Shirong recognized who that voice belonged to and even Lin Wu did.

"Ah! He really did jinx himself. To meet this man just upon entering the royal palace, tsk, tsk…" Lin Wu said.

"Minister Du Yang, what a pleasure to meet you," Shirong said, forcing a smile onto his face.

This was the very man that had dared to involved Shirong in his plot and was the one being assisted by his first, third and fifth brother. Shirong himself was the second child of the current patriarch of the Ji clan.

There was a year's difference between him and his elder brother who was the first born. Shirong had been able to come out on top due to his capabilities and had been chosen as an Heir. The other sons had lost, but it was evident that they would not give up this fast.

While they could not act openly since the clan rules forbid them; they could still makable plots against Shirong to suppress him and weaken him. But they had miscalculated that Shirong would not take this lying down.

They did not know that Shirong had the Immortal Crystal Armament, Lin Wu who could show him the memories who the people who it killed. If it had not been for him, there was probably no way Shirong had even thought they would do something like this.

Unlike most other clans, once the succession of the heir was decided, there wasn't much opposition from the other contenders. That is how it had been since the time of his ancestor. But it now seemed like his brothers and even his sister were not willing to continue that tradition.

Shirong doubted that even if he brought proof, there was a chance that his father the patriarch would not believe it.

'But this also means that you can't act against me openly. Even if I get rid of your pawn's what can you do?' Shirong thought to himself as his eyes showed an evil glint.

For a moment there, minster Du Yang felt goosebumps appearing all over his body and he involuntarily shivered.

'Why am I suddenly feeling cold? It's not winter and I'm a Core condensation realm cultivator for heavens' sake.' Minister Du Yang wondered.

The evil glint in Shirong's eyes faded away rather quickly as he assumed a friendly smile.

"No, the pleasure is all mine. Allow me to greet you on your breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm." Minster Du Yang hurriedly spoke.

"Well, I'm honored to be worthy of receiving your praise," Shirong said while looking minster Du Yang right in his eyes.

"But… I think I should head on in and pay my respects to the king." Shirong added.

"Yes, yes, by all means. I'm heading there as well." Du Yang replied.

Shirong nodded his head before walking through the long corridor. After two minutes, they reached the end of it, where two large doors met them. Guards stood on their sides and they pushed open the door, seeing them approach.

"YOUNG MASTER SHIRONG OF THE JI CLAN AND MINSTER DU YANG HAVE ARRIVED!" They announced.

The king who had been listening to his advisers silently, almost fell from the throne. He had his head resting against his palm and lost his balance, but managed to not embarrass himself. Thankfully, everyone had switched their attention to the doors that had opened and thus did not see his embarrassing act.

"I pay respects to his majesty, Ling Huo!" Shirong said with a slight bow.

The other ministers and advisers did the same as was the etiquette and then sat back down.

"Finally you are here, Young Master Shirong. We have been waiting for you eagerly." The King said.

"It was the same for me, King Huo. I got a little busy with some bandits while coming here." Shirong replied.

The king's brows furrowed upon hearing his words and spoke, "bandits? Here? Near my capital?"

"Indeed, King Huo. Just a couple of hours distance from the city too. Though don't worry they are all gone now and won't trouble the masses anymore." Shirong replied, which made a lot of advisers relieved.

But there was one person who did not look fully calm. He tried to hide it and was even successful but one person had caught it.

"Hoho! So here is the root of the problem, eh? Looks like I'll get to see the action much earlier than I had expected." Lin Wu said, feeling amazed.

"I am sorry that you had to act yourself, Young master. I swear that my officers will look into it right away." The king said before looking towards his ministers.

"YES! Do not worry young master, I will personally go and verify this matter." One of the ministers sitting in the court said before rushing out of the hall.

"I'll go and write a missive to inform the heads of the various settlements." Another minister said before leaving the room too.

After that, five more minsters left the hall, citing some excuse and hurried out. They had spent quite a few years in the royal court and knew when misfortune was close to them.

After all, when it came time for punishments, it was the idle worker that was picked first rather than the one who was busy with his tasks.

"If I may speak more King Huo." Shirong said, much to the anxiety of Du Yang.

"Please feel free to speak Young master Shirong." The King replied.

"When I 'dealt' with the bandits, I happened to come across more information that I believe you would be interested in," Shirong spoke.

"Oh, and what is this information?" The king questioned, feeling interested, while minster Du Yang had now started sweating.

"I was able to coax out some information from the mouths of those bandits and learned that there is a criminal organization working right under the kingdom's nose," Shirong revealed.

The king's eyes went wide as he gripped the handle of the throne hard.

"And, which organization is this?" The King questioned.

"The shadow dagger pavilion."