Patrol Captain

At this moment, everyone in the hall stood solemnly.

The officials sent by the imperial court, led by Xu Liang, looked astonished.

Those from foreign factions, such as envoys from the Western Regions, were astonished and dared not even breathe loudly.
Those from the Northern Liang faction, such as the several valiant generals in the hall, were as if facing a formidable enemy, their aura suppressed and repressed.

In the main hall, the young master of Qingfeng Pavilion fell down in a sorry state, supporting himself on his hands as he tried to get up, looking flustered. Lu Jiang's hideous head rolled on the ground, appearing brightly before everyone's eyes.

A pair of ferocious, wide-open eyes stared directly at the King of Northern Liang on the throne!
Someone recognized Lu Jiang, but no one spoke; the atmosphere was like the calm before a storm.

Only Chen Yuan was at ease.

"how?"

"Has Mr. Chen arrived uninvited, spoiling everyone's mood?"

He raised an eyebrow, strolled forward, and his eyes, adorned with golden lacquer, swept over the figures on both sides, exuding an invisible aura of power.

Whether they were renowned figures in the martial arts world or leaders of powerful families, everyone present unconsciously avoided eye contact or lowered their eyelids, not daring to meet the gaze of this illustrious martial saint.

The young masters and juniors in the Prince's mansion shrank back like chicks to quails!
On the throne, King Xiao Zhongtian of Northern Liang's eyelids twitched slightly, but he remained calm and unhurried as he stepped down from the throne. His voice was deep and resonant, containing the kingly aura he had cultivated over many years.

"Lord Chen is a Martial Saint, whose power shakes the four seas. His presence at the Prince's Palace is a great honor, and I, the Prince, will certainly welcome him with open arms."

"However, today is my son's investiture ceremony, which is being witnessed by all the people."

"What does it mean that Lord Chen has brought a head with him?"

Xiao Zhongtian asked the question in court, standing below the hall with his fierce eyes.

With the prince's voice reassuring the crowd, everyone in the hall seemed to have found their anchor, and their previously fixed gazes began to flicker.

"hehe"

Chen Yuan laughed, looking at the imposing and dignified Prince of Beiliang, and waved his hand at the head on the ground.

The head rolled to Xiao Zhongtian's feet. The generals on either side of him tensed up, about to make a move, but Xiao Zhongtian stopped them with a raised hand. His tiger-like eyes were like abysses as he looked at Chen Yuan, waiting for what was to come.

At this moment, Chen Yuan raised his hand and gestured to the side. The chair behind a patriarch of a powerful family slid down the ground and landed behind Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan rolled up his sleeves, plopped down, and sat openly in the central hall. Then, with a forced smile, he addressed the King of Beiliang:
"Does Prince Xiao recognize this person?"

Anyone with even a basic understanding of etiquette would twitch at the sight of Chen Yuan sitting alone in the central hall, just like Xu Liang, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices was in charge of sacrifices and rituals, and sitting in the center of the main hall was an overreach of the main seat, which belonged to the King of Northern Liang. Even higher than the King of Northern Liang, Chen Yuan would be on the throne.

That's extremely taboo!
Too embarrassing!

This shows a complete disregard for the King of Northern Liang, and even for His Majesty the current emperor!
The officials from the imperial court couldn't help but twitch their eyebrows, but surprisingly, they all remained silent. As for the patriarch of the noble family who had lost his chair, his face turned green, and he didn't dare to utter a single word.

However, the people of the Northern Liang Royal Palace were uneasy upon seeing this scene. Their faces turned ugly, and they were restless and hesitant to speak, as this was a blatant disrespect to their royal palace.

Only their prince, Xiao Zhongtian, remained calm, his eyelids slightly lowered as he looked at the heads at his feet.
"Lu Jiang, Deputy Commander of the Local Circuit Intendant!"

