Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
On the second day, when Zheng Lide and Meng Zhi arrived, they could not find King An in his study room. He was not to be found in his courtyard as well. They had no choice but to go to the Tianshu Courtyard.
Chu Li was cultivating in his own courtyard. Xue Ling was cultivating in the Tianshu Courtyard as well.
Xiao Shi was covered in a thin blanket as she sat on the couch. She observed Xue Ling cultivating with Yang Xu as if spectating a performance. Xue Ling's Dark Yin Palm cultivation was soothing like a dance.
Zheng Lide walked into the courtyard and bowed, Xiao Shi glanced at him. "What is it? It's too early."
Zheng Lide said hurriedly, "I wonder if Princess Xiao has seen King An?"
"I haven't seen him since yesterday," Xiao Shi replied absentmindedly. She was still staring at Xue Ling.
Zheng Lide left tactfully.
He went to Consort Song and Consort Xue's place. Both of them had not seen King An either.
Song Liuying and Xue Ningyu waited for him to leave and went to the Tianshu Courtyard together. Xue Ling ended her cultivation and walked to the side, listening to their idle chatter.
"Sister Song, do you think that the Royal Highness has had an affair again? He has not returned for an entire night. Even Commander Zheng can't find him!" Xue Ningyu furrowed her brows and scoffed.
"The Royal Highness does not hold much interest in women. Maybe he has something important to attend to. Where is the Head Chief?" Song Liuying shook her head.
"He is probably cultivating in the courtyard. With so many Scribes now, he can finally worry less. Did the Royal Highness not return yesterday?" Xiao Shi smiled.
"Commander Zheng said that he can't find him."
"He only thought of looking for him now. What about last night?"
"Maybe the Royal Highness is in his study room. He usually does not allow anyone to bother him in his study room. Only he is allowed inside," said Xue Ningyu with furrowed brows. "Where can he be? Is it possible that someone exacted their revenge on him when he left the Imperial Residence?"
Song Liuying said hurriedly, "That group of human traffickers? I thought they had all been caught?"
"It just doesn't feel right the more I think about it! Are you sure that the human traffickers do not have accomplices? It could be possible that the Royal Highness only caught one group and there might be another!" said Xue Ningyu hurriedly.
"Let Commander Zheng search for him outside," replied Song Liuying.
Xiao Shi said, "My Sisters, what if the Royal Highness is just out for something or running some errand. If we make such a fuss out of it, the whole town will know and it would become a joke!"
"That's true." both women nodded gently.
Xiao Shi continued, "In my opinion, it is better to look for him in the Imperial Residence first. He might be in one of the maid's room!"
The other two women pursed their lips and smiled. "That might be true!"
"Young Ya, you go and tell Commander Zheng to search every room!" ordered Song Liuying.
A maid answered gently and left gracefully.
"The Royal Highness is a very disciplined person. It is rare for something like this to happen. Or perhaps something absurd really did happen?" Song Liuying shook her head gently.
"Well, he's a man. It's hard to change one's nature. He also did a great merit yesterday. Perhaps he was happy and had a few too many drinks, doing something absurd because of the alcohol." Xue Ningyu scoffed.
Xiao Shi agreed as she nodded her head.
Chu Li was cultivating while sensing King An, who was in the Nine Dragons' Tripod Cauldron.
After yesterday's setback, King An was hanging on his last breath. His meridians were destroyed, his cinnabar fields were broken. He had lost all his martial arts cultivation.
Even if Chu Li went to save him, he could only use the Nine Transformation Meridian Reforming Technique to heal his meridians. King An would have to cultivate his martial arts all over again. But perhaps there were miraculous pills and medicines in the Royal Household that could help King An restore himself to his previous condition.
But the heaviest injury of all was on his spirit.
With this impact, even if his soul had not been hurt, King An's spirit, as well as his cinnabar fields, were badly injured.
Human bodies have three cinnabar fields – located on the top, middle, and bottom of the body. The top part contained one's spirit while the other two contained one's inner energy. Now that all three of his cinnabar fields were injured, it was indeed extremely serious.
Chu Li shook his head and sighed. King An was truly lucky. He was not dead yet even after being hurt this badly. It was probably the jade pendant hanging on his chest that had saved his life.
The jade pendant did not look special. It seemed like a normal piece of white jade. Even Chu Li found nothing odd about it.
