Chapter 284: The Shattered Stone

Could it be… that Mingxuan had shattered it?

Just as he was about to step closer to take a better look, the person in his arms suddenly shivered violently, clearly feeling cold.

Shang Qinghua tightened his hold around him.

After casting one last glance at the shattered remnants, he turned around and left.

By coincidence, Rong Qinglei and the others had just returned as well.

They placed Yue Mingxuan on the bed and covered him with blankets.

Only then did his trembling finally stop.

Gongsun Xing stepped forward to take his pulse.

“There’s nothing serious. It’s not like the fever he had a few days ago. He’s simply fallen asleep from exhaustion again,” Gongsun Xing said after checking his pulse. “Where did you find Yue Mingxuan?”

“By the edge of Yunxi Stream,” Shang Qinghua replied. “He looked like he had completely run out of strength and collapsed there. When I picked him up, I noticed that the huge stone by the stream had disappeared. All that remained were fragments scattered everywhere. It’s very possible that Mingxuan smashed it.”

The moment those words were spoken, everyone in the room froze.

After all, although Yue Mingxuan possessed immense internal energy, he had never learned how to properly use it, which meant most of it went to waste.

His lightness skills were also barely developed.

How could he have suddenly run such a great distance?

Yunxi Stream was far from the palace.

Even someone skilled in lightness techniques would need at least half an hour to reach it.

Everything would have to wait until Yue Mingxuan woke up before they could learn the truth.

Rong Qinglei sat silently at the side.

After a moment, he suddenly asked, “What level do you think Mingxuan has reached now?”

In less than a month, even the most gifted martial prodigy could not possibly break through the first level.

At first, Gongsun Xing thought Rong Qinglei’s question was ridiculous.

But then he paused, suddenly realizing what Rong Qinglei meant.

Recently, Yue Mingxuan had constantly complained of fatigue and exhaustion.

Could it be that he had forced himself to break through the first level?

Everyone had seen the enormous stone by Yunxi Stream. To shatter it into powder with a single strike was something an ordinary person could never accomplish.

But the second level of the Ninefold Celestial Mystery technique… might make it possible.

The second level was known as Stone Shattering Heaven’s Shock.

Could that really be the case?

At that moment, Mo Yi returned.

After Shang Qinghua had brought Yue Mingxuan back, he had sent Mo Yi to gather information and find out exactly what had happened the previous night.

“According to the villagers who live nearby,” Mo Yi reported, “a man suddenly appeared by Yunxi Stream last night. At first he seemed to be in great pain, he collapsed on the ground clutching his chest and unable to get up. One villager was about to approach and ask if he needed help when he suddenly stood up. He gathered his strength and struck the stone with a single palm, shattering it. The villagers were so frightened that they all hid inside their homes, thinking some kind of demon had gone mad and come to kill people. It wasn’t until morning, when my lord carried him away, that they realized it must have been Prince Yue.”

Gone mad?

At those words, the people in the room suddenly understood something.

Perhaps this was why Consort Wan had once had time to practice martial arts within the palace.

When she first began training, she might have experienced the same symptoms as Yue Mingxuan.

In the palace, if a woman went mad, no matter how favored she once was, she would inevitably be sent to the Cold Palace.

And in the Cold Palace, no one cared what you did.

No one would interfere.

This martial technique truly was disturbingly strange.

Rong Qinglei finally suggested, “Then perhaps we should stop Mingxuan from practicing it any further.”

Yin Su shook her head.

“It’s already too late. If he was able to forcefully break through the second level, it means he has already memorized the cultivation method and mental formula perfectly. Trying to abolish his martial arts now would be useless, unless someone knocks him unconscious hard enough that he forgets everything. Which of you is willing to do that?”

The men looked at one another.

Not one of them could bring himself to harm Yue Mingxuan.

So in the end, there was no solution.

It was already too late.

Still, this incident had given them a new lead.

They could now roughly conclude that Consort Wan must have spent some time in the Cold Palace.

Later, for some unknown reason, she returned and eventually died.

Afterward, everyone in the palace had been silenced.

No one was allowed to speak of the matter again.

Since that was the case, the people living in the Cold Palace might know something.

Gongsun Xing glanced at Yin Su.

She paused for a moment and frowned. “Why are you looking at me?”

“What else could it be?” Gongsun Xing said with a grin full of ill intent. “You’re a woman. Women can talk to other women more easily. How could we possibly manage that? So the important mission of going to the Cold Palace to gather information will be entrusted to you. Go on, make good use of the special talents you women of Flying Opera Group possess.”

Yin Su shot him a sharp glare, but before she could reply, Rong Qinglei spoke.

“And another thing. Bring some rouge, cosmetics, maybe some snacks. After spending so long in the Cold Palace, most of those concubines have gone half-mad. It’s hard to find even one who’s still completely sane. But sometimes the words of a madwoman are the most believable, no one would bother forcing a mad person to lie. They’re all living in their own fantasies, convinced that Father the Emperor still favors them. If you bring some cosmetics, they might be easier to talk to.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep