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n

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n“A small house, a few acres of fertile land, and a family of six. Although it’s a little tiring to work in the fields all day, as long as one can be happy it is better than all the wealth in the world,” Xiao Ran sighed.

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nHe walked over.

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nHe lifted her from the ground. She was soft to his touch, and there was a hot sensation. Her tender skin was separated by the thin gauze fabric but it couldn’t block out the subtle sensation.

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nHe walked over to the soft couch and placed her on it.

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nHe placed his palm above her chest. The purifying spiritual force surged out of his palm and rushed into her body to stabilize her vitality.

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nA few moments later,

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nXiao Ran retracted his palm and looked at the Eldest Princess.

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nHer pale face had regained some color. Her breathing was normal. She would wake up in a while.

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nHe looked at the drop of elemental lifeblood suspended in the air.

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nWith a grab in the air, he retrieved it from afar and placed it in the Seven Treasures Rainbow Jade Belt.

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nHe then left the cell, locked the door,

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nand headed outside.

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nWhen he arrived at the antechamber on the first floor, the lieutenant had been waiting for a long time.

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n“Lord Xiao, are you free tomorrow?” the lieutenant asked enthusiastically.

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n“What’s the matter?” Xiao Ran asked.

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n“If you’re free, it happens to be the Lantern Festival tomorrow. My treat! How about we invite Little Zhou and the other two to the Drunken Immortals Court?”

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nXiao Ran shook his head. “I’m busy recently. Let’s see tomorrow! If I’m free, I’ll get someone to inform you.”

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n“Sure.” The lieutenant had no objections.

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nLeaving the Celestial Dungeon,

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nhe looked at the rays of moonlight scattering downwards. Tomorrow was the Lantern Festival.

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nAccording to the usual customs, the curfew in the capital city would be lifted on this day. From morning until the next day, the streets would be filled with people. It would be very lively.

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nThe moon was bright tonight. A dense sea of stars twinkled in the night sky.

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nHe changed direction and headed for the courier station.

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nWhen he promised her just now, he had already thought of a strategy. If he wanted to break the impasse, he could only start from Yin Incubation Institute.

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nJust as the Eldest Princess had said, the real reason Yin Incubation Institute came to the capital city this time,

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nwas not to exchange knowledge with the Four Great Institutes but to embarrass them, and to ask for the Elder Princess Xia Luoran’s hand in marriage.

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nThis included the Daoist priest from the Supreme Pure Temple who used the Source Consuming Pearl to devour the Immense Righteous Energy of the Four Great Institutes.

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nThis was also an opportunistic strike, an extra bonus so to speak.

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nTogether with Yama and the others, after putting these together and combining them with the current news,

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nthat was their real goal.

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nThe only thing that remained unclear was why they were prepared to pay such a heavy price.

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nOnce he arrived,

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nXiao Ran used his Transformation Technique to change his appearance and even changed his clothes.

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nHe climbed over the wall and entered the premises.

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nThe whole place felt so familiar. He made his way towards Zhao Jishan and the others with ease.

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nWhen he reached the room they were in, light footsteps could be heard coming from outside. One of the Great Scholars had returned.

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nHis name was Qian Zichen, Zhao Jishan’s trusted aide.

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nFrom the looks of it, he was going to look for Zhao Jishan.

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nAfter he had gone in, Xiao Ran followed him.

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nThey reached the room.

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nHidden in the bushes, his tremendous spiritual soul energy swept out toward the room. The guards outside did not detect it.

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nAfter infiltrating the room, a layer of restrictions blocked out his spiritual soul energy.

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nWith regard to this,

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nXiao Ran was not surprised. It would be strange if there were no restrictions.

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nWith his skills evolution at Level 4 Earth Realm, he easily simulated the source of the restrictions and fused with them, thereby gaining access to the interior.

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nThe whole process did not alert anyone.

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nIn the room,

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nthere was only Zhao Jishan and two other guys.

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n“Have you sent them all out?” Zhao Jishan asked.

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n“Yes.” Qian Zichen nodded solemnly.

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n“All the generous gifts have already been sent to them. They have also promised to put in a good word for us in front of Emperor Sheng Wen and facilitate this matter.”

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nZhao Jishan tapped his index finger on the table, his eyes flickering.

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n“The chances of winning have increased by another half. This time, it will definitely be the final straw that will break through the objections and make Emperor Sheng Wen make up his mind.”