"He was ordered by the court to support the front lines in Shu where Lord Chen was stationed. Why did Lord Chen kill him? He was an official appointed by the court. You should know that His Majesty's special envoy was also in this hall. Wasn't he afraid?"

Xiao Zhongtian raised his eyelids, his voice calm and even, as if he were talking about something insignificant.

Chen Yuan's eyes flashed with gold, and he thought to himself that this King of Beiliang was a man of deep thoughts, revealing no flaws. He placed his hands on the back of the chair and spoke in a detached voice.
"This person is in league with the Western Regions Holy Sect and wants to be an enemy of Chen's Ninth Mountain. Does Your Highness think he should be killed?"

"They certainly deserve to die. Colluding with foreign invaders, they overestimated themselves!" Xiao Zhongtian's face was indifferent. He touched a dragon-patterned finger ring on his hand, twirled it, and then his eyes flashed fiercely.

"But what does this have to do with my Northern Liang Royal Palace?"

As soon as these words were spoken, one after another, fierce generals who had followed the King of Beiliang through countless battles stepped forward from the seats on both sides. Their eyes were filled with murderous intent, but they showed no fear. These were all valiant generals who had fought countless battles and killed without hesitation, and they were only loyal to the King.

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, a cold smile appearing on his face.

"But I heard that this person is one of Prince Xiao's men!"

"Who?" Xiao Zhongtian asked in a deep voice.

"Grand Preceptor of the Great Qian Dynasty, the Martial Saint of Three Dynasties sent by His Majesty to oversee the Shu region!" Chen Yuan decisively shifted the blame to Helian Shan, absolving himself of any responsibility. If Helian Shan were present, he would surely be furious, cursing, "It was clearly you who arranged for me to take over!"

"besides."

Chen Yuan's tone shifted abruptly, his voice turning icy, and his eyes suddenly flashed with dazzling golden light, unleashing a powerful pressure.

"I've heard that the Northern Liang Prince's Mansion has a powerful figure behind it who wants to deal with me!"

"Is that you, Your Highness?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind carrying immense pressure swept across the hall, centered on him, and an overwhelming killing intent filled the space.

The hall erupted in an uproar.

"Dang Dang Dang"

The cups and saucers on the table were swept away by the strong wind, and the wine and delicacies were smashed all over the ground. Everyone was forced to stagger backward by the oppressive force, and a sense of horror rose in their bodies.

Those with weaker cultivation levels were startled when their minds were taken over, screaming in terror as if a heavy object was pressing on their chests, making them gasp for breath.

Right in the middle of the storm, powerful wind pressure swept towards Xiao Zhongtian, the King of Northern Liang, on the opposite side.

"Protect the prince!"

One by one, his personal guards, as fierce as tigers and leopards, rushed forward, releasing their inner energy to block Xiao Zhongtian's path. However, they were struck as if by a heavy blow, and with a gust of wind, they all slipped backward.

"Humph"

A cold snort followed by a resounding clang. Xiao Zhongtian's dark python robe billowed in the wind as he clapped his hands, causing the air to explode and his aura to surge with golden light.

There was a muffled sound.

The King of Beiliang took three steps back, and the gale dissipated.

"The primordial golden energy has formed a second golden flower."

"No, no, the second level of the Light Dragon Tiger is either something Your Highness is deliberately cryptic about, or you are hiding something."

"I thought that Prince Xiao was angry with me because your son died at Zushan. After all, there was a deep bond between father and son, and so many lives were lost in vain. It's just a pity that in the end, the white-haired man burys the black-haired man. I should have stopped him back then."

The voice was cold and arrogant, full of arrogance and flippancy.

It's like saying, "Who is this person below the court, accusing this official?"

Meanwhile, inside the hall, a group of people from the royal palace gathered together, their faces grim, protecting the Northern Liang King on both sides. Xiao Zhongtian stopped in his tracks, his eyes as deep as a cold pool, with veins throbbing at his temples.

