The Blade-Wielding Legend-Chapter 1359 - 703: Dragon Vein Secret Realm (2)

"Li Yan?"

The young man inside the small building had obviously heard of him but was filled with doubt, "What evidence do you have?"

Immediately, a frail and weak voice also came from within the building, "No need for doubt... he is Li Yan..."

Li Yan's eyes lit up, "Wu Qianbei? Is that you?"

Clatter~

The sound of the locking mechanism echoed from inside the building, and on the side wall of the originally intact wooden structure, a small basket-style wooden compartment slowly descended.

Inside the compartment sat two people.

One was dressed in tattered clothes, hair withered and white; he was the 'living Yin messenger' Old Man Wu from the Ghost Market.

His face had the ashen hue of poisoning, a black line snaking down his neck as he was barely breathing.

The other was a young man dressed in a neat, short black robe, with pale skin and rough features. A large nose and broad mouth, not at all handsome, but a white band held his messy hair on his forehead, and his eyes were incredibly bright, now blazing with pain and anger.

His abdomen was split open by a ghastly wound, only haphazardly wrapped with coarse cloth to stop the bleeding; he was the genius of the craftsmen, Kuai Dayou.

At this moment, Wang Daoxuan and the others had already jumped down.

"Save them first!" Li Yan ordered sternly.

Without needing more words, everyone immediately took action.

Wang Daoxuan checked the injuries, while Lv San took out herbs to cover the wounds.

The real expert was Long Yan'er, who skillfully cleaned the wound, applied ointment, and re-bandaged it, moving as swiftly as a butterfly among flowers.

Soon, the pallor on Kuai Dayou's face showed a tinge of blood, and the darkness on Old Man Wu's face faded considerably.

"What exactly happened?" Li Yan asked immediately as soon as their breathing steadied.

"Caught off guard... truly caught off guard!"

Kuai Dayou managed to utter only one sentence before grinding his back teeth in pain, contorting his face.

Old Man Wu, breathing heavily, continued with a hoarse voice, "Shortly after I left the Ghost Market hideout, I felt something was trailing me, so I hid in Kuai's coffin shop... I thought this underground hideout would provide some refuge, but unexpectedly a yin criminal found this place; fortunately, I scared him away with the Astral Order."

"Damn nonsense!"

Kuai Dayou spat, deeply unsettled and indignant, "I was sleeping soundly, and that coffin-faced scholar appeared like a ghost! Luckily, I reacted quickly, did a 'lazy donkey roll' into the 'Hundred Crafts Building', or I'd have been a ghost under the knife by now!"

"That guy's skills and methods... truly evil! Ordinary people can't handle me."

"He is Kong Hui."

Old Man Wu too had been tracking Jianmu, so Li Yan clarified their origins, then asked puzzled, "He possesses the 'Earth Official's Absolution of Sins Treasure Decree,' so he could ignore a pursuit by the Yin Bureau. Wu Qianbei, how did you drive him away?"

This was Li Yan's biggest puzzle.

"Because the cost wasn't worth it."

Nearby, Luo Mingzi shook his head, looking at the bodies around, "The lives of subordinates aren't as valuable as that trump card."

Old Man Wu nodded with difficulty, a look of worry flickering in his deep-set eyes, "Indeed... indeed so. But... I still can't figure out how they managed to track me down so quickly?"

This question loomed like a shadow over his heart.

"It's possible they weren't just looking for you." Li Yan's gaze shifted to Kuai Dayou, who was inspecting the wounds of his puppet with a grimace, "Did you refine and control 'hair monkey yin soldiers,' secretly assisting the Rabbit Master?"

Kuai Dayou raised an eyebrow, "None of your business!"

"You little rascal, mind your tongue!"

Sha Lifei immediately scolded, "We just saved you."

Kuai Day shrugged and said, "What goes around comes around, I'll repay the debt for saving me, but don't ask what you shouldn't."

Hearing this, Li Yan frowned slightly.

This Kuai Dayou was a genius youth, yet had the temperament of a street troublemaker.

It's likely the Xiangshan Association people took his place, and this unruly nature was part of the reason.

Thinking of this, Li Yan decided to speak frankly, "At midnight, I will be within the 'Nine Gates Yin Ruins.'"

"So it was you."

Kuai Dayou laughed, giving a thumbs up, "Daring to disturb the Dragon Veins, you've got guts!"

With that, he could no longer hold on and fainted.

Everyone looked at each other, speechless.

But at this point, all they could do was take the people back to the 'Rongyuan Post' to heal...

......

Meanwhile, outside the Imperial City Temple.

Dawn was breaking, but the light grew even dimmer.

The flying eaves and ridge beasts atop the glazed roof of the temple were only outlines, appearing eerie and solemn.

The morning wind stirred up dust, swirling in the crevices of the white jade steps.

At the end of the imperial path, beneath the Nine Dragon Canopy, the Great Xuan Emperor Xiao Qixuan stood with his hands behind his back, his face as cold as ice.

He sat quietly on the couch, his deep gaze fixed on the tightly closed doors of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the hot tea next to him long cold.

