Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Imperial Palace, Slaying Two Grandmasters in the Blink of an Eye

Imperial Capital.

All four city gates were tightly shut, and the city was still under martial law.

Within the city, soldiers and horses moved back and forth; merchants kept their doors closed, residents hid away, and even some officials waited in trembling fear for the upheaval to end.

Inside the palace’s grand hall.

The Crown Prince gazed at the supreme dragon throne, his eyes filled with fervent longing.

“It’s mine. Soon, I’ll have every right to sit upon it, to survey the land from above, to hold the power of life and death over millions of subjects.”

“A single word to determine the fate of the world, a phrase to decide between life and death.”

“Sovereign of all, standing at the pinnacle of power!”

“This is what a man desires most, a man’s ultimate pleasure.”

His heart surged with emotion, yet he knew that although he presently held the advantage, he could not afford to grow complacent. He must wait a little longer.

Wait until all is settled, and ascend the throne as a matter of course.

No rush.

Truly, there is no rush.

“Your Highness, something terrible has happened!” An elderly eunuch, leaving behind a trail of afterimages, hurried to his side, his face a mask of panic.

“Such commotion—what sort of manners are these?” The Crown Prince turned, his face darkening. “Is there still someone in the city causing trouble?”

“N-no, it’s—Princess Fengwu has returned, the Ninth Princess! She flew back on her sword from the sky—and brought a man with her!”

“The Ninth Princess, sword-riding, with a man?” The Crown Prince was taken aback, his eyes narrowing sharply.

In a flash, he rushed outside.

At that moment, palace maids, eunuchs, imperial guards—all looked skyward, terror etched on their faces.

High above, a great sword, radiant and dazzling, hovered silently. Three figures stood atop it.

“Brother Jiang, do you think I’ll ever be able to fly on a sword?” Chief Jin was still excited and full of longing.

She had not changed the way she addressed him.

As for the situation she was about to face, she seemed unconcerned.

The Ninth Princess was extremely nervous, clinging tightly to Jiang Ming’s arm, her mind occupied with what was to come, listening intently.

“Controlling a sword with your energy is easy; true sword-flight is much harder,” Jiang Ming replied. “First, you need exceptionally powerful inner energy. Then you must comprehend the essence of wind—only then does controlling a sword become feasible. If you understand the essence of metal, you can control weapons, too, but that alone isn’t enough for sword-flight. You also need a formidable spirit. With the mind as your guide, perhaps sword-flight is possible.”

His own circumstances were unique indeed.

His inner energy was boundless as the sea.

His spiritual power was unfathomably strong.

With the intent of wind propelling him, and the essence of metal under his command, the impossible became possible.

“I see,” Chief Jin said with a hint of disappointment.

The three landed atop the grand hall of the palace just as the Crown Prince emerged. The moment his eyes fell upon the Ninth Princess, his face darkened.

The man beside her made his pupils contract.

Jiang Ming!

He recognized him instantly.

Suppressing his shock and fury, the Crown Prince called out in a loud voice, “Sister, do you know where you are standing? This is the seat of supreme authority in the Great Yan Dynasty, the sacred ground of the court, the very faith of the people. By setting foot here, you trample on the face of our dynasty, on its dignity, on its honor. Worse yet, you’ve brought an outsider with you. This is an unpardonable crime—kill them!”

He acted with ruthless decisiveness.

The air buzzed with bowstrings, arrows whistling through the sky.

Jiang Ming’s gaze hardened. True energy surged forth, transforming into two currents of yin and yang that spun swiftly, not only shielding them from the arrows but sending them whirling back along their original trajectory.

In an instant, many imperial guards were felled by arrows.

“Everyone, I am Yan Feng, Princess Fengwu,” the Ninth Princess spoke, her voice booming across every corner of the palace. “My father did not die of illness. It was him—the Crown Prince, your so-called heir—who, for the sake of the throne, committed the ultimate treason: patricide and regicide. He not only killed my father, but also many of my royal brothers.”

“Having killed his father, his king, and his brothers, Yan Cheng is a traitor of the highest order, a criminal for the ages of our dynasty!”

“Yan Cheng, do you admit it?”

