Chapter 29 – Night Visit to the City Lord's Manor
The darkness of the death cell was so thick it felt as if it could be wrung into water.
Chen Chang'an sat cross-legged on the damp straw, the sealing chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles glimmering faintly with a ghostly blue light in the dark.
So this was the famed Da Zhou Immortal Dynasty? Though this was only his second time leaving the valley, during his previous trip to Qingzhou, he had learned some common knowledge from passersby.
The Xuan Ying Continent was now under the complete control of the Da Zhou Dynasty, which suppressed all sects and noble clans.
His impression of this cultivation-world version of a unified empire was not bad—at the very least, it allowed ordinary mortals to live better lives.
These specially crafted chains could seal the spiritual power of Tongxuan Realm cultivators, a weapon used under Da Zhou's rule by the City Lord's manor specifically to imprison practitioners.
"They really think highly of me," Chen Chang'an said with a cold smile curling at his lips.
Closing his eyes, he felt the suppressed spiritual power within his body. The sealing chains were indeed effective—if he were truly just a Tongxuan Realm cultivator. Unfortunately for them, this body was only an incarnation of his true self, and his true self had already stepped into the Saint Realm.
Saint Realm cultivators could borrow the power of heaven and earth. While this body could not command that power as freely as his true form, even a trace would be enough to escape.
A shaft of moonlight slanted in through a palm-sized vent high in the cell, laying a patch of silver frost on the ground.
Chen Chang'an's eyes suddenly snapped open, a silver gleam flashing in his pupils.
"It's time."
Drawing a deep breath, he ignored the dormant spiritual power within him and instead guided a mysterious resonance to draw in the lunar essence carried in the moonlight, letting it seep slowly into his body.
It was as if the moonlight itself was pulled toward him. The silver glow brightened, wrapping around him like flowing water.
The runes on the sealing chains began to flicker uneasily, emitting a faint sizzling sound.
"Break!"
With a low shout, the lunar power he had gathered exploded outward. One by one, the runes on the chains went dark, and fine cracks spread across the black links.
Snap!
With a crisp sound, the chains broke apart.
Chen Chang'an rolled his wrists, the smile on his lips deepening.
Rising to his feet, he drifted like a phantom to the cell door. Outside, the guard was nodding off, oblivious to anything unusual.
For a guard whose cultivation had not even reached the Object Control Realm, Chen Chang'an felt no killing intent.
"Sweet dreams," he murmured, flicking his fingers. A strand of spiritual energy sank into the guard's brow, sending him into an even deeper sleep.
With the guard subdued, Chen Chang'an took the keys from his belt—but did not immediately open the door. Closing his eyes, he sent out his spiritual sense like rippling water, mapping every detail of the death cell.
"Three on the east side, five on the west side, two patrolling at the corridor's end… and the patrolling ones are actually at the Object Control Realm," he calculated silently, a complete layout of the guards forming in his mind. "The main gate won't work. In that case…"
His gaze shifted to the vent above. A passage far too narrow for an ordinary person posed no problem for him. His form blurred, dissolving into a wisp of light smoke, and drifted up through the vent.
…
Under the moonlight, the City Lord's manor cast uneven, stretching shadows across its sprawling grounds.
Chen Chang'an moved from rooftop to rooftop, his figure light and soundless, like a drifting leaf.
The manor was vast. Recalling the route he had memorized while being escorted earlier that day, he picked a guarded building at random and slipped inside.
After finding nothing in the first two rooms, he finally came to one heavily guarded by soldiers.
The two guards outside were both experts at the Object Control Realm, yet to Chen Chang'an they might as well have been statues. A flick of his fingers sent two silent strands of spiritual energy into their pressure points, and both men crumpled to the ground.
Pushing the door open, Chen Chang'an was momentarily taken aback by the sight of towering stacks of scrolls and books.
It was a study.
He casually picked up the nearest ledger from the desk and began leafing through it.
The ink was still fresh—its owner must have just left.
"Spiritual herb procurement records… hm?"
It was an account book.
Chen Chang'an's brows knitted. "Massive monthly purchases of Blood Ganoderma and Moonlight Grass?"
While most of his items came from his system's daily sign-ins, the system had also stuffed his mind with a flood of cultivation-world knowledge. After a brief moment's recall, he remembered that both herbs were primarily used to treat blood-related injuries.
Yet the Immortal Dynasty was at its height, its power acknowledged across the seas. Even the demon race—which had once contended with humanity tens of thousands of years ago—had fallen silent, retreating to the northern frontier after the defeat of the Demon Lord Bo Xun. On his travels, Chen Chang'an had never once heard of any ongoing war on the Xuan Ying Continent.
So… what were these herbs being used for?
He set the ledger aside and began quickly sifting through the other volumes, but most were records of various city affairs—nothing of real importance.
Pausing in thought, he tapped the desk lightly with his finger, then sent his spiritual sense rippling through every inch of the study.
Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the carved pillar to the right of the desk—there was a nearly invisible seam there, something only a keen spiritual sense could detect.
"A mechanism?"
He ran his hand over the pillar, his fingertip brushing a faintly raised pattern. Pressing it gently—
Click.
With a soft sound, a panel on the pillar slid open to reveal a hidden compartment.
Inside lay a single black-bound book.
…
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