Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Li Ruhua gave an order for all information about that woman from Marquis Chongwu's Mansion to be found out. But before she ordered this, someone else had already done it.

The West Desolate's Intelligence Agency has been operating for a long time and had long since been able to find out all the things that were happening. They even had spies in the isolated residence of the Demon Clan.

Very soon, all the information regarding Rourou was assembled, sorted, and screened before being sent to the palace secretly.

"I can allow General Jinwu to have secrets, but these secrets must be within a controllable range." The king was indifferent as he placed the messaging jade down. His expression was neutral but a firm determination filled his eyes.

Lord Chengtian bowed, "Your Majesty, there is nothing amiss from the information…it is just that we still do not know about the lady's birth origins."

The king replied, "Then continue investigating. There shall be no secrets in the West Desolate that I do not know of."

"Yes Your Majesty." Lord Chengtian bowed. Without waiting for any reply, he turned to leave.

As he thought of Hundred Saint, who was now following Marquis Chongwu, he could not help but frown and look worried. Although His Majesty now looked highly upon Marquis Chongwu, from his actions, it was clear that he had concerns and did not fully trust Marquis Chongwu.

Lord Chengtian had always known that the king was someone who was suspicious. However, when it came to Marquis Chongwu, his suspicions seemed to be greater. He felt that there was something that no one knew…but this did not stop Lord Chengtian from making an assumption - His Majesty did not feel close to Marquis Chongwu!

Until the Boundary Breaking Seal was set up, perhaps the king would favor him greatly. But once it was done, Marquis Chongwu Ning Qin would definitely be in trouble!

It seemed like he had made a rash decision to allow Hundred Saint to get close to Marquis Chongwu back then…but His Majesty also did not stop it even though he knew all this. If something happens to Marquis Chongwu one day, Hundred Saint may be implicated because of their close ties. How could he stay out of it?

As he thought of this, Lord Chengtian took a deep breath as he felt a coldness fill his heart. As he walked on the long path leading away from the palace, his footsteps grew heavier and heavier.

In the study room, the king was expressionless. After staying silent for a while, he waved his sleeve and isolated himself in a small world away from the outside world.

Not only because of the king's own cultivation, but the continuously changing aura field in the palace would prevent even someone of the King realm from detecting it.

He turned, sat, and did not move. The air in front of him shook and fragments of darkness and deathly silence appeared. Just looking at it made one feel fearful!

The king frowned and his finger twitched. A light instantly appeared in the darkness. The extinguished torch on the wall lit up once again.

Though the light could brighten up the darkness, it was not able to cause the coldness to dissipate. A figure in chains was lit up by the light and he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were completely red, like two blood abysses.

The corners of his mouth pulled up. The long hair that was let down hung over the sides of his face and exposed half of his handsome and white face. "Your Majesty, my dear beloved father, you are here again. It seems like you listened to what I said."

"Hmph!"

The king snorted and the chains holding the figure suddenly shone and a horrifying lightning energy passed from the chains into the figure.

The figure twisted and cried out miserably. Under the effects of the lightning, the figure's long hair turned to ashes and a familiar face could be seen.

Li Quanji, the third prince. Of course, according to the agreement with the ancestors, his actual full name should be Li Zhou Quanji. But his name was too long and before he came of age, the king set out a decree to remove the 'Zhou'.

But this did not mean that the king did not like the third prince. On the contrary, he had always been pleased with the third prince. Whether it was his quality, his mindset or his actions, he had always been the ideal successor to the king's position should the king be forced to abdicate.

He had had high hopes for this son of his.

But now, he had turned into this thing that was neither a human nor a ghost. Even he himself did not know who he was. He had turned into a complete lunatic.

As the lightning subsided, Li Quanji was panting heavily. Yet, he was still smiling and laughing. He was laughing to hard, he was out of breath.

"Your Majesty, if you don't want to see me, you don't have to come. As long as you lock the stone door, I will never be able to leave and no one will ever know anything. Your reputation will not be damaged."

"Shut up!" The king growled. He leaned forwards slightly as he stared into the red eyes, "Let me ask you one more time regarding General Jinwu Ning Qin…"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off by laughter. Li Quanji had a strange look as his lips turned up in a mocking smile, "Your Majesty, actually you know best. Since you are here and willing to waste time with a criminal like me, it shows what you are feeling.