The information brought back by Pei Zongti made his scalp tingle.

The Pantao Conference was actually just sacrificial offerings, and the demon of Jianmu had already tampered deep in the Nine Gates Yin Ruins.

Daring not to delay in the slightest, he immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the Dragon Vein anomaly and personally stood guard outside.

Inside the main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the candlelight was brilliant.

The distinct rich scent of camphor wood mixed with the incense smoke filled the entire hall.

Inside the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the Divine Master tablets of the Great Xuan emperors of past generations and their rightful empresses were offered in tribute, distributed according to "same hall different chambers", "left Zhao right Mu".

Besides this, civil and military officials who were conferred entry into the temple were also paid tribute.

The specifications for tribute were also top-tier, aside from musical and sacrificial artifacts, there were also offerings of a cow, pig, and sheep each displayed on a stand.

This is the "grand sacrifice" ritual, while those civil and military officials shared the tribute of a "minor sacrifice" ritual.

In the front of the main hall, thirty-six magicians of the Imperial Clan Court, holding ritual artifacts, arranged themselves in a circle resembling the Heavenly Gang Position.

In the middle of the Array, Xuan Sacrificial Officer Pei Zongti, Qintian Bureau's Bai Chenshan, and an elder in a python robe all sat cross-legged.

Whether Pei Zongti or Bai Chenshan, both were somewhat anxious and excited at this moment.

Although one was a Confucian expert, and the other an Earth Master Master, holding esteemed positions within the Mystical Sect, it was their first encounter with the Dragon Vein.

This was a royal secret, other than the State Preceptors from the founding of the empire, it was the first time an outsider had entered.

The faces of the magicians from the Imperial Clan Court did not look good.

The Emperor sending outsiders to investigate clearly showed distrust in them, but now that something had happened, and with top experts monitoring from the rear, no one dared to oppose it at this moment.

The elder in the python robe within the Array was Left Clan Judge Lu Chuanwang, considered a trusted confidant of the Emperor.

The position of Imperial Clan Court held by Prince Shunyang was certainly stripped, and he was the designated next Imperial Clan Court Judge.

"You two."

Lu Chuanwang looked at the two and said in a hoarse voice, "Remember to follow closely behind me after entering."

Having said this, he made a gesture with his eyes to the side.

The surrounding magicians from the Imperial Clan Court immediately held their ritual artifacts and chanted the Great Xuan Sacrifice to Heaven and Earth Prayer.

"With awe and reverence, the vastness of Heaven and Earth, the initiation of Yin and Yang, Great Xuan receives its mandate from Heaven, bearing the Qi Fortune of the Divine State..."

With the majestic voice, the fragrance of incense in the hall became even more intense.

The three in the Array only felt their bodies lighten, as if they were soaring, delving into the smoke.

The barriers between illusion and reality seemed blurred at this moment.

The three yin souls patrolled, passing through the mist they finally saw the Nine Gates Yin Ruins.

Unlike Li Yan, they used the Array of the temple to view from above, granting them a clearer perspective.

Everything within their sight was bizarre and fantastical.

What they saw was no longer a mere reflection of the ruined Capital.

But saw the marble base lifting the mottled earthen Tang-style walls;

Lama towers in the style of the Golden Tent Wolf Country, half buried in the glazed tiles and debris of the Great Xuan Palace;

And the remnant image of the Lang Country's Woduo'er (palace), intermittently appearing by a river flowing through with phantom images of Song-style Cao Boats...

The dust of history does not settle according to a chronological sequence.

Rather, it is like shuffled cards, stacked, twisted, and intertwined together.

Every slight tremor of space brought visual dizziness and a sense of rift in cognition.

Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan wanted to see clearer but only felt a bout of dizziness.

"Gentlemen, do not stare."

Lu Chuanwang said deeply, "The Secret Realm Grotto Heaven contains mysteries of heaven and earth, we are but mere mortals, peering through the temple's national sacrifice, if entranced, our yin souls would be damaged and unable to withstand."

Hearing this, Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan dared not focus further.

Looking into the distance, they saw the Nine Gates, also different from Li Yan.

But saw the nine gates of the Capital floating in operation, no longer merely rotating but intersecting and advancing back and forth.

It resembled a slowly pulsating giant heart.

And what the city gates swallowed and exhaled was the tangible grievances, leftover royal incense, and even scattered fragments of space.

Within the Chongwen Gate, the stiff residual souls of merchants still silently screamed as they repeated the tax queues of the past...

Inside Zhengyang Gate, the fleeting moments of Golden Tent Iron Cavalry's charge occasionally replayed, arrow rain breaking the air forming sharp whistles, tearing through the silence...

Within Chaoyang Gate, the team of Cao craftsmen wound like a long serpent, carrying invisible sacks of rice, bending their backs and silently moving forward...

In Xuanwu Gate, the rusty edges of the guillotine stood amidst countless headless corpses in a pool of blood...

Each city gate seemed to be an independent time trap.

A historical moment solidified within the gate, cycling endlessly...