"Your Highness! Your Highness Ling! It wasn't Yuan who said it. It was, it was your fiancée who said it. Yuan only heard it from someone else. Please forgive me, Your Highness."
The flamboyant man screamed as he was struck to the ground, begging for mercy. The handsome youth beating him looked increasingly furious.
"Fiancée? That useless, bloated waste dares to become my wife? You, and that worthless drunk too. I won't spare either of you. Today I'll deal with you first."
The man being beaten seemed to have some status as well. Seeing him in such pain, almost rolling on the ground, a group of attendants rushed forward, begging the handsome youth to stop and shielding the flamboyant man with their bodies.
"Get out of the way."
The handsome youth clearly held a higher position. When the attendants appeared, a large number of guards surged in from behind the youth.
The scene instantly became more chaotic. Their private room was already close to the third-floor entrance. As more people joined in and confusion spread, attendants and guards began brawling and fighting near the entrance to the third floor.
Elara exchanged a glance with Prince Yu and Prince Leland.
Although they didn't know why the youth looked so much like Leif, this kind of chaos was the perfect chance to blend in unnoticed.
Among the attendants and guards were some with strong martial skills and deep inner strength. Both parties seemed to hold high positions. Even the shop owner who rushed over had no idea how to break up the fight.
When the two sides fought past the stairs of the third floor, Elara clearly noticed the dangerous gu insects placed on the third floor tremble slightly. But they did not react. It seemed they did not want to cause more trouble or interfere with the secret meeting of the mysterious guests upstairs.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Elara quickly grabbed Prince Yu and Prince Leland by the arms and slipped through the breach created by the fight, entering the third floor.
Ever since Elara broke through the eighth level of the Divine Spirit Arcane Technique, her overall strength had increased dramatically. She now ranked first among the three. Even Prince Leland, who had trained in martial arts since childhood and led troops in battle for many years, no longer matched the depth of her inner power.
In less than half a breath, she brought the two of them into the third floor. Elara immediately took out Oswyn's specially made Hidden Breath Pills and stuffed them into the mouths of Prince Yu and Prince Leland.
Oswyn's Hidden Breath Pills could not only avoid detection by people, but also by other creatures. Even the perception of the egg-guarding gu would be reduced, as long as they didn't touch the areas those gu protected.
The three of them hid in a shadowy corner on the third floor, listening to the growing chaos and cries coming from the entrance. Calmly and silently, they began to investigate the surroundings.
All the floors above the third had been reserved. The more secretive the business, the more secure the floor they chose.
The Southwater Flower Pavilion had six floors in total. The top and third floors were not ideal, so the fourth and fifth floors were the most likely.
After checking the third floor and confirming there was nothing unusual, Elara led the other two toward the fourth floor.
The gu insects' barrier extended from the third to the sixth floor, but the middle levels were not as heavily guarded. Elara and her group crossed through quietly, not triggering any of the gu's defenses.
When they reached the fifth floor, Elara again felt the threatening presence of Gu insects become even stronger. Fortunately, most of these additional Gu insects were outside the building. Inside, there were not many, so the three of them smoothly sneaked onto the beams of the fifth floor and hid themselves well before continuing silently toward the main hall.
Inside the main hall, shadowy red mist surrounded the grand and luxurious space. Behind seven or eight golden folding screens, at a few long tables filled with wine and fine dishes, sat several indistinct figures.
A slightly flattering male voice came from behind the screen. "Vanesa, this time the Netherworld Hall actually asked us to cooperate with the Bloodclothes Tower. That lunatic Lazarus never cares about rules and goes to extremes. Just to catch two nobodies from the martial world, he stirred up trouble all the way to the Netherworld Hall. Hmph, do we really have to work with such a mad dog?"
Another male voice followed. "Vanesa, I'm confused too. That remote and declining southwest corner of the Central Continent has been ignored for over a thousand years. What could possibly be there for the Netherworld Hall to take so seriously? As far as I know, no matter which country's records you check, that place has never produced any rare treasures like phoenix scales or qilin bones."
"That Gladiolus Kingdom may be growing rapidly now, but it stayed a second-tier lower-ranked country for hundreds of years. Even if it's improving a bit recently, it's not a big deal. Why would the Netherworld Hall want us to trap it? Could that remote area be hiding some sort of treasure?"
"Hmph, what do you know," a cold and authoritative female voice said, "For hundreds of years, the Netherworld Hall never paid attention to that tiny corner in the southwest. For them to suddenly focus on it, it's clearly because of an order from someone above them."
The two men paused, their voices filled with disbelief. "Above? Above the Netherworld Hall? Then... wouldn't that mean the Darknight Palace? This even involves the Darknight Palace?!"
"Not just the Darknight Palace," the woman's voice turned darker, with a trace of deep thought, "A year ago, the Divine Attendant Palace discovered something in that remote land. They even set up an array there. After the Darknight Palace noticed, they told the Netherworld Hall to investigate, but the people from the Netherworld Hall couldn't even get into that southwest corner of the Central Continent. Hah."
Thinking of this, the woman remembered that the reason she had sent Sindri to investigate the southwest corner was because she had noticed the unusual attention from the Netherworld Hall and the Darknight Palace.
But that little monster she sent had betrayed her. Just over half a month ago, after giving birth, that thing ran off again with the child without hesitation.
Ha. That monster. She should have killed him long ago.
The few male voices gasped in unison. "It even involves the Divine Attendant Palace?!"
Elara and the others hid in the rafters. Though they could barely make out the voices, there must have been some kind of sound-blocking setup in the center of the main hall. Even though it wasn't far, the voices were always faint and unclear.