Chapter 1367: 青鸿宝印

## Chapter 1353: The Cyan Phoenix Seal

"Can't you just not go?" The Mirror didn't know what the other party was up to, but it certainly wasn't anything good.

"If I don't go, it will be difficult for the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce to do business with Yaoguo in the future. What's more, we'll likely face strong resistance throughout the Golden Plains, which isn't good for our future development," He Lingchuan said, splashing some warm water on his face to wake himself up. "Don't forget our plan for the Golden Plains: at least for now, we shouldn't make enemies, especially with a local power like Yaoguo. At this stage, even Beijia needs to go through Yaoguo and Luodian to exert influence on the Golden Plains."

So, despite knowing the risks, he decided to go.

The Mirror grunted twice. Its master had initially only intended to survey the Golden Plains, but after the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce established itself there, he became more ambitious and had ulterior motives.

"The conflict between the Yao King and Qingyang has become public, even brought before me, an outsider. Isn't this an opportunity?" He Lingchuan lay down on the bed, closing his eyes. "The Yao King clearly knows Qingyang dislikes me, yet he's arranged a birthday celebration and insists on summoning me to Yaoguo. So, the next step will likely be to arrange a meeting between Qingyang and me."

He chuckled, "If he has ill intentions towards me and wants to use me as a pawn, then he shouldn't blame me for scheming against him!"

"You want to pull chestnuts out of the fire again?" The Mirror asked curiously. "If the Yao King and Qingyang truly clash, who do you favor?"

"I don't know much about Yaoguo or the Yao King. But if I had to choose, I'd bet on Qingyang."

"Why?"

"Look at these Yaoguo nobles today; they show no respect for the Grand Supervisor sent by Beijia, even in front of me, an outsider! Of course, Fan Shuang likely only brought loyalists, and I believe there are also those in the Yaoguo royal court who side with Qingyang. But Yuwen Xu and others are imperial official-merchants; their words and actions reflect the Yao King's attitude towards Qingyang. This is a case of 'what the superior dislikes, the subordinates despise.'"

He Lingchuan continued with his eyes closed: "Qingyang has been able to stand firm in Beijia's officialdom for over 150 years; her wisdom and cultivation are top-tier. Yaoguo has grown accustomed to arrogance in the Golden Plains, believing Qingyang was exiled here because she lost power, and that a 'mighty dragon cannot suppress a local snake.' Therefore, both the ruler and his officials refuse to submit to Qingyang's discipline. In my opinion, this mindset alone will lead to significant losses in the future."

The Mirror laughed, "Indeed, if Qingyang doesn't show them a bit of her power, it will be even harder for her to get things done later."

"Now, what needs to be figured out is how much combat power she commands and how much influence she can wield? Since she was sent to supervise Yaoguo, the Beijia Demon Emperor wouldn't be stingy in this regard," He Lingchuan said slowly. "To some extent, Qingyang is now more formidable than she was in Lingxu City. Back then, though she was the chief of the Four Grand Imperial Advisors, Lingxu City had heavenly gods above, factions below, and a Frostleaf Imperial Advisor who was at odds with her in the middle. Qingyang's every move was constrained. But here..."

He didn't elaborate.

The Mirror thought for a while. "So you have a plan brewing..."

He Lingchuan suddenly sat up and pulled out a box from his storage ring. "I almost forgot about this."

"What's that?" The Mirror asked out of habit, then remembered, "Oh, the Yaoguo royal seal."

The ship carrying the Yaoguo nobles encountered a shipwreck off the coast of Yangshan, and the entire vessel was swept by currents into Shipwreck Bay. He Lingchuan had made significant gains from it. Since he had given the precious armor to Fan Shuang, how could he not have brought other relics besides gold, silver, and other treasures?

This box was placed with the gold and jewelry at the time, containing several seals and letters.

He Lingchuan casually found the "Cyan Phoenix Seal" that the Yao King had specifically mentioned.

It was a seal carved from cyan jade, whose material didn't appear remarkable, even having a few yellowish streaks.

The Mirror grumbled, "This quality, one look tells you it's worthless."

Having been with He Lingchuan for so long, the Mirror had gained extensive knowledge and become a seasoned treasure appraiser. This jade, tsk, couldn't even sell for two taels of silver.

Only the cyan bird carved on top of the seal showed a hint of skillful carving.

But this was the seal specifically requested by the Yao King.

The Yao King likely guessed there were other valuable items on the ship, and that they had all ended up in He Lingchuan's pockets, but he didn't mention them—of course, it would have been useless to do so—he only wanted this seal.

There must be something special about it, right?

He Lingchuan held the seal, examining it for a while, then got up, opened the inkpad, and stamped with the Cyan Phoenix Seal.

The four bright red characters: "Cyan Phoenix Seal."

Nothing special about it.

The Mirror also said eagerly, "I don't detect any fluctuations of magic or divine power."

In other words, this cyan jade was just cyan jade; there was nothing special about it.

He Lingchuan, of course, wouldn't give up so easily. He gently pressed down on the carved cyan phoenix head at the top of the seal.

Still nothing happened.

Then, he tried rotating it, turning it left, turning it right... Hmm?

"It's loose!" The Mirror also noticed the anomaly. "It's come loose!"

He Lingchuan rotated the cyan phoenix head, and as a result—the bottom, which had appeared flawless no matter how it was examined before, split open, and another section of the seal extended out!

