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A passing caravan suddenly stopped in front of a mountain villa in Shu. A merchant in the caravan walked towards the villa gate with a letter in his hand and handed it over when the villa guard tried to stop him.
"Deputy Commander Xiao of the Divine Dragon Guards asked me to deliver this letter to the owner of your villa. Please do me a favor."
The guard took the letter and handed it to the owner of the villa.
"What? Xiao Wan'er wrote me a letter?"
The owner of the villa took the letter in surprise, opened it and laughed out loud.
"I've always said that no one in the royal family is good. Now it's come true, right? They've been treated like lackeys, and even their unique martial arts were stolen. This is truly laughable!"
The gloating owner of the villa called his younger brother and they read the letter together.
The Transcendent Realm expert who had interrupted his cultivation asked his brother, "Should we help Fellow Daoist Xiao?"
"Help, of course I will!" the villa owner said with absolute certainty. "We should let the entire cultivation world see the consequences of being a lackey for the imperial court! Since you've entered the path of cultivation, you should avoid the karma of mortals. Many cultivators have forgotten this over the years, relying on their own cultivation to meddle with the fate of ordinary people. Now, let this incident serve as an example to teach them a lesson!"
News quickly spread from the villa to all corners of the Tang Dynasty. As a result, the cultivators gradually learned that the new crown prince of the Tang Dynasty had ordered a cultivator of the Divine Dragon Guard to pass on all of their unique skills to his trusted subordinates. This cultivator, who had betrayed his sect for personal gain, became the new leader of the Divine Dragon Guard after the previous leader's death.
The Dragon Guards were recruiting at this time. Having already suffered heavy casualties in the previous coup, and now accused of helping members of the royal family steal unique skills from other sects, few joined.
In the East Palace, the prince looked very unhappy after hearing Pei Yingguan's report.
"Your Highness, how should I report to His Majesty?" Pei Yingguan asked the prince cautiously, fearing that he would be pushed out to bear all the responsibility.
"It's common for monks to be unwilling to pledge allegiance to the imperial court. You only need to inform your father of the outcome."
Since the new emperor ascended the throne, all the existing cultivators in the Divine Dragon Guard who could take sides have already done so. The prince originally wanted to recruit more people from among the newcomers in the Divine Dragon Guard, but Xiao Wan'er's move, which was like cutting off the source of the trouble, directly shattered his dream - no cultivator in his right mind could tolerate his own inheritance being stolen.
The prince was depressed, but he couldn't vent his frustration. He even had to appease Pei Yingguan and protect the only transcendental cultivator under his command.
At the next morning court session, Pei Yingguan reported the matter to the emperor as the prince had instructed.
"Then relax the recruitment standards to include warriors only. In short, we must ensure the number of Shenlong Guards."
Pei Yingguan finally felt relieved when he saw that the emperor hadn't lost his temper. Xiao Wan'er had been watching closely the entire process, not expecting herself to be dragged into it in the end.
"Minister Xiao and Minister Pei will recruit new members together," the emperor ordered. "Call all the teams away to Chang'an and redistribute their members."
"I obey your order." Xiao Wan'er and Pei Yingguan responded in unison.
While the Divine Dragon Guard's recruitment order took time to spread, the already-recruited Divine Dragon Guards were quickly recalled. Within two days of the order being issued, all members of Team B2 stationed in the Eastern Capital had returned to Chang'an.
That evening, Xiao Wan'er, who had waited in vain all day at the government office, not even waiting for anyone who wanted to join the Dragon Guard, returned home on time. As soon as she opened the door, she saw someone she hadn't seen for a long time.
"Senior Sister!"
Liu Mingyin heard footsteps and walked to the front door. When the door opened, he stood face to face with Xiao Wan'er. The years had left no trace on his face, but his demeanor was much calmer than before.
But this calmness completely disappeared the moment he saw Xiao Wan'er.
"Senior Sister, come in quickly!" He pulled Xiao Wan'er's sleeve and pulled her into the yard. He saw that the yard, which had been a little messy due to neglect of cleaning recently, was now as clean as new.
The door to the kitchen was open and food was being cooked inside. Liu Mingyin let go of Xiao Wan'er and wanted to return to the kitchen.
"Please wait a moment, Senior Sister. Dinner will be ready soon."
Seeing him busy in the kitchen, Xiao Wan'er also walked into the back kitchen to help. Liu Mingyin saw Xiao Wan'er come in and pushed her out again.
"Senior Sister, just wait outside."
Xiao Wan'er went straight to the main house, set up the table for dining, and sat beside it waiting.
Not long after, Liu Mingyin walked into the main house with food.
His strength had obviously improved greatly, so he cast a spell to make the wooden tray with various bowls and dishes placed on it float in the air. The bowls and dishes on the wooden tray were filled with various foods, and the wooden tray would move with him when he took a step.
Even though it was just dinner for two, he still prepared both meat and vegetables, and used only refined grains for the staple food. Xiao Wan'er was not good at fasting, so she ate every last drop of this dinner.
"It's really delicious!" Xiao Wan'er ate very full, rubbing her belly and praising Liu Mingyin. "With my junior brother's cooking skills, if I could cook every day in Chang'an, I could probably say goodbye to fasting."
Liu Mingyin didn't respond. Instead, he lowered his head and cast a cleaning spell, instantly clearing the tableware. The two of them returned the dishes to the kitchen. Xiao Wan'er was about to return to her room when Liu Mingyin called her back.
"Senior Sister, I have reached the Transcendent Realm. Can I fight you?"
Xiao Wan'er raised her right eyebrow in slight surprise. When she received the letter at the beginning of the year, Liu Mingyin was still at the Entry Stage. But in just a few months, he had ascended to the Transcendent Stage.
