Chapter 324 - 315: Heirloom Magical Artifact, the Yansheng Demon Blade

Chapter 324: Chapter 315: Heirloom Magical Artifact, the Yansheng Demon Blade

"Y-You... let go of me first!"

Helian struggled desperately in Fu Juemin’s grasp. At first, she was furious, but when she realized she couldn’t break free no matter what, her tone softened, and her eyes even held a hint of weak pleading.

Fu Juemin released his grip. Since she had dared to come, he wasn’t worried she would run.

Breaking free from Fu Juemin’s control, Helian straightened her clothes, her expression quickly returning to its usual cold pride.

She didn’t speak to Fu Juemin. Instead, her gaze swept over the crowd in the hall. With a flip of her hand, a Profound Gold Color token appeared in her pale palm.

"Profound Banner Helers, in the presence of Prince Lv!"

The crowd in the hall went from bewildered to stunned, and then they all fell to their knees.

Helian glanced at the two corpses on the floor and said expressionlessly, "These two dared to impersonate Royal Banner Envoys. Their deaths are of no consequence."

Her gaze shifted, landing on Mu Tingzhou. "You. You have rendered a great service by capturing the villains!"

"Me?"

Mu Tingzhou pointed to his own nose, so overjoyed he nearly fainted.

"As for the rest... handle it yourselves..."

After giving some hasty instructions, Helian leaned close to Fu Juemin and whispered, "You, come with me."

With that, she quickly led Fu Juemin out of the hall.

After the two had left, the vast hall fell silent for several long seconds before the quiet was shattered by a burst of smug, wild laughter.

"HA! HA! HA!"

Mu Tingzhou scrambled up from the floor, planted his hands on his hips, and roared with laughter at the sky. Between laughs, he spoke to Mu Feng beside him, "Dad, did you see that?

Not only did the Spirit Lord praise me, but even Prince Lv of the Profound Banner says I’m capable!"

"I saw."

Mu Feng nodded with a smile.

After the day’s events, the future, which had been murky and uncertain, suddenly seemed bright.

Even his good-for-nothing son before him now seemed pleasing to the eye, no matter how he looked at him.

As for the Ning and Cha Families, they stood frozen in place, their minds blank.

Profound Banner, Helers!

’That man actually has the Profound Banner backing him?!’

’In other words, this whole affair is actually being orchestrated by the Profound Banner, one of the Upper Three Banners!’

’They even killed men from the Royal Banner without a second thought. The rebellion must be real.’

’And our two families have just foolishly boarded this pirate ship?’

’Now that our "rebellion" has been legitimized, does this mean we have to officially throw ourselves into the grand and glorious enterprise of open revolt??’

Ning Yuan, Chaha Shuo, and the others felt their heads spin. It took them a long time to recover from the series of shocks and impacts.

It wasn’t until Mu Tingzhou roared, "Men! Tie up that old bastard Yan for me!

You treacherous old fool, did you think my slaps weren’t hard enough?"

Amidst Yan Huai’an’s terrified screams, the group finally sprang into action.

「...」

Outside Yan Mansion, a carriage was already waiting in a back alley.

Fu Juemin followed Helian into the carriage.

Inside the enclosed, not-too-spacious carriage, Helian sat opposite Fu Juemin. A faint, elegant fragrance wafted from her, continuously drifting into Fu Juemin’s nose.

He glanced at Helian instinctively, but she refused to look at him, maintaining a sour expression the entire time.

Before long, the carriage came to a stop.

"Get out."

Helian coldly ordered Fu Juemin out of the carriage.

After alighting, Fu Juemin found they had arrived before a secluded teahouse.

Helian walked into the teahouse without a backward glance. It looked ordinary from the outside, but the interior was decorated with considerable elegance, and there were very few customers.

As they went upstairs, Helian led the way. Stepping onto the stairs, she lowered her voice and said, "I’m seriously warning you... don’t you ever grab me by the neck again!"

Perhaps because they were on the Profound Banner’s turf, the woman’s courage had returned.

Fu Juemin gave her some face and nodded readily. "Fine."

In the time it took to speak, they reached the second floor.

They walked down the second-floor corridor, finally stopping before a private room with a small plaque bearing the character "Profound" on its door.

Helian was about to step forward and knock when, at that very moment, an inexplicable tremor shot through Fu Juemin’s heart!

It felt like a jolt of electricity in his soul, a cold current running down his spine—a warning from his Martial Artist’s instinct that he had been locked onto by a powerful, unknown threat.

Fu Juemin raised his hand instinctively!

"SMACK!"

Helian, who had already raised her hand to knock, was yanked back by an invisible force, landing squarely in Fu Juemin’s grasp!

Clutching Helian like a baby chick, Fu Juemin stood calmly before the door, silently meeting the gaze of some presence within.

"You..."

In his grasp, Helian frantically beat his arm, both anxious and furious, her beautiful eyes practically shooting fire.

"Oh, my apologies."

Fu Juemin snapped out of it and released his grip, his tone flat. "I get like this when I’m nervous. It’s a habit, needing to hold onto something.

It definitely won’t happen again."

