Chapter 680: Insight (1)

The Clear Prince Mansion.

There was a slight drizzle. The densely packed raindrops were like countless threads which landed on the entire Clear Prince Mansion diagonally as they were blown by the wind.

The prince’s mansion was dark. Some of its corners were lit by lanterns, but the lanterns also had pitch-black outer covers. Light merely leaked through the openings on top and at the bottom of the lanterns.

The main entrance was deserted. Not even the guards could be seen.

The streets around the mansion were also deserted. There was only an occasional pedestrian, but they all walked with hurried footsteps. There were even those who ran like their lives depended on it when they passed by.

Little Zhen wore a bamboo hat and a woven rush raincoat. He walked slowly up to the Clear Prince Mansion’s main entrance.

His face was covered in thick layers of gauze, and his neck was thickly layered with a scarf. This way, his peculiar crane-headed figure was covered up.

‘Is this the Clear Prince’s mansion?’ Although Little Zhen had just recently had his intelligence activated, he was well-learned. He flew over many places and saw many things. He was not someone with a low level of knowledge.

He clearly knew just how much influence a prince could have.

However, this prince mansion before his eyes did not even have a single guard. This was strange.

After giving it some thought, he slowly walked to the side of the prince mansion. He leapt over the wall nimbly, and landed in the weed-covered garden on the other side.

The wealthy liked to have these ornamental gardens which were not of much practical use.

Little Zhen shook his head internally. He took a look around himself. Still, he could not see anyone.

‘That’s strange.’ He steadied his stance and walked toward the main building of the prince’s mansion.

He did not go through the winding corridors. Instead, he immediately leapt over the walls. He chose displacement.

In no time, Little Zhen entered the second floor of the main building in the center of the prince’s mansion. He floated into the building along the eaves.

“Who goes there!?” Suddenly, a loud shout came from the second floor’s hall.

In an instant, a gray figure pounced out and aimed a claw at Little Zhen.

“Who dares trespass into the Clear Prince Mansion!? You’re looking for death!” With the emergence of the gray shadow, a sharp and peculiar voice sounded in the air.

Little Zhen did a somersault in midair and peculiarly dodged the incoming gray figure. At the same time, he threw his sharp talons upward.

“Pchht!”

The gray figure was suddenly torn to shreds. With a wail, it turned into smoke and dispersed.

Little Zhen scanned the surroundings with his eyes. The hall was completely scrutinized by him.

Packed shelves lined all four walls of the hall. They were filled with human heads with their eyes open and laughing faces.

No matter where his eyes looked, including the ceiling, all he could see were densely packed human heads.

These human heads seemed to have been processed. They showed no signs of decay.

Several gray-robed men sat cross-legged in the center of the hall. They held some books in their hands, and were hastily rising to their feet as they looked at Little Zhen.

“Kill him!”

The arms of two of the gray-robed men suddenly turned semi-transparent. Then, they elongated like noodles and thickened as they shot toward Little Zhen.

“Ardent Shadow Gale!” Little Zhen turned and countless shadows of claws erupted around him. The claws instantly torn the arms that got near enough to shreds.

The gray-robed men wailed, and scattered in an attempt to flee. However, Little Zhen swiftly caught up to them. With each swipe of his claws, their necks were completely broken, and they lay there lifelessly.

There was no smell of blood in the air. The dead gray-robed men’s bodies did not release any bloody liquid. They quickly faded and vanished as if they had never been there in the first place.

“This place…” Little Zhen frowned.

“To think that someone’s bold enough to infiltrate my Clear Prince Mansion.” A fat figure walked in from the stairs at the hall’s entrance.

It was the impressive-looking master of the house, the Clear Prince.

He was smiling as he slowly sized Little Zhen up.

“You… are you from the Moon Prince Mansion?” He clearly recognized Little Zhen’s background. The demonic power he inherited was exactly the same as the crane demon which stayed by the Moon Prince’s side.

“Little Zhen pays his respect to His Highness the Clear Prince.” Little Zhen slowly bowed and saluted him.

“What’s your objective for barging in here? Tell me.” The Clear Prince did not seem at all concerned that Little Zhen might suddenly jump on him.

“My master wishes to return the favor of your gift to His Highness the Moon Prince. Thus, he sent me here just to repay your kindness,” said Little Zhen reverently.

“Oh? Repayment?” The smile on the Clear Prince’s face thickened. “And how do you intend to do that?”

“Just like… this.” Little Zhen erupted with power and shot toward the Clear Prince with lightning speed.

However, the moment he got near, he felt as if he had plunged into a sticky swamp. His movements, strength, and speed were greatly affected.

Little Zhen wanted to break free, but his demonic power did not have any effect. It was swiftly devoured and absorbed by some unknown entity.

“Pitiful little fellow…” Before he knew it, a big and tall swordsman in pitch-black clothes had appeared behind the Clear Prince.

A huge shadow in the form of black mud extended from the swordsman’s body. It wrapped Little Zhen in layers. In the blink of an eye, Little Zhen could no longer be seen.

A boiling ball of black mud was left in the hall.

“He dares send a minor demon to his death here…” The Clear King’s expression remained unchanged. He was still wearing that peculiar smile just as before.

“Milord… Can I eat it?” the black swordsman asked softly.

“Eat it if you like. Remember to clean up after yourself,” said the Clear King drily.

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“Understood… I will clean it up!” The black swordsman’s tone was slightly excited. He walked slowly toward the black ball.

“Pooh!”

In an instant, a crane talon broke the black mud’s surface and shot toward the Clear King.

