Yang Xi spoke sternly, "Your Highness, you shouldn't stay here at Zhen'nan Pass any longer. You should return to Fengtian City."
"Why?" Yang Cheng replied casually.
"I received word that there might be a trap targeting you. Although I haven't confirmed the full details yet, a wise man doesn't stand under a collapsing wall—especially someone like you, the current Crown Prince."
Yang Xi's tone was firm.
Yang Cheng didn't respond right away and instead looked at Yang Xi with interest.
She knew his identity.
Logically speaking, she should hate him. But why did she seem genuinely concerned about his safety?
"Your Highness, I... what I said, you should take it seriously."
Yang Xi sounded slightly annoyed. "Do you even realize that the assassin you recklessly chased yesterday—I've since found out he was the infamous assassin from the Azure Jade Realm, Wuxiang. He's a master of the Formless Divine Ability. By the way, where did Wuxiang go after you chased him?"
Yang Cheng was about to say he had killed him outright, but considering Yang Xi's personality, he decided to avoid creating more trouble.
So he changed his answer. "He was pretty fast. I didn't catch up."
The Royal City Division agents behind Yang Xi all stared at Yang Cheng with awe and curiosity.
After hearing his words, their eyes lit up even more.
No wonder he was the Crown Prince—even someone like Wuxiang got scared off.
"Your Highness, from what I know about him, he won't give up so easily."
Yang Xi's voice was heavy.
"Don't worry. He won't come after me again," Yang Cheng replied.
How could a dead man possibly try to kill him again?
"You're being blindly confident."
Yang Xi's expression turned more serious than ever. "Besides that, I got something unbelievable—but still confirmed—from interrogating the Seven Kill Society assassins. Qingming Sect of the Azure Jade Realm has put out a bounty of 10,000,000 top-grade spirit stones for your head. A large number of experts from the Azure Jade Realm have already secretly entered the Wasteland Realm."
Everyone around sucked in a breath, their scalps tingling.
10,000,000 top-grade spirit stones?
Most of them didn't even have a concept of what that much wealth looked like.
For most cultivators in the Wasteland Realm, even 10,000 top-grade spirit stones would be an astronomical fortune.
But 10,000,000?
It was beyond comprehension.
"No wonder people call you the Divine Constable, Yang Qianhu. You're really something," Yang Cheng praised.
"Your Highness, please take my words seriously."
Yang Xi continued, "Do you know that even top-tier killers like the Night Owl from Azure Jade Realm have shown up? That's someone who once failed an assassination on a god but still made it out alive."
"Sorry," Yang Cheng replied. "I have things to do here at Zhen'nan Pass. I can't leave."
If he left now, how was he going to lure all those assassins out?
Since they dared to come, not a single one of them should expect to leave alive.
Yang Cheng was not someone who tolerated provocation.
Try to kill him, and you had to pay with your life.
"You…" Yang Xi was getting anxious. This younger brother of hers was so stubborn.
"By the way, Yang Qianhu, your name's the same as my sister's," Yang Cheng suddenly said.
Yang Xi froze mid-sentence, her gaze drifting. "Your Highness's sister?"
"Yeah, my second sister."
Yang Cheng sighed. "I only heard about her. Sadly, she left the palace before I was born. She should be nineteen now, which makes her about the same age as you."
"I'm just a low-ranking constable. How could I be a princess? It's my honor to share her name," Yang Xi replied instinctively. But then, she couldn't help asking, "Do you know why she left the palace?"
Yang Cheng's expression dimmed slightly. "I heard it was because her mother, Consort Xian, was sent to the Cold Palace."
A cold smirk flashed in Yang Xi's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. Her tone was calm, as if only curious. "I heard Consort Xian was quite virtuous. Why would she be thrown into the Cold Palace? Did she commit some serious mistake?"
Consort Xian hadn't committed any major offense. She had simply lost in the palace struggles.
Yang Cheng silently admired his mother's skills.
But he said aloud, "In this world, not everything is about right or wrong. Many times, when you're caught in the middle of the game, you don't have a choice."
Yang Xi fell silent for a moment.
Of course she understood that truth.
If Yun Liyue had lost back then, the current Empress would have been her mother, and the one imprisoned in the Cold Palace would be Yun Liyue.
If that had happened, it was very likely that even Yang Cheng, the Crown Prince, would never have been born.
Thinking of that, Yang Xi's heart clenched.
Someone like Yang Cheng—so brilliant, so extraordinary—if he hadn't been born, what an immeasurable loss it would have been for Great Zhou.
She exhaled softly.
Forget it.
There was no point dwelling on the past. All she wanted now was to rescue her mother and take her far, far away.
She didn't dare to ask any more questions, afraid of giving herself away.
"Your Highness, this place is far too dangerous for you. If you insist on staying, then for the next few days, I'll guard your side day and night."
She pressed her lips together as she spoke.
"Suit yourself. I'm going to cultivate," Yang Cheng said, standing and walking back to his room.
When the door closed, a faint smile crossed his lips.
Perhaps this mission would turn out easier than expected.
In the days that followed, hidden currents began surging throughout Zhen'nan Pass.
Yang Xi's expression grew darker with every passing day, while Yang Cheng remained calm as ever, as if nothing in the world could trouble him.
Unknowingly, five days passed.
That night, Yang Cheng suddenly opened his eyes.
"A bunch of nobodies."
The next moment—
Buzz!
His powerful spiritual will spread outward like a vast ocean tide.
After years of cultivating the Soul Refining Ancient Method, his spiritual strength had become terrifying.
He instantly filtered out all auras beneath the Martial Sovereign level.
Then, one by one, he pinpointed every Martial Sovereign's presence.
Finding those with murderous intent among them was child's play.
In fact, there was hardly a need to filter—any Martial Sovereign sneaking into Zhen'nan Pass at this time could only have ill intentions.
"Lin Shu, begin," Yang Cheng said calmly, sending out a mental command.
"Yes, Your Highness," came Lin Shu's steady reply.
Very few in this world knew that Yang Cheng commanded an exceptionally terrifying force—
The Blood Shadow Guards.
The Blood Shadow Guards were a reward granted by the system.
And anything given by the system was never ordinary.
Each member of the Blood Shadow Guards was a prodigy in the martial path.
Yang Cheng had obtained them ten years ago, and since then, they had all matured into true powerhouses.
He had placed them under Lin Shu's management, and Lin Shu alone knew how terrifying these people were.
In terms of cultivation speed, even Lin Shu—hailed as a rare genius—found himself pressured by them.
That pressure had driven him to train relentlessly, never daring to waste even a single breath.
Moreover, Yang Cheng had combined the Blood Shadow Guards with the Divine Machinery Battalion.
Every Blood Shadow Guard carried a Twenty-Four-Star Divine Crossbow—weapons forged at an enormous cost.
The Wasteland Realm couldn't possibly produce enough materials to build so many Divine Crossbows in such a short time.
Those materials had been obtained by Yang Cheng through the Square Inch Realm, traded directly from the Divine Realm.
Thus, the greatest concentration of Twenty-Four-Star Divine Crossbows in existence lay in the hands of the Blood Shadow Guards.
They shared an innate resonance with Yang Cheng—able to synchronize perfectly with his spiritual will, their coordination seamless and deadly.