Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1062 - 1062 0626 Prince Gifts_2

Chapter 1062: Chapter 0626: Prince Gifts_2 Chapter 1062: Chapter 0626: Prince Gifts_2 Qi Tian, satisfied, collected the Wolf Teeth Knives, affixing them to his person and treasuring them all within the Heavenly Dao Engine, ensuring they were in a state where they could be activated at any moment. Thus, when he encountered powerful adversaries, he could instantly hurl them out, posing a lethal threat to his enemies.

After preparing, Qi Tian looked at the other Wolf Teeth Knives, intending to repair some of the relatively lower quality ones. Once repaired, he planned to divide them into two parts: one for his own use, and the other to give to Gao Jinmei and Xia Xiaoming for their use.

As his Immortal Slaves, Qi Tian also had to figure out ways to ensure they had more life-saving methods. When giving them artifacts of Half-step Nascent Soul level, he might need to consider additional factors, but when bestowing these Wolf Teeth Knives, there were far fewer concerns.

Just as Qi Tian picked up the discarded Wolf Teeth Knives to begin repairs, Gao Jinmei suddenly knocked on the grand doors of the palace.

“Master, an envoy from Emperor Yonghe has arrived, stating that they’ve come to congratulate you on your advancement to the Gold Core Stage, bringing a celebratory gift. The gift is a staff of Half-step Nascent Soul level, would you like to come out and see it?”

What?

Qi Tian was somewhat incredulous, hardly able to believe his ears. Someone was sending him a congratulatory gift, and it was an envoy sent by Emperor Yonghe? Even more bizarre was the fact that the gift was a weapon of Half-step Nascent Soul level. Every aspect of this event was unfathomably strange.

Apart from Jianwu Palace and Huoyang Palace, the least likely among the remaining four of the Five Great Palaces of the Eastern Capital City to send him a gift would be Emperor Chaoyang, followed by Emperor Yonghe. During the joint assault on Jianwu Palace by the Five Great Palaces, Emperor Yonghe had tacitly allowed his consort, Shi Yongqing, to participate in the siege, resulting in Emperor Jianwu employing a Killing Array to blast Shi Yongqing to death. Emperor Jianwu and Emperor Yonghe could be said to have sworn a deadly feud that seemed impossible to resolve. Given these circumstances, how could Emperor Yonghe possibly be sending him a congratulatory gift?

Furthermore, very few knew of Qi Tian’s shortage of suitable weapons and armor, aside from Emperor Jianwu and the Huoyang Emperor, the only others privy to this were the confidants of the two princes. They had no reason to divulge this matter to outsiders, implying that if Emperor Yonghe were to send him a gift, it could have been anything, but to send precisely the Half-step Nascent Soul level weapon that he needed most was a bit too coincidental.

After a brief contemplation, Qi Tian put away the Wolf Teeth Knives he was preparing to repair and opened the grand doors of the palace, inquiring, “Where is Emperor Yonghe’s envoy?”

Behind Gao Jinmei, stood two figures: one was Hu Tianyu, and the other, a familiar face to Qi Tian, was the Chief Guard of Huoyang Palace, Li Mijia.

Upon Qi Tian’s question, Li Mijia hastily bowed his head and bent at the waist, respectfully saying, “Master Qi, the envoy from Yonghe Palace is currently outside the gates of Jianwu Palace. Lord Jianwu and Lord Huoyang, upon learning of his intentions, sent me to report to you. The two princes said that whether to meet with this envoy and whether to accept the envoy’s gift is entirely up to you.”

With a chuckle, Qi Tians showed no haste in deciding, but looked at Li Mijia with a beaming smile. “Isn’t that Chief Li? We meet again.”

Li Mijia promptly kneeled on the ground, throwing himself at Qi Tian’s feet and pleading, “Master Qi, previously it was I, blind as a dog, who offended you, and here I am to apologize. Whether you choose to beat or scold me, I accept my fate, but please, Master Qi, spare my dog’s life. I’ve served my prince for over two hundred years and wish to continue serving him for another two hundred. Please grant me this opportunity.”

