"So, it seems there really is something fishy going on between the Empress Dowager and the Prince of Nanli." Ji Fengming couldn't be serious for more than three seconds before laughing again. "But my brother-in-law can destroy a country without a second thought, without even asking the emperor. His protective nature is just what my father and I like. That's what they call, 'Birds of a feather flock together'!"

Black Owl chuckled and shook his head.

Thinking about it, it really is true.

After the new guards arrived, Ji Fengming and Hei Xiao returned to the Ninth Prince's Mansion and told Ji Fengyao and Shang Xiye about their discovery.

Upon learning of Wu Zhong's death, the two remained silent for a long while.

"That person attacked Wu Zhong, and Xiao Yan sensed a life-or-death crisis, indicating that person also harbors murderous intent towards Your Highness." Ji Fengyao solemnly swept her gaze across everyone, her eyes landing on Shang Xiye: "Your Highness, I suspect that person has the cultivation level of Core Formation. Moreover, demons are not tolerated by the Heavenly Dao, so their cultivation is more solid, and their strength is generally higher than that of cultivators of the same level."

We must raise our overall strength to the Foundation Establishment stage as quickly as possible, and then join forces to fight; only then will we have a chance of winning by chance. We need a large amount of spirit stones, and mining the spirit mines in the Northern Kingdom is our only shortcut to quickly increase our strength.

Shang Xiye's face was ashen, and his voice was deep and resonant: "The mining of spirit mines in the Northern Kingdom has not been going smoothly. The soldiers there have reported that since the mining began, ferocious beasts have been appearing in the vicinity, and their numbers are increasing. The strength of these beasts is also increasing, and ordinary soldiers are no match for them."

If we are to mine spirit ore, I'm afraid we'll have to find a reason to leave the capital as a group and go there in person.

Ji Fengyao slapped her forehead in frustration: "It's all my fault. I thought there weren't that many strange beasts in this world, so I didn't remind the prince that we should set up a defensive formation near the spirit mine to prevent the spiritual energy from leaking out."

Those ferocious beasts were all attracted by the large amount of spiritual energy leaking from the spirit mine!

It seems we really need to go there ourselves; these ferocious beasts are definitely not something ordinary people can handle.

"But Your Highness and Xiao Yao'er, you are both in the eye of the storm right now. Almost everyone in the capital is focused on you. If you leave the capital, everyone's attention will follow you. If the person hiding in the palace finds out about the existence of the spirit mine, I'm afraid a bloody battle will break out immediately," Hei Xiao warned the two in a deep voice.

Ji Fengming slapped his thigh and said, "Then Xiao Chen and I will go. Sister, you and brother-in-law will stay in the capital. You two don't need to do anything, just stay in the mansion and don't go out."

"Once Xiao Chen and I bring back the spirit stones, we'll close the gates to improve our strength. Once we've trained properly, we'll go out and wreak havoc!"

Shang Xiye: "..."

Ji Fengyao: "..."

Black Owl: "..."

Xique: "Young Master, according to you, that person in the palace must be a fool to just sit by and wait for us to finish our cultivation so we can go and take revenge on him?"

"That seems to be true." Ji Fengming rested his chin on his hand, rubbing the tip of his chin with his thumb, and suddenly turned to look at Xi Que: "Hey, little sparrow, you seem to have become smarter?"

The magpie proudly raised its little head: "Of course, Miss taught me a lot."

“According to Yao Yao, that person’s strength is far superior to ours, but he didn’t kill me even though he wanted to, which means he still has some concerns.” Shang Xiye analyzed carefully, bringing the topic back on track from the tangent that Ji Fengming and Xi Que had led him astray: “This is our opportunity. We must seize this opportunity and find a reason to leave Kyoto to mine spirit mines.”