Chapter 316 122: Trouble for the Prime Minister's Mansion? Jiang Ruxian's Early Entry, a Warning from Emperor Xia

"I thought I was tracking down one of the Blood Immortal Sect's lairs?"

Linglong Commander glanced at the nearby street, which was bustling with people. The passing crowds hadn't noticed their situation at all.

Her brow furrowed as she tried hard to remember, but her mind was a complete blank. It was a terrifying feeling, like seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

Hu Heng, at her side, was in the same state. His bewildered gaze was filled with hints of terror and shock.

"Weren't I just about to leave the Imperial Capital to come here and take that person back?"

"Huh? Who was that person?"

"Why can't I remember anything? What in the world is going on?"

After serving Emperor Xia for many years, this was the first time Hu Heng had ever encountered something so terrifying and inconceivable.

"The two of us must have encountered some great expert. Our memories related to that person have been… severed."

"Such methods are terrifying, yet they spared our lives." Linglong Commander's brow furrowed. She forced herself to calm down and began to analyze the situation, trying to recall the sequence of events. Finally, she managed to faintly piece together a coherent thread.

"Is there really such a terrifying being in Guangyuan City?" Hu Heng's face was still filled with horror and disbelief.

A heavy feeling settled in Linglong Commander's heart. Her eyes swept over their surroundings, lingering on the corners of the courtyard walls, the flowerbeds, the few nearby ponds, and the tree branches that reached over the high walls.

A sharp glint flashed in her eyes. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

'That expert's methods may be terrifying, but they don't know me. They don't know that I can communicate with insects, fish, birds, and beasts...'

'That, at least, leaves me a possible clue to follow.'

Linglong Commander mused. She wasn't sure if the mysterious expert had suppressed them with a domain or had simply sealed off the space, completely isolating them from the outside world when they struck.

The mysterious expert probably hadn't paid any mind to the other living things within this space.

After all, how much intelligence could insects, fish, birds, and beasts possibly have? Their weak souls couldn't withstand even a brief probe; they would be annihilated in an instant.

Her talent, however, could still be effective under such circumstances.

This was the most important reason why, at such a young age, she could firmly hold the position of Commander in the Observatory...

In the next moment, Linglong Commander focused her mind. Her pale lips parted and closed, releasing a series of tiny, faint sounds. They resembled some kind of strange syllables, obscure, abstruse, and incredibly complex.

Only a powerful cultivator, holding their breath and concentrating all their attention on their hearing, might have been able to hear it clearly.

It was a rustling sound, like tender grass breaking through soil, like green shoots sprouting, and like the faint chewing of insects. It was utterly strange.

Seeing this, Hu Heng's expression sharpened. He slowed his own breathing, not daring to disturb her.

He knew of this junior sister's special talent; she was hailed as a genius the likes of which the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect hadn't seen in millennia.

A moment later, birds flew onto the branches overhanging the high wall and began to CHIRP and CHATTER. From the corners of the wall and the flowerbeds, various insects and small creatures emerged—geckos, centipedes, and others—all making strange sounds of their own.

In a nearby pond, fish poked their mouths above the surface, opening and closing them repeatedly.

Every time Hu Heng witnessed this scene, he was filled with wonder.

As a Disciple of the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, he too had mastered methods for controlling beasts, but he was incapable of communicating with these insects, birds, and other small creatures.

These life forms were simply too weak; they couldn't contain Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, much less withstand the force of Divine Soul Power. To command a beast, one had to communicate with it and establish a contractual mark.

Nor would they waste time and energy nurturing such weak life forms.

'No visual memories from any of them...'

Linglong Commander's brow was knitted tightly. A faint sheen of sweat appeared on her face, which looked somewhat pale.

Even with her talent, sifting through these sounds to communicate and extract useful information was no simple matter. It was mentally and spiritually draining.

But just as she was about to give up, a look of shock and disbelief suddenly appeared on her face.

"So that's how it is..."

she murmured, her expression growing even heavier. "The Prime Minister's Mansion... is probably in for some big trouble."

"Junior Sister, what's going on?" Hu Heng asked, his face etched with anxiety.

"The mysterious expert who acted against us was a woman. Her power is absolutely terrifying—definitely above the Eighth Realm..."

"This matter must be reported back to the Imperial Capital as soon as possible," Linglong Commander said. Her expression was calm, but her voice trembled slightly.

In truth, she had only managed to pick up some vague images and sounds. She couldn't piece together the full chain of events.

However, she had indeed managed to obtain some useful information from it.

Hearing this, Hu Heng was filled with shock and disbelief, but above all, terror.

'Above the Eighth Realm?'

'What did that even mean?'

'The strongest known expert in the Great Xia today is only at the Eighth Realm Tribulation Bridge Realm.'

He didn't dare hesitate for a moment. He took out his Communication Jade Talisman and began to report the matter. At the same time, Linglong Commander also dared not delay. A mysterious being suspected to be above the Eighth Realm had appeared within the borders of Great Xia. This news was so shocking it would be enough to put the entire Observatory on high alert.

The Eighth Realm is also known as the Tribulation Bridge Realm. This realm has nine steps, and in ancient times, once a cultivator entered this realm, they had to undergo the baptism of a Celestial Tribulation.

With each step forward, their strength would undergo an earth-shattering transformation.

To put it bluntly, a single Sixth Realm expert could destroy a city, a Seventh Realm expert could dominate a commandery, and an Eighth Realm expert could intimidate an entire nation.