Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 985 - 985 0588 The Terrifying Emperor Jianwu_2

Chapter 985: Chapter 0588: The Terrifying Emperor Jianwu_2 Chapter 985: Chapter 0588: The Terrifying Emperor Jianwu_2 Qi Tian had not waited long outside the Diligent Government Hall before Su Jinghan emerged from within. This time, Su Jinghan did not descend the stairs; instead, he stood just outside the hall’s grand entrance, overlooking Qi Tian from his elevated position on the stairs and called out loudly, “The Prince decrees an audience with Qi Tian.”

Qi Tian promptly followed the steps and quickly arrived in front of Su Jinghan.

In a low voice, Su Jinghan said, “Follow me, Qi Tian, I will take you inside.”

Qi Tian followed Su Jinghan into the Diligent Government Hall, one after the other. Outside the hall, the sunlight was bright and full of vitality, but the moment Qi Tian stepped into the Diligent Government Hall, he couldn’t help but shiver. The hall was exceedingly gloomy; it lacked any significant light sources. It wasn’t quite pitch black, yet it was difficult to see clearly, and the temperature was also quite low. Qi Tian estimated it was close to freezing. Moreover, the chill was not merely physical but seemed to penetrate psychologically, leaving one feeling utterly devoid of warmth, as if one were standing within the Shura Hall itself.

The Diligent Government Hall was spacious, approximately five hundred square meters, and very open. Using the Heavenly Dao Engine’s sensing abilities for Spirit Qi, Qi Tian scanned the interior of the hall once more. To his astonishment, he found the hall completely devoid of life, other than himself and Su Jinghan—there was no third person.

As Qi Tian was scanning his surroundings with the Heavenly Dao Engine, a clang resounded from behind him. The grand doors of the Diligent Government Hall had silently shut. Already dim, with the doors now closed, the interior became pitch black to the point of being unable to see one’s hands before oneself.

A sense of dread immediately rose in Qi Tian’s heart; the closed doors were surely not a good sign.

Just then, Su Jinghan halted his stride. Clasping his dust whisk, he bent forward and said, “My Prince, as commanded, I have brought Qi Tian before you.”

No sooner had Su Jinghan finished speaking than a somewhat aged voice echoed within the hall, “Let him come closer. I wish to take a good look at him.”

Turning to Qi Tian, Su Jinghan instructed, “Master Qi, step forward.”

Qi Tian knew that nothing he said would matter at that moment. Despite the tension and excitement in his heart, he began moving his feet forward. His pace was not fast, but also not slow, maintaining a normal rhythm and speed. After walking a few steps, Qi Tian stopped and asked, “Eunuch Su, may I stop here?”

Su Jinghan replied, “Continue forward.”

Qi Tian could only continue walking forward and took about a dozen or so steps more before that elderly voice rang out again. “Stop there.”

Qi Tian halted, releasing the Heavenly Dao Engine’s Spirit Qi sensing capability once more, attempting to detect the presence of a third person in the great hall. Regrettably, he still found nothing.

Then the aged voice spoke again, “So you are Qi Tian?”

Qi Tian replied, “Indeed, I am Qi Tian. Are you Emperor Jianwu?”

The aged voice responded, “Correct, I am Emperor Jianwu. I ask you, I have resided in the Imperial Family Secret Territory for nearly five hundred years, and though I wouldn’t say that I know the territory like the back of my hand, I do know the various powers within it, their scales, and the main techniques they practice. I can be certain that among all these powers, none has the ability to awaken latent potential in others. Qi Tian, enlighten me: which power did you and your companion hail from? Who was the founder of that power? Where does it hold sway?”

Qi Tian remained silent, unable to answer any of the questions posed by Emperor Jianwu. He replied, “I’m truly sorry, Your Highness, but when I descended the mountain, my Sect had a clear command: under no circumstances, against any individual, were we allowed to divulge the slightest piece of information about our Sect.”

Emperor Jianwu laughed heartily, “I knew you would answer like this. In my view, it’s not that you’re constrained by your Sect’s orders from revealing any information, but rather that you lack the courage to tell me where you really come from. Qi Tian, if I’m not mistaken, you are not from the Imperial Family Secret Territory. You must come from the outside, am I right? Your elaborate plans to approach my son have but one goal: as an intruder, you’re completely ignorant of the exit to the Imperial Family Secret Territory, and so you’ve set your sights on my son, to find the territory’s exit through him—correct?”

Deep inside, Qi Tian was startled, yet he kept his composure. He spoke calmly, “Your Highness, you wrong me.”

Emperor Jianwu snorted coldly, “Whether I’ve wronged you or not, I’m aware. All your words and explanations are futile. Qi Tian, I’ll ask you another question: how many of you intruded into this place altogether? Besides you, Gao Jinmei, and Xia Xiaoming, who else is there? Where are they? Why aren’t they with you?”

Qi Tian remained silent.

Emperor Jianwu continued, “No matter, if you refuse to speak, I have my ways to make you talk. But before I make you speak, I have another matter to resolve.”

Qi Tian could sense Emperor Jianwu’s determination in his words and his heart tightened. He raised his guard to the extreme, wary that Emperor Jianwu might suddenly attack. Before entering Jianwu Palace, Qi Tian had wondered if he had been exposed, but he hadn’t expected Emperor Jianwu to be so straightforward, so mercilessly exposing his purpose without giving him any chance to explain.

Just then, Qi Tian suddenly felt a fierce Spirit Force fluctuation from somewhere inside the hall. He immediately scanned the area with the sensing function of the Heavenly Dao Engine. The Heavenly Dao Engine was incredibly fast in activating this function, but Qi Tian realized that something was even faster than the engine. The moment the Spirit Force fluctuation appeared, before the Heavenly Dao Engine could relay any information back to Qi Tian, that Spirit Force coalesced into a giant hand and aggressively reached for Qi Tian.

The hand moved with incredible speed, swift as lightning, and it exuded a powerful force. The moment it appeared, it generated such a formidable pressure that it left Qi Tian gasping for air, struggling to move.

In an instant, the hand reached Qi Tian and grabbed him firmly, clamping down like an eagle seizing a chick, giving Qi Tian no chance to struggle.

Emperor Jianwu’s voice rose again, “Qi Tian, tell me the truth: have you disguised yourself? I can feel that your body is significantly younger than the age you appear to be. Just how old are you in bone years? Over thirty or over twenty?”

Qi Tian struggled desperately against the giant hand that had gripped him tightly. He could feel that the hand was not real; it was formed by Emperor Jianwu through Great Divine Ability, composed entirely of surging Spirit Force, which was exceedingly solid and resilient, not something that could be easily shaken by external forces. However, dealing with a hand made purely of Spirit Force was relatively easy for Qi Tian. At the moment, though, he still had reservations; Emperor Jianwu had easily restrained him, yet he was still unclear as to Emperor Jianwu’s whereabouts. This put Qi Tian in a very passive position. Even if he could destroy the hand, he would be unable to change the fact that he was at a tremendous disadvantage, so he needed to wait for the right opportunity to act. If he acted now, he was almost certain he wouldn’t have any hope of escaping.