CHAPTER 566: CHAPTER 563: HOT SPRING BEAUTY! [SECOND RELEASE]

The Royal Palace fire blazed for a full day and night.

Moreover, since the palace’s architecture was modeled after the grand style of the Prime Tang, it featured many wooden buildings, which by now had all been completely incinerated.

Everywhere the eye could see, there was nothing but scorched earth. Broken walls and ruins lay everywhere, a sight full of wounds.

Just as Miyamoto Sakura had predicted, Prince Zhaohua was stunned on the spot upon hearing that the Royal Treasury was on fire, and then flew into a rage, disregarding his own safety to rush to the scene.

The nine-story wooden building on the ground had long ceased to exist. The underground treasury, too, was nothing but ruins.

After a period of pandemonium, Prince Zhaohua, with a gloomy face, angrily asked, "What’s the situation inside?"

"Reporting to the Prince, everything inside has been burnt to ashes. However, we did not find any trace of Beichen Divine Master, Nozomi, and the two Masters, Miyamoto and others!"

"Report, returning to the Prince, twelve charred bodies were found in the backyard. All have the same fatal wounds at the throat and Life Gate. From the current situation, it appears they were all slain with a sword to the throat!"

Hearing this news, Prince Zhaohua’s body trembled violently, nearly fainting.

There were not many guards at the Treasure Vault, but each one was a top expert; the Guard Commander Beichuan, was a proficient disciple of Beichen Qianfeng, and a peak expert in the Late Transformation Realm, yet he too was killed with a sword to the throat.

This indicated that the intruders were at least Divine-level Masters!

However, this shouldn’t be the case. Beichen Qianfeng was the Divine Servant of the Sunshine God in the Human World, possessing unpredictable power of Ghost Gods. The other two Masters were also Divine-level Masters.

It would take at least five Divine-level Masters to confront them all at once.

A single Divine-level Master could suppress an entire nation.

Five Divine-level Masters represent an unimaginable terror!

Thinking this, Prince Zhaohua immediately dismissed this absurd idea.

But the current situation was that the treasury had been plundered, Beichen Qianfeng, Nozomi, and Miyamoto, the three Divine-level Masters, had mysteriously disappeared. Guard Commander Beichuan and twelve Death Soldiers were killed with a sword to the throat. All these occurrences were truly baffling!

Even wracking his brains, Prince Zhaohua, with an intelligence quotient of 120, could not come up with a reasonable explanation.

At this moment, the senior strategist Miyazaki Shiro, perhaps discerning what his master was thinking, stepped forward and began to speculate boldly.

"Prince, Beichen Divine Master, Nozomi, and the two Masters might not have been here. That might have given the thieves the opportunity to enter undetected!"

Hearing this explanation, Prince Zhaohua felt it made some sense. He had been in a state of panic, but his taut nerves finally began to relax.

As long as Beichen Qianfeng was still around, no one would dare to threaten his position as Crown Prince. If things were lost, they could be recovered.

However, deep down, he felt that things were not that simple.

Beichen Qianfeng indeed was not often here, but Nozomi and the two Masters were usually stationed here.

How could all three of them have left at the same time?

And, if even he, the Prince and Crown Prince of the Royal Family, was unaware of it, then how could the thieves possibly know?

Miyazaki Shiro again called softly, "Prince?"

Prince Zhaohua came back to his senses, waved his hand, and commanded loudly, "Mr. Miyazaki, deploy all our people to pursue the thieves and the whereabouts of the treasures!"

After saying this, he suddenly thought of something important and quickly added a caution, "Remember, do not publicize this matter, we cannot afford to leak even the slightest bit of information. It must be carried out in secret, understand?"

The people like Miyazaki Shiro bowed and responded, "Yes, I understand!"

Meanwhile, the "chief culprit" Li Chen was soaking blissfully in a hot spring.

Miyamoto Sakura, dressed in scanty clothing, was giving him various massages, like a servant girl.

A princess who was always served by others, when had she ever served someone like this?

Therefore, at the beginning, her movements were very clumsy, and during the massage, her hands were a bit too rough.

However, she was naturally intelligent, and regardless of what it was, she learned quickly. Under Li Chen’s careful guidance, she soon adapted to this job.

Li Chen leaned back lazily in the hot spring pool, basking in the sun.

Miyamoto Sakura knelt in front of him, serving him carefully.

Her hands were soft as tender shoots, her skin like congealed cream. When placed on his back, it felt as smooth as Jiangnan silk, flowing like water, blissful as an immortal.

Li Chen slightly opened his eyes and looked at the great beauty in front of him, whose face was as fresh as the peach blossoms in March, with tender and charming eyes, and a smile so entrancing that it was a delight to behold.

"Now, what is the situation outside?"

It seemed that Miyamoto Sakura had already prepared for these questions.

