Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Just as Consort Qi was shocked that Xia Jin dared to sit on the dragon throne so openly in front of Xia Yu, the Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty,

When she turned to look at Xia Yu beside her, she found that he seemed to take it all in stride and did not find anything amiss.

"How is that possible? Is this Prince Jin really, as everyone says, the true ruler of the entire Great Xia Dynasty?" Consort Qi looked at Xia Jin with a hint of apprehension.

Xia Jin sat on the dragon throne, looking coldly at Consort Qi below.

"Hey, woman, are you the second young lady of the Duke of Jingguo's mansion?"

Consort Qi was taken aback by Xia Jin's impolite and even contemptuous address, and a surge of anger rose to her head from feeling offended.

She took a deep breath, forced her head up, met Xia Jin's gaze, and said in the haughty tone unique to imperial concubines, "It is indeed I, the Empress."

"That's good!" Xia Jin nodded. "Qin Hu."

"Your humble servant is here!" Qin Hu, who was kneeling on the ground, immediately responded.

"Take her down."

These four simple words clearly reached everyone's ears.

After Qin Hu stood up, he almost reflexively wanted to get up and carry out the order, but then he seemed to remember something and his gaze unconsciously drifted to Emperor Xia Yu beside him.

Xia Yu stood there, his expression complex. His lips moved slightly, but under Xia Jin's invisible yet heavy aura, he said nothing and simply looked away.

Qin Hu's heart skipped a beat, and he dared not hesitate any longer. Gritting his teeth, he shouted in a deep voice, "Guards! Seize this Consort Qi!"

Two Imperial Guards waiting outside the Imperial Study immediately responded and entered, quickly restraining Consort Qi's arms from both sides.

"How dare you! You dare!" Consort Qi was now completely panicked. She turned sharply to Xia Jin, "Prince Jin! I am a Consort personally appointed by His Majesty! Regardless of whether I am guilty or not! Even if... even if I am guilty, the judgment should be made by His Majesty. When did it become your place, a mere prince, to overstep your bounds!"

As she spoke, she looked urgently at Xia Yu, her eyes instantly filling with tears, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Save me!"

Xia Yu looked reluctant, as if he wanted to say something.

However, Xia Jin, who was sitting on the dragon throne, suddenly laughed at this moment.

"Alright, didn't you want to hear what your crime is?" Xia Jin slowly raised her eyes and said calmly, "The Duke of Jingguo's mansion colluded with the remnants of the Demonic Sect. The evidence is conclusive, and the crime is equivalent to treason. According to the laws of the Great Xia Dynasty, such a serious crime should result in the extermination of three generations of the family."

"You have the blood of the Duke of Jingguo flowing in your veins, making you 'related.' Moreover..."

"Who knows how many favors you, this 'witch,' have done for those remnants of the demonic cult, and how many messages you've passed on, all under the guise of being a concubine in this palace? Death? That's too lenient!"

"You're calling me a witch?" Consort Qi's eyes turned icy cold in an instant.

Just then, a system notification sounded in Xia Jin's mind.

[Ding! Key information "Witch" detected... Information matching in progress... Match successful!]

[Trigger Quest: Capture the demoness alive!]

[Mission Objective: This woman is Lady Lan, one of the four Flower Masters of the Hehuan Sect. Capture her alive to unlock subsequent missions!]

[Mission Reward: Indestructible Body (Beginner Level), Sixty Years of Cultivation.]

"The four flower masters of the Hehuan Sect?" Xia Jin's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He didn't expect that his return trip would trigger the system's mission again. Moreover, this mission's rewards and difficulty were both within his grasp!

Xia Jin completely changed her mind. Originally, she only intended to get rid of Consort Qi quickly and decisively.

"Alright, stop pretending! You witch of the Hehuan Sect!" Xia Jin's words stunned everyone in the imperial study.

"The Hehuan Cult?!"

Qin Hu gasped sharply, and almost instinctively stepped forward to shield Xia Yu, whose expression had drastically changed.

Emperor Xia Yu's gaze towards Consort Qi turned cold: "You...you are...a witch from the Hehuan Sect?!"

The Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty has concubines who are actually witches from the Hehuan Sect! If others find out, wouldn't it become a laughing stock?

This man must die!

Qi Guiren, who was originally restrained by two Imperial Guards, instantly lost her pitiful demeanor the moment Xia Jin uttered the words "Hehuan Sect," and became extremely capable.

She slowly raised her head, the panic on her face vanishing without a trace, her gaze fixed on Xia Jin on the dragon throne.

With a slight struggle, the two Imperial Guards who had been holding her tightly felt a numbness in their arms and involuntarily loosened their grip.

She straightened up as she did so.

"I really didn't expect that. How did you find out my identity? I've been hiding in the palace all these days, and I haven't given myself away at all."

"Show your true colors first!" Xia Jin said with a smile.

"Fine, I've long since stopped wanting to wear that woman's mask!" She raised her hand and gently touched behind her ear and the side of her neck a few times. Then, with a forceful rip, she tore off a human skin mask as thin as a cicada's wing and casually threw it on the ground.

Beneath the mask was a face that was equally beautiful, yet completely different from the gentle and charming Qi Guiren of the past.

"So it really is you! Madam Lan, one of the four flower masters of the Hehuan Sect!" Xia Jin looked at the other party and said calmly.

"Madam Lan..." Qin Hu's expression was solemn. The methods of the Hehuan Sect were unpredictable and varied. Although this person had not yet reached the Grandmaster level, he still had to be careful.

Seeing that Xia Jin actually called her by her own name, Madam Lan looked at Xia Jin with deep apprehension.

Even within the Hehuan Sect, very few people have seen his true face and can call him by name. How could this person possibly know?

"No wonder the leader repeatedly warned me to be careful of you, the 'Son of Shadows' of the Great Xia Dynasty, before I left. You truly live up to your reputation, managing to see through my disguise. It's just a pity..."

"Even if you, Xia Jin, cannot stop our grand scheme involving the three sects! I will not keep you company today! See you another day!"

Before she finished speaking, Madam Lan's figure suddenly swayed, as if she had lost her weight, and she turned into a faint shadow, shooting towards the open window on one side of the Imperial Study!

"Stop her!" Qin Hu roared, gathering his energy to leap after her. However, the moment he circulated his true energy, his expression suddenly changed!

A strange, tingling, and powerless feeling had somehow spread to his limbs and bones.

"Poison? When...?" Qin Hu was both shocked and furious. He suddenly recalled that when he approached and restrained Madam Lan earlier, he seemed to have smelled a very faint, almost imperceptible, strange fragrance.

"The Hehuan Sect's secret medicine, 'Bone-Soothing Orchid Fragrance'..." Madam Lan's light laughter drifted from the window, tinged with a hint of smugness. "Commander Qin, how does it taste?"

However, just as she was about to break through the window and escape.

A purple light flashed!

"Ugh—!"

Madam Lan, who already had one foot halfway out of the window, let out a scream!

She suddenly clutched her lower abdomen, and a large amount of bright red blood gushed out between her fingers.

The intense pain caused her to lose her balance, and she fell off the windowsill.

Everyone's gaze instinctively turned to the dragon throne.

"Big brother, you've made a move?" Xia Yu's face lit up with joy.

At this moment, Xia Jin still maintained that slightly lazy sitting posture, but at some point, he was casually twirling a thin copper-colored metal sheet between his right index and middle fingers.

"You haven't even reached the Grandmaster realm, so who gave you the confidence to escape from my grasp?" Xia Jin couldn't help but shake his head.

"Qin Hu, have her imprisoned and kept under close watch for twelve hours a day. The Flower Master of the Hehuan Sect must know quite a few secrets."

The stagnation in Qin Hu's body eased slightly. Hearing this, he took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and stood up. "Your subordinate... obeys!"

As he stepped forward to restrain Madam Lan, he secretly glanced at Xia Jin, his eyes filled with awe.

What kind of martial art was that, Your Highness? I don't seem to have noticed any fluctuations when I used it.