Kyoto, fully named Shenjing City, also known as Shangjing, originally called Shengjing.

It is the capital of the Great Jin Dynasty, as well as the center of power for the imperial court, and countless people aspire to it.

The Martial Emperor City of the East Sea is known as the number one city in the world, while Shenjing City is the second. In terms of status, it is undoubtedly the first.

This city was built a thousand years ago when Emperor Taizu of Chu established the dynasty and ordered its construction after sweeping across ten kingdoms. It has stood firm through eight hundred years of wind and frost.

However, due to the usurpation of the Sima clan, a great battle took place within Shenjing City. This battle was only recorded in a few strokes in history books, but Jiang He told him that it was not simple.

Court Confucian scholars, Jianghu True Lords, and even reclusive Land Immortals appeared, nearly destroying Shenjing City, causing countless casualties. Later, after the Sima clan seized the throne, they rebuilt it and named it Shenjing!

Standing outside Shenjing City, Chen Yuan looked from afar with a solemn expression.

After experiencing Martial Emperor City, he no longer felt much shock when seeing Shengjing City. Martial Emperor City was superior in grandeur.

But in terms of profound history, Shenjing City carried greater significance.

The endless city walls displayed the imperial court's majesty. Outside the city walls was a moat tens of feet wide, with rapid currents and churning waves.

Chen Yuan entered the city through the South Gate, as it was the closest.

Mysterious array patterns were also engraved on the walls of Shenjing City. Immersing his mind into them, he felt boundless power, containing extremely terrifying strength.

Taking a deep breath, Chen Yuan observed for a moment before flowing into the city with the crowd.

There was no need for grand pronouncements; they were meaningless. It would not be too late to speak them after he had gained power.

Chen Yuan arrived in Kyoto a few days before Emperor Jingtai's decree, so he was not in a hurry to meet the emperor and decided to learn more about the place first.

After some investigation, Chen Yuan realized that there was a large area between the outer city and the imperial city, where the high officials and nobles lived.

Some people called it the inner city, but since there were no sentry posts, the real inner city was still the imperial city.

Kyoto was indeed the center of the Great Jin's thirteen states. The number of martial artists inside was comparable to Martial Emperor City. Along the way, he encountered countless Profound Connection experts and even a few Core Realm Grandmasters.

Some wore armor, while others were dressed as Jianghu martial artists.

Obviously, although the imperial court was rejected by Jianghu martial artists, and its officials were called imperial dogs, many experts still gathered here, despite their proclaimed rejection.

Shenjing City was very large, and Chen Yuan was still within the outer city after walking for half an hour.

He found a restaurant and had some breakfast, thinking about his next steps. Originally, he wanted to find his old superior, Tao Qingyuan, to catch up.

Unfortunately, he did not know where he was stationed in the Sky Survey Division, and due to the long distance, he had not received any letters since Tao Qingyuan left more than half a year ago.

Of course, if Chen Yuan asked the people at the Ascending Immortal Pavilion for help, it would not be impossible to find him, but he decided against it for now. They would have a chance to meet again in the future.

Chen Yuan was grateful to this old superior who had taken care of him before, and he would not be stingy with repayment if he had the opportunity.

Since he wasn't looking for Tao Qingyuan, he had two other goals.

One was Jiang He's old flame, Li Hongshuang, and the other was Zhang Xuan's father, the Sky Survey Division's Xuan-level Divine Envoy, whom he often talked about.

After some consideration, Chen Yuan decided to visit Zhang Xuan's father first. After all, even before he came, Zhang's father had told Zhang Xuan to visit him first and have him take him to see Emperor Jingtai.

As for Li Hongshuang, he didn't know much about her yet. He could ask Su Ziyue when he had time, and she probably didn't have much say in the imperial city's command anyway.

It was best to settle down first.

The Zhang residence was located in the inner city. Following the address Zhang Xuan had given him, Chen Yuan went directly to visit with some gifts. He was not visiting as a subordinate but as a friend of Zhang Xuan. Regardless of anything else, it was always good to build a closer relationship, as the Sky Survey Division's Four Divine Envoys had significant power.

Especially since the Grand Commander was in seclusion all year round, the power of the entire Sky Survey Division was basically in the hands of the Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Yellow Divine Envoys.

It was no exaggeration to call them high-ranking and influential. When he first met Su Ziyue in Ping'an County, she showed a deep sense of gravity, advising Chen Yuan to befriend Zhang Xuan.

In addition, the relationship between this Zhang Divine Envoy and Jiang He was also fairly good; otherwise, he would not have sent his most talented son, Zhang Xuan, to Qingzhou to be tempered.

The Zhang residence was magnificent. There were even Sky Survey Guards stationed in front of the door. Chen Yuan took a deep breath and walked forward calmly.

The leading Sky Survey Envoy, a Profound Connection expert, stepped forward, raised his hand, and looked at Chen Yuan with some vigilance and scrutiny. He said coldly, "This is the Zhang residence; no one is allowed to approach."

Chen Yuan cupped his hands and said calmly:

"My name is Chen Yuan, from Nanling, Qingzhou. I am a friend of Zhang Xuan, and I am here to visit Uncle Zhang at his request. This is a letter."

The word "Uncle" instantly changed the Sky Survey Envoy's expression. He respectfully took the letter, glanced at it, and returned it to Chen Yuan. Then, he ordered a Sky Survey Guard beside him to report to the residence.

"Please wait a moment, esteemed guest."

"It's fine."

Chen Yuan smiled and glanced at the plaque of the Zhang family. It contained a sharp sense of killing intent, which he guessed was written by Zhang Xuan's father himself.

Otherwise, it would not have such charm.

Chen Yuan was also shocked by the special privileges of these Divine Envoys, who could mobilize Sky Survey Guards as gatekeepers. This was a court official, but now he was acting like a family retainer.

He did not know if it was because the emperor did not care at all or if this Zhang Divine Envoy, whom he had not yet met, was too arrogant.

Before long, the Sky Survey Guard who had just gone in came out, followed by an old man with some gray hair. The old man's gaze immediately fell on Chen Yuan. He cupped his hands and said:

"Are you Chen Yuan, the Qing Envoy from Qingzhou?"

"That is Chen."

The old man squeezed out a smile:

"The master instructed the old servant a few days ago that Qing Envoy Chen would come. He also told the guards several times, but today they were replaced with new ones, so there was some negligence. Please do not blame us, Qing Envoy."

"Senior is too kind. I am the one who arrived late."

The old man smiled lightly, the wrinkles on his face pressed together, and said:

"Do not call me senior. I am just an ordinary person with no cultivation, so I do not deserve such a title. If Qing Envoy does not mind, you can call me Uncle Chen, just like Young Master Xuan."

Chen Yuan pursed his lips when he heard this name, but he did not show anything different. He cupped his hands and clasped his fists:

"Uncle Chen."

"Qing Envoy Chen, please follow me."

Uncle Chen's body was bent, and he gestured with his hand.

"Okay."

"The master is still handling official duties in the Sky Survey Division and will not return until noon. It is about that time now, so why don't Qing Envoy wait in the backyard for a while?"

"I will listen to Uncle Chen's arrangements."

Uncle Chen smiled upon hearing this and asked as he walked:

"Young Master Xuan has been raised by the old servant since he was a child. He has been away from home for several years now. I wonder how he is doing in Qingzhou?"

"Brother Zhang is doing very well as the Nanling Qing Envoy. When Gold Envoy Jiang He met me before, he even specifically praised Brother Zhang."

"Qing Envoy Chen has a deep relationship with Gold Envoy Jiang?"

"You could say there is some history."

As they chatted, Uncle Chen led Chen Yuan to the backyard of the Zhang residence. It was relatively quiet here, and the vitality was unusually abundant compared to the outside, obviously because the Zhang Divine Envoy had set up a Gathering Yuan Formation here.

"The master instructed before that if Qing Envoy Chen came, he should be brought to this place. Please."

Chen Yuan smiled and sat down.

After a few breaths, a beautiful maid served spiritual tea. Uncle Chen had originally planned to chat for a while longer, until Zhang Xuan's father returned, but there seemed to be some matters in the residence that needed to be dealt with.

He apologized and left, asking two maids to attend to Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan did not say anything polite and simply let him leave.

Chen Yuan narrowed his eyes, thinking about Zhang Xuan's Divine Envoy father. Chen Yuan had heard of his great name for a long time. His name was Zhang Yantong, and he had a Refined Spirit cultivation. Although he was still some distance away from becoming a True Lord in the imperial court, he was still quite extraordinary.

In addition, Chen Yuan had also learned about the other Divine Envoys. The Heaven Divine Envoy was named Xiao Jing, who was said to be the strongest of the Four Divine Envoys.

He was also regarded as the next Grand Commander of the Sky Survey Division.

He rarely left Kyoto and had been stationed in the central hub. Jiang He said he was very strong. His main duty was to suppress the Sky Prison of the Sky Survey Division. As for the other three Divine Envoys, including Zhang Xuan's father, Zhang Yantong, they were on equal footing.

Usually, if something happened in the subordinate states, it would be handled entirely by the three of them. Three years ago, there was turmoil in the southwest.

It was suppressed by two Divine Envoys in person.

The Earth Divine Envoy was named Zuo Tiancheng, and the Yellow Divine Envoy was named Wu Tianxi.

It was these four Divine Envoys who initially formed the upper framework of the Sky Survey Division and were also the goals pursued by the Gold Envoys of various states.

Lowering his head, Chen Yuan sipped the spiritual tea that Uncle Chen had ordered to be served. He nodded slightly. In terms of spiritual energy, it was indeed extraordinary, about the same as when Ye Chenbai held a banquet before.

It seemed that they regarded him as an important guest at the Transformation Yang level.

As he was thinking about these things, suddenly, a terrifying aura suddenly descended on Chen Yuan, causing him to frown instantly and counter with his own aura.

Although it was difficult, he still managed to withstand this terrifying aura.

"Not bad."

A deep male voice rang in Chen Yuan's ears, and the terrifying aura disappeared instantly. He subconsciously turned his gaze to his left front.

A middle-aged man in a black robe embroidered with gold thread slowly approached.

He seemed to have a secret technique of shrinking the ground, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of Chen Yuan. The man had a square face, thick eyebrows, and although his eyes were not big, they revealed a powerful sense of oppression. His appearance was also three parts similar to Zhang Xuan.

Certain in his heart, Chen Yuan immediately knew who the person was. He quickly stood up, bowed, and clasped his fists:

"Junior Chen Yuan greets Uncle Zhang."

Hearing the word "Uncle" from Chen Yuan, a faint smile flashed in Zhang Yantong's eyes. He nodded slightly and said:

"Since you and Xuan'er are close friends, it is not too much to call me uncle. Sit down."

"Thank you, Uncle."

"Don't bring anything with you when you come to my house in the future. Treat it as your own home."

"Junior understands."

Chen Yuan said with a smile.

Zhang Yantong looked at Chen Yuan with a faint smile:

"Solid cultivation, extraordinary aura, no wonder you are the Demon Blade Chen Yuan who defeated many heroes and reached the top."

"Uncle is too kind."

"There is no need to be polite here. Although this is only our first meeting, Xuan'er has mentioned you to me many times in his letters, saying that you are a talent and the imperial court should cultivate you."

"Brother Zhang is praising me too much. There are countless people in the court who are better than me."

Zhang Yantong laughed:

"Jianghu rumors say that Demon Blade Chen Yuan has a cold face, a cold light, and is decisive in killing. His personality is also extremely arrogant. Now it seems that this is not the case. The rumors are wrong."

"I have killed a lot of people in the past two years, but these people deserve to be killed. They colluded with demonic heretics and harmed the people. Even if I killed them ten or a hundred times, it would not be too much."

"If you were to govern a place, how would you rule it?"

"When I was the Qing Envoy in Tangshan, it was because it was next to Blood State, so the Jianghu martial artists and government officials were extremely chaotic. Heavy punishment must be used.

Kill until blood flows like a river, kill until heads roll, and other things will naturally disappear."

"Your nature is quite to His Majesty's liking."

Zhang Yantong smiled lightly. He did not think Chen Yuan's killing intent was too heavy. The reason why the Sky Survey Division was established in the first place was because those Jianghu martial artists were too outrageous.

Only by stopping chaos with killing can it be eliminated.

He had killed no less than 10,000 people, which laid the foundation for his position as a Divine Envoy.

"I dare not have such wishful thinking."

"You can't help but want it. This time, His Majesty summoned you to Kyoto for employment, with the intention of cultivating you, thinking of letting you form your Core in the secret realm of Kyoto. It would be considered worthwhile to be the first in the Ascending Immortal War, but he didn't expect you to form your Core so quickly, which was beyond His Majesty's expectations."

Jianghu martial artists knew about the phenomenon of the Core formation, so how could Emperor Jingtai, the ruler of the Great Jin Dynasty, not know? When he met the emperor privately a few days ago, Jingtai had mentioned this matter.

"It was a coincidence, just good luck."

