Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 983 - 983 0587 Where Is Emperor Jianwu_2

Chapter 983: Chapter 0587: Where Is Emperor Jianwu_2 Chapter 983: Chapter 0587: Where Is Emperor Jianwu_2 “Eunuch, you are truly the most esteemed person in Jianwu Palace, second only to the Prince. Your actions just now were so impressive,” someone couldn’t wait to start flattering.

With a slap, Su Jinghan sent the flatterer flying several meters away, cursing, “Worthless scum, when I was fighting for my life over there, not even sure if I would make it back alive, all of you were just standing around watching. Couldn’t you have helped me? Are you all hoping that I’d die sooner so the Prince would promote you to take my place? Let me tell you, don’t even dream of it! As long as I draw breath, none of you bastards are going to take my position.”

All the cultivators who had gathered around fell silent as a chill, their smiles turning even more sycophantic. At the same time, they instinctively moved away from Su Jinghan to avoid being the next recipient of his backhand slap.

Su Jinghan snorted coldly. He had no interest in nitpicking with these fools. He turned his head to Qi Tian and said, “Stick close, I will now take you to see the Prince.”

Qi Tian nodded, addressing Su Jinghan in a deep voice, “Then I must trouble Eunuch Su.”

Su Jinghan put away his folding fan, now that he had arrived at Jianwu Palace, where no one could pose a threat to him. He retrieved his whisk and held it with one hand, cradling it in the crook of his arm, resuming his elegant and awe-inspiring demeanor as the Chief Guard.

Su Jinghan led the way with Qi Tian following behind, and they stepped into Jianwu Palace one after the other.

The moment he entered Jianwu Palace, Qi Tian activated the Heavenly Dao Engine, starting to use its sensing abilities to sweep over the entire Jianwu Palace. He was hoping to determine whether the palace posed any danger to him. In simpler terms, he wanted to know if he was entering a dangerous place lying in wait.

Jianwu Palace was vast in area, several times larger than Zhao Shibo’s Prince Manor, spanning over 300 acres. However, when considered, it wasn’t that large, as neither its east-west length nor its north-south width exceeded a kilometer—this range was completely within the sensing capabilities of the Heavenly Dao Engine. The device could easily cover the entire Jianwu Palace, meticulously scanning and inspecting each edifice and corner, leaving no stone unturned.

Very soon, Qi Tian had confirmed many things through the three-dimensional images sent back by the Heavenly Dao Engine.

Firstly, there weren’t too many people in Jianwu Palace—just over three hundred but fewer than four hundred. The majority were male, with fewer females making up less than a quarter of the total population.

Secondly, among these people, there wasn’t a single Half-step Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, nor was there anyone in the Late-stage Gold Core Realm. Those with the highest cultivation levels were several at the Mid-stage Gold Core Realm, specifically Gold Core Stage Level 6 cultivators; they were the ones with the highest cultivations in Jianwu Palace.

To be honest, this outcome was somewhat unexpected for Qi Tian, exceeding his predictions. He had always thought that the six royal palaces of Eastern Capital City must have concentrated the top battle power of the Imperial Family Secret Territory as well as the highest cultivation realms. A few days ago, he had observed some aspects of Chaoyang Palace. After scanning it with the Heavenly Dao Engine’s Spirit Qi sensing capabilities, the results matched his expectations. Though there were no Half-step Nascent Soul cultivators, at least there were those in the Late-stage Gold Core Realm, like Yang Yongqi, who was very powerful. Yang had effortlessly forced back Wang Fengna, the deputy leader of the Eight Pill Alliance, a clear testament to her strength.

However, the situation in Jianwu Palace was significantly different from that of Chaoyang Palace. There were neither Half-step Nascent Soul cultivators nor those in the late stages of the Gold Core Realm. This was something Qi Tian had not anticipated.

Qi Tian discovered a third point: although there were no Half-step Nascent Soul cultivators or those in the late stages of the Gold Core Realm in Jianwu Palace, this didn’t mean that the palace was defenseless. On the contrary, Qi Tian found a multitude of forbidding spells and arrays deployed here—some defensive, others offensive; some independent, and some interconnected. Many were also intricately interlinked, numerous and complex, with many hidden so cunningly that one might easily trigger them by accident.

Those restrictions were extraordinarily powerful. Whether they were meant for defense or offense, each was no less formidable than those at the late stage of the Gold Core Realm. Several were of the Half-step Nascent Soul level. In other words, these prohibitive spells and arrays could bring about the demise of any Half-step Nascent Soul cultivator who stepped into them inadvertently. With these measures in place, it wasn’t accurate to say Jianwu Palace was impregnable, but at the very least, it was more than capable of self-defense and wasn’t vulnerable to being overrun entirely.

Qi Tian also discovered something else: There were over three hundred cultivators within Jianwu Palace. He noticed Spirit Qi fluctuations of Half-step Nascent Soul level artifacts on more than a dozen individuals. Additionally, he detected multiple Half-step Nascent Soul level artifacts within a location highly suggestive of a treasure vault. The total number of these artifacts was considerable, easily exceeding forty—an altogether daunting figure.

If one were to tally up all these Half-step Nascent Soul level artifacts, along with the numerous Half-step Nascent Soul-level restrictions and arrays placed throughout Jianwu Palace, the combined count exceeded sixty.

The presence of such a number of Half-step Nascent Soul-level entities within a mere royal palace was astounding to Qi Tian. He dared not contemplate the full extent across the entire Eastern Capital City—what staggering number of similar entities might be found within the whole area?

Aside from those kept in the treasure vault, the remaining Half-step Nascent Soul-level artifacts were distributed among a dozen individuals. Each of these people possessed at least two such artifacts, and some had as many as three or four.

Qi Tian attempted to determine Emperor Jianwu’s location by tracking these Half-step Nascent Soul-level artifacts but found himself puzzled that he couldn’t pinpoint it.

Common sense would dictate that as the lord of Jianwu Palace and a former emperor, Emperor Jianwu would attach particular importance to his own safety. This concern would undoubtedly manifest in his lavishing upon himself an abundance of Half-step Nascent Soul-level artifacts—while others might possess only one or two, his attire from head to toe should be replete with them, even featuring the finest among those artifacts, likely half a grade above what others would have.

Yet, to Qi Tian’s disappointment, using the tracking of Half-step Nascent Soul-level artifacts had not enabled him to locate Emperor Jianwu.

Qi Tian then shifted his approach. Since tracking artifacts was futile in locating Emperor Jianwu’s whereabouts, he would instead try to track down the cultivator’s strength to find him.

After entering Eastern Capital City, Qi Tian had gathered a lot of information through public channels regarding the imperial family and the various Princes. These resources distinctly stated that in each palace, the host Prince was always the strongest individual, generally also the person with the highest cultivation realm. It was understandable—what emperor wasn’t paranoid? Which one didn’t take extraordinary care of his own safety? Who would dare allow someone stronger than themselves to be close at hand?

Of course, it was possible with the use of Servant Pacts. However, Servant Pacts weren’t without their vulnerabilities; they could be broken. If someone were to tamper with it, and the emperor had not taken precautions against those under the influence of a Servant Pact, the consequences could be dire.