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Chapter 23 Infiltrating the Dungeon
"You don't trust him?" Chen Xuan asked halfway through the journey.

Using invisibility to travel is a novel but not very pleasant experience, especially when walking on bumpy, muddy country roads. Although Chinon is also known as the Royal Fortress, and Charles VII used it as a palace before moving to Paris, it is essentially a rural town. Apart from the solidly built castle, the rest of the town is quite "idyllic".

Without being able to see where his feet were, he couldn't fine-tune his footing, so it became common for him to step on one foot higher than the other, and then step into a mud puddle. Before even entering the castle, he could already feel as if his toes were glued together.

“I don’t trust anyone here. They don’t even seem to be of the same race as me,” Liu Shuyue answered without hesitation. “If such people appeared in Daqi, they might not even be considered human.”

"It makes sense."

"Of course, even if he were from the Great Qi, I would not want to take him into danger. If we were to encounter a real crisis, an untrustworthy companion would only become a huge hidden danger. As the saying goes, a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall, so it is better to eliminate this hidden danger from the beginning."

Chen Xuan found these words very pleasing.

The implication was that he was now a trustworthy person.

"What level of enemy might we encounter? Do you have any predictions about that?" Liu Shuyue asked.

How would he know that?

If Joan of Arc is taken as the benchmark of combat power, then the cultivator disciples should be able to crush her—but in reality, he has never personally witnessed Liu Shuyue display her strength, and secondly, Joan of Arc's power increased dramatically after obtaining the Spirit Sword Technique, so he really can't evaluate where the average level of this world is.

Then there's the witch known as Mad Judy. Although she sounds arrogant and domineering, she never directly clashed with Joan of Arc. Instead, she used public opinion and royal authority to push Joan of Arc to the brink of defeat. So, in terms of hard power, she was probably still inferior to Joan of Arc.

“Good question. This is my first time in this area, and I haven’t gathered any relevant intelligence yet,” he said honestly. “How would you assess the situation if you encountered this?”

"If you want to eliminate a monster you've never seen before, one way is to ask the nearby residents about its habits, and the other is to use the Heavenly Cloud Technique to sweep out a circle of energy. This way you can sense the strength of nearby individuals. With my previous level, I could detect things within a radius of twenty miles, but now that I've started cultivating from scratch, my detection range has dropped to about a hundred steps."

"Oh? The Heavenly Cloud Technique has this effect?"

"You haven't used it before, have you?" Liu Shuyue was slightly surprised. "Any cultivation technique can detect auras, it's just that the range and accuracy are different. Of course... people with high cultivation levels can also use the other party's detection for disguise or fraud, which depends on the skill level of both parties."

Chen Xuan had indeed never used it.

It's like buying a new car; you can easily drive it away, but that doesn't mean you understand every function on the center console. The dealership will give you a thick owner's manual, but you only remember to look at it when you encounter a problem.

The same applies to abilities.

When he obtained the manual, he was more concerned about its body-strengthening and skill-enhancing aspects, which, simply put, were how much of a buff it could provide. He didn't really pay much attention to these subtle tricks for active use.

After all, what threats are there to be wary of in a residential community?

"I'll try it now."

After Chen Xuan finished speaking, he activated the Heavenly Glow Technique, dispersing the gathered energy evenly—even though he had never done this before, it felt as natural and easy as eating and drinking the first time. However, he could only use the LV2 level technique at this moment, and his detection range was far less exaggerated than Liu Shuyue had described.

The first strong reaction point has appeared.

It was Liu Shuyue walking in front of him.

In that instant, Chen Xuan felt a chill rise subconsciously from the bottom of his heart, and he couldn't help but shiver. He didn't need to read the "instruction manual" to know that it wasn't that he was afraid of the other party, but rather that the mental technique was telling him that the person in front of him was not someone to be trifled with.

As his reconnaissance circle expanded, he detected more and more auras, but they were mostly faint. When the nearby castle was also included, he quickly sensed four or five more distinct points of contact, one of which, in his subconscious, appeared as a warm, bright gold, and remained motionless beneath the castle.

