I tricked you into thinking you had the makings of an emperor, but you actually did it?

Extraterritorial battlefields, Eternal Academy.

Shen Ming returns as the Prince of Eternity, and at the same time, he is also the junior brother of the Eternal Palace.

Shen Ming went to see his senior brothers and sisters immediately.

Senior Sister Situ Qing has a full head of silver hair, elegant and composed. Time has left its mark on her face, but it cannot hide the beauty of her bone structure.

"Little junior brother!"

Situ Qing was overjoyed to see him return.

Since the King-level Hunting Battle, Shen Ming has remained on the Xuanhuang Continent and has not returned.

Not long after their reunion, Situ Qing led Shen Ming to the academy's cemetery and found Senior Brother Ma's tombstone.

"Let Brother Ma see what you've accomplished now."

Shen Ming thought of the great battle that day, in which his senior brother Ma Quandao sacrificed himself, which made him realize what eternity is and how he turned the tide of the battle.

For no apparent reason, a surge of anger welled up inside me.

The Panyue Dynasty is his enemy at every turn, and they are still issuing bounties on the battlefields beyond the borders.

Shen Ming had always been determined to take revenge, but he had never been so furious as he was now.

Because of the vast difference in strength in the past, the brain subconsciously avoids this point in order to avoid getting caught up in the struggle and pain.

Now that he is the Sword Emperor and has the power to challenge the Pan Yue Dynasty, he truly understands how fierce his anger is.

Shen Ming took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and offered a devout prayer.

"Senior Brother Ma, I will make the Panyue Dynasty pay the price," he said silently to himself.

Originally, Shen Ming had planned to embark on the trial path once his cultivation reached the Quasi-Emperor level, but now, he couldn't hold back any longer.

Before that, we must first quell the hidden dangers of the battlefield outside the region, and make those who are eyeing us with covetous eyes pay the price.

According to the eldest brother's plan, internal stability must be achieved before external resistance can be dealt with.

We must first identify those with ulterior motives within the Eternal Academy.

However, Shen Ming felt it wouldn't be that easy.

After all, it was an academy, and with the senior brother in charge, the two remaining quasi-emperor elders wouldn't act rashly.

Shen Ming didn't want to go out and attract attention, as that would be too obvious.

For the first few days, everything was calm and nothing happened.

However, that's all just on the surface.

The news that Shen Ming had reached the Human King level spread like wildfire.

If one's cultivation level is not deliberately suppressed, it is easy for others to see through it.

Furthermore, Shen Ming's trump card wasn't this, and he didn't hide it.

Therefore, many people know about the academy.

Perhaps it was unintentional, or perhaps it was sold as intelligence, making it impossible to investigate.

"Human hearts are unpredictable."

Su Lianyun found Shen Ming and explained the situation.

He was worried that Shen Ming would be angry because of this, but he found that his junior brother seemed to be deep in thought.

Shen Ming recalled what Jian Li had said: the human heart is no less than the abyss of the starry sky, capable of corrupting even the gods.

At this moment, Nangong Tian hurriedly arrived at the Eternal Palace, found the two, and brought more bad news.

"Your Highness, Dean, Qian'er has been captured!"

Nangong Tian exclaimed in surprise.

Nangong Qian is Nangong Tian's daughter. Shen Ming had dealt with her before and had a fairly deep impression of her.

"What happened?" Su Lianyun asked.

Nangong Tian told the two that Nangong Qian and the top disciples of the four halls of the academy encountered the alien race of the sacred mountain on their way back.

The alien race of the sacred mountain detained them, accusing them of stealing the divine embryo of their race.

They were caught red-handed on the spot, but out of consideration for Eternal Academy, they were not killed outright.

They will only hand over the person if Dean Su Lianyun, the Eternal Dean, goes there in person.

"What a clumsy tactic," Shen Ming said. This was clearly an attempt to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

The alien race of the sacred mountain claimed to be servants of God.

The divine embryo naturally refers to a deity.

