...
Prince Xue Xing wanted to use a deployment map of the Royal Treasury to completely tie Luo Nan to Xue Beng's chariot.
However, faced with this seemingly tempting condition, Luo Nan didn't hesitate even for a second and directly spat out two words coldly: "Refuse."
"What?!"
Prince Xue Xing was stunned, his face full of disbelief.
"Brother Luo Nan, you... won't you consider it again? As long as you are willing to take a side, the position of the imperial preceptor of the Heaven Dou Empire in the future will definitely be yours!"
"Your Highness, you think too highly of me."
Luo Nan shook his head. "I, Luo Nan, am just a free and unfettered Loose Cultivator Spirit Master."
"My being in Moon Pavilion is because Moon Pavilion is my wife's hard work."
"If you want me to take a side with the royal family, to be honest, it's impossible."
"It's impossible for me to directly take a side with the royal family. You can give up on this idea."
Hearing Luo Nan's such decisive refusal, Prince Xue Xing's expression instantly turned extremely ugly.
If Luo Nan was unwilling to take a side, what was the point of him risking his head to steal the deployment map?
Just as Prince Xue Xing was about to open his mouth to refuse, Luo Nan suddenly changed the subject.
"However..."
Luo Nan looked at Prince Xue Xing, a smile curving the corner of his mouth:
"Although I cannot personally take a side for you, I can provide you with an alternative plan. An alternative plan that is definitely no worse than me."
"Oh? What plan?" Prince Xue Xing raised an eyebrow, a trace of hope reigniting in his eyes.
"Dugu Bo."
"Poison Douluo?!" Prince Xue Xing exclaimed.
"That's right." Luo Nan nodded and said with full confidence.
"As far as I know, Your Highness once saved Dugu Bo's life back then, and he has always owed you a huge favor."
"However, with Dugu Bo's arrogant and aloof personality, although he will protect your safety, he is definitely unwilling to get involved in the royal family's struggle for the succession."
"However, what if I step forward to persuade him?"
Luo Nan looked at Prince Xue Xing, confidence flashing in his eyes: "Dugu Bo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan, is now my Personal Disciple."
"Coupled with this huge favor he owes you, as long as I speak up, I guarantee that Dugu Bo will willingly become the most solid backing for you and that prince!"
"A ninety-second-rank Titled Douluo, and also the Poison Douluo who is best at group battles, is this bargaining chip enough to exchange for a deployment map from you?"
Dugu Bo! That was a genuine Titled Douluo!
Although Luo Nan's potential was limitless, he hadn't truly grown up yet after all.
And Dugu Bo was solid Peak combat power!
If Dugu Bo could be completely bound to Xue Beng's chariot, their confidence when facing Xue Qinghe would increase exponentially!
This deal was simply too worthwhile!
Prince Xue Xing frantically weighed the pros and cons in his mind. After just a moment, he slammed his thigh and said through gritted teeth:
"Good! Deal! Brother Luo Nan, you are indeed a man who accomplishes great things!"
"In that case, about the deployment map..." Luo Nan smiled slightly.
"Rest assured!" Prince Xue Xing patted his chest and promised.
"You go back first. Tomorrow morning, this prince guarantees to deliver the most detailed troop distribution situation completely into your hands!"
"Then I will await your good news quietly."
Luo Nan stood up, cupped his hands toward Prince Xue Xing, and then turned and strode out of the prince's residence.
...
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
Outside the main gate of Moon Pavilion, an extremely slight knocking sound came.
Luo Nan had already been waiting in the hall for a long time. He opened the door personally, and saw a middle-aged man wearing commoner's clothes but with an extremely sharp gaze standing outside the door.
Seeing Luo Nan, the man didn't speak, but respectfully handed over a square box tightly wrapped in black waterproof tarpaulin.
Then he quickly turned around and disappeared into the morning mist.
Holding the box, Luo Nan returned to his study and locked the door from the inside.
He carefully unwrapped the tarpaulin and opened the box. Inside quietly lay a thick stack of parchment paper.
Luo Nan picked up the top piece of parchment, and after just one glance, a glint of astonishment couldn't help flashing in his eyes.
"This Prince Xue Xing really has some skills..."
The intelligence recorded on this stack of parchment was simply detailed to a hair-raising degree!
It not only clearly drew the internal structural diagram of the Royal Treasury and the locations of all mechanisms and secret passages, but also listed the troop distribution situation very clearly.
How many overt sentries and how many covert sentries there were in each time period.
How often the patrol team passed by, and how many people there were each time.
What level the leading Spirit Master was, and what their Spirit was.
Even when the guards changed shifts, what the shift password was, and which guards had weaknesses for drinking and lust, were all recorded clearly!
With this extremely detailed deployment map, that Heaven Dou Royal Treasury, which claimed that not even a fly could fly in, simply became a back garden that could be entered and exited at will in Luo Nan's eyes!
"Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud... Sea God's Heart..."
...
Two days later, late at night.
Luo Nan changed into a suit of pure black night-walking clothes and, like a ghost, silently left Moon Pavilion and galloped rapidly in the direction of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, as the power center of the entire Empire, had guards so strict they could be called an impregnable wall of bronze and iron.
On the towering palace walls, there was a post every three steps and a sentry every five steps, and the bright torches illuminated the inside and outside of the city wall as bright as day.
Teams of royal guards wearing heavy armor and holding long halberds patrolled day and night across various corridors and squares of the court with neat and uniform paces.
However, for Luo Nan, who had already memorized the deployment map thoroughly, these were as good as useless.
Like a nimble night cat, he shuttled and leaped through the shadows of the palace buildings.
Soon, Luo Nan safely and without incident arrived deep within the imperial palace, in front of a tall building with a quaint shape and built entirely of hard obsidian.
This was the most core Forbidden Ground of the Heaven Dou Empire—the Royal Treasury!
According to the intelligence provided by Prince Xue Xing, the perimeter guards of the Royal Treasury were extremely strict. Not only were there two teams of elite royal knights patrolling intersecting routes, but four Royal Honored Guests at the Spirit Emperor level were also stationed year-round at the main entrance.
Wanting to sneak in without alerting anyone was simply harder than ascending to heaven.
However, no matter how tight the defense was, there was always a time when a slip-up occurred.
Every night at the third quarter of the midnight, it was time for the guards of the Royal Treasury to change shifts.
At this time point, the previous shift of guards would withdraw, and the next shift of guards would take over.
And during that extremely brief instant when the two shifts of personnel handed over and checked passwords, a blind spot would appear in the defense system of the entire Royal Treasury.
The time of this blind spot was only a short twenty seconds!
"Tick... Tick..."
"Change shifts!"
*******************************
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