Her tone was fierce and sorrowful.

At that moment, Jiang Ming’s gaze grew distant, his spiritual force reaching out directly into the Crown Prince’s mind.

Having been tempered by countless insights and possessing the talent of a soul sovereign, his spiritual power far exceeded the norm.

Even a simple application was more than Yan Cheng could resist.

“Yes, I admit it!” The Crown Prince’s answer shocked everyone.

Even though some had suspected as much in secret, as long as it was never spoken aloud, no one cared.

After all, the old emperor was dead.

The dead hold no sway over the living.

Supporting the Crown Prince had always seemed the right move.

But now he had confessed.

Palace maids, eunuchs, imperial guards, and all the palace’s mighty defenders stared at the Crown Prince in disbelief.

His face twisted with rage, he continued, “I have been the Crown Prince for decades—decades! Watching the throne just out of reach, growing old, yet never sitting upon it. That old fool—he should have died sooner, given up the throne sooner. Since he would not die, I sent him to his death. As for my brothers—ha! They dared compete with me? Worthless, every one of them.”

At these words, all present turned pale.

The Ninth Princess’s face lit up with joy.

She knew this was Jiang Ming’s doing, and exhaled in relief.

With these words, the Crown Prince was finished.

The momentum he had built up would collapse in an instant.

“A traitor—truly the worst kind of traitor. How could such an offspring appear in our royal clan?” an imperial uncle of grandmaster rank roared in fury.

“Patricide, fratricide—a scandal for the ages!” another royal powerhouse sighed.

At that moment, Jiang Ming raised a finger, and a sword light shot forth, beheading the Crown Prince where he stood. He then floated down lightly with the two women.

Before the palace gates.

A deadly silence.

“The Crown Prince was guilty of ten thousand crimes, plotting rebellion and betraying the nation. He deserved to die!” The Ninth Princess immediately pronounced judgment, then fixed her gaze on the assembled royal powerhouses, her presence overwhelming, her voice unyielding. “I intend to restore order to the court. Royal uncles, lords—do you support me?”

“A woman on the throne is like a hen crowing at dawn—an affront to tradition, unheard of in history!” an elderly royal snapped. “Yan Feng, you are peerless in talent, but should assist the new emperor as head of the Six Gates.”

Jiang Ming lifted his hand and struck, his palm landing squarely on the old man’s dantian, shattering his energy center and crippling his cultivation.

“Who else objects?” The Ninth Princess’s expression did not change.

“Outrageous!”

“Arrogant!”

“Yan Feng, are you trying to rebel?” The royal powerhouses erupted in fury.

To them, Yan Feng was only a junior; without so much as a word of warning, she had exposed a great royal scandal, bringing shame upon them—a grave offense.

Now she wanted to ascend the throne?

Crippling elders at the first sign of disagreement?

This was more than a challenge to their authority—it was outright treason.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Jiang Ming said nothing, simply taking action.

Every challenger was crippled.

If not for last night’s events, he would have unleashed a massacre upon arriving.

“Anyone else?” The Ninth Princess’s gaze was icy.

The remaining onlookers moved their lips, but at last could only sigh and remain silent.

Just then, a powerful aura surged from the depths of the palace, accompanied by an angry shout: “How dare you be so insolent in the palace! Seeking death!”

An elder leapt forth, sword in hand, his might rolling forth like a tide, his presence towering.

He was the great grandmaster who guarded the palace’s inner sanctum.

Another elderly eunuch followed close behind.

In a side hall, another grandmaster appeared, watching from afar but not approaching.

Jiang Ming raised two fingers.

They were the Shaoze Sword and Shangyang Sword.

His sword-fingers split the air with a howl.

The destructive force they carried made both attackers’ faces fall. Their bodies twisted as they tried to dodge, but the sword-fingers curved in midair like lightning, piercing straight into their foreheads.

Both were slain on the spot, their bodies tumbling to the ground.

“Yin and yang in flux, bending at my will,” Jiang Ming murmured, turning to the distant grandmaster. “What is your choice?”

“I am Chen Yu, and will forever serve as a guest minister of Great Yan,” Chen Yu replied with a distant bow.