C1 The Deposed Crown Prince Is No Better than a Dog!

"Crown Prince Soong Lin has been found guilty of collusion with alien races and is hereby stripped of his title. He is sentenced to eternal imprisonment within the imperial mausoleum, never to leave its confines."

Bewildered, Soong Lin was swiftly apprehended by the Imperial Guards and taken to the imperial mausoleum of the Vrabouton Empire before he could grasp the situation.

"Have I transmigrated? And into the life of a deposed crown prince, no less?"

Soong Lin was astounded.

A flood of memories rushed into his mind.

The body's original inhabitant shared his name and was the Vrabouton Empire's most gifted crown prince in a century, renowned for his brilliance in both the arts and military strategy.

During his tenure at the border, he rescued a pregnant woman from the alien races. Consequently, Soong Wang issued a royal decree summoning him back to the capital and condemning him to the imperial mausoleum.

"Your Highness, we've arrived at the imperial mausoleum," announced the Decurion of the Imperial Guards, snapping Soong Lin out of his reverie.

Peering through the curtains at the mausoleum, Soong Lin's brow furrowed slightly.

Giant trees reached for the heavens, their dense foliage blotting out the light, casting an ominous shadow over the mausoleum's perimeter.

The once vibrant red doors were now tightly sealed, their paint peeling away in large flakes.

A thick layer of dust blanketed the steps.

The approach of the group seemed to have startled the wildlife within, as a flurry of flapping sounds echoed from the depths of the mausoleum.

Noticing the commotion, the Decurion offered an embarrassed suggestion, "Your Highness, if you could please wait a moment, we'll tidy up before you settle in."

Soong Lin dismissed the offer with a wave of his hand.

"I am no longer a crown prince, merely a prisoner of this place. There's no need for such formalities."

With a composed demeanor, Soong Lin stepped out of the carriage and made his way into the imperial mausoleum.

The Imperial Guards watching his solitary, desolate figure recede could not help but express their pity.

"Since Prince Wu was confined here, it's been over thirty years with no one stepping foot in this place. Your Highness has indeed endured much."

"The imperial mausoleum is steeped in Yin Qi. Even Prince Wu, a cultivator in the Core Formation stage, lost his sanity shortly after his arrival."

"It won't be long before His Highness meets the same fate as Prince Wu," they said with a mix of lament and regret—a sentiment lost on Soong Lin.

In his past life, he had witnessed the treacherous battles for imperial power in TV dramas, a time when knowledge was abundant.

"If the original owner of this body had truly conspired with alien races, Soong Wang would have executed me by now. More likely, it was a loss in the imperial power struggle that brought me to this lowly state."

"Alas, in this world where everyone pursues cultivation, being exiled to the imperial mausoleum and stripped of the royal family's cultivation resources means even self-preservation through cultivation is in jeopardy. To enhance my strength and survive, I'll need to find another way," Soong Lin mused with a heavy heart.

No sooner had he reflected on his predicament than a clear notification from the system echoed in his mind.

"Ding dong! Congratulations, host, for activating the imperial mausoleum sign-in system. You may sign in daily at the mausoleum to randomly receive a variety of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Beware, the quality of rewards will diminish with repeated sign-ins at the same location."

Soong Lin's spirits lifted.

"In this realm, some wield swords that can cleave mountains and rivers, others pluck stars with their bare hands, and still others live as long as the heavens themselves... They are the true immortals of the land."

"Even if I were to triumph in the imperial succession, I'd be nothing more than a ruler of a nation. But to endure through the ages and ascend to the status of a land-bound deity—that is the pinnacle of existence."

With this revelation, Soong Lin's mindset shifted towards tranquility, and his resentment towards Soong Wang dissipated like mist.

"Sign in."

"Ding dong! Host, you have successfully checked in and obtained the Immortal Sword Body. Would you like to integrate it?"

The Immortal Sword Body—one of the three legendary Sword Bodies in the World of Immortal Cultivation.