She quickly organized her thoughts and began to report decisively.

"The Holy Mountain erupted, the 13th Regularized Division was almost entirely annihilated, and the division commander Yoshio Yamamoto committed seppuku that night!"

Li Chen nodded and said, "He got off cheaply indeed. Forget it, such a person is just like an ant, not worth bothering about. What about the Ninja Family? Any movements on their side?"

Yoshio Yamamoto was a major general in the army, not even forty years old, and was already the commander of an A-type Regularized Division, always heralded as the dragon among the military. There were even rumors that he might become the Army Marshal by the age of sixty and take control of the entire Grand General Mansion.

Yet, such a Heaven’s Chosen Son was dismissed as an ant by Li Chen. One wonders, if he knew of this from the Netherworld, would he be angered back to life?

After a moment of internal reflection, Miyamoto Sakura continued, "The Gold Shadow Ninja within the Ninja Family was severely wounded. The Water Shadow and Fire Shadow Ninja took him back to their ancestral home in Hokkaido, the secluded Ninja Village!"

Li Chen pondered for a moment, then asked, "Oh, do you know the exact location of the Ninja Village?"

Miyamoto Sakura respectfully replied, "I know, it’s behind the Dragon River Waterfall. But, I have never entered it!"

Li Chen raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you want to go in and take a look?"

Hearing Li Chen’s sudden question, Miyamoto Sakura was startled.

"Master, you’re not thinking of going to the Ninja Village, are you?"

Li Chen smiled and responded, "Why not?"

"I said I would annihilate them, and I will. In the worldly society, one must at least keep their word."

Miyamoto Sakura was speechlessly shocked, her mouth open wide, unable to speak for a long while.

As she was dumbstruck, Li Chen casually inquired,

"Any news from the military side, especially any movements from the United States in Hengtian?"

After World War II, the Allied forces organized joint armies to occupy the four islands of Japan. Later, other countries withdrew one by one, leaving only the United States.

Though they have only 35,000 people, they are equipped with the most advanced weapons on the planet. They even have Cloud Bombs, High Ion Laser Cannons, and even tactical nuclear weapons, the super weapons that currently are the only threat Li Chen feels in Japan.

Therefore, he must be wary of their movements.

Even though he has now built the Perfect Foundation, and the Five Elements Battle Armor is also successfully refined, it can only withstand conventional shells. Even supersonic missiles could cause substantial damage, not to mention Cloud Bombs and nuclear weapons, these super weapons.

To withstand nuclear weapons, one must form a Golden Core, becoming a Land Immortal.

Even now, advancing to the Foundation Establishment Stage, summoning Heavenly Thunder and Earth Fire and surviving countless dangers, barely counts as a success.

Forming a Golden Core is hundreds of times more difficult than Foundation Establishment. Without strong fate, it might not be possible to succeed in forming a Perfect Golden Core even with all the resources on Earth exhausted.

It seems that he will have to visit the Overseas Immortal Sect soon!

...

"Master, there has been no movement from across the ocean for now. However, the US commander stationed in Japan, Johnson, had someone contact Army Marshal Yizhong Yamamoto once. As for the content of their conversation, I am unaware."

"From the Royal Palace side, the Prince suppressed news about us plundering the Royal Treasury. He has now become like a mad dog, letting loose all his hunting dogs, chasing the traces of the lost treasures!"

"Due to the eruption of the Holy Mountain, swallowing the Iga Palace, leaving the position of the overlord vacant. Beichen One-Sword Style, New God Yin One School, Hagai Lineage, Treasure House, Yagyu Shingan-ryu, and Kashima Shinto School, these six major schools are all coveting this position. The entire Japan Martial Arts community is already surging undercurrents!"

After organizing her thoughts, Miyamoto Sakura reported all she knew to Li Chen.

Li Chen slightly nodded and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Miyamoto Sakura.

"If I remember correctly, the current Sect Leader of the Iga Palace should be you, right?"

"Yes, it is indeed your servant. However, the Iga Palace is now in name only; the Elders and Deacons, six or seven out of ten are gone. Moreover, most of the survivors have been swayed by Miyamoto Chuan. I am now the Sect Leader in name only!"

When saying "in name only," a bitter smile emerged at the corner of Miyamoto Sakura’s mouth.

Li Chen seemingly saw through her thoughts and casually asked, "Do you want to take back the Iga Palace?"

Miyamoto Sakura thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Your servant only wishes to follow the Master and serve by your side. Moreover, since the Iga Palace is destroyed and the people’s hearts are scattered, even if it is taken back, it would be meaningless!"

Li Chen waved his hand and said, "Buildings can be rebuilt when they are destroyed. People’s hearts can be reunited when scattered. As long as you take back the Iga Palace, you will be the overlord of Japan Martial Arts, how can you say it is meaningless?"