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Lin Yue felt a sense of helplessness.
Given his current strength, apart from having a significant advantage in movement technique speed, he was not much better than an ordinary Four Symbols Heaven Barrier Peak. In a month’s time, he would not improve much, and there were quite a few present who were stronger than him, not to mention the other thirty-five outer hall disciples.
The cultivation time was too short.
In total, he had only been cultivating for a year.
The princes laid an incredibly deep foundation from a young age; breaking through the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier in a year at most, even if practicing martial arts, they couldn’t enter the inner hall.
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Perhaps, with a few more years, he might be confident enough.
"It’s all up to the black jade coffin now..." Lin Yue thought to himself.
After paying respects to the Human Ancestor, some of the new outer hall disciples went immediately to places like the Transmission Hall.
Lin Yue naturally wasn’t interested and prepared to return to the Duke Heng Mansion to open the black jade coffin.
"Young Master Mu Yue."
At this moment, a man’s voice suddenly sounded.
Lin Yue turned his head to look, and the newcomer was a young master dressed in fine clothes with a jade belt, accompanied by a team of Golden Armor Forbidden Army, clearly a royal family member.
"Who are you?" Lin Yue inquired.
The young master immediately clasped his hands in a bow and replied, "It’s normal for Young Master Mu Yue not to recognize me, my father is the Prince of Changping Commandery."
It was the Fifth Young Master of the Prince of Changping Commandery.
"The Prince of Changping Commandery?" Lin Yue suddenly realized.
Over the past year, Jun Changge had taught him a lot, and he had gained some understanding of the prominent figures within the royal family.
And the Prince of Changping Commandery was the third son of the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince was the strongest in martial arts in the world, and his sons were also adept in martial arts. Compared to the other sons of the Crown Prince, the Prince of Changping Commandery seemed somewhat lacking.
However, the Prince of Changping Commandery was still a formidable figure among Martial Arts Grandmasters.
According to seniority, he should be calling him uncle.
"Will Young Master Mu Yue also participate in next month’s inner hall assessment?" The Fifth Young Master of the Prince of Changping inquired.
Lin Yue nodded slightly, saying, "I’ll give it a try."
He glanced at the Fifth Young Master of the Prince of Changping and frankly said, "If there’s something, you can say it directly."
"Very well." The Fifth Young Master of the Prince of Changping immediately clasped his hands and said, "My elder wishes to meet Young Master Mu Yue, are you willing to come?"
"Could it be the Crown Prince?" Lin Yue couldn’t help but ask.
The Fifth Young Master of the Prince of Changping was slightly startled, shaking his head said, "It’s my sixth uncle, the Prince of An Qing."
The Prince of An Qing?
Lin Yue raised an eyebrow.
He knew that the Prince of An Qing was also the legitimate son of the Crown Prince.
If he remembered correctly, this was the greatest martial arts genius that Wu Nu’s master had ever seen, right?
"For what matter?" Lin Yue asked.
"I don’t know either."
The Fifth Young Master of the Prince of Changping said, "Sixth uncle only sent someone to pass on the message to me."
"Perhaps another day." Lin Yue shook his head slightly, saying, "I have some things to attend to; we can talk in a few days."
If it were any other disciple of the Human Ancestor Hall, such an invitation from a grand figure like the Prince of An Qing would naturally not be refused.
But he was, after all, a prince, and by seniority, he was considered an uncle to the Prince of An Qing, refusing the invitation of a junior wasn’t much of an issue.
Moreover, although the Crown Prince didn’t involve himself in factional struggles, he hoped for someone to inherit his position, but he had not yet acknowledged the identity of a prince, so going to meet a prince in such a manner was somewhat inappropriate.
"Then... very well."
Evidently, the Fifth Young Master of the Prince of Changping understood this reasoning. He immediately clasped his hands and said, "Then I shall not trouble Young Master Mu Yue further."
Lin Yue said no more and left with Baili Fengzhi.
...
The Prince Cheng Mansion had a tiger’s position on Huayan Street, covering a vast area, almost like a city, grand and imposing.
In an elegant and quiet study.
The Twelfth Prince sat behind the desk, holding a scripture scroll in his hand, carefully reading while listening to reports from his confidant.
And that confidant was an elderly man, thin and withered, who was evidently the housekeeper of the Prince Cheng Mansion.
After the withered old man finished speaking, the Twelfth Prince smiled slightly, shaking his head, said, "This Seventeenth Brother has only been cultivating for a year, yet his martial arts realm is quite decent, it seems he has some talent in martial arts."
