fifth form

Chapter 3349 Dragon City Secret Realm
"Dragon City, the site of the Xiong Kingdom's sacrificial rites?"

The Xiong Kingdom has no fixed cities; even the highest leader of the country, the Chanyu, constantly moves from place to place.

Zhang Xuezhou had visited Longcheng many years ago, and he had met the Great Chanyu and others there.

He once thought that the Dragon City Royal Court was the power center of the Xiong Kingdom, but when he happened to pass by while searching for the Western Kunlun, he found that the once bustling area was now just a desolate wasteland overgrown with weeds.

"Is there really another world there?"

"That's what the Empress Dowager said!"

After leaving Changxin Palace, Zhang Xuezhou met with the new emperor again and exchanged some information.

The new emperor showed no interest in the progress of the Yangpo Transformation Technique, but he would not miss any information about the struggle between the Han Dynasty and the Xiong Kingdom.

A place for offering sacrifices to Heaven is meaningless. It's like a new emperor going to Fengxize to offer sacrifices to the founding emperor. Even if a large army besieges Fengxize, it won't bring any special benefits.

However, if this sacrificial site conceals other things, then that's a different matter altogether.

"The Ferocious Kingdom has three holy lands and six ancestral lands. The holy lands are renowned throughout the lands, while the ancestral lands are only heard of but never seen," the new emperor solemnly said.

“Every secret place has its own way of being hidden,” Zhang Xuezhou said. “The three holy lands are only revealed to the outside world because there are too many humans and demons, which has led to their settlement and thus they have become holy lands!”

Few secret realms completely overlap with the rest of the world; each secret realm has a unique way of operating.

The three holy lands are presented to the outside world, but only Daojun, Zhujiuyin, and a few others can enter the true core of these holy lands; everyone else lives on the periphery.

Zhang Xuezhou had also entered the Xieluoschuan secret realm before, and he was well aware of the vast differences between the inside and outside.

If Dragon City conceals a secret territory of the Fiend Kingdom, this situation is not surprising.

"The problem now is how to find this secret place," the new emperor said, pacing back and forth. "If we can wipe out a secret place belonging to a fierce kingdom, it will be a blow to them!"

Even if the Dragon City Secret Realm didn't contain the rare and precious materials the Empress Dowager had mentioned, the new emperor felt that breaking through a secret realm would have a significant impact.

As a sacred site for the Xiong Kingdom, the Dragon City Secret Land must be one of the six ancestral lands of the Xiong Kingdom, or even an extremely important one.

However, you can't just run to a secret place and enter it. Each secret place has a way of entering and exiting, and it may even be set up with formations.

This also involves the cultivators stationed in the secret realm, which cannot be easily destroyed by an individual fighting alone.

"Whatever your decision is, I'll cooperate!"

Zhang Xuezhou didn't dwell too much on such matters. His main responsibility was to relay information. He would pass on any useful information to the new emperor, and whether the new emperor found the information useful was another matter entirely.

This information is useful, but not particularly useful.

If it could have been used effectively, Emperor Jing and the Empress Dowager wouldn't have had to wait until now.

If it seems useless, then this information could actually play a real role if it could uncover traces of the Dragon City Secret Realm.

The current focus is indeed on how to find this secret place, as the new emperor has said.

"We must find Dragon City first!"

The location of Longcheng was not hidden, and its reputation as an important sacrificial site would spread far and wide. In the century of interaction between the Han Dynasty and the Xiong Kingdom, this information was already roughly known, and some Han officials who went on missions to the Xiong Kingdom had even visited Longcheng.

The Dragon City of the Fiend Kingdom is like Mount Tai and Fengxize in the Han Dynasty. Even without actually going there, some people can still point and describe it in general terms.

The new emperor searched high and low in the main hall of Weiyang Palace and finally found the relevant records on a bamboo scroll.

"If we continue along this route, we might find Dragon City!"

After consulting the bamboo slips, the new emperor then turned to maps drawn in previous eras. Large armies could hardly move using such rudimentary maps, but this did not include flying.

