Imperial Cultivation Chapter 1461 - 1457: Confirmation

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Previously on Imperial Cultivation...
Chu Zhiyuan discovers he can now fully integrate the strange aura from his Cloud Dragon Fist into his body, allowing him to sense the spiritual energy of his own organs. His senior brothers, Zhang Ji Yuan and Ning Dongge, return, but Chu Zhiyuan senses a foreign aura within them, a trace left by Li Huo Palace. He uses a technique to reveal and dispel the tracking aura, clearing the way for them to finally leave.

Ning Dongge frowned at the location where the two shadows disappeared and said with a frown, "Have they schemed against me already? Then why hold back, just kill us directly!"

He didn’t think Li Huo Palace would dare not kill him.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Perhaps it wasn’t enough to kill the two senior brothers, or maybe they have some concerns."

"What concerns would they have?" Zhang Ji Yuan snorted, "They wouldn’t let the opportunity slip away!"

Ning Dongge nodded in agreement.

Chu Zhiyuan’s eyes suddenly turned hollow.

The two of them forced themselves to endure discomfort, staring straight at Chu Zhiyuan to see what he had realized.

Chu Zhiyuan quickly returned to normal, lost in thought.

"Junior brother, how is it?"

"It should be ten days ago, Senior Brother Zhang, you appeared unexpectedly, and they had no time to act, only had time to use the spiritual artifact to shine upon you."

"Just shining on me, and they can scheme against me?"

"That’s the wonder of the spiritual artifact," Chu Zhiyuan said, "If you had been a step slower, you might not have escaped."

"So am I lucky?" Zhang Ji Yuan asked.

Chu Zhiyuan chuckled, "In this vast world, encountering Li Huo Palace, it’s hard to say if it’s good luck or bad luck."

Zhang Ji Yuan’s whereabouts are uncertain, not confined within any realm, traversing realms from one day to the next, today in Biyuan Heaven, tomorrow might be in Glazed Heaven.

Each realm is so vast, and since he’s not a Spirit Venerable, finding him is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Yet they managed to find him, which just means this luck is terrible.

But he escaped soon after, evading their pursuit, which has to be called fortunate.

"Damn it, what spiritual artifact is this?"

"Probably a tracking spiritual artifact, even more formidable because it has spirituality and can act independently." Chu Zhiyuan shook his head in admiration, "It even managed to stain Senior Brother Ning as well."

When he said this, his expression turned serious.

Ning Dongge frowned, "Was it me being found by them that caused Junior Brother Zhang to be stained?"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, "From what I can see now, it was when Senior Brother Zhang was illuminated by that spiritual artifact."

"Can we find that spiritual artifact?" Ning Dongge asked, "It’s too threatening."

Especially for them, once illuminated by this spiritual artifact, there’s no place to hide.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded, "We must find it and destroy it."

"Is that possible?" Zhang Ji Yuan asked, "You’re a Spirit Venerable, if you act, the Spirit Venerables of Li Huo Palace will act too, quite dangerous, if not, let us handle it."

Being a Spirit Venerable has this disadvantage, even a small disturbance is seen clearly and guarded against explicitly.

The key point is, junior brother’s realm isn’t high enough to compete with the Spirit Venerables of Li Huo Palace.

Chu Zhiyuan laughed softly, "I will find a way to locate that spiritual artifact, and the two senior brothers can take action."

"Great!" Zhang Ji Yuan immediately rubbed his hands, eager to try.

Ning Dongge’s eyes shone brightly, slowly said, "Junior brother, let’s start with this."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

Zhang Ji Yuan suggested, "We might as well go for a walk, near Profound Yin Palace."

Ning Dongge nodded lightly.

After being defeated by Profound Yin Palace, Li Huo Palace was extremely unwilling and constantly sought ways to turn the tables.

Therefore, Li Huo Palace would certainly send experts to lurk around Profound Yin Palace.

Profound Yin Palace is different from Heaven-Reaching Sect, its location known to Li Huo Palace.

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, "Please wait a moment, I’ll see if I can find any traces around Li Huo Palace."

"That’d be excellent." Zhang Ji Yuan rejoiced.

Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fists, "Two senior brothers, I’m off."