He gently laid down the scripture in his hand, saying, "It stands to reason that Seventeenth Brother’s past life might have been a significant figure on the path of martial arts, you should investigate in that direction, considering someone who has been dead for at least twenty years and was skilled in martial arts, it shouldn’t be too difficult to filter out."
"Yes."
The withered old man responded immediately, then added, "However, for the Seventeenth Prince to have such combat power after just a year of cultivation is indeed rare."
"Indeed, but it is of no great concern."
The Twelfth Prince smiled faintly and said, "His movement technique is fast because he practiced the Ultimate Killing Skill from two hundred years ago. Since he dared to cultivate the Ultimate Killing Skill without any special constitution’s aura, one would assume his innate divine power relates to life recovery in some way, which greatly benefits martial arts cultivation, so his speed of progress is just about average, compared to the Prince of An Qing, he’s far from matching."
The withered old man nodded and said, "What Your Highness says is true, Lin Yue has only just broken through the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier, without the awakening of his past life’s memories, with that little strength, he can’t even enter the inner hall of the Human Ancestor Hall."
"Even so, you still need to search for martial arts prodigies."
The Twelfth Prince looked towards the withered old man, saying, "The Crown Prince and the Human Ancestor Hall are exceedingly close, he left behind legacies there, only inner hall disciples have the chance to interact with them, you need to find true martial arts prodigies, only then is there a chance to cultivate them to enter the inner hall."
"Understood." The withered old man responded at once.
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "However, the female guard beside the Seventeenth Prince, Baili Fengzhi, is indeed extraordinary. The Seventeenth Prince is quite fortunate to have subdued such a talent."
"There must be something unusual about her."
The Twelfth Prince said blandly, "During today’s outer hall assessment, wasn’t there an outstanding, unknown, nameless swordsman?"
"My subordinates have already attempted to extend an invitation." The withered old man shook his head, saying, "But that person’s personality is too eccentric and reclusive; I’ll need to investigate further before trying again."
The Twelfth Prince sighed, "It’s a pity, among my descendants there emerged a supreme talent in martial arts, even the Crown Prince was willing to guide them, but unfortunately, their nature was too wild, always thinking of exploring the vast Eternal Night, and just like that, they ended up lost."
The withered old man also felt some lamentation.
For him to still recall this talent despite being missing for over twenty years demonstrated the extent of their talent.
...
The Duke Heng Mansion.
Qinghu Inn.
After Lin Yue returned, he claimed seclusion as a reason to enter the usual secret chamber used for cultivation.
After activating the array within the chamber, he took out the Blood Lotus Lamp and set up a barrier.
Then, Lin Yue retrieved the black jade coffin from his storage space.
In the next moment, a coffin approximately a zhang in length appeared in front of him.
However, the coffin was shrouded in a layer of darkness about an inch thick, seemingly absorbing all light within that inch of distance; even the Long Bright Pearl couldn’t illuminate it, it was quite peculiar.
No matter how close he got, he could not see the coffin’s true appearance.
"How does it open?"
Lin Yue tried to explore the black jade coffin, finding the edge of the coffin lid.
Then, he tried to pry it open with force—
To no avail.
The coffin lid remained unmoved.
"Isn’t this how it opens?"
Lin Yue frowned slightly, trying to explore the entire edge of the coffin lid, finding no mechanism.
He also tried infusing it with primordial power, but there was no reaction.
"Wasn’t it said the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier could open it?"
Lin Yue pondered for a moment, then immediately controlled the Water Element to expel fresh blood, dripping it onto the black jade coffin.
In the next moment—
As his blood dripped onto it, the layer of darkness on the black jade coffin’s surface suddenly rippled, revealing a pitch-black jade coffin board from the center of the blood drop.
"Does it work?"
Lin Yue’s eyes brightened, and he continued to drip blood.
Anyway, for one like him in the state of Nine Lives, blood was inconsequential. He soon smeared a large amount of blood onto the black jade coffin.
When the black jade coffin had completely absorbed the fresh blood, and the surface’s darkness had entirely dissipated—
"Crack."
With a soft sound, the black jade coffin finally opened a small gap.
A wisp of pure black aura flowed out from the gap in the coffin lid, slowly transforming into a vague human figure.
The lower body of the figure was misty and ethereal, while the upper body gradually became realistic.
The figure had a faint smile on its lips, a kindly demeanor, as though it watched the world’s beings with compassion.
The eyes, surprisingly, were double-pupiled!
"This... this..."
Lin Yue stared in shock at the phantom figure, muttering incredulously, "The... Human Ancestor!?"
...
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