Zhang Yantong was not one of his own people after all, so Chen Yuan would not show himself to be so arrogant.

"I said just now, there is no need to be restrained in front of me."

"Yes."

"Did Jiang He ask you to bring any messages?"

Zhang Yantong knew that the relationship between Chen Yuan and Jiang He was very extraordinary; otherwise, he would not have helped him repeatedly. He naturally thought that the other party would say something to him through Chen Yuan.

For Jiang He, a top-three expert on the Wind and Cloud List, he undoubtedly wanted to pull him into his faction. If so, the Zhang faction would be able to truly become the strongest force among the three major factions of the Sky Survey Division.

If Jiang He were to break through the Transformation Yang Realm, he would be able to become his right-hand man. Of course, he also valued Chen Yuan, this talented young man.

Otherwise, he would not have spoken up for him repeatedly and told Zhang Xuan to befriend him, telling him to come and find him first after arriving in Kyoto, just to give him some guidance.

Perhaps in a few years, this person would be another Jiang He!

Chen Yuan nodded, took out a letter from his sleeve, and presented it to Zhang Yantong:

"This is what Gold Envoy Jiang asked me to bring to Uncle."

Seeing that he was so solemn, Zhang Yantong also restrained his expression. He opened the letter in his hand, read it word by word, and his expression gradually became serious.

Chen Yuan calmly sipped the spiritual tea.

After a long time, Zhang Yantong slowly put away the letter in his hand and looked directly at Chen Yuan, saying:

"You want to be the Imperial City Commander?"

Chen Yuan nodded:

"I heard that recently, one of the four Imperial City Commanders has been promoted, and I intend to give it a try."

"Jiang He really values you, he even sought out Zhang for this matter."

"Gold Envoy overpraised me."

"The position of Imperial City Commander is crucial. It is not so easy to do well. Are you confident that you can do it well?" Zhang Yantong asked him with a serious expression.

"Is it as difficult as being first on the Hidden Dragon List?"

Hearing this sentence, Zhang Yantong was stunned at first, and then burst out laughing:

"Good boy, Zhang told you not to be restrained, but you really are not modest at all."

"Since Uncle has spoken, I will naturally not disobey."

"Okay, since you are so confident, even without Jiang He's letter, Zhang will do his best to help you get the position." Zhang Yantong said with a hearty laugh.

Jiang He's letter had already arrived, so it was impossible for him not to help. He even wished that the other party would ask him for more things to deepen their connection. He also had to say nice things to Chen Yuan.

Of course, the main reason why he did not confidently tell Chen Yuan that this matter was safe was because the Imperial City Commander was of great importance. Not only did he have to obtain the approval of the other Divine Envoys internally, but he also had to get the emperor's approval.

It would not have been difficult before, because the emperor generally would not reject their recommendations on this matter. But now, because the Imperial Supervisory Division was eyeing them covetously, and Cao Zhengxian, the castrated dog, was deeply trusted by Emperor Jingtai and was gradually fighting for power with the Sky Survey Division, this matter seemed somewhat difficult.

"Thank you, Uncle, for your help."

"You should thank yourself the most. Now you have caught His Majesty's eye, and he is preparing to cultivate you with emphasis. If Zhang were to propose it, the possibility of His Majesty agreeing is not small."

If it were someone else, Zhang Yantong would not have much confidence in pushing him to the top, but Chen Yuan was different. He had already caught the emperor's eye, and the position of Imperial City Commander was not too difficult.

Of course, the premise was that Cao Zhengxian would not deliberately make things difficult.

In a conversation, Chen Yuan and Zhang Yantong talked a lot. Most of it was Zhang Yantong speaking, giving him some pointers and telling him about the situation in Kyoto.

It was as if he really regarded him as his own nephew.

What he said made him nod frequently. Sometimes, these secrets could not even be bought from the Ascending Immortal Pavilion.

It was true that the Ascending Immortal Pavilion was resourceful, but it was impossible for it to be proficient in everything.

As they talked, Zhang Yantong mentioned Zhang Xuan, asking about his recent situation. Chen Yuan answered truthfully.

At noon, Chen Yuan was invited to the Zhang family's family banquet, where he met Zhang Xuan's siblings. One of his older sisters was indeed very attractive.....

After a simple meal, Zhang Yantong sent someone to deliver a card to the palace, preparing to take Chen Yuan to meet the emperor.

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These are the details, don't spray water....