Qi Tian extended a foot, pressing it on Li Mijia’s shoulder and with a slight push sent him tumbling away. Li Mijia rolled on the ground but quickly scrambled up, continuing to kowtow and admit his wrongs to Qi Tian.

Qi Tian said, “Now, since your prince and Lord Jianwu are allies, I won’t pursue the matter of your offense against me. However, Chief Li, let me remind you that this time I am overlooking it because of Lord Huoyang’s face. Next time, should such an incident recur, don’t blame me for not being polite.”

Li Mijia hastily replied, “This servant will remember, and will definitely not forget the teaching you granted me today, Master Qi. It will always be kept in mind.”

Qi Tian gave a grunt, feeling that Li Mijia posed no threat to him any longer. If Qi Tian deemed it necessary, he could have Li Mijia’s head chopped off in no time at all. There was no rush to settle accounts with Li Mijia now; after all, one has to give face to the Huoyang Emperor in respect to the old saying about respecting the Buddha for the monk’s sake.

Qi Tian inquired, “Why exactly has Emperor Yonghe sent an envoy?”

Li Mijia hurriedly replied, “None of us are quite clear about this matter. Neither Lord Jianwu nor my lord, the Prince, mentioned hosting a celebratory banquet for you, nor have you commanded us to celebrate for you. Somehow, Emperor Yonghe has sent someone over with a gift box, claiming it to be a congratulatory gift for your ascension to the Gold Core Realm. I was worried that Emperor Yonghe was toying with you, so I personally opened the gift box to inspect it and found that it truly contained a Half-step Nascent Soul level club-class weapon. Not knowing how to handle the situation, I reported it to both princes, who then sent me promptly to find you and have you personally deal with the matter.”

“Where is the gift box?” Qi Tian asked.

Without delay, Li Mijia retrieved the gift box from his Storage Bag and presented it with both hands to Qi Tian.

Qi Tian didn’t reach out to take it and instead asked, “Where’s the envoy sent by Emperor Yonghe?”

“The envoy is still outside the gates of Jianwu Palace. Fearing that he might harbor ill intentions, I’ve had someone watch him, monitoring his every move. He has been instructed not to leave until you give an order,” said Li Mijia.

Qi Tian stated, “Chief Li, you have been at the side of Lord Huoyang for over two hundred years and must have seen plenty of turmoil. Tell me, do you find anything odd about Emperor Yonghe’s gift-giving? And another thing, why would he send me a club-class weapon instead of anything else? Don’t you think this coincidence is a bit too convenient?”

Li Mijia answered, “Master Qi, I’ve thought about all that you mentioned. Whatever you have in mind, just say the word, and I will go immediately to see to it. If it is beyond my capability, I will report it to the princes right now so they can decide. With the princes taking charge, your matter will surely be well attended to.”

Qi Tian instructed, “Have both princes thoroughly investigate this matter. I suspect there is an internal traitor within Jianwu Palace or Huoyang Palace. Otherwise, Yonghe Palace could not have learnt so quickly that I am in need of a club-class weapon. Tell the princes to act quickly; without rooting out the traitor, Jianwu Palace can never be truly secure. Once the new prohibitions and arrays are established in Jianwu Palace, if the traitor leaks the array diagrams, what security can Jianwu Palace have?”

Li Mijia nodded rapidly and said, “Master Qi, rest assured, I will convey your words to the princes without fail.”

Only then did Qi Tian nod, finally taking the gift box from Li Mijia. He did not rush to open the box; instead, he first used the Spirit Qi sensing function of the Heavenly Dao Engine to inspect the gift box.

Qi Tian did not believe for a moment that Emperor Yonghe would have any good intentions toward him. At a time like this, for Emperor Yonghe to send him a weapon he desperately needed—there was something highly abnormal about it. Qi Tian had every reason to suspect that Emperor Yonghe might have tampered with the weapon, and he needed to dig out and eliminate this hidden danger. The last thing he wanted was for the weapon to self-destruct or become defective while he was using it—that would indeed be a disaster.