After King An was heavily injured, the jade pendant responded and released its spiritual force gradually. It was the same as the spiritual force he collected from the Life and Death Scripture. It was an opportunity to live, which was enough to keep King An from dying.
Since King An had not died this time, he could only wait for the next opportunity. Chu Li shook his head. He was being restrained by the Emperor and dared not kill King An directly.
But this was already enough for King An to deal with. It was better not to create any more trouble in such a short period of time.
Zheng Lide found Xu Ning.
Xu Ning was meditating on the couch in the room, facing a hurried Zheng Lide. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at Zheng Lide calmly.
"Revered sir, have you seen the Royal Highness?" Zheng Lide put his palms together as a sign of respect and asked humbly.
Xu Ning asked, "Is the Royal Highness not in the Imperial Residence?"
"I can't find him." Zheng Lide shook his head.
Xu Ning said, "Have you looked for him in the cultivation courtyard?"
"About this…" Zheng Lide hesitated for a moment and shook his head.
The cultivation courtyard was a restricted area. No one was allowed to enter, not even a step. Even a Commander like him had no rights to go in.
Xu Ning said, "The Royal Highness went to cultivate."
"Huh? The Royal Highness' injury has not recovered; how can he cultivate?" Zheng Lide was shocked.
Zheng Lide had not thought of this. King An's injury was serious. He dared not to simply channel his inner energy to heal him. If he channeled his inner energy, the odd energy in his body would attack him and worsen his injury. If King An did not cultivate, the inner energy would lay dormant, not worsening the injury.
It had been a while since the Royal Highness went to the cultivation courtyard.
"Go and have a look there then. The Royal Highness should be there," said Xu Ning.
"Revered sir, it is better for you to do so. If I take a single step into the cultivation courtyard, the Royal Highness will definitely kill me. However, the Royal Highness respects you very much. There shouldn't be a problem if you are the one who enters." Zheng Lide smiled bitterly.
Xu Ning stood up from the couch, then walked out slowly.
Zheng Lide put his hands together in front of his chest and bowed as a show of appreciation.
The two arrived at the cultivation courtyard with no company. The cultivation courtyard was a prohibited area. Common folk were not allowed to come close.
Xu Ning furrowed his brows slightly and hastened his steps, arriving at the Nine Dragons' Tripod Cauldron. He landed swiftly into the tripod cauldron, picked up King An and left the cultivation courtyard using his Light-body Technique.
Zheng Lide was startled when he saw King An unconscious. His face was ashen and numb. He looked like he was hanging on his last breath.
Xu Ning returned to King An's study room in large strides. Zheng Lide remained silent and followed him into the study room.
Xu Ning placed King An on the couch and sat in a lotus position behind him. He placed both of his palms on King An's back. After a while, King An regained consciousness.
"Your Highness, do you have any pills or medicines to heal your wounds?" Xu Ning asked.
King An made a huge effort to open his eyes. His lips parted slightly but no sound came out.
Xu Ning nodded, he could tell what King An was thinking. He placed him down gently and went to the table. Xu Ning took a few jade bottles out from the drawer and returned to King An.
King An's cast his gaze around. Xu Ning picked out the emerald green bottle. "It's this one, right?"
King An nodded strenuously.
Xu Ning took a dark green pill out from the bottle and stuffed it into King An's mouth. He then sat behind King An and channeled his inner energy to help him digest the drug.
After two hours, there was white smoke coming from the top of King An's head although it was barely visible.
Xu Ning released his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His cowl was drenched.
King An opened his eyes slowly. His complexion was as white as paper but the spiritual force of madness coming from him was gone.
"Your Highness, did anyone try to hurt you secretly?" Commander Zheng asked hurriedly.
King An shook his head and replied weakly, "I cultivated too vigorously. I was consumed by it."
Commander Zheng let out a long breath. That was good news. It was not done by someone so he was not responsible as well.
Xu Ning said, "Your Highness, why are you so badly hurt?"
"I advanced by a stage in my martial arts but I was too greedy and tried to advance another stage at the same time. This mistake was because of my recklessness. It is my fault!" King An sighed.
"Is there any way to recover from this? Now that Your Highness' cultivation has vanished," Xu Ning asked calmly.
King An's expression was ghastly pale, he slowly nodded.
From hearing those few sentences, his vitality was quickly diminished. King An fell unconscious once more. His diminished vitality caused his mind to be muddled.