The powerful prince looked at Chen Yuan, who sat calmly and smiling in the central hall, and suddenly felt a chill as if he had been toyed with. The other party was deliberately provoking him with the death of Nazha'er.

He had almost undone the things inside his body just now; his eyes darkened.
"It seems you have come today to deliberately humiliate the Northern Liang Royal Palace. I wonder who instructed you to do this?"

"Even if you possess unparalleled supernatural powers and are renowned throughout the world, you must at least give us some explanation today!" "Otherwise, we'll have to ask the soldiers guarding the northern frontier if they agree."

As soon as he finished speaking, the temperature in the hall dropped, the air became frigid, and every gaze seemed sharp and piercing. The military generals placed their hands on their waists, while the civil officials hid their hands in their sleeves, their cuffs fluttering, their Adam's apples bobbing.

Outside the palace, from the main gate to both sides of the inner courtyard, the clanging of armor against armor resounded like a tidal wave. Then, countless soldiers in black armor surged in like a tide, their dark iron helmets gleaming coldly in the sunlight. Each step they took on the bluestone slabs caused the ground to tremble.

The swords and spears in the hands of the armored soldiers gleamed with a blinding cold light, forming a continuous and powerful force. The clanging of swords clashing, the rustling of armor rubbing together, and the clattering of horses' hooves pounding the ground intertwined, making it hard to breathe. They converged into a steel torrent that rushed into the square in front of the palace, like a massive army pressing in, with the entire area filled with the gleam of armor.

Outside the hall, the many spectators gasped in shock and horror, knocking over tables and chairs as they were pushed closer to the inner hall by the commotion.

"What are you trying to do?" someone asked, bewildered.

"The King of Liang is furious. That Martial Saint seems to have ill intentions. When the city gates catch fire, the fish in the moat suffer. Let's retreat." Someone quickly realized that the royal palace was about to be in big trouble and, not wanting to be involved, prepared to make a quick getaway.

"call out"

"call out"

"call out"

One after another, figures shot up and broke through the air.

But soon, the entire palace shook violently, with a rumbling sound like thunder exploding in the sky. Then, beams of light shot into the sky from all around the palace, crashing into the heavens. A huge light shield quickly formed above the palace, enveloping it.

A powerful aura swept down like a force pressing down on the sky, making the space stagnant and heavy, directly imprisoning this area of ​​void.

"what"

"bang bang bang"

A series of muffled thuds, accompanied by cries of pain, rang out. Those figures who were preparing to fly away were blocked by the restriction, crashing into the void that was as solid as steel. They were hit hard, their heads bleeding, and in their pain, some staggered and fell from the sky, looking quite disheveled.

Several elders and disciples from Dongxuan Mountain were also present, but they were not injured. They were suspended in the air, trying to break through the restriction, but it was like throwing a mud ox into the sea. Even if a strong person like Han Zhong made a move, he could not do anything about it.

This restriction is terrifyingly powerful!

"Don't waste your energy. The Liang Prince's Mansion has been operating in Liangzhou for so long, it must be impregnable with many restrictions. It seems we have to get serious."

"Yu'er, what does this Martial Saint senior want to do? Does he intend to oppose the entire Royal Palace?" Master Han Zhong asked his third disciple, Chu Yu, with a look of surprise.

Chu Yu was also filled with unease. Being dragged into such a huge matter had left him numb. He said with a pained expression:

“Master, I don’t know either, but it seems to be related to some Western Regions Holy Sect. Master, you don’t know, but I personally witnessed this Martial Saint senior take action. It seems that someone the senior knew went missing, and someone came looking for him. At that time, my junior brother and I were helping this senior to hoe the ground. This Senior Chen was right there in the courtyard, but he was able to use great supernatural powers to attack from a distance. Just because someone the senior knew was harmed by some Western Regions Holy Sect, the Ninth Mountain troops went down the mountain to carry out a large-scale purge, sweeping away the Holy Sect’s members everywhere. It caused a great commotion in Shu, and anyone or any force that was implicated was directly massacred.”