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nQian Zichen continued, “What if Emperor Sheng Wen still doesn’t agree?”

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nZhao Jishan shook his head. “Based on the information we’ve gathered and what we know about him, only he has deep feelings for the Elder Princess. As for the rest, in the eyes of this lord, it is just a question of whether they have been given enough.”

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nThey chatted some more.

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nQian Zichen then bade farewell and left.

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nXiao Ran withdrew his spiritual soul energy and watched him leave. After thinking for a moment, he decided to start with him.

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nWhen Qian Zichen returned to his room,

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nhe had just opened the door and had yet to step in.

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nXiao Ran appeared behind him like a ghost and gave a hand chop to the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

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nHe carried him into the room and locked the door.

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nHis spiritual soul energy swept out and set up a barrier in the room.

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nEven if he turned the whole room upside down, as long as he didn’t destroy the room, the patrolling guards outside would never find out his presence.

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nWith a tap of his finger, he sealed his shoulder bones.

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nHis right foot came down roughly on his palm.

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n“Ah…”

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nHis palm became deformed, and the intense pain woke him up. Looking at the stranger in front of him, Qian Zichen was shocked and furious. He instinctively wanted to mobilize his Immense Righteous Energy to resist, but he realized that his shoulder bones were sealed.

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nHis Immense Righteous Energy didn’t show any reaction at all.

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nHe was drenched in cold sweat, and his heart sank.

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nHe had subdued him silently without alerting anyone. He must be at least at the Profound Realm level!

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n“W-what are you doing?” Qian Zichen forced himself to calm down.

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n“Why did you guys want a marriage alliance with Xia Luoran?” Xiao Ran interrogated him.

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n“It is to forge a hundred years of friendship between the two countries. From then on, there will be no more wars and the people at the border will lead peaceful lives.”

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n“You’re still being stubborn at a time like this?” Xiao Ran mocked.

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nTen consecutive shots of Heavenly Slave Divine Finger pierced his body.

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nWith the current mastery level of the Heavenly Slave Divine Finger, its way of torturing people was even more terrifying than entering reincarnation.

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nThe finger strength kicked in, and he screamed in pain.

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nIn an instant, his clothes were torn to shreds. His flesh became mangled and bloody as he scratched violently into his bones.

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nXiao Ran watched coldly. The only way to deal with these people with ulterior motives was to be more ruthless than them.

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nA few minutes later,

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ntemporarily relieving his pain, Xiao Ran said, “Colluding with Yama and Supreme Pure Temple to wreak havoc in the capital city. Do you really think you can go undetected, that no one knows about it?”

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nQian Zichen was shocked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

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nHe then resorted to threats.

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n“We are official envoys. If anything happens to us at the courier station and the news gets back to the country, His Majesty will be furious! He will definitely send an army to attack you. At that time, Great Xia will be plunged into misery and suffering, and the people will be displaced. You will become a sinner for generations.”

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n“Is that so?” Xiao Ran replied mockingly.

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nHe stomped his foot.

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nPow!

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nThe tremendous force of the stomp landed on his remaining good palm, leaving a huge footprint depression in the ground.

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nAnd half of his palm was instantly crushed and turned into a puddle of blood.

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nOverwhelmed by the pain transmitted from all ten fingers straight to his heart, he fainted straightaway.

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n“Hmph!” Xiao Ran gave a scornful snort.

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nHe kicked him in the chest and violently woke him up.

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nHe used the Heavenly Slave Divine Finger to torture him again.

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nQian Zichen’s willpower was much weaker than he had imagined. He was not like the Great Scholar from last time who would rather die than submit. He persisted for a while before taking the initiative to beg for mercy. He told Xiao Ran everything he knew and even gave out an explosive piece of news.

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n“This time, in accordance with Emperor Hui Wen’s secret decree, under the guise of exchanging knowledge with the Four Great Institutes, Zhao Jishan was to trample on all of them and humiliate the Great Xia kingdom. Following on the momentum of a great victory, with the addition of the fake ‘Iron-Blooded Dragon Horse’ and ‘Heavenly Secrets Interlinked Crossbow’, he will then force a marriage alliance using Xia Luoran!”

n

n“Once she entered the Great Zhou Empire, she would be secretly controlled. Then using a secret technique to accelerate her growth, they will continuously extract the bloodline in her body to fuse with the bloodline of the demon, ‘Desolate’, to mass-produce the “Demon God Dark Runes”.’

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