Cultivation by Trial and Error
Chapter 724: 717: Empress?

Chapter 724: Chapter 717: Empress?

In the mining district here, the Demon Palace has established four halls: Merit, Law Enforcement, Conquest, and Internal Affairs.

The hall masters of these four halls hold all significant powers within the territory of the mining district’s Demon Palace.

Man Li, in particular, is the hall master of the Conquest Hall.

The Demon Palace occupies most of the territory in the entire mining district, and if one were to speak of accomplishments, Man Li, as the hall master of Conquest, naturally claims the principal merit.

The Heavenly Mansion despises Man Li to the point of itching teeth, and they even issued a bounty with a large amount of merit points, posting the task of slaying Man Li.

Regrettably, this bounty, displayed on the walls of various institutions within the Heavenly Mansion, has been up for many years but has proved entirely ineffective.

After all, Man Li’s strength is overwhelming; in conflicts with the Heavenly Mansion, he single-handedly fought two Daluo Golden Immortals of equal rank and suppressed them to the point they were almost powerless to fight back.

“In this vast Primordial Land, the number of people who have ascended to Daluo is countless, but how many truly take a step further and achieve the status of Quasi-Saint?”

“Among the existing Quasi-Saints, most have ascended through the method of Corpse Cutting, but in this realm, how many Innate Spiritual Treasures can be found now to contain the Three Corpses?”

“If one cannot find Innate Spiritual Treasures to perform Corpse Cutting, one must prove the Tao through strength, a path fraught with thorns and arduousness. It’s just too hard, too hard!”

Man Li cast a helpless glance at Huang Dongming, took a deep sigh, and expressed his feelings.

Huang Dongming serves as one of the deacon officers of the Conquest Hall and is a staunch confidant of the hall master.

Although Man Li knew the recent praises were merely flattery, it still left him feeling somewhat pleased.

After expressing his feelings, he temporarily suppressed his melancholy and asked, “Dongming, any news about that large pair of scissors?”

“Hua Qing is generally reliable in his duties, but has it really taken this long for him to locate that item?”

Initially, Hua Qing was also one of Man Li’s close confidants.

However, when Man Li came to the mining district to assume his role as the hall master of the Conquest Hall, Hua Qing did not accompany him but stayed at the main Demon Palace.

Since he has never appeared in this territory of the mining district’s Demon Palace, making him relatively unfamiliar to their eyes, he accepted the task assigned by Man Li and was sent to infiltrate the Heavenly Mansion as a covert agent.

“Hall Master, Dongming has come to report to you precisely about this matter!”

“After some investigation over this period, Hua Qing has paid a price to finally clarify the whereabouts of the large scissors.”

“According to him, it seems the item is stored within the Merit Treasure Vault in the Enemy-breaking Camp.”

“While he hasn’t had the opportunity to enter the Merit Treasure Vault to see the item himself, he is more than seventy percent sure of the accuracy of this information.”

Huang Dongming stood erect, not allowing his gaze to wander, about seven to eight steps from Man Li, and respectfully reported the findings.

“The Merit Treasure Vault? The place is surrounded by thousands of people.”

“Even someone as powerful as me would hardly be able to retrieve the item undetected from there.”

“I understand; I need to plan thoroughly on how to acquire the item.”

“Notify our people to be on standby at all times; once I make a decision, I will inform you directly!”

Man Li knitted his brows and pondered for a while, then addressed Huang Dongming with his instructions.

“Very well, Hall Master. Take your time to consider; I shall take my leave now!” After bowing to Man Li and respectfully performing another ceremony, Huang Dongming turned and departed.

As his figure completely vanished from the training ground, Man Li flipped his hand, and a palm-sized copper mirror appeared in his grasp.

He blew a breath of clear air onto the mirror, and his fingers, like fleeting shadows, swiftly formed several seal gestures on the floating copper mirror.

The mirror, originally the size of a palm, suddenly enlarged with the wind.

Then, a supremely beautiful woman appeared in the mirror’s reflection, her head adorned with a phoenix crown and dressed in a purple palace dress, exuding an air of nobility.

“Your Majesty, the object you are looking for has been traced, and its location is approximately determined.”

“However, the place where it is located is too heavily guarded.”

“Even I cannot be completely confident of seizing that object!”

Man Li bowed respectfully to the woman in the bronze mirror.

As the Hall Master of one of the four halls of the Enemy-breaking Camp within the Mining District Heavenly Land, he held a high position and was definitely one of the top figures in the area.

Yet, now, in front of the woman in the bronze mirror, he appeared humble, head bowed.

Judging by his demeanor, he seemed to lack even the courage to look directly at the woman in the mirror.

“Finding the whereabouts of that object merits a note in your favor, Man Li.”

“In any endeavor, absolute certainty is rare. Once the object’s location is confirmed, do not hesitate; take action immediately!”

“Though there are people from the Heavenly Mansion watching me, making it unwise for me to act rashly, for that item, why shouldn’t I make a move!”

The woman in the mirror slowly spoke.

Her every move radiated an indescribable majestic grace that made it impossible for anyone to think of disrespecting her.

Her words were plain, yet they carried an undeniable authority; it seemed as though her words were an edict from her very lips.

“Since Your Majesty is willing to intervene, there could be nothing better.”

“I will prepare immediately and take action at the first opportunity; I will inform you then, Your Majesty!”

Man Li nodded, promptly responding to her.

The woman in the mirror sat high on a throne and did not say much more!

Her figure slowly faded until it completely disappeared.

With a ‘clang,’ the bronze mirror shrunk back to the size of a palm and fell onto the hard bluestone floor of the training area.

Man Li stepped forward and picked up the bronze mirror, carefully storing it away.

Then, his body flickered, and he vanished from sight.

…

In the Mining District Heavenly Land within the Enemy-breaking Camp, in a small courtyard just hundreds of meters away from the small mansion where Chen Hai and his squad were stationed.

“Captain Wu, Captain Wu…”

Chen Hai and Li Kuishan rushed into the courtyard, walked a round inside, calling out several times, but Wu Meng was nowhere to be found.

“What should we do? That damn Wu Meng isn’t here; did we come to the wrong place?”

“Impossible, I’m sure this is where Wu Meng lives; an hour ago I passed this place and saw him basking in the sun in this courtyard.”

“A lot can happen in an hour. Maybe he was here earlier, but that was an hour ago, who knows where he has gone?”

“With Wu Meng’s character, it’s unlikely he would wander off. How about we look around nearby?”

They discussed in low, serious tones.

They had been part of the Enemy-breaking Camp for over half a year, and through this time, they had come to know somewhat about Captain Wu Meng’s character.

In the words of Li Kuishan and Sun Tu, there was little respect left for Wu Meng; they usually just called him by his name.

It was only because they had to go through Wu Meng to claim their merits after completing assignments that their visit to this place was not merely a simple discussion.