Chu Yu had previously brought her junior brother to apologize to Chen Yuan. In order to please Chen Yuan, she helped him get down to earth and witnessed Chen Yuan using his supernatural powers. Before coming here, the information that the senior had spat out when he begged for mercy seemed to be related to that incident. Combining these clues, Chu Yu made her guess.

"Therefore, I suspect that this matter is also related to the Liang Prince's Mansion, which is why Senior Chen came to us."

As he spoke, his voice trailed off, sounding somewhat guilty.

"From what I understand, disciple, I'm afraid this cannot be resolved amicably!"

Han Zhong's expression changed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

"With so many people here, let's wait and see, keep an eye on the wind direction, and if anything seems amiss, stand with that senior."

The others looked slightly surprised upon hearing this, but did not object and nodded.

The disciples focused their attention and were on guard when their swords were drawn with a whoosh.

Meanwhile, inside the main hall, the atmosphere was tense and ready to fight!

In the central hall, Chen Yuan sat there, unmoved as a mountain. Outside, the gleam of armor and the flashing of swords illuminated the hall, casting bright light on pairs of eyes with different expressions.

Some were nervous, some were angry, and some were panicked.
Under these gazes, the head that had been carelessly discarded like trash on the ground, unnoticed by anyone, flew up and landed beside Chen Yuan. Chen Yuan caught it from a distance, lowered his brows, and spoke.

“When I beheaded this man yesterday, I could have directly searched his spirit and interrogated him to find out who was behind him, but I did not do so.”

"I just want to give the prince a chance!"

"I don't want things to get too ugly for everyone."

"Since Prince Xiao is so stubborn, it seems I will have to offend him today. Whether or not the heir is established is no longer important."

As he said this, Chen Yuan slowly rose from his seat, and then the hand that had been holding the head in mid-air clenched its five fingers, and with a "bang," the head burst open like a ripe watermelon.

This scene deeply shocked everyone, leaving them with a suffocating feeling that made it hard to breathe.

It was this loud bang that finally snapped the taut string that had been stretched thin by everyone in the Prince's Mansion.

"Protect the prince!"

"kill!"

Outside the hall, shouts of battle shook the dome. Armored soldiers clad in black gold armor charged into the hall without fear of death, their swords and blades slashing like a torrent towards a martial saint!
However, the might of the Martial Saint is vast and unfathomable.

These armored soldiers had not yet gotten close.

"puff"

"puff"

"puff"

The armor, mixed with flesh and blood, exploded into puffs of blood mist.

"Start the formation!"

A loud shout.

Above the palace roof, thunder rumbled and lightning rolled, and an incredibly thick silver bolt of lightning suddenly shattered the dome, striking down fiercely towards Chen Yuan, whose body was bathed in blood-red light!

Chen Yuan raised his hand and slammed it down. The silver lightning pillar shattered like a broken pillar, collapsing and turning into a white expanse of lightning that scattered in all directions.

However, Chen Yuan's eyes twitched as he sensed spatial fluctuations flowing around him.

When the lightning subsided, he found himself no longer in the main hall, but above it.

The opponent's grand array of restrictions covered the entire palace, allowing them to move space at will.

Meanwhile, throughout the Prince's mansion, at the eye of each pillar of light array, the sounds of "humph" and "ha" appeared, and figures returned to their positions to guard the array's eye.

The Northern Liang Royal Palace, weathered by a thousand years of wind and frost, has countless array patterns engraved beneath every piece of its foundation, making it extremely vast and complex. Such a foundation is not easily shaken. In addition, the palace is filled with powerful figures, so it is no exaggeration to call it a dragon's den or a tiger's lair!

"buzz"

A gunshot rang out across the heavens and earth!
Chen Yuan stood tall in the sky, raised his hand and swept it towards the void, sending a long spear flying with a dragon's roar! (End of Chapter)