The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Zhao Douan's calm demeanor gradually disappeared, replaced by confusion and surprise.

He had not paid much attention to the Embroidered Robe Envoy who had been lurking around him, revealing the disguise was mostly to satisfy his curiosity. As for the idea of trying to win them over, it was there but he held little hope.

But when Nie Yurong's face, so remarkably similar to Yu Xiu's, came into view, Zhao Douan finally became serious.

A coincidence? There are many similar-looking people in the world, but to be so alike it's as if cast from the same mold is rare, especially since the Jade Sleeve Priestess is in the city.

Was this a deliberate move by Mu Prince Manor? Finding someone similar to Yu Xiu to approach him? No, that doesn't make sense. If the goal was to disguise as Yu Xiu, then assuming the guise of "Bai Sun" would be superfluous and unnecessary, especially since Yu Xiu's involvement was never part of the plan, and this priestess always wore a veil to avoid trouble.

"What is your name?" Zhao Douan suddenly asked.

Nie Yurong was already prepared to die, but upon hearing these words, she couldn't help but be taken aback. Then, her eyes showed mockery, "Does the Imperial Consort dare to flirt outside his chambers?"

In her mind, she had already played out the scenario of attraction followed by murder.

Zhao Douan frowned tightly and suddenly said to Song Jinxi, "Invite the Jade Sleeve Priestess."

Song Jinxi hesitated not at all, turned around and left, and soon after, Yu Xiu entered the backyard, clad in a green robe with a veiled face, "Why does Mr. Zhao seek out this humble Taoist?"

Zhao Douan stepped out of the inner hall, pointed earnestly to the person behind him, and gave a brief explanation of Nie Yurong's identity before stating, "This matter is too strange, so I'm requesting the priestess to come."

A killer who resembles herself? Yu Xiu was stunned, her gaze bypassing him to settle on Nie Yurong inside the hall, motionless like a block of wood.

Yu Xiu's breathing suddenly quickened. She turned her head and said to him, "May I be allowed to interrogate this person alone?"

So agitated? Zhao Douan exchanged a peculiar glance with the priestess and nodded gladly, "Alright."

Having said this, he gestured to Song Jinxi with his chin, and both of them walked into the courtyard, leaving Yu Xiu to hurriedly enter the inner hall and close the door with a "bang," isolating inside from outside.

"Sir... What is the Jade Sleeve Priestess doing?" Song Jinxi wondered.

Zhao Douan shook his head and, looking back at the closed door, suddenly said, "I don't know either, just wait for the outcome, maybe there will be an unexpected delight."

His intuition told him that this might be an unexpected harvest from this battle.

As it was uncertain how long the interrogation would last, Zhao Douan didn't leave either. Since the backyard was large enough, he directly went into another vacant room and ordered Song Jinxi to guard outside. He needed to cultivate.

Zhao Douan stepped into the room, shut the door behind him, and once alone, walked up to the table, pulling out a silver scroll from his bosom. This was the Void Illusion Scroll, a Suppressing Object obtained long ago that could create an Illusion Realm.

However, since he was not a magician, it had mostly become a storage space.

Zhao Douan shook the scroll, "bang, bang," two heavy objects fell onto the round table.

A wooden bow and an iron stick, the spoils from killing Lu Tong and Fan Long.

"For them to be considered main weapons by Worldly Realm cultivators, they surely aren't cheap goods."

Zhao Douan rubbed his hands, it was time for the joyous unboxing session. He first held up the iron stick, which felt extremely heavy, completely dark, and capped on both ends by bronze hoops.

Examining carefully, the stick's body was inscribed with Buddhist script in negative text, and on one side of the long stick, the weapon's name was etched.

"Fearless Root... What a lousy name. The people under Xuan Yin's bald monk are not serious, and neither are their weapon names," Zhao Douan scoffed.

He ignored the fact that the Fengyue Treasure Mirror he owned wasn't really a good name either.

"A weapon used by a Martial Monk should belong to the category of arms." Zhao Douan tried channeling his remaining Qi Mechanism into it, and instantly, a peculiar sense of tranquility surged within his heart. All his fears, apprehensions, cowardice... vanished, giving rise to a boldness that dared to challenge the heavens, fierce and fearless, even daring to face divinity head-on.

Simultaneously, a faint Buddha Light spread across his body's surface. In the Sea of Consciousness, the Green Lotus seemed to be drawn, blending harmoniously, and a cool sensation coursed throughout his body.

"So this is it. Apart from the inherent solidity of the Fearless Stick, holding it also engenders bravery, and seems to also have some ability to dispel curses and negative effects..."

During these days, in the capital, in Taicang, Zhao Douan had handled a plethora of strange objects for refining the Red Flame Saint Armor. While most were of low quality and he did not mind melting them, it honed his appraisal skills, amassing considerable experience in "treasure appraisal" on some artifacts' effects.

"The Buddhist martial monk pursues 'Vajra Supreme Yang,' following the fierce path, already causing all evil to retreat, countering dark objects, curses, etc... It would be very suitable for dealing with Jianghu Sects like the White Clothes Sect and Netherworld Sect"

"Good stuff, it would be a pity to melt it, for now, it can be kept. Sadly, I am not adept with sticks, and a respectable Imperial Consort walking around holding a stick is really quite a scene... Hm, excluding those born this way."

Zhao Douan played with Fan Long's stick for a long time, set the Fearless Root aside, and then picked up the ancient bow left by Lu Tong.

This bow felt extremely light, as if made of wood, its golden bowstring somewhat dull. However, Zhao Douan could not identify the bow's material.

He only saw two ancient characters on the bow: "Taibo."

"This name, I recall seeing in the Royal Weapon Vault's records, it's also a Divine Weapon from six hundred years ago, similar to the Chasing Saber, both a weapon and a Suppressing Object, tsk... It seems like the weapons from that era were all like this, usable by both martial artists and magicians, the Red Flame Saint Armor is armory-shaped too, instead of a Magic Robe... No wonder Xu created the Martial God Path to cultivate both ways... It must have been the trend of that era..."