The Maple Continent was split into eight large countries and several smaller ones, with the Capital Country of Fu Lou being in the center of them.

Fu Lou was extremely large, being several hundred square kilometers, let alone the entire Maple Continent which was millions of kilometers wide.

If a normal mortal were to use normal means to try and go from one end to the other, it would probably take them several years or even decades to accomplish it, and that was without complications on the road.

The traveling method within this Spiritual Era was usually done by carriages, but for cultivators who want to travel a far distance, they would use a flying sword, where they could infuse their Spiritual Qi into the runes that allow the sword to fly, and soar through the sky like a comet.

However, for cultivators below the Sea Expansion Realm that can’t attain flight due to their cultivation limiting them, they would have to settle for carriages pulled by Spiritual Beasts. Though that was if they weren’t from a prominent family that could afford to spend quite an exorbitant price to purchase a flight-type Spirit Artifact that runs on spirit stones.

This was the method Xi Shen was using to travel to the Imperial Palace.

Even though the Celestial Academy was located in Fu Lou, and to reach the Imperial Palace was only two days by carriage, the letter Xi Shen had received had scared him too much for him not to rush back home.

As the sunset for the day, Xi Shen’s miniature Spirit Artifact that was in the shape of a boat past the forest that takes up a part of the Fu Lou Country, and reached one of the various villages that surrounded the Imperial Capital.

As Xi Shen stood at the small protruding pillar, which was a means of controlling the Spirit Artifact, he was looking at this village as he flew overhead. Thoughts about how the Spiritual Era had separated into the Cultivation World and the Mortal World, flooded his mind.

Back in his past life, the mortals were treated like livestock that had no free will but instead was supposed to be devoted to worshiping those gods and subsequently the Heavens as well.

Although not everyone in this Era was born with the three attributes to cultivate, these people, to survive, had created villages such as this which consisted mostly of mortals, and perhaps some low-level cultivators.

Villages like these were scattered throughout the Maple Continent, but they mostly congregate nearer to the cultivation institutes/clans because they could receive protection from local bandits and wild Spirit Beasts.

The small village that Yang Su came from was one such village near the Celestial Academy.

As Xi Shen left the village behind, the sight before him became more and more populated with people and better-quality buildings. And soon enough, the enormous wall of the Imperial City appeared before him.

This place was the home of the Li Royal Family and was the center of the Capital Country or otherwise known as the Imperial City of the Maple Continent.

Xi Shen didn’t waste time approaching the City Walls, however, when he was a few hundred meters away from it he took out a medallion that identified him as the second prince of the Maple Continent and held it in his hand.

With a brilliant glow, the medallion lit up with a dazzling light before it encapsulated the small boat and passed through the Grand Formation that surrounded the entire City.

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In doing so, everyone in the City could see the red Grand Formation appearing briefly overhead, and this resulted in people having massive discussions speculating about which member of the Royal Family had just returned to the Imperial City.

Xi Shen sighed when he saw this scene, he remembered when he would sneak out of the Imperial City. It was because of this stupid formation that he had been caught most of the time. And it wasn’t like he couldn’t have the medallion on him when he left, since he wouldn’t be able to enter afterward.

Xi Shen’s boat past the guards on the eighty-meter-high wall unhindered since the status of Xi Shen did not permit them to stop him.

Within the Imperial City, it was mostly the members of the aristocratic families that were living here. That might sound like the population would be low, but one should know that this is including several generations of family. And with there being several hundred low and high-ranking noble families, the population easily reached the millions with the fact that other people chose to live here despite not being noble families.

This setup made the Imperial City flooded with cultivators of all levels, and it wasn’t a stretch to say that there were crouching tigers and hidden dragons in every crevice of this City.

But even those hidden dragons and crouching tigers still had to bow before the old monster that is the Li Family which was located at the center of the City.

