[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-eternal-green-immortal-sovereign":3,"chapter-eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-96":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Eternal Green Immortal Sovereign",{"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},2270104,4432,"Chapter 96: Danger Looms, the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell","eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-96",96,"\u003Cp>\"Director Li, your advice has been very useful to me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Tong was in a good mood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gloom in his chest had largely dissipated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He drank a few extra cups, rare enough to be drunk, yet insisted on seeing Li Rui and the other two to the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew his root quality was top-tier in Qinghe, but at Huaqing Sect...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To rise above others was as hard as climbing to heaven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When drinking with close friends before, he’d always hear empty comforts like, “Your root quality is exceptional, you’ll surely stand out at Huaqing Sect.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only Liu Tong knew the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Li Rui’s advice was different—it had real practical value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past, to blend into the circle, he often lingered in brothels, using wine and sex to connect with higher-ups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he could sleep with others, others could sleep with him too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, what he did wasn’t much different from before, yet he gained resources.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You enjoy it, I enjoy it—win-win.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking back to Tianyi Hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Shulin gathered courage and asked: \"Boss Li, is that really the only way?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui glanced at Zhou Shulin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Everyone has their own path. Liu Tong’s isn’t suited for you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Shulin grinned and asked again, his face eager: \"Boss, then what path do you think I should take?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Rui hadn’t answered yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liang He sneered: \"What, you want to learn from Liu Tong?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Shulin smiled awkwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d heard some women liked wild games—thinking of the spiked club, he suddenly felt watching the tower at Tianyi Hall for life wasn’t so bad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the city, in the woods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Lord Gongyang, when will Old Mother come to guide me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceng Jiang stared at Gongyang Han.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These past days, he’d provided Gongyang Han with more intelligence, even once nearly being caught.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet after all his efforts, he hadn’t even seen the face of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Old Mother.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Could this Gongyang be lying? Has the Ten Thousand Ghosts Old Mother already died?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceng Jiang thought to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongyang Han’s pale face wore a faint, unreadable smile: \"Old Mother has returned, but the thing she needs hasn’t been found yet. It’s our failure. Once we find it, she’ll naturally guide you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceng Jiang’s eyes narrowed slightly, inwardly helpless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From Gongyang Han’s expression, it was impossible to tell if he was lying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sighed lightly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But Jiang Lin is in the city.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gongyang Han sneered: \"Jiang Lin isn’t a god, and we’re not targeting Jiang Lin anyway. In a few more days, once Jiang Lin leaves, it’ll be fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceng Jiang wanted to say more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Gongyang Han cut him off, snapping impatiently: \"Do your job. The rest is Old Mother’s concern!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, Gongyang Han turned and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceng Jiang’s face darkened. He didn’t return to Qinghe City, but walked onto the official road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A carriage waited nearby. He stepped aboard in one motion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He told the coachman outside: \"Go.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The coachman snapped the reins. The carriage creaked into motion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The direction was unmistakably out of the city.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Damn Ghost Sect.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was merely the deputy incense master of the Blood Tiger Gang. By the normal path, he’d need at least ten years to become incense master, so he turned to the Ghost Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With their dark arts, his strength surged forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then the former incense master died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He smoothly took the position of incense master of the Blood Tiger Gang’s Qinghe branch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had no regrets joining the Ghost Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To rise, who doesn’t go mad?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since then, the Ghost Sect had secretly aided him. Publicly, he was the illustrious incense master of the Blood Tiger Gang; secretly, he provided intelligence and carried out tasks the sect couldn’t handle themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over five years, everything went smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His position in the Qinghe branch grew ever more solid. Even tasks the Blood Tiger Gang couldn’t handle, the Ghost Sect handled for him—his achievements piled up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several vice-gang leaders took a liking to him. The situation looked excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the one problem was—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These Ghost Sect people are insane enough to want to rebel!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rebel?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former dynasty?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former dynasty has been dead for thousands of years. The Ghost Sect has long since rotted to its core, ready to collapse at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And what of Great Yu?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was in its prime!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Staying hidden in the mountains as a bandit, one could live comfortably. But to stick one’s head out? Only death awaited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they rebelled, they’d be opposing the imperial court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then they wouldn’t face the Heaven and Earth Alliance or Huaqing Sect—they’d face the army, the Annan Army!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary people were nothing before an army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unless one was willing to follow the Ghost Sect into a life of wandering, hunted like a dog by Great Yu’s officials, there was only one path: flee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Master Ceng wouldn’t die alongside these madmen of the Ghost Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d long prepared in secret.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The carriage was headed for the canal dock. Board a ship, head straight for Qingzhou. By the time the Ghost Sect realized it, he’d be a thousand li away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too far to reach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingzhou lies deep in the Central Plains. No matter how powerful the Ghost Sect, they couldn’t touch him there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the years, he’d secretly moved wealth to Qingzhou each year, bought a house under another’s name, and already had a new identity ready.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From now on, Ceng Jiang no longer existed in this world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Too bad I still didn’t get the Demon God Art.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ceng Jiang sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d originally planned to charm the Ten Thousand Ghosts Old Mother into good spirits, then flee after obtaining the Demon God Art—but now there was no chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Lin’s arrival in Qinghe was his only opportunity to escape.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did he really think the Ghost Sect would let him leave so easily?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To leave,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had to create enough chaos for the Ghost Sect to be unable to pursue him. Once he reached Qingzhou, it would be none of their concern.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The letter should’ve reached the county office by now.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Master Ceng’s peace, the Ghost Sect would have to suffer a little longer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At dusk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>County office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>County Magistrate Zhang hurried into the side courtyard holding a slip of paper. This was the office’s special guest quarters, currently housing Huaqing Sect members.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elder Jiang, this letter just arrived.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He handed the slip to Jiang Lin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Lin looked at the dense script and marked locations on the paper, his brow lifting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Who delivered this?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>County Magistrate Zhang looked embarrassed: \"Dead.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dead?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I checked. He was a homeless beggar. After delivering the letter, he ran into an alley and poisoned himself.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cold case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Lin’s eyes narrowed slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d been struggling to find the Ghost Sect’s true base. Now, one of their own had turned traitor—this single letter threatened to expose everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s... interesting.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man had covered his tracks well. All clues had been severed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>County Magistrate Zhang frowned: “Lord Jiang, what should we do next? What if this letter is fake, and they’re luring us away?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Lin smiled lightly:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Whether it’s real or not, going there will tell us. Go to the Heaven and Earth Alliance and the Blood Tiger Gang, and have them send some skilled fighters—remember, keep it secret.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1227,"2026-06-19T22:01:09.077Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","89dcd4e6bbb3500b2cbb115c4abbef89c48d55989952b97cac27ab18b233f69e","eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-97","eternal-green-immortal-sovereign-chapter-95",866,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Feternal-green-immortal-sovereign-cover.jpg"]