Chapter 93: Who cares how I understand it, as long as I

Li Chen’s words made Wu Nanzhi stick out her tongue, feeling she had said something wrong.

Li Chen told her not to mind, perhaps he had just misseen.

Because Li Chen had only met the Crown Princess a few times, his impression of her was still from years ago.

But that aura could not be fake; an ordinary woman could never possess such a presence.

He still remembered that when he was searching for Lin Yue’e, she had mentioned seeing the Crown Princess’s maid at the Teaching Bureau.

So Li Chen thought that if Lin Yue’e had not misjudged, the person who had just passed by the distant pavilion might indeed be the Crown Princess.

Even if the Crown Prince’s mansion had fallen on hard times, it could never come to the point where the Crown Princess herself had to become a courtesan to support the family.

So what was the Crown Princess’s purpose in appearing here? How deep were the roots of this Teaching Bureau? Was there a close connection between them?

This place seemed shrouded in too many mysteries, but Li Chen was not interested.

At his level, he only wanted some amusement; complicated matters were too much trouble to consider.

Being emperor didn’t mean he had to handle every single thing.

If he did everything himself, what use would the government offices be? What use would the Ministry of Justice be?

Every department of the imperial court had its own duties.

He had cultivated to this level to enjoy himself, not to suffer.

Moreover, he was not particularly close to the Crown Prince.

According to Lin Yue’e’s investigation, the Teaching Bureau fell under the Ministry of Rites, whose Minister was aligned with the Second Imperial Prince, who had long been scheming within it.

The Second Imperial Prince had already returned to the capital, but his whereabouts were unknown—most likely he was inside the Teaching Bureau.

So the Crown Princess’s purpose in coming to the Teaching Bureau was most likely to meet the Second Imperial Prince.

This also explained why the Crown Princess’s maid had repeatedly entered and exited the place.

Lin Yue’e had naturally joined the investigation into the Crown Prince’s death, but her approach differed from Pang Jin’s.

But that would happen several days later.

When Li Chen left the Teaching Bureau with Wu Nanzhi, night had already fallen; he casually said, “Want to come to my place?”

This was the best moment for Wu Nanzhi to learn Li Chen’s true identity, but she refused.

She was curious about his identity, and knew his family must be in government service.

But she had a feeling that if she actually went to Li Chen’s home, she might never leave.

This guy clearly wasn’t the type to let her go—she’d felt this since their first date yesterday.

Because this man openly said he wanted to support her and asked her to give herself to him—his intentions were too obvious, leaving her overwhelmed.

This made Wu Nanzhi wonder: would Li Chen say the same thing to every woman? Like the one she’d seen on Matchmaking Mountain last time.

In truth, Li Chen only acted this way toward her; this tactic wouldn’t work on Chu Ruoyan.

When Li Chen returned to the palace, the sky was already dark.

At this moment, he was studying the “Imperial Dragon Sacred Scripture” given to him by his fifth brother, Li Ran.

The imperial family of the previous dynasty had a fondness for studying such sinister cultivation methods.

The “Imperial Dragon Sacred Scripture” consisted of five volumes; Li Chen had obtained the first one.

Even without collecting all of them, based on the partial content and annotations, Li Chen could judge:

To a beginner, this was clearly a sinister dual-cultivation technique.

It could rapidly enhance one’s cultivation base by plundering others.

When perfected, the body would be protected by divine grace; with this divine grace, one could not only resist external attacks and injuries but also repel all dark arts and curses.

This was the benefit Li Ran had mentioned.

At the highest level, one could even alter another person’s consciousness through sexual union.

It was said the founding emperor of the previous dynasty had seized the empire with the aid of seven powerful women.

But according to records, only that founding emperor had reached that level; all subsequent emperors of the previous dynasty had encountered setbacks—none even reached the Saint Realm, let alone the highest level.

If Li Ran could find all five volumes, Li Chen might try cultivating to the highest level, because his way of reading books was unusual—he had his own understanding.

These techniques were like arithmetic problems; his method of calculation differed from others’, yet his results were always correct—that was the extraordinary nature of his enlightenment.

This was also why, without a master, he could still cultivate to this level through self-study.

His whole approach was abstract cultivation: don’t ask how I cultivate, just ask whether I’ve reached max level.

If I can cultivate it, doesn’t that prove my method works?

So when guiding Li Sining’s cultivation, Li Chen didn’t care how she understood the techniques—he only cared about the outcome.

In truth, Li Chen’s cultivation method was based on his innate talent surpassing that of the technique’s original author.

Generally, the authors of cultivation techniques wrote them based on their own cultivation process.

But his own cultivation physique, the elixirs he had consumed, the great opportunities he had encountered—

He couldn’t possibly write all that down, and others couldn’t replicate it exactly.

All great cultivators who reached the pinnacle had their own unique legendary experiences.

!

So later generations studying their techniques would become confused.

They’d think: I followed the instructions exactly, so why can’t I break through?

If lucky, they’d encounter a special opportunity and awaken, finally understanding what they’d been missing.

If unlucky, they might be stuck at that realm for life.

This was why some techniques could only be perfected by their original authors.

The emperors of the Tian Ce Dynasty were no different; the founding emperor had reached the Saint Realm’s peak, and the second emperor had followed the first’s method.

Perhaps he received guidance from the founding emperor; though not as powerful, he at least reached the Saint Realm.

After that, it got worse and worse.

Because they simply copied the founding emperor’s technique, adding their own “idiotic” annotations.

This caused each later emperor to cultivate more chaotically than the last.

The Second Imperial Prince didn’t cultivate this technique; instead, he found a Saint Realm master, allowing his talent to flourish—he had already reached the Observing Heaven Realm at such a young age.

Entering the Heavenly Abyss Realm was just a matter of time.

Li Chen was even more extreme: he had only read the founding emperor’s original technique; he never looked at the annotations added by later emperors.

At the time, Li Chen had thought: How dare you write annotations when your cultivation is so low?

If you could even understand it, why haven’t you reached the Saint Realm?

This kid didn’t even follow the founding emperor’s logic—he cultivated in his own abstract way, and somehow succeeded.

In other words, Li Chen’s current cultivation level was at least equal to that of the Tian Ce Dynasty’s founding emperor.

After finishing the “Imperial Dragon Sacred Scripture,” night had fallen; just as Li Chen was about to summon Chu Ruoyan, a eunuch came to report that Ji Lianyu wished to see him.

Li Chen had expected Ji Lianyu would come again, but he hadn’t expected it so soon.

Was Lin Yue’e working that hard? Was it too deliberate?

When he saw Ji Lianyu’s slightly apologetic expression, Li Chen knew it must be Xu Zifeng causing trouble again.

“What, has Zifeng been arrested again?”

Li Chen put down the book, told Ji Lianyu to sit beside him, and began preparing hot dishes.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Zifeng has always been combative since childhood.”

This time, she was growing more accustomed to it.

“This child is really a handful—he gives me no peace.”

If Xu Zifeng knew Li Chen said that, he’d be furious enough to spit blood.

What kind of thing is that! Are you my father? Do I have to make you worry less?

(End of Chapter)