Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1102 - 1102 0646 An Accidental Chain_2

Chapter 1102: Chapter 0646: An Accidental Chain_2 Chapter 1102: Chapter 0646: An Accidental Chain_2 Emperor Yonghe conveyed Qi Tian’s reaction to the other four princes. Seeing that Qi Tian had raised no objections to the plan they had devised, they could only carry it out temporarily. At the same time, they hastened to consolidate the power of the five imperial palaces and tried every means to gather intelligence regarding the whereabouts of Emperor Tian Rui and Qi Tian’s subordinates.

Time flew by, and before long, three days had passed. The whole Eastern Capital City remained calm, and Chaoyang Palace made no moves, with no news escaping its walls. This suggested that Chaoyang Palace was far more successful at rooting out traitors than Jianwu Palace and the other imperial palaces. It was impossible that Chaoyang Palace housed no spies, but whatever number they had must have been minimal and none deployed by any of the brothers. Otherwise, they would have received some internal information from Chaoyang Palace by now.

Emperor Jianwu and the other four princes were quite dismayed by this situation, but no matter how dismayed, there was nothing they could do. They had sent spies to Chaoyang Palace before and thought they had succeeded; occasionally, they did receive some intelligence from these spies. But now, receiving no news at all indicated that Emperor Chaoyang must have conducted a thorough purge internally, leaving none of their spies uncaught.

The five brothers had to console themselves by thinking that receiving no good news was the best news. They hoped to enter the Saint’s Tomb as soon as possible and, like Emperor Bahuang, find artifacts above the Half-step Nascent Soul level within. They could then equip themselves and their closest confidants with these powerful items, greatly enhancing their strength and giving them the capability to directly confront Chaoyang Palace. They would no longer need to act subservient as they had been; they could boldly face Chaoyang Palace head-on should any issue arise.

The five princes once again assembled before Qi Tian. Over the past three days, Qi Tian had repaired more than twenty Wolf Teeth Knives above the Half-step Nascent Soul level. Keeping the majority for himself, he distributed ten of the knives, giving two to each of the princes to carry on their persons. Of course, if they chose to give one to their personal guards, Qi Tian wouldn’t interfere—it was their prerogative.

After the Wolf Teeth Knives were distributed, Qi Tian began inquiring about the whereabouts of Emperor Tian Rui.

Emperor Jianwu replied promptly, “Master Qi, we’ve investigated thoroughly. Currently, Emperor Tian Rui has been in Xidu the entire time. Since entering into the Imperial Family Secret Territory, he has remained in closed-door cultivation. Except for the prince who granted him refuge, it’s impossible for anyone to see him. As for the three Mansion Masters of the National Master Manor who entered the secret territory alongside Emperor Tian Rui, they too are in secluded cultivation with him, and as of now, no one has seen them emerge. It seems they are in a life-or-death seclusion, unwilling to end it until they achieve a breakthrough.”

Qi Tian’s brow furrowed. One of his main purposes in entering the Imperial Family Secret Territory was to find the Mansion Master of the National Master Manor, Xiao Xiaowu. But now, Master Xiao was neither residing in the same town as him nor traveling outside, but rather, engaged in closed-door cultivation. This significantly increased the difficulty for Qi Tian to meet with Master Xiao, and at present, Qi Tian could not think of a way to arrange a quick meeting.

Putting that matter aside for the moment, Qi Tian decided to return to it when an opportunity presented itself. He immediately began to inquire about the situation of his subordinates.

This time, Emperor Bahuang responded, “Master Qi, over these three days, we have dispatched a large number of men to scour the entire Imperial Family Secret Territory for information about your subordinates. Regrettably, up to this point, we have received no useful information. In fact, we haven’t even heard rumors of anyone seeing them. It seems they vanished upon entering the Imperial Family Secret Territory, and their whereabouts are unknown to all.”

Qi Tian found it hard to believe. After a moment’s thought, he knew Emperor Bahuang wouldn’t dare deceive him on this matter, so what he said must be true: they had indeed not found any traces of Zhao Haiying and the others. However, this didn’t mean they had disappeared upon entering the Imperial Family Secret Territory; perhaps they had hidden somewhere.

Qi Tian thought for a while and then took out a Sound Transmission Talisman. After folding it into a Message Paper Crane, he released it, letting the Message Paper Crane search for the whereabouts of Zhao Haiying and the others on its own.

However, to Qi Tian’s surprise, he released several Message Paper Cranes in succession, but not a single one flew out from his side. Each Message Paper Crane, after taking off from his palm, simply flapped its wings symbolically, flew a short distance in the air, and then fell to the ground.

There was only one explanation for this situation: the Message Paper Cranes could not locate Zhao Haiying and the others. This was very unusual because, as one of the most commonly used communication tools in the Cultivation World, Message Paper Cranes had a very large sensing range. They were like homing pigeons; even if separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, as long as the recipient was within the delivery range of the Message Paper Crane, it could normally take off. Unless something unexpected happened, it could accurately deliver the message to the recipient’s hands. But now, with the Message Paper Cranes falling to the ground just after taking off, it might really be as Emperor Bahuang had said—Zhao Haiying and the others had disappeared.

This result was hard for Qi Tian to accept, but the fact was that there was nothing he could do even if he wished to send a message. Left with no choice, he had to put the matter aside for now and wait for new clues to emerge before saying anything else.

Emperor Jianwu, Emperor Bahuang, Emperor Yonghe, and the other Princes felt very embarrassed. Qi Tian had given them plenty of time, yet they failed to accomplish either of the two tasks, which made them feel somewhat incompetent. At the same time, it made them deeply realize that they had never been omnipotent within the Imperial Family Secret Territory.

Qi Tian said, “Since we are temporarily unable to find Emperor Tian Rui, I will have to shelve these matters for now. Let’s focus our efforts and head to the Saint’s Tomb first. Princes, have you all integrated your forces?”

Emperor Jianwu said, “Master Qi, I have everything ready on my side. Including myself, this time, my Jianwu Palace will dispatch 30 people in total. Each one is an elite soldier with strong skills, and none of them are below the 4th Level of the Gold Core Stage; all are at the mid-stage and late-stage of the Gold Core Realm. Additionally, we have made ample preparations for supplies. We can assure you that once we arrive at the Saint’s Tomb, my Jianwu Palace will absolutely not become a burden to you but will definitely be one of your best assistants.”

Qi Tian said, “Prince, you being able to spare thirty people to come shows your recognition of the importance of our expedition to the Saint’s Tomb; I want to specifically commend you for that.”

Emperor Bahuang, Emperor Wenzhi, and Emperor Yonghe, upon hearing this, cast envious glances at Emperor Jianwu. To be a mere Immortal Slave and yet able to receive the master’s praise was indeed an enviable thing for the other Immortal Slaves.

Qi Tian continued, “Thirty people coming out is equivalent to bringing out all of the strongest forces from Jianwu Palace. Are you sure doing this won’t threaten the safety of Jianwu Palace? I don’t want us to return from the Saint’s Tomb only to discover that the Jianwu Palace has been overtaken.”

Emperor Jianwu said, “Rest assured, Master Qi, I have left enough personnel behind. Although none of them are particularly powerful, none are particularly weak either. Relying on the Killing Arrays and other Defense Magic Arrays that I have left in Jianwu Palace, holding out for a considerably long time should pose no problems. Of course, if the unfortunate occurs and Jianwu Palace is taken over in my absence, I will accept that. I believe that when I return from the Saint’s Tomb, it will be the time for me to reclaim and rebuild Jianwu Palace.”