Since he invited her to fight, Xiao Wan'er readily agreed.
"I'd love to hear that, but I won't hold back!"
Xiao Wan'er said she didn't hold back, and she meant it. Liu Mingyin attacked her with her knife, but she defended with it, completely unable to break through her defense. While blocking the attack, Xiao Wan'er seized the opportunity and launched a sudden counterattack, combining her blade and magic. Liu Mingyin's rhythm was momentarily disrupted, and he switched from offense to defense. But he responded with all his might, quickly regaining his composure and regaining some ground. The two sides exchanged attacks and defenses.
After several rounds of this, Liu Mingyin was completely at a disadvantage due to his lack of strength. Then, under Xiao Wan'er's devastating attack, he was quickly defeated.
"Not bad," Xiao Wan'er put the knife away, "stronger than Pei Yingguan."
Liu Mingyin hadn't expected Xiao Wan'er to say such a thing, and was momentarily taken aback. Once upon a time, Pei Yingguan was someone he aspired to surpass, but now, Xiao Wan'er had declared that he was even stronger than Pei Yingguan.
After a while, he recovered from his excitement and focused his attention on the name Pei Yingguan - Xiao Wan'er did not call him senior brother this time.
"Senior Sister," he said, filled with worry and secret anticipation. He prepared himself mentally before resolutely asking Xiao Wan'er, "Have you and Senior Brother really broken up?"
"First of all, Pei Yingguan has been expelled from Biyun Temple for violating the sect's rules. He is no longer our senior brother," Xiao Wan'er corrected. "Secondly, we have indeed broken off relations."
Liu Mingyin asked again, "Is there no possibility of turning things around?"
"There's no turning back." Xiao Wan'er was extremely determined.
A fleeting light flashed in Liu Mingyin's eyes, and he asked Xiao Wan'er, "What would you do if Pei Yingguan persuaded you to come back?"
"One can't have it all," Xiao Wan'er stared at Liu Mingyin for a few breaths, then suddenly spoke when he thought she wouldn't answer. "Pei Yingguan and I have opposing and irreconcilable positions on some major issues. Now that we're both insisting on our own positions, it's naturally impossible for us to be on the same page. He also followed the Crown Prince in doing something I can't accept, and the Crown Prince has already sent someone to assassinate me. From now on, he and I will only be enemies. As for your hypothesis, wanting victory while also winning the enemy's heart, how could such a beautiful thing happen in the world?"
Liu Mingyin nodded continuously.
"Senior Sister is right. Such a beautiful thing does not exist in this world. Therefore, I will only follow you and walk the same path as you did."
"Well, if you understand... well?" Xiao Wan'er habitually finished her sentence mid-sentence, but suddenly realized something was wrong and asked Liu Mingyin in confusion, "Why are you suddenly talking about this?"
Liu Mingyin smiled and reported to Xiao Wan'er, "I returned to Chang'an today. After meeting the emperor, I went to Princess Taiping's residence and asked for her grace. From now on, I will be residing in Chang'an permanently."
This was obviously beyond Xiao Wan'er's expectations.
She disagreed with Liu Mingyin's decision: "I finally managed to get you to the Eastern Capital, away from the fighting. Why did you come back? With Princess Taiping and the Crown Prince around, the power struggle will only intensify. It's not safe for you to stay in Chang'an."
"I know, but Senior Sister is in Chang'an, and she's in deep danger. How can I stand by and watch in Dongdu? Senior Sister, when you asked me to stay in Dongdu, you said that if I had the strength to support myself in realizing my wishes, you would no longer ask me to stay away from fighting. In the past few years, I have used this as motivation to continuously cultivate. Now I have reached the Transcendent Realm, and I am already a powerful figure in the cultivation world. Among the Divine Dragon Guards, I am second only to Senior Sister. I can protect myself and can also do my part for Senior Sister."
Xiao Wan'er recalled her answer to Liu Mingyin on the day of the capital relocation, and seeing that he had already met the requirements she had put forward that day, she began to waver.
Liu Mingyin sensed Xiao Wan'er's hesitation and continued to persuade her, "Besides, my senior sister and I are both Transcendent Realm cultivators. Even if the Crown Prince truly wins in the end, can we not just fight him but also run away? Who in the world could possibly put my senior sister and I in such a desperate situation?"
What Liu Mingyin said was indeed true. Among the cultivators who had not completely retreated from the world, no one could bring Xiao Wan'er to a desperate situation. What he didn't say was that even if he were to fall into a desperate situation, he would definitely fall before Xiao Wan'er.
Seeing his determined expression, Xiao Wan'er finally stopped saying anything against it.
"In the next two days, I'll write down the basic information of Team A1 and give it to you. Take a look at it first. Adjustments to each team won't necessarily affect the entire team."
"Thank you, senior sister!" Liu Mingyin's voice suddenly became several shades brighter.
A few days later, an imperial decree was issued, transferring Liu Mingyin to captain of Team A1. The former deputy captain of Team B2 was promoted to captain, leading the team to continue defending the Eastern Capital. Some members of Team A1 were transferred to other teams, and several warriors were added. Indeed, as Xiao Wan'er had said, not all members were transferred.
"I obey your order!" In the Shenlong Guard's office, Liu Mingyin's excited voice resounded throughout the courtyard.
After the eunuch left, Pei Yingguan glanced at Liu Mingyin coldly and left in a huff. Liu Mingyin clearly sensed the murderous intent in Pei Yingguan's eyes.
But this posed no threat to Liu Mingyin. He sneered in his heart and walked towards his new team member with the basic information of the A-1 team member already memorized in his mind.
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