"You go to Mount Tai first, then take me to find Dragon City. Let's see if we can find anything!"

The search for Dragon City is uncertain, while the connection with the Celestial Court needs to be maintained. The new emperor clearly took Zhang Xuezhou's actions into consideration and did not forcibly conscript him to take immediate action, lest both sides end up with nothing.

"Then let's go to Mount Tai first, and then search for Dragon City!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded in agreement.

This was a relatively long trip involving driving the Imperial Shuttle, but Zhang Xuezhou had no complaints.

He can only live well if the new emperor lives well.

Over the past two weeks, Zhang Xuezhou has enjoyed unexpected good fortune, truly experiencing what it feels like to be a pig flying in the wind.

Having been imprisoned for many years, he rarely had such a smooth period of time. Zhang Xuezhou was also well aware that as long as he could break through a certain barrier, he might have the same opportunity to replicate the situation in reality in the Han Dynasty.

There is indeed a need to break the deadlock right now. As for what the future holds, Zhang Xuezhou can no longer worry about that. He feels that even if things get worse, it won't be as troublesome as the current predicament.

The Imperial Shuttle took off from the back garden of Weiyang Palace, leaving a white trail before disappearing into the sky.

"You seem to have improved your speed in controlling the Sky Shuttle!"

Sitting behind the Imperial Shuttle, the new emperor watched the rapidly disappearing city of Chang'an. He felt that Zhang Xuezhou was piloting the Imperial Shuttle at a faster speed than usual.

If Zhang Xuezhou did not deliberately activate his magical power, it means that Zhang Xuezhou's strength has most likely increased.

"I also want to thank His Majesty for the White Deer Coin. I ran into Lord Han again at the brothel, and in the end, Lord Han spent thirty-five coins to buy the White Deer Coin. I also got a wife who could cure my physical ailments. My magic power has recovered by more than ten percent, and I can ride the Imperial Shuttle much more easily now," Zhang Xuezhou replied.

"Is Lord Han Han Anguo?"

"Yes!"

The new emperor had long known about Zhang Xuezhou's messy affair, but he was helpless about it. He wanted to help but had no ability to do so, so he could only let Zhang Xuezhou try his luck and find a suitable woman.

He never expected that Zhang Xuezhou would actually find a suitable partner in the brothel.

As for Han Anguo getting involved, that was an unexpected turn of events.

The new emperor had just begun to accept Han Anguo's authority when he suddenly remembered that Han Anguo's wealth was nothing more than a result of his ascension to the throne, and his feelings vanished instantly.

Han Anguo has many merits, but he was born in the wrong era.

If this had happened during Emperor Jing's reign, Han Anguo's position would have been as secure as Cheng Bushi's, and no one would have cared about his corruption.

However, this was the reign of a new emperor, who was well aware that the court could not allow corruption to run rampant and that it also needed to reduce the power of the princes and the old marquis system. To carry out such reforms, the court needed to target external forces in order to make adjustments.

"He is a talented man, but his ideas are too conservative. I have given him many opportunities, even letting him control 300,000 troops, and I also intended to push him to replace my uncle as prime minister, but he has not made a good move at any of them and has always gone against my wishes." The new emperor explained with regret, "The court is in dire need of a great cultivator like him, but he has now become the biggest obstacle. If it weren't for the fall of Shanggu County and the subsequent mobilization, he would have surely split the court into two factions that fight each other endlessly!"

"Pity!"

Upon learning of the new emperor's assessment of Han Anguo, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but sigh with regret, knowing that this former patron was unlikely to recover.

Han Anguo was once the new emperor's reliance and hope, but in the end he became a pawn to be discarded.

Zhang Xuezhou needs to learn a lesson from the case of Han Anguo.

The opponent's strength was not so scarce as to be irreplaceable, and their political views were contrary to those of the new emperor who wanted to break free from the cage.

If one cannot gain a deep understanding of the new emperor, or if one thinks oneself unique and acts arbitrarily, attempting to rely on the power of the Han Dynasty will inevitably result in a disastrous defeat.