Achieving Great Completion allows one to turn mere flora into lethal swords, vanquishing formidable foes unseen.

Such a fortuitous encounter is a rarity that many might never find in a lifetime.

Simply by checking in at the imperial mausoleum once, Soong Lin could reap such rewards.

The chance filled him with immense joy.

"I must fuse with this treasure immediately," Soong Lin urged.

"Ding dong! Fusion with the Immortal Sword Body has commenced. Please stand by."

Agonizing pain tore through Soong Lin in an instant.

It felt as though countless tiny blades were relentlessly poking at his sensitive nerves.

In less than a moment, the pain had him screaming miserably.

Luckily, there was no one within ten miles of the imperial mausoleum.

The Decurion had long since departed.

Even if Soong Lin's screams shattered the heavens, they would fall on deaf ears.

But after several dozen breaths, a subtle yet powerful aura burst forth from Soong Lin, rocketing towards the heavens.

Suddenly, dark clouds shrouded the skies above Newcliff.

Terrifying sword qi converged from all around, swelling like an incoming tide.

The capital's protective formation was instantly triggered, emitting a continuous humming roar.

The spectacle immediately caught the attention of Newcliff's citizens.

Recluses, those old monsters of cultivation, emerged from their seclusion.

In the Palace of Vrabouton, Soong Wang, in the midst of council with his ministers, was captivated by the anomaly above.

Witnessing the sword qi bearing down on the capital, Soong Wang's face was etched with alarm.

"Such oppressive sword qi, darkening the skies—is this the harbinger of the Immortal Sword Body's emergence?"

The might of Vrabouton had vastly changed from days of old.

The decline of young prodigies had reached a critical juncture.

Without a Pure Genius emerging in the next century, as the venerable elders of Vrabouton pass away, the empire's downfall is certain.

With this thought, Soong Wang's spirits soared.

"State Preceptor, make haste to locate the hidden genius of our empire. We cannot afford to let him fall into the hands of alien races. The future of Vrabouton rests solely on his shoulders."

"As you command, Your Majesty!"

The Vrabouton State Preceptor agreed with a nod and quickly gathered a group of cultivators to seek out those deemed Pure Geniuses.

Unbeknownst to Soong Lin, who was within the imperial mausoleum, these events were unfolding.

Merging with the Immortal Sword Body took no more than the time it takes to sip a cup of tea, causing the bizarre phenomena above the capital to vanish instantly.

The severe stabbing pain within Soong Lin's body persisted for quite some time before it began to ebb away.

Opening his eyes, he inspected his body internally.

Soong Lin noted that aside from his cultivation progressing from the early to the middle Qi Refining period, nothing else had changed.

This left Soong Lin with a look of contempt on his face.

"I had planned to hide out in the imperial mausoleum indefinitely, but merging with the Immortal Sword Body nearly blew my cover. Had I known, I would've passed on the Immortal Sword Body altogether."

No sooner had he spoken than a clear system notification chimed in his mind.

"Ding dong! Congratulations, host, for successfully checking in at the imperial mausoleum. You've been awarded a Skybreaker."

"Skybreaker?"

Soong Lin was utterly baffled.

"Awarding me, a deposed crown prince from another world, with a Skybreaker? System, you've outdone yourself this time!"

"How about throwing in a Dragon Slaying Saber too, so I can take over the Vrabouton's martial arts scene?"

Soong Lin's sarcasm knew no bounds, but the system remained silent.

Shortly after, a longsword about three feet in length, radiating a brilliant green light and pulsing with energy, materialized before Soong Lin.

"Is this the Skybreaker? It doesn't quite match the one from the stories."

Soong Lin murmured to himself, gripping the Skybreaker with a mix of curiosity and awe.

A stream of pure spiritual force flowed into the sword.

Buzz!

In a flash, the Skybreaker's blade emitted a radiant light, soaring a hundred meters high, resembling a majestic dragon in the skies above Newcliff.

The sight left the cultivators of the capital utterly astonished.