[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-ascending-to-the-jade-palace":3,"chapter-ascending-to-the-jade-palace-ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-26":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Ascending to the Jade Palace",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2320488,4538,"Chapter 26: “You","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-26",26,"\u003Cp>“Seeing so many Foundation Establishment elders, how do you feel?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Xianmao walked ahead with his hands behind his back, asking the youths behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The spirit goose was delicious, the spirit tea was genuine eighth-rank spirit tea—I’ve never drunk it before, and it truly lives up to its reputation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou’s summary left Yuan confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brother, have you been infected by me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sorry, I didn’t mean to—I really didn’t intend it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha, good! Not a waste bringing you here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What surprised Yuan even more was that Yulou’s nonsense answer had pleased the clan chief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan was certain that if the question had been asked by Wang Rongyuan, and he’d answered he’d just been eating, Rongyuan would’ve given him another ten rounds of loving punishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they passed the temporary stall area added to Qingxi Fang, Gao Jian’s shouting rang out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s you we’re after! Let me tell you, I’ve been watching you for a long time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You walk from stall to stall holding something, pretending to buy, but actually selling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You dare sneak-sell without paying the stall fee?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who gave you the nerve?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What do you think our Qingxi Fang Peacekeeping Team is?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do you think we can’t tell?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Jian and his few subordinates all wore the standard robes of Red Lantern Sect’s outer disciples, beating a wandering cultivator whose cultivation base hovered around Qi Refining mid-stage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bastard raised his hand to snatch the bag from the wandering cultivator’s arms, but the cultivator rolled on the ground, clutching the bag tightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I didn’t! You’re framing me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the man refused to pay to make it go away, Gao Jian cursed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Get out of my way!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this, his subordinates quickly released their grip on the wandering cultivator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were afraid—Gao Jian didn’t care who he beat up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disciple transformed from Jiang Bao drew his Spirit-Binding Rope and lashed it violently across the cultivator’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re thieves!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wandering cultivator activated his Stone Armor Talisman and shouted loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hoped some being, somewhere, would know his suffering and rescue him from this ordeal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Called a thief, Gao Jian wasn’t fazed—he sneered and barked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine! You dare slander the Qingxi Fang Peacekeeping Team of the Red Lantern Sect? You’re clearly a bandit cultivator with evil intentions!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bandit cultivator” was a catch-all label—anything could be shoved into it. Gao Jian understood how to maintain order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Catching more “bandit cultivators” meant both profit and improved performance metrics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wandering cultivators around the stalls watched the brutal conflict in frozen silence, teeth gritted in rage, yet dared not utter a word or take a single step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Jian’s cultivation was nothing special, but behind him stood Jiang Bao, the Red Lantern Sect!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Xianmao paused upon noticing the conflict; Yulou saw the clan chief gaze toward the distant crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Following the clan chief’s gaze, he spotted the group of Immortal Alliance envoys dressed in white robes, black rhino-horn belts at their waists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were the Immortal Alliance envoys who had come with True Person Danri; their duty was to govern all cultivators under heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the Purple Mansion and Golden Core ancestors of the Red Lantern Sect had to, in some dimension, obey the Immortal Alliance’s order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Watch closely—you’ll soon learn what the Immortal Alliance is.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using magic power, Wang Xianmao drew the two youths to his side and whispered to them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan watched expectantly as the Immortal Alliance cultivators approached the scene of the dispute—he still didn’t understand the clan chief’s meaning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Yulou understood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He looked at the wandering cultivator, who was screaming in agony, his gaze complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From this wandering cultivator, Yulou saw the Wang Clan under the oppression of the Red Lantern Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Jian exploited and crushed wandering cultivators to the bone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Red Lantern Sect exploited and squeezed its vassal forces to the bone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The difference was merely one was direct and obvious, the other more subtle, more respectable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In essence, they were identical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Immortal Alliance envoys gradually neared the scene of the dispute; the crowd naturally parted to form a path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that the Immortal Alliance had arrived, was justice restored?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the Immortal Alliance envoys approach, the wandering cultivator seized him like a lifeline, crawling toward them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Immortal Alliance elders, save me! Immortal Alliance elders, save me! He’s framing me! He’s framing me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Jian retracted his Spirit-Binding Rope and feigned a respectful bow to explain to the Immortal Alliance envoys.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fellow cultivators, this is a bandit cultivator with ill intent. Our Qingxi Fang Peacekeeping Team discovered his crimes and are apprehending him!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wandering cultivator immediately panicked—he crawled to the feet of the Immortal Alliance cultivators and grabbed the hem of a female cultivator’s robe, begging for help.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the high-level Qi Refining female Immortal Alliance cultivator merely backhanded and hurled a seal-shaped magic treasure at his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How dare you soil my robe?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the Immortal Alliance envoys refused to defend a wandering cultivator, Gao Jian’s panic vanished completely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fellow cultivators, I’ll handle this myself—I’ll handle this myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He channeled spiritual energy and lashed the whip squarely across the cultivator’s spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One strike, and the cultivator collapsed to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cultivator lay on the ground, spitting out thick clots of blood, pupils vacant, his life hanging by a thread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All of you… all of you… you’re all…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He muttered, trying to say something, but Gao Jian swung another whip at his skull, silencing his fury and despair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Crack!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Blood and brain matter splattered—the wandering cultivator could no longer utter any defiant words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The female cultivator whose robe had been grabbed now had blood spatters on it; she glared at Gao Jian and spat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Blind fool!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying this, she raised the seal-shaped magic treasure to strike Gao Jian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the flying magic seal, Gao Jian suddenly felt as if he and the wandering cultivator had swapped places.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shit—I’m going to be bullied too!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d always known Immortal Alliance cultivators were arrogant, but he’d never imagined they could be this arrogant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though Jiang Bao was his master, Gao Jian dared not truly clash with Immortal Alliance cultivators.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing the furious woman, he could only channel spiritual energy to sidestep, trying to buy time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Wang Xianmao finally acted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Yulou never expected that Wang Xianmao would side with Gao Jian!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Azure spiritual energy, like silk veils, instantly flew over dozens of meters and intercepted the magic seal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The faint aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator made every nearby Qi Refining cultivator instantly notice Wang Xianmao.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a Foundation Establishment cultivator—usually unseen, a phantom. Many of the Qi Refining cultivators present had never seen one in person before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clan chief stepped forward and chided Gao Jian with mild reproach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough. Stop now, Xiao Gao. I just had dinner with your master—he’s looking for you. Go see him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yulou understood: this was meant for the Immortal Alliance envoys.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m Foundation Establishment. The man you’re beating has a master who’s also Foundation Establishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most Foundation Establishment cultivators in Wunan belong to the Immortal Alliance system—we see each other often. Let it go.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Jian glanced at Wang Xianmao, then quickly scanned the direction of the Immortal Alliance cultivators, and finally said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He signaled his subordinates to drag away the corpse, bowed respectfully to both Wang Xianmao and the Immortal Alliance cultivators, and fled in disgrace.\u003C\u002Fp>",1226,"2026-06-20T15:48:26.995Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","ac177a1d89a1d6f9898ae11abd290ad4f22e8489730d260b43c2f032b11dc061","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-27","ascending-to-the-jade-palace-chapter-25",243,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fascending-to-the-jade-palace-cover.jpg"]