In a secret underground chamber of the Shadow Guard Chief’s mansion.
Zheng Zhicang sat cross-legged in the center of a complex Top Level Mortal Array. The array was drawn on the floor with dark red Cinnabar in strange, twisted lines. In the middle of it lay a palm-sized Bronze Mirror.
The mirror’s surface was murky, but a faint light shimmered within it. It was a Top Level Mortal Artifact, or more precisely, a Half-Spiritual Artifact touched by a hint of Spirituality.
Suddenly, the mirror’s surface rippled.
A blurry image flashed across its surface. Inside the Celestial Eye Pavilion, Sun Wuyang was frowning at a name list, lost in thought. Then, he stood up and began flipping through scrolls. He walked to a window, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes...
The vision lasted for only three short breaths before vanishing, but the gist was clear enough.
Zheng Zhicang slowly opened his eyes, a complex emotion flashing within them.
This Half-Spiritual Artifact was one of the Shadow Guard’s most valued treasures, capable of monitoring specific locations. The headquarters of the Divine Capture Sect was one such place, which meant Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang was naturally under surveillance.
’Divine Constable Sun, you actually suspect that elder Crown Prince?’ Zheng Zhicang muttered to himself, a hint of surprise in his voice. He had no idea that the elder Crown Prince and Lord Emperor were one and the same.
However, given the elder Crown Prince’s peculiar circumstances, he decided to add this information to his report and pass it along to Lord Emperor later.
The sun shone brightly outside, and the old locust tree in the courtyard was lush with leaves, casting a dappled pattern of light and shadow on the ground.
Zheng Zhicang stood before the window, thinking about what he had just seen in the mirror.
He was well aware of Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang’s capabilities.
The greatest Divine Constable of a century ago, he was a man of Extraordinary Talent and a meticulous mind. His Celestial Eyes could see through all falsehoods, and he had solved an untold number of major cases.
If he truly set his heart on investigating someone, he was almost guaranteed to uncover something.
’But the one in Wenhua Hall is already in such a state. Could there really be something more to it?’
’Forget it, I won’t dwell on it. I’ll just report the matter to Lord Emperor. As for that old fellow in the Eastern Palace, it would be wise to keep an eye on him from now on.’
Xia Wuyang, for his part, had never expected that Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang would actually discover something. He had even arrived at an astounding conclusion: that the elder Crown Prince might be the Great Xia’s greatest traitor, and was preparing to investigate him in secret.
At that very moment, he was sitting on a plush divan in Wenhua Hall, a new Cat Girl in his arms, listening to music and drinking wine. His cloudy old eyes reflected the gradually setting sun, and his face was a picture of bliss.
It was as if he were completely oblivious to the approaching storm.
The brief coolness of the day gave way to the sultry heat of night. The air grew so thick and humid it felt like you could wring water from it, and the discomfort was palpable.
The surface of Taiye Pool was as still as a mirror, reflecting the scattered points of light from the palace lanterns. They looked like the drowsy, dormant eyes of creatures lurking in the depths, lending the scene a somber, lifeless air.
The drone of the cicadas had long since faded, replaced by the incessant, grating chirps of crickets in the grass. Their calls rose and fell in a restless clamor, only adding to the oppressive feeling in the air.
Inside the Practice Room in Wenhua Hall, the cool, constant glow of a Luminous Pearl seemed capable of dispelling all worldly troubles.
Xia Wuyang had just completed a cycle of cultivation with the River Scripture, further stabilizing his Cultivation Foundation.
An eight-kilometer-long, azure Spiritual Vein flowed slowly through his Dantian Void, his True Qi abundant and vigorous. Each cycle made his Foundation a fraction more solid and deepened his body’s adaptability to the power.
He slowly concluded his practice. The starlight in his eyes receded, replaced by a profound calm. His face held no trace of the senility or greed he usually displayed.
A small bird appeared at the Practice Room’s window, tapping lightly on the pane.
A small paper scroll, rolled into a thin tube, lay on the windowsill. Xia Wuyang took it and unfurled it. His gaze swept over the brief report written in code by Zheng Zhicang, his eyes quickly settling on one line.
"Sun suspicious. Investigating old retainers. Watching Eastern Palace..."
The calligraphy was neat, no different from any other message. It was clear that the Shadow Guard Chief, Zheng Zhicang, still didn’t know his true identity. However, because of Celestial Eye Sun Wuyang’s investigation and suspicions, he was clearly beginning to have some doubts of his own.
Xia Wuyang held the slip of paper to a candle flame, watching as it curled, blackened, and turned into a wisp of ash that scattered into nothingness.
’Sun Wuyang... Celestial Eye...’ he murmured the name, the corner of his mouth curling into a semblance of a smile. ’I wasn’t planning to do anything to him, but I didn’t expect him to be so determined to seek his own demise.’
’The greatest Divine Constable of a century ago really lives up to his name. He’s quite capable.’
’Even through all the misdirection and "ironclad" evidence, he still managed to sniff out that something was wrong. He turned his gaze toward the Eastern Palace, a place almost everyone has forgotten, and even started making connections about the mysterious aid the old retainers of the Crown Prince’s Mansion have been receiving.’
’His suspicions might be aimed in the wrong direction, but they’ve landed on me nonetheless.’
’Such sharp instincts, such persistence... as an enemy, he’s certainly a troublesome one. A real headache.’
’A pity he’s figured it out too late. I’ve already come into my power.’
Xia Wuyang rose and walked to an inconspicuous panel on the wall, pressing a hidden switch.
The panel slid open to reveal a hidden compartment containing several sets of clothes, all of them frequently used.
He took out a set of jet-black martial attire. The fabric was a specially made Shadow Brocade, incredibly valuable down to the last thread.
It was not only light and durable but also absorbed light to an incredible degree, rendering its wearer virtually invisible in the darkness. It was the perfect material for Night Clothes.
He then took out a Human Skin Mask as thin as a cicada’s wing, and a black Wind Hat with an attached veil to better conceal his identity.
His Disguise was applied with incredible speed. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the reflection in the mirror was no longer that of the withered, aged elder Crown Prince, but a middle-aged man with a grim face and eyes as deep as a Cold Pool.
His features were plain and unremarkable, making him look utterly ordinary.
He was the type of person who would disappear in a crowd. Only his eyes, with their occasional flashes of azure starlight and crystalline light, betrayed a hint of the extraordinary.
This was the other identity he had prepared for himself—Lord Emperor—a persona he had been using for a long time now.
The title was audacious, its ambition self-evident.
’After being humiliated for so many years, cowering like a rat, my wings have finally fledged. It is time to let this world know who its true master is.’
The night was deep, and midnight was approaching.
Xia Wuyang pushed open a hidden door on the far side of the Practice Room, a secret entrance almost no one knew existed.
Beyond it lay a long, narrow secret passage. The walls were damp and covered in moss, and the tunnel was in a state of slight disrepair.
It had clearly been built many years ago—a long-abandoned servant’s passage once used exclusively by eunuchs and Palace Maids.
He knew this passage like the back of his hand; he could have walked it with his eyes closed. Back when the Crown Prince’s Mansion was at its zenith, he had used these kinds of tunnels for many a secret affair.
His figure was like a phantom as he glided silently through the darkness, moving as though he didn’t exist at all.
His Mental Force Field expanded, its Spiritual Threads spreading like an invisible web for hundreds of meters down the passage in both directions. The presence of any living thing could not escape his perception.
Everything was reflected with perfect clarity upon his Heart Lake.

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