Chapter 69 - Crisis of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty
Chapter 69: Crisis of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lin Ran was immediately interested in this secret. However, when he asked again, Huo Qiyun refused to say anything. He only said that the secret was huge and that he had to report it to the empress in person.
Seeing this, Lin Ran could only bring Huo Qiyun back to the imperial study. As for the “secret” Huo Qiyun mentioned, he didn’t take it to heart.
After all, Lin Ran had once been young and knew that young people were always full of crap.
Soon, the two of them returned to the imperial study.
With a frown, the empress seemed to be dealing with state affairs, but in fact, she was holding the brush in her hand upside down. From this, one could tell how anxious she was.
Seeing Lin Ran and Huo Qiyun walk in side by side, the empress hurriedly stood up and asked, “Lord Lin! Qiyun, where did you go just now?”
“We just found a place to catch up with each other.”
Lin Ran smiled and put his arm around Huo Qiyun’s shoulder, pretending to be a good friend with him. Then, Huo Qiyun pushed him away with a look of disdain.
The empress sensed that although the atmosphere between the two of them was strange, it was indeed not as tense as before. She finally relaxed and put on a playful expression as she asked with a smile, “It seems that the outcome of your catching up was not very good.”
Lin Ran rubbed his nose awkwardly and pointed at Huo Qiyun. “This kid is willing to help us. We’ll talk about it later. He said that he has a big secret to tell you. You guys chat first.”
With that, Lin Ran closed the door of the imperial study and sat behind the desk. He picked up a brush and began to write down the sword technique, preparing to give it to Huo Qiyun later.
Huo Qiyun didn’t know what Lin Ran was doing, but he didn’t care. He pulled the empress to the desk and took out a wooden box.
The wooden box was about the size of an egg. The surface was painted red, and there were decorative patterns outlined by gold paint on the edges.
When Huo Qiyun opened the wooden box, there was only a green mud ball inside.
“What is this.”
The empress wanted to take it out to take a look, but Huo Qiyun grabbed her wrist. “Don’t touch it! This thing is very dangerous!”
Lin Ran stuck his head out and took a look. Then, he revealed a disdainful expression. “Huo, if you’re really bored, get your emperor sister to give you some toys. Donkey dung is not fun!”
When the empress heard this, she burst into laughter. This mud ball indeed looked similar to a donkey dung.
“Shut up! What do you know!”
Huo Qiyun glared at Lin Ran, then looked like he was reminiscing. “I got this from a martial artist. About three months ago, I found out that he publicly insulted Grandpa Sword Saint, so I challenged him to a duel.”
“His cultivation level is about the same as mine, also at the ninth level of Senior Martial Master Realm. However, I still managed to take the upper hand. Just as I thought that victory was near, he suddenly took this thing and broke through to the Grandmaster Realm!”
At this point, Huo Qiyun suddenly stopped. Lin Ran and the empress thought that he wanted to catch his breath, so they didn’t rush him. However, after waiting for half a minute, they didn’t hear anything else.
Just as Lin Ran was feeling puzzled, Huo Qiyun couldn’t help but frown at the two of them and ask suspiciously, “Are you with me? I’m only at the ninth level of Senior Martial Master Realm! Aren’t you curious about what happened after that?”
“Is that necessary?”
The empress didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “If you can stand here now, doesn’t that mean that you won in the end?”
Lin Ran continued after the empress, “It happened three months ago. If I’m not wrong, you must have experienced a tough battle and might have even been injured, so you recuperated for three months.”
Huo Qiyun’s expression changed slightly. Lin Ran continued as if he did not see it, “It was nearly impossible for a senior martial master to fight a grandmaster, but you did. It means that the effect of this pill is not stable. When the other party was attacked by the side effect of the pill, you took the opportunity to kill him.”
“There’s another possibility. This kind of pill has a time limit. Qiyun lasted until the pill lost its effect before killing him.’
Following Lin Ran’s train of thought, the empress also analyzed. It could be said that the two of them had developed a tacit understanding recently. After saying that, she realized that Huo Qiyun was looking at her with a bitter expression. She quickly smiled apologetically and said, “I’m sorry to interrupt you. Continue.”
“What else is there to say? You’ve already said everything I wanted to say!”
Huo Qiyun’s face fell, then his eyes lit up as he said, “By the way, there’s one more thing! You don’t think you know where this pill is produced!”
“Great Yong Dynasty.”
Lin Ran and the empress spoke in unison. Then, the two of them looked at each other, as if surprised by the tacit understanding between them.
Huo Qiyun’s expression changed as he glared at the two of them and asked, “How did you know? Have you seen this pill before?!”
Lin Ran smiled and did not say anything. The empress pointed at the wooden box on the desk and said, “The pattern drawn on it is called moth pattern. It symbolizes bravery and fearlessness. It’s a special pattern used by the Great Yong Dynasty’s army. If you want to keep us in suspense, change the box.”
This time, Huo Qiyun finally stopped making them guess. He slumped into the chair beside him like a deflated ball. “Since you all know, I’ll just say it.”
“After seeing the effect of this pill, I infiltrated into the Great Yong Dynasty to investigate. This thing is not common in the Great Yong Dynasty, but it’s not rare either. Almost every large-scale spiritual medicine shop sells it. It’s just that the price is relatively high.”
“The effect of this pill is so shocking. If it is used in the army, won’t the army be invincible? Therefore, I guess that this pill is still in trial. The army of the Great Yong Dynasty should already be equipped with an even more powerful pill!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the imperial study suddenly became serious.
Lin Ran stopped smiling and subconsciously looked at the empress. The two of them could see the same seriousness in each other’s eyes.
It wasn’t a big deal for one senior martial master to advance to grandmaster, but what if the entire army could advance at such a speed?
The empress’s face was ashen, and her brows were furrowed tightly. “The latest secret report from the Grand Council has it that in the past half a year, the Great Yong Dynasty has been recruiting soldiers. As of three days ago, a conservative estimate is that they have 700,000 soldiers with an average cultivation of the fourth level of the Martial Master Realm.”
Lin Ran and Huo Qiyun immediately understood what the empress meant.
Even if this pill could only help one advance to the ninth level of the Senior Martial Master Realm, it would still be able to produce an army of 700,000 ninth level Senior Martial Masters.
A force of this scale could almost sweep through the entire world, let alone the Heavenly Saint Dynasty!