Xi Shen was using a normal Spirit Artifact and not one where the Li Families emblem of a plum blossom was on, so he mingled in the air with the other flying boats as he headed for the Imperial Palace, going unnoticed by everyone.

The actual Imperial Palace of the Li Family took up several dozen acres of land to accommodate the several hundred members of its family.

It was typical of Royal Family in this Era to have several side branches, where aunts and uncles would get married and have children, and those children would have even more kids. Repeat this for several generations and it results in the Li Family becoming as big as it is now.

Though Xi Shen had seen a detailed family tree within the Palace, that was likely there to keep track of the Li bloodline and to probably prevent anyone from accidentally committing… that indecent act.

Entering through the large golden gates, different-sized luxurious golden Pavilions were scattered across the acres of land, making sure to show off the Royal Family’s wealth and prestige.

Xi Shen’s boat came to a stop in front of the gate, before he disembarked and then placed his hands on it and collected it into his storage.

Walking to the golden gates, Xi Shen saw that there was no grand procession to welcome him, the second prince of the Maple Continent, home.

Xi Shen didn’t find this weird and only casually walked past the statue-like guards at the gates. However, his footsteps paused a bit before he turned to the left to look at the guard, who had on a face helmet that only showed a small portion of his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Looking more carefully at the guard, Xi Shen’s eyes light up as he said, “Oh! Mu Wen, I almost didn’t recognize you! Haha, how have you been? I hope to watch the Palace hadn’t placed too much stress on your body, your getting old so you should take care of yourself more.”

As Xi Shen chatted casually with this guard, the guard remain still, neither acknowledging Xi Shen nor moving an inch from his position. Though if one looked closely at his barely visible eyes, one could see them twitching uncontrollably while a helpless looked glossed over them.

After talking for a while, Xi Shen said, “Well, it was nice seeing you, I have to leave.” With that, Xi Shen resumed his walk into the Imperial Palace, the guard had not said a word in response to Xi Shen despite Xi Shen showing such familiarity with him.

Why Xi Shen was so familiar with a Palace Guard in the Second Level of the Foundation Construction Realm, well, it was complicated to explain.

Just know that Xi Shen’s reputation and treatment within the Imperial Palace were quite strange.

For example, Xi Shen had been walking along the paths in the Imperial Palace for some time now, but he hadn’t so much as glimpsed the shadow of a servant or another member of his family.

And the ones that he would see would widen their eyes in shock, before trying to cover their face with their hands and do a 180 degrees turn in the direction they were coming from.

One servant who hadn’t received the news of Xi Shen’s arrival and was unfortunate to meet Xi Shen at an intersection, stood stock still in shock while looking at Xi Shen walking by him.

Xi Shen turned to give the male servant a smile in acknowledgment, but the servant only had a pleading look in his eyes as he looked at Xi Shen before he bowed and stuttered out, “We-welcome back highness the second prince.”

After Xi Shen left, the guard raised his head and stared at Xi Shen’s back as he left.

He then mumbled, “For the past decade I have gone about my duties without showing my face to him, but the one time I received orders to come to this side of the Imperial Palace I bumped into him. How unlucky.”

The servant then let out a long and defeated sigh before he slumped his shoulders and walked off.

“I hope he doesn’t use my face as one of his disguises, it would be troublesome to explain why it wasn’t me they found inside the restricted area of the Palace.”

Sighing again the servant went on his way.

The reason for Xi Shen’s treatment was because of the simple fact that Tai and little snow could only disguise Xi Shen in illusions of people they have seen before.

And wherever Xi Shen goes so do his Void Beasts that they can't see.

Because of this, during Xi Shen’s stealing escapades and his journey to the restricted area of the Imperial Palace, he would use the appearance of the servants, the guards, and other members of his family to disguise himself.

Thus this would have that person take the fault for him.

Although it didn't guarantee that he wouldn't disguise himself as them, and the Li Family would think they were some spy for another power, they would avoid him nonetheless to avoid trouble.