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

Just as Su Xuanji expressed her willingness to submit to Xia Jin, the system notification sounded in Xia Jin's mind again.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing the mission: Subjugate the Hehuan Sect.]

[Quest Rewards: Avici Hell Three Swords (Beginner Level), Sixty Years of Cultivation]

"This task was completed so easily?" Xia Jin's face lit up with joy, but he quickly suppressed it.

He looked at Su Xuanji and said with a faint smile, "Now that the Hehuan Sect has submitted to me, there are some things we should sit down and talk about."

Su Xuanji nodded, then stepped aside and gestured for her to proceed. "Your Highness, this place is messy and unsuitable for entertaining guests. Please move inside for a more detailed discussion."

"Alright." Xia Jin nodded.

The three of them walked through the courtyard and sat down in the main hall.

Madam Lan then personally fetched the finest tea leaves and began brewing them. Before long, she presented a cup of clear tea to Xia Jin.

"Your Highness, please have some tea." Madam Lan looked at Xia Jin, her tone more intimate than before.

Xia Jin nodded, her gaze falling on Su Xuanji beside her. She cut to the chase, "Sect Leader Su, please speak plainly. Your Hehuan Sect, along with the Ming Sect and the other two sects, have joined forces to secretly plot against our Great Xia. What exactly is your purpose?"

Su Xuanji and Madam Lan exchanged a glance, both seeing the solemnity in each other's eyes.

Su Xuanji took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "In fact, the schemes of the three religions are all for... something buried deep in the Great Xia Imperial Mausoleum."

"Hmm? Things inside our Great Xia Imperial Mausoleum?" Xia Jin's eyes flashed with a hint of doubt. He had never heard of any rare treasures inside the imperial mausoleum. "Go on."

"To be precise, our goal is a key to the imperial tomb."

"It is said that it was buried in the imperial mausoleum along with the founding emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty," Su Xuanji said earnestly.

"A key? What kind of key could enable the three sects to cooperate? I'm quite curious!" Xia Jin looked into Su Xuanji's eyes and pressed for an answer.

A fervent glint flashed in Su Xuanji's eyes: "The key to unlocking the 'Azure Lotus' secret realm!"

"The Azure Lotus Secret Realm!?" Xia Jin frowned. He had no recollection of this so-called Azure Lotus Secret Realm and had never heard of it before.

"It's normal that Your Highness hasn't heard of it." Seeing that Xia Jin seemed to know nothing about the Azure Lotus Secret Realm, Madam Lan took over and explained.

"Because the Azure Lotus Secret Realm is rarely mentioned in the histories of our three major sects! If it weren't for the recent public release of a secret letter left by the previous leader of the Ming Cult before his death, we would almost have thought it was just a rumor!"

"That's right. It is said that eight hundred years ago, a supreme swordsman from the Eastern Xuan Continent, the Azure Lotus Hermit, left all his wealth, including the Azure Lotus Sword Technique he cultivated and the Azure Lotus Sword, in a secret realm before his death!"

"To enter that secret realm, unless you possess the same strength as the Azure Lotus Hermit, you can only enter through that key." Su Xuanji nodded as well, her eyes filled with excitement.

"Your Highness should understand what the things left behind by a supreme expert at the Land Immortal Realm mean, right? Such a treasure is enough to make our three major sects pay the ultimate price!"

A terrestrial deity!

Even Xia Jin, a former grandmaster, was shaken upon hearing Su Xuanji's words.

In the cultivation system of the Eastern Xuan Continent, Grandmasters are almost the pinnacle of human cultivation, capable of influencing the rise and fall of a nation.

However, above the Grandmaster realm, there are also the Realm of Carefree Immortality, the Realm of Divine Travel, and the highest known realm, the Realm of Land Immortals!

Those who reach this realm are said to have transcended the constraints of the mortal world, possessing unfathomable supernatural powers, including the ability to move mountains and fill seas, and to summon wind and rain.

"A secret realm left behind by a terrestrial immortal..." Xia Jin clenched her hands involuntarily, a glint of light flashing in her eyes from time to time.

No wonder these remnants of the demonic cult would take such a risk and join forces to plot against the Great Xia Imperial Mausoleum! Such an opportunity, not to mention the demonic cults like the Ming Cult, even the Great Xia Dynasty itself, would have to seize it at any cost once it learned of this!

"That's right," Su Xuanji affirmed. "If it weren't for this, our Hehuan Sect wouldn't be cooperating with sects like the Ming Cult!"

"It seems I have to thank your Hehuan Sect this time. If it weren't for you, I would still be in the dark." Xia Jinwan glanced at Su Xuanji and Madam Lan beside her and said with a smile.

"Since this key belongs to my Great Xia, then it is my property. The Azure Lotus Secret Realm... such an astonishing opportunity is destined to fall into my hands?"

"By the way, do you know the Ming Cult's follow-up plans?" As she spoke, a glint of light flashed in Xia Jin's eyes.

Su Xuanji shook her head with a wry smile, "Your Highness, the Ming Cult leader is inherently suspicious, and he did not inform us of the specific timing of the operation."

"However, all we know is that in about half a month, he will invite another Grandmaster to join forces against you, the number one person in the Great Xia Dynasty!"

"Although I don't know who that Grandmaster is, Your Highness, you should still be careful!" Su Xuanji reminded him.

"Half a month later...invite another Grandmaster to join forces against me..." Xia Jin narrowed his eyes slightly, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

"What a pity! If it weren't for the system, I would have really been caught off guard and lost! But now... Hmph! In half a month, let alone two Grandmasters joining forces, even if the Ming Cult leader and all the Grandmasters in the Great Xia territory joined forces, what could they do to me!?"

Xia Jin picked up her teacup, pondered for a moment, and then looked up at Su Xuanji. "Sect Leader Su, for the next period of time, you only need to do one thing."

"Your Highness, please give your orders." Su Xuanji's expression hardened.

"Maintain your current contact with the Ming Cult for now, and do not arouse their suspicion," Xia Jin said slowly. "If they make any new moves, be sure to contact me immediately."

Su Xuanji nodded: "Of course, I will report all news about the Ming Cult to Your Highness in a timely manner."

Xia Jin drank the tea in his cup in one gulp, then put down the teacup, stood up and said, "Then I cannot stay any longer. Let's proceed according to plan."

After saying that, he turned and left the Moon-Viewing Pavilion.

Watching Xia Jin's departing figure, Madam Lan patted Su Xuanji's shoulder and asked, "My Lord, what do you think of this treacherous ruler of Great Xia?"

"Huh!? What do you mean by that?" Su Xuanji was taken aback at first, then frowned.

"Alas! I've heard that this Yin Emperor is still unmarried. Such a dragon among men, you must seize this opportunity! Even if it's not for you, it's for our Hehuan Sect!" Madam Lan looked at Su Xuanji with a half-smile.

"Hmph! You shameless hussy, don't talk nonsense! Mind your own business..." Su Xuanji's ears turned slightly red, and she glared at Madam Lan with annoyance before picking up her longsword and wielding it again.

"I don't know if she really doesn't understand or she's pretending not to. If I weren't getting old, I would like to try it myself..." Madam Lan shook her head as she watched Su Xuanji's sword dance.

……

After returning to the Jinwang Hall in the palace, Xia Jin sat down cross-legged on his jade bed.

"System, claim your mission reward," he silently instructed himself.

[Ding! Mission rewards are being distributed...]