It has to be said that this mental cultivation method is really convenient to use, it's like having X-ray vision and an infrared sensor.

Chen Xuan praised it highly in his heart.

Even if someone is hundreds of meters away, he can figure out their location in advance. No wonder Liu Shuyue was able to find the bandits' camp in the pitch black of night.

"I've checked, and there's no one stronger than you or me."

There are people better than me, but the sum of us is the ceiling.

"That's good." Liu Shuyue didn't mind his choice of words. "But don't let your guard down. Sometimes being too safe can be a trap."

Chen Xuan nodded in agreement.

He also noticed that Liu Shuyue mentioned that she had started to relearn the Tianxia Gong, which confirmed his previous speculation that ability trading is not a one-off deal where one person has something that the other doesn't. Even if an ability is lost, it can be relearned through talent and hard work.

The castle was built beside a lake. The naturally flowing water formed a natural barrier, and visitors needed to use a drawbridge to enter the castle.

Many soldiers can be seen stationed on the towering brick and stone walls. If one were to charge in, it would be difficult to take down this fortress without ten times the number of troops and large siege weapons.

But the guards never dreamed that two people would so brazenly walk through the gate and swagger into the fortress.

"I heard... that the Holy Maiden is to be executed tomorrow?"

"What saint? She's been declared a blasphemous witch by the arbitration tribunal."

"But will the witch also lead an army to defeat the English? After all, she is a heroine who liberates Orleans and Reims..."

"Who knows? Maybe it's all just the devil's trick."

Such hushed conversations could be heard everywhere.

Even the royal guards serving the king had heard of Joan of Arc's great achievements. Some felt indignant on her behalf, while others were overjoyed at the elimination of a witch. In any case, Joan of Arc's prestige here was clearly not as prominent as it was on the front lines.

“It seems that Gildre’s information was correct,” Chen Xuan said in a low voice. “My guest has been unjustly slandered.”

Even though the British did not put her on trial, her fate did not seem to escape its original trajectory.

"Isn't it common in history for good people to be wronged and villains to succeed? It was her good fortune to meet you before this happened." Liu Shuyue sighed softly. "Can you sense her location?"

"It should be in the castle's basement; we can go down from the east tower."

With a clear map of the palace and the long-range sensing ability of the Heavenly Cloud Technique, finding people was not difficult. Using invisibility magic, the two sneaked from the castle entrance to the underground area in less than half an hour, with no obstacles along the way. The prison was right next to the storeroom, and the key was hanging on the stone wall.

It's unclear what kind of magic Liu Shuyue used, but the jailers at the door visibly became drowsy, and within thirty seconds they all closed their eyes.

“The sleep spell will only last for about 15 minutes, we need to hurry,” she reminded them.

Chen Xuan took off the key, opened the prison gate, and walked inside. The layout here was somewhat like a hotel, with a narrow straight passage in the middle and wooden bars forming cages on both sides.

Finding the cell where Joan of Arc was imprisoned was easier than he had expected.

Because there were only four armored guards standing in front of the cage.

"They're keeping a tight watch," he muttered to himself. Through the guards, he confirmed Joan of Arc's figure—she had been stripped of all her armor, wearing only a black linen prison tunic; her feet were bound with chains and iron balls, and she wore wooden shackles on her hands. However, apart from the strict restriction of her movements, there were few visible external injuries on her body.

"Can we let these people fall asleep too?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards began to sway from side to side.

"I suddenly feel so sleepy..."

"Hey, don't doze off here."

"No...is it a sleeping potion? Guards..."

The last person managed to take two more steps forward before collapsing with a thud.

The sound of armor clashing caught Joan of Arc's attention.

"What's wrong with you all?" She looked up, even showing concern for the people. "Jailer, come here quickly—"

She stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence, a look of shock on her face.

At this moment, Chen Xuan slowly emerged from the shadows and walked step by step to the cage.

"Divine messenger... Your Excellency?"

"Hmm? Is she that guest...? Why does she seem so respectful to you?" Liu Shuyue's whisper came from behind. "I thought we were your most respected guests."

(End of this chapter)