The two hurriedly nodded, reminding him to be careful, as he was a Spirit Venerable and more likely to be detected by the Spirit Venerables of Li Huo Palace.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and nodded.

He vanished in a flash.

The next moment he appeared in his small courtyard within Profound Yin Palace, seeing Zhou Qingyu assuming a peculiar posture.

Zhou Qingyu had a solemn expression, white combat uniform billowing, hair flying.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded in satisfaction.

Her progress was indeed rapid, solidifying her foundation every step, truly advancing by leaps and bounds.

Zhou Qingyu noticed Chu Zhiyuan, hurriedly looked over, her eyes glinting.

Chu Zhiyuan waved his hand, signaling her to continue without stopping.

From inside, Shen Hanyue’s voice emerged, "Princely Heir!"

Xiao Ruoling and Shen Hanyue exited the main house and greeted him.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled at them, suddenly flashing behind them, pressing a palm on each of their backs.

"Hmm—?" Shen Hanyue asked curiously.

Xiao Ruoling also looked suspiciously over, her eyes as bright and clear as autumn water, captivating.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Let’s see if you’ve been schemed against."

He glanced at the tops of their heads and deftly threw a punch.

It was the Cloud Dragon Fist.

"What scheme?" Shen Hanyue asked.

Chu Zhiyuan, while slowly throwing punches, effortlessly punch after punch, struck the void, like an elder practicing leisurely without any killing intent.

As he punched, he recounted the ordeal of his two senior brothers, speaking of Li Huo Palace’s sophisticated tracking spiritual artifact, difficult to detect.

"There’s such a spiritual artifact?" Shen Hanyue marveled, "Wouldn’t it be easy to ambush and attack...? Wasn’t Senior Sister Meng ambushed this way?"

Xiao Ruoling nodded lightly, "I thought it was a coincidence; now it seems, it might have been a deliberate conspiracy, specially ambushed."

"If it weren’t for Senior Sister Meng Yunyin being skilled and lucky, she’d have been killed for no reason!"

Xiao Ruoling frowned, "Didn’t expect Li Huo Palace to be so sinister, even more sly than we imagined!"

Their impression of Li Huo Palace was of being fierce, straightforward, even reckless and impulsive.

But now their methods had become enigmatic.

Shen Hanyue snorted, "Senior Sister, after the last incident, we learned Li Huo Palace is no longer as before."

"Probably because they’ve changed their Palace Master," Xiao Ruoling suggested.

Every disciple within the sect has a different personality, but the overall style of the sect often reflects the Sect Master’s approach.

Whatever the Sect Master’s style, disciples with similar temperaments and styles are more likely to rise and take charge.

Thus, the style of the sect becomes more distinct and stable.

The saying ’A new Emperor means new courtiers’ applies; if the Sect Master changes, the style changes, and the disciples below will adjust correspondingly.

Even many disciples would forcibly alter their style to conform to the Sect Master’s approach.

Chu Zhiyuan finally stopped.

Within the void, two shadows slowly appeared, like ice blocks sinking into clear water.

Indistinct shadows, hard to notice without careful observation.

"What is this...?" Shen Hanyue curiously examined the two shadows.

Palm-sized, slowly changing shape, like living creatures.

"Did this come from us?" Shen Hanyue shivered.

Xiao Ruoling frowned lightly, "Is this the abnormal energy?"

Chu Zhiyuan slowly nodded, "You two try to feel closely, see if you can detect it."

"I can’t feel anything." Shen Hanyue shook her head, "Unnoticeable, when were we schemed against?"

Chu Zhiyuan’s eyes suddenly turned hollow.

After a moment, he returned to normal, shaking his head, "Did you go out the day before yesterday around noon?"

Shen Hanyue said, "Yes, Senior Sister Qin returned from outside, I went to greet her, could it have been then? Didn’t see any of Li Huo Palace’s people."

Chu Zhiyuan said, "They should have been hidden, secretly activating the spiritual artifact."

"Despicable scoundrels, let’s catch them!" Shen Hanyue said angrily.

Her bright eyes shot cold gleams, scanning the surrounding, as if peering through the walls into the void outside Profound Yin Palace.

Xiao Ruoling looked at Chu Zhiyuan, "Can we catch them?"