My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

Taiji Palace, Ganlu Hall.

Li Shimin sat upright on the dragon throne, the assassination report in his hands feeling like a red-hot iron, so hot that his hands trembled slightly.

The main hall was deathly quiet.

The commander of the Hundred Cavalry, kneeling below, had his head pressed tightly against the gold bricks, and cold sweat had soaked through the back of his clothes.

"A meteorite fell from the sky and stunned Number Three?"

Li Shimin's voice was dry and hoarse, as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Underwater reefs and tangled weeds nearly drowned Number Five?"

He slammed the secret report onto the imperial desk, his dragon eyes wide with fear and bloodshot veins.

Is it a coincidence once, and also a coincidence twice?!

These elite warriors of the Hundred Cavalry, who fought their way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, were wiped out without even touching the hem of a little girl's clothes, all because of this absurd and outrageous "accident"!

The words Li Chen had warned him that night in the Prince of Qin's residence suddenly echoed in Li Shimin's mind.

"Good fortune smiles upon you, turning misfortune into good fortune."

"If you send assassins, even the heavens will send lightning to strike them dead!"

So, there really is a destiny in this world! So, that little girl really does bear the inviolable laws of heaven!

A deep sense of powerlessness and fear instantly swept over the Tang emperor.

His proud imperial power and his million-strong army appeared so laughable and vulnerable in the face of this ethereal and elusive destiny of heaven and earth!

Li Shimin suddenly stood up, not caring about anything else.

He has to find Li Chen!

Half an hour later.

Li Shimin rushed into the backyard of the Prince of Qin's mansion like a whirlwind.

At this moment, Li Chen was comfortably reclining in a rocking chair. On the small square table was a plate of freshly roasted sunflower seeds, and he was leisurely cracking them open while basking in the early summer sun.

"Chen'er! Something's happened!"

Li Shimin strode to the rocking chair, his voice betraying his barely concealed panic.

He shoved the secret report into Li Chen's hand, his tone utterly defeated: "The Hundred Cavalry Division has failed... completely wiped out."

Li Chen didn't even lift his eyelids.

He slowly cracked open a sunflower seed, making a crisp "crack" sound, swallowed the kernel, and casually spat the shell into the wooden bucket next to him.

He didn't look at the secret report, but instead glanced at the arrogant Tang emperor with the look of someone looking at a fool.

"I told you long ago, the chosen one must not be killed."

Li Chen patted the crumbs off his hands, his tone filled with merciless sarcasm.

"You just don't believe in superstitions, and you insist on rushing off to be someone's head."

"Now look what you've done! A meteorite falls from the sky, and seaweed trips you up—doesn't this tactic sound familiar?"

Li Chen sat up and poked Li Shimin's stiff shoulder with a finger.

"Old Deng, I'm putting this out there today."

"If you send a few more groups of people to kill her, I guarantee that the little girl will be forced to fall off some cliff by your assassins, and there will be a deep pool at the bottom of the cliff, and in the deep pool there will be the cave of an ancient immortal."

Li Chen sneered repeatedly, each word piercing the heart.

"They eat a ten-thousand-year-old Vermilion Fruit in their cave, find a peerless cultivation manual, and emerge ten years later with maxed-out cultivation, storming into your Taiji Palace!"

"Don't blame me when that time comes; you'll be cultivating the ultimate villain for yourself!"

Li Shimin felt a chill run down his spine after hearing these words, and cold sweat soaked through his bright yellow undergarment.

He imagined the scene: a grown-up empress, riding a flying sword, unleashing forbidden spells, shredding the Tang Dynasty's million-strong army like vegetables.

The scene was so beautiful that he couldn't even imagine it.

"I won't kill them! I absolutely won't kill them!"

Li Shimin was completely terrified. He slumped down on the brocade bench next to him like a deflated balloon.

Faced with the ethereal yet real destiny of Heaven, the Tang emperor finally lowered his proud head.

They couldn't kill him, nor could they move him; they could only watch helplessly as this time bomb bounced around in Chang'an.

Li Shimin felt as if a huge stone was blocking his chest, making him feel so suffocated that he was about to vomit blood.

Li Chen rolled his eyes at his lifeless expression.

"Alright, stop looking like you've lost your parents. We'll talk about the future later. The wheel of karma turns, and no one can predict what the final outcome will be. Just focus on practicing your Xuanwu Fist; that's more important than anything else."

Li Shimin sighed heavily and left the Prince of Qin's residence with faltering steps.

Watching Old Li's departing figure, Li Chen lay back down in the rocking chair and leisurely continued to eat sunflower seeds.

Days passed by one by one.

As the uproar over the severed ley lines of the East Sea gradually subsided, the spiritual energy of the Tang Dynasty unknowingly ushered in a second, even more intense, surge of recovery.

The concentration of free spiritual energy in the air is more than twice as high as it was a month ago.

The people of Chang'an felt that their health had improved recently, and even their chronic ailments had been cured without treatment.

Those Tang Dynasty generals who had cultivated the basic Qi-inducing technique felt their cultivation progressing by leaps and bounds, and their strength becoming terrifyingly great.

however.

The dramatic change in spiritual energy not only nourished ordinary people but also awakened some ancient beings hidden deep within the river of time.

Two weeks later, late one night.

There was no moon, and the starlight was dim.

Deep in the Zhongnan Mountains, a hundred miles away from Chang'an City.

This is an uninhabited area covered by poisonous miasma and dense forests year-round, and ordinary hunters dare not venture even half a step into it.

It was exactly three-quarters past midnight.

In the tranquil heart of the Zhongnan Mountains, a violent earthquake suddenly erupted without warning.

Followed by.

A dazzling, blindingly bright, multicolored ray of light, like a divine sword tearing through the sky, shot up from the depths of the dense forest!

The glow of dawn illuminated the night sky for hundreds of miles around.

Amidst the dazzling array of colors, a massive, ancient, and weathered array phantom, radiating the aura of ancient cultivators, slowly emerged in mid-air.

at the same time.

Inside the Qin Prince's mansion in Chang'an.

Li Chen, who was meditating, suddenly opened his eyes.

He pushed open the window, his gaze piercing through the darkness, locking onto the soaring rays of light in the direction of Zhongnan Mountain, a slowly unfolding smile of interest on his lips.

"Have those reclusive sects, clinging to life deep in the mountains and forests, finally decided to make their presence known?"