The power contained within the golden statue made him somewhat wary.
Staying in the Prince's mansion felt inappropriate; should that immense power suddenly erupt, it could harm the mansion.
Even with Weng Qifeng in charge, a sudden surprise attack could still damage the Prince's mansion.
He strolled into the Prince's back garden.
In a small pavilion on the lake in the back garden, Chu Qingyan and Chu Minghou were playing chess.
His eyes fixed on the chessboard, he reached for fruit, eating as he pondered.
In another small pavilion on the lake, Bai Ning霜 was instructing Chu Yi and Li Suyue on playing the zither.
Chu Zhiyuan came to Chu Qingyan's side and sat down.
Chu Qingyan turned to look at him, stroking his beard with a smile: "What is it this time, lad?"
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Uncle, I'm preparing to set off and raid a few evil sect lairs."
Chu Qingyan's hand paused as he stroked his beard, frowning: "So soon?"
Chu Zhiyuan said: "The branches and leaves have been trimmed; it's time to move the roots."
He speculated that the otherworldly power behind these evil sects was similar to the Divine Path.
The fewer believers, the less power they could wield.
Eliminating their believers first, then attacking their roots, would minimize the danger.
"Hmm—" Chu Qingyan stroked his beard and pondered: "Still very risky."
Chu Zhiyuan smiled as he looked at him.
"Why are you looking at me?" Chu Qingyan harrumphed.
Chu Zhiyuan said: "Uncle should have personally participated in the campaign to annihilate the Jade Cauldron Sect, right?"
"You want to ask about that battle?"
"It's said that even the Son of Heaven's Sword was deployed, yet it still couldn't subdue the Jade Cauldron Sect?"
"That's a huge joke," Chu Qingyan sneered. "The Son of Heaven's Sword is best at slaying these evil beings!"
Chu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow.
Chu Zhiyuan frowned: "Then just how strong is the power of these evil demons?"
"Very strong; even Grandmasters can't deal with them."
"What about Grandmaster Second Realm?"
"I don't know about that," Chu Qingyan shook his head. "You can try it yourself."
"Still too risky," Chu Zhiyuan smiled. "I want to ask for some life-saving treasures."
"You—" Chu Qingyan chuckled: "Already a Grandmaster Second Realm, and still so cautious."
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said: "Precisely because I'm a Grandmaster Second Realm, I must be even more careful. It would be too unjust to capsize in a gutter."
"That makes sense," Chu Qingyan chuckled, taking a small piece of jade from his sleeve and handing it to him: "Here, this is what you want, right?"
Chu Zhiyuan looked at the small piece of jade.
The jade was square, only the length of a finger joint. Although it was lustrous and moist, it couldn't hide the vicissitudes of time.
Chu Zhiyuan immediately saw its peculiarity; it actually had strange phoenix script and phoenix patterns imprinted within it.
Just like his own Clear Ripple Sword.
The phoenix script wrote the character "御" (Yù - Imperial), and there were two phoenix patterns.
He had never been able to understand the mystery of the phoenix patterns. Even after becoming a Grandmaster, he still couldn't see its secrets.
He only vaguely felt that it evoked otherworldly power, rather than the power of this realm.
"This is a crown jade, right?" Chu Zhiyuan said.
Chu Qingyan nodded: "It is said to be one of the decorative jades on the crown of the Great Phoenix Emperor, with the magic of warding off evil, perfect for dealing with those otherworldly evil demons."
Chu Zhiyuan reached out and took it, revealing a smile: "Thank you, Uncle!"
An odd sensation immediately spread through his touch, as if he were wrapped in his mother's embrace, inexplicably giving rise to a sense of security.
The phoenix patterns within the crown jade were gently flickering, exerting their effect.
"No need to thank me," Chu Qingyan waved his hand. "This was bestowed by Imperial Brother, using my hand to give it to you."
Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fist towards the direction of the Imperial Palace in salute: "Thank you, Imperial Grandfather."
"Don't mess up; run if you can't win," Chu Qingyan said. "Also—"
He then spoke about how the Jade Cauldron Sect's main altar was annihilated back then.
