Elder Qingzhu kindly reminded him.

"Why?"

Jiang Feng asked, puzzled.

"It cannot be touched."

Elder Qingzhu’s face was grave.

"Why?"

Jiang Feng repeated.

Elder Qingzhu exchanged glances with Hua Guzi, but did not speak. Hua Guzi explained, "Fellow Daoist Wang has already accepted the gifts from the Royal Family; naturally, the Underground Palace is untouchable."

"You two mean the Underground Palace belongs to the Great Tang Royal Family?"

Jiang Feng seemed to understand.

"Yes and no. In short, the Dragon Capital Underground Palace is untouchable."

Elder Qingzhu stood up to leave.

Hua Guzi gave Jiang Feng a sweet smile, then followed and left as well.

Jiang Feng frowned. He could clearly sense that when the Underground Palace was mentioned, Elder Qingzhu and Hua Guzi’s expressions both turned a little odd, as though they didn’t want to get entangled with him over this matter.

It was as if, in their eyes, the Dragon Capital Underground Palace was a taboo.

In a blink, five days passed.

Jiang Feng already knew most of the cultivators in the Purple Bamboo Forest. The Second Prince had rented this luxurious manor for him, paying the full twenty-year rent upfront, and had also given him a mid-grade magical artifact, reishi grass, spirit stones, and more. The cultivators in the bamboo forest had all received word that very day.

After some interaction,

Jiang Feng came to know,

that the purported descendants of Linyang Hermit lived in the Imperial City, and for every cultivator living in the Purple Bamboo Forest, their courtyard rent was paid by the Great Tang Royal Family.

Only then did Jiang Feng realize that the cultivators of the Dragon Capital had long been bought off by the Great Tang Royal Family. Even those who didn’t live in the Imperial City or directly serve the Royal Family had received many benefits from them; none would make themselves enemies of the Royal Family.

He had originally thought he could keep some distance from the Royal Family.

Who could’ve guessed, from the moment he entered the Purple Bamboo Forest, he was indirectly bound together with the Royal Family.

Now, Jiang Feng had already refined the Red Dust Sword.

Here in the Purple Bamboo Forest, all his food and provisions, spirit rice and spirit stone consumption—every bit was prepared for him by the Royal Family. Jiang Feng acutely realized that if things went on like this, he’d get used to this life of being fed, and develop a dependence on the Royal Family.

To be honest, this kind of easy, ’lying-flat’ cultivation lifestyle isn’t bad at all—extremely comfortable and safe. As long as he didn’t clash with the Royal Family, there would basically be no disasters looming.

It suited someone like Jiang Feng perfectly.

But Jiang Feng still sensed something was wrong.

The Royal Family spent so many spirit rice and spirit stones just to win everyone over and avoid trouble for themselves? Jiang Feng didn’t buy it for a second.

Coupled with everyone’s evasiveness about the Dragon Capital Underground Palace, Jiang Feng felt that beneath the seemingly peaceful life, an enormous danger was lurking, as if a tremendous trap was waiting for them all.

"Damn it, everyone in the Purple Bamboo Forest has long been bought by the Royal Family. Why should I trust anything they say?"

"If I keep living here, every day I’ll be under the Royal Family’s surveillance."

"The Turkic marriage escort party is leaving today."

"I might as well take this chance to slip away too."

Jiang Feng felt he’d made a mistake from the start; he shouldn’t have come to the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Maybe Lin Cai was actually one of the Royal Family’s people, or maybe even the Laojun Mountain Cultivation Marketplace itself was personally set up by the Royal Family.

As a cultivation novice, he’d thought he’d found a big family; but in truth, everything he saw now was just a fake cultivation realm manufactured by the Royal Family.

The life in the Purple Bamboo Forest looked peaceful and secure, but actually everyone had already been firmly tied up by the Great Tang Royal Family. The longer they lived here, the harder it was for anyone to leave.

Of course, Jiang Feng didn’t think he was the only one in the Purple Bamboo Forest who was still awake; the problems he saw, Elder Qingzhu and the others could certainly see as well.

It’s just that everyone had grown used to this lying-flat life, and willingly depended on the Royal Family, thus losing interest in the Underground Palace.

Or rather, this was the price for their advantages—the moment they accepted the Royal Family’s provision, the Dragon Capital Underground Palace became taboo for them.

On the surface, it looked like the cultivators in the Purple Bamboo Forest were the winners.

However, there is no such thing as a free lunch under heaven.

For now, all is well, only because no danger has come; but if anything suddenly changed, the cultivators of the Purple Bamboo Forest would all probably become cannon fodder for the Royal Family.

It’s important to remember that there are even more terrifying cultivators inside the Imperial City.

The cultivators here by then could not leave at will, and all the things they got from the Royal Family would surely have to be handed back to the last bit.

Thinking of the Wolf King still hiding in the Zhenbei Prison Underground Palace, whether the others knew or not, reason told Jiang Feng he couldn’t stay in the Purple Bamboo Forest anymore.

