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

Xia Yu's eyes lit up.

"That's wonderful! I couldn't be happier if my elder brother could step in and straighten things out! Thank you for your help!"

He immediately turned to Qin Hu and urged, "Qin Hu, what are you waiting for? Quickly go and get a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) waist token!"

"Yes! Yes! Your subject obeys!" Qin Hu frantically searched his waist and pulled out a waist tag engraved with the words "Commander".

"Your Highness, what do you think... perhaps we could use this one for now?"

Xia Jin glanced at the commander's waist badge, which represented the highest authority of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and gave the other party an annoyed look: "What do I need your own waist badge for? Just give me any deputy commander's waist badge."

"Yes, yes, yes! Your humble servant will go and fetch it right away!"

Qin Hu quickly retrieved his waist token, turned around, and almost ran out of the main hall.

In a short while, he returned, now holding a similar-looking bronze waist badge marked "Deputy Commander," which he respectfully presented with both hands.

Xia Jin was just about to reach out and take it when—the moment his fingers touched the waist token—

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have completed the system task: Successfully joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Task rewards: Divine Sense Detection (Beginner Level, range 500 meters), 20 years of cultivation!]

[Would you like to retrieve it immediately?]

Upon hearing the system notification, Xia Jin was overjoyed. "I didn't expect this task to be completed so easily?"

"I've taken the waist token. Qin Hu, compile all the information you've gathered about those remnants of the demonic cult into a book. Starting tomorrow, I will review it one by one."

Qin Hu trembled, immediately clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, his voice booming, "This subordinate obeys!!"

"Alright, all of you may leave. I have matters to discuss with His Majesty later!"

"yes!"

After Eunuch Wei and Qin Hu left,

Xia Jin and Xia Yu discussed the political situation, the border, and how to deal with the Qingyun Sect, who would be "visiting" them in three months. Xia Yu trusted his elder brother completely and listened to his every word. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he entrusted Xia Jin with many discretionary powers.

"With my elder brother's help this time, I can finally relax for a while!" Xia Yu breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Xia Jin's retreating figure as he stepped out of the main hall.

He's been under a lot of pressure lately.

After leaving the main hall, Xia Jin did not leave the palace, but went straight back to his "Jinwang Palace" in the northeast corner of the palace.

For a prince to have a completely independent palace within the imperial palace is absolutely unprecedented in the hundreds of years of history since the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Surprisingly, not a single person in the court voiced strong opposition.

Xia Jin sat cross-legged on the cold jade bed.

"System," he murmured to himself, "recover the reward."

[Reward being withdrawn...]

In an instant, a profound and mysterious feeling emerged from the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, as if a third invisible eye had suddenly opened.

Xia Jin had her eyes closed, yet she could "see" every corner of the quiet room, even the guards in the corridor outside the door. This perception quickly spread outwards, passing through walls and covering a radius of 500 meters.

"Indeed, although this 'divine sense probing' has a small range, it is far stronger than my perception when I was at the Grandmaster level."

"System, use ten years of your cultivation to deduce 'Divine Sense Detection'."

[Command confirmed. Consuming ten years of cultivation, deducing 'Divine Sense Probing'... Deduction in progress...]

[Deduction complete! 'Divine Sense Probing' has been upgraded from 'Beginner Level (500 meters)' to 'Intermediate Level (3000 meters)'!]

"Very good." Xia Jin nodded in satisfaction, then gave another order: "Use the remaining ten years of cultivation to deduce the Nine Revolutions Creation Scripture."

[Command confirmed. Consuming ten years of cultivation, deducing the "Nine Revolutions Creation Scripture"...]

"In the first year, you used the Nine Revolutions Creation Scripture to cleanse your meridians again and reshape your blood and qi circulation."

"In the fifth year, you successfully broke through the fifth level of the first revolution of the Nine Revolutions Creation Scripture, and your martial arts cultivation broke through from the fifth level of the Acquired Realm to the seventh level of the Acquired Realm."

