My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

Just then.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.

A centurion of the Imperial Guard rushed into the main hall, knelt on one knee, and held a secret report high in his hands.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report has arrived from the West Market!"

Li Shimin put down his teacup and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Read it."

"Your Majesty! Princess Chang Le was harassed by a madman in the West Market! The madman claims to be the young sect leader of the Guiyuan Sect!"

Upon hearing this, the entire court of officials gasped in shock.

Li Shimin's face instantly darkened. Dragons have scales that cannot be touched, and they will surely be enraged.

Chang Le is his most beloved eldest daughter, and these bandits from the mountains dare to set their sights on the princess!

"Where is that madman?" Li Shimin's voice was as cold and sharp as a knife.

"He was...frozen into a giant ice sculpture right there in the street by Her Highness the Princess!"

Baihu swallowed hard, his voice filled with undisguised shock.

"Later, another Second Elder of the Guiyuan Sect appeared and tried to commit murder, but Prince Qin happened to be passing by and saw it. Prince Qin slapped the Second Elder into the stinking ditch with just one slap!"

A suppressed gasp rang out from inside the hall.

The princess possesses magical powers, capable of freezing people into ice sculptures? The King of Qin slaps a deity away?

The events of today have increasingly challenged the bottom line of these ministers' understanding. Although they know that the King of Qin is a divine being, most of them have never actually witnessed him using divine abilities and have only heard rumors about it.

"His Highness the Prince of Qin also sent a message to His Majesty."

The centurion secretly raised his eyelids and glanced at the emperor on the dragon throne.

"His Highness said that he has forced the location of the Guiyuan Sect's mountain gate to be found, which is deep in the Zhongnan Mountains outside the city."

"It is said that there are many low-grade spirit stones left behind inside, as well as an entire library of ancient books and secret texts."

"His Highness asks you, are you willing to take this windfall?"

Quiet.

An eerie silence fell once again inside the Taiji Hall.

Li Shimin sat on the dragon throne, his eyes gradually brightening.

The Tang emperor, who had just been furious, suddenly began to breathe rapidly.

His dragon eyes blazed with a greedy light a hundred times more fervent than when he saw the Silver Mountain in the southern suburbs.

Spirit Stone!

Ancient texts on cultivating immortality!

The Tang Dynasty is rich now, but money can't buy the magic of immortality!

Having just tasted the benefits of the "Xuanwu Inner Strength," the bandit leader's bandit genes, those of an emperor on horseback, were completely awakened in that instant.

"Do it! Why not do it!"

Li Shimin slammed his hand on the imperial desk and abruptly stood up.

The bright yellow dragon robe drew a domineering arc in mid-air.

"Wang De! Convey my decree!"

Li Shimin was so excited that his face was flushed, and he pointed outside the palace and roared.

"Immediately muster five thousand elite Xuanjia cavalry! Have the firearms battalion deploy all of Qingque's newly manufactured Heaven-Shaking Thunderbolts!"

"Jingde, Shubao, Zhijie, Yaoshi! The four of you, don your armor and go into battle for me!"

Li Shimin strode down the jade steps, drew the Emperor's Sword from the weapon rack, and pointed the blade straight out of the hall.

"These evil Taoist priests dared to assassinate the reigning princess and extort money from the Tang Dynasty! Their crimes are absolutely unforgivable!"

"Follow me out of the city! To Zhongnan Mountain, and raid their base!"

The war machine of the Tang Dynasty roared into action instantly under the supreme ruler's grand-sounding order to "buy at the bottom."

Half an hour later.

The Mingde Gate of Chang'an City was wide open.

Five thousand heavily armed Tang Dynasty Xuanjia soldiers, like a black torrent of steel, marched majestically towards Zhongnan Mountain amidst the chilling sound of horses' hooves.

Li Chen, holding Xiao Sizi's hand, stood on the roof of the Qin Prince's mansion, looking at the billowing dust outside the city, and pursed his lips speechlessly.

"That old Deng, as soon as he heard there was something to gain, he ran faster than a dog."

……

Deep in the Zhongnan Mountains.

Outside the gate of Guiyuan Sect, the open space that was originally covered by poisonous miasma is now illuminated as bright as day by countless torches.

Five thousand elite Tang soldiers surrounded the place completely.

The cold arrowheads gleamed with a chilling light in the firelight. Dozens of heavy ballistae had their bowstrings tightened, and the cold iron bolts were locked onto the massive stone gate covered in moss.

"Rumble..."

The heavy stone door slowly opened inward.

The current sect leader of Guiyuan Sect, Yin Tianzheng, dressed in an incomparably gorgeous purple Daoist robe, holding a shimmering whisk in his hand, led over a hundred sect disciples, his face full of anger as he walked out.

He had expected to be greeted by the Tang emperor's convoy carrying gold and young girls.

Unexpectedly, these mortal ants, oblivious to their own mortality, sent an army to surround the mountain!

"presumptuous!"

Yin Tianzheng looked at the dark mass of soldiers around him and trembled with rage.

He flicked his whisk, and a spiritual pressure belonging to the early stage of Foundation Establishment swept out in all directions as if it were a tangible force.

The branches and leaves of the surrounding trees rustled under this oppressive force.

"You mere mortal soldiers dare to act so presumptuously before the gates of immortals! Do you think your scrap metal can harm a cultivator?"

Yin Tianzheng laughed loudly, his laughter filled with arrogance and disdain.

He planned to make an example of them, using the cruelest methods to teach these soldiers of the Tang Dynasty what true respect is.

His gaze swept back and forth across the Tang army camp.

Standing at the forefront were Li Jing, Cheng Yaojin, and others, all clad in heavy armor, their blood and energy as vigorous as dragons, and they exuded a strange internal force that made even Li Jing feel a little uneasy.

Yin Tianzheng frowned slightly, deciding to avoid these tough opponents.

When it comes to persimmons, you should definitely pick the soft ones.

His gaze passed over the layers of armor and suddenly locked onto a corner at the rear of the army formation.

There, a magnificent carriage was parked.

A young man dressed in a blue cloth robe, who looked frail, was leaning against the carriage shaft with a bored expression.

The young man held a half-eaten wild fruit in his hand, yawning as he looked around with a dazed expression, staring intently at the two stone lions carved on the gate of the Guiyuan Sect.

There wasn't a single fluctuation of cultivation power throughout his body.

He looked like a spoiled young master who had come out with the army to watch the excitement.

"You are the one!"

Yin Tianzheng sneered inwardly, a cruel killing intent flashing in his eyes.

He suddenly raised the whisk in his hand and pointed it at the young man in blue who was yawning.

"That pretty boy hiding in the back, enjoying the view!"

Yin Tianzheng's voice, imbued with spiritual energy, boomed across the entire valley, his tone extremely arrogant.

"You! Yes, it's you! Get out here right now! Prepare to die!"