Night fell.

Jiang Feng publicly announced he was entering closed-door cultivation.

Taking cover in the darkness, he slipped quietly out of the Purple Bamboo Forest, heading towards the North City Gate.

Once outside the city,

Jiang Feng checked his Fortune Point at the first opportunity.

Fortune: 158922

He found that his Fortune Point had barely changed at all.

"Strange, am I overthinking it?"

Jiang Feng was puzzled.

Logically, if there was tremendous danger lurking in the Purple Bamboo Forest and he would later become cannon fodder for the Royal Family, then leaving that place and running to the North City Gate should have resulted in some Fortune growth.

Why was there no change at all when he came out?

"Whatever. Since I’ve left, there’s no going back."

Jiang Feng decided to make a complete break.

Even if he really was overthinking, it was time to go. On one hand, he didn’t want to live under the Great Tang Royal Family’s surveillance; on the other, Han Dong had already left the city with the wedding escort party, so Jiang Feng wanted to see if there was any other purpose behind this marriage alliance, and whether Han Dong was being forced.

An hour later,

Jiang Feng’s figure had already reached beyond Laojun Mountain and arrived ahead of the marriage escort party.

It was late at night.

The escort party was resting at a relay station.

The Turkic King’s uncle’s entourage was vast and imposing, with several Innate powerhouses presiding, plus dozens of middle and upper third-grade martial artists.

As well as two squadrons of Turkic cavalry.

The Great Tang had a marriage escort party accompanying them too.

Jiang Feng saw Chu Tianhe leading the Prison Army from Zhenbei Prison, traveling with them, but did not spot Han Tieshan or Xiao Ran.

"If Sister Dong was forced into this, should I take her away?"

Jiang Feng was a little conflicted.

If there was nothing wrong with the marriage, and he took Han Dong away, there would certainly be a bloody war between the Great Tang and Turkic, and countless would suffer.

He couldn’t decide what to do.

Realizing he was now some distance from the Dragon Capital, Jiang Feng checked his Fortune Point once more.

Fortune: 158922

"Not a single point gained?"

"This... isn’t right."

Jiang Feng was taken aback, then sensed something was wrong. After dealing with the attribute panel for so long, if the Fortune Point didn’t budge, there was only one possibility: that he was still in danger, without realizing it.

In an instant,

Jiang Feng summoned the Red Dust Sword.

His spiritual sense spread out in all directions.

The Flame Saber and Wind Control techniques were ready to be unleashed.

Knowing there was danger, Jiang Feng focused his spiritual sense on searching every aura around. In doing so, he spotted a familiar figure.

"Fellow Daoist Qingzhu, are you also here to see off the Turkic marriage escort party?"

Jiang Feng’s gaze hovered towards the northeast.

There was a patch of reeds there.

"Fellow Daoist Wang’s spiritual sense is formidable. If I’d known you were also interested in the Turkic escort party, we could’ve come together."

The Qingzhu Hermit flew out from the reeds.

"Why don’t the other two Daoists come out and meet me?"

Jiang Feng looked to his left and right.

But there was not the slightest movement in either direction.

"This Red Dust Sword is said to be a mid-grade magical artifact. As for its true power, I’ve never really tried it."

Jiang Feng remarked with curiosity.

The Red Dust Sword in his hand flared with dazzling crimson light.

"No need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist Wang. I was just teasing you."

From a dense treetop a kilometer to the left, a man stepped down.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, how did you discover I was hiding in the water?"

On the right, a transparent shadow slowly emerged from the water’s surface.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang, Fellow Daoist Li—like Qingzhu Hermit, are you two also full of curiosity about the Turkic procession?"

Jiang Feng asked.

These two, like the Qingzhu Hermit, were all cultivators from the Purple Bamboo Forest.

At this moment, he was deeply shaken inside—these three had followed along the whole way, and yet he hadn’t noticed a thing. If it hadn’t been for his Fortune Point remaining unchanged and making him suspicious, he’d have had no idea how long he’d have been kept in the dark.

"The Turkic King is ambitiously trying to swallow the Great Tang. We were just worried there might be a trap in this marriage, so we followed to check things out. Didn’t expect you had the same thought, Fellow Daoist Wang."

Fellow Daoist Li stood upon the water and spoke.

"A simple misunderstanding. Hope you don’t mind, Fellow Daoist Wang."

Fellow Daoist Zhang leaned against a far-off tree, cupping his hands from afar.

"I followed along the whole way and didn’t see anything unusual with the Turkic marriage party. We all made the trip for nothing. Let’s head back together!"

Jiang Feng sheathed the Red Dust Sword and smiled at the three of them.

"Haha, sure thing."

The three, led by Qingzhu Hermit, closed in on Jiang Feng from three directions with the wind.

Jiang Feng let all the spiritual power in his body dissipate.