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Originally the Great Xuan Empire had their Dukes live in the Imperial Capital, but some time ago, the rules changed.
In fear of rebellion, a previous Emperor made a law that gave each Duke a fief to manage and control.
But while this also gave the Duke freedom and a small area to control themselves, in reality, it was more an eviction than a blessing, as the minimum distance a Duke could create their fief from the Imperial Capital was 5 thousand miles.
The reason behind this was to 'help' ensure the Duke would never interfere with the Imperial Capitals' geography.
However, the reality was that through this law, the Imperial Family could remove any potential powerful enemies from their home base while also using the three Dukes as guardians from any potential rebel armies that planned to invade from outside.
So before any attacker could even attack the Imperial Capital, they would need to go through the Dukes and their territory first.
And to further protect the Imperial Capital, the fiefs of the Dukes were placed in key locations. One to the south, another to the west, and finally, one to the east. As for the north, there was a vast ocean there that led to the Central Continent.
Now, with all 4 cardinal directions having a blockade and no strong fighters allowed in the Imperial Capital, this meant that the Imperial Family was fully secured from all enemies on the outside and inside.
As for the nobles that were still allowed to live inside of the Imperial Capital, there were die-hard loyalists to the Duan Imperial Family who would gladly sacrifice their lives for the Empire.
It was a genius move, Xue Feng had to admit, but he was already loyal to the Duan Imperial Family, and he wasn't a very smart man when it came to building up a fief, so the law only annoyed him.
Sure, he could understand the Duan Imperial Family's plight. After all, having three Dukes live just miles away from them was certainly a security hazard, but no matter how reasonable the law was, it still annoyed Xue Feng.
Because now, every time that he needed to travel to the Imperial Capital, he had to prepare to travel 5 thousand miles just to reach it.
And while such a distance usually wouldn't take him very long to cross with his cultivation base, this situation was different.
Xue Bai was now 'sick,' and Xue Feng needed to urgently see the Imperial Physician, as he lived in the Imperial Palace alongside the Imperial Family.
However, change didn't happen according to Xue Feng's convenience, so after packing some rations in case of emergency into his spatial ring, Xue Feng started to make his way to the enclosure where his mount and its descendants lived.
His mount was a demonic beast similar to a griffin. However, instead of having a lion for its body, it was a bear. Therefore, the public knew it simply as a Bear Griffin.
And Xue Feng's personal mount had a cultivation base that almost rivaled his own, being at the middle stages of the Domain Lord realm, and led a small clan of Bear Griffins.
Years ago, after subduing the leader of this small clan of Bear Griffins, Xue Feng offered to take its clansmen in. And keeping his offer, after the Bear Griffin leader came to Xue Feng's dukedom, Xue Feng built an enclosure to give the small clan a home.
This way, not only would his mount have an area to roam freely, but Xue Feng could also have some of the talented subordinates under him try and subdue a Bear Griffin for themselves.
It was a win for both sides.
After reaching the entrance of the enclosure, Xue Feng put two fingers into his mouth and whistled. And a few moments later, a behemoth of a winged beast that stood at 5 meters tall and had a wingspan that was easily double its height flew out from the forest's depths and landed in front of him.
Happy to see his trusted mount, Xue Feng happily gave it a long-needed pet.
The Bear Griffin was also happy to see his Master and let Xue Feng rub his fur. It even went so far as to lower his head, so Xue Feng wouldn't have to only touch his body.
A few seconds passed like this until Xue Feng eventually spoke up.
"Hahaha, Xiao Xiong, you're still so lively at your age! Come on. I've got to go to the capital for the Imperial Physician. Bai'er hit his head too hard, and I think he might've gone stupid." Xue Feng laughed.
While Xiao Xiong was a demonic beast, it also possessed a profound cultivation base and had also already awakened its spiritual intelligence. So after Xue Feng spoke, it instantly understood what Xue Feng said and hurriedly laid down so they could rush to the Imperial Capital.
Xue Bai, who was still hanging under his father's armpit, was instantly annoyed after he heard his father calling him stupid. But more than that, he was even more scared of seeing the Imperial Physician.
'What if they see I'm not Xue Bai and only an imposter possessing his body.' The more Xue Bai thought, the worse of an outcome appeared in his head. So he did as anyone would in his situation, convincing his father not to go.
So with the cutest voice that he could pull off, Xue Bai asked, "Lord Father, your dear son Bai'er is perfectly fine. There is no need to tire yourself by taking me to capital."
Hearing such a coquettish voice from his sailor-mouthed son gave Xue Feng shivers. With such a huge personality change, he feared the fall might've completely changed him.
So as not to let his son's condition deteriorate any further, Xue Feng immediately started to mount Xiao Xiong so they could begin their journey to the Capital.
Seeing such a reaction come from the historically calm Duke of Snow, Xue Bai knew he had done the opposite of what he planned to do.
So before his father stormed the Imperial Palace, Xue Bai quickly stated his true thoughts. "You damn old man! I said that I was perfectly fine! If you take me to the Imperial Physician, I'll tell all our guards you dress as mom whenever you're alone."
