Chapter 117: The Ladies of the Inner Palace

Inside the imperial palace, within the inner chambers, news of the Empress being confined to her quarters spread quickly. For a time, Consort Lu, who already held the greatest favor in the harem, became even more peerless in her splendor; the Emperor, in his high regard, handed over the management of all harem affairs directly to her.

Once such power is seized, when it might be returned depends entirely on the Emperor's whim. Those in the palace all guessed that this matter was related to that corpse; if that were true, the outcome was self-evident. Consort Lu had already enjoyed the Emperor's favor, and now, with this additional leverage...

Suddenly, as Chun Yu, with a solemn and pensive expression, slowly lifted her palm from the shoulder blade of Xu Liang's back, a blurred, dark red handprint appeared on the still-motionless skin, raw and bloodied.

Wang Ling turned his head, only to see the old man who had previously given him the jade pendant and the black stone leap past him. The old man seemed to catch a glimpse of Wang Ling as he turned, but he vanished in an instant.

Tracing the faint aura that resonated with his own internal energy, Li Ang hurriedly pushed through the bustling crowd and arrived at the airport exit.

Lin Zangtian snapped his fingers, and a few sparks drifted toward the wick, reigniting it. The room returned to its former state.

The attacking phalanx on the east side of the city gate suffered heavy casualties; a thirty percent reduction in their four-thousand-man force had brought them to the brink of collapse. Not a single one of the dozens of scaling ladders had been raised, for the soldiers responsible for them were paralyzed with fear, cowering in the blind spots of the city wall, trembling and on the verge of breaking down.

Lin Zangtian glanced over and discovered that at some point, Xinghua had pulled Mu aside, and the two were crouching before a pile of gold coins, whispering to one another.

Facing the incoming wind blades, the panic in Lena’s eyes suddenly vanished. Her figure shifted rapidly, evading the blades with ease. Yet, such a common evasive maneuver drew gasps of astonishment from the mages in the spectator stands and throughout the exchange hall.

Immersed in the boundless crimson ocean, Lorraine felt her body and soul enveloped in warmth, as if she had returned to the embrace of her childhood.

Maso Kimi seemed to harbor great dread of those scarlet bloodlines. As they were about to strike the top of her head, she—situated on the ground at the center of the coiled, recumbent dragon—deftly shifted her body to avoid the crimson threads that pierced the dragon’s body and rained down upon her.

"There's a trick like this!?" I was completely conquered by the dazzling "acupoint-striking" technique of the Yellow Immortal—though I wasn't even sure if yellow weasels had such a concept as acupoints. But for the moment, we could finally focus our attention back on the culprit: the Lingzhi monkey.

Upon entering the top hundred, the glow emitted by the names carved into the stone stele shifted from ordinary white to a purple hue, as if wreathed in auspicious purple mist.

Jia Qianqian, having drifted back to consciousness, happened to hear this exchange. She had intended to struggle, but immediately went still, continuing to feign unconsciousness.

At that very moment, other students finally arrived, alerted by the noise. Seeing this unconventional "tug-of-war," they were stunned for a moment before joining the rescue effort, their rhythmic chanting growing louder.

"To eliminate a core disciple of the Profound Domain Alchemy Alliance in this first round—not bad at all!" Xia Xun thought to himself.

As soon as Wang Peng looked up, Jue shouted fiercely in his heart, and blood began to flow unnaturally from his nose.

"A promise? What promise?" Ye Feng asked Senna in his mind, even as he pressed his race car closer to Schumacher’s.

The scene from moments ago had truly terrified him. While his strength was no match for a few ordinary people, he was utterly helpless against this massive water snake, which stood as tall as a mountain.

He had originally intended only to defend against a potential burst from his opponent, but he hadn't expected a blast of energy of such terrifying magnitude. Wang Peng acted decisively, directing his energy to shatter and suppress all the magical power within his opponent's body.

"In reply to your Noble Consort, this commoner has lost her memory, so she knows nothing at all." Jia Qianqian’s voice was utterly flat, devoid of even a hint of respect.