Chu, the imperial palace.
Late at night, the Forbidden City.
After nightfall, the imperial city imposed a curfew, the palace gates were closed, and entry and exit were restricted. At this time, the Imperial Guards began patrolling the inner city and were responsible for maintaining the security of the palace. Faintly, apart from the sound of burning torches, the only other sound was the slight clashing of armor as the Imperial Guards walked by.
This place was the core of the great Chu, where the highest rulers of the empire resided.
The expressions of the Imperial Guards were solemn as they patrolled the inner city. There was no noise, no slackness; each person's face showed a highly vigilant expression. Every soldier of the Imperial Guard was an elite selected from thousands! It was an honor for them to join the Imperial Guard.
It was precisely because of this that the defense of the imperial city could be said to be the strictest in the world. Even the renowned experts on the Tianji BAnghighway dare not enter at will.
"Who goes there!"
Suddenly, the chief of the Imperial Guards drew his sword and shouted.
Almost at the same time, hundreds of Imperial Guards behind him drew their swords, and the uniform sound revealed an air of tension.
Under such tight defense, anyone who could infiltrate the palace was certainly no ordinary person.
The light flickered.
The shadow shimmered, and a series of footsteps approached.
Following the sound, a man in a green robe, with his hands behind his back, walked indifferently, disregarding the rebuke of the hundreds of Imperial Guards.
"Bold!"
The chief of the Imperial Guards yelled.
Stepping forward, he drew a long beam of light with his sword, aimed at the throat of the newcomer. There were regulations on the attire of everyone in the palace, such as palace maids had to wear plain white clothes, and eunuchs had to wear green clothes. It was clear from the attire of the newcomer that he was not someone from within the palace.
"Intruding into the palace is a capital offense!"
The hundreds of Imperial Guards swiftly surrounded the newcomer.
The man stopped, and the light illuminated his face. At this moment, everyone saw clearly that he was a middle-aged Daoist, with long eyebrows, black beard, a Daoist crown on his head, and deep, star-like eyes.
Seeing the approaching Imperial Guards, the Daoist frowned slightly, extended his right hand, and accurately flicked his index finger on the sword.
Clang!
A crisp sound echoed as the iron sword shattered.
The chief of the Imperial Guards’ lethal strike was actually deflected by the flick of this man's finger, and not only was the sword broken into two sections, but also a terrifying force passed through the broken sword, causing the chief's hand to bleed.
"Get out of the way!" the Daoist said in a deep voice.
No rebuke, no killing intent, just two simple words.
The leader of the forbidden army was horrified. He wanted to speak, but found himself unable to move at all. The pressure was like a mountain, making it extremely difficult for him to even open his mouth, let alone stop the newcomer.
The night wind was bleak.
Hundreds of forbidden army members were deterred by the unnamed Taoist's aura and dared not move a muscle.
Just then, a gentle force emanated from the void, dissolving the pressure, followed by a familiar voice.
"Elder Feng, why bother with these ordinary people..."
"It's the national teacher!" The spirit of the forbidden army was greatly uplifted.
The national teacher was the immortal behind the Chu nation. To ordinary people, the national teacher was an immortal!
The Taoist frowned, looked into the void and said, "Xiao Juezi, stop playing tricks with me, and get out of here."
The leader of the forbidden army was shocked.
Who was this person? How could he be so disrespectful to the national teacher?
"I am in the Xiao Jue Palace in the inner city, waiting for Elder Feng's arrival..." The familiar voice sounded again.
The Taoist snorted, waved his sleeve, and walked towards the inner city.
Leaving behind hundreds of forbidden army members, standing there without daring to move a muscle. It wasn't until a long time later that the pressure on the crowd gradually faded. The leader of the forbidden army took a long breath, looked in the direction where the Taoist had disappeared, feeling a sense of fear.
"Leader, are we just going to let that Taoist in?" a newly recruited forbidden army member couldn't help but ask.
The leader turned around, glanced at the questioning soldier, but didn't say anything.
Picking up the broken sword on the ground, he shouted, "Continue patrolling!"
Sheathing their swords, the forbidden army members walked away in neat strides.
At the forefront, the trembling right hand of the leader of the forbidden army tightly gripped the sword handle, and he looked back at the direction where the unnamed Taoist had disappeared.
"Just one finger, and it has such power. This kind of person, is not something we can stop. Besides, the national teacher has spoken. If I foolishly fight to stop the other party, I'm afraid I wouldn't even know how to die." These words were not said by the leader of the forbidden army.
In his opinion, the newly recruited forbidden army member was still too inexperienced and didn't know that in this world, there were many existences that they couldn't reach.
Xiao Jue Palace.
It was a palace specially built for the national teacher of the Chu Empire. It was extremely luxurious inside, not much inferior to the sleeping palace of the Yellow Emperor of the Chu Empire. The unnamed Taoist went straight to the Xiao Jue Palace, not encountering any obstacles along the way. It seemed that the national teacher had given orders.
After entering the Xiao Jue Palace, the Taoist looked around at the luxurious decorations and frowned.
He didn't like such luxury.
"Elder Feng, please forgive the negligence of Xiao Jue." A row of luxurious high chairs in the palace, with tiger skins as carpets. In the middle, a middle-aged man with a pale complexion lay on the tiger skin, and a beautiful maid carefully peeled fruit for him and fed it to him.
"You do know how to enjoy it." The old Taoist Elder Feng stood in the main hall and sarcastically said.
"If not for enjoyment, why would I stay in this mundane realm?" Xiao Juezi sat up, waved to dismiss the maid. After the maid withdrew, he spoke, "But as for you, Elder Feng, you only focus on cultivation. Why stay in this mundane world? You should know that the elemental power in the mundane world is inferior to the outside world..."
Elder Feng walked to a high chair on the side and sat down.
"Outside, we are just ants, even survival is a problem, let alone cultivation?"
"Fear of danger makes it impossible to become a loose immortal. It seems that Elder Feng's realm is not enough." Xiao Juezi smiled.
"My realm has nothing to do with you." Elder Feng glanced at the other party and said indifferently. "But, as for those matters entrusted by those guys, how have you handled them?"
On hearing this, Xiao Juezi stopped joking, his face became serious, and said, "I found six pieces of the broken map."
"Just six?" Elder Feng said in a deep voice.
"Not enough?"
Perhaps in the past, in the mundane world, they were high beings, but now, it was different. Because of the opening of the mundane formation six years ago, many old monsters came in, including more than ten loose immortals and even several loose immortals who had passed the Heavenly Tribulation.
All because of an ancient place.
The City of Death!
"I have mobilized the power of the whole country to search, but the information about these broken maps is too vague, and the places those people provided are not clear. It's a bit difficult to find the broken maps. But you, Elder Feng, how many have you found?" Xiao Juezi asked.
"Eleven." Elder Feng said, waving his hand, and eleven broken and old maps appeared on the table in front of him.
The materials of these old maps were all the same, and the contents were also similar.