"You are the king of the West Desolate, one of the most powerful people in this world. Why can't you face what you are feeling inside and stop giving yourself excuses?"

He tore the king's hypocritical cover away.

The king's eyes were icy and the lightning appeared once more. It entered Li Quanji body through the chains, causing him to cry out as his entire body was covered in lightning strikes.

The air shook once more and the king's illusion disappeared. The suffering figure stilled and fell silent.

Li Quanji looked up and there was a weird smile on his twisted face. He then swallowed hard. All the intense lightning energy crackled and with a groan, he swallowed all the energy.

The place fell silent once more and Li Quanji looked at the torch that was still burning on the wall. The flame grew smaller and dimmer before it extinguished with a 'pfft'.

This place fell into darkness once again. The coldness grew more and more intense.

……

Li Ge pushed open the door and walked out. He looked calm and his aura was stable. There were no signs of his wavering from the previous day. Taking a deep breath, he drew his long sword and lifted it to the heavens. He confronted the nine suns in the distance.

This was an extremely profound refining method. It did not look like anything, but he was constantly cultivating his sword mind in the process. He was also continuously improving the quality of the sword he was holding.

On the roof, Li Ruhua spoke softly, "It seems like you had a good rest last night."

As she spoke, she looked at the window of Li Ge's room. She could vaguely make out a woman looking at herself in the mirror.

Li Ge said blandly, "Don't worry about what is in the room."

"I can ignore it, but you had better cover up her aura. The West Desolate is currently on a search and the woman in your room better not cause any trouble."

The room's door was pushed open and Nine-tailed Fox Su Yan walked out. She looked composed as she greeted respectfully, "Lady, please do not worry. I offered myself to ask for help in hiding. Once I leave the capital, I will not bother you."

She said it blatantly and outrightly. Li Ruhua looked over, "That better be the case."

She turned to hop off the roof and disappeared.

Su Yan frowned slightly as she stepped forwards, "Lord, sorry to trouble you."

"It is okay." Li Ge put his sword away and looked at Nine-tailed Fox, "But you must remember that Li Ruhua is higher ranked than me in the clan. You had better not clash with her."

Su Yan lowered her head and bowed, "Yes."

"Go back, don't move around freely. When I leave the capital, I will bring you out of this cage."

……

Min Residence.

Lord Min Changjing was having breakfast. He was eating a steamed meat bun at the place where he has always frequented.

As he was enjoying his food, the corners of his mouth pulled up in a mocking look.

All these demons really liked to die. Of all things, she had to take on an appearance to seduce others.

Tsk tsk, they said that the Fox Clan was smart. But to him, they all seemed like a bunch of fools that thought they were smart.

The owner of the restaurant smiled at him warmly and honestly, he stepped forward to refill his tea, "Lord, there were some changes to the recipe of the bun and there is now a hint of spiciness to it. What do you think?"

Lord Min raised his thumb, "Not bad. It tastes pretty good."

The store owner smiled a brilliant smile. He was not good at speaking and did not know how to reply. He wiped his hands on his apron and seemed to hesitate.

As a longtime neighbor, he immediately laughed and teased, "Store owner, are you thinking of offering your daughter to me as a concubine? Tsk tsk, although my body still looks good, I am really very old and may not be useful. I cannot ruin the girl's future. If you really want to, my lad at home is not bad. How about that?"

The restaurant store owner smiled and waved his hand, "No no…mmhm, of course if you are willing, I would definitely be happy. As for your son, my girl is coarse, she is no match for him."

A guest teased, "You are usually bad with words but how come you suddenly seem so good at talking when you reject!"

Everyone burst out laughing and the owner's daughter, who was helping out at the store, immediately blushed like red paper.

Lord Min joked with them for a bit. Although there was nothing to gain from this, the feeling was easy and relaxed. This was what life should be like.

He waved his hand and threw them a look seeming to say that it was enough. He looked at the store owner, "What are you standing and staring for? Go do your things."

The store owner understood and breathed a sigh of relief internally. He smiled and turned to return to his work.

That day, he had actually entered the residence. The housekeeper and him were friends so it was no big deal to use the washroom.

But the lord did not need him and the store owner felt slightly indignant. He thought that the fox deserved to die for being so rude.

He was old and did not have many years to live. He had always wanted to repay the lord for his kindness before he died. If not, he would not be able to leave in peace.

Since the lord did not need him to do anything now, he would wait.