Helian glared at him, grinding her teeth. She looked like she wanted to hit him, but in the end, she swallowed her anger, turned back with a resentful expression, and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

A calm, gentle voice came from within.

Pushing the door open, Helian was the first to speak. "Prince."

Fu Juemin stepped into the room and saw a man sitting in the center, his head bowed as he fiddled with a tea set before him.

The man was dressed as a Manchus, wearing a Profound Robe embroidered with several baring-fanged, brandishing-clawed golden dragons. He appeared to be in his forties and was rather handsome, possessing the air of someone long accustomed to a high position.

There were two teacups in front of the man: one was his own, and the other was clearly prepared for Fu Juemin.

Fu Juemin casually sized up the man, but his gaze immediately shifted to a corner of the private room.

A person stood there, completely merged with the shadows of the corner. No light reached them, and their features were indiscernible. He could only feel their ghostly gaze fixed upon him.

Behind this person, countless black, living tentacles seemed to be writhing and spreading out in the shadows.

This was the person who had given Fu Juemin that sense of threat and trepidation earlier.

’The Upper Three Banners each harbor a Peak expert from the Heart Demon Barrier, a First Grade Great Demon who has undergone dirt-loading. In a real fight, they’re not much different from a regular Grandmaster.’

Looking at the man before him, the words Hong Huan had once said to him flashed through Fu Juemin’s mind.

’A Peak of Heart Intent... who has undergone dirt-loading?’

Fu Juemin thought to himself, slowly retracting his gaze and refocusing on the man in the Profound Robe before him.

"This is my lord, Prince Lv of the Helers, the current Banner Lord of the Profound Banner," Helian introduced him from the side, her tone icy.

"Sit."

The man looked up, gesturing with a smile for Fu Juemin to sit. He then pushed a freshly poured cup of tea toward him.

Fu Juemin sat down directly and casually raised the cup to drink.

But just then, the man began to speak.

"Fu Lingjun. You blew up the Six Nations embassy in Shenghai, killed the Xin Republic’s Southern Country envoy and a host of Shenghai’s nouveau riche, ended up on the Xin Republic’s wanted list, and caused a huge disturbance at the Jianghai Defense Command...

That down-and-out Imperial Consort Xi recently sent a few of her subordinates from Toad Palace to Shenghai, looking for some treasure map left by the Last Emperor. In the end, every last one of them died, and she even lost her one and only precious Toad Demon. It’s hilarious.

That map, and the Dirt-Loading Method engraved on it... you’re the one who got them, aren’t you..."

Fu Juemin lowered the teacup he had been holding.

He looked at the man before him and said, "You’ve been investigating me?"

The man smiled. "A Spirit Lord with astonishing methods who dares to pluck the Royal Banner’s tiger whiskers suddenly appears in Yingjing City. Naturally, I had to investigate your identity and origins.

Don’t you agree that makes sense?

Drink your tea."

The man raised his cup to Fu Juemin, the jadeite thumb ring on his left hand rolling gently on the tabletop.

"Since you’ve investigated so thoroughly," Fu Juemin said nonchalantly, playing with the cup in his hand, "can we get on with it?"

"I just love this fearless personality of yours."

The man clapped his hands in praise and sighed. "Within the Nine Banners today, everyone is either incompetent or a pedantic fool.

This Prince wishes to achieve great things, yet I cannot find any allies with courage and ambition.

Fortunately, you have arrived."

With that, the man looked to the side and said, "Bring the items."

"Yes."

Helian, waiting to the side like a handmaiden, answered respectfully. She then took out three boxes and placed them on the table one by one.

The man opened the first box right in front of Fu Juemin.

Inside the first box was a token, thick and exquisitely made, carved with a profound gold dragon pattern. On the front was a large character for "Lv."

Fu Juemin recognized it as the one Helian had shown at the Yan Family’s mansion.

"You wanted proof, you wanted benefits. I will give them to you."

The man pointed to the token in the box and said with a smile, "This is my Prince’s Decree. Holding this token is to represent my will. To show this token is as if I myself were present.

With this token in hand, it will be much more convenient for you to operate among the various clans of the Lower Five Banners.

Yes, when you go to take down a clan, show them this token first.

If they bow their heads in submission, then accept them.

If they see the token and still refuse, then use this..."

As he spoke, the man opened the second wooden box in front of Fu Juemin.

In this second box lay a blade!

The blade was about two feet long. Its entire body was the color of old iron, dull gray and without any luster. A few faint cloud patterns were vaguely visible on its surface.

It looked ordinary, no, not even ordinary. It looked like a piece of scrap iron that had been stuck under a stove for who knows how many years.

Fu Juemin’s eyes swept over the battered blade, and he suddenly noticed a crude ape’s face on the blade guard. A pair of gray pearls were embedded in the ape’s face, equally dim and lusterless.

And just below this ape’s face, there seemed to be a small, distorted, blurry character carved—"Yan."

"...Just use this blade to kill them."

The man said in a level tone, "This blade is named ’Yansheng.’

It is one of the twelve Heirloom Magical Artifacts of the previous dynasty.

A national treasure of this caliber represents supreme authority in itself, and its value is Infinite.

This is also the greatest proof I can give you!"