“Hiss!”

Countless black arms emerged from the black mud to stop the crane talon in its tracks. However, their efforts were futile. The difference between their strength was too huge. Before the black arms could get a grip on the crane claw, they were torn to shreds by the great force.

“Bam!”

With a loud bang, the Clear King was mercilessly hit as he let down his guard. He reeled and crashed heavily into the wall.

At this moment, the black mud ball was torn to shreds like clothes. Little Zhen’s swiftly enlarging body was revealed.

His height had been at two meters before this. Currently, he was swiftly growing larger. His muscles shone with a faint metallic sheen as the available light was reflected.

His arms seemed to have been bound by countless steel cables. Grayish-black veins popped all over his body. The little hall was quickly filled by his height.

In the time it took for him to take a few breaths, Little Zhen’s ordinary two-meter-tall body spiked to a height of more than six meters!

Rumble!

With a loud sound, he sent the incoming black swordsman flying with a solid punch. Then, he easily destroyed the entire ceiling.

The two floors were directly connected now. They barely contained his massive figure.

Bricks and rubble shot out into the gloomy monsoon rain.

“Boom!”

A side of the main building exploded, and the black swordsman shot out like a cannonball before crashing heavily into the grounds of the prince’s mansion. Huge amounts of dust and rubble scattered everywhere.

“Bam! Bam!”

Little Zhen walked slowly toward the Clear Prince, who was lying on the ground. The thick shadow cast by his massive body enveloped him. Little Zhen’s footsteps reverberated throughout the entire building.

“My master sends you his regards, Your Highness.”

The Clear King’s head was covered in blood. He managed to raise his head. He looked at this mammoth figure before him with terror.

“Boom!”

In an instant, a huge sound erupted.

The walls of the second floor instantly shattered and crumbled. A shadow giant materialized behind the Clear Prince, extended an arm, and intercepted Little Zhen’s fist hammer.

The terrifying vibrations immediately caused the floor to crumble.

“Kill him! Kill him! I want to make mincemeat of him!” the Clear Prince howled wildly amid the loud sounds.

The shadow giant and Little Zhen flew out of the ruins at the same time, and they dropped heavily onto the prince’s mansion.

The two giants fought with their full might. The giant was five meters tall, but had extremely powerful strength. Little Zhen was taller than it, but he was weaker, though he maintained an advantage in speed.

However, in a situation where the difference in strength was not too great, the advantage in speed became the key to victory.

The two of them exchanged blows with fists and kicks. Every impact would release a loud explosive sound which reverberated throughout the entire prince’s mansion and sent vibrations through the ground. The dust and tiles on the eaves shook and were dislodged.

After a dozen blows, the shadow giant was hit in the head by a punch. It staggered and fell to its knees.

Little Zhen wanted to move in for the kill, but he caught a glimpse of several other shadow giants charging at him from the distance. These giants had emerged from the ground of the prince’s mansion. They quickly took form and charged toward him speedily.

“Well then, we’ll meet again.” He leapt lightly sideways as his body shrunk rapidly. His arms turned into feathered wings, and he flapped them. In the blink of an eye, he had exceeded the boundaries of the prince’s mansion as he drew an arc in the air. He flew into the distance and vanished in no time.

The Clear King was helped to his feet. He had a fearsome look on his face.

“F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!” He cursed wildly as his face contorted. His usual dignified and gentle air of a prince was nowhere to be seen right now.

“Moon Prince Mansion!” He gritted his teeth as he seethed with curses.

A shadow swordsman came up to him, and softly said, “Milord… Vala is dead…”

The Clear King swiftly walked up to the shadow giant that had fought with Little Zhen. The five meters tall shadow giant was swiftly shrinking as the black shadow of its body quickly dispersed.

Its stature was swiftly reduced from five meters to three meters, two meters, one meter… Eventually, it took the form of a skinny dwarf who was barely half a meter tall.

“The Moon Prince!” The Clear Prince’s expression was extremely sour.

“Milord… Shall we strike back?” asked a swordsman beside him.

“Useless!” The Clear Prince slapped the swordsman.

That ability to suddenly become powerful, instantly spiking from an ordinary minor demon to a demon general’s rank. That was…

“This is only a probe, and a warning,” said one of the shadow giants. “Milord, the Moon Prince Mansion is also more than it seems…”

“Let’s not make any rash movements for now. When everything’s ready, I want no survivors left in the entire Moon Prince Mansion!” said the Clear Prince coldly.

**********

Lu Sheng changed his clothes and sat on the third floor of the tavern. He enjoyed the special Osmanthus wine here.

Outside the window, the skies were gloomy as rain drizzled. He was now in a place called Late Autumn Town, which was located several kilometers away from the Clear Prince Mansion. He was enjoying the wine as he waited for the report.

He had infused Little Zhen with more than 500 years of competence. On top of that, this was high-quality Pure Qi after the derivations. It’d instantly boosted Little Zhen’s strength to a level that he could not gauge as well.

Hence, he also intended to observe and compare Little Zhen’s strength this time.

There were not many customers in the tavern. Because of its high price tag, only a few officials and merchants sat at tables. He was inconspicuous as could be in the corner.

“Father, the mission has ended. I’m injured.” Suddenly, a voice reached Lu Sheng’s ears directly. It was Little Zhen.

“Is it serious?”

“Slightly. I’ll roughly need two days to seclude myself and tend to my wounds. However, I managed to kill one of their elites as well.”

“You’ve done well. You should head back now,” Lu Sheng said drily.

“Alright.”

Little Zhen’s voice faded slowly.