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
On the second day, when Zheng Lide and Meng Zhi arrived, they could not find King An in his study room. He was not to be found in his courtyard as well. They had no choice but to go to the Tianshu Courtyard.
Chu Li was cultivating in his own courtyard. Xue Ling was cultivating in the Tianshu Courtyard as well.
Xiao Shi was covered in a thin blanket as she sat on the couch. She observed Xue Ling cultivating with Yang Xu as if spectating a performance. Xue Ling's Dark Yin Palm cultivation was soothing like a dance.
Zheng Lide walked into the courtyard and bowed, Xiao Shi glanced at him. "What is it? It's too early."
Zheng Lide said hurriedly, "I wonder if Princess Xiao has seen King An?"
"I haven't seen him since yesterday," Xiao Shi replied absentmindedly. She was still staring at Xue Ling.
Zheng Lide left tactfully.
He went to Consort Song and Consort Xue's place. Both of them had not seen King An either.
Song Liuying and Xue Ningyu waited for him to leave and went to the Tianshu Courtyard together. Xue Ling ended her cultivation and walked to the side, listening to their idle chatter.
"Sister Song, do you think that the Royal Highness has had an affair again? He has not returned for an entire night. Even Commander Zheng can't find him!" Xue Ningyu furrowed her brows and scoffed.
"The Royal Highness does not hold much interest in women. Maybe he has something important to attend to. Where is the Head Chief?" Song Liuying shook her head.
"He is probably cultivating in the courtyard. With so many Scribes now, he can finally worry less. Did the Royal Highness not return yesterday?" Xiao Shi smiled.
"Commander Zheng said that he can't find him."
"He only thought of looking for him now. What about last night?"
"Maybe the Royal Highness is in his study room. He usually does not allow anyone to bother him in his study room. Only he is allowed inside," said Xue Ningyu with furrowed brows. "Where can he be? Is it possible that someone exacted their revenge on him when he left the Imperial Residence?"
Song Liuying said hurriedly, "That group of human traffickers? I thought they had all been caught?"
"It just doesn't feel right the more I think about it! Are you sure that the human traffickers do not have accomplices? It could be possible that the Royal Highness only caught one group and there might be another!" said Xue Ningyu hurriedly.
"Let Commander Zheng search for him outside," replied Song Liuying.
Xiao Shi said, "My Sisters, what if the Royal Highness is just out for something or running some errand. If we make such a fuss out of it, the whole town will know and it would become a joke!"
"That's true." both women nodded gently.
Xiao Shi continued, "In my opinion, it is better to look for him in the Imperial Residence first. He might be in one of the maid's room!"
The other two women pursed their lips and smiled. "That might be true!"
"Young Ya, you go and tell Commander Zheng to search every room!" ordered Song Liuying.
A maid answered gently and left gracefully.
"The Royal Highness is a very disciplined person. It is rare for something like this to happen. Or perhaps something absurd really did happen?" Song Liuying shook her head gently.
"Well, he's a man. It's hard to change one's nature. He also did a great merit yesterday. Perhaps he was happy and had a few too many drinks, doing something absurd because of the alcohol." Xue Ningyu scoffed.
Xiao Shi agreed as she nodded her head.
Chu Li was cultivating while sensing King An, who was in the Nine Dragons' Tripod Cauldron.
After yesterday's setback, King An was hanging on his last breath. His meridians were destroyed, his cinnabar fields were broken. He had lost all his martial arts cultivation.
Even if Chu Li went to save him, he could only use the Nine Transformation Meridian Reforming Technique to heal his meridians. King An would have to cultivate his martial arts all over again. But perhaps there were miraculous pills and medicines in the Royal Household that could help King An restore himself to his previous condition.
But the heaviest injury of all was on his spirit.
With this impact, even if his soul had not been hurt, King An's spirit, as well as his cinnabar fields, were badly injured.
Human bodies have three cinnabar fields – located on the top, middle, and bottom of the body. The top part contained one's spirit while the other two contained one's inner energy. Now that all three of his cinnabar fields were injured, it was indeed extremely serious.
Chu Li shook his head and sighed. King An was truly lucky. He was not dead yet even after being hurt this badly. It was probably the jade pendant hanging on his chest that had saved his life.
The jade pendant did not look special. It seemed like a normal piece of white jade. Even Chu Li found nothing odd about it.
