Chapter 311 121: Don't Want to Owe You a Favor, Imperial Extreme Creation Pill, So You Weren't Executed?

"Young Master Jiang, you've really hidden your talents well all these years," she said, her tone flat.

"You flatter me. I simply don't wish to drift along with the current. It's not a matter of hiding my talents. When a great building is about to collapse, no egg remains unbroken in the nest beneath."

Jiang Lan raised his wine cup, took a sip, and spoke in a leisurely tone.

Emperor Xia stared at him intently, silent for a long moment, before finally asking, "What is your ultimate goal?"

Hearing this, Jiang Lan simply laughed and retorted, "If I don't tell you, you won't rest until you find out. But if I do tell you, you'll suspect I have ulterior motives."

"Then tell me, how should I answer your question?"

Emperor Xia was at a loss for words, the light in her eyes flickering.

Jiang Lan continued to smile. "Is everything in this world really black and white? If you are willing to believe me, then believe me. If you are not, then don't. I'm not your subordinate; I have no obligation to make you believe me."

"You…"

Emperor Xia's eyes narrowed instantly, a dangerous aura filling the air.

Jiang Lan knew full well she was the sovereign of Great Xia, yet he still spoke to her in such a tone.

Jiang Lan paid her no further mind, simply raising his cup and drinking by himself.

Emperor Xia snorted coldly and looked away.

'Right now, Jiang Lan indeed has no obligation or reason to make me believe him. Although he is a subject, I'm not speaking to him in my capacity as Emperor Xia.'

"Thank you…"

Emperor Xia said, her face expressionless, her thanks clearly reluctant.

"No need for thanks," Jiang Lan replied casually.

"Inside is a bottle of Imperial Extreme Creation Pills."

"They can help you quickly open your Spirit Sea and break through to the Third Realm."

Emperor Xia's tone remained unchanged. With just a wave of her hand, a bottle of elixir pills, contained within a Glazed Jade Bottle, appeared on the jade table before them.

Jiang Lan merely glanced at it, a look of appropriate surprise appearing on his face.

"Why?" he asked.

Emperor Xia glanced at the Jade Pendant he had pushed over, and with a wave of her hand, she took it. Her voice was flat as she said, "I don't like owing favors."

'Exchanging a bottle of Imperial Extreme Creation Pills for an answer to a single question seemed reasonable enough to her.'

"This is the Imperial Extreme Creation Pill, a medicine only the Royal Family possesses…"

Jiang Lan had only just glanced at the Glazed Jade Bottle when Emperor Xia's figure vanished.

He understood Emperor Xia's thinking. 'She already knows that I've recognized her, which is why she so openly produced the Imperial Extreme Creation Pills.'

After all, this was an elixir unique to the Royal Family, worth a fortune, and controlled solely by Emperor Xia. Even with the status and power of the Prime Minister's Mansion, it would not be easy to obtain.

And this bottle could indeed help a cultivator open their Spirit Sea and break through to the Third Realm.

This was exactly what someone at the Cultivation Realm Jiang Lan was currently displaying would need most.

'If you had returned the Jade Pendant to me, it would have been harder for me to track your movements…'

'But giving me this bottle of Imperial Extreme Creation Pills is a complete waste. Then again, You'er will probably have use for it soon.'

Jiang Lan accepted the bottle of Imperial Extreme Creation Pills without hesitation.

He could break through to the Spirit Sea realm whenever he wished; he had no need for any elixir pills to assist him. He just didn't want his cultivation speed to seem too shocking and unconventional.

'Someone as proud as Emperor Xia truly wouldn't want to be indebted to anyone.'

Jiang Lan leisurely walked to the windowsill and gazed out at the shimmering river. Faintly, he could see the fleeting figure of Emperor Xia on the distant bank.

If it were any other Monarch, they probably would have flown into a rage at his casual and dismissive attitude, but Emperor Xia was different.

She had endured and laid low for so many years. If one were to ask what her greatest strength was, it would naturally be her patience and forbearance.

It was precisely because Jiang Lan had accurately judged her character that he could act so audaciously.

Emperor Xia had already taken the bait. Jiang Lan wasn't worried that she wouldn't slowly get hooked.

The disturbance at the Desire Immortal Pavilion tonight hadn't been particularly large, but it still caused significant waves in the current Imperial Capital.

Not long after Emperor Xia left, Jiang Lan used fatigue as an excuse to return to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

As was his custom, he checked on You'Er's current progress. Then he contacted Song Youwei to ask about the Blood Immortal Sect's recent activities and the other matters he had tasked her with.

Song Youwei's work had always been reliable, so his questions were merely to ensure there were no oversights or flaws.

Finally, Jiang Lan contacted Su Qinghan to inquire about her recent situation at the Dao Cang Sword Sect. He managed his time perfectly.

Meanwhile, Emperor Xia, who had returned to Chengming Hall, was still lost in thought over Jiang Lan's words. She sat on her throne in the great hall, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

'He's truly impossible to see through. What could have happened to him?'

'But it doesn't seem like he's simply feigning incompetence to hide his true abilities. Could there be some other unknown reason?'

Then, Emperor Xia's thoughts returned to the present. She ordered a handmaiden to contact the Dark Flower Pavilion and investigate the matter from the brocade pouch left by Half-Immortal Zhenren, while also continuing to monitor any information related to Jiang Lan.

But on the following day, she unexpectedly received a piece of news.

The news was seemingly related to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

She had been personally keeping a close watch on the Prime Minister's Mansion's activities, so she had ordered the Dark Flower Pavilion to keep them under constant surveillance.

This time, however, the news came from a Dark Flower Pavilion member, Hu Heng, who had learned it from his junior martial sister, Linglong.

"While investigating a hideout of the Blood Immortal Sect, Commander Linglong of the Observatory unexpectedly stumbled upon a violent murder in Guangyuan City and saved a woman…"

In the great hall, Spring Orchid held a rolled-up portrait in her hand as she respectfully reported.

Guangyuan City was not actually that far from the Imperial Capital. For a Sixth Realm expert, the flight would only take half a day.