Chapter 505 - Chapter 505: Chapter 505: Conspiracy

Chapter 505: Chapter 505: Conspiracy

Everyone present immediately arose, in no way daring to be lax, bowing respectfully in return to Zhou Yishui.

After the formalities, Zhou Yishui looked at the crowd, flashed a smile, and said, “The banquet today is to gather the talents of our Xuan Country. Though some are absent, this gathering is indeed a gathering of geniuses, signifying the unprecedented prosperity of our Xuan Country.”

“The Crown Prince is right. Our Xuan Country is becoming stronger day by day, and it’s only a matter of time before we surpass the other two countries.”

“The rise of our Xuan Country is due to the royal family’s efforts. Let’s toast to the royal family.”

“That’s right, let’s toast to the royal family.”

···

Everyone was taking turns to flatter Zhou Yishui, the remaining ones were singing praises of the Xuan royal family. It is quite indistinguishable from bootlicking.

Zhou Yishui conversed amiably whilst drinking wine, carefully observing everyone’s reactions. His eyes gleamed brightly as if he had the Pupil Skill, every subtle expression was captured by him.

Behind Zhou Yishui stood an old man in a simple grey robe. Though he appeared unremarkable, he stood steadfastly beside Zhou Yishui. Although his presence was low, anyone who noticed him felt a chill in their hearts.

This old man in grey was obviously Zhou Yishui’s personal guard. His strength must be formidable as he was tasked to protect Zhou Yishui.

Fang Lin spared a glance at the old man in grey. The latter seemed to have sensed something, his eerie eyes briefly flashed towards Fang Lin.

This glance sent chills down Fang Lin’s spine, almost causing him to drop the wine glass in his hand.

“He’s formidable!” Fang Lin thought to himself.

“The old man is extraordinary. It is said that in the past, a few masters tried to ambush the Crown Prince, only to be subdued by him. They couldn’t even touch the Crown Prince’s garment.” Gongsun Xiao whispered to Fang Lin.

Fang Lin nodded in agreement, thinking it’s not unusual for such an important figure as a country’s prince to have a master of martial arts by his side.

“Crown Prince, you mentioned there’d be a royal treasure for us to feast our eyes upon?” a young man asked aloud.

Zhou Yishui smiled slightly. “I know you all are interested in the treasure. Since it’s like this, there is no need for me to keep it a secret any longer.”

Zhou Yishui clapped his hands and two robust men immediately carried an item into the center of everyone.

The thing was covered with red cloth and seemed quite heavy, which was evident from the two hunks panting as they walked.

“What is it?” Some people looked puzzled. Is the precious treasure actually this big?

A very few geniuses, their eyes gleaming, seemed to have some idea about it, expressions of anticipation and surprise spreading on their faces.

Fang Lin also looked at the object. Despite being covered in red cloth, it looked like a large stone.

Dugu Nian, sitting next to Fang Lin, said in surprise, “I’ve heard that the royal family has a Heavenly Stone. It is said to contain the palm impressions of an ancient strong man. One can comprehend ancient martial arts from it.”

At these words, Fang Lin was also surprised. Could this be the Heavenly Stone?

Zhou Yishui stood up, walked over to the treasure and looked around, a smile playing on his lips. Under everyone’s gaze, he uncovered the red cloth that was draped over it.

With the cloth removed, what met everyone’s eyes was indeed a large stone. On the stone, there was a deep palm impression, very conspicuous.

From the palm impression, it was clear that the person who struck this palm was of profound strength, yet he did not smash the stone into dust. Instead, he only left a palm impression, with no cracks on the stone whatsoever.

This suggested that this person who applied the handprint had reached an extremely profound level of strength and had thorough control over his power, with not an iota of excess energy leakage.

Everyone looked at the stone with surprise on their faces. This was indeed the Heavenly Stone handed down by the royal family of Xuan Country, which many people considered as the national treasure of Xuan Country.

Of course, the national treasures of Xuan’s royal family are not limited to this stone alone. In fact, there are several national treasures, and the Heavenly Stone is just one of them.

“Gentlemen, our royal family of Xuan Country regards this stone as the Heavenly Stone. I believe you’ve all more or less heard rumors about this stone. Today, I’ve borrowed this stone from the palace to give everyone a chance to see it. I hope that everyone can collectively explore the mysteries within the stone,” Zhou Yishui said.

Many people were already totally engrossed in the Heavenly Stone, eager to comprehend something from it. The others, however, seemed to be ruminating with pensive expressions, wondering about the purpose of Zhou Yishui’s actions.

A person like Zhou Yishui would not act without a reason. The fact that he was generous enough to let everyone collectively explore the Heavenly Stone clearly suggested that he had an ulterior motive.

But what exactly Zhou Yishui’s objective was eluded them. The more they thought about it, the more cautious they became, wary of being negligent.

“Crown Prince, since this Heavenly Stone is a treasure of the royal family, I guess most of the masters in the royal family must have already explored the mysteries within this stone,” someone said.

Zhou Yishui let out a bitter smile, “It is a shame. Despite the Heavenly Stone being a treasure of our Xuan royal family and obtained a long time ago, only one of our Xuan ancestors has managed to comprehend the mysteries hidden within it. Unfortunately, that ancestor accidentally stopped in his tracks and, to this day, we are unable to obtain the secrets from the stele. It’s for this reason that today we’re all here to explore the stele together, hoping that the combined abilities of all the talents present here will lead to some gains.”

On hearing this, different expressions played on everyone’s faces—some believing, others not believing.

Who knew whether what Zhou Yishui said was true or false? Even if it was true, some people held doubts and skepticism in their hearts.

Fang Lin kept studying the Heavenly Stone, especially the palm impression on it. It gave Fang Lin a strange feeling.

However, he didn’t quite know what exactly was strange about it—it was just a gut feeling.

“Don’t try to comprehend the stone,” suddenly, a voice echoed in Fang Lin’s mind.

Fang Lin was startled, it was unmistakably the voice of the Dry Corpse Demon Saint.

“Why can’t we explore it, senior?” Fang Lin quickly asked in his mind.

“It’s a trap. The stone does not hold any martial arts secrets. If you try to comprehend the palm impression, your own Martial Arts Divine Power will instead be imprinted on the stone,” the Demon Saint said, his voice appearing vague.

On hearing this, Fang Lin was startled. Looking again at the smiling Zhou Yishui, his expression became serious.

“What bold audacity, such a cunning strategy; planning to extract the Martial Arts Divine Power of everyone present,” Fang Lin thought to himself, secretly alarmed.