Chapter 519: The Dying Dynasty.
Chapter 519: Chapter 519: The Dying Dynasty.
Li Feng, who heard the news, looked a bit confused, so he tried to ask Fen Ling again.
"What do you mean by Prime Minister Mu is dead, Your Majesty?"
Fen Ling let out a long, heavy sigh.
Her elegant brows furrowed deeper as she looked at the three of them with a complicated expression.
"Exactly as I said... he is dead."
She leaned back slightly on her seat, her voice low and cold.
"When I arrived at the imperial prison for the interrogation... the entire place had already become a slaughterhouse."
At those words, the room fell into a deathly silence.
Li Feng’s eyes narrowed sharply.
"What...?"
Fen Ling continued, her tone heavy with suppressed anger.
"All of the guards... even the elite Shadow Dragon Guards who were stationed inside the imperial prison... had been killed."
She paused for a moment, her fingers tightening on the armrest.
Her eyes flashed with cold light.
"By the time I arrived, their bodies were already cold and not a single one was left alive. Even the formations were destroyed. And Prime Minister Mu..."
"...his corpse was sitting on the interrogation chair with a strange smile on his face, but his soul was completely annihilated. There was no chance to extract any more information."
"It seems the mastermind was really thorough with it."
At this news, the atmosphere in the hall became extremely heavy.
Yue Lan and Lan Suyao looked at each other, then glanced at Li Feng’s back.
He had gone completely silent.
Li Feng was clenching his fists tightly, both anger and frustration boiling inside him at yet another lead being cut off.
But what frustrated him even more... was the Dynasty itself.
He looked at Fen Ling and tried to keep his anger under control as he asked softly,
"...Your Majesty, may I know how strong the guards and these Shadow Dragon Guards are?"
He was beginning to seriously doubt these people’s capabilities and strength.
Even if the Dynasty wasn’t as powerful as a major sect, it should at least have enough strength to protect itself.
And yet... time after time, they failed their tasks and needed him to step in.
If the Dynasty was this weak, then what was the point of its existence anymore?
Fen Ling looked at him quietly for a moment.
As if she could see straight through his thoughts, a wry smile appeared on her lips.
"I understand what you’re thinking, Envoy Li..."
She let out a soft sigh and explained calmly,
"The Shadow Dragon Guards are not ordinary soldiers. Every single one of them is carefully selected and specially trained. All of them have reached at least the Foundation Establishment realm... and when they fight together in formation, they can even hold their own against a Golden Core expert."
Her voice grew a little heavier and Fen Ling’s eyes turned cold.
"They are the elite of the elite within the imperial palace. The fact that they were all wiped out so cleanly... means the enemy who infiltrated the prison tonight is at least at the Nascent Soul level... or possesses some extremely sinister method that can bypass even their combined strength."
The hall fell into silence once more.
Li Feng slowly unclenched his fists, his expression still dark but calmer.
"...I understand."
But then he frowned deeply and decided to asked a question that he had been holding for a long time.
"And your Majesty... does the Fen Dynasty have a Nascent Soul expert?"
After all, with a Nascent Soul expert present, nothing within the capital and palace should have escaped his attention.
If not, at the very least, the demonic cultivators and hostile forces would never have had such an easy time making a mess as they were today.
At the question, Fen Ling hesitated for a brief moment.
Then she slowly nodded.
"...Yes. We do have one."
Li Feng looked at her with clear confusion.
Because her answer had been too uncertain, too hesitant.
"Your Majesty... you don’t seem very sure?"
Fen Ling let out a soft, helpless sigh.
She leaned back slightly, her expression complicated.
"To tell you the truth, Envoy Li... even I have never met this Nascent Soul expert of the Fen Dynasty."
Li Feng’s brows furrowed further.
"Never met him?"
Fen Ling nodded slowly.
"According to the imperial records and what the previous Empress told me before she passed... it should be the former emperor, Fen Hong."
She paused for a moment, her voice growing quieter.
"But ever since I entered the palace and became Empress... I have never once seen him. No one has. Not even the current Emperor himself speaks of him. But I think I might know why he never appears."
Fen Ling’s gaze turned distant as she continued explaining.
"You must understand, Envoy Li. Due to the nature of being an emperor of a Dynasty... most of them burn through their lifespan and fortune at an alarming rate. By the time they manage to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, their remaining years and foundation are already extremely flawed and limited."
She looked at Li Feng seriously.
"So I think that might be the reason. That is why they usually enter deep seclusion the moment they succeed... and only appear during the dynasty’s final crisis. When the nation itself is on the brink of destruction."
The hall fell into a heavy silence once more.
Li Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly and murmured,
"So... the Fen Dynasty does have a hidden Nascent Soul trump card... but no one knows if he is still alive... or if he will even come out."
At such blunt words, Fen Ling gave a bitter smile.
"Exactly."
To be honest, one of her goals in coming to the Fen Dynasty hadn’t gone smoothly either.
She had also been trying to find this mysterious former emperor, the only Nascent Soul expert of the Fen Dynasty for some important questions.
Yet he was like a ghost, already forgotten by the new generation.
Even with all her manpower and the authority of the Empress, she still couldn’t locate where this Fen Hong was hiding.
She paused for a moment, then added in a quieter voice,
"To be honest... perhaps only the current Emperor knows the truth about the former emperor’s whereabouts."
Then a complicated look crossed her face.
"But as you all already know... His Majesty is still bedridden. His condition has only been getting worse these past few days. At this rate..."
She let out a soft, heavy sigh.
"He probably doesn’t have much time left either."
The hall fell into an even heavier silence.
And right now, Li Feng himself wasn’t sure whether he should be mad or disappointed in the Fen Dynasty anymore.
The current emperor was dying.
The only Nascent Soul expert of the dynasty was missing.
And the mastermind behind the plague and the chaos had just silently wiped out the elite Shadow Dragon Guards overnight.
Plus... even the genius who could have changed the dynasty’s fate had been secretly poisoned and restricted, and now had even gone missing.
The Fen Dynasty... was standing on the edge of a cliff.
’Is this their fate?’
Their past, present, and future were completely damaged.
So now, Li Feng couldn’t help but think that the Fen Dynasty... was dying.