Nangong Qian and her group wouldn't steal that thing unless they had a reason.

"They're using this as a diversionary tactic, hoping to lure you away, Senior Brother, so that others can take advantage of the situation."

"If it were a senior elder of the academy, his behavior would be extremely heinous."

"Conversely, if one is careless, it means there is a hand behind the scenes that can simultaneously coordinate all parties."

It's not hard to guess who this could be; only the Panyue Dynasty has the capability and motive to do so.

"Dean, what should we do?" Nangong Tian said anxiously.

Not only his daughter was arrested, but also Ying Wushuang, Lin Yan and other chief disciples of various halls.

Su Lianyun looked at Shen Ming, wanting to hear his plans.

“If I go with my senior brother, people will just assume it’s for close protection and won’t suspect anything,” Shen Ming said.

We absolutely must save them; we can't just ignore them.

"this?"

On the contrary, Nangong Tian hesitated a bit, as he was somewhat familiar with the Emperor's style of doing things.

If I go there in person, I will surely sink the sacred mountain.

In a battle between cultivators, the defender gains the advantage.

"Don't worry," Shen Ming said.

His knowledge was vast and complex, but he was proficient in many things and could be considered an all-rounder.

Most importantly, he ignores all magic arrays and restrictions, and can break through all magic with a single sword strike.

However, there were still people in the academy who opposed it.

"No, you are now the imperial prince. If you go out, it will only cause trouble for the dean."

"Leave it at the academy and let the dean handle this matter."

The two Supreme Elders arrived upon receiving the news; they were at the Quasi-Emperor level and were also pillars of the Eternal Academy.

They are of the same generation and are named Hua Hao and Hua Nan respectively.

They didn't know Shen Ming's cultivation level, so what he said was flawless.

“Your Highness, don’t worry. Even if the Dean isn’t here, we can protect you,” Hua Hao said.

Hua Nan nodded vigorously in agreement.

“Elders, I am unwilling to divert the academy’s resources because of myself. It would be very dangerous for the dean to go to the sacred mountain alone to retrieve the person,” Shen Ming said.

"Do you think you can help by going there?" This time it was Elder Hua Nan who spoke, getting straight to the point.

“No, I mean the two elders will travel together to the sacred mountain, so the academy doesn’t need to keep anyone there,” Shen Ming said.

"this?"

The two elders hadn't considered this.

They had a preconceived notion that the imperial prince needed protection.

I never expected them to act together and come out in full force.

"Isn't this too risky?" Hua Hao hesitated.

"If there's a problem that even the two Supreme Elders and the Senior Brother can't solve, then we should work together even more, isn't that the logic?"

Shen Ming said, "It is Junior Sister Nangong and the others who are in danger. We cannot let my personal reasons distract the academy's fighting force."

Hearing him say this, both elders were tempted.

"Alright, send out the Eternal Warships directly! Go to the Divine Mountain and demand an explanation!" Hua Nan said excitedly.

After careful consideration, Hua Hao agreed with this point.

It's impossible to tell which of the Supreme Elders harbors ulterior motives; it's possible that all of them do, or it's possible that none of them do.

In short, the Eternal Academy dispatched its Dean, two Supreme Elders, and four Palace Masters aboard the Eternal Warship to the Divine Mountain.

The news spread immediately when the Eternal Warship flew over the outer battlefield.

"The Eternal Academy mobilized such a large-scale rescue operation, are they not concerned about the life or death of their imperial prince?"

"I heard that their imperial prince is also on the warship, traveling with them."

"Is it true or not? Could it be a trick, or a shadow, and the real one is actually staying at the academy?"

"Eternal Academy wouldn't take such a big gamble, would it?"

"Breaking news! Those four quasi-emperors from the Trial Road are also heading this way!"

These quasi-emperors, who had been blocking Shen Ming's path to the trials, were now unable to contain themselves any longer.

Some couldn't help but wonder if this was yet another scheme by the Eternal Academy to lure the Imperial Prince into the Trial Path.