The Empress's First Running Dog

Chapter 26 Something happened at home

"So, how far are you from that mountain?" asked the old eunuch in the dragon robe.

Zhao Duan hesitated and said:

"Probably within a few miles, hard to estimate."

The real situation was so shocking that he decided to play it safe for the sake of caution.

"Within a few miles..." Eunuch Hai was slightly surprised and praised:
"Very good, this is already above average."

This is even acceptable... Zhao Duan felt that he had gone too far.

"Okay, get up. After the initial visualization, "The Picture of the God of War" has been imprinted in your heart. Later, you can enter it again based on your memory. One step at a time, when you enter the realm of the God, you can go to the second floor and observe the second mural." Eunuch Hai said.

Zhao Duan stood up. Perhaps because he had just made a breakthrough, he felt that he had endless energy. He asked curiously:

"So, the five floors and five murals correspond to the five realms of cultivation?"

Eunuch Hai nodded and then smiled:

"I know what you are thinking, kid. In his later years, Taizu was very close to becoming a 'human immortal'. So the fifth floor mural depicts Taizu's experience in reaching the human immortal level...

But this thing is too far away from you, don't even think about looking at it, just a glance at it is enough to make you seriously injured and faint. Even His Majesty is still comprehending the fourth level. "

After saying this, the old eunuch took out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve and threw it to him:
"Here are the remaining nourishing spirit pills, about five or six, which can help you visualize the scroll."

Zhao Duan took it. He knew that this elixir was produced by Tianshi Mansion and was quite expensive.

As expected of the royal family, they are so generous.

Next, the old eunuch led him back to the front yard to register, which was standard procedure.

Finally, he handed him a small silver plate with the words "Royal Offering" written on it, and said in a deep voice:
"Keep your ID card safe. Remember, you are strictly prohibited from telling anyone about the process of painting the mural today. If they find out, you will bear the consequences yourself."

Zhao Duan's heart sank, he took the token with both hands and put it into his pocket to guarantee it.

At this point, the entire process is completed.

Before leaving, Zhao Duan asked curiously:
"Eunuch, may I ask what are the things in those houses we passed by just now?"

Eunuch Hai said leisurely:

"This is the Imperial Palace Armory, so naturally there are all kinds of magical instruments, armor, talismans, pills, and precious items for cultivation on display. Oh, you have little merit now. Once you have accumulated merit, you can apply to come here to select weapons."

Magical weapon? A flying sword?

With one strike of the sword, he could take someone’s head from a thousand miles away… Zhao Duan couldn’t help but imagine.

……

Watching Zhao Duan leave, Eunuch Hai was about to leave.

Suddenly, the Empress Xu Zhenguan arrived here quietly.

"Slave, please see Your Majesty!"

"No need to be polite," Xu Zhenguan, dressed in white, with a graceful figure, long black hair fluttering in the wind, looked radiant:
"What about Zhao Duan?"

Eunuch Hai reported truthfully.

Above average appearance? Xu Zhenguan was also slightly surprised.

The truth was that Zhao Duan had been stuck in the lower mortal realm for several years, and she had originally thought that this young guard had mediocre talent.

Now it seems that it was due to lack of resources.

In addition, when selecting candidates for royal worship, the first thing to look at is "loyalty", followed by talent. It is already good that Zhao Duan can get an "upper-middle evaluation".

"Very good, you go ahead, I'll go into the building to discuss it for a while." Xu Zhenguan walked towards the depths.

Your Majesty actually came to inquire in person... Little did he know that Eunuch Hai was also quite surprised by this.

The attendants were the imperial family's personal guards, and Zhao Duan was personally chosen by the empress, so he was obviously trained as a direct descendant.

"The male concubine in the rumor has now become the direct descendant. How strange, how strange."

Eunuch Hai became curious and thought about paying more attention to it.

……

The pavilion has four floors.

Xu Zhenguan walked lightly and reached the door. Ten slender fingers, white as jade, slipped out from his sleeves. With just one push, the door, which was at least 600 years old, creaked open.

Inside, the layout is similar to the first floor, with only one stone wall, in front of which is a cushion and an incense burner.

Xu Zhenguan sat on a cushion, his hands embracing the incense burner, with smoke rising from the air and a jade seal mark flickering between his eyebrows.

For the umpteenth time, I tried to visualize the mural.

Just as the old worshipper said, although Xu Zhenguan actually had the "realm of heaven and man", he relied on dragon energy to fill it. His true realm was still one step away from being a "heaven and man".

It was this step that made her feel like she was dying.

Therefore, Xu Zhenguan often came to comprehend the Taizu murals, trying to truly take that step, but ended in failure again and again.

It’s not that Xu Zhenguan lacks talent.

In fact, this fourth mural was painted after the death of Emperor Taizu.

During the six hundred years of the Dayu Dynasty, countless royal bloodlines, and even extremely talented priests, were unable to comprehend the fourth picture.

In history, there was an emperor who was so desperate that he boldly invited the head of the Tianshi Temple of that generation, a real "Heavenly Realm" sorcerer, to come to the palace to observe, but the other party was unable to comprehend it.

The fourth one is already so obscure and difficult to understand. As for the murals on the fifth layer, no one has been able to successfully "visualize" it for 600 years since Taizu.

Yes!

Even just entering it is impossible!
"Emperor Taizu, where is this picture of the human world that you painted, and how do we interpret it?" Xu Zhenguan smiled bitterly.

The painting before him seemed both extremely familiar and extremely unfamiliar to Xu Zhenguan.

Familiarity is because she has seen it thousands of times.

The strangeness lies in the fact that this scroll depicts an extremely strange "strange world" that she cannot understand or comprehend at all, and therefore cannot fully comprehend.

In a trance, she visualized again.

The scene in the mural gradually appeared in her beautiful eyes:
Under the night sky, the modern city, like a dense steel jungle, is full of lights and colors, with skyscrapers standing tall, traffic flowing on the overpass, and the inner ring like a flowing ribbon.

The empress's beautiful eyes were extremely confused:

"What are these...?"

……

……

"it is finally over!"

Outside the palace, when Zhao Duan walked out of the deep doorway, he felt his whole body warmed by the afternoon sun.

This half-day experience was really exciting.

First he responded to the defense and turned the tables, then he had a meal with the empress and explained the changes in his personality. Then he was granted a title of worshipper, obtained the royal family's unique practice inheritance, and broke through a small realm.

"Well, now I should be considered the direct descendant of the empress, right?" Zhao Duan pondered.

The empress had been on the throne for only two years. Although she had taken over the power of the late emperor and the crown prince, she still had too few "direct descendants" and even fewer capable people among them.

Zhao Duan's actions demonstrated his ability and loyalty.

Although there is still the guillotine of "arresting Zhuang Xiaocheng" hanging over his head, at least the survival crisis has been temporarily resolved...

Well, it’s only temporary… You can’t float. If you float you will die suddenly. This is an important experience from the previous life.

"Where to go next?"

Zhao Duan stood alone at the palace gate, feeling a little dazed.

It seems that it is time to go back to the "home" of this identity.

Zhao Duan has not been home for the past three days. After digging through his memories, how can I put it...

I can only say that Zhao Duan’s family situation is quite complicated.

"drive!"

At this moment, suddenly, a carriage came galloping in front, and the one waving the whip was Zhu Kui.

When Old Zhu saw Zhao Duan, his eyes lit up, and he quickly pulled the reins tightly, grabbed the whip and ran off the carriage, shouting:
"Envoy! Something terrible has happened at home!!"

(End of this chapter)