Xue Feng, still climbing Xiao Xiong, had stumbled and almost fell off Xiao Xiong after hearing what his son said.
However, thankfully Xue Feng was at the peak of the Domain Lord realm, so he quickly managed to adjust himself while still holding Xue Bai before becoming infuriated at his own son, who was threatening him.
"You unfilial child! How dare you make up lies about me," Xue Feng yelled at his son, "Even if you told the guards, who would believe you."
Without answering, Xue Bai just smiled at his father. However, the smile didn't reach his eyes, showing his true emotions.
Seeing his son not answer, Xue Feng continued to yell, but you could tell from his voice that it was weaker than before, "You wouldn't dare."
"If you take me to that creepy old man in the Palace, I'll do it. Just being near him gives me chills. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm a girl, and I think you know the rumors about him." Xue Bai spoke fearfully.
Even though Xue Bai hadn't met the Imperial Physician himself in the game, the Physician was a well-known pedophile, even having his small arc if you created your character in the Duan Imperial Family.
So rather than trying to convince Xue Feng that he was fine, Xue Bai gambled that Xue Feng, with his position, had allowed him to hear these rumors. And if Xue Feng did know the rumors, there was no way that he could take Xue Bai to the physician.
And he gambled right. Xue Feng had indeed heard the rumors. However, the man was the greatest doctor in the Great Xuan Empire, so they were simply swept under the rug to protect the reputation of the Imperial Family.
Seeing that he had begun to sway his father, Xue Bai continued, "Don't we have our own In-House Physician take me to him instead."
Hearing the compromise coming from his son, Xue Feng agreed, so they went to the in-house Physician instead.
--
After Xue Bai managed to convince his father to go to the In-House Physician, Xue Feng made Xiao Xiong return to his enclosure before turning back around and flying home. This didn't take long, as with the speed of a peak stage Domain Lord like Xue Feng, flying just a few miles would take no more than a few seconds.
The In-House Physician didn't live far, as he had his own courtyard on the border between the Inner and Outer Regions of the estate. And since the soldiers who were his usual customers practiced in the Outer Region, placing his office near them would be convenient for both parties.
And after Xue Feng made his presence known, the In-House Physician didn't waste a second and quickly let them in.
There, Xue Feng explained the problem before letting the old man do his job.
"Young Master, I am going in to scan your body using my Spiritual Sense. At first, it might feel weird, but please don't resist it. You aren't nearly strong enough to do so, and if you resist it too much, you'll hurt yourself." The In-House Physician said respectfully as he motioned for Xue Bai to sit down.
Obeying, Xue Bai walked over to the table the In-House Physician pointed toward and sat on top of it.
Taking a deep breath, Xue Bai then let his guard down and let the physician do his job.
In-House Physician cautiously put his hand on the top of Xue Bai's head before pouring his Spiritual Sense into Xue Bai's body as he tried to see if there was anything wrong with the Young Duke.
Soon, a minute passed, and the In-House Physician eventually took his hand off Xue Bai's head before turning around and breaking the news.
"Duke Xue, there seems to be nothing wrong with the Young Duke. Maybe he is telling the truth." The In-House Physician reported after he finished his check-up on Xue Bai.
The In-House Physician was an older man known simply as Old Luo. And while he wasn't as strong as the Imperial Physician, he was older than the man, so his experience made up the difference.
And his checkup procedure was simple. After all, Old Luo only really examined Xue Bai's body with his Spiritual Sense. But even after fully scanning Xue Bai's body, Old Lu found nothing wrong with the Young Duke.
Yet, Xue Feng wasn't convinced, and even after Old Lu turned around and explained this to him, Xue Feng still commanded the physician to double-check.
Complying, Old Luo then grabbed Xue Bai's wrist and checked his vitals the old-fashioned way. However, even after that, Old Luo still couldn't find anything wrong, much to Xue Feng's shock.
Seeing that even Old Luo, who was in the Law Manifestation Realm, didn't see anything wrong with him, Xue Bai guessed that even if there were something wrong with his soul, nobody in the Houtian Great Realm could see it.
Even though Old Lu was only in the Law Manifestation realm, advancing to the Domain Lord realm didn't give one many sense-related abilities, meaning that he was almost at the same level as a Domain Lord physician.
This meant that either only people in the Xiantian Great Realm could see through Xue Bai's true identity or that there wasn't a problem in the first place.
'Maybe there isn't anything wrong with my body. We share the same name and are both crippled in some way, so maybe we're connected in some way.' He thought inwardly.
However, while Xue Bai was secretly feeling relieved on the inside, his outside facial expression was different.
Sticking his chin up to his father arrogantly, Xue Bai made an expression that screamed, 'What did I tell you.'
Still unconvinced, Xue Feng argued, "Then what were you doing in your room that scared Xiao'er so much."
Remembering what he had done when he first transmigrated, Xue Bai blushed.
From a third-person view, it did look like he had gone crazy. But Xue Bai couldn't back down now, so he kept up the lie, "I had a super realistic nightmare."
Hearing this, skepticism filled Xue Feng's expression, and he remained doubtful. But even after he stared at Xue Bai for a good minute with the child not backing down, he gave up.
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