Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Celestial Palace City.

Inside the council hall.

Seeing Jiang Ning, who had just appeared, Prince Zhenbei’s gaze grew especially grave.

The Jiang Ning before his eyes was even younger than he had imagined.

Such an appearance did not quite match the deeds he had heard of before, in his mind.

"King Luoshui... Jiang Ning?" Prince Zhenbei, Xu Zhen, spoke slowly, his voice low.

Jiang Ning gave a slight nod, his gaze sweeping past Xu Zhen and then landing on the Beicang King.

He could see the tension on the two of them.

Then he smiled faintly. "You two need not be so tense. I have come by order of the Holy Emperor, to resolve the crisis of Celestial Palace City."

"So it really is you!" The Beicang King looked at Jiang Ning, a complex look in his eyes.

Jiang Ning nodded slightly.

Just then, Prince Zhenbei said, "Does Your Excellency have anything that can serve as proof?"

As the words fell, he showed an apologetic expression and added, "Please forgive me, but I must confirm Your Excellency’s identity before I can fully cooperate."

Hearing this, Jiang Ning gave Prince Zhenbei a slightly surprised look.

Then he nodded slightly.

The next instant, he raised his hand in a beckoning motion. A streak of light flashed, and the imperial edict Ji Minghao had just written appeared in his hand.

"This is the imperial edict the Holy Emperor has just penned," Jiang Ning said.

As he spoke, he lifted his hand and tossed the rolled-up edict toward Prince Zhenbei.

Prince Zhenbei raised his hand to catch it.

He then unfurled the edict, his gaze quickly sweeping over the characters written upon it.

As his eyes moved, his expression gradually shifted from solemn to shocked.

Every word written on the edict fell clearly into his sight.

He saw that the edict bestowed upon Jiang Ning authority of immeasurable magnitude.

It was the authority, in terms of grand principle, to deal even with the two of them.

Such authority, placed in anyone else’s hands, would appear laughable to him.

Because the weak have no qualification to decide the fate of the strong.

But he knew that if Jiang Ning’s identity was genuine, then he was a powerhouse whose strength far surpassed theirs.

He was a man who had retreated whole from the hands of Heavenly Soldiers, a man hailed as second under heaven.

Previously, he had always believed that his own gap with those so-called "second under heaven" was not large.

After all, they had all reached the Martial Arts Peak, had all climbed to the summit of this mountain. Beyond this point, there was nowhere further to advance. Even if there were differences in strength between them, how great could they really be?

How exaggerated could it be?

But his bout with the North Barbarian State Preceptor a couple of days ago had shown him what "second under heaven" truly meant.

With just a single exchange, he was defeated.

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He slowly closed the edict, held it respectfully in both hands, and solemnly returned it to Jiang Ning.

Then he drew a deep breath, cupped his hands toward Jiang Ning, and bowed. "With the imperial edict in hand, King Luoshui’s identity is beyond doubt. I offended you just now—please forgive me, Your Highness."

Jiang Ning took the edict and casually stored it in the Jiezhi Leaf, waving his hand as he said, "In extraordinary times, caution is only right. You two princes need not stand on ceremony."

"King Luoshui, may I also have a look at the Holy Emperor’s edict?" the Beicang King spoke up at this moment.

Just now he had noticed the changing look on Prince Zhenbei’s face, and thus felt a trace of curiosity.

What exactly had that boy Ji Minghao written in the edict to make Prince Zhenbei’s expression shift so dramatically?

Hearing this, Jiang Ning glanced at the Beicang King, then nodded slightly.

He raised his hand in a beckoning motion, and the edict he had just stored in the Jiezhi Leaf reappeared.

He then tossed it toward the Beicang King.

The Beicang King reached out to catch the edict, his eyes racing over it, and then his pupils suddenly contracted.

At once he withdrew his gaze, rolled up the edict in his hands, and stepped forward to hand it back to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning received the edict from the Beicang King and once more stored it away in the Jiezhi Leaf.

"Just now I was still speculating with Brother Xu about whom the court would send as reinforcements, but I did not expect you to come personally. Even more unexpected was how fast you arrived—the memorial was sent out only a few days ago, and you already stand before the two of us." The Beicang King looked at Jiang Ning and spoke.

At these words, Jiang Ning gave a small smile.

Their earlier discussion and deliberations had all reached his ears, and that had not been how they put it just now.

But he could not be bothered to expose them.

He then walked forward to a purple sandalwood pear-flower chair and sat down directly.

"You two, tell me about the current situation in Celestial Palace City."

At this, Xu Zhen drew a deep breath and then said, "Since Your Highness asks, I won’t hide anything. The current situation in Celestial Palace City is, in truth, far from optimistic."

He pointed toward the map spread out on the table. "The Beiman this time have marched south boasting three hundred thousand iron cavalry, but their actual strength is no fewer than a hundred thousand. Among them are eight thousand Great Snow Dragon Horses, mobilized in full."

"And the Great Snow Dragon Horses are one of the greatest threats."

"The warhorses beneath them are Demon Beasts that have gained intelligence, and the Martial Artists on their backs all worship the Great Snow Mountain God. The weakest among them are Fifth Grade strong people; within every hundred riders, there is a Martial Arts Grandmaster."

"These eight thousand Great Snow Dragon Horses are even more terrifying than that so‑called three hundred thousand iron cavalry."

"More importantly..." Prince Zhenbei, Xu Zhen, walked to the map and tapped a certain point on it with his finger. "King Zhuanlun himself. A few days ago I rode out of the city to face him, and was defeated in a single exchange. His current strength, I feel, should surpass the level described in the rumors! I do not believe that the gap between me and ’second under heaven’ should be so vast."

Hearing this, Jiang Ning nodded.

He especially acknowledged the last sentence from Prince Zhenbei.

He had just taken a glance at that King Zhuanlun.

His aura was extraordinary.

If he had possessed such an aura back in the early years, then "second under heaven" should never have been a title shared by five.

It should have been King Zhuanlun alone who claimed the name of second under heaven.

Just then, Prince Zhenbei suddenly fixed Jiang Ning with a burning gaze.

"Your Highness, you too are second under heaven. I wish to test your strength, to see whether I truly have such a large gap with second under heaven, and also to judge whether Your Highness’s strength is on par with that North Barbarian State Preceptor, King Zhuanlun."

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