Refining the Mountains and Rivers

After thinking it over repeatedly, Li Ruhua placed the pastry in her hand down and stood up, "Your Majesty, I am not in a position to interfere with the decision made by elders in my clan. I have to apologize for what happened before."

The king narrowed his eyes but maintained his smile, "Is that all?"

Li Ruhua lifted her head up, "No, I came to the Imperial Palace today because an elder in my clan has suggested a collaboration with Your Majesty.

"Ignore the past. This cooperation shall be a new beginning. Your Majesty, please believe me, if everything goes smoothly, we may use this to change the stance of the elders in my clan. They may even change sides and stand on the side of the West Desolate."

The king looked at the blossomed flowers in the garden, admiring their fiery red color. "Who is the Li Family looking for?"

Li Ruhua smiled, "I knew that we could not hide this from Your Majesty." Her expression was calm but she was shocked internally. This was a top secret even in the Central Desolate Divine Area. For the West Desolate to have learned about this, they must have made preparations many years ago.

They were ambitious!

She sucked in a breath of air and lifted her head to look at the West Desolate King.

"No one is able to spy on us in the pavilion."

Li Ruhua said, "We are looking for the new Barbarian King."

The king frowned and he fell silent. No one could lie to him in the pavilion, and hence, Li Ruhua was telling the truth.

The Barbarian Clan…the new king…

He inevitably thought of the Great Barbarian Desolate War that happened during the first initiation ceremony of the empire.

Aside from the Desolate Divine Area, the other eight Divine Areas suffered great casualties from the Barbarian Clan and there were many injured too. The ancestors of the empire took advantage of the war. After many hard battles, they placed a leader in charge of the West Desolate and controlled the Desolate Area till this day. That great catastrophe which swept through the entire land was an east wind that helped the imperial clan of the empire.

The reason why that terrifying Great Barbarian Desolate War happened was because the last Barbarian King of the Barbarian Clan worked hard to consolidate and organize the barbarian tribes. He amassed the power of the entire Barbarian Clan.

If the Central Desolate Area had not used a Great Divine Way to kill the Barbarian King who broke through to the True King realm, the nine areas of the Desolate Area would not exist and they would be barbarian territory.

After that happened, the Barbarian Clan fell into a weakened state. The barbarian tribes scattered all across the land and they slowly arrived at their current situation.

Now, there was a new Barbarian King…a cold glare crossed the eyes of the West Desolate King and the temperature in the pavilion seemed to have plummeted.

Li Ruhua's eyes lit up and she was shocked by the power of the king. The West Desolate King's cultivation realm was so high. She recalled the reports and intelligence she received before she entered the West Desolate…it seemed that this king truly wanted to be the ruler of the West Desolate. Like the Qin king of the Central Desolate, it seemed as though the throne was passed to many others over the few hundred ascensions but it was always the same winner. He wanted to support the country forever and ensured its glory!

"I must have lost my focus." The king spoke slowly in a calm voice. However, there was a strong pressure and sternness, "The Barbarian King is a serious matter. Even though you told me about it, I have to verify your words."

Opposite him, Li Ruhua said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. The Central Desolate has confirmed the descending of the new Barbarian King many times. The thirteenth floor gave these orders to the four major families and sects and they have sent their disciples to investigate this."

She thought about it and added, "Of course, the Old Ancestors of the families and sects want to take action personally to ensure that nothing goes wrong. However, their cultivation realms are too high and they cannot make hasty movements. Otherwise, they may spoil the plans."

The king nodded to express his understanding. If it wasn't Li Ruhua in front of him but an Old Ancestor of the Li Family from the Central Desolate, the circumstances here would be different. The chaos caused by the nine-tailed demon fox back then would have resulted in an earth-shattering battle.

"I am willing to cooperate with the Li Family to find the new Barbarian King, but you must provide me information about the new Barbarian King."

Li Ruhua said, "Of course." She took a light purple-colored jade slip that was filled with a noble aura. With one look, he could tell that it was an extraordinary item.

"When the new Barbarian King is born, the thirteenth floor would sense his presence. However, the Barbarian King's fate seems to have been disrupted by someone so we have to be extra careful. This jade slip contains limited information granted by the thirteenth floor. Otherwise, they would be alerting the enemy."

Powerful men of the world could not be addressed by their names directly.

For instance, King realm cultivators had sensory abilities that stretched across vast distances. If someone called out their real name, they would sense it immediately. They may even lock onto the disrespectful individual and target him. The individual who disrupted the fate of the new Barbarian King and limited the means of the thirteenth floor must be a powerful existence too.

Because he was in the pavilion, the king's cultivation realm was boosted. This was the case for cultivators when they were in their own territory. The king's eyes lowered and he observed the jade slip. He noted the powerful and complex restriction seals around it.

He stretched an arm forward and channeled his mental energy and divine sense into it.

A long while later, the king received a reply through his divine sense. The purple-colored jade slip in his hands turned into ashes silently. The ashes evaporated away and there was no evidence left of the jade slip.