After King An was heavily injured, the jade pendant responded and released its spiritual force gradually. It was the same as the spiritual force he collected from the Life and Death Scripture. It was an opportunity to live, which was enough to keep King An from dying.
Since King An had not died this time, he could only wait for the next opportunity. Chu Li shook his head. He was being restrained by the Emperor and dared not kill King An directly.
But this was already enough for King An to deal with. It was better not to create any more trouble in such a short period of time.
Zheng Lide found Xu Ning.
Xu Ning was meditating on the couch in the room, facing a hurried Zheng Lide. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at Zheng Lide calmly.
"Revered sir, have you seen the Royal Highness?" Zheng Lide put his palms together as a sign of respect and asked humbly.
Xu Ning asked, "Is the Royal Highness not in the Imperial Residence?"
"I can't find him." Zheng Lide shook his head.
Xu Ning said, "Have you looked for him in the cultivation courtyard?"
"About this…" Zheng Lide hesitated for a moment and shook his head.
The cultivation courtyard was a restricted area. No one was allowed to enter, not even a step. Even a Commander like him had no rights to go in.
Xu Ning said, "The Royal Highness went to cultivate."
"Huh? The Royal Highness' injury has not recovered; how can he cultivate?" Zheng Lide was shocked.
Zheng Lide had not thought of this. King An's injury was serious. He dared not to simply channel his inner energy to heal him. If he channeled his inner energy, the odd energy in his body would attack him and worsen his injury. If King An did not cultivate, the inner energy would lay dormant, not worsening the injury.
It had been a while since the Royal Highness went to the cultivation courtyard.
"Go and have a look there then. The Royal Highness should be there," said Xu Ning.
"Revered sir, it is better for you to do so. If I take a single step into the cultivation courtyard, the Royal Highness will definitely kill me. However, the Royal Highness respects you very much. There shouldn't be a problem if you are the one who enters." Zheng Lide smiled bitterly.
Xu Ning stood up from the couch, then walked out slowly.
Zheng Lide put his hands together in front of his chest and bowed as a show of appreciation.
The two arrived at the cultivation courtyard with no company. The cultivation courtyard was a prohibited area. Common folk were not allowed to come close.
Xu Ning furrowed his brows slightly and hastened his steps, arriving at the Nine Dragons' Tripod Cauldron. He landed swiftly into the tripod cauldron, picked up King An and left the cultivation courtyard using his Light-body Technique.
Zheng Lide was startled when he saw King An unconscious. His face was ashen and numb. He looked like he was hanging on his last breath.
Xu Ning returned to King An's study room in large strides. Zheng Lide remained silent and followed him into the study room.
Xu Ning placed King An on the couch and sat in a lotus position behind him. He placed both of his palms on King An's back. After a while, King An regained consciousness.
"Your Highness, do you have any pills or medicines to heal your wounds?" Xu Ning asked.
King An made a huge effort to open his eyes. His lips parted slightly but no sound came out.
Xu Ning nodded, he could tell what King An was thinking. He placed him down gently and went to the table. Xu Ning took a few jade bottles out from the drawer and returned to King An.
King An's cast his gaze around. Xu Ning picked out the emerald green bottle. "It's this one, right?"
King An nodded strenuously.
Xu Ning took a dark green pill out from the bottle and stuffed it into King An's mouth. He then sat behind King An and channeled his inner energy to help him digest the drug.
After two hours, there was white smoke coming from the top of King An's head although it was barely visible.
Xu Ning released his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His cowl was drenched.
King An opened his eyes slowly. His complexion was as white as paper but the spiritual force of madness coming from him was gone.
"Your Highness, did anyone try to hurt you secretly?" Commander Zheng asked hurriedly.
King An shook his head and replied weakly, "I cultivated too vigorously. I was consumed by it."
Commander Zheng let out a long breath. That was good news. It was not done by someone so he was not responsible as well.
Xu Ning said, "Your Highness, why are you so badly hurt?"
"I advanced by a stage in my martial arts but I was too greedy and tried to advance another stage at the same time. This mistake was because of my recklessness. It is my fault!" King An sighed.
"Is there any way to recover from this? Now that Your Highness' cultivation has vanished," Xu Ning asked calmly.
King An's expression was ghastly pale, he slowly nodded.
From hearing those few sentences, his vitality was quickly diminished. King An fell unconscious once more. His diminished vitality caused his mind to be muddled.