"In the tenth year, you successfully broke through the seventh level of the first revolution of the Nine Revolutions Creation Scripture, and your martial arts cultivation broke through from the seventh level of the Acquired Realm to the first level of the Innate Realm."

[Deduction complete! The Nine Revolutions Creation Scripture has advanced from the fifth level of the first revolution to the seventh level of the first revolution! The host's realm has also increased accordingly!]

"Buzz—"

Xia Jin's body trembled slightly, and an aura several times stronger than before flashed from his body and was quickly suppressed.

"Open the system panel," Xia Jin silently recited in her mind.

[Host: Xia Jin]

[Realm Level: First Level of the Innate Realm]

[Inner Power Techniques: Nine Revolutions Creation Scripture (First Revolution, Seventh Level), Formless Skill (Original Technique of the Host, Proficient)]

[Martial Arts: Thirteen Swords of Chasing Wind (Host's original skill, mastered), Divine Sense Detection (Intermediate, range 3,000 meters)]

Current reward: None

Xia Jin gently slapped her right palm forward, leaving a palm print on the right wall.

"Although it's only the first level of the Innate Realm, it's enough to rival the strength of the fifth level of the Innate Realm." Xia Jin nodded in satisfaction. "Next, we'll deal with those remnants of the Demonic Sect."

The next morning, Qin Hu's voice rang out in the Jinwang Palace.

"Your Highness, I have been ordered to compile all the clues that the Embroidered Uniform Guard has recently collected and screened, which are suspected to be related to the remnants of the Demonic Cult, and put them here." Qin Hu carefully placed the pile of books on the desk in front of Xia Jin.

Xia Jin glanced at it briefly; there were at least dozens of volumes in the booklet.

Qin Hu looked at Xia Jin with a hint of shame on his face: "But... Your Highness, it's embarrassing to admit. Based on these clues, I personally led people to investigate several of the most suspicious locations, such as several abandoned houses in the old alleys of the South City, and some mixed-use warehouses in the West Market... But every time we were ready to take action, they were all empty. It's as if... it's as if they always knew in advance."

Xia Jin raised her hand, stopping Qin Hu from saying anything more: "Alright, put the things down. A fox will always show its tail eventually."

"Your Highness is wise." Qin Hu breathed a sigh of relief, neatly arranged the booklet, and stepped aside with his hands at his sides.

Xia Jin said no more, picked up the top booklet, leaned back in her chair, and casually flipped through it.

The booklet was meticulously detailed, containing dates, locations, characteristics of suspicious individuals, and testimonies from informants—it was densely packed. He skimmed through it, quickly filtering out the useless information.

"Qianjinfang...a mingled crowd of gamblers, occasionally including high-rollers of unknown origin who remain unfazed by huge wins and losses..."

"The Hundred Flowers Pavilion... the newly crowned courtesan's background is shrouded in mystery, and the possibility of her secretly passing messages exists..."

"The Chunxiang Winery... its wines are sold to many places, including some remote temples and Taoist monasteries, and the transport convoys sometimes have unexplained gaps..."

One book, two books, three books...

When Xia Jin picked up the twelfth booklet and turned to a page in the middle, his gaze fell on a few lines of records about routine inspections of temples in the suburbs of Beijing.

"Lingyin Temple?" The moment those three words surfaced in Xia Jin's mind—

[Ding! Key location information 'Lingyin Temple' detected... Information matching in progress... Match successful!]

[Trigger Mission: Assist the Embroidered Uniform Guard in eliminating one of the Ming Cult's strongholds!]

[Mission Objective: Proceed to Lingyin Temple in western Beijing and eliminate the secret stronghold of the Ming Cult (a cult lurking within the temple).]

[Mission Reward: Little Li Flying Dagger (Beginner Level), Forty Years of Cultivation.]