This extended section of the seal was cylindrical and dark green, but the part with the carved characters in the middle was red. When twisted out like this, it resembled a lipstick.

The body of the seal also had several tiny characters engraved, as small as grains of rice. Luckily, He Lingchuan had good eyesight, or else he would have had to squint to read them.

The Mirror read them out first. It had no eyes, so it wasn't afraid of going blind:

"Golden Words, Jade Sayings, No Regrets on Paper?"

"I see," He Lingchuan said. He took out the inkpad and stamped with the new seal again.

On the paper, there were still the four red characters "Cyan Phoenix Seal," the same size and font as before.

He Lingchuan casually picked up a brush, dipped it full of ink, and put it to the paper. He didn't write anything; he just dripped a single drop of ink.

The ink spread on the paper, slowly diffusing. At the same time, the vibrant red seal quickly faded, disappearing from the paper before it could even resemble a mosquito's bloodstain, leaving only a dark brown scorch mark in its place.

"Remember the 'Authenticity' seal we found in 'Mai Xuewen's' study when we were investigating the disappearance of the Lingxu messenger?" He Lingchuan smiled. "This is another interesting seal, called 'No Regrets on Paper,' also known as 'Golden Words, Jade Sayings.'"

"What does that mean?"

"Any paper stamped with it cannot be written on further, otherwise the seal will disappear." The moment He Lingchuan touched the true seal, he understood its function.

This item was ancient; he guessed it was a treasure left behind by an immortal.

The Soul-Sifting Mirror understood after a brief thought: "To prevent forgery and tampering?"

"Exactly. Once a document is written and stamped with the Cyan Phoenix Seal, its content cannot be altered." He Lingchuan looked at the seal in his hand. "This little device has great utility."

As a businessman, he had signed countless agreements and fully understood the marvelous use of this item in "contract finalization."

The Mirror asked curiously, "What does the Yao King want this for? Just because it's a relic of the Yaoguo royal family?"

There must be many treasures of the Yaoguo royal family scattered abroad; the Yao King wouldn't necessarily care so much about every single one, would he?

"This sounds quite interesting. Who exactly were the people who encountered the shipwreck back then?" He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "A significant figure from the Yaoguo royal family died, which must have been a major event back then. Hmm, it shouldn't be difficult to find out."

He put away the seal, turned over, and fell asleep.

The next day, after careful consideration, He Lingchuan accepted the Yao King's invitation.

Fan Shuang was overjoyed and wrote back to his country to report the good news. He had other tasks to attend to in other countries, so he arranged with He Lingchuan to depart for Yaoguo together once he returned.

Less than two days later, triumphant news spread rapidly from the allied front:

Situ He, commanding for the first time, led two allied armies in the central region to attack Visha's Phoenix Eye Pass, achieving victory and capturing it!

The Phoenix Eye Pass had held the allied forces back for half a month before Situ Yu's assassination. Situ He deliberately feigned weakness, making the Visha defenders believe that the allied forces would fall apart after their marshal's death. As a result, the Visha soldiers sallied out to raid the camp. Situ He, who had ambushed troops waiting nearby, seized the opportunity to infiltrate and capture Phoenix Eye Pass in one fell swoop.

With this, another obstacle on the allied forces' central path was cleared.

When the news reached Situ territory, soldiers and civilians celebrated jubilantly. The Soul-Sifting Mirror laughed, "The people who assassinated Situ Yu must be regretting it bitterly now. If they had known this, they should have eliminated both the father and son at the same time."

He Lingchuan also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Situ He had withstood the pressure at the critical moment, showing decisiveness and capability. He hadn't misjudged the man.

Although he believed that the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce was already firmly established in Golden Plains and couldn't be driven out, both for public and private reasons, he certainly hoped Situ He would take over as the Grand Marshal of the allied forces. This would greatly benefit his future plans.

"With this major victory as a foundation, opposition to him within the allied forces will diminish. Once Situ He and the allied forces recover, Visha will face even fiercer retaliation."

As long as Situ He holds power, he will undoubtedly unleash all his hatred upon the enemy. With national and personal vengeance intertwined, this war is unlikely to end easily.

This is the drawback of so-called "decapitation strikes": if they fail to scatter the enemy, they are likely to invite furious counterattacks and retaliation.

"Visha must know that, right?" The Mirror questioned, "Will they attempt another assassination?"

"Not so easy. Situ He is currently on the front lines, surrounded by a large army. If Visha could take his head amidst tens of thousands of soldiers, why would they fear the allied forces' attacks?" He Lingchuan mused, "Regarding Situ Yu's assassination, I always felt the Visha people didn't have that capability."

"At the time, with Situ Yu's death, who else besides Visha could truly benefit?" The Mirror followed his train of thought. "Yaoguo?"

"Yaoguo certainly could have... very possibly. But as for one of the culprits, the strange alligator, even Dong Rui had never heard of such a demonic species; and the blue beetle that controlled the imperial guards to backstab Situ Yu, Dong Rui said its mutation was very unnatural, possessing some characteristics not found in typical beetles. In the great swamp south of Rongshan, there lives a type of linear parasite that can control its hosts, making them starve, fight, mate, or even ultimately drown themselves. Regular beetles don't have this ability."

The Mirror murmured, "Right, eccentric Dong also said it might be a demon puppet, but since it's an insect-synthesized insect, its appearance isn't that strange."