The Barbarian King's aura was interrupted by an invisible force. His fates were disrupted and no one could lock onto his location. The thirteenth floor could not make an accurate judgement and they could only give a general direction. One of the suspected regions where he could be found was the barbarian territory between the west of the West Desolate and the east of the Traverse Mountains.

The new Barbarian King…the Tomb of the Barbarian King… At this moment, many thoughts flew through the West Desolate King's head and his expression darkened.

Li Ruhua waited silently.

"I thought of something. It is related to the imperial tomb in the Western Barbarian Land…" The king slowly spoke as he looked opposite him.

Li Ruhua nodded, "The Li Family knows about this, but no one can confirm whether the appearance of the new Barbarian King is related to it. Your Majesty, do you suspect someone?"

The king fell silent but the silhouette of a figure appeared in his mind.

Li Ruhua was hesitant and she whispered, "Marquis Chongwu, Ning Qin."

The king's eyes flashed. He did not speak but he expressed his attitude.

"As I expected." Li Ruhua said, "Not long ago, I investigated Marquis Chongwu, Ning Qin. Your Majesty, it seems like you do not fully trust him still. I believe in Your Majesty's judgement. Since you are still suspicious, there must be other reasons why."

She paused and sighed deploy, "Your Majesty, to tell you the truth, I investigated the murder of the disciple of the Li Family in Parasol County because I felt that the karma aura was related to the new Barbarian King. Furthermore, I also sensed a similar aura from the son of Seascape City's Chen Yuanshen, Chen Sanglue. It is much stronger than the aura from the Li Family disciple.

"Both of these events are related to Marquis Chongwu Ning Qin…although it seems like an obvious trap where I am not fully confident of whether what I sensed is true, but…this matter relates to the new Barbarian King. We have to be extra cautious."

The king was expressionless and he was silent for a while. Then he said, "I once launched a Heaven Inquiry on Marquis Chongwu, Ning Qin. There is nothing wrong with him."

Li Ruhua bowed, "Your Majesty, nothing in this world is absolute, and even the heavens can be deceived…you should know about that person in the Central Desolate better than me."

The king looked at Li Ruhua who kept her gaze low. He closed his eyes, "I agree to give it another try. However, this must be kept under wraps or we will incite the court to take action."

Li Ruhua knew about what happened when Qin Yu broke through to become a Ruler using incense power. It was astonishing for anyone to absorb incense power for a long time. At this moment, it was not appropriate for news about the Imperial Palace's suspicions of him to spread.

"Your Majesty, rest assured. I am willing to investigate this and I promise you that it will go smoothly."

The king nodded, "I will give you this chance."

Although there was hostility between the West Desolate King and the three generations of the Li Family a while back because of disagreements on some issues, this did not stop them from establishing a pact after interacting.

Firstly, the new Barbarian King was an important issue and the king definitely did not want a repeat of the war in the past. After all, the imperial family of the empire may take this chance to replace the West Desolate King and anyone could do what he did before.

For instance, the Ye Family.

The king had the confidence to lead the way and give a chance for the Ye Family to redeem their fate. However, he was not willing to give the Ye Family a chance of obtaining the throne.

Secondly, there was still some suspicions deep within the West Desolate King's heart with regard to Marquis Chongwu Ning Qin. It was like a sharp needle that was hidden deep within his bones. Although it was not a big needle, it was constantly giving him pain and making him uneasy. Furthermore, the incident in the fragmented world. The crazy Li Four Seasons did not have a grudge against anyone but Ning Qin…there must be something wrong.

As such, the king sailed along with the waves and he allowed Li Ruhua to step forward to lead this operation. He would use the powers of the Li Family from the Central Desolate to do a final check. As for Chen Sanglue, since Li Ruhua wanted to keep him alive, the king did not mind closing an eye with regards to him.

This did not mean that he would live for as long as he leeched from his father. The future was unknown, but Chen Sanglue was too insignificant now to matter.

……

In the Marquis Chongwu Residence, Rourou opened her eyes. Her face was pale and she looked tired. As she lifted her hand to rub her eyes, a cold smirk was revealed on her face.

"There isn't any place in this world that is hidden from me. At most, I would have to pay a price."

Although she said this, that pavilion in the Imperial Palace looked like any ordinary pavilion. However, it was a world by itself and it was not an exaggeration to call it a reversed world.

If ordinary people wanted to examine the world within the pavilion, they would be shredded apart before their divine sense even got close to it. Even she had to pay a huge price to hide herself and force her way in.

All of a sudden, the cold smirk on Rourou's lips suddenly froze.

Naturally, this wasn't because she exposed herself. However, Rourou felt very helpless as she realized that she was covering up a lot of loopholes for Qin Yu and she even voluntarily did this favor for him. This was definitely a loss-making business and she could not even get a single payment!

Slap -

Rourou slapped herself with the hand that she was using to rub her forehead. With her face covered by her palm, she grinded her teeth together angrily.

Damn it! Damn it!

She had to get to the bottom of this quickly. Otherwise, Rourou was really afraid that she would sacrifice herself for Qin Yu voluntarily in time.

Goodness, that would be too scary!