"Furthermore, at that time, our Beiming Empire occupied nearly half of the borders of the entire Jiuyou Continent, even surpassing the ancient sects and clans with tens of thousands of years of heritage!"
"At that time, the Beiming Empire was immensely powerful, even possessing peerless experts who had surpassed the Four Great Spirit Realms."
"During that period, the Ming imperial family of the Beiming Empire commanded immense prestige."
"But later, after Emperor Mingyuan passed away, the national power of our Beiming Empire gradually declined, and now it is only barely enough to be called an empire!"
"You must know that our ancestors established the Beiming Kingdom back then, forcing even the forces of the sects on the Jiuyou Continent to retreat several steps!"
Speaking of this, Emperor Mingyong revealed a look of helplessness.
Maintaining an enterprise is even harder than establishing one!
If any of the descendants become complacent, the ancestral legacy will be lost.
The Beiming Kingdom of the past and the present are truly worlds apart.
On the current Jiuyou Continent, sects are as numerous as mountains, while the Beiming Empire, on the contrary, is suppressed by these sects and must constantly offer tribute to survive.
Time passed, and after hundreds of thousands of years, everything had become a thing of the past.
Mingyong sighed and said, "From strength to decline is easy, so many treasures of our imperial family have also been plundered!"
"The empire originally had many fifth-grade and sixth-grade spirit techniques, but now... even a fourth-grade spirit technique is considered a supreme treasure in the court!"
"And the imperial family no longer has experts who have surpassed the Four Great Spirit Realms. The Beiming Empire only occupies a few hundred prefectures, with an area of no more than tens of thousands of li!"
Tens of thousands of li sounds vast, but compared to the Jiuyou Continent, it is merely a drop in the ocean.
Fifth-grade spirit techniques, sixth-grade spirit techniques...
Upon hearing this, the princes all sighed inwardly.
Now, Spirit Soul Realm experts are already considered top-tier experts in the Beiming Empire.
Fourth-grade spirit techniques are sky-high in value; any family or force in the empire that possesses a fourth-grade spirit technique would not easily part with it.
It is enough to become the heritage of a family.
In the empire, fourth-grade is already top-tier, just as lofty as the Spirit Soul Realm.
Mingyong took a deep breath and sighed. Speaking of old matters, as a descendant of Emperor Mingyuan, seeing the Beiming Empire in such a state and being unable to fulfill his heavy responsibilities, he felt deeply remorseful.
"Qingyang Sword and Qingyue Sword are two first-grade spirit swords left from that era."
Mingyong continued, "Although they are first-grade, hidden within them is the Ming Prison Royal Authority, a fourth-grade spirit technique!"
"The Ming Prison Royal Authority is a fourth-grade spirit technique created by our ancestor, very suitable for our Ming family descendants to cultivate."
"If this fourth-grade spirit technique is diligently cultivated, it will even surpass a fifth-grade spirit technique!"
Upon hearing this, the princes immediately began to breathe more heavily.
Fourth-grade spirit technique, Ming Prison Royal Authority, just hearing the name was enough to inspire awe.
But this fourth-grade spirit technique was even superior to a fifth-grade one...
What was a fifth-grade spirit technique?
It was an unparalleled powerful spirit technique in the empire.
If imperial family members cultivated it, their strength would undoubtedly increase by a level. Perhaps, within a few decades, experts surpassing the Four Great Spirit Realms would emerge.
Then, they could look forward to the day of the empire's resurgence!
The princes looked at Emperor Mingyong with fervent eyes.
"Don't rejoice too soon!"
Emperor Ming Yong smiled bitterly, "I have observed these two treasured swords, but I have not been able to obtain their cultivation method. I am certain that these are the Qing Yang and Qing Yue swords, but I cannot discern the profound mysteries within them!"
As he finished speaking, the group immediately felt a chill run down their spines.
It was as if they had found a path for their empire to prosper, but it was suddenly locked. They tried to open it, but had no idea where the key was!
"I have summoned you here today precisely for this matter!"
Ming Yong said seriously, "Whoever can unlock the secret within these two swords, I will... bestow upon that person the title of Crown Prince!"
Oh...
At this moment, all the princes gasped.
Unlock the secret within the treasured swords, find the cultivation method for the Ming Prison Imperial Power, and be granted the title of Crown Prince!
This was an immense temptation!
The position of Crown Prince was what the princes had always strived for.
Now, Emperor Ming Yong had given them the opportunity.
"Three days from now, you may seek assistants and bring people into the palace. If the treasured swords can be opened, I will immediately confer the title on the spot!"
"The one who opens the swords will also be heavily rewarded!"
After Emperor Ming Yong finished speaking, he departed.
In the grand hall, the princes all fell into contemplation.
Everyone even dispersed without having time to congratulate Ming Wu on being conferred the title of Prince Wu.
Three days were precious; they had to exert their full strength. This matter concerned the position of Crown Prince, so they could not be careless.
Ming Wu did not leave immediately. Now that he had become Prince Wu, he could enter the palace to see his imperial mother.
He went to the imperial harem, entered his imperial mother's palace, and recounted everything that had happened that night.
"This is good news!"
As Ming Wu's imperial concubine, Consort Shu, whose full name was Qin Shuyue, did not come from a particularly noble background. She was merely from a family in a prefecture city of the Northern Ming Empire. Compared to the mothers of the other princes, Ming Wu was considered the weakest.
"But if Imperial Father has no way, how can I?"
Ming Wu sighed, "My Eldest Brother and Sixth Brother have strong backgrounds; they will surely find a fourth-grade spiritual artifact master or a fourth-level spiritual formation master. As for me..."
Hearing this, Consort Shu frowned slightly.
"Where did you get this sword?"
"At the auction house of the Sacred Pill Pavilion..."
Auction house!
Qin Ning!
Ming Wu's eyes lit up, a flash of light appearing and then fading.
That's right, the auction house!
Qin Ning!
Ming Wu remembered Qin Ning's confidence.
He must have known the origin of this sword to be so confident.
"Mother, I know now, I'll go find him right away!"
Ming Wu immediately left.
Qin Shuyue looked at her son's hurried figure and sighed again.
"Old Gu!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
A thin figure appeared in the room.
"Go investigate the background of that Qin Ning!"
"Your subordinate obeys!"
Just as the old man was about to leave, Consort Qin Shu sighed, "Back then, when the Northern Ming Empire was still the Northern Ming Territory. Our Qin family ancestors also followed Emperor Ming Yuan in conquering everywhere, establishing brilliant military achievements!"
"If we were still as we were then..."
"Eldest Young Miss!"
The old man said, "The Young Master is very ambitious. The Qin family and the Ming family can be considered to have a special alliance; this is also a good thing!"
"Mm!"
Qin Shuyue said, "If our Qin family still had the Vermilion Bird Scroll and Black Tortoise Scroll of the Four Spirits Transformation Scripture, we wouldn't be just the masters of a single prefecture... Perhaps we could even be on par with the current Ye family and Xu family..."
Hearing this, the old man only sighed, said nothing more, and quietly left.