Chu Zhiyuan listened with great interest, asking questions from time to time, pursuing details.
After listening to what Chu Qingyan had said, he had a clearer understanding of the evil sect's main altar.
Let's see how the Heartbreak Sect's main altar differs from the Jade Cauldron Sect.
If the two sects' main altars are similar, then the subsequent matters will be easier to handle.
If they are different, then he must be careful and cautious.
In the minds of the people of Jade Capital City, and even the entire Great Jing, the Southern Border was a barbaric land.
Located in the midst of continuous mountains, not only were the mountains high, but there were also almost no mountain roads.
Miasma, like fog and smoke, floated between the continuous mountains.
Being in it, for as short as three to five days, or as long as ten days to half a month, one would inevitably die from poisoning.
Therefore, the Southern Border had always been a forbidden zone for the people of Great Jing, inspiring fear upon hearing of it.
Between the mountains of the Southern Border, it was sparsely populated, so quiet that one could only occasionally hear the chirping of birds and the roars of beasts.
At noon on this day, the sun shone brightly.
The silence between the mountains of the Southern Border was broken by a burst of rapid hoofbeats.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter—..."
Amidst the rapid, rain-like hoofbeats, two golden lights traveled between the mountains, passing over mountain paths filled with weeds, trees, and gravel.
The golden light finally stopped in front of a forest at the foot of a mountain.
Revealing two horses.
Standing firmly in place.
Golden horses, sparkling in the sunlight, spirited and handsome.
They were Heavenly Dragon Divine Horses.
Chu Zhiyuan sat on the back of one of the Heavenly Dragon Divine Horses.
Dressed in a purple robe, with a calm expression, he lightly landed from the horse's back.
A saber and a sword were inserted into his back, the Bright Moon Saber on his left shoulder and the Clear Ripple Sword on his right shoulder.
He patted the heads of the two Heavenly Dragon Divine Horses and waved his hand.
The two Heavenly Dragon Divine Horses turned around and disappeared into the forest.
Chu Zhiyuan took a deep breath.
The surrounding miasma, inhaled into his lungs, was quickly dissolved by spiritual energy.
Facts proved that Grandmasters could enter and exit the Southern Border without hindrance.
The surrounding miasma was not strong.
Even ordinary people would not die immediately upon entering the Southern Border; taking some medicine in time could resolve the slight toxicity. He glanced left and right; this place was so remote that if Xu Haode hadn't led the way, he would have almost been unable to find it.
He floated into the forest and soon came to the mountainside, finding Xu Haode.
Xu Haode was lying on a thick bamboo, hugging his shoulders, his body gently swaying with the bamboo, in an extremely leisurely state.
Feeling Chu Zhiyuan's appearance, he flipped over and sat up, smiling: "Prince is quite fast; I just arrived not long ago."
Chu Zhiyuan floated onto the green bamboo beside him: "Is it here?"
His extrasensory perception had already illuminated the entire mountain, discovering an anomaly.
But he didn't see the location of the main altar, only a vast sea of green bamboo forests.
The anomaly was the traces of someone having walked there; the branches and leaves on the ground were firmer, and the surrounding bamboo tips were oily, traces of being repeatedly rubbed.
But the area around the anomaly was an empty bamboo forest, with nothing else.
"There, look." Xu Haode pointed: "There's a formation there; the eyes can't see it."
"Does Mr. Xu also understand formations?"
"A smattering," Xu Haode waved his hand: "Otherwise, I really wouldn't be able to find them—you need this."
He took out a small stone from his sleeve, as black as charcoal: "This is a treasure specifically for breaking formations."
He threw the small black stone out.
The small black stone shot out a hundred meters in the air and suddenly disappeared into mid-air.
Then, a flash appeared before Chu Zhiyuan's eyes, and he saw a valley.
This valley was integrated with the surrounding area, also planted with green bamboo.
Looking at it from the front, one couldn't see anything unusual; only by looking at it from the side like them could one see the bamboo forest recessed inward, a valley.
"Impressive, right?" Xu Haode said: "This formation is still very mysterious."
Chu Zhiyuan said: "Your treasure is even more impressive."
