a purple begonia flower from her medicine basket, its petals gleaming with an eerie luster: "Young Lord, rest assured. This nectar of the seven star begonia will let them know what it means to reap what they sow."

Her figure flickered, and she disappeared from the Underground Palace, leaving only a faint floral fragrance behind.

Tianshu Pavilion broken, Prince in panic.

In the main view of the water mirror, The Net's "Heaven" rank group had already breached Tianshu Pavilion.

The Soul-Settling Daggers flashed with silver light in the hands of the assassins, specializing in breaking the guards' Protective Aura, and screams rose one after another.

The Third Prince's strategist was trying to escape through a secret passage but was pierced in the thigh by a Soul-Settling Dagger thrown by the group leader, pinning him to the stone wall.

"Where is the Third Prince?" The group leader stepped on the strategist's hand, holding a dagger to his throat.

The strategist's face twisted in pain, and he stuttered: "In... in the secret room at the top of the pavilion... in secret talks with the Ten Thousand Poisons Cult Master..."

The group leader stopped wasting words and took the assassins straight to the top of the pavilion.

In the secret room, the Third Prince was drinking with the Ten Thousand Poisons Cult Master. Seeing the assassins break in, he was so frightened that he dropped his wine cup: "How did you find this place?"

The Cult Master snorted coldly and struck out with a palm, the palm wind carrying thick poisonous gas.

The group leader was well prepared, waving the Soul-Settling Dagger to carve out a silver arc; the silver light on the dagger actually forced the poisonous gas back: "Ten Thousand Poisons Cult Master? Miss Cheng asked us to bring you a message—your Bone-Eroding Poison needs an upgrade."

The Cult Master's face changed drastically. He recognized the aura on the dagger was similar to the seven star begonia, and he turned to flee, but was pierced through the back of his heart by a Soul-Settling Dagger thrown by the group leader. The poison gas instantly backfired, and his body turned into a pool of pus.

The Third Prince slumped on the ground, looking at the tragedy before him, finally understanding what kind of existence he had provoked.

The group leader stepped forward and lifted his collar with the dagger: "The Young Lord has ordered: abolish your cultivation, demote you to a commoner, and you are never to step foot in the capital again for all eternity."

The dagger slashed across the Third Prince's Dantian, the excruciating pain of his spiritual energy dissipating making him scream, but he didn't even have the strength to resist.

Dust settles temporarily, undercurrents still surging.

In the Hanyue Valley Underground Palace, Jun Xiaoyao watched the scene of the Third Prince being taken away in the water mirror and nodded at Zhao Gao: "Let Shen Wansan take over the properties of Tianshu Pavilion, and give me a list of all the forces colluding with the Third Prince."

Zhao Gao bowed in agreement, his gaze falling on the "Tianshu" iron plate that Ouyezi had just forged—the iron plate had already been coated with the nectar of the seven star begonia by Cheng Lingsu, its surface glowing with a faint purple light, pulsing slightly as if it had a life of its own.

"Young Lord," Ouyezi wiped his sweat, "This iron plate has been infused with the scrap material of the Soul-Settling Daggers and refined by Miss Cheng's exotic poison. Now, not only can it command yin objects, but it can also numb the Meridians of any Martial Artist who approaches it; it can be called a divine weapon."

Jun Xiaoyao picked up the iron plate; it felt slightly heavy in his hand, and the cloud patterns on the plate's surface flowed under the light, reflecting the deep meaning in his eyes.

The Xuantian Sect's conspiracy, the remnants of the Ten Thousand Poisons Cult, and those Holy Lands hidden in the dark... this game of chess had only just begun.

The spiritual energy of the summoning array slowly recovered, and as the runes flickered, it seemed to be foreshadowing that a more powerful existence was about to descend.

Jun Xiaoyao placed the iron plate on the ice table, and the crisp sound of the iron plate colliding with the icy surface echoed in the silent Underground Palace, as if sounding the prelude to the next storm.

The wind of Hanyue Valley carried snowflakes that slapped against the window lattice.

In the water mirror, Marshal of the Unruly was still lurking in the secret passage of the Xuantian Sect, Cheng Lingsu had already appeared near the mountain gate of the Ten Thousand Poisons Cult, and General Qin Qiong was dragging the footsteps of the Capital Guard, making them unable to move an inch.

The Net belonging to Beyond Heaven was tightening.

And Jun Xiaoyao knew that only by capturing all those who coveted them in one net could the ice of Hanyue